Loving Mr. July (20 page)

The small, dark haired woman who was the
winning bidder walked up to the podium, a big smile on her
face.

When she reached Kurt, he put his free arm
around her shoulders. “This, my friends, is Stella Martinez, the
wife of my dear friend Mario. Stella was
my
planted
bidder.”

Cynthia put a hand up to her mouth. Oh my
God, what had she done?

“Yes,” Kurt said, chuckling. “You just cost
me a whole lot of money.”

Cynthia bit her lip, shaking her head, as
tears came to her face.

“So Cynthia,” Kurt said, “will you be my
fantasy date?”

She nodded, crying, and turned to bury her
face in Kurt’s chest.

Stella slipped out from under Kurt’s arm, and
he hugged Cynthia. Over her head, he spoke into the microphone. “I
think that’s a yes, folks!”

Stella pried Cynthia’s notes from her hand,
and gave them a gentle shove so she could reach the podium.

“Okay, then, shall we continue with this
auction ladies?”

~ ~ ~

Kurt watched the rest of the proceedings from
the back of the room, where he’d gone after spending a few moments
with Cynthia back stage. They still had some things to work out,
but then again, he still had a few plans up his sleeve. For now,
her dedication to the Bocher Foundation and the kids it served took
first place. So she had resumed her emcee duties, joining Stella
onstage to introduce Mr. September. Their easy camaraderie made the
proceedings even livelier.

Kurt turned to Mario. “You know, Dude, I may
have to rethink my communications director. Stella could give you a
run for your money.”

“My lady’s one of a kind,” Mario agreed,
glancing at the stage with pride before turning back to Kurt and
clapping him on the shoulder, grinning. “But when word of this
night gets back to the office, you may need both of us to handle
the fallout.”

“Up yours,” Kurt said, grinning back at him.
Yeah, his staff would give him major ribbing. Hell, the entire
company would give him major ribbing. But he knew it would all be
in fun. And Cynthia, well, she was worth it.

The sun dipped in the sky as Kurt drove
Cynthia away from the Napa resort where they had spent their get
away weekend. Driving through the country roads, surrounded by
vineyards in the last stages of fall color, he whistled. He felt at
peace, happier than he’d ever been, and wanting with everything in
his power to make the same true for Cynthia. He knew their just
concluded weekend had fulfilled just about every bit of fantasy
that Cynthia had dreamed up. And he had enjoyed it more than he
would have thought possible.

But the day wasn’t over. And he wasn’t
finished. He had a few dreams of his own.

Taking a quick glance at his watch, he
smiled. Perfect timing. The traffic gods had been kind to them, and
as he took the turnoff toward the Golden Gate recreation area, he
glanced over at Cynthia to see the question in her face.

“Thought since we’re here, we might as well
enjoy the sunset.”

Cynthia seemed to take the statement at face
value, just nodding and giving him a smile while snuggling deeper
into her seat.

Turning west along the roads that led to the
old battery installations, Kurt parked the car where he knew they
could take a trail to the cliff edge. He pulled a blanket out of
the trunk and led her down the trail to a point where they could
see the Golden Gate Bridge to the east, and the opening of the bay
to the west. After draping the blanket on the ground, he sat down,
pulling Cynthia to his lap.

For once, the bay lacked the fog it was so
famous for, and the light smattering of clouds on the horizon
provided ample canvas for the sun to display its glorious colors as
it dipped toward the sea.

Watching silently, Cynthia sighed.
“Beautiful. Thank you.”

Kurt hugged her. “Like you.”

She turned to give him a smile, and he took
the opportunity to give her a deep kiss.

“Just one thing would make it better.” Kurt
pulled the small turquoise box out of his pocket and handed it to
her.

Cynthia’s face took on a look of wonder as
she opened the lid to reveal the four-carat yellow diamond
engagement ring.

Kurt chuckled as she gazed at him,
speechless. “Marry me?”

Cynthia put a hand to her throat, tears
flowing down her face and nodded. Then she glanced between him and
the gorgeous ring and shook her head.

“Kind of giving me mixed messages here, Cyn,”
Kurt teased her. “I take it that was a yes? Or was it a no, you
don’t like the ring?”

Cynthia laughed then through her tears. “Of
course it’s a yes, you crazy, impossible, wonderful man.”

She reached up to kiss him full on the mouth.
Coming up for air, she said, “But this ring, it’s too much. It must
have cost you a fortune.”

“As I plan to see it on your finger for the
next fifty years or so,” Kurt nuzzled her neck, “I think the
amortized cost is well worth it. Does that satisfy my businesswoman
girlfriend?”

Cynthia giggled. “No, but it satisfies your
businesswoman fiancée.”

After sliding the ring on her finger, she
leaned back into his embrace and enjoyed a long kiss.

After a while, Kurt lifted his head.
“Remember the first time we made love?”

Cynthia nodded.

“I came this close,” Kurt said, bringing his
fingers together in a pinching motion, “to asking you right then
and there to marry me.”

Cynthia looked at him in wonder. “Truly?”

“Uh huh.” Kurt gave her a little squeeze.
“But I wanted to make it more memorable.”

Cynthia giggled. “Oh, we made our
relationship memorable all right.”

“True.” Kurt gave her a lopsided grin. “But
in the end, I’m glad things worked out the way they did.”

“Because you enjoyed watching me make a fool
out of myself?”

“As if I didn’t?” Kurt reminded her.

“There’s that.” Cynthia grinned.

“No, because thinking I’d lost you and then
getting you back made it all the sweeter.”

“Ah, Kurt.” Tears came to Cynthia’s eyes as
she brought a hand up to his face. “I don’t know what I did to
deserve you, but I love you.”

“I love you more,” Kurt said, kissing one of
her fingertips. “And you have to admit, that’s a pretty spectacular
sunset I ordered up.”

Cynthia smiled as they watched while the sun
made its final dip into the sea.

And watching the beautiful display with his
arms wrapped around a radiant Cynthia, Kurt realized he’d finally
found home.

Loving Mr. July. Copyright © 2011 De Vries
Creative LLC. All rights reserved.

Smashwords edition. ISBN:
978-0-9837588-2-2.

Margaret Antone is a California author and
avid reader who grew up thinking everyone made up stories to put
him or herself to sleep at night. And didn’t everyone hear dialogue
between characters in their heads? Eventually abused of that
notion, she decided to start writing the snippets down, and
eventually they became stories, and turned into a dream of writing
books for others to enjoy. Although her educational path and
professional career took her into science and technology fields,
she continued to work on fiction in her “spare” time. She is a
member of the RWA and SCBWI author organizations. She makes her
home in the bay area with her family. She would love to hear from
readers. Email her at:
mailto:[email protected]

Read Blake and Sharon’s story in “Practice
Makes Perfect,” also available from Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/71987

Connect with Me Online:

http://www.margaretantone.com

Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/margaretantone