Til We Meet Again (2 page)

              “Yes, it probably would,” Dean agreed as Katie set a plate of salad in front of him.  “Would you like a glass of wine with that?” she offered.

“Only if you’ll have one,” he said.

              “It’s a deal,” she said with a smile as she pulled out 2 large wine glasses and filled each one.  She handed him one then sat down on the other stool while he ate.  She swirled the deep red wine in her glass before taking a sip. 

              “Thank you for the salad,” he said.

              “You’re welcome, I’d hate for you to have to wait to go home to eat,” she told him.

              “It’s been a long day,” he replied.  “For you too I gather if you were sleeping.”

              “Yeah, it was busy today.  Plus the stuff I’ve been trying to get done around here.”

              “Do you have any help?” he asked.

              “The neighbour is a wonderful man who does a lot of the yardwork for me,” she told him.  “He’s lived there since he was a boy and knew my great-grandmother very well.  She used to invite him over for milk and cookies.  Apparently she was trying to hook him up with my grandmother who was interested in someone else, and Mr. Grimshaw also had his eye on another young lady, who he did eventually marry,” she explained.

              “What a story,” Dean said sounding fascinated.  He took a sip of wine.

              Katie watched and as the first effects of the alcohol settled in her mind again turned to the dream she’d had and how intimate she and Dean had been.  She realized that she
really
liked Dean and wondered if he felt the same way and if it was some kind of omen.  Would they run off and get married like in her dream?

              “Penny for your thoughts,” Dean said.

              “Not worth a penny,” she replied.

              “Two pennies then.  You look awfully serious.”

              “I not only fell asleep but also had a very vivid dream,” she told him.  “I thought it was me in the dream but the man kept calling me Grace.”

              “Grace?”

              “Yeah.  And the man looked a lot like you,” she told him as she reached over and ran her fingers through his sandy hair.

              “And what were
we
doing in this dream?” he asked.

              Katie immediately blushed.  She couldn’t stop herself and felt her face redden from her chin to her forehead.  She looked into his blue eyes and felt them gazing into her own.  “You don’t want to know,” she said hoarsely.

              “When you put it that way, yeah, I do want to know,” he replied.  He stood up and carried his now empty plate to the kitchen sink.  He then picked up both glasses of wine.  “I think you should lead the way to somewhere more comfortable and tell me what you can.”

              Katie led him to where she had been asleep earlier and sat down on the sofa curling her legs under her.  He sat down next to her and handed her her wine.  She took a gulp and closed her eyes for a moment willing the alcohol to lull her into a comfort zone.  It was working but it was making her want to drag Dean to her bedroom and let him do to her what he was doing to Grace in the dream. 
Am I insane?
She wondered.

              “Would you like me to build you a fire?” Dean asked interrupting her thoughts.

              “Um, not really, I’ll be okay, and it
is
August,” she stammered.               

              “I know, I just thought it would take the chill out of the air,” he replied.

              “Yeah, it would be nice,” she said.

              Dean moved off the sofa and went about building up the kindling and a log before he struck a match lit it.  “You really should get a gas insert,” he told her.

              “I want to, but being as I just moved in, I haven’t quite got that far yet,” she replied.

              “I’m sorry.  I keep forgetting,” he told her.

              “That’s okay, I’ve just had other things to do first,” she said.

              The log caught fire and Dean replaced the screen before sitting back down beside Katie. 

              Katie breathed in deeply and could smell the wonderful cologne Dean was wearing and it added further to how she was feeling.

              “So tell me more about this dream you had, it seems to have made you uneasy,” Dean said and took another sip of his wine.  He didn’t realize it at the time he’d suggested it how much of a romantic setting he’d just created.  Wine, fire roaring in the fireplace, all they needed were a couple of candles burning and maybe one less lamp on and it would be complete.

              “You don’t want to know,” she told him again. 

              “Sure I do,” he probed.

              Katie sighed and took a gulp of her wine.  “I
really
didn’t understand it.  There was a woman, who I thought was me, except he kept calling her ‘Grace’.  I didn’t know his name but he looked a lot like you. She found him at a party and he took her to his deserted home where they made love.  They wanted to get married but she kept saying her parents would never allow it for some reason,” she told him.

              Dean felt a little uncomfortable all of a sudden and a part of him wished he’d never asked.  He could only nod in response.  The thought of him making love to Katie overwhelmed him so much he took a gulp of his wine and almost spilled it down the front of him.  She was absolutely beautiful and he had fallen in love with her in the month they’d been seeing each other.

              “So what do you think it means?” she asked him.

              “I don’t know what it means,” he replied a little more gruffly than he’d intended.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to snap at you, it’s just…” he trailed off.

              “What?” she asked.  She held her breath.  She wasn’t sure what was coming but in her slightly intoxicated state she hoped he had something good to say.

              “It’s just that…well,” he stammered.  “I think I’ve fallen in love with you,” he finally said downplaying his feelings a little for the moment.  “And the thought of making love to you—with you—it just…it…oh hell,” he said and he leaned over and kissed her.  Her lips tasted like wine as he tasted them with his tongue.

              Katie gasped as his lips brushed hers. 
He thinks he loves me?
The words echoed in her head. This was exactly what she wanted and exactly the
way
she wanted it.  He tasted as good as he smelled and she longed for him to touch her.  For his hands to touch more of her.  The warmth of his skin on hers.  Before her mind could stop her, she was unbuttoning his shirt and pressing her palms against his chest and running her fingers through the hair she’d found there. 
Just like in the dream,
she thought as his hands slid under her sweater and he touched her at last.  She moaned at his touch and pressed herself towards him.

              “Where?” he asked hoarsely as he tore his lips from hers.

              “In front of the fire,” she whispered back.

              In one fell swoop, he had scooped her into his arms and lowered her to the floor.  They slowly undressed each other and touched, teased, nibbled and caressed as many places as they could find before they could wait no longer they made love slowly and tenderly.  They held each other for a long moment feeling each other, the newness of the union, before their hips began to move slowly.  They both climaxed one after the other and Dean held her tight after and pulled a blanket down to cover her. 

              “Don’t want you to get cold,” he whispered as he nibbled her earlobe.

              She giggled.  She’d never done anything like this before in her life but it felt good and it felt right.

              “Maybe that will stop those dreams for a while,” Dean said.

              “I hope so, but I’d like to see if they actually elope,” she replied.

              “If you’re expecting a proposal from me now, I really think we should wait a while still,” he teased. 

              She giggled again.  “That’s okay,” she replied.  “I get the feeling that Grace and her lover knew each other far better than we do.”

              “Oh I don’t know, I think after our recent activities we know each other pretty intimately now too.”

              “You’re hopeless,” she said and swatted him.

              “Hopelessly in love with a beautiful woman,” he defended himself.

              Katie was speechless.  She didn’t know if he truly loved her, or if he was making fun of her again because of the dream.  She thought for a few moments about why this had felt right and wondered if it was because she loved him too.  “Really?” she asked.

              “Really what?” he said innocently.

              “You really love me?”

              “I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you.  From the first moment of your interview.  Why do you think you got the job?” he said trying to sound as serious as ever.

              “You didn’t…you couldn’t have,” she said.

              “No actually I didn’t.  I hired you for your brains and your talent, but I have loved you since that moment and had I chosen not to hire you I would have pursued you anyway,” he admitted.

              Katie sighed with relief.  She had never before been hired under those circumstances before and had no intention of starting now.

              They heard the thunder as the lights went out with a flash of lightening leaving the fire the only thing to light up the room.

              “I didn’t even know it was raining,” Katie said as she unknowingly pressed herself closer to Dean.

              “I think we were a little preoccupied,” he said.  “You’re not afraid of storms are you?”

              “They make me a little nervous,” she replied.

              “Just a little eh?” he asked as he felt her body trembling beside him and held her closer.  “You look beautiful in the firelight,” he whispered.

              Katie smiled up at him but her smile faded quickly as lightening flashed once more.

              “Your hair glistens in the firelight,” he told her softly as he nibbled her ear.

              She smiled at him.  “Quit trying to take my attention off the storm,” she told him.

              “I won’t because I think it’s working,” he said.  “A little anyway.”  He leaned down and kissed her and ran his hands over her body.  “You
are
beautiful,” he whispered.

              Katie squirmed at his touch.  “I want you to make love to me again,” she whispered to him.

              Dean did as she requested.  They made love again and Dean held her while the storm moved further away and the fire dimmed. 

              The lights came back on and Dean poured a little water over the remains of the fire while Katie turned all of the lights off.  He scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom.

              They fell asleep wrapped in each others arms as lightening continued to flash  as the storm moved into the distance.

Chapter 2

The next week had sped by quicker than most and Grace woke shortly before midnight on Saturday night and now paced back and forth at the window trying desperately to see through the dark to the street below.  She had dressed in a dark traveling cloak with her best gown underneath and had even pulled her hair up.  She didn’t know where he would take her or how long it would take to get there so she had packed a small travel case as well.  She finally saw some movement below and gathered her things.  She took one last look around her room and slipped quietly out the door.  Her stomach gave a lurch as much with nervousness and fear of her parents finding out as excitement over finally being his bride.  She tiptoed down the stairs and out the front door where he waited with a full-size carriage.

              “How did you get that?” she whispered through the dark.

              “I talked to my father, he likes you and wants us to be together so he let me take it,” he explained as he offered her a hand to help her inside.

              She slid her hand in his and let him boost her up before he lifted himself back inside.