CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sam entered her house, heading to her bedroom. She removed from the shopping bag her new purchases. She stared at the first dress critically. Had she gone too far? This was, after all, their first date. She also knew that, as much as a big part of her might want otherwise, they would be parting company after the date was over. Given those two facts, some might say that her choice in dresses was a bit too . . . provocative.
Oh, what the hell. This was her first date with Daniel, the man she was in love with, and the feminine side of her was dying to see the look on his face when he saw her in this dress. Besides, the other dress she got, the one for the second date, was even sexier. And if there was no second date? Sam didn't want to contemplate that possibility.
When the time came for Sam to get ready, she took extra special care with her appearance. She never wore much makeup normally, but she wanted to look her best tonight.
Before Sam knew it, Daniel was there. Nervously, she smoothed her dress and opened the door. Daniel's eyes widened upon seeing her, his gaze running over her body. The brilliant blue eyes darkened perceptibly, which brought a rush of heat to Sam's cheeks.
'Wow,' was the thought that hit Daniel's mind as he got his first look at Sam. She was dressed in a snug dark blue dress made of a satiny material that shimmered in the light. Before he could stop himself, his eyes had traveled up and down her entire body, taking in the view. As he did, he felt the heat of desire begin to burn low in his belly. Oh, crap. This date was really going to test his self-control.
Swallowing, Daniel huskily said, "Sam, you look . . . you look incredible."
Sam smiled. "Thank you. You look great, too." And he did. He was wearing an expensive blue-gray suit that made his eyes look even bluer in contrast. The tie was a few shades darker. Like last time, his shirt was white.
Daniel pulled his hand out from behind his back and revealed not the traditional bouquet of roses, but, instead, a floral arrangement made of roses, carnations and other flowers and greenery. She had liked the arrangement that she got before, the one she had thought came from Daniel, but this one was simply gorgeous.
"This one really is from me," he said, smiling.
Sam took the arrangement. "Daniel, it's beautiful. Thank you. Let me put it on the table."
The archeologist followed her in, his eyes glued to her form as she went into the dining room. The part of him that was very decidedly male wanted to forget about dinner, take Sam into the bedroom and make love to her. But that would sort of defeat the purpose of this date.
Daniel would probably have thought it funny if he'd known that Sam's thoughts were along the same line. She put the flowers on the table, gathered her self-control and turned back around.
"Shall we go?"
Daniel's reply was a nod. He helped her put on the matching bolero jacket, and they left the house. Daniel opened the car door for Sam and kept his eyes off her legs as she got in, which wasn't easy.
They went to a French restaurant that was reported to have very good – and very expensive – food.
Sam smiled. "First Italian, now French. What's next? Greek?"
Daniel smiled as well. "Well, I had nothing to do with the first one, but, sure, we can stick to the international theme, if you like."
They were seated in a booth, and Daniel and Sam both ordered an aperitif.
The major looked around. "This is nice."
"Yes, it is. I hope the food lives up to its reputation."
They fell silent, looking about the restaurant, their drinks arriving a short while later. They got down to the business of deciding what to order.
"Um . . . the menu's in French," Sam said.
"Yeah. They probably have ones in English. Do you want me to ask?"
"Could you tell me what this one says?"
"Sure, no problem."
Daniel translated each of the menu items, reading the description for the ones that interested Sam. They both made their choices on what to order.
"This proves that having a linguist can be very handy even outside of work," Sam remarked, smiling.
When the waiter arrived, he noticed that the menus Daniel and Sam had were in French. He asked if they had requested them and were told that they hadn't.
"I am terribly sorry, Monsieur, Madame," he apologized. "We have both English and French menus, which are kept separate. The one who seated you must have taken the wrong ones."
"It's all right," Daniel responded. "I translated them."
The man smiled. "Ah. You speak French?"
"Oui."
Smiling, the waiter switched to that language. Following suit, Daniel ordered for both himself and Sam as the astrophysicist looked on, thinking that hearing Daniel speak French, the language of love, was incredibly sexy.
After the waiter had left, silence fell between them, neither of them knowing what to say. Sam picked up the wine list and began going through it, feeling uncomfortable. A soft sound from Daniel a moment later made her look at him.
"This is stupid," he said, shaking his head. "We've known each other for almost six and a half years. During those years, the two of us have eaten together how many times?"
"Dozens," Sam replied.
"And we've never had a problem finding something to talk about. So, why are we now? Because this isn't just a dinner between friends? We're still the same people. We're still friends."
Sam relaxed, smiling. "You're right. We're being silly. Just because this is a date shouldn't make a difference."
With the ice broken, Daniel and Sam began to really talk. In fact, they got so deep in conversation that the arrival of the food was almost incidental. They kept talking as they ate.
During the years that they had known each other, there were always subjects that, even as close friends, they did not talk about, things viewed as too personal. As the evening progressed, they found themselves opening up to each other in ways they never had before, learning things they'd never known.
Not surprisingly, the conversation got on the subject of first kisses. Sam thought that Daniel's story of the little girl who gave him his first kiss at the tender age of six was adorable.
"So, what about you?" the archeologist asked. "When was your first kiss?"
"Oh, I was quite a bit older than you. I was fifteen." Sam grinned. "Bobby Heater. He was the most popular boy in school, and I was a science geek. Apparently, his buddies made a bet with him that he wouldn't be able to get anywhere with me. Despite the fact that he'd teased me more than once, I'm afraid I had a bit of a crush on him. So, when he offered to walk me home from school one day, I jumped at the chance. His father was stationed at the same military base as Dad, so we both lived in the base housing. Well, dummy me, when we got to my house, I let Bobby come in. He immediately started making moves on me. The kiss was fine and really quite enjoyable, but he went too far when he began groping me. I started pushing him away, and it probably would have ended there, but, as luck would have it, Dad walked in the door."
"Uh oh."
"Oh, yeah. He sees this boy pawing his daughter, apparently against her will, and went ballistic. Bobby was really lucky he made it out of the house alive. I had to beg Dad not to go to Bobby's father about it, insisting that Bobby wouldn't have hurt me. Of course, I got the lecture about not letting boys into the house when I'm alone."
"It's a shame that your first kiss was under those conditions," Daniel said.
"Oh, don't be. Bobby was a jerk, and that incident completely killed my crush on him, so I was way better off. What's even better, though, is that he never dared tease me again. In fact, he avoided me like the plague, probably afraid that, if he even looked at me, my 'psycho' father would slice him up with a combat knife."
Daniel let out a laugh. "What about the bet?"
"I have it on good authority that he never collected, that he actually lied to his friends and told them that he didn't get anywhere with me. I guess he was more worried about my father doing something to him if he . . . besmirched my name than he was about losing a few bucks and being teased by his friends."
They finished their meal and walked out into the cool night air.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" Daniel asked, not wanting the evening to end.
"Sure, that would be great."
They headed off down the sidewalk.
"So, we've heard the stories of our first kisses," Sam said after a moment. "What about our first loves?"
"Well, that all depends on if you count crushes."
"Only if the crush actually resulted in a relationship, however brief it was."
"Okay. Though I did have a crush or two growing up, I didn't have a girlfriend until my junior year in college."
"Why so long?"
"Several things. Starting college at sixteen meant that virtually every other student during my freshman year was older than me. And I was really too focused on my studies to bother with girls anyway. By the time I hit eighteen, I was a bit more sure of myself about a lot of things. And there was this girl, Rebecca. She was a freshman, shy, sweet, very intelligent. She was majoring in geology, which I was intending to get a bachelor's in. We became friends and, in time, a lot more."
"Was she your first?" Sam asked gently.
Daniel smiled softly. "Yeah. It wasn't planned. We'd been friends for a while, exchanged a couple of kisses, but nothing intense. Then, one night, it just happened. It was her first time, too. We dated into the summer. But then her family moved out of state, and Rebecca decided to transfer to a university near their new home. Her mom's health was poor, so she wanted to be nearby. We wrote letters to each other, but Rebecca eventually got involved with someone else. We stayed in contact as friends, an occasional letter, Christmas and birthday cards. The last letter I got from her was shortly before I got my first doctorate. Her mom had passed away, and she was considering leaving school. I tried to encourage her to stick with it, telling her that her mom wouldn't have wanted her to quit, but I never heard back from her. I don't know what became of her."
Sam slipped her hand into his. "I'm sorry."
Daniel shrugged. "I never regretted what we shared, even though we didn't stay together." He looked at Sam. "What about you?"
"Well, like you, I had a few crushes, including the one I already told you about, but my first boyfriend was Brian Richardson. He loved science as much as I did, and we dated throughout our senior year in high school. We parted ways when he went on to college and I went to the Air Force Academy." Sam looked at Daniel. "I know that you're too much of a gentleman to ask, so I'll tell you that, yes, he was my first. We actually waited quite a while before consummating our relationship. You know, thinking about it, Brian was an awful lot like you."
"How so?"
"He was very kind and compassionate, brilliant, but you'd never know it by the way he talked about himself. No ego to speak of. He and I shared the same passion for our fields of interest that you and I do."
That's when a sudden realization hit Sam square between the eyes. Brian was not the only man Sam had been romantically interested in whose personality bore a striking resemblance to Daniel's. Narim, Martouf and Orlin all had that quality of gentleness and compassion. And they were all extremely intelligent, yet didn't flaunt it.
Was it possible that, subconsciously, Sam had been drawn to all three of those men because they reflected portions of Daniel's personality? Could some part of her deep inside have been trying to tell her all these years that he was the one she wanted, the one with whom she belonged? Or was it simply that men like that were Sam's "type," the kind of guy to whom she was most attracted? But then, how could she explain Jonas Hanson and Jack, who were definitely not that type?
"Sam? Are you all right?" Daniel asked.
"What?" Sam realized that she'd stopped walking. "Oh. Um, yes. Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."
"What?"
Should she tell him? Maybe not yet. If this relationship grew into something permanent, then she would.
"I'll tell you another time," she said.
Daniel gave her a gentle smile. "Okay."
They walked in silence for a while, their hands still joined.
"Thank you," Daniel abruptly said. "This has been . . . really nice."
"Yes, it has." They'd done nothing more than go to dinner and then for a walk, yet Sam couldn't remember another date that she'd enjoyed more. It was that connection they had, the bond that allowed them to feel so at ease with each other, able to talk about private things without feeling any discomfort. They had really shared things with each other tonight, and that simple fact had made it the perfect date, a date she didn't want to end.
They'd reached the end of the block. The couple could hear music on the still night air, coming from a night club directly across the street. On impulse, Sam turned to Daniel, smiling.
"Dance with me," she said.
"Right here?"
"Sure, why not?"
Daniel grinned. "Okay."
Daniel took Sam into his arms, and they began swaying to the beat, dancing right there on the sidewalk of a Colorado Springs street with the moon and stars shining down on them. Soon, they forgot all about where they were, simply enjoying being in each other's arms. Daniel held Sam close, his arms around her waist, hers about his neck. Their foreheads touching, they closed their eyes, both of them feeling happy and content.
Daniel had never believed in fate, but if it wasn't fate or some higher power that stepped in at that moment, then they were experiencing an amazing coincidence, for, at that moment, a new song began inside the night club, one that seemed to have been written just for them.
Are those your eyes?
Is that your smile?
I've been looking at you forever
But I never saw you before
Are these your hands holding mine?
Now I wonder how I could have been so blind
For the first time, I am looking in your eyes
For the first time, I'm seeing who you are
I can't believe how much I see
When you're looking back at me
Now I understand what love is . . . love is
For the first time
Can this be real?
Can this be true?
Am I the person I was this morning?
And are you the same you?
It's all so strange, how can it be?
All along, this love was right in front of me
And for the first time, I am looking in your eyes
For the first time I';m seeing who you are
I can't believe how much I see
When you're looking back at me
Now I understand what love is . . . love is
For the first time
Such a long time ago
I had given up on finding this emotion . . . ever again.
But you're here with me now
Yes, I've found you somehow
And I've never been so sure
And for the first time, I am looking in your eyes
For the first time I'm seeing who you are
Can't believe how much I see
When you are looking back at me
Now I understand what love is . . . love is
For the first time
Daniel lifted his head and met Sam's eyes, seeing that she recognized the parallel between the song and their relationship. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but was it too soon? Was Sam ready for that declaration? This date was supposed to be a 'trial', a test to see if they should pursue a relationship. But Daniel already knew in his heart that they didn't really need any trials or tests. He had feared that a relationship between them might end like the one with Sarah did, but he should have known all along that wouldn't happen. Though he had cared a great deal for Sarah, she had not been the greatest passion in his life at the time. As ashamed as he was to admit it, even to himself, their relationship had always taken second place to his research, his work. And that's why it fell apart. But with Sam, it was different. He would give up his work for her in a heartbeat. Nothing in the universe was more important to him than her and Danny. Sam was . . . his soul mate. But did she feel the same?
"Sam," he whispered as they kept dancing, another song having begun. "I want to go out with you again."
Sam smiled. "I want that, too."
Their movements slowed, then stopped as their gaze remained locked upon each other. Listening to the desire in his heart, Daniel closed the distance between their lips in a slow, gentle kiss.
Neither of them knew how much time had passed when the sound of laughter ended the kiss and drew their attention to the club. A man and woman had just exited and were walking toward them.
Deciding that it was time to head back, Daniel and Sam began retracing their steps, an arm around each other. It was getting late and, as much as they hated the thought of ending the evening, Daniel needed to get home.
"I'd love to go out with you again tomorrow," he said, "but I think asking Cassie to babysit two nights in a row might be pushing it."
"Yes, you're probably right. Monday wouldn't work either, and your birthday's on Tuesday."
"Then escrow closes on the house Wednesday. After that, I'll be up to my eyeballs in packing and moving."
"We'll help you with that as much as we can, Daniel. I guess this means that we'll just have to play it by ear, see when we'll get another chance to go out."
"Yeah."
All too soon, they were at Daniel's car. The drive to Sam's was done in silence. Daniel pulled up in front.
"I had a really good time, Daniel," Sam said.
"Me too." The archeologist smiled. "I guess our test went really well."
Sam gazed at him. "Yes, it did." She paused. "Do you want to come inside for a while?"
Daniel caressed her cheek. "Sam," he murmured. "I think that you and I both know what would happen if I did."
"Yes," Sam whispered a little breathlessly. Yes, she did know. If Daniel set foot inside her house tonight, they would be making love before fifteen minutes had passed. She wanted that badly, ached for it, but it couldn't happen, not tonight.
"I'll see you at work on Monday, okay?" Daniel said, wishing that he didn't have to go home, that he could spend the night making love with Sam. Perhaps it was best that he couldn't. He was used to moving a lot slower with the women he dated, well, except for Sha're, that is, whom he didn't even have a chance to date before they were married.
Daniel had a feeling, though, that there would be no moving slowly with Sam. They'd already come close to making love. How many more dates could they go on before they could no longer deny themselves what they really wanted? And was there really any reason to delay? They'd already been friends for nearly six and a half years. They weren't strangers just getting to know each other.
Unaware of Daniel's thoughts, Sam nodded. "Okay. Good night, Daniel."
Sam made a move to open the door. But a sudden need took hold of her. She took Daniel's face in her hands and kissed him, hard. Before he could respond, she broke away.
"Good night," she said again, more softly, then got out. Daniel watched her go up the walkway and ascend the stairs. She paused before going in the house, turning back to wave at him. Then she slipped inside.
When Daniel got home, it wasn't hard for Cassie to tell that his date went really well. Smirking, she reached up and wiped a little smudge of lipstick from the corner of Daniel's mouth, which made him blush all the way to his collar.
"So, are you going to tell me her name now?" she asked, grinning.
"No."
"Oh, come on, Daniel. Please? I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight if you don't."
"Sorry. You're just going to have to wait."
"Damn. You're as stubborn as Danny is."
Daniel gazed at her narrowly. "Cassie, did you try to get Danny to tell you who I'm dating?"
Cassie's expression turned evasive. "Well . . . I may have asked him about it."
"Uh huh. And he refused to tell you, didn't he."
Cassie frowned. "Even when I tried to bribe him with chocolate." She gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth at the slip of the tongue. "Oops."
"Cassandra Fraiser, you should be ashamed of yourself," Daniel scolded.
"Okay, so I let my curiosity get the better of me." The teen's expression changed, softened. "I just wanted to know who, after all these years, has captured your interest like that, Daniel. I know how much you loved your wife."
"Yes, I did love her, and, for a long time, I believed that she would be the last woman I felt that way about. But I'm happy to say that I was wrong."
Cassie's eyes widened when she realized what Daniel had just revealed. "Oh my God. You love her, don't you, this woman you went out with tonight."
Daniel cursed silently, not having intended to let that out. So, what could he do? Deny it? What would be the point?
"Yes, I do, Cass, very much."
Instead of the reaction Daniel had been expecting, Cassie came forward and gave him a hug. Surprised, he hugged her back.
"I'm so happy for you, Daniel," she said, smiling. She drew back. "Okay, I can wait to find out who she is," she wagged her finger at him, "but not for long, mind you."
Daniel laughed softly. "Okay. I promise that you'll be among the first to know."
After Cassie had left, Daniel checked on Danny. The boy was sleeping in the bed, which meant that Daniel would be spending another night on the couch. He'd really be glad when they were in their new house, where they'd each have their own bedroom.
Pressing a kiss to Danny's brow, Daniel quietly left the room.
It came as no surprise to Daniel that the first thing Danny asked the next morning was if the date went well.
The archeologist smiled at him. "Yes, it did, Danny. We had a wonderful time."
Danny smiled happily. "Are you going to go on another one?"
"That's the plan."
"Does this mean that you and Sam are going to get together?"
"Well, I can't say for sure, but . . ." Daniel's smile widened, "yes, I think that we are."
"Yay!" Danny shouted, jumping up and down. Daniel laughed at the sight, wondering how many eight-year-olds got that excited about such things.
"Can I tell everybody now?" Danny asked excitedly.
The thought of Danny running all over the SGC, telling everyone he saw that Daniel and Sam were dating, horrified the archeologist.
"Uh, no. That wouldn't be a good idea," he replied. "In fact, when it comes to Jack, Teal'c and General Hammond, Sam and I really need to be the ones to tell them. There are things we need to discuss about it."
Danny was disappointed that he wasn't going to get to spread the news. "What things?"
"Um, well, though it may not be against the rules for us to date, we need to find out if General Hammond and Jack will think it's okay for us to stay on the same team now that we are dating."
Danny frowned. "You mean they might not like it?"
"I don't know. That's one of the things we'll need to discuss with them."
"But Uncle Jack said—" Danny halted abruptly, covering his mouth with both hands, a look in his eyes that told Daniel the boy had just said something he wasn't supposed to say.
"Jack said what, Danny?" Daniel asked, staring at the child piercingly.
The boy didn't reply, staring at his shoes.
"Danny, did you tell Jack about Sam and me?"
Danny began shuffling his feet. "Sort of."
Oh, great. "Danny, it was supposed to be a secret."
Danny finally looked at him. "But he already guessed!"
"He did?"
"First, he guessed that you and Sam were already dating, but when I said no, then he guessed right, that you liked each other in a romantic way, but weren't dating yet. So I thought that, because he guessed right, it would be okay to tell him the secret."
Daniel sat on the couch. "Okay, let me get this straight. Jack came to you and said that he'd figured out that something was going on between Sam and me, and then he made those guesses?"
Danny nodded.
"Why on Earth did he come to you instead of me or Sam?"
"I don't know."
"When did this happen?"
"After the Fourth of July party."
That's when Daniel realized what must have happened. Jack must have noticed the way he and Sam were acting toward each other. The colonel probably then put all the pieces together, including Danny's earlier question about the rules regarding relationships, and figured out that something was going on between Daniel and Sam. Crap.
"Uhhh . . . Danny, how much did you tell Jack? Did you tell him about that dinner you tricked us into going on?" Please say no. Please say no.
Danny nodded his head. "He thought it was really funny."
Daniel groaned, slumping back against the cushions, eyes closed. Oh, this was a disaster. Jack would tease them for the rest of their lives.
Danny stared at Daniel. "Are you mad at me?"
Daniel lifted his head off the backrest to look at the boy. "No, I'm not mad, but I really, really wish you hadn't told him about the dinner."
Danny's eyes returned to his shoes. "I'm sorry."
"Does he also know about the date we went on last night?"
"No, I couldn't call him because you were here and then Cassie was here. But he really wants to know how the dinner went. He said that he'd help me get you and Sam together, if the dinner didn't work."
"Wait a minute. Jack was going to play matchmaker with you?"
"What does matchmaker mean?"
"A matchmaker is someone who does things to try to get two people together. What you did with that dinner makes you a matchmaker."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Well, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. In this case, your matchmaking turned out to be a good thing." Daniel began to grin. "So, Jack was going to be a matchmaker, huh. We might be able to use this."
"What do you mean?"
"I need to call Sam."
Daniel called Sam's cell phone and asked her to come over, saying that something important had come up. When the major arrived, she was told everything. Her reaction to finding out that Jack knew about the trickery was pretty much the same as Daniel's had been.
"Daniel, he's never going to let us live this down," she moaned.
"I know. But there is one good thing. I've learned that Jack clearly has no problem with us dating." Daniel told her the rest of it, how Jack had volunteered to help with the matchmaking.
Sam just gaped at him. "The colonel? Playing matchmaker?"
Daniel grinned. "Yeah, I know. Kind of blows your mind, doesn't it? I think we can use this to our advantage, though."
"How?"
"Oh, I had a bit of blackmail in mind."
"Blackmail?" both Sam and Danny questioned.
"Uh huh," Daniel turned to Danny. "But I'm going to need your help."
The song included in this chapter is "For the First Time," written and composed by Jud Friedman, Allen Rich and James Newton-Howard and performed by both Rod Stewart and Kenny Loggins. To hear a portion of the Kenny Loggins version, CLICK HERE.
