Worth Waiting For

Chapter Six

They froze, staring into each other's eyes.
Jon stepped back, his chest heaving and his handsome face filled with tension. His dark curls lay loose around his shoulders.
Daenerys dropped onto her feet. She reached to adjust her clothes with shaking fingers, but then she realised they weren't in disarray. Despite the intensity of what had just taken place, she was still fully dressed. But she felt naked, exposed. She found the courage to look up at him as the sound of her brother's whilstling came down the hall towards them.
Jon ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to smooth the rumpled curls and bring himself back under control. He moved to the back of the island, and she knew why. He wanted to hide the manifestation of what their kissing and touching had done to his body.
"Hey sugar......." Viserys halted at the entrance of the kitchen when he saw Jon.
"Hello Mr. Targaryen." How did he manage to sound so calm.
"Hi Vis !"
Her voice sounded brittle and breathless. Her observant brother would immediately recognise something was amiss. She could only imagine what they looked like.....two adults acting like guilty children caught with their hands elbow deep in the cookie jar.
"Well..... hello.... Jon." Her brother's eyes moved from one to the other. "You're here kinda late."
Daenerys jumped in immediately with an explanation. "He joined me for dinner since you couldn't make it."
"Mhmmm."
Daenerys wondered if it was too much to ask to have the kitchen tile seperate and allow her to fall into a hole into the basement below. Anything would be better than having to experience her brother's embarrassing antics, which were assuredly on their way.
"And I was just leaving." Jon added.
Their gazes connected. She wanted to say something to him, but what could she say with her brother standing right there.
"That's right" Daenerys said in agreement. "We just finished dinner."
Her skin tingled all over. The press of his mouth on her neck was still fresh in her mind and she knew for certain it wouldn't disappear anytime soon.
"Thank you for dinner Daenerys," Jon said. He moved towards the door. She couldn't look at him right then. It would be impossible to do so and keep the longing from her face at the same time. Instead she watched her brother, who watched Jon with intrest.  "Goodnight Mr. Targaryen. I'll see you on Monday when I do my inspection at the end of the day."
After the front door closed behind Jon, Viserys looked at Daenerys.
"Mhmmm...."
"What do you mean Mhmmm ?" Daenerys asked, knowing she shouldn't have asked.
"Something's going on between you and that Dornish fella."
"Vis, he's not....."
"I mean northern fella."
"Nothing's going on. You have an overactive imagination. She wouldn't talk to her brother about what had transpired between her and Jon. Time to change the subject. "How was your date?"
"My date was fine. We had to cut it short because Dorreah has an early morning tomorrow. How was yours?"
"I didn't have a date." Daenerys said in a firm tone.
"Hard to tell. With the dim lights and soft music playing......and what was he doing here at this hour ? He's never stayed this late before."
"I told you I invited him to dinner when you bailed on me."
"Mhmmm."
"You know what. I've had enough of that. Go to your room."
Viserys wagged a finger at his sister. "I'm not blind little sister. "
"Goodnight."
Grumbling to himself. Viserys left the kitchen.
Daenerys shook her head in delayed amusement. He's so frustrating.
She stacked her dish and silverware in the dishwasher and looked over at the table. She stood motionless staring at Jon's abandoned beer bottle.  She drew an uneven breath and drew the tip of her tongue across her lower lip. She could still taste him intermingled with the sharp taste of the beer. His lips had been firm, yet so soft.
Even his warm touch still lingered on her skin where his hands had spanned her waist and caressed her lower back. If her brother didn't arrive, how far would she have let Jon go? Further than any man had gotten in over a year, that's for certain.
She touched her fingers to her still throbbing mouth. It was just a kiss, Dany. It felt like so much more, though. It felt like an explosion of the senses, rocking her normally well ordered world. A mind-numbing, soul-searching kiss.
She glanced down at the broken rubber band on the white tile floor. She blushed at the recollection of how she stripped it from his hair so her eager fingers could run through his soft curls.
She shook her head and heaved a heavy sigh. She'd made a mistake tonight. It wasn't smart to get involved with someone you did business with. She hadn't been thinking. She got caught up in the excitement of it, but she should have stopped him. The woman controlled the pace in an intimate situation. Wasn't that what her parents had repeatedly told her. Now it would be awkward to have to face him on Monday because she hadn't exhibited the willpower necessary to control the situation.
Daenerys got the rest of the dishes and finished packing the dishwasher. She picked up the beer bottle and the torn rubber band. Next time she would.........no, there wouldn't be a next time. She dumped the items in the trash with a resolute thrust, turned off the music, and walked down the hallway to her bedroom.
****************************************************
Jon slammed his closed fist against the dashboard and muttered a curse. He sped along highway 20 heading west. Distracted by his anger, he paid little attention to the speed limit.
He lost his head back there and there was no one to blame but the guy in the cabin of his truck. He'd been the one to make the move and he shouldn't have done it. Not once had he ever crossed the line, Even when a woman made it clear she was open to his attentions.  He might do some light flirting, but he never made a move on a client. It wasn't smart, it was bad for business, and it created akwardness in the business relationship.
The need to comfort her had overwhelmed him. He hated knowing she had given up on love. He'd wanted to show her not all men were dogs and he'd......well, if he were honest, he simply hadn't been able to help himself. Her lips were so Inviting.
"That's no excuse" he said aloud.
He would have to apologise. That would be the first thing on his to-do list if he saw her on Monday.
The truck slowed to a standstill at a traffic light after he turned off at the exit that would take him home. She tasted and felt so good though. Soft and sweet. He could have held onto her forever. She had smelled fresh and clean too, like she'd stepped out of the shower only minutes before. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Thinking about her in the shower had a painful effect on his body.
A car horn blared behind him. Jon looked up at the vehicle in the rearview mirror. He wanted to give the other driver the finger, but he was in the wrong.  He sat at a green light fantasizing about a woman who probably right at the same moment regretted her actions way more than he did.
Jon hit the accelerator and ran his fingers through his loose hair in agitation, but doing so only served to remind him of the bold way she'd torn free the rubber band to run her fingers through his hair. Monday he would apologize.
He had two days to practice looking sincere when he apologized for actions his body didn't have the least bit of regret about.
****************************************************
Monday afternoon Daenerys returned home with knots in her stomach. Normally she would be at the office longer, but she told herself there was no point avoiding the conversation she needed to have. She wasn't one to run away from problems. She faced them head on, and she would do the same with the indiscretion that took place Friday night.
Her brother would be out so this would be a good time to have a conversation with Jon. As she pulled up in the driveway, his dark grey truck pulled in behind ger silver mercedes. The timing couldn't have been better if she'd planned it.
Standing next to her car door, Daenerys let her eyes drink him in as he approached. He wore a plaid button down shirt and faded blue jeans. Just like in my fantasy. In his hands was the notepad he used to take notes about the progress on the job. The tool pouch on his right hip was filled with a hammer, screwdriver and other tools. She was certain a sexier man had never walked the earth.
Schooling her features into a cool mask, Daenerys ignored how her heartbeat skipped when he came to a stop right in front of her. Her gaze flicked momentarily to his sensual lips, which had wrecked so much havoc on her senses Friday night.
"You're home early." The warm timber of his voice brushed over her and warmed her body. "We should talk about the other night."
"Yes we should" Daenerys agreed. "Come on inside."
When they entered the kitchen, normally a neutral part of the house, a perceptible current of tension developed between them. Daenerys laid her briefcase on top of the island and turned to face Jon.
"Before you say anything" he began. "Let me apologize for the other night. What happened shouldn't have taken place and I regret it. "
Daenerys thought that it was odd, that even though he apologized, he didn't look a bit contrite. She smoothed her clammy palms down her straight black skirt. "Well we were both in the wrong. There was wine, beer music abd we just lost our heads." She shrugged.
"Exactly" Jon nodded. He lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. The compact muscles of his arms flexed enticingly. Daenerys held her breath, fighting back the memory of rubbing her palm across the same muscles. "I pride myself on being a professional at all times, and it was a gross lapse in judgement. Believe me, it won't happen again." He smiled.
His smile captivated her and Daenerys forced a laugh to camouflage her sharp intake of breath. "Well I think we both understand it was an unusual event. I'm so glad it's over and we're both clear it was a silly mistake. We can behave like two adults and not let it effect our business relationship." She smoothed her hand across her smooth French roll.
He trained his eyes on the movement. "Do you ever let your hair down?" He asked out of the blue.
"What?" Her finger froze behind her ear.
"Do you ever let your hair down and have fun? " His grey eyes ran down the length of her black suit, flesh tone hose and black pumps. He gave her the look of pity again, like he had Friday night, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Ofcourse I have fun" Daenerys snapped. "That's a silly question. Infact I'm scheduled to....."
"You schedule your fun?" His eyebrows rose.
"I.....well.... I'm so busy," Daenerys sputtered. "I have to make an effort to schedule certain activities into my week. It's not as bad as you make it sound. "
"Uh-huh."
"It's not." Daenerys clenched her fist. She hated being on the defensive.
"Tell me the last thing you did just for fun. Name one thing in the past month."
Daenerys gaze found the table as she rummaged through her brain. Seconds ticked by.
"I'm ready whenever you are" he proceeded.
"Give me a minute !" She frowned at him.
He fell silent.
"There was....."
"Yes?"
She shot him an annoyed look. "You're not very nice. You're charming smile is nothing but a disguise to a heartless soul."
His eyes twinkled. " You think my smile is charming?"
Daenerys rolled her eyes. "Oh for Pete's sake, don't take it as a compliment. It's supposed to be an insult."
Jon shoved his hands into his pockets grinning from ear to ear. "I'll take it anyway I like,"he said.
It was an innocent statement, but the moment it left his lips, she felt the shift, as they both became aware of each other. He clearly hadn't meant for there to be any innuendo behind it, but her mind seized on the words and repeated them: I'll take it anyway I like : I'll take it anyway I like.
His voice finally filled the akward silence stretched between them. "If you can't think of a single thing you've done in the past month, then you clearly need more fun in your life."
"I've done some fun things. I just can't think of them right now."
He raised a brow in disbelief. He held up his hand and started ticking off his fingers. "In the last month I went salsa dancing.....which I do every Friday. If you like to dance you should come check it out, but you'd have to take your hair down. You'd stand out like a sore thumb. I went fishing. I took my niece's and nephews to chuck e.cheese. I......"
"I drove down to Dragonstone with two of my girlfriends for the weekend. It wasn't within the last month. But it was fun. " Did she hear him correctly. Did he invite her to go dancing.
"How long ago was it?"
She felt she was in the witness stand being interrogated by a particular surly prosecutor. "Two three months ago ," she hedged.
He shook his head. She wouldn't dare tell him she took her laptop, despite her friends insistence she leave work at home.  She also couldn't tell him she spent half her Time on her laptop and phone, even foregoing one of their sight seeing tours she'd prepaid for because she was so engrossed in the deal she was trying to close.
Few people understood her life was fulfilling in other ways than theirs. Her job gave her great pleasure. Not frivolous activities like dancing and fishing. Fishing. An absolute time waster if she ever heard of one. Sit there all day and hope fish bite your bait, and then you throw them back in the water. How silly. There was nothing more fun than watching a company she recommended investing in not only turn a profit, but not so handsomely.
"Well, excuse me if I do not have enough fun in my life..... according to your standards....but I'm a busy woman doing very important things."
"Such as?"
"You wouldn't understand," Daenerys said with a dismissive wave of her hand and turned away. Almost as quickly she turned towards him again. All the colour had drained from his face. "I didn't mean......"
"Ofcourse you didn't."
She hadn't meant to insult him. Again. She wished she could go back in time two minutes and intercept the flippant remark.
Her cutting statement shouldn't bother him, but it felt like a knife had been swiped across his chest. He hadn't expected that from her. With those three words she has destroyed the truce they'd re-established.
When would he get it through his head? Women like Daenerys Targaryen didn't speak or respect common laborers. They looked for men on their same level who drove Mercedes and Range Rovers and strutted around in expensive suits and Italian leather shoes. They did not date men driving grey pick-up trucks and wearing dusty boots. "I'll see you tomorrow" he said between tight lips. 
Instead of inspecting his workers progress tonight, he would inspect it tomorrow. He scraped up his notepad and turned to exit the kitchen. Loose sheets of paper slipped out and fluttered to the floor.
Cursing, he bent to luck up the scattered pages.  Before he could grab them, Daenerys picked up two of them that were close to her.
"I'll take those." Jon reached for the papers, but she took a step back out of his reach.
Frowning down at the documents in her hands, she asked, " what is this?"
"Nothing." He had no intention of letting her know he was working on a business plan to expand Snow constructions. In between jobs and late at night, he hand wrote the narrative and scribbled calculations.
"It looks like a P&L statement. And this looks like the beginning of an executive summary." She lifted her heart shaped face to look at him.
His anger diminished somewhat. He couldn't ever remember having these kind of intense feelings for a woman before. It was a struggle to remain calm and not appear as shaken as he felt. One minute he was upset by her insensitive comment, and the next he wanted to crush her to him and finish what they started last week.
"It's nothing to concern yourself with. It's just something I'm working on."His arm remained outstretched.
"Are you putting together a business plan? I could look at it for you."
"No thanks." He didn't want or need her help and certainly not if she was looking down her cute little nose at him. "I wouldn't want to keep you from any of those important things that take so much of your time."
Daenerys winced. She deserved that. "Jon" she stated earnestly. "I evaluate businesses for a living. I look at the experience of their founding members, their financials, everything and I determine if they are worth investing in. If you're trying to get a loan, I can make sure your business plan is so good you'll have banks throwing money at you."
Jon lowered his hands and hooked his thumbs into his jeans. He had to admit her offer was tempting. "How much?"
"Nothing. Give me the rest of your plan and I will do an evaluation."
He hesitated. He wanted the help, but the last thing he wanted was this woman taking a look at his plans and finding he didn't measure up. For some reason her opinion was important to him.
"Listen, Daenerys.........."
"Jon, wouldn't you rather have an honest evaluation and make sure your plan is the best it could be?"
Time ticked as he pondered her question. She continued to stand there, looking beautiful and expectant at the same time. With reluctance he took the sheets she held and reshuffled them into the proper order with his.
He handed her the plan. "That's everything. Are you sure there's nothing I can do in exchange? I could offer you a discount on the work downstairs. "
"No it's not necessary. You and your men have been working hard. Besides, this won't take me long. Give me a few days and I'll give you my recommendations."
Jon should be paying more attention to what she was saying, but be was riveted by the natural beauty of her porcelain skin in profile as she scanned the sheets. She wore very little makeup, and despite the prim and proper business suit, pearls and matching earrings, he couldn't help but recollect last week's kiss.
Her actions hadn't been those of a controlled woman. She'd given herself over to the passion of the kiss and despite his anger, he longed to sample that passion again. His eyes lowered to the upward curl of her full lips, which had been the corner stone of each fantasy he'd had since Friday night.
Jon cleared his throat to dispel the unsettling thoughts from resurfacing so he wouldn't embarrass himself. "Do you need anything else from me?"
She seemed to have a hard time in tearing her eyes away from the business plan. She was in full throttle business mode.
"No, nothing. I'll get back to you soon."
"Thanks," he said with a curt nod.