They'd pow-wowed at his desk and picniced on the mall and gone to lunch dozens of times, and they were all simply friendly acts, nothing more than what they seemed.
This time, however, it had taken on a distinctly different feel. It wasn't because she had pressed her hand into his and he'd taken it willingly. It was because neither of their hearts had beaten any harder, and their eyes had not met. They'd simply held hands and walked on, looking to the uninformed like a rather normal couple.
One of Josh's fingers began stroking the back of her knuckle and she glanced at him quickly. That was when things began to sink in with her. The color rose in her cheeks and looked just like the cherry blossom petals clinging to her hair. He didn't notice because his eyes were trained straight ahead, not really willing to process the implication of his actions.
In all honestly, he wished he had done that before. Her skin felt rather nice clutched in his hand. He wished to touch more. He wanted to touch more, and if he admitted it to himself, he needed to touch more.
The silence was trying his mind and he broke it with purpose, speaking in his whispy, strident manner. "This is nice."
Donna's lips upturned in a smile and she wondered why he was so okay with holding her hand in public. But in that moment, for those minutes, neither of them decided to care. If reporters decided to snap pictures of them, that was their problem. There was nothing to investigate, nothing to hide, just two people, strolling along hand in hand.
It could have been just a walk, but it probably wasn't. No, it definately wasn't, especially when she brought her right arm up to land on his bicep. "Yeah, it is a nice day."
Josh slowed his steps until stopping. Donna turned to face her and smiled, confused. "No, Donna, I mean, you know... this."
Josh held their entwined hands up between them and regarded them thoughtfully. Donna did as well, the smile slipping from her face as the implications dawned on her. "I guess, this is nice too?"
Josh lifted his head and cocked it, taking a step closer to her. All around them pedestrians milled about, not really paying them any attention. "You guess?"
Ah, the old cockiness slid in between them and made her lift a brow. It would figure; Josh Lyman would ruin a perfectly good moment by being himself. But, Donna thought, she did kinda love him-all of him-so she figured she'd let it slide. "Yes, Joshua, I guess."
He had two choices then: allow her comment to wound his ego or take it as a compliment. He chose the latter, a brazen smile raising his cheeks. "I do do believe it warrants more than an 'I guess', but I'll let it go." He turned away from her again and tugged her along and she followed willingly.
Josh swung their hands between them and got the strangest urge to skip, but held off. It felt far too right to simply hold hands in this manner and it spurred Josh to wonder, once more, what holding her in other ways would feel like. Spectacular, he was sure, most likely unlike anything he'd felt before. Because this time, this time, Joshua Lyman, egomaniac and political player extrodinaire was sure that he was in love.
They rounded a corner together, ducking beneath low branches. Once again, he tugged on her hand and she stopped. "I could kiss you right now, Donnatella Moss," he said, brushing her hair over her shoulder, smiling. She too smiled but dropped her chin to her chest and huffed out a little laugh.
"But you won't," came her challenge and she raised her eye to his.
Well, Josh Lyman was never one to back down from a challenge. His hand slid around to cup her chin and captured her lips softly with his, their moment shielded by the sagging branches of an aging blossom tree.
Surprise was evident in her stiff lips, in the way her shoulders tightened, but soon she softened under his light touch and fell as deeply in love with the kiss as he had with him. Surrendering herself for a moment to him, she wove her hands through his curly hair and pulled him hard against her, successfull gaining the upper hand.
Josh's hands dropped from her face to her hips and cradled them for a moment before sliding around to wrap around the hollow of her back, pressing their bodies together. It got a bit out of hand when he began kissing her neck in earnest, making her moan, full and throaty, tilting her head back to give him access.
A few minutes of necking and they were back to walking, but this time, they walked in the direction of Donna's apartment, hand in hand, twin springs in both of their step's.