Hollywood Princess (50 page)

CHAPTER 109 - DANIEL

Waiting for Eli. Waiting for Eli.
Waiting for Eli!

I
sat in the great room waiting for Eli. In keeping with the drama of the day, she insisted on making a grand entrance. 

CNN
did not hold my attention this evening. I was antsy, though we had plenty of time to get to Geoffrey’s, one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles. With its cliff side location and to die from ocean views, it was a Malibu institution. Though Geoffrey’s was perhaps five minutes from our house, I still found myself constantly checking my watch.

If this is what Elizabeth meant by making it feel like a date, then I was glad we
were beyond the dating phase. Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember ever formally picking Elizabeth up for a date. In the dorm, I simply knocked on her door and waited while sitting on her bed. Even for our first date I did that.

Before I saw her, I sensed Elizabet
h’s presence on the staircase. Always beautiful, my eyes were riveted to the gorgeous woman who stopped mid-step when she saw my jaw drop open in awe. Elizabeth was absolutely stunning.

I
walked over and took her hand. She smiled demurely. I kissed Elizabeth’s hand French-style, while my eyes locked on her shimmering emerald ones. Eli blushed. She was amazing, no exaggeration.

Elizabeth
wore an ankle-length skirt of lightweight sea foam green cotton. A slit reached up her right leg to mid-thigh allowing movement despite the skirt’s straight style. Eli’s off-shoulder peasant blouse of gauzy white cotton fell to her hips. A narrow double-wrapped bronze leather belt accented Eli’s waist. It matched the flat sandals on her feet.

Similarly casual, I wore
chino shorts and Italian leather flip-flops. My white t-shirt with its rough-edged v-neck made it appear as though the man wearing it had cut it open himself. Not this man. Over it I donned a light blue linen shirt, which I wore open. I chose these shirts because Elizabeth had bought them. Let her see that I genuinely appreciated her gift.

Elizabeth’s waves tumbled past he
r shoulders, thick and glossy. She didn’t wear any make-up. With Eli’s natural beauty, it was unnecessary.

“Wait right here,” I ordered.
“Don’t move.”

In a few long strides
I picked up my phone from the coffee table. For a phone, it had a pretty good camera. My model impatiently fidgeted while I opened the camera app and focused.

“Don’t move. Smile.”

I pressed the shutter icon. Perfect!

“Now you’ll never be further away than my pocket.”

I smiled as I saw her fight a frown. Eli blinked hard. Damn! I had made her think about Sunday. I gathered Elizabeth into my arms.

“We are going to have the best time this evening, right?”

“Right.” Eli’s smile returned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get emotional.”

“I’m trying too,” I admitted.
“Tonight should be as memorable as our first date. We have Rach to thank for that one, you know. She forced my hand.”

“What did Rachel have to do with it?”

“She never told you? Rachel was sick of me living in denial. That afternoon she and I returned to Berkeley Hall only moments before you arrived with Jackson. I yanked Rachel into the stairwell so you wouldn’t see us.”

“Danny, you spied on me? That’s
creepy.”

“I wasn’t spying!
Seeing you with Jackson was the kick in the butt that I needed.”

“You were jealous!” Eli gasped.

“No I wasn’t!” I protested, embarrassed by the memory. “Maybe...  No, not jealous. Fearful. I thought Jackson might ask you out, and you’d say yes. You were so animated.”

“I like Jackson.
He’s a good guy.”

“Ye
ah, well Rach saw my reaction. She made me realize if I didn’t make my move, somebody else might and I would lose you.”

“Thank you
, Rachel,” Eli said and smiled. “She’s such a good friend.”

Soon I ushered Eli into Geoffrey’s. Checking in with the hostess again reminded me that tonight was our last night out in Malibu for a long time. I wanted a keepsake.

“Would you please take our picture?” I asked the ho
stess, and I handed her my phone. Eli beamed.

Then the hostess
led us to an intimate table on the ocean view terrace. What a beautiful, clear evening. The moon sat low over the Pacific. A light breeze blew in. Heating lamps kept us comfortable.

I
reached for Elizabeth’s hand. I didn’t know if I could let go of it. Not ever.

If a magical power could be harnessed to slow down time, this would have been the night
I’d have chosen to utilize it. I wanted to cherish every moment, as did Eli.

While we dined, we couldn’t ta
ke our eyes off of each other. At every opportunity we shared quick kisses. Electricity pulsated between us.

“It really does feel like our first date,” I observed.

Dinner was winding down. Eli and I shared crème brulee made richer by a bottom layer of chocolate mousse. I slowly sipped a cup of coffee.

“No, it doesn’t,” Elizabeth contradicted.

“It doesn’t?” I grimaced. Hadn’t I succeeded in making this evening just as special?

“Tonight is so much better,”
Eli answered enthusiastically. Her warm smile lit her face and erased my frown. “That was a great evening,” she continued. “I’d love to go back to the Beach House, but tonight is better. I was such a wreck.”

I laughed and squeezed her hand.

“Me, too. I spent half the night wondering what the hell I was doing.”

“Well I spent half the night wondering what the hell you were doing too!” Eli laughed.  “It took you forever just to admit it was a date
even though it was so obvious. I mean really, who drives two hours to a romantic lakeside restaurant with a buddy?”

I laughed at the memory. “It was that obvious?” I asked.

“Yes. But that’s you. So until you were ready to admit it was a date, I felt that element of doubt. What if I had misread your signals? And then you had all these warnings.”

“Was I that bad?”
I knew the answer.

“Yes, but you were so cute. I didn’t ca
re because then you kissed me, and I nearly died. I wanted more. I had to have more.”

“Like this?”

I reached for Eli’s beautiful face, cupped it in my hands and slowly kissed her. She gasped in delight.

“Not quite.” Eli smiled her brightest smile.
“It was more like this,” she teased.

Elizabeth pressed her lips to mine while my hands
in her hair held us together. Her hands went around my back. Eli’s soft pink lips parted, and she expertly teased my tongue with hers. She tasted sweeter than she ever had. When I had to inhale, Eli’s eyes opened wide in amazement.

“Am I still alive?” she asked.

“I think so.” I smiled at her pleasure. “Want to do it again?”

“Yes, please.”

With urgency our lips met, and I held her in my arms for the longest kiss. Eli’s face glowed with love. Our faces touched against each other and she tenderly kissed me.

“I only imagined we could be this happy back then,” Elizabeth whispered.

“And we are,” I added.

“We are,” Eli breathlessly agreed
, and we shared a quick kiss.

“Are you ready to go home?” I asked.

Eli’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go dancing,” she announced.

“Dancing?”

We usually didn’t dance except when we were at The Cellar or at a party. The only place I knew for dancing was a dive bar a few miles down Pacific Coast Highway. 

We were the only Porsche in th
e parking lot when we arrived. That and the preponderance of pick-ups should have been clues as to what to expect inside, but Eli and I were too into each other for it to register.

Country night! There was a live cowboy band. Even
sawdust was spread on the worn wooden planked floor. The other patrons wore jeans and cowboy boots. Many even had Stetson hats.

I felt man
y sets of eyes starring at us. A beach prep and his fashion model date were out of place in this crowd.

Elizabeth wanted to dance.
We would dance.

The band was playing a Texas two-
tep. “C’mon,” I said, and I pulled Elizabeth to the dance floor. Eli gave me a look that said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Baby, y
ou wanted to dance,” I reminded Eli as I began to lead her around the floor.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Elizabeth laughed.

I grinned at Eli and we chuckled, as I positioned her hands. For a trained dancer, Elizabeth was so clumsy. She was definitely out of her element and unhappy happy about it. Dance was one skill I was not supposed to be superior at.

“How do you know
the two-step?” Elizabeth blurted in frustration.

“Three years ago I spent half the summer in Oklahoma.”

“You never told me that,” she said sourly.

“I d
idn’t? Well, three years ago I spent half the summer in Oklahoma,” I laughed.

“So you said,” Eli answered coolly. 

“C’mon, don’t be sore. Just follow my lead. You’ll get it, Eli. It’s fun.”

Determination rapidly replaced
Elizabeth’s confusion as she doubled her efforts to learn.

“What were you doing in Oklahoma?”

“Working on a failed political campaign.” I smiled wryly.

Eli laughed. “Of course it failed. They never elect D
emocrats in Oklahoma.”

Elizabeth was correct
, and I laughed at the memory of the most futile campaign my family had ever supported.

Having gotten the hang of the two-step, Elizabeth
now enjoyed herself, even smiling at her stumbles. She relaxed, and had a good time, going with the flow. And when she did trip because her new sandals slipped on the sawdust, Eli happily let me catch her and shrugged it off.

We didn’t leave th
e bar until nearly two o’clock! Giddy with laughter, I held Eli against the side of the Porsche and kissed her. 

“This was fun!” she admitted.

Elizabeth’s hands reached around my neck and as I held her we kissed as passionately as we had at Geoffrey’s.

“E, let’s go home.”

“I hope so, Daniel. It’s two a.m.”

I
pulled my lady into the house. Before the door from the garage had even fully closed I was on her. My body pressed Elizabeth against the wall. Our fingers twined.

My other hand cupped her face, forcing
Eli onto her toes for our lips to meet. She held tightly to my back while I hungrily devoured her. Time stood still.

Then Eli’s leg found the opening in
the skirt created by its slit. She rubbed her foot against my calf, adding to the excitement. Our hearts pounded.

It didn’t seem possible
, but I leaned in even closer. I unbuckled Eli’s belt and let it drop to the floor. Not a word was spoken. Our kisses did all the talking.

When Eli wrapped her leg around my hip,
I couldn’t resist any longer. I lifted her off the floor. She wrapped both her legs around my hips and I carried her to the sofa. Her hands held tightly around my neck. A lustrous smile lighting her beautiful face signaled Elizabeth wanted me as much as I wanted her.

W
e collapsed onto the cushions. The slit made it easy to remove Eli’s silk lace thong and lift her skirt out of the way. Eli’s fingers expertly opened my shorts and pulled them off. Our bodies joined for the most insane pleasure.

I held Eli in my arms, luxuria
ting in her musky-floral scent. I willed my nose to remember it forever, the fragrance of my dearest girl. How I would miss her!

Eli’s delicate fingers
entered my t-shirt, tracing tickling patterns on my chest. I didn’t want to squirm. I took Eli’s hand, kissed it, and kept it. Elizabeth purred like a kitten, a very contented kitten. Our lips met for a quick kiss.

“I love you, Daniel,” Elizabeth whispered.

Elizabeth’s heart and her warm, glowing eyes meant every word. 

This time I kissed her longer and then I held her face in my hand.

“Elizabeth Jacobs, you have no idea how much I love you.”

Elizabeth gigg
led in response. “I think I do,” she said and smiled.

“Yeah, you do,” I agreed.

Then we lay quietly, Eli snuggled in my arms. Despite the hour, we never slept. I know I didn’t. We simply enjoyed the quiet solitude of being together.

Elizabeth tipped he
r head upward. Deep emerald eyes, glassy from the hour, gazed at me. She smiled, oh so tired.