Acting The Part
Chapter 11
Never had a clock's hands moved so slowly.
Buffy had discovered that there was a polar opposite to the old adage
about time flying when fun was being had; that it crawled when fun was
being anticipated.
Not that she was anticipating anything. Much.
Staring at her watch for the fifth time in the last five minutes, she
held it up to her ear, then gave it a good shake, then listened to it
tick some more. There was a wall clock mounted over the fitting
room area, and she was about to climb up on a chair and make sure
the battery wasn't kaput when Willow walked in the back door.
"What's wrong?"
Buffy blushed and pushed the chair back into it's original position. "I
thought maybe the clock had stopped."
"Why, am I late or something?" the other girl asked, stuffing her handbag
into a drawer behind the cash register.
Buffy grabbed her own purse out before Willow could close and lock
the drawer. "No...I just...I have to go. Something's come up and...I need
to...um...go. For the day...probably."
Willow nodded, looking concerned. "It's not Melanie, is it? Did the
school call?"
Although she was perfectly willing to stretch the truth as to what her
plans were, Buffy wasn't going to do it at the expense of Willow's
feelings. She was...as were most of the adults in Melanie's life, ex-
cluding her father...extraordinarily fond of the child and would worry
herself into a state of babbling nervousness if she thought something
had happened to her.
"It's not Melanie," Buffy assured her. "She's fine. I just need to go
and...do something." She started backing towards the entrance.
"I'll check in later, okay?"
Not giving her employee a chance to reply, she turned and walked
swiftly down the marbled floor of the mall's second story, mentally
jettisoning all thoughts of anything else but the man waiting for her.
He was standing outside the coffee shop, examining the collection
of tea pots and mugs in their window display. His hands were jammed
into the front pockets of his jeans and he was wearing a pair of wire
rimmed glasses that she'd not seen on him before.
They didn't detract from his good looks and sex appeal one iota. In
fact, they added to it by giving him a charmingly bemused expression
and further depth to his dark blue eyes.
He must have seen her coming in the window's reflection, because
he turned around and reached for her hand. Pulling her back into
his arms, he whispered, "Thank Christ! I was losing my bloody mind,"
and kissed her on the mouth, long and hard.
Without a moment of worry over who might be seeing what, Buffy
gave in to the delight his touch evoked in her. She slid her arms
up and around the back of his neck, returning his kiss in full measure.
When they came up for air, she smiled. "I like those," she said,
indicating the glasses he was wearing.
"Do you?" he asked, slipping his hands up and down her back in a
very pleasing caress. "Make me look smarter than I really am, don't
they?"
She laughed a little, tilting her head and getting a closer look. "I'm
serious, I like them on you. They make you look....."
"Devastatingly sexy?" he suggested.
"....cute."
"Ouch," he winced. "There's a staggering blow to my ego."
Buffy shook her head. "I'm sure your ego will survive."
"Only if you feed it a little, darling." He stepped back, retaining
his hold on her hand. "Let's get out of here."
******************************
He walked with her to the mall entrance opening onto the
back parking lot where his Lexus sat in the late morning sun-
shine.
Opening the passenger door, he seated her gracefully, then
went around the front of the vehicle and climbed in. "Where would
you like to go?" he asked, keying the ignition. "How about out for
lunch? I know it's a little early, but....."
"We could to my house," she said, before she could stop
herself. "I just mean...I could fix lunch...if you'd like. Because...be-
cause you did...you know...take us out for dinner last night,
and...and there was the peanut butter sandwich on the....."
She stopped speaking abruptly when he slid one hand behind
the back of her neck and pulled her forward, capturing her
mouth with his and ceasing her nervous chatter.
Buffy had no defense whatsoever against such tactics. It simply
felt too good to resist.
"You know," William said, a few minutes later, when the first
urgency began to quiet down, "I haven't done this since I was in
school. Made out in the front seat of a car, I mean. I'd forgotten how
much fun it is."
She smiled, running one finger over the high arch of his cheek
bone. "Make you feel sixteen again?"
"Oh, yeah," he chuckled ruefully. "Raging hormones and wild
curiosity, punctuated by an occasional smack when I got a little
too free with my hands."
"Someone slapped you?" she asked in patent disbelief. "You?"
He shrugged. "I wasn't always this handsome and self assured,
you know," he said teasingly. "But I pretended to be. Drama classes
helped me put it across. Then, when I was almost seventeen, I
had my first girlfriend. Alexandra. Gorgeous little Italian bombshell.
Alex showed me things I'd never even dreamed of. I was nuts about
her."
"What happened?"
"Oh, she met the right tackle on the football team and decided that
brawn was more appealing than brains...or acting ability. I was un-
ceremoniously dumped."
Buffy couldn't imagine such a thing ever happening to him. "Bet she's
sorry now."
"I doubt it. Her boyfriend was drafted by the NFL three days after
he graduated college. So far he's been in two Superbowls AND was
voted MVP two years in a row. They have a house in Fort Lauderdale
and three kids, last I heard."
He looked cheerful enough, so she had to assume that his heart
hadn't been too terribly shattered by his first love.
"Actually," he went on, "it's all worked out for the best."
"How so?"
"Well...now there's you," he said simply. "Worst thing in the world
is to be involved with someone else when the right person comes
along."
Buffy sat back in her seat and gave him a speculative look. "Are
you?" she finally managed to make herself ask.
"What...involved with someone else? No."
He said it quite matter-of-factly, with no evasive tone or guilty
expression, but Buffy had to have it all out on the table before
things moved too far along to stop painlessly.
"That woman the other night?" she ventured. "At the convention.
She seemed kind of...angry...when you were talking to me."
Unconsciously, she held her breath.
"Woman?" His brow furrowed for a moment. "You mean Dru? Dark
hair and eyes?"
Buffy nodded, then shook her head. "It's not my business, I know..."
"Dru is my agent," he informed her. "Period."
She looked doubtful. "She seemed awfully possessive for an agent."
William sighed. "Agents ARE awfully possessive," he said. "Their
clients are their livelihood, and they want them to stay focused on
their careers. Buffy," he added, taking her chin in his hand and turning
her to meet his steady gaze, "Drusilla Howard is NOT my girlfriend.
At the moment, I'm 'girlfriend free'. Or, I was...until a couple of days
ago."
He kissed her lips again; a sweeter, softer kiss, with the express
purpose of doing exactly what it accomplished....melting her heart.
"Now," he said, pulling back and smiling at her. "Did you say something
about lunch at your place?"
******************************
He drove her around to the parking structure to pick up her car,
then followed her back to her house.
She instructed him to sit at the kitchen table, trying to put the
memory of the last time he'd sat there out of her mind, without
much success.
"I haven't been to the store in a couple of days," she confessed,
searching the contents of her refrigerator. "How about an omelet?"
"Sounds good to me," he replied, shedding his jacket and rolling
up the sleeves of his shirt. "Keeping in mind the fact that I've never
prepared a meal in my life...anything I can do to help?"
Buffy looked at him. "Never? What in the world do you eat?"
"Out. A lot."
Her heart did a little flip-flop. Damn it! Was he TRYING to be so
charmingly adorable?
She cracked eggs into a mixing bowl, added milk and whisked them
into a yellow froth. After melting butter in a skillet, she poured the egg
mixture in and waited for it to set, then grated cheese on top, flipped it
and turned the heat down to a low blue flame. While she waited for it
to get puffy, she made toast and set the table.
"I'm impressed," William said after taking his first bite. "This is very
good."
She shrugged, pleased at the compliment. "I enjoy cooking. When I
have the time."
"I enjoy eating," he replied, grinning at her in a way that made goose-
bumps pop up on her skin. "So we were obviously meant to be."
After they finished, she sent him into the living room and threw the
dishes into the sink to soak before joining him.
He was standing in front of the fireplace, studying the framed pictures
she had displayed there. When Buffy came into the room, he turned
and took her hand, pulling her over to the couch.
She thought for a moment that he was going to say something,
but instead he leaned forward and kissed her, nudging her back
into the corner of the sofa.
Every bit of pent up emotion that had been churning inside of her
came to the fore, spilling over into a torrent of desire. She allowed
her mind to drift off and her body to take the wheel.
******************************
William's own mind was clouded with Buffy. Everything about her
seemed like the only thing he'd ever wanted.
He had never really been in a serious relationship before, and he
was surprised at how easily he was ready to embark on one with a
woman he'd only met days ago.
It wasn't for lack of opportunity. He met plenty of attractive and eligible
women. The business he was in was rife with them.
And it wasn't as though he didn't want to settle down. He was over
thirty, and so far his life had gone pretty much the way he'd planned
for it to go. He had spent years paying his dues before 'Outpost:
Space' had been offered to him. Now, he was able to sit back and
take advantage of the results.
Movie offers were coming in on a regular basis. Nothing he was
particularly interested in just yet, but it was nice to be asked. He
had plenty of money in the bank, and had just bought his first home.
Everything in his professional life was steaming along nicely. Then,
just four short days ago, his personal life had been turned upside
down...and given a good solid shake as well...when Buffy and Melanie
had entered it.
And he loved it! Absolutely and unequivocally loved it!
He was swerving into this new direction eagerly, with no second
thoughts or worries, and the only warning signal going off was telling
him not to waste any time establishing himself in the lives of these
beautiful ladies.
Nothing in him was telling him to slow down, to be careful, to
watch his step. Instead, his gut was informing him that there was
no point in waiting, no reason to hesitate. The right woman had
finally come along, and she was a highly desirable little package
with an added bonus holding on to her skirt.
He didn't want to scare her off by being too aggressive in his
pursuit, but he was also afraid that if he didn't move quickly
he was running the risk of another man possibly stepping
in ahead of him...such as an ex-husband realizing what a colossal
mistake he'd made and deciding that he wanted his family back.
The thought of such a thing happening made him feel
remarkably more possessive than he was actually entitled
to be at this point. His caress became a little rougher, his
kisses more demanding.
Ordering himself to slow down was an exercise in futility. She
was too lovely, and he was too attracted.
William honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd been
so hard...so ready...just from kissing a woman. Probably
sometime in his adolescence, before he'd developed the
skill of self control.
Buffy was making that very concept difficult to maintain,
and he doubted she was even aware of it.
Her lips were moist and warm, and they tasted of a
cherry lip gloss that he wanted to lick off. Did she know
what she was doing to him with her mouth, and that he never
wanted her to stop? That she was driving him insane?
Drunk on her taste, he pressed down harder, pushing
her deeper into the sofa cushions and pinning her there
with his body.
He groaned softly when she parted her lips, and their
tongues met and mated in a way their bodies were
aching for.
They finally separated, both gasping for air. William pursued
his advantage, kissing and nuzzling his way down the
slender column of her throat as she tilted her head
back, offering it to him.
His lips encountered the open V of her blouse. Only the
top two buttons were undone, denying him access to all
the treasure he'd find further down.
One of his hands went searching for the third button. It
slipped from it's buttonhole without a word of protest from
Buffy, and he started on the fourth one.
Before he could complete the task, they were interrupted
by the sound of a small brass clock on the mantle chiming
half past two o'clock.
He felt her hands on his chest, and he reluctantly allowed
her to push him slightly away.
"School's out in fifteen minutes," she told him. "I have to
go and get Melanie."
******************************
Buffy knew her body would never forgive her for what she was
about to do, but there was no hope for it. She stood up on
mildly shaking legs, smoothing her mussed hair and re-
fastening her shirt buttons.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, hating herself for the state she was
leaving him in.
William took a couple of deep breaths before he rose pain-
fully to his feet. "It's all right," he said, trying to sound like he
meant it.
Buffy waited for half a beat, then went looking for her purse.
******************************
Out on the front porch, Buffy locked the deadbolt, then turned
to look at William. He seemed a tiny bit less uncomfortable
than he had been.
Wondering what came next, she walked with him to where
his car was parked. "Can I call you later?" he asked, unlocking
it.
"Sure." She gave him the sunniest smile she could produce
at the moment and wished he would be more specific. "I'll be
home tonight," she said, inwardly cringing at the obvious hint.
He climbed into the car, and was about to close the door
when he remembered something she'd said yesterday.
"Can I ask you something?" When she nodded, he asked, "Did
you say something about Melanie having a problem at school?"
"Yesterday, she did. Her class has this thing they do called
'Share Time'. You might know it as 'Show and Tell'?"
"What about it?"
"Well...Melanie doesn't do 'Share Time'. She never has, not
even once...until this past Monday. She got up in front of the class
and told them that she'd gone to the convention and all about
you...you know, the picture and the autograph and all." She
sighed deeply. "Some of the older kids found out and they
didn't believe that she knew you, called her a liar, and...made
fun of her."
Buffy purposely left out the "My new Daddy" part of the
story, even though he'd probably get a kick out of hearing it.
"So...she got upset and started to cry, and her teacher had
to go and take her off the playground."
"Hmm. But she's all right now?"
"Yeah. She's all right."
******************************
She was late. Again.
She parked in the lot and almost sprinted for the classroom,
making her way through the usual afternoon throng of kids and
parents.
Melanie was standing next to Miss Ashton, holding a sheet
of paper in one hand, her backpack's strap slipping down her
small shoulders. The anxiousness on her face faded when
she saw Buffy.
"Hey, baby," Buffy said, taking the paper Melanie offered
and examining the drawing. "Very good. More art for the
refrigerator gallery," she added, although she was beginning
to think that if she taped up one more piece of her daughter's
work, the entire refrigerator would topple forward from
the weight.
She was still talking with Miss Ashton...hoping that there
had been some progress in ferreting out the bullies that had
cornered Melanie on the playground...when she noticed a
change in the nearby crowd of parents, teachers, and kids.
Turning around to see what they were all staring at, Buffy's
eyes widened when she saw William striding casually
across the playground in her direction.
A slow smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when
they made eye contact.
**Okay, it's now official. I'm definitely falling in love with
this man!**
TBC.....
Feedback is so appreciated.
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