Pride's Prejudice (18 page)

"Right…..there." 
She swiped her chocolate-covered finger down his cheek, then tried to get away
before he could retaliate.

"I
can't
believe
you just did that," William said, his tone
incredulous.  He grabbed her around the waist, turning her around to face
him and pulling her against his chest, her arms clasped securely behind her
back.  "
You
are a brat."

Beth
smiled impishly.

William
leaned in close to her face, his dark eyes resting on her mouth. 
"Why are you so mean to me?" he pleaded softly.

Beth
had almost begun feeling sorry for him (an unfortunate side effect of his
touching her) when he rubbed his chocolate-smeared cheek across hers.  She
wrenched her arms free, grabbed a handful of flour, and threw it at him.

Half
an hour later William and Beth had reached a standstill.  They stood a few
feet apart from each other, poised for battle, each holding a handful of
powdery ammunition.  William had flour caked in his spiky hair and there
were two generous-sized chocolate smudges on his shirt.

"Truce?" 
Beth offered.

William
eyed her warily.  "You promise?  No more tricks?"

"I
will if you will."

"Okay,
deal."

They
laughed as they went to the sink to wash off.  Beth noted with pleasure
that William was much more caked in flour and chocolate than she was.  She
deflated slightly at the chocolate stains on his white shirt.  He should
have worn the apron.

"Shoot. 
I got your shirt pretty bad.  I'm sorry!  Let me get the chocolate
out."

"You're
a genius in the kitchen
and
a laundry guru?"

"Not
quite.  I have a few tricks though," Beth smiled, seizing the sponge
at the sink and wetting it, then tentatively dabbing at the chocolate. 
The shirt couldn't find purchase against his skin, and Beth had to clamp her
hand down to hold it still.  She was forcibly reminded of the night in the
tent, when he had pressed her hand to his chest to keep it warm.  Having a
shirt between her hand and his skin did not lessen the effect, and she
colored.  Scrubbing a little harder at the stain, she studiously avoided
William's steady gaze.  Stooping to open the cupboard under the sink, she
armed herself with a Clorox Bleach Pen.  Any relief she felt at escaping
William's proximity for a split second dissolved when she realized she was
going to have to put her hand inside his shirt to scrub the stain out. 
She was quite sure any romantic notions would disappear with the stain if she
burned a hole in his chest.

"Um….sorry. 
I don't want the bleach to burn you, so I have to lift your shirt away from
your skin."

"If
you want me to take it off, just say so," he teased, hooking his index
fingers in her belt loops and pulling her closer.

He was
clearly relishing her discomfort, so she rolled her eyes and plunged her hand
up through the bottom of his shirt, lifting the fabric away from his
chest.  She began dotting the bleach on the stain and then started
scrubbing, a little harder than was probably necessary.

She
felt his eyes burning into her face again, but instead of avoiding his gaze,
she glanced up.  William watched her with dark, unreadable eyes, a muscle
tensing in his jaw.

Beth
bit her lip, resumed her scrubbing, and didn't look up again.

"That
should do it," she declared, pulling her hand back to safety and laying
the bleach pen aside.

Before
she could step away, he tugged on her belt loops and clasped his hands together
behind her.  "Where do you think you're going?" he murmured, and
Beth's stomach lurched with delight as William drew her against him and folded
her into his arms.  To her surprise (and disappointment), he didn't kiss
her.  He just held her for a long time, and the familiar homey sensation
enveloped Beth again.  She closed her eyes, thinking she could sleep right
there in his arms were it not for her racing heart.

"William?"
Beth mumbled a few minutes later.

"Hm?"

"No
offense…..but your shirt is burning my nose."

William
laughed as he released her.

"Trying
to get my clothes off again?"

Beth
shook her head, embarrassed.  "Um, I'm going to take a quick shower,
okay?"

William
looked startled.  "I'll stay here," he said quickly. 
"Do you mind if I use the sink to rinse this guck out of my hair?"

"Nope. 
Let me grab you a towel."

She
went to the linen closet just outside the bathroom and returned with the
towel.  The sight of William, bent over the sink washing his hair, the
muscles in his arms and shoulders flexing with his movements, froze her in
place for a moment.  When she came to her senses, she set the towel
silently on the table and focused on not running into any walls or furniture en
route to the bathroom.

After showering
and slipping on jeans and a loose t-shirt, Beth stepped into the hall and
toweled off her tresses.  She was surprised to see that the mess had
vanished from the kitchen.  William knelt on the linoleum, wiping the last
bit of flour off the floor.

He
looked up when Beth came into the kitchen and did a double take.  Then he
stood up and nervously dumped the flour into the sink.  He turned to face
her. "Your hair is wet."

 "Yeah….it
usually gets that way when I stand under running water for any length of
time."  She reached up and tousled his.  "Yours is
too."

William
smiled.  "It just reminds me of camping."

"Oh." 
From the expression on his face she thought maybe the memory was torturing
him.  She cleared her throat, gesturing toward the bathroom. "Should
I go dry it?"

"No,"
he smiled, pulling her into his arms and then running a hand through her damp
tresses.  "I like it."

Beth
suddenly felt nervous.  "Do you want a cookie?"

He
laughed.  "Well, I don't know.  They're not double chocolate
anymore.  I mean, here I thought you were this domestic diva, and instead
it all ends in a food fight with you putting your hand up my shirt and then
skipping off to the shower while
I
clean the floor -"

He was
cut off when Beth shoved a cookie in his mouth.

SLUMBER
PARTY

"…..it seems
likely to rain; and then you must stay all night."

~Mrs. Bennet, Pride
& Prejudice

The
door to room 204 opened, ushering in Jenna and Les.  William and Beth were
sitting at the table eating cookies and drinking milk.

"Hey,
guys!" Les boomed.

Was he
ever in a bad mood?

"We
thought we'd stop by and see if you wanted to come back to the house and watch
this movie with us," Les said, brandishing latest action flick in the air.

Jenna
quietly observed William and Beth.  If it had been anyone else Beth
wouldn't have been worried, but she knew Jenna missed nothing.  Drinking
milk and eating cookies at the table was innocent enough, right? 
Platonic?  Maybe it was Beth's wet hair and William's ruined shirt that
caught her attention.

"Only
if we get to bring these cookies," William managed through a mouthful.

"Cookies?" 
Les looked alarmed.

"No,
dude.  These are
good
cookies.  I even helped make them,"
William added proudly.  Then he added, to Beth's dismay, "They would
have been double chocolate, but
someone
thought she'd get cute with the
melted chocolate."

Jenna
suppressed a smile, and Beth blushed.  William grabbed the plate of
cookies, and the four rode to Les's house in his truck.

Beth
let out a low whistle as she stepped into
chez Bradford
, trying not to
resemble someone suffering from tennis neck.  The kitchen was quite
spacious, with marble counter tops, a stainless steel triple sink, and knotty
alder cabinets.  The hard wood floor extended into a large, open room that
doubled as the family/living room.  There were spacious rugs covering the
wood floor and three cushy micro fiber couches that had been arranged into a
U-shape.  The middle couch was flanked by end tables at each
junction.  Two plush bean bags were nestled up against the couches on the
floor.  The focal point of the room was a ginormous widescreen TV, which
was built into the wall facing the couches.  Behind the TV, stairs led up
to what Beth could only assume were bedrooms.

"So,
is the Bradford-Darcy lair fully operational yet?"

"We
just finished the upstairs," Les said, shoving a whole cookie in his
mouth.  "Now we're adding on a deck and maybe another room."

"Let
me guess, Jenna's wing?"

Jenna
blushed slightly at Beth's assumption.

Les
perked up like it was the best idea ever.  He smiled at Beth and then
started flipping switches and turning on equipment while Jenna put the DVD in
the player.  Then they plopped into one of the bean bags.  Beth had
started making her way in to join them, when William caught her hand and pulled
her back.

"Are
you hungry or thirsty or anything?"  His face was so earnest Beth
almost laughed.  "Dr. Pepper?"

"You
keep my favorite drink stocked?"

"I
may have picked some up earlier, just in case….." William admitted
sheepishly.  "Go make yourself at home.  I'm right behind
you."

Beth
watched him walk into the kitchen, then started when he glanced back over his
shoulder and caught her looking.  So this was
twitterpation
.

Obediently
making her way into the family room and plopping down on the center cushion of
the middle couch, she looked at the TV and felt small.  Jenna and Les had
scooted their bean bag away from the couches, closer to the TV, leaving Beth
behind.

Very
sleuth, guys,
Beth thought dryly.  At the same time she
was immensely grateful.  She asked Les where the bathroom was, setting her
purse down on one of the end tables as she stood.

When
Beth returned, William held up her phone.  "You missed a call,"
he informed her.

Beth
took the phone, flipped it open, and then snapped it shut again in record
time.  William didn't seem annoyed, so he probably hadn't seen who called.

"Everything
okay?" William asked, concerned.

"Better
than okay," she said, then reached for the glass in his hand. 
"Is that for me?"

"
One
Dr. Pepper with tons of ice."

Beth was
still for a moment, looking at the drink suspended in front of her face. 
"How did you know I like lots of ice?"

"I
pay attention," he said simply, shrugging.

Beth
continued to scrutinize him.  "Are you stalking me?"

"I
guess you'll never know," he breathed in Beth's ear, pulling her down onto
the couch with him.

"Uh…..you
guys have the remote."  Jenna sounded awkward and delighted at the
same time, undeveloped laughter riding the edge of her voice.

William
pivoted around to retrieve the remote, and Beth suddenly felt like nothing
short of a good white washing in the snow would cool her off at this
point.  Les turned the lights off and the movie started.  Beth
avoided William's eyes in favor of the TV screen - after all, you couldn't
exactly miss it.

She felt
his hand on her elbow, pulling her against him as he stretched out with his
back against the arm of the couch.  Leaning into him willingly, she rested
her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder.  She took a deep
breath as William began stroking her hair.  If the blood had not been
zipping through her veins like lightning, striking up fire in other parts of
her body, she may have fallen asleep.

"Are
you comfortable?" William murmured in her ear.

She
smiled up at him.  "Very.  You're surprisingly cozy.  Who
would have thought all this muscle could be so nice to lay on?"

"Are
you saying I'm squishy?"

"No,
just comfy.  It's a good thing, trust me."

He
laughed quietly.

"What
about you?"

He
took a moment to answer.  "Am I comfortable?  No….comfortable is
not quite the right word."

Beth
wasn't sure how to take that.  He stroked his fingers down the length of
Beth's arm, and laced his fingers with hers.  Then let he pulled his hand
back, until only their fingertips were touching.  He repeated this pattern
several times, making it difficult for Beth to breathe normally.  Why
hadn't she thought to bring an oxygen tank along?

He
looked down at her with dark, unfathomable eyes, their faces a breath
apart.  There was no way she was going to make out with him here, with Les
and Jenna in the room, no doubt holding as still as possible to detect the
slightest slurping noise from behind.  Nevertheless, she was unable to
tear her gaze away from him.  She hoped he wouldn't try to kiss her right
now, but she wanted nothing more, and she knew she wouldn't stop him if he
tried.  Instead, he pressed her hand to his chest and wrapped both arms
around her, pulling her in tighter but leaning his head back against the couch,
resigned.

He's
thinking the same thing
, Beth thought.  She finally turned
her attention to the TV with a blank expression, unable to retain anything she
saw. William traced his hand up and down her back, occasionally letting his
fingers brush the skin just under the hem of her shirt.  She focused on
the sensations this generated, absolutely oblivious to what was on the gigantor
flat screen.  William's breathing evened out and deepened, and Beth's
pulse slowed in response.  A sense of calm settled over her, meshing with
the feelings of warmth and familiarity she had experienced the other night.

She
closed her eyes, enjoying the tranquility, and dozed off.

~:~

The
end credits were scrolling up the screen to the movie's theme song, and William
pulled his fingers through Beth's soft curls.  She had fallen asleep on
him, relaxing as she did so until now she lay on her side, wedged between
William and the couch, her arm slung loosely across his middle with her face on
his chest.  Les and Jenna, for once, were not engrossed with each
other.  They were watching William and Beth with quite satisfied
expressions.

Beth's
cell phone trilled, and she stirred.  Jenna picked her phone up off the
table and looked fleetingly at the display, then flipped it open and snapped it
shut again.

"Who's
calling her so late?"  William asked, annoyed.

Beth
stretched and opened her eyes.  "Is that my phone?" she managed
groggily.

"Yeah,
sorry.  We missed it again," Jenna lied.

William
noticed but said nothing.

Beth
sat up, rubbing her eyes.  "What time is it?"

"Just
after midnight," William answered softly.

She
looked at him apologetically.  "Sorry.  I didn't mean to fall
asleep on you.  Your arm probably feels like it's falling off."

William
just looked at her, admiring the flush on her cheeks from being woken so
suddenly.  Her dark eyes had a brightness to them, and her hair was
somewhat rumpled.  She was stunning.  "Just don't let it happen
again."

"We
should get back to the dorm, Jenna."

"Beth,
we don't have a key to the front, remember?  If we go back now we'll be
sleeping on the porch."

"Right,
forgot."

"There's
plenty of room here.  You guys can stay upstairs in our rooms, and we'll
take the couches."  Les was ever-chivalrous, and trying without
succeeding to conceal his glee.

The
business was settled, and the girls were ushered upstairs.  William led
Beth to his room while Les steered Jenna further down the hall toward his.

~:~

"Déjà-vu,"
Beth breathed on seeing the red-and-blue plaid flannel spread over the
bed.  "Is that blanket……"

"The
very same," William grinned over his shoulder as he rummaged in his
dresser.  "Recognize this?" he asked, tossing her an oversized
navy t-shirt with white lettering.

Beth
froze.  "Really?" she asked sardonically.  It was the same
shirt William had dressed her in after she'd fallen in the river.  Recollections
of that night played in her mind, and Beth felt the heat rush into her face.

William
lifted her hair and let it fall through his fingers.  When he spoke, his
voice was low and brimming with emotion.  "Do you have any idea what
you do to me?"

Beth grasped
his elbow with one hand, the hem of his shirt with the other, and pulled him to
her.  A look flitted in his dark eyes that Beth didn't understand; it was
an incomprehensible mingle of joy and agony.  Then his lips were on hers,
and Beth felt herself being pushed backward.  She was crushed between
William and the wall, and yet he still seemed too far away for her. 
Setting her hands on his back, she pressed him closer.  Their bodies were
perfectly aligned, as if they were the last two pieces of a puzzle snapping
into place.  He was so close that Beth could feel him trembling, and she
savored the apparent effect she had on him.  How could she have been so
blind all this time?  He obviously wanted her, and right now, there was
nothing she wanted more than William.  Beth's fingers tangled in William's
hair like vines, like implacable webs, binding him to her.  She wanted to
consume him the way he was consuming her.

William's
face moved to Beth's neck and then, quite in opposition to what she was hoping
for, he rested his head in the crook there, pulling her hands from his hair and
pinning them at her sides.  He stayed that way for what seemed a very long
time, drawing in deep breaths.  When he looked at her, his eyes were inky
and muddled.

"I
think it's past our bedtime," he informed her with a half-smile.

Beth
frowned.  Maybe she'd been reading him wrong - maybe she didn't affect him
the way she thought.

"Don't
do that," William warned.  "That thing with your lip," he
clarified when she opened her mouth to ask.

Beth
bit down on her bottom lip to keep it from doing whatever it was doing, but the
action didn't seem to relieve William in the slightest.  He let go of her
arms, bracing his hands against the wall on either side of her head and hanging
his head.  After another steadying breath he lifted his eyes to
hers.  "I think I'll say goodnight," he announced. 
"Do you need anything?"

Beth
was just thinking she didn't care for his being so far away, and that she could
do with another kiss when William straightened and stepped back.  He gave
her a warning look, the sort you might give a slobbering puppy who followed you
around all day, and backed out of the room.  "Sweet dreams," he
offered softly, his dark eyes on fire, before closing the door behind him.

Beth flopped
onto the bed, blowing out her frustration.  She laid there for several
minutes, feeling the fire recoil from her limbs until it was a tiny spark
somewhere in the lower region of her body.  After changing into his shirt
she climbed between the sheets, pulling the blanket up and breathing it in.