Nick was frustrated.

He hated to admit it but he felt like a horny school boy. Kissing Betsy again had been a mistake. Claire trusted him to help her  sister not hit on her. Yet he was messing it all up. It didn't help that the little pixie was capable of breaking through every wall and shield he created. She didn't even know what effect she was having on him.

And yet there was still so much he didn't know about her. The envelope, the one which he had hidden in a drawer at the house, was calling out to him. He could open it so easily. Several times he had taken it out and opened the top. The papers were all in there. He could learn all of her secrets.

Nicholas still hadn't looked at the contents of the envelope. It felt wrong to even consider it.

Clenching his hands on top of the desk, Nick stared at the screen before him. He had been looking at the same spreadsheet for half an hour but he still wasn't sure what he was looking at. It was just one blurred set of figures after another.

Breathing in deeply and locking his fingers together, he stretched them over his head. Then, after cracking his head side to side in an attempt to remove the ache which had settled there, he stared at the screen with renewed focus. However it seemed he was not destined to finish his work. Just as he placed his fingers over the keys, angry buzzing filled the air. His mobile jumped across the desktop as it continued to ring. He was almost tempted to let it go to voicemail but the familiar name across the surface had him scrabbling to answer the call.

"Hello, Nick speaking." He spoke calmly into the handset while his stomach was in knots.

"Nico, how are you today? Have you been working too hard? You sound a bit stressed." Mr Giannopoulos asked brightly.

Nick winced at the exuberance but replied with a polite, "I am good. And how are you?"

"I am good. Very good. The sun is shining and I am having breakfast with my beautiful wife who makes the very best coffee." Markos cheered.

"That's good."

Staring at the screen before him, Nick brought up a hand to massage his temples while the man continued to natter inanely from the other end of the phone. Sometimes Nick couldn't help but think the older man had agreed to this deal just so that he had an unrestricted audience to torture with his chatter. Even if he wanted to, Nick could not and would not hang up the phone. He could lose millions if things went wrong now.

Despite his unwillingness to entertain Markos so early in the morning, Nicholas could admit that he liked the other man. He wouldn't ever say it out loud, but the man was more of a father figure than his own had ever been.

"Anyway, back to my reason for calling, Nico." A merry laugh echoed down the line followed by some muffled arguing. "Sorry, it is the wife. She cannot leave me alone. You know how it is with women! I just wanted to check on the plans for tonight. You said you would make all of the arrangements for dinner."

"Tonight. Dinner?" Nick repeated the words back down the phone line as he tried to figure out what exactly the man meant.

"Oh no, did you forget? Do we need to cancel?" Mr Giannopoulos asked. "I'm sure I could get the board to meet up some other time if you have not been able to make any arrangements."

"No!" the dark haired man stated, running in fingers through his hair while his other hand clutched desperately onto the handset. "I was a bit distracted for a moment there. Dinner tonight will be at my house. As much as I love to eat out, there is nothing like a home cooked meal."

He was grateful that Betsy and Ms Reed were not there to see this situation unfolding. The latter probably would have fallen over in shock. His beautiful blonde would have just laughed at the predicament he found himself in. she seemed to like watching him unravel.

"I couldn't agree more Nico." The head of the Giannopoulos family replied, before lowering his voice. "And is the beautiful Elizabeth going to be there? And the beautiful children? it will be lovely to see the whole family again."

Blinking Nick, leant back in his seat with the phone still clutched to his ear. Though he had woken up the day before with Betsy wrapped within his arms, to hear someone refer to them as a family sent a jolt through his system. He didn't hate the idea. In fact, Nick was almost scared with how much he liked the idea of Betsy coming into his little family. He cleared his throat loudly. "Yes, we'll all be there. "

"Good. It is great news Nico. I'll let you get back to work." The man cheered down the phone.

"Thank you. I'll send the address over to your Assistant and I'll see you tonight."

"Until then Nico."

As the phone line cut off, Nick put the handset down and then ran his hands through his hair.

"What have I done?" he asked the room but got no answer.

Why did he tell the man he would host dinner at his home? Ms Reed was going to kill him for this. He hadn't hosted a dinner at his home since -. He cut off abruptly and stared down at the desktop. It felt like a lead weight had dropped into his stomach.

He hadn't welcomed anyone into his home since his wife had been alive. He had always kept things impersonal. It felt like the lid on his life had been cracked open and there was nothing he could do to close it. And it wasn't just this. He knew that Betsy was the cause of everything. She had something special about her. He was defenceless against her.

Inhaling deeply, Nicholas Davenport shook his head to clear his thoughts. Everything always came back to Betsy. As much as he would love to sit there and analyse exactly what it was which made Betsy so special, Nick grit his teeth and focused his mind on the job at hand. He had things to do and now was not the time to think about her. No matter how much he wanted to.

Picking up his phone once more, Nick sent instructions to his assistant before scrolling through his contacts. Money talked and within a few texts he had the chef from his flagship London hotel on her way to the Davenport Estate with a few of her trusted staff. She would know exactly what to do. She was a consummate professional and could be trusted to do her job and not take and liberties. It probably helped that he had thrown in a five grand bonus her way for the inconvenience of the last minute changes.

Last on his list, Nick sent a text to Betsy. He had put it off because it felt like their current situation was fragile. Since the cemetery, there had been a shift in the relationship. Nothing official but he had hopes for the future. He just had to do it soon. Claire was getting better and Betsy still believed herself to be a temporary employee until her sister could take over.

Nick shook his head. He would do what it took to make sure that she stayed.

By the time the Giannopoulos family arrived at the house, the delicious scent of hearty cuisine filled the air. The weather had turned bitterly cold with the weather reports threatening snow though the white flakes had yet to materialise. It was the last thing he needed right now. Half of Britain always managed to shut down when it snowed. One day the nation would learn from the Canadians and learn to cope with the colder weather but until then he just had to hope the reports were wrong.

"They're coming!" Delilah squealed, watching through the window as the unfamiliar car made its way along the long driveway, its headlights flashing bright into the darkness.

Ms Reed bustled forwards, pulling the young girl away from the window and back over to her father. As his daughter bounced on the spot, the older woman straightened the small girl's outfit before smiling down at her.

"Now remember what we talked about little madam." Ms Reed teased, tapping her finger gently on the end of her nose with a smile on her wrinkled face. "Behave."

Nodding her head obediently, Delilah took hold of Nick's hand even as she continued to bounce on the balls of her feet. Shaking his head, the man shared a smile with the older woman.

"Now go home." Nick ordered with a twitch of his lips as the woman went to rearrange plant pots and tidy the room. "You've done more than enough today. Thank you for all of your help. Now go home before I put you in a car myself."

The older woman turned and glared at her employer, her lips twitching even as she waved her finger at him. "I'm going home but only because I don't want to miss my soaps. You haven't won anything."

"Of course," Nick replied, bowing his head deferentially to the older woman.

"I'll see you tomorrow. No arguments."

Nick raised a brow as the older woman hobbled away. She still had a flair for dramatics even if age seemed determined to slow her down. He couldn't imagine the house without her though he could see that retirement was calling the woman stronger each day.

"Nick?" A soft voice called, seconds before a familiar head of blonde hair appeared within his vision.

Betsy halted in the doorway, a blush forming across her cheeks as Nick's dark eyes swept over her body from head to toe. Dressed in white trousers, a soft champagne coloured silk camisole and a pale pink cardigan, Nick couldn't help but compare her to the woman he had first met. She looked elegant and no less beautiful than the woman who had fallen into his life. He found that he enjoyed both versions of her – the one who was comfortable in a pair of jeans and her hair tied up on the top of her head, and this version in the smart clothing and light makeup to emphasise her features.

Then again, Nick was fairly certain the woman could have been wearing a bin bag and he still would have found her incredibly beautiful.

"How do I look? Your assistant had these delivered." Betsy bit her lip, hands held out wide as she looked down at herself.

She shifted from foot to foot as Nick swept his eyes over her form once more. When he finally tried to meet her gaze, he found that her face was hidden behind her curls.

"Beautiful." He murmured, before squeezing his daughter's hand lightly. "Don't you agree Lilah?"

The little girl nodded her head, her ponytail swaying side to side in her excitement. "So pretty."

"Lilah, why don't you go and get Tommy for me. I want to speak to Betsy about something." Nick instructed, releasing her hand so that she could go and search out the smaller boy.

"Why can't I listen?" Delilah asked, her head tilted up to look at her dad while a small frown formed on her face.

"Because I need to speak about boring adult things," Nick replied, stroking his fingers through her hair. He scrunched up his face into an ugly expression, his nose wrinkled and his tongue stuck out, earning him a giggle from the small girl before him.

"You always talk about boring things!" she pouted. After a few seconds of staring up at her father she sighed. "Okay, I will get Tommy."

With a slump to her shoulders, she walked away. Nick watched her go, shaking his head as he did so. He met Betsy's gaze a second before a laugh escaped his lips. "I have no idea where she gets it from."

"Oh really? I though she got her acting abilities from you." Betsy teased, stepping into further into the room. "What did you need me for?"

"I just wanted to say thank you." Nick started, stepping closer without even having to tell his body what to do.

"Thank you? For what?"

Watching as a crease formed between her brows, he was unable to stop his hand from smoothing over the skin until the frown had completely disappeared. "For tonight. For everything else that you have done. It was never part of your contract when you came to work for me but I really do appreciate it. We all appreciate it."

Betsy, whose cheeks had flushed hotter under the touch of the tall and confusing man, bit back a sigh as his hand fell way.

"It's fine."

"It's not fine. I want to pay you back. To say thank you properly."

Betsy laughed, her hand brushing curls from her face as she did so. "You've thanked me. You don't need to pay me back in any way. I should be thanking you for taking care of me."

Nick tried not to roll his eyes. Some people just didn't know when to give in and accept.

Glaring at the small woman, his head was forced to tilt further down as he edged closer to her. "You will let me thank you properly." He edged closer still before letting his lips twitch up into a smirk. It felt strange on his face when faced with his pixie woman but he held it firmly in place. "But, if it will ease your conscience, we can both say thank you to each other. I will buy dinner as a thank you, and you can grace me with your presence which will be your present to me."

She stood there quietly for several long moments. "Just the two of us? Like a date?"

The instant the words were out of her mouth, Betsy clapped her hand over her lips and stared up the statuesque man before her.

"Well, I was just suggesting dinner." Nick stated blandly. "But if you want it to be a date. I'll make arrangements for Saturday. At 8? That will work for both of us, I think."

He watched as her mouth opened and closed several times. Her cheeks took on a flush as she struggled to formulate a response.

The doorbell chose that moment to echo throughout the house. Placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, Nick walked away with a bounce to his step. His lips pulled up into a smile and he made no attempt to remove it.

Pulling open the door, Nick smiled at his guests. He enjoyed the momentary disorientation on Markos Giannopoulos' face. The head of the Davenport Empire would have cussed his lack of control but for the first time in a long time it felt good to let down his walls. Not that he would tell anyone. Some things were better left unsaid.

"Nico, look at you. It feels like I am staring at the face a new man. Love suits you my boy." The older man cheered, pulling Nick into a man hug and clapping an enthusiastic hand on his back. Quickly he detached and brushed past him. "And there she is – the woman of the hour. You are glowing Elizabeth."

"Thank you," Betsy replied softly. He didn't have to look to know that she was smiling with a rosy blush across her pale skin.

Nick did not turn around to view the scene. Instead, he welcomed the rest of the guests into his home before closing off the cold air that whipped through the gap and attempted to steal away the warmth.

When he finally turned around, Betsy had slipped into the role of hostess with ease. She was smiling and laughing with the Giannopoulos women, Tommy was sitting on her hip while his head rested on her shoulder. She looked as if she belonged in his home. Delilah stood at her side, her grin wide and her face animated as the women drew her into the conversation.

Nick clenched his hands at his sides for a moment as he stared at the scene. His heart lurched in his chest at the easy way Betsy kissed the top of Tommy's head as she listened to the chatter. This was what his family had been missing. For a moment he felt like a failure.

"Nico, where's the food?" Markos asked loudly, his arm coming up around Nick's shoulder. "Contemplation can wait but I don't think my stomach can."

Glancing down at the shorter man, Nick forced himself not to look away under the Greek man's knowing stare. He nodded his head before clearing his throat loudly. "If you all follow me, dinner should be ready in the dining room."

And with that he let his worries drift away so that he could focus on his guests. He could analyse everything else tomorrow. It could wait.

A/N: I'm looking for your input readers. What do you think the perfect first date would be for Nick and Betsy.