"Shhh." he heard her whisper. "It's just me."
"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" he whispered in response. He sat up and watched her pull back the blankets and climb into his bed. His eyes widened at her bold move.
"I have my ways." Even in the darkness he could see her eyes sparkling at him and the gleam of her teeth when she smiled. "Just relax." she said softly and pushed him back into the bed as she climbed on top of him.
"Emma?" He asked. "What are you doing?"
"Just getting to what should have happened earlier." She replied and he felt the full weight of her on his chest as she rested her forearms against his bare skin and leaned down.
Before he could breathe in he felt her lips press agaainst his. His eyes shut on instinct and before he could talk himself out of it, he succumbed to the feelings corsing through his veins and pulled her closer. Before long he had to push her back simply to get air in his lungs.
"I've been wanting to do that for weeks." Emma whispered breathlessly.
"Me too." Justin realized suddenly. In an instant he reached for her again and took charge of their connection himself. His lips tore away from hers and in a fury of blind passion he litterally ripped her tank top off and burned a trail down her neck.
A groan escaped from deep in his throat when he heard her whisper his name and her fingernails dug into the flesh of his shoulders and then...
"Daddy?"
A little voice broke into the haze of his dream and his eyes popped open, but shut instantly when the offensive morning light breaking through the curtains caught him off-guard. He grumbled somthing unintelligible and longed to return to his dream where things had just started getting good.
"Daddy, wake up! It's mornin'!"
"Good morning Riley." He held up his arms and groaned in pain when Riley jumped across the bed and collapsed into his side.
"Umphf." The air rushed out of his lungs.
"G'mornin Daddy. Are we gonna go see the big tower again today?"
"Not today Sweetie. You're going to spend the day with Emma today." He smiled at her name as his dream flashed in his mind. Where did that come from? He asked himself. It's been way to long. He tried to remember the last time he'd been with a woman.
"Daddy has to work." He finished explaining to his daughter and thought of the interviews he would have to sit through today.
Meeting with foriegn press was never fun for him. The translators and the questions that were way behind and always asking about old news. Press overseas didn't keep up quite as much with his life and he knew they were probably still bursting at the seams with questions about Riley. The States had probably gotten a hold of a picture of him and Emma and for once he was glad he wasn't anywhere near home.
"Oh." Riley was finally calming down. "Okay."
"Okay? You'll have fun." he glanced at the clock, it was 9am. He had to be ready to go by 10:30.
"Okay Riley, Daddy's got to take a shower, do you wanna watch cartoons here or go hang out with Emma?"
"Emmy! Emmy!" she chanted.
"Okay, lets go wake her up then." He thought about putting on a shirt, but knew he was just going to take it off when he showered anyway so he picked up Riley and headed towards the door. He knocked on Emma's door and after a few moments she opened it, still dressed in her pajamas.
"Good morning." she smiled.
"Hey." Justin smiled back and let a squirming Riley down and she went running into the room.
"Can you watch her today? I have some interviews and stuff."
"Of course. You don't even have to ask." she replied.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"Hey Emma?" he said before he could change his mind.
"Yea?"
"Would you go to dinner with me tonight?"
"I eat dinner with you two every night." She giggled, causing him to smile.
"Well, yes. But tonight it would just be me and you. No Riley." He looked at the floor briefly and then looked back up at her. His dream flashed in his mind again and suddenly he was very nervous.
"Oh."
"So?"
"Sure. But why no Riley?"
"I don't know, I just haven't really had a night without her for such a long time I thought it would be nice to have an evening out. I'm pretty much alone except for the dancers if you're watching Riley and I... I'm done with that scene anyway. I just..." He began to trail off.
"Justin?" Emma's hand reached out and touched his arm and he looked up at her, his cheeks flushed.
"Yea?"
"I'd love to go to dinner with you." She smiled.
He smiled immediately and the pink faded from his face. "Great. I have reservations at a fantastic restaurant I know you'll love." He was full on grinning now, and Emma laughed. He reminded her of a little kid in a candy store. "It's kind of fancy, so dress semi-formal like, and I'll come get you around seven okay?"
"Okay."
For some reason the day seemed to drag. Justin had been sitting in the same room for hours, while members of the press came in, asked him questions and left giving him about 5 minutes before the next one would come in. He was bored,for obvious reasons. But suprisingly he was also anxious, and he couldn't quite figure out why.
Maybe it was because he had been sitting on his ass all day. It had litterally gone numb and lost feeling hours ago, and he was seriously beginning to worry that it had fallen off.
Maybe it was because he had barely eaten all day and his blood sugar was so low that he was on the verge of passing out.
Maybe it was because he had been asked the same questions over and over again all day and he just didn't want to say "My daughter's name is Riley" and hear it translated one more time.
Or maybe.
Just maybe.
It was because he had actually asked Emma out on a date.
Technically though he wasn't sure she thought it was a date.
Technically he hadn't really made it clear whether or not it was a date.
But then again, it would be just the two of them.
At a fancy restuarant.
In Paris.
Paris was the freakin' city of love. She had to know that this was a date.
In his mind, it was a date.
He was petrified.
Suddenly the minutes in this dragging endless day seemed to start moving fast. Too fast. Shit. He thought I have a date with Emma tonight.
The day wasn't much better for Emma either. For some reason Riley had decided about an hour and half after Justin left, that she desperately needed her Daddy and that not having him around meant the end of the world was coming.
She would be alright and calm for a little while, playing with one of her many toys or watching cartoons. But then all of a sudden some little thing would go wrong, she would drop something or the cartoon would end and she would burst into tears wanting her Daddy.
Emma's emotions were pretty much mirroring Riley's. Without the crying of course. She was pretty much going about her business of wasting time until the day was over, and making sure Riley stayed safe.
But the strange, nagging possibility that she had a date with Justin that evening kept creeping into her mind.
She finally decided that the main problem was that she didn't know whether Justin thought this was a date or not.
Was she allowed to date her boss?
It's not like this was an on record job. She wasn't hired through an agency, and her time wasn't on any books. There were no rules or stipulations for this kind of a situation.
She was excited and a little scared at the same time.
If tonight was a date, and it went well. How far would this go?
Mike arrived a little after five that afternoon to pick Riley up and bring her to the office building that Justin was still trapped in answering questions. Justin had sent him, figuring Emma might need some time to get ready.
For once Emma was glad to not have to take care of Riley. Usually she enjoyed having the little girl around.
She showered quicker then she ever had before and turned on the television to watch the news while she rumaged through her clothes to find something suitable to wear. Even though she didn't understand anything that was being said, and she was pretty sure there wouldn't be anything about the States on Paris local news, it still made her feel a little better because she was attempting to say up on current events.
She was having an unbelieveably difficult time finding something to wear.
Finally she was fed up with her options and after checking the time,to find she still had about an hour, she threw on some jeans and a t-shirt and rushed across the street to a cute boutique that she had passed by the day earlier, when she was out sight-seeing with Justin and Riley.
She was in Paris for God's sake, she could definatly blow some money on a fancy dress if she wanted to, when else would she get the chance.
Suprisingly enough she found a fantastic dress the second she walked in the store. It was a deep blue color, that reached just past her knees. The bottom was cut irregular and when she spun in a circle it flowered out around her. It was a halter top, that was bejeweled around the deep V-cut neckline. She had to admit that not only did she feel hot in the dress, but she looked hot too.
It wasn't that she was trying to look sexy, but hey it couldn't hurt. She did start to second guess her decision but after checking the time and knowing that she still had to do her hair and make-up and that she only had about a half hour before Justin would be picking her up, she didn't think she had any other option.
Exactly thirty minutes later she was just putting the finishing touches on her make-up when she heard a soft knock at her door. She was proud of herself for getting ready on time. She slipped her feet into her shoes and walked over to the door. With a deep breath she smiled and pulled it open to see Justin standing there with a nervous smile on his face.
His eyes were wide as they traveled the length of her body, taking in the way that that gorgeous blue dress fit her. Finally his eyes met hers and he stuttereed before forming a word.
"Hey." He said.
"Hey." She replied.
"You ready?" He cleared his throat, and held out his arm for her to take.
"Yes."
"Great." he replied and stepped further into the hall so that she could follow him. They were silent as they walked to the elevators, until finally the confusion raging through Emma's mind got the best of her.
"Justin?"
"Yea?" He turned to look at her.
"I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but, I'm a little confused. Is this a date?"
She made sure to avoid his eyes as she waited for an answer.
"Um. Honestly?" He chuckled and rubbed his buzzed head anxiously. "I havn't really decided that myself."
"Okay?"
"Why don't we just see how this goes, and figure it out from there."
Emma nodded and smiled. "Okay."
Justin grinned and pushed the button to call for the elevator.
Suddenly they both felt a little more at ease knowing that niether of them were going into this with expectations and they realized they could simply enjoy a child-free evening together.
