Blind Date (9/10)
The next morning, Josh woke up wondering why his chest felt so heavy.
He raised his left hand to his head and brushed against a head of
hair on his chest. Sucking in his breath, Josh realized Donna was
sleeping half on top of him, her right leg wedges between his. Josh
put his arm back down and brushed her hair away from her face. She
was sound asleep. Her lips were slightly parted and Josh was tempted
to wake her by kissing her. Instead, he wrapped his arms back around
her and kissed the top of her head. 'The senator can wait,' he
thought as he drifted back to sleep.
Donna woke later. She'd rolled over onto her right side and Josh was
spooned behind her, his left hand wrapped around her waist. Donna
raised her left hand, ran it down Josh's arm and entwined her fingers
with his, hoping not to wake him. He was breathing softly against her
neck and her stomach was flip-flopping in time with his breath.
Feeling completely comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time,
she sighed quietly and closed her eyes, blinking back tears. Why were
they so afraid to try?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Josh pulling her closer. "What time
is it, Donna?"
Donna stiffened. She didn't know if Josh was conscious enough to
realize what position they were in yet. "Early still, I think," she
whispered back.
"Okay," answered Josh in a sing-song voice that completely maked how
wide-awake he was. He hadn't slept so well in weeks, and he knew
Donna had been relaxed in his arms as well. But now he felt her tense
body and began to wonder if he'd overstepped his bounds.
Deciding to lighten the mood, he asked in a morning gravelly
voice, "Think the hotel offers more for breakfast than those day-old
pastries I saw in the office last night?"
Donna laughed, feeling some of the tension leave her body, but not
all. "I doubt it. And I'm sure there's not a Starbucks for at least
20 miles."
"How will I even begin to face the day?" Josh laughed back, happy to
feel her relax against him.
Silence soon enveloped them again. Josh however was gathering his
courage. There was no way he could untangle himself from Donna
without commenting on their intimate position, so he said a quick
prayer and took the plunge. "Donna," he whispered into her neck.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she said and after a pause added, "You?"
"I...um...think we should talk."
"Talk?"
"Yeah."
"About what?"
Josh tightened his grip around her hand. "You're not going to make
this easy, are you?"
"No," she whispered back, feeling a slight tremor run through her
body.
"Donna, I...um...I mean...I think we...God this is hard."
"I know," she said, her voice breaking as her eyes filled with tears.
"Shhhh," said Josh, pulling her closer. "What I want to tell you is
supposed to make you happy. Not sad. God, I'm ruining this moment,
aren't I?"
"No," she whispered.
"We've wasted so much time. And that's been mostly my fault. I'm too
blind and stupid to take hold of good things when I see them. I'm
always waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? I've never been
one for optimism."
"I've noticed that about you," said Donna, sniffling and giving a
small laugh.
"But when I'm with you, I find my believing."
"Believing?"
"Yeah. Believing in good things. Like politicians really trying to do
good. The possibility of peace on Earth. Believing that what we're
doing at the White House is making a difference. Things like that.
You make me believe."
"Josh."
"Shhh. And I've never told you these things. All this time, you were
changing my life and I was taking for granted that you would always
be there. But I can't do that anymore Donna. You mean too much to me.
This thing between us is too strong for me to resist anymore."
"Josh..."
"Shhh. Patience isn't your strong suit is it? If you stop me now, I
might never get to the most important part. Okay?" he asked, nudging
his nose through her hair and kissing the back of her neck.
Josh felt her tremble in his arms and he continued, "Somewhere along
the line I fell in love with you. Somewhere during all the bantering
and bickering, I stopped seeing you as just my assistant and friend.
You became a vital part of my life and I'm tired of pretending. So
tired of pretending," he whispered, pulling her closer.
Donna couldn't stand not seeing his face any longer. She rolled over
to face him, tears coursing down her face. "Josh. Oh Josh. I love you
too. I have for so long, but I didn't want to ruin our working
relationship or our friendship by being the first one to say it."
Josh held her face between his hands, wiping at her tears with his
thumbs. "Well, you weren't the first one to say it or the only one
who felt it. I'm sorry I was such a chicken for so long."
"That doesn't matter now," she said, cupping his cheek in her hand.
Josh closed his eyes, reveling in her soft touch. For so long he had
searched for a woman who completed him. And here she was. He opened
his eyes. "I love you Donna," he whispered into her lips as he
lowered his mouth to hers.
Their first kiss was soft and tentative. This was a huge change in a
short period of time and Josh didn't want to push her.
But Donna's lips soon parted beneath his and Josh deepened the kiss,
sliding one hand down her back and slipping the other into her hair.
Donna's hands were trapped against Josh's face, but she didn't seem
to mind. Josh pulled her closer, molding her to him.
Lost for several moments, Josh realized there was so much more they
needed to say before they took this any further. He pulled back,
placing light butterfly kisses across her cheeks and the bridge of
her nose.
"I love you Donna," he sighed, pulling back to see her face.
Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen from kisses. "I
love you too Josh," she said, following the words with a quick kiss
to his lips.
"Donna. When we get back to DC, would you be willing to go on a date
with me?"
"A date?" asked Donna, stunned that Josh was willing to take things
slowly. Although, the hardest part was over with, she assumed Josh
would want to rush head on into a relationship. She would rather take
things slowly, admitting to herself that was still nervous about
Josh's intentions.
"Yeah," he said brushing a kiss to her forehead. "I know, you know my
poor dating record, and even though I know this is right, I want to
go slowly." He pressed another kiss to her lips. "God knows how
easily we could stay in bed all day, but I want to get to know you as
more than just my assistant and friend and the person I've been
carrying a torch for for so long."
"Oh, Josh," said Donna, her eyes leaking tears again. "I'd love that."
Josh laughed softly, reaching up to brush at her tears again. "Are
you going to cry everytime I tell you I love you, Donnatella?"
"Probably," she laughed back, tucking her head into the crook of his
neck.
Josh laughed with her and pulled her closer, sighing.
"Josh?" Donna asked, her voice muffled by his chest.
"Hmmm?"
"Can we not tell anyone at the office about this yet?"
Josh pulled back to look in her face. "You want to keep it a secret?"
"For the time being, yeah. I don't want to deal with all the teasing.
And I definitely don't want to be fodder for the White House
grapevine. Plus, what if Leo gets wind of it and makes us stop
working together?"
"Donna, he could never, ever seperate us. I wouldn't let him. I'd
resign first," said Josh, pulling her forehead to his.
"Okay," said Donna, finally twining her arms around his neck.
"So, we're having a secret romance?" asked Josh.
"Looks that way."
Josh smiled into her face. "Okay, does that mean I can't touch you at
the office?"
"No," smiled Donna back, "that just means you can't kiss me while
we're standing at the fax machine."
"We can't play footsie during staff meetings?"
Donna laughed. "Definitely not, although, now I won't be able to
attend a staff meeting without thinking about playing footsie with
you."
"That was the idea," he said, lowering his head to kiss her again.
After a few minutes, they both came up for air. Josh started
feathering kisses down her neck. "We have to get out of bed," he said
between kisses.
"Uh huh," said Donna distractedly.
"For someone who is always on top of my schedule, you seem to have
forgotten what we came down here to do," said Josh, chuckling as he
took her earlobe in his teeth.
Donna moaned, arched into him and gave another "uh huh."
Josh having reached the point that he needed to stop, looked up into
her face. Seeing her closed eyes, swollen lips and flushed skin, he
kissed her nose, prompting Donna to open her eyes. Meeting them, she
whispered, "I love you Josh."
Feeling his heart skip a beat when she said it, he answered her
back, "I love you too."
Heaving a big sigh, he kissed her again and pushed up into a seated
position. Donna remained lying down and stretched her body like a
cat. "Donnatella, you keep stretching like that and we're never going
to leave this room."
Donna chuckled, sat up and wrapped her arms around his waist from
behind. She kissed his shoulder and sighed.
"Okay. That's it," said Josh kicking off the covers. He teasingly got
up off the bed and held out his arm between them. "You stay in this
room and I'm going to change in the bathroom. When I come back, there
will be no more teasing. There is only so much I can stand."
Donna smiled, sitting up on her knees, and reaching for his hand. She
tangled their fingers together and pulled him towards her. "Okay,"
she whispered before kissing him soundly.
Josh felt his self-control slip another notch when the ringing of his
cell phone interrupted them. "Saved by the bell," he quipped, pecking
her lips once more before heading to his bag.