“Not sure if you noticed, but there’s not exactly a line behind you, Dan,” she said with a chuckle, but he still had a serious expression on his face, her usual self-deprecation was not useful. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“And, I want to be working towards moving us forward, maybe not on a fast track, but I meant it when I said you’ve invaded me, Cora. You are in my head, and you’re starting to inhabit my heart.” He let out a deep breath.
She blinked, then blinked again, “Dan?”
“I’m serious, Cora, these last three weeks have changed my life. I’m not packing up your apartment and moving you in, yet, but I will admit I thought about it more than once when we were stuck in, and certainly as I watched you drive away.”
She twisted her hands nervously in her lap, afraid to look up at him, “Me too.”
“Which part?” He wanted to hold her hand, lift up her chin and look into her eyes, but he was already pushing it by sitting in her cube doing this at work.
“All of it.”
“Well good, I’ll put us down for two for Saturday night, and we’ll talk after work, okay?” He got up from his chair and came to stand close to her chair. He leaned in and whispered, “I want to touch you, to kiss you, to seal our deal, but it’s work, so I won’t, just know how much I desperately want to.”
She turned and smiled up at him. “Come to my house after work tonight.”
He looked at her, and lightly touched her cheek, “I need to stop at home but then I’ll be over, sweet girl, and we’ll talk about this some more.”
And with that, he headed back to his office and they both got back to doing some actual work.
Chapter 26
When she got home from work, she grabbed the mail and headed up the stairs. She needed to make sure everything was clean, the bed was made and there was something to actually cook.
In the mail, was a hand addressed unstamped envelope addressed to her, she recognized the small, precise script.
Dear Cora,
I don’t have the words to express how much I enjoyed our snowbound adventure. I have so many things I want to say, but I can never seem to think as clearly as I’d like when faced with your red hair and green eyes and that smile.
You are amazing, and no matter what happens from here know that you’ve made an indelible mark on my life, I will never forget this weekend, not as long as my lungs draw air to breath.
I didn’t know you were the thing I was missing… but now that I know you, I know that the hole in my life was Cora shaped and you fill it perfectly.
Yours for as long as you’ll keep me,
Daniel
Wow, she plopped down in her chair, it was a handwritten, honest to god letter, well more like a note, but still, he wrote it on paper and brought it here, to her. She tucked it away in the drawer of her nightstand. She’d keep this one until the paper crumbled.
He came over about an hour after she got home. She fed him her turkey chili, he ate a second bowl, she hoped he liked it and wasn’t just being nice.
Since she didn’t have a loveseat or sofa they crawled in to her bed, much cozier than his.
“I got your letter, Dan, it was quite a gesture,” she said on a sweet sigh.
“I’ve told you before, I’m not afraid to make the grand gesture when it’s called for, and you call for it. All morning I sat in my office knowing that was in your mailbox. I thought we could talk about all that tonight, but then I couldn’t wait. I just couldn’t wait. I hope my doing that, at work, didn’t totally piss you off. I know we’re trying to take it slow and keep it quiet while we figure things out. I just…” He looked a little lost as he was trying to figure out what to say, so she leaned in and kissed him.
Starting softly, but catching fire so fast they were all hands and mouths and limbs and tangles before they could realize they’d even blinked. In her own bed, in her own surroundings, Cora felt more in control and quickly she was the aggressor, pinning him back, kissing him with fiery passion, his lips, the spot on his neck where his pulse beat so strongly. He spent a whole weekend doing things to woo her, to make her feel amazing, it was time she did something for him. She knew he’d enjoyed their time this weekend, with and without clothes but it was her turn to bring the fun. Her kisses trailed lower, kissing and nipping and biting his neck, his shoulder, his flat dark brown nipples, when she scraped her teeth along the left one she was rewarded with a groan. Her hands worked as the advance team for her mouth, touching lightly, stroking, scoring with her nails. His change in breathing, his noticeable shudder, this was her, she did this to him. When she reached his navel she circled her tongue and teased him, dipping it in—ah a giggle—apparently he was a little ticklish there. She trailed the tip of her index finger down the line of hair to his groin, her finger tracing in a wide circle, purposely avoiding his straining erection. She took his sac in hand, a gentle pull, a little rolling, more gasps and groans and even a breathy “Cora” or two. Yup, she was the one who had him on the edge. Crawling down his body, she ran her tongue from his knee, up the inside of his thigh, the left then the right; and then a swipe around his scrotum. A gentle sucking, then like she had an ice cream cone on a hot day and it was going to melt away, she lapped her tongue up his length and rolled it around the head, teasing, tasting the little bead of salty deliciousness, again, all because of her. She wrapped her lips around him, sliding down the length, hollowing her cheeks a little as she sucked and took him deeper, and when he came to the back of her throat, she swallowed and took him just a little deeper, to both of their surprise.
“Holy fuck, Cora that is amazing.” His hands in her hair, Cora knew he was trying not to go all animal on her, looking up at him through her eyelashes she smiled around him, gave him a wink and went back to the business of making her boyfriend’s (holy crap, Daniel was her boyfriend) head(s) explode in insane pleasure.
“Oh god, Cora, I’m so close, oh, so close…” he tugged at her head, trying to pull her off, to stop her from making him come, but she was having no part of it, she was a woman on a mission, and she was going to have her way. She’s had a couple of lovers, but she’d also read a LOT of books, and she was going to employ everything she had ever learned, everything she could think of to make him come undone.
She looked up at him and shook her head and his head dropped back and his body went lax.
“You’re a redheaded goddess, Cora, oh god, Cora, fuck…” As his body became taut she tugged a little more firmly and rolled him in her hands, her finger reaching back, rubbing against that spot behind his balls that she’d read drove men crazy, and apparently it worked. Go e-reader! She would need to do a little more research; she fully intended to keep him happy and coming back for more.
“Cora I’m, oh…” And the rest was a long low moan as she tasted him, salty, tangy, the smell of him strong, her face pressed close as she held him while his spasms subsided. She kissed the spot at his hip and kissed her way back up his body and snuggled close.
They talked half the night, and then they fell asleep tangled up in her double bed. They were dating, together, and exclusive. He’d called her his girlfriend. She’d tried not to squeal like a ten-year-old girl, she just about managed that. He just pulled her close and kissed her nose.
They went to the work party on Saturday and a few people whispered and chattered, but they sat with Joe, his wife Lynn, and Kaelyn and Tommy and enjoyed the night, dancing and having a great time. They went home to his house, and made love all night. While she slept, he put a bracelet around her wrist. It wasn’t Valentine's Day yet, but he’d stopped at the mall, man, he must love this girl if he willingly walked into a mall. The sales girl talked him into a charm bracelet. He bought the bracelet and just one charm for now, a sparkly red heart. He planned to fill it over the years, but he wanted to start with the most important part, the love.
When she woke up, he was sitting up in bed reading the paper, she looked adorable hair all mussed, sleepi
ng in one of his old T-shirts. When she went to push the hair out of her face she wacked herself in the nose with the bracelet.
“Oh Dan, it’s so pretty.” She turned her wrist beaming at it like it was carats upon carats of diamonds. “I must have really been good last night if the jewelry fairy was here.”
“It’s my Valentine, for you. I’m a couple of days early but it was burning a hole in my pocket. It’s a charm bracelet, you can add to it over time. Well, I can add to it over time, and I will. But that heart is the first one, because I’m giving you my heart. Long, short, I don’t care what other people think about how long you should be with a person or know someone. I love you Cora. I love you like you read about in those sappy romances on your Kindle, when you think I think you’re reading Tolstoy or some other smarty pants crap.”
She looked down turning the heart over, spinning it around the bracelet, looking at it, not saying a word.
“Too much? Did I freak you out? Is it your turn to file the restraining order?” He tried not to sound nervous, but the chuckle he added to the end sounded more like a nervous cackle.
“No,” her voice so small.
Okay, now he was freaking out, he blew it, he moved too damn fast. “No to which part, Red?”
“No, it isn’t too much.” She looked up at him tears in her eyes, “I love you too. I’m scared, like I’m going to wake up in my hotel room in Norwalk and this will all have been a dream, but I do love you.”
Forget being macho, he breathed a huge sigh of relief, “You had me scared there for a minute.” He pulled her close and planted a kiss on the top her wild curls. “This doesn’t mean I’m pressuring you for anything more than you’re ready for, we do this at our own pace, in our own time.”
She got out of bed to grab a shower and get ready for their lazy Sunday, she wanted to wash the hair spray, makeup, and party off her, plus she was a little sex-sticky, and while she certainly enjoyed getting that way, it wasn’t conducive to the rest of the day’s activities. Giving Daniel one more breath-stealing kiss to thank him for her beautiful bracelet, she padded off on bare feet to the bathroom to hop in the shower. Turning on the taps and testing the water temperature, she climbed in. Sitting on the shelf next to Dan’s body soap and manly shampoo was her sensitive skin body wash and her shampoo and conditioner, a bath sponge and a wide tooth comb for her conditioner, and hanging from the wall was a razor for her legs, all duplicates of what she had at home, every brand. She let the hot water wash the silent tears away. She wasn’t sad, she was overcome, in her life no one, except sometimes her grandparents had ever done something so thoughtful. Not her own parents, not Sam, no one, and now, a few weeks into this amazing thing and he’s made it a point to go out of his way to make room for her in his life and in his home, and once again Cora was at a loss as to how to deal with it.
After the tears stop and the breathing settled, she got out, dried off, and put on some comfy Sunday clothes and wooly socks and headed down the stairs to find Dan and the coffee pot. He met her in the dining room a perfectly mixed cup of coffee for her and leaned in for a kiss. After the kiss and an appreciative sniff, he smiled.
“So you found everything in the shower, okay?” He is all about the woo. He knows she was feeling overwhelmed, but shock and awe might be his best chance. Maria suggested it when he asked ways he could make her feel at home, and once he had admitted Cora had slept here, he followed her instructions and stocked the bathroom, also the fridge and the pantry with items he’d noticed at her house. From the smile on her face and the red rimmed eyes he was thinking he’d hit a home run on this one.
And just like her perfect weekend, they spent Sunday in bed, reading the paper, listening to music and making love, and a pot roast.
After dinner she insisted he sit down and watch the game while she cleaned up. Walking around the kitchen tidying up after herself she thought about all the things he’d said, and all the things she’d left unsaid. She looked at her bracelet one more time before heading back in to the living room.
“Okay, I’m about to turn into a pumpkin, Daniel. Come and kiss me goodbye like you mean it.” She held her hand out and he grabbed it and pulled her down on top of him and kissed her like he meant it, like he meant love and oh so much more.
He kissed her goodnight again as she got in to her car and drove down the street, it was harder for them this week than last week, and it would probably keep happening, the getting harder part. He went inside and waited for her to call and let him know she’d gotten home okay, and then he talked her down and when he heard her soft snoring, he hung up the phone turned off the light and laid there missing her while he drifted off to sleep. Saying something so soon was a risky move, but he had wanted to do it right, and not while he was balls deep and passion drunk, she deserved more romance than that.
Chapter 27
The Monday after the company party Raj stopped knocked on his door.
“Do you have a few minutes, Dan?”
“Sure Raj, what’s up?”
Raj sat in the guest chair, his left leg bouncing nervously, drumming his fingers on the arms of the chair.
“Are we cool, Dan?”
“Umm yeah Raj, why wouldn’t we be?”
“Well I was talking crap about you and Cora, it wasn’t cool and it wasn’t any of my business. I just wanted you to know I was sorry, and I’m really happy for you guys.”
“Thanks for saying that, I appreciate the apology, although if it wouldn’t hurt her feelings I’d make you apologize to my woman. But when you were spouting off we weren’t together, which doesn’t make what you said okay. If anyone had actually believed what you said, or anyone outside of our group had heard it, Cora would have been mortified. Imagine how unprofessional that would sound to someone, she’s a hard worker, she deserves to be respected, and she did a great thing for our department.”
“Yeah I know, like I said, it wasn’t cool, and I’m sorry.”
“Keep it in check and we’re good. She’s very important to this company, and she’s very important to me. I’m not going to put up with any crap.” Dan was firm, but smiled at the man, he knew coming in and apologizing like this wasn’t likely to be an easy thing.
“Thanks, man.” Raj breathed a sigh of relief and stopped the tapping and shaking. “So, does she have a sister, or a friend?”
“Seriously?” Dan shook his head, “Her sister is married and her friend, Kaelyn, is pregnant, so I can’t help you out. You know if you stop acting like a bonehead you might actually find a girl on your own, you know.”
Raj chuckled, nodded in agreement. He knew he was an idiot, and he dragged himself out of the chair, gave a mock salute, and wandered off to fix something. Dan set himself back to him monitor, wrote a quick email to Cora and got back to work. His sweet girl was downstairs and it made it hard to think about work sometimes. He’d much rather spend his time thinking up things to do to make her smile. It also didn’t hurt that usually after all that smiling she started with the kissing, which led to the groping, which led to the naked time.
He could spare a few minutes to place an order for some more charms for her bracelet. That seemed to be a hit with his girl. He liked that she already wore a tangible mark of his affection and possession.
Two weeks later, he added a strawberry to her bracelet, to remind her of how he loved her delicious kisses. For St. Patrick’s Day he added a four-leaf clover made of sparkly green hearts, he took her to opening day and put a baseball on. He was building memories, literally and figuratively.
Chapter 28
After dating a couple of months and practically living together, they decided it was probably time to meet the ‘rents. They decided Easter weekend was as good a time as any.
On Saturday, Cora was up and dressed and waiting for Dan to come back, he’d run home to make sure Lance was all set before they’d began their weekend of insanity. Hopefully it would be okay, Cora was definitely the more freaked out of the two, she felt like sh
e had the most riding on it, her mom was unpredictable and his sisters, who he lovingly called “The Coven” intimidated her in theory alone, never mind practice.
Climbing in to Dan’s Honda, they headed out to see her mom. There was a family event set up today with a buffet lunch, and her sister would be here for tomorrow with her husband and the kids. Taking a few slow deep breaths, she climbed out of the car, squeezed Dan’s hand, and led him towards her mom’s apartment.
Knocking as she opened the door she peeked in, “Hey mom, are you here? I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet.”
Her mom came out of her room dressed and wearing a very large hat. Deep breath Cora, it’s a hat, not a poisonous snake.
“Mom, this is Daniel Santagata, Daniel, this is my mother, Beatrice O’Malley.” Smile plastered on, trying not to shake.
“Please call me Bea, everyone does.” Her mom smiled and then giggled, Cora wondered if her meds had been mixed up today.
Dan, so calm, so even keel, took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I can see where Cora gets her beautiful eyes from. And it’s really nice to meet you; Cora has told me a lot about you.”
“Probably what a pain in her ass she thinks I am,” her mother grumbled.
“Mom,” exasperated Cora rolled her eyes. “Please, I really want you to get to know Dan, he’s important to me. Let’s head down to the lunch, I reserved us a table.”
A woman on each arm, Dan led them downstairs to the community dining room where they proceeded to have a pleasant meal, her mother even behaved enough to keep her mouth quiet about stories she had no right telling. Including the time Cora closed her sister in a footlocker while they were stationed in Germany. Her sister had asked for it, although she denied it now. Thirty years later and Cora was still catching crap for it. And of course, the story Cora still held locked inside, too afraid to let this wonderful man know how broken she was.
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