Pride's Prejudice (16 page)

"My
date is over, actually."

Beth
eyed him warily.

"My
date was with the ticket booth."

"Right,"
she snorted.  "Awfully friendly ticket booth."

William
grinned, ever so slightly.  "Look, you're all dressed up, and I'm
free.  Why don't we go inside and dance a couple songs?"

"I
don't have a ticket," Beth reminded him acidly.

William
adopted a cocky expression.  "I just so happen to have an 'in' with
the ticket taker."

"I
noticed."

"You
did?"

He
sounded much too interested.  Beth rolled her eyes and folded her arms in
silence.

"Teresa
will be so glad to hear that her acting was successful."  He grinned
at her from under his lashes.

"What
are you doing?"  Beth asked abruptly, searing him with her
eyes.  She simply wasn't in the mood for his banter and flirting.

William
took his time answering.  "Taking a direct approach since my angle
failed."

"I
don't understand."

"You're
about to," he promised, stepping closer and framing her face with his
hands.

And
then his lips were on hers, and instead of pulling away Beth found herself
kissing him back.  Her reaction seemed to encourage William, as he let his
hands drop from her face to the small of her back, drawing her into his
arms.  His lips had been hesitant at first, but a sort of urgency took him
over now, and Beth put a hand behind his neck to hold him there.  Had she
done that on purpose, or had her hand acted on its own?  The fabric of her
dress tightened as he gathered it into his fists at her waist, pressing her
closer still.

A
moment later, William pulled back and looked down at Beth.  His mouth wore
a smirk, but his eyes told a different story.  "Any questions?"
he asked somewhat shakily.

Beth
tried to gather her wits about her.  Once the fog of his kiss receded,
indignation took its place.  "You think one kiss can just erase
everything?  You're a good kisser.  So?  What about everything
else?"

William
scowled, pulling his hands back and depositing them in his pockets. 
"Can you be a little more specific?"

Beth
inhaled, casting her eyes around and settling on the first thing that came to
mind.  "The night I cut my finger," she began, infusing her tone
with calm.  "At the hospital.  You were in the corner glaring at
me like the whole thing was my fault.  Like you were mad at me."

William
shook his head, a look of disbelief lighting his eyes.  "I was mad at
myself," he admitted.  "And the glaring was for the nurse, not
you.  She was such a battle-ax."  William's cheeks flushed with
anger at the memory and he swallowed.  "Anyway, I did apologize to
you later.  You were sort of unconscious at the time."  He
smiled diminutively.  "For the record, I
am
sorry." 
Tentatively, William took Beth's hand and kissed the finger in question.

Beth
blinked.  William abasing himself was entirely new to her, and his lips on
her skin turned her brain into scrambled egg.  She pulled her hand
back.  "Don't do that, I need to think clearly," she chided,
earning a triumphant smile in return.

William
nodded humbly.  "Next?"

Beth
sighed, combing through her memory.  "Camping," she said after a
moment.  "My song…..you left," she managed.  The truth was
she was tired of talking; the only thing she wanted was to be in his arms
again.

"It
was either pull a Joseph and run away, or take you to the tent and have my way
with you," William admitted.  "I didn't think the latter would
be a wise course of action at the time."

Beth's
mouth dropped open, a weak sound of indignation escaping her lips. 
Thoughts of William's 'having his way with her' were not going to help
here.  "Wait," she said.  "'Pull a
Joseph?'" 

"You
know, Joseph and Potipher's wife in the Bible?  He ran away from her to
save his virtue."

Beth
laughed; she was familiar with the story.  "Are you calling me a
cougar?" she teased, but something was still bothering her about that
night.  Fixing her eyes on the snowy ground, she replayed the night's
events in her mind.  "The sleeping bag," she finally said. 
"You kissed me and then you left.  Again."

William
eyed her incredulously.  "You honestly think I could've lain there,
with you wearing nothing but
my
t-shirt, and been content with one
kiss?  You've grossly overestimated my self-control, Beth."

"I
had my underwear on!" Beth countered weakly.

"Yes,
I know," William mused.  "I'm the one who took your wet clothes
off, remember?"

Beth
blushed, unable to answer.  "If I was so tempting, then you should
have stayed," Beth accused.

"I
finally had you in my arms," William answered in a low voice, stepping to
Beth and cupping her cheek with one hand and setting the other on her
waist.  "The last thing I wanted to do was mess it up by going too
far."

"I
thought you just wanted to get under my skin," Beth said.

William
set his dark eyes on hers, and had he been a swaying cobra, she could have
looked away more easily.  "I was willing to settle for that at the
time," he admitted.  "But it's not what I really wanted. 
The only thing I ever wanted was you."

Beth
watched William's face, trying to keep an impartial voice in her head. 
Trying not to get lost in his chocolate eyes or think about the taste of his
lips.  And then it was as if a switch had been thrown, and stadium light
flooded her whole body.  It had all been for her.  His smirking,
arrogance, and teasing had been to draw her attention.  The brooding, the
anger, the jerkiness had been for someone else on her behalf.  All at
once, the burdens Beth had been shouldering lifted into the air, like a bird
taking flight.  Sure, she still had questions - like Jaxon and his
story.  But he hadn't shown up tonight, and William was standing before
her.  And for now, that was all she needed to know.

Shyly,
Beth ran her hands through William's hair.  The way his eyes closed in
response, as if he'd been dying of thirst and her touch was water, made up her
mind.  Words couldn't help any more tonight.

While
his eyes were closed, and before she lost her nerve, Beth stood on her toes and
kissed him.  He pulled her hard against him, and his mouth was
hungry.  Beth's blood was singing in her veins, telling her that she never
wanted to be anywhere else.

Several
immensely enjoyable minutes later, William grinned down at Beth and said,
"If we're done here, I think I owe you a dance,
sweetheart
."

Beth
looked at him dubiously, but William just pulled her back toward the Conference
Center.  Once inside, William stopped at the ticket table and pulled out
his wallet.  "Two, please," he announced with a hint of
pride.  Teresa, who Beth recognized from her study group (and the tart
that was plastered to William when she'd walked in earlier) smiled indulgently.

"It's
on the house," she said, grinning at William in a most annoying
manner.  William winked at his co-conspirator, then relieved Beth of his
jacket and donned it himself, surreptitiously buttoning it as they
walked.  To Beth's pleasure, he didn't spare another glance at the ticket
table.

As
they walked through the swaying couples, they passed Kara, dancing with someone
Beth didn't recognize.  Kara stopped swaying, eyed Beth in a most
homicidal fashion, and then pulled her date off through the crowd. 
William didn't seem to have noticed.  He stopped walking, held out a hand
to Beth, and twirled her in an exaggerated way before pulling her into his
arms.  Could this possibly be the same William that had tried to pay her
off at the auction?  Beth dismissed these dark thoughts, resolving to let
the past go.  Letting her head fall onto William's shoulder, Beth couldn't
help noticing that he was just the right height for her.  She smiled to
herself, feeling very warm and comfortable.

After
several songs had passed in cozy silence, Les and Jenna bumped into William and
Beth in what could only have been a premeditated accident.  Neither of
them looked surprised to see Beth with William instead of Jaxon, and for an
instant Beth wondered if Jaxon had been ambushed and tied up somewhere. 
Jenna hugged Beth, gushing about how gorgeous she looked, whispered "Finally!"
in her ear, and beamed at her.  Beth rolled her eyes but simply couldn't
be in a bad temper with anyone at the moment, least of all Jenna.  She was
simply stunning in her blush-colored gown and crown of white-gold ringlets.

"You
guys had pictures done yet?" Les was asking William.

"We
were just heading over to do ours," Jenna added.  "You should
come."

Before
Beth could refuse, Jenna took hold of her arm and began tugging. 
"We'd better hurry," she said decidedly.  "I think the
photographer's packing up soon."

As
they waited behind a few other couples, Beth turned to William and said,
"We don't have to do this, you know.  Pictures," she clarified
when he looked confused.

William
smiled down at her, fingering one of her curls.  "I beg to
differ.  I doubt I'll forget how you looked tonight…..but just in case, I
want a photographic reminder."

Beth
rolled her eyes at him.  "Flattery is the devil's trick."

"It's
not flattery, it's the truth," William said matter-of-factly.  When
Beth eyed him doubtfully, he considered her through narrowed eyes, then
unbuttoned his suit coat.  "You might be interested to know that I
was drinking a cup of punch when you walked in.  Apparently my bottom lip
is defective."

Beth
stifled her laughter as William mustered what dignity he had left and buttoned
his jacket again.  The photographer beckoned Les and Jenna forward, who
adopted a corny pose (Les down on one knee reaching a hand up to Jenna, who had
her face turned away in a mock blush). 
Ugh
, Beth thought to
herself. 
Where is a good old fashioned prom pose when you need it?

"Let's
get one of the four of us," Jenna insisted, waving William and Beth over.

After
snapping the foursome (with the girls in the middle and Les and William on the
sides) the photographer dismissed Les and Jenna, and then it was William and
Beth's turn.  Dance pictures were awkward at the best of times, but this
was downright mortifying.  Why did Jenna and Les have to be watching so
intently?  Before Beth could think what to do, William slipped behind her,
setting his hands loosely on her hips.

"To
hide the punch," he whispered, his lips brushing Beth's ear and raising
bumps on her neck.  She suppressed an involuntary shudder as the camera
flashed, and then it was over.  The DJ struck up a fast song, and Jenna
tugged Beth back onto the floor.

Around
midnight, couples began siphoning out the door.  When people dressed in
casual clothing began cleaning off tables and folding up chairs, the remaining
dance patrons took the hint and began heading for the doors.  Beth cast
her eyes around for Lindy, scolding herself for having completely forgotten
about her.  Then again, it was highly unlikely that Cinderella had been
keeping tabs on Drizella and Anastasia while she waltzed with the prince,
right?

"Jenna,
have you seen Lindy and Denny?"

"Not
for a while.  Maybe she's already home," she added hopefully.

"Maybe,"
Beth said, lost in thought.  Turning to William, she said, "I should
get back and see if she's there."

Les
handed his keys to Jenna.  "Take the truck.  I'll ride back with
William and come pick it up tomorrow."

"That's
okay," Beth countered.  "I have my truck outside.  In fact,
you can ride home with me if you want, Jenna."

From
the look on her face, it was clear that Jenna
didn't
want.

"I'll
bring her home," Les said.  "We wanted to go for a drive
after."

Beth
rolled her eyes.  "Just remember, the doors close at one a.m.
tonight."

Jenna
embraced Beth, squeezed her meaningfully, and then scampered out the door with
Les.  William walked Beth to her truck, chuckling at her when she lifted
her dress to keep it off the snowy ground.

"So,
will you be around tomorrow?" he asked, opening the driver side door and
helping her in with exaggerated chivalry.

"Yup. 
I'll be celebrating - Lindy's going home first thing in the morning."

"Maybe
I'll come crash your victory party," William said, bracing his hands on
the roof of the truck and leaning in. 

His
eyes were an unfathomable mix of dark and light and the smile on his lips made
her want to kiss him.  Instead, she said, "You might want to drop
that shirt off at the cleaners first."

William
shook his head in an exasperated sort of way.  "I'll never hear the
end of it, will I?"

"I
wouldn't hold my breath," she answered, laughing.  It felt good to
have socked him for once.

William's
eyes glinted with mischief as he closed the distance between them and brushed
her ear with his lips.  "Have your fun tonight,
sweetheart,"
he
whispered, making Beth shiver.  "Tomorrow is my turn and I won't be
taking it easy on you."