Sexy Berkeley (1) (41 page)

"Ok. What shall we do now? Want to watch some telly? Or go to bed? Want dessert?"

"I'm still full from dinner, sweetheart, but you go ahead, and then let's go to bed."

"I'm not hungry either, I want you in my bed."

"Let's go then," Daniel says excitedly as he sits up, taking me with him, kissing me hard.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

THURSDAY 4TH OCTOBER

This morning was, of course, wonderful. We didn't have as much time as yesterday because Daniel had to leave early, but we still enjoyed each other, as much as we could.
I left for work early too to receive a delivery which needed to be stocked before morning prep started, and it was my turn.

I feel sprightly and happy today, but lingering in the back of my mind as always, the niggling, the torment, the knowledge that he'll be gone soon and the pain will return. All I wanted was to see Daniel, I should savour every moment, but it's tainted with the unwelcome anticipation of his departure.

I have a great day at work, we're very busy with appointments and collections, and before I know it, it's time to go home. I've had two texts from Daniel today, he seems very busy, as he said he would be, and so am I, so we haven't communicated since lunchtime. I send him a quick text as I walk to my car to let him know I'm on my way home and that both Clare and Tilly are coming for dinner. I know he's probably still busy so I don't expect a reply. As I place my phone back in my bag, it chimes with a text from my brother.

~

Oliver 4 Oct 18:04

Hiya, you ok? Meant to pop in today for a quick chat and a cuppa but got too busy. So when are
we going to meet this American that makes my little sister cry all the time? X

~

Cheeky git. I suppose he has a point, I have been mega unhappy since I met Daniel. But not because of him, my darling man, he makes me happier than ever. Just the bloody distance.

~

4 Oct 18:06

Yo yo yo! How are you? I'm only unhappy when

I'm away from him, and he's here now so I have a huge grin on my face, see... :-D. Clare and Tilly are coming over later, why don't you come and meet him? I'll take him to meet Mum and Dad before he leaves, maybe at the weekend. X

~

I get into my car and he replies immediately.

~

Oliver 4 Oct 18:07

Alright, alright, enough of that romantic crap. Yuck.
Yeah, sounds great, what time? X

~

~

4 Oct 18:09

I think they'll be over at about 7:30/8. Getting take away. See you then :-) X

~

~

Oliver
4 Oct 18:10

Cool. Tell him to prepare for the Hart interrogation.

X

~

He makes me laugh, he'd do anything to protect me, but he'd never intimidate someone I was seeing, unless they were a total idiot. He hates Dylan, and Dylan knows it, but that's mainly because he was a dick all the time.

At about half six, I walk into my building and decide I'll have a long, hot bath before everyone gets here, wash off all the sugar and food colouring, and put some comfies on. I'm really looking forward to tonight but I feel filthy and exhausted and I need a relaxing soak first.

I open the door and jump out of my skin when I see Daniel, looking unbelievably sexy in low slung track suit bottoms and a not-too-tightly fitted, grey t-shirt, standing barefoot in the hallway with a glass of wine. There's something so sexy about his tanned, naked feet on my soft, cream carpet.
Is that weird?

"M'lady," he says in a very posh, exaggerated
British accent. He takes my hand bag and keys and bows, as he holds out the glass to me.

I giggle. "Why, thank you kind, sir. What a lovely surprise!"

"I hoped it would be madam, you have a hot, candle lit, bubble bath awaiting your arrival in the main bathroom."

I giggle again. "Wow, thank you, I feel spoiled. To what do I owe this pleasure?" I ask as I lean against him, wrapping my free arm around his neck and gaze up into his delicious turquoise eyes. The feel of his hard body through that t-shirt,
mmm...

"Well, I had a fantastic day at work, baby. It all went really,
really
well and I was done early, so I thought - what better way to finish off my day, than to surprise my beautiful lady as she gets in from a hard day at the office."

I grin from ear to ear. "Thank you. I love you being here, even if it's only..." I trail off, not needing to bring that up, and lean upwards to kiss him firmly on the lips.

"Bath time, sweetheart, no more kissing or we'll get pre-occupied."

"Oh." I pout. "Will you be joining me?"

"Why, of course, baby."

Stepping
into the hot bubbles, I slowly sink down to rest against Daniel's chest. It's a bit of a squeeze but it's oh-so-blissful. "My bath's not quite as big as yours, is it. Are you too squashed?"

"Not at all, baby, are you comfortable?"

"Mmm. Very," I whisper as I close my eyes and fully relax against him. I tilt my head so I can look up at his face. "I love this."

"I love
you
. What time are your friends coming?"

"Between seven thirty and eight. Oh, and Oliver is coming too. He wants to meet you."

"Oh great! He's coming to check me out, make sure I'm good enough for his kid sister?" He grins.

"Something like that," I say with a broad smile, "don't worry though, he won't give you a hard time."

"I'm not worried, baby, I'm sure we'll get on... if he approves."

I want to comment that it really doesn't matter whether Oliver approves or not, considering Daniel is not my 'proper' boyfriend and we aren't going to be together for long, but I refrain from doing so because I know Daniel will get cross with me and I'm in far too good a mood to have that argument right now.

After a pause, I change the subject. "I'm not sure you really wanted to share a bath with me, Daniel, I'm really sugary and dirty."

"Dirty, huh? Just the way I like you," he says as he crooks his neck to kiss mine and I grin, raising my hand behind me to curl around the back of his neck.

"You've got a dirty mind."

"And your point is?"

I giggle and carefully turn onto my front against his body. He immediately places a hand on my buttock. "We don't have time for sexing, Daniel, but I do want a pash."

"Pashing in the bath sounds good to me. Then, I'll wash you."

I smile and lean in to gently bite his lip, before we start the most sensual, arousing, bath-time pash-fest one could possibly dream about. As I writhe against him and moan loudly, Daniel pulls away, breathlessly.

"Baby, god, if we can't have sex, then we've got to stop right now. I need you so badly."

"I can tell..." I grin, waggling my eyebrows and leaning in for another kiss. Naturally, we get carried away and end up have just enough time to throw some clothes over our wet bodies as everyone arrives.

~~~~~~~

Dinner was great, one of the most fun nights in I have had in a long time. Tilly loosened up a little bit, compared to how she has been lately, although she still wasn't completely herself. She was genuinely excited to see Daniel and the three of us reminisced about some of our fun times in LA.

Oliver and Daniel seemed to get on like a house on fire, I think Oliver approves of my gorgeous man, there might even be a little bromance forming, although they probably shouldn't get too attached to each other.

All evening, as we chatted together, Daniel kept catching my eye and sending beautiful smiles my way. If he left the room for anything, he'd find a reason to walk past me and stroke my shoulders or place a gentle kiss on my cheek.

As we stand at the door saying our goodbyes in the wee hours of the morning, Daniel holds me tightly around my waist.

"Thank you for having us," Oliver says as Daniel releases me so I can hug my brother.

"You're welcome, are you coming out tomorrow night?"

"Have I ever missed your birthday?"

I smile and shake my head, no.

"Exactly. I'll be there with bells on."

As Daniel kisses the girls goodbye, Oliver whispers in my ear. "I approve, he seems a good bloke. I can't wait for Dylan to see you with him." He smirks and pulls back, chuckling to himself and I roll my eyes.

"See you tomorrow, Daniel. Good to meet you."

"You too, Oliver, I'm looking forward to it, should be a great night."

I say goodbye to the girls, and as we close the door, Daniel smiles and pulls me close to him, his arms snake tightly around my middle. "Mmm, I've got you all to myself again," he says before he leans down and places a soft kiss against my lips.

"Uh huh, and I can't wait to curl up in bed and fall asleep with you."

"Oh..." he says with a cute pout, "can't I ravish you?"

I giggle and wrap my arms tightly around his neck. "Go on then, just this once."

"Then we can sleep and your perfect birthday will begin."

"I'm excited."

"So you should be, baby. I'm going to spoil you."

"Not too much, I hope."

"Well, you'll find out tomorrow," he says as he releases me and swats my behind, "to the bedroom!"

"You're in a very good mood tonight, Daniel," I say suspiciously as I make my way to the bedroom.

"I am always in a good mood when I'm with you. Now get your clothes off," he orders jovially as he throws himself on my bed, rests his hands behind his head, crosses his ankles and watches me, intently with a huge smile on his face.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

FRIDAY 5TH OCTOBER

I roll over to reach for Daniel as I stir, but my hand only finds bed sheets. I open my eyes to look at the clock, and I see that it's nine o'clock. It takes a few seconds to register that I'm not late for work because I'm off for my birthday. "Oh phew." I mumble as I stretch and smile in anticipation of the day ahead.

"Phew, what, baby?" Daniel asks as he strolls into the bedroom carrying a tray.

"Oh, nothing, I thought I was late for work. What's all this?" I ask with a smile as I sit up.

"Birthday breakfast in bed, happy birthday, baby." He rests the tray on his side of the bed and walks around to give me a kiss on the cheek. "And good morning, I want to kiss you properly, so you better eat up and go clean your teeth, unless you'll let me kiss you now?"

"Nope. I'll eat quickly." I grin as I look over to the tray. "Pancakes and strawberries! Yummy! Hey, I didn't have strawberries..."

"I know, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home yesterday. I know how much you loved pancakes and strawberries at my place, so I thought they'd be a good birthday breakfast," he says with a huge smile, clearly pleased by my reaction. "Now, eat up while I have a shower and then you can have a present." He wiggles his eyebrows, salaciously.

"Ooh, what sort of present?"

"Wait and see, eat up, sweetheart." He places the tray on my lap, plays a song on his iPod; 'I'm yours' by Jason Mraz, and heads to the en-suite. I look at what he has prepared on the tray; pancakes with maple syrup and strawberries, a cup of tea, a glass of orange juice, my iPhone, an envelope with my name on it, a pink rose and a small, navy, rectangular velvet box with a tag attached;

'Don't open me yet, put me in your purse for later...'

My stomach knots in excitement as I wonder what else is in store for today. I listen to the lovely lyrics, pretending they refer to Daniel and I.

The pancakes are delicious and I smile non-stop as I eat, listening to the music and Daniel whistling in the shower. I open my card while I sip my tea and a huge grin immediately spreads across my face when I see the front; '
For my girlfriend on her birthday'
and a picture of a beautiful pink rose, freakishly similar to the one on the tray. I open it, eagerly anticipating his message.

'Baby,

Happy 28th Birthday!

Prepare yourself for the best birthday you've ever had, I intend to make sure you enjoy every

second of it.

I am so happy to be able to celebrate with you, you mean everything to me. I'm a very lucky guy

to have you in my life.

I love you so much,

Always,

Your boyfriend, Daniel xxxxxxxxxx'

An elated giggle escapes me - '
always'.
Oh
,
I wish. I place the card on my bedside table and smile at it, I absolutely
love
that I get Daniel here on my birthday. Placing the rose next to the card, I sit back against my headboard and check the messages on my phone whilst finishing my tea with a deliriously happy smile on my face.

I grin at the 'Happy Birthday' messages from Tilly, Clare, my brother and parents, and then I rest back, thinking about that card. I'm so far away in my happy daydream, that I don't even notice the shower turning off and I jump as he speaks.
"Enjoy your breakfast, baby?"

"Oh! Yes, thank you it was so delicious. Thank you for my beautiful card too."

"You're welcome," he says as he wraps his towel around his waist and leans over to take the tray off my lap. He kisses my cheek and vanishes off to the kitchen. I take the opportunity to step into the en-suite to clean my teeth. When I return, I hear the bath running in the main bathroom and Daniel strolls back in. "Get back into bed, baby. Your bath will be ready in a little while."

"This is fun!" I giggle at the joyous feeling of being pampered.

Daniel crawls up the bed to plant a kiss on my lips, he lingers and curls one of his strong hands around the back of my neck. "Mmm," he says as he pulls back to rest his forehead on mine. "Are you ready for a gift?"

"Ooh yay!" My eyes widen with excitement, I feel like a child again.

Daniel hops off the bed again and goes into the spare room where his suitcase is. When he returns, he sits next to me and hands me a beautifully wrapped gift.

"Thank you!"

"Open it," he says with an excited smile.
Bless his cotton socks.

I remove the ribbon and start to rip off the exquisite wrapping paper and a layer of tissue paper, before revealing the absolutely stunning strapless, red, Valentino jumpsuit that I fell in love with on Rodeo Drive.
"Daniel!" I cry, bringing my hand to my mouth. "Daniel! How did you know? But this is so expensive!"

"You wanted it, didn't you?"

"Oh I love it! I wanted it so much but I obviously couldn't afford it, Daniel, this is too much!"

"Baby, you better get used to it, we haven't even gotten started yet."

"Oh, Daniel, thank you so much!" I grab him and hug him close, showering his face with kisses.

"How did you know?"

"I asked Tilly to send me an email of the things you wanted on Rodeo Drive so I could pick something I knew you wanted, remember you told me you loved a bunch of things on your shopping trip? Well, when I searched it all out, this really stood out. I like it a lot."

"Oh, you have gone to so much trouble for me, thank you so much."

"Nothing is too much for you, baby. Now, go try it on."

I hop out of bed excitedly, ready to try it on as Daniel slips out, I presume to get his tea or something.

As I do the zip up, I look in my full length mirror and squeal with excitement, it is gorgeous and fits perfectly.

"Got it on, baby?" Daniel calls.

"Yes! Come and see!" I sing back excitedly, and Daniel strolls back in with another beautifully wrapped gift in his hands.

"Wow, you look sexy as hell in that, I can see why you like it so much." He strolls over and wraps his arm around me from behind. Looking in the mirror, he kisses my neck and hands me the other gift.

"Another one? This really is so much, thank you, you didn't need to go to so much trouble."

"Shh, baby. Open it."

I turn and kiss him on the cheek before I place the gift on the bed and unwrap it. The tell-tale Valentino shoe box gives it away and I immediately gasp, knowing what's inside. "Daniel, Daniel, Daniel...oh my god." I open the box and swoon at the beautiful, matching, rock stud sling backs. I cradle one to my chest as I turn and gaze at him.

"You gotta have the matching shoes, huh, baby?"

"You are amazing, thank you so much darling. Thank you, thank you, thank you, I absolutely love them!"

He chuckles. "Try them on, I hope they fit."
They are, of course, perfect.

"Wow, this is my favourite outfit of all time, thank you so much."

"You look stunning, sweetheart. And stop thanking me. I'm your boyfriend, this is what boyfriends do."

"Really? Well, my previous boyfriends have been seriously lacking then, because this is definitely a first for me. You really are incredible."

"Nonsense," he says, nonchalantly.

I turn and take another look in the mirror, another excited squeal escapes me and my face starts to ache from the constant smiling.

"Why don't you take it off and get ready, sweetheart, then we can start the next part of your day. Unless you'd like to go back to bed?" he says with no sexual connotation whatsoever, he's just being sweet and offering me more of a lie in.

I stroll over to him leisurely and wrap my arms around his neck, brushing my lips against his and pressing my body right up against him. "I think maybe
we
should go back to bed for a bit and then we can get ready in a little while, what do you say?"

His grin is hot, as is the feel of his warm tongue as it slowly runs across my bottom lip. "You might be onto something there."

An hour later, Daniel and I have bathed together and are getting ready for the rest of the day, when there is a knock at the door. I wonder who that is, I didn't buzz anyone in? As I open the door, the concierge greets me with a huge bunch of beautiful white roses.

"Oh wow! Thank you."

"Happy birthday, Miss Hart," he says and rushes off, leaving me in the doorway holding two dozen roses.

Daniel walks over and kisses me. "Happy birthday, again, baby."

"Are these from you? They are so beautiful!"

"I hope they're from me, who else would be sending you roses?" he asks jovially.

"Of course, nobody, thank you. I love white roses."

"Good. I chose white because I remembered the flowers at Gemma and Jay's pool-house were white roses, I thought I'd give you a little déjà-vu. Also..." he continues as he closes the front door and casually puts his hands on my hips, "white roses apparently symbolise sincerity and a love stronger than death. And as much as I hate to bring death into the equation today," he pulls a comical, awkward face, making me giggle, "I love you to death, baby."

I tilt my head and hold back the tears through a genuinely joyful smile. "I love you to death, too. I have honestly never been so spoilt. Thank you."

"Ok, sweetheart, the thank
yous have to stop now, ok? It's getting old, I get it."

I laugh and kiss his gorgeous lips before placing the beautiful flowers in a vase, in centre place on the lounge coffee table.

"Now, this is what you need to do next, baby."

I look at Daniel, intrigued. "Ok?"

"You need to pack an overnight bag, you'll need an outfit for dinner and our night out tonight, clothes for tomorrow, toiletries etc. I'm just going to make a call to work to check on the progress of their agenda today, I won't be long, I'll be done by the time you're finished. Can you be ready in, say, twenty minutes?"

"Yes, fine... where are we going?"

"Surprise, sweetheart. Ok, twenty minutes... ready, set, go!"

Fifteen minutes later, I'm standing by my overnight case, packing my make-up bag, when an overjoyed-looking Daniel appears at the doorframe. "Nearly ready, love-of-my-life?"

I laugh at his endearing, playful happiness. "Yes, just putting these last bits in. You're happy?"

"I am, life is good, work is good, I love you, you love me... what's not to be happy about?"

I smile and do a damn good job of hiding the one thing that sticks right out like a sore thumb, the one thing
not
to be happy about. It tarnishes everything and as much of an ungrateful bitch as I feel right now, considering all of the amazing, wonderful things Daniel has organised for me, I still can't forget it.

I wish I could, I wish I could spend this incredible day without a single negative thought... but I just can't. He's still going home next week and I will still feel like someone has ripped my heart out and ground it to a pulp.
"Nothing, Daniel," I say with a convincing smile plastered across my face. I am happy, I am having a wonderful day. I will try my god damned hardest to ignore the elephant in the room, just like he is. It's the least I can do.

"Great, what can I take out to the car for you?"

"I hand him the dress bag containing my gorgeous new outfit that there's no doubt I'll be wearing tonight, and the Valentino shoe box. "I can take my case and handbag."

"Ok, let's go."

As we step outside, I see Daniel's driver waiting for us. He's exactly what you expect to see in a movie, an oldish, greying chap in a crisp uniform and chauffeur cap, standing next to the car, awaiting our arrival.

"I wasn't expecting this, Daniel."

"No? Well, it's a bit easier."

"I'm not complaining, it's wonderful!"

"Good. Enjoy it," he says with a loving smile as we walk towards the vehicle.

"
Mr. Berkeley, Miss Hart. May I wish you a very happy birthday madam."

"Oh, thank you so much!" I gush, totally thrown by how important the driver is making me feel.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," he says as he takes my bag and gestures towards the inside of the car.

I step inside, closely followed by Daniel who pops open a bottle of bubbly and pours a glass.
"Here, baby," he hands me the glass and pours his own before returning the bottle to its allocated space. "Here's to you on your birthday."

"Thank you Daniel, here's to
us
on my birthday."

"To us, cheers, baby." We take a sip and the driver pulls away.

"I feel like a princess, you're really spoiling me."

"It's really nothing more than you deserve, sweetheart. I'm enjoying every second of it."

"Well, thank you. I'm having such a fabulous day already. So, where are we off to?"

"Ok, first stop; your parents place."
What?