by Té Russ
"You'll get sick," she whispered.
Satisfied that she didn't really try to stop him, he said, "I'll take my chances."
Then he kissed her again. This time it was deeper.
She sighed into his mouth and as she did, he took advantage of her open mouth and dipped his tongue inside. She couldn't resist putting her arms around his neck and folding into him.
Sensing her acceptance of the kiss, he groaned and slipped his hand under her shirt and began to explore her body. She could feel her temperature rising and it wasn't because of any cold. His hands moved down to her hips and pulled her closer. She could feel his need for her.
Suddenly she was hit with the full impact of what was going on. They were in her bed, making out, probably very close to doing other things. She broke off the kiss and scrambled out of his arms. She ran her hand nervously through her hair. "Why do keep doing this?" she whispered more to herself than to him.
"Because it feels good."
She whirled around to see him standing. She hadn't even heard him move. She shook her head. "Just because something feels good doesn't make it right."
He stepped around the bed. "And who says it's not right?"
"Me."
"You? On what basis? That we're friends? We've had that discussion before Lizzie."
"And I still believe it John."
He shook his head. "I don't buy it. And the sooner you accept the truth, the better."
She folded her arms defiantly and asked, "What truth is that?"
"That I'm falling in love with you and you are falling in love with me too."
She dropped her hands to her side and stared at him shocked.
"We are not falling in love each other."
"I'm sure we are."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"How? How are you so sure?"
He took a few steps closer and pointed to the bed. "Do you honestly feel what just went on in that bed wasn't right?"
She shook her head. “That kiss was just a lapse in judgment."
"That first kiss, the night of the party, might have been, but not this one. This one was meant to be and you wanted it just as much as I did."
She stared at him confused. He pointed at the bed again. "I've slept in that bed with you every night I've been here taking care of you. Every time I got ready to go to the guest room, you would grab me and tell me not to leave. You wanted me there Peaches, whether you realize it or not."
She tried to search her memory, but she was still a little groggy.
"Laying with you, sleeping with you in that bed...nothing has ever felt as right as that. Not since I knew I wanted to open my own restaurant."
She knew she might regret saying her name after the last time but she decided to risk his wrath. "Not even when you wanted to marry Susan?"
He laughed a sad laugh. "With Susan it was just a series of steps. We met and dated. Then we fell in love, or so I thought. The only logical next step was to get married. But it wasn't true love."
She didn't know what to say. "I still need time."
He nodded and walked to the door. "Do you need anything?"
"No. I can manage now. Thank you for taking care of me."
He turned to look at her, and caressed her cheek. "You know I'll always take care of you Lizzie. Call me if you need anything."
He turned to leave and stopped with his hand on door handle. "You know even if you're not falling in love with me now, you will. I'll make sure of it."
She laughed in spite of herself. "Ha! John you are crazy."
He turned leaned over and gave her a deep quick kiss. He inhaled loving her scent, then exhaled through his nose and murmured, "We'll see."
Chapter 10
We'll see.
Those words reverberated in Liz's mind.
Try as she might, she could not focus on the task at hand. She was in the process of creating a new sculpture. But there was only one thing on her mind. The words resounded over and over.
I'm falling in love with you and you are falling in love with me too.
Who did he think he was, she wondered as she squeezed the clay in her hands. She looked down when she realized she wasn't making anything productive.
As she was cleaning her hands, the ringing phone interrupted her thoughts.
“Good morning Elizabeth.”
“Oh good morning Mr. Randall,” she responded to her manager at the museum.
“Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Of course.” She wondered if he was going to offer her the job full time again.
“I know you are not interested in working here full time at the moment. Never the less, there is a conference coming up for innovative restoration techniques and I was wondering if you would be interested in attending.”
Before she could speak, he continued. “The conference is a week long and we would take care of all of your expenses.”
A week long, all expense paid trip would be exactly what she needed to put some space between her and John so she could clear her head.
“Mr. Randall, I'd be more than happy to attend the conference!”
“Great, I'll have my secretary send you all of the information! You will fly out for Seattle next Friday.”
Three days had passed since John had spoke to Liz. He was doing his very best to give her the time she needed to think.
It was now Saturday morning, a week since the ball. A week since that first kiss. He was in the kitchen keeping an eye on the door and the clock. She hadn't come for breakfast yet. She had never missed breakfast, not even last week on the morning of the ball. He looked over and saw her plate waiting.
He knew she was scared, and that there was a chance that pursuing her might push her away for a time, but he hoped she would come to her senses and accept their fate.
He looked at the clock again. He'd had enough. Not everything had to change. She still had to eat and he knew she wasn't going to cook.
“Paul,” he called over his shoulder throwing down a towel after wiping his hands on it. “I'm going to walk the floor.”
Paul simply nodded and continued to work. He grabbed her plate and shoved the swinging door open and almost collided into the one person he'd wanted to see the most for the last three days. She had an odd look on her face. They both stood there staring at each other for several moments before he realized that others might be staring at the two of them. He smiled at her and spoke first. “I didn't think you were going to show up.”
She exhaled. “I almost didn't.”
“I'm glad you did, there's no reason any of this has to change.”
She nodded and gave him a wobbly smile. “I know you think that and I hope you're right-”
He held up his hand. “Now is not the time for that kind of talk.” He winked at her. “Now is the time to eat your food before it gets cold.”
He gently took her by the elbow and guided her to her reserved table. They sat down in the booth across from each other and she began to eat. She looked up at him. “Aren't you going to eat?”
“I ate already.”
She nodded and continued to eat.
“What's been going on?” he asked her.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Mr. Randall called me the other day.”
He smiled back. “Still trying to get you on full time?”
She shook her head. “Sort of. He asked me to go to a conference.”
“What kind of conference?”
She went on to explain the details.
“How long is it?”
“A week.”
“When do you leave?”
“Friday.”
He didn't respond with anything more than a nod. How convenient for her, he thought.
“So I guess next week you will be busy preparing for your trip.”
She nodded.
He stared at her for a moment, and then asked, “Would it be too much to offer to drop you off at the airport and pick you up
when you get back?”
“Of course not! I was going to ask you anyway.”
“Great. Well, finish your food and come see me before you leave. I'll bring you lunch later.”
“Ok.”
Over the next week John did his very best to make sure things felt the same way they had always been. He made sure to bring her food. He made sure she visited him at the restaurant. They even watched a movie together, with her falling asleep half way through. Liz was beginning to feel comfortable around him again.
On Friday, he picked her up to take her to the airport. They were relatively quiet on the drive.
“You can just drop me off,” she said as they neared the terminal she would fly out from.
He gave her a sidelong glance. “Have we ever just dropped each other off at the airport Peaches?”
She looked out the window and sighed. “No, Johnny.”
“Well I'm not going to start now.”
She continued to stare out the window as he drove through the winding airport parking lot. He found a spot then got out and grabbed Liz's bag.
As she entered the airport, she began to feel strange. She looked over at John as he helped her check her baggage and felt a lump in her throat. She tried to convince herself that this was normal, that they always missed each other when one of them went out of town, but this time it felt different.
When they reached the security checkpoint where they'd have go their separate ways, she turned to face him, her eyes welling up with tears.
He pulled her into his arms. “Ah, Peaches, you know how I hate it when you cry, honey. You always get like this when one of us goes out of town. What do you always tell me to do?”
She let out a shuddering breath. “Call me every single night.”
He kissed the top of her head. “And I always do.”
She looked up at him and smiled.
His heart was so full of love for the woman looking up into his eyes. He wanted so desperately to kiss her the way he really wanted to kiss her and show her how much he would really miss her. Instead, he gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead and said, “Call me when you land.”
She nodded and turned and headed towards the security gate. He didn't leave until she'd made it through the security gate and was heading for her terminal.
On the drive home he'd thought about how he'd wanted to tell her to think of them while she was away, to think of the potential they had to be great as a couple. But he'd promised to give her time, so he prayed she would come to the realization sooner than later. There was nothing he could do at this point but wait. Wait for the woman he now knew he loved more than anything else, to realize she loved him in the same way.
Spring was setting in, and Seattle spring was exactly as Liz had heard about it. Overcast.
It completely matched her mood. She knew she would enjoy the presentations at the conference once they started. Learning anything new when it came to advancements in art always inspired her. But she still had a nagging feeling, a guilty feeling. She felt guilty because she knew she was using this conference, in part, to put some distance between herself and John.
It was becoming harder and harder to think logically when around him, especially when he kissed her. She thought that maybe if they had some space in between each other, she could put what was going on into perspective. Mr. Randall had flown her out a day early to get settled in. She would fly back the next Sunday afternoon.
She arrived at the hotel shortly after leaving the airport. The mini suite was very cozy. The king sized bed was calling out to her. She sat her bags down, then went and lay on the bed. She looked up at the ceiling as she thought of John. The image of him was so vivid, it seemed like he was right there in the room with her. Her pulse quickened at the thought of him.
She thought about the first kiss she'd experienced with him nearly two weeks ago in the kitchen of Lila's family chateau. Before she broke it off, the feeling that took over her was something she'd never experienced before.
She felt like she was under a spell, being transformed by his kiss. Her breast had grown so heavy they almost ached, not to mention the throb she felt between her legs. The feeling was so amazing, too amazing that it had frightened her, causing her to run off into a thunderstorm.
That thunderstorm was what had led to the second kiss in her bed. His taking care of her had touched her in the most endearing way. Over the years of them knowing each other they'd both taken care of each other in their times of sickness, but this time his caring for her felt different.
If she hadn't come to her senses that second time he'd kissed her in her bed, it would have only taken a few more minutes and she would have been begging the man who had been her best friend for almost five years to make love to her.
She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't the least bit attracted to the man. A blind woman would be attracted to the smoothness of his voice alone. When he spoke, it felt like warm honey caressing her body. His smooth ebony skin looked like the dark chocolate only the world's finest chocolatiers would use. She blushed at the thought that his kisses were even sweeter. Then there were the dimples on both cheeks that could make a girl go weak in the knees.
The most delicious thing about him had to be his eyes. They were an indescribable brown underneath a set of the most perfect lashes. Those were a pair of eyes that looked at her with such adoration she could feel her heart swell.
She thought about what he'd said about trusting his judgment, about him never being wrong. She had been so afraid of the consequences of things going bad, that she never even considered the possible good that could come from it.
They already knew everything about each other, and spent most of their time with each other. He always took care of her and that hadn't changed. In fact, he'd done his best to make sure things stayed relatively the same.
Maybe, she thought, she should give this whole relationship change with John a chance. She always trusted him before; there was no reason to stop trusting him now.
John was pacing in his office. He knew Liz's flight should have landed an hour ago and given the address of her hotel, it would have only taken minutes to get there from the airport, even in the worst traffic. Why hadn't the woman called? They always called to let the other know that they'd arrived safely to their destination.
Tired of waiting he picked up his cell phone and commanded it to call her with his voice control. After a few rings, she answered.
“Hello?” her voice was several sultry octaves lower, as it was heavily thick with sleep. He felt his body respond immediately.
“Nice to know you've made it safely,” he said slightly annoyed at her for not calling and with the fact that he apparently could not control his body even at the mere sound of her voice.
“John?”
“Were you expecting anyone else?”
“Of course not,” she replied, obviously still half asleep.
“Why didn't you call me when you got in?”
“Hmm?”
“You didn't call Lizzie? I've been here pacing the floor like crazy.”
“I'm sorry, honey. I laid down in this nice bed and must have dozed off.”
He stopped walking when he heard her call him honey. He looked at the phone and smiled.
“Well,” he said still trying to sound annoyed with her, but failing miserably. “Don't let it happen again.”
“I won't sweetheart.”
“I miss you Peaches.”
“I miss you too Johnny.”
“Go back to sleep.”
“Mmm hmm.”
He hung up the phone feeling more hopeful than he had in the last few weeks. She'd called him sweet nicknames before; but something in her voice, even with it being laced with sleep, sounded different.
Maybe a little distance between them really was what she needed to clear her head and see how great they could be together. He sat down at his desk and began making plans for her return. He was going to do this the righ
t way with her, and that meant completely wooing her.
Chapter 11
The week in Seattle flew by. Liz was so full of new information, she wasn't sure if her brain could hold it all in! She was eager to get home to try out some of the new techniques she'd learned for art restoration, as well as get started on painting.
She'd spoken with Anjelah a week after the ball, apologizing for her tardiness in contacting her, explaining that she'd gotten ill after the ball. Anjelah shrugged it off. When she'd heard that Liz would be out of town for a week, they scheduled to meet the following week to discuss a date for her art show. Her meeting was tomorrow.
Liz was also eager to get home to see John. They'd spoken every night, with Liz so animated and excited about the things she'd learned that day. She thought it was weird how it felt like nothing had changed at all, but at the same time, it was undeniable that their relationship was shifting.
She wondered how things would be when they were face to face again. She hoped that as their relationship continued to transition into something more than just friendship, it would be smooth and without stress.
As the seat belt sign lit up to signal for the passengers to prepare for the plane to land, Liz felt an anxiousness envelope her. She looked down to see her hands trembling. Once the plane had landed she waited until everyone else had gone in front of her off of the plane.
She walked slowly down the terminal to the arrivals. When she entered, she saw him standing by the baggage carousel searching the crowd for her. When he finally saw her, his handsome face broke into a smile, showing off the dimples she loved so much.
Unable to control herself, she began to run to him and when she was within arms length, she launched herself into his arm, crushing her mouth to his. He stumbled back, eyes wide with shock, but quickly regained his footing and wrapped his arms around her.
The sound of the baggage carousel reminded him of where he was and deciding that he did not want to cause a scene, he gently sat her down.