Sexy Berkeley (1) (29 page)

"No one sees me without make-up on, Daniel. Well, except for the girls and my mum, and even then I can't stand feeling so exposed."

"But you're beautiful, what do you have to be self conscious about?"

"I just hate it, I don't look like this in real life, I need, at the very least, a bit of mascara to be able to show my face."

"Ok. I just wondered. I wish you'd feel comfortable enough to let me see you without, though. I love you, all of you."

I smile, he's so cute! "Thank you, Daniel, but it's very unlikely that you'd ever see me without make-up on. It's how I've always been."

"I'll consider that a challenge then, Bea. One day, you'll let me see you. The beautiful, make-up-free you."

"I'm not beautiful without make-up on."

"Don't say that, baby. You might not think so, but I do. I may not have seen you without, but you're the most beautiful woman in the world to me, either way."

"Thank you, Daniel. I'm going to say it for the millionth time this morning... I love you."

"I love you, too. I think you know that now," he beams.

"I do. But I'll never tire of hearing it, so you can say it all day long."

Daniel stands and holds his hand out to me. "Shall we go to the pool-house and pack? I'm starting to get hungry."

"Yes, let's. Oh and one more thing..."

"Yes, baby?"

"I love you."

He chuckles, "I love you, too."

I climb into Daniel's car and as he sinks into his seat, next to me, he hands me a Nordstrom bag. "Here."

"What's this?" I ask, he hasn't gone and bought me more has he?

"It's my boxers and sweater, your new comfies. I put my cologne on them, as you asked, so you can smell me."

Tears threaten as my eyes heat and prickle. I gaze at him, smiling. "Thank you, Daniel. I would have been really upset if I had forgotten something to sniff you by."

"Well, I sniffed my pillow this morning and it smells so much of you, so at least I can bury my face in that when I need you. I will never let the maid wash my bed linen again!"

~~~~~~~

We arrive at the pool-house while Tilly is packing in the bedroom with Luke.

"Hi kids!" she shouts as we walk through the french doors.

"Hi Til, hi Luke."

Luke strolls out and high-fives Daniel. "Hey, bud. Hey Bea, how's it hanging?"

"Hey," Daniel responds.

"Hi, Luke, have a good day yesterday?"

"It was great, thanks Bea." He doesn't seem as jovial as usual this morning, although I expect maybe he's tired, I know they'll have been up all night having wild, good-bye sex.

"Bea, your case is in here, doll," Til calls from the bedroom and I walk in to meet her. She hugs me, long and hard, saying nothing, rocking slightly.

"Are you ok, Tilly?" I ask, this isn't like her.

"Yes, of course, I'm fine, Bea. How are you?" Her voice lowers to a whisper as she pulls away, "How was yesterday, did you tell him?"

I look down. "He told me this morning... and I told him back."

"Oh, darling, how are you?" She wraps one arm around my shoulders.

"I'm ok, constantly trying not to cry but I'm coping. For now. Listen, Til?"

"Uh huh?"

"I'm going to be a right old mess, later. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, babe, I'll be right next to you. I'll look after you."

"I apologise in advance."

"Don't be daft, Bea," she raises her voice back to a normal volume to continue, "now, get on with your packing, you've got..." she looks at her watch, "eight hours until we need to be at the airport."

Daniel appears in the doorway. "Actually, ladies, you've got ten hours."

"No," Tilly responds, "our flight leaves at nine-twenty, and we need to be there for check-in, three hours before."

"It's only three-hour check-in for economy, in upper it's one hour before departure."

"We are in economy," I add, "remember? I told you my uncle got us upgraded but only one-way?"

"Baby, trust me, you're travelling in upper."

Tilly and I look at each other confused. "Hang on, what?"

"You're in upper class, baby. Ok?" Daniel says, exasperated.

"Daniel! What have you done?"
Tilly gawks at him.

"It's nothing," he says with a shrug and a smile. He walks over to swiftly kiss me and swat my bum before leaving to join Luke in the lounge.

"Oh my god, Bea, I think I love your boyfriend."

I smile, astonished. He just keeps doing these lovely things. I walk, purposefully, into the lounge and throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him, kissing him, passionately. I couldn't give a fuck if Til and Luke are watching, I love my man and I'm going to let him know it. He stumbles back a little, clearly not expecting my forceful display of affection, but he quickly steadies, snaking his arms around my waist.

"Thank you, darling, thank you," I mumble against his mouth.

"You're so welcome, baby, it's nothing."

"Yes it is, Daniel. Thank you. How did you manage that?"

"Oh, Heidi knows."

"She's good, she might be super hot and gets to see my man every day, but I like her, you should keep hold of her," I say with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah. If she liked guys her own age, you probably wouldn't like her so much."

"Probably not, but she is good."

"That she is, now come on. Pack."
He's amazing
.

It doesn't take long for me to pack all of my stuff up and change into a short summer dress, and before I know it, we're all sitting on the decking, finishing a cup of tea, about to leave for brunch. Tilly and Luke are joining us.

I'm tucked under Daniel's arm on the step, holding my tea. As Luke and Tilly chat to Gemma, Daniel looks down at me and I up at him, he smiles beautifully and kisses my nose, making me grin from ear to ear. "Love you," he mouths, his eyes twinkling.

"Me too," I whisper, gazing at him. I stroke his cleanly shaven cheek. "You're so handsome."

He smiles and rolls his eyes, he's so damned cute!  "Will we have time to make love again, before you go?" he whispers.

"I'm sure we can arrange it, darling," I reply, my voice a whisper, "Daniel...?"

"Bea?"

"When are you next coming to the London office?"

"I don't know, as soon as I can. I'll make sure it's soon, I promise."

"We aren't doing long distance though, you know that, don't you? If we can't figure out a way to be together, we just can't be. Ok?"

"I know. Let's not talk about it now, sweetheart."

"Ok, but I still want you to visit me when you go to the London office. Every time."

"Oh don't worry, baby, you couldn't stop me."

"Good. Shall we go? I'm starving."

"Me too, come on," Daniel stands and holds out his hand to pull me up.

"Ready to go?" Tilly asks before we take our cups indoors and head out to Luke's car.

~~~~~~~

We arrive at a restaurant at
The Grove, and pick a table outside in the lovely sunshine. I like the sound of the brioche french toast, which Tilly orders, but I decide on eggs Benedict, someone on a nearby table is having that and it looks amazing. I could eat a horse.

I've been working up quite an appetite, I don't think I've ever had so much sex in such a
short space of time in my life! I can't even count how many times Daniel and I have had sex since we met.
Oh, so good.
How long will I have to wait until I get to make love to him again? Maybe forever, if he meets someone else before his next London visit. I shake my head, clearing the nasty thought from my mind and take a sip of refreshing, ice-cold pineapple juice that the waiter has just placed in front of me.

"You ok, baby?" Daniel asks, clutching hold of my hand on the table, lacing his fingers between mine.

"Yes, I'm fine thanks."

"Good." He gazes at me and smiles, lovingly and I can see Tilly, staring at me, out of the corner of my eye. I look over at her and she's got her head tilted to one side, she's frowning and gazing at both Daniel and I, with a sad smile on her face. She looks like she's going to weep.

"Alright there, Til?"

"Oh... yes. Sorry." She quickly looks away, shaking her head.

She's sad! Is she sad for me and Daniel? Or is it because she's leaving Luke? She'll never admit it if it is that, but these two are acting strangely today, I think they're realising just how much they like each other. But I could be totally wrong.

My food is delicious. There aren't enough places to go for a proper brunch where we live, obviously you've got the 'greasy spoons' for fry-ups - but that's not really my thing.

"What are you guys doing now? Need a ride back to your car or are you going out hang out around here or at mine for a while?" Luke asks.

Daniel looks at me, eyebrows raised
in question. "What do you want to do, baby?"

"We could have a stroll, I'd like to get something for Clare and my parents. Maybe we can go back to Luke's after and...um... chill out for a couple of hours?" I say, trying to hide the salacious grin growing on my face. I may as well have said 'let's go back to Luke's for a shag.'

"Oh yeah...? I know your game," Tilly says with a wink, "good plan though."

I giggle and watch her as she eyes Luke with a grin. He gazes at her and leans in before gently kissing her. Their eyes close and I can feel the emotion between them. This is no fuck buddy relationship. I realise I'm staring so I look away and busy myself looking through my bag for my new aviators.

"I'll go and pay inside," Daniel says as Luke pulls away from Tilly and strokes her face, affectionately.

"No, Dan, I've got this," Luke says, standing and entering the restaurant. These boys don't let us pay for anything. I offer Tilly a supportive smile and she grins, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

When we leave, Daniel and I walk hand in hand towards the shops, waving good bye to Tilly and Luke who are heading back to his apartment for a swim. Or so they say.

I get some bits for Clare and my parents and then we sit on a bench, in the sun, with our arms wrapped aro
und each other, people watching. "Everyone seems happy, here."

"Do they? Is everyone miserable in Rickmansworth?"

I giggle. "Not exactly, but we don't walk around looking joyful all the time. It's nice to see happy people. I'm going to be the most miserable of the lot, when I get back."

Daniel pulls me closer and kisses my forehead. "Me, too. Hey! Do you want to go and look at underwear in
Nordstrom again?" he asks excitedly.

I laugh and look up at his delightful face. "Do you?"

"Yes, I do. And I'd like to buy you a bunch of night gowns that you can't wear for anyone else."

"Come on then, let's go. But no buying me anything. You've spent enough on me over the last ten days."

"I haven't even come close, baby."

As we await the lift, Daniel looks down at me and puckers his lips, silently requesting a kiss. He's irresistible. I stretch up on tip toes and do just that, savouring the feel of his soft, gentle lips against mine. He smiles and winks at me as the doors to the lift open and we step in.

Stepping out again, a moment later, Daniel grasps my hand and walks, purposefully, towards the night gown section, collecting a basket on the way.

"You look like you're on a mission, Daniel."

"I am, baby. I'm going to buy you everything you want... and everything I want you to want, starting with the robe that matches your lace night gown. I'd like to know that when I come to see you, you'll have all of it, ready and waiting for me. No one else though, baby."

"You don't need to get me anything, Daniel."

"I want to. Just let me. Please?"

I smile, knowing this isn't just for me. It's for him too. Buying me these things helps him, somehow.

"Thank you, darling."

"You're welcome, baby. Now, let's shop."

Returning to the lift a while after, holding the bags of goodies that Daniel has just bought for me, I decide that I would really like to buy him something special. But what the hell do you get for Daniel? He can have anything he wants. Suddenly, an idea comes to me, and then another!
Yes!

"Daniel," I say, as we stroll out of the lift, "I want to get some gift boxes in here for the my parents and Clare's goodies, but I'm so thirsty, would you mind getting me one of those freshly squeezed juices from that place we walked past, while I get some bits?"

"Sure, I'll meet you outside on the bench. Apple?" he asks.

"Oh, yes please. I'll see you in a minute."

He kisses me and lingers a little. "Mmm, I love you," he mumbles against my mouth, making me smile.