Page 51 of Be My Valentine

Mark stepped on the brake so violently that they both jerked, a car passed them in a concert of lights and horns. Horrified by what he had heard, he pulled the car over.

“You can’t stop here.” She commented in a flat voice.

“Look at me!” He ordered her.

He felt his breath catch reading resignation in those dull eyes.

“You were barely speaking to me; I was going crazy.”

“That’s not true!” Protested Kate, finally capable of a reaction.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Arrow!”, “Good evening, Mr. Arrow!” that’s all you’ve been saying to me for two damn weeks, what was I supposed to do?”

“Ask me how I was? Inform you how the work was progressing for the foundation that bears your name?”

“I did!”

“Once!” She retorted.

Mark drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The words he would have liked to utter remained as if entangled within a clot of new, powerful, alarming emotions.

“It’s not easy, for me, to stay and watch you without being able to touch you.” He uttered the words calmly, trying to deprive them of the passion with which they were imbued, but he could tell from her eyes that they had come straight to the heart: they had softened, it was as if the warrior armor had suddenly melted away.

“Is it true?” Hope, there it was, resurfaced and caressed him as well.

“I always thought you were a great mystery, Kathryn Donovan, put there to be solved only by me.” he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear “That night, at the pub, for a moment, I was afraid, and yes, I called my sister: I needed to hear from someone I trusted that I wasn’t crazy.”

“Why didn’t you ask me? Why didn’t you just ask me where I had been before?”

“I told you, I was scared. I was terrified you might become too important.” for a brief moment the twinkle in those doe eyes became less intense “Now I want to understand though, Kate. I want to understand,” he repeated, “what we can be together, if you agree.”

“Now I’m the one who’s afraid.” It almost felt like he was touching her trembling, and the only thing he wanted was to quell it. He rested his hand on the back of her neck and drew her to him to kiss her again, again and again… he broke away when he realized those lips weren’t enough for him. He wanted her with an intensity so powerful it took his breath away. And he saw the same desire in Kate’s eyes. He smiled at her.

“I’m not afraid anymore, Miss Donovan… and I have big plans for you.” He playfully brushed her nose with the tip of his index finger: he finally heard her sigh.

He got back on the highway and Kate leaned against his shoulder: he liked that habit.

Chapter 20 / Kate

We suffer with dreams.

We heal with dreams.

(Gaston Bachelard)

“How do I look?” she waited for her mother’s verdict, dressed in the long caramel-colored evening gown “Mom?” She called to her.

Sarah Donovan was speechless; she had never seen her daughter so nervous.

“Just perfect.”

Kate bit her lip, anxious.

“My back is all exposed, too, and also…” She peered down at her breasts.

“Honey, you’re beautiful. You don’t have any bulging curves; you can wear it.”

Kate thought of Annie Carson’s amazing cleavage, she would have bet everything she had, not that she possessed a fortune, that she would be putting on it display, drawing everyone’s attention. Not that she cared, but she feared that she would come out badly in an unapologetic comparison. She was light years away from the woman’s bewitching power; she might have hated her, but she would never deny the confident, mature beauty she exuded. It was like putting a sophisticated rose in the same vase as a daisy.