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“Perfect,” Kate said and smiled up at me. “I feel fantastic and can’t wait to get on the plane tomorrow for our trip to Nassau. I really want to enjoy my time there with you since I didn’t get to the last time.”
“I know,” I said and squeezed her. “I went with such high hopes last time, thinking I could win you over if I could get you alone. I almost did.”
“You did,” she said and straightened my tie. “I was helpless against your charms. It was Dawn who intervened and it was my desire to protect you from harm that ruined things.”
I leaned down and kissed her. “You are a very honorable woman, but as we know, she was all bark and no bite.”
She nodded. “Still, I’d done some research on how risky it was for professionals in the lifestyle, and I didn’t want to be the cause of any damage to your career.”
“And the restraining order? That didn’t help convince you to leave?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “I knew that I could trust you and that you wouldn’t do anything to harm me, but I knew Dawn could do something to harm you.”
We danced for a moment in silence, both of us thinking back to that time almost a year ago.
“She forced things,” I said. “She forced me to confront how I felt about you. I had to ask myself if I wanted to push back and try to prevent what we had from ending before it even started. I was completely taken in by your little performance, pretending to be bored with an older man like me. Then I spoke with Elaine and realized you were being noble. Ethan invited me to come over New Year’s Eve, and the rest is history.”
“It is,” Kate said and smiled. “We’ve been through a lot. Liam, Kurt, Africa, Sam…”
“Sefton,” I added, wanting to quickly deflect any thoughts from Sam.
“Yes, Sefton,” she said. “Even though any threat from him was all in his own mind.”
I shook my head. “No, I saw him as a threat, too.”
“You didn’t need to. I thought he was an arrogant bastard. You nearly breaking his nose in the elevator was something though.” She giggled and tightened her arms around my neck.
“We weathered all the storms,” I said and kissed her nose.
“We did.” Then she yawned.
“We’ll go after this song is done,” I said. When the music stopped, the DJ announced that we would be leaving and everyone crowded around us.
I wanted to say something before we left.
“Thank you to everyone who came and shared our special night,” I said as we stood in front of the guests. “We’ll be in Nassau for a week, enjoying the sun and surf. We’ll try to think of you, but we might be too busy, so I can't promise anything…”
Kate squeezed me and then we left to a chorus of goodbyes and best of lucks and a couple of wolf whistles, which I assumed came from Colin or Cliff.
On our way out, Kate kissed her father and Elaine goodnight and I shook hands and thanked Ken, said goodbye to Michael, and said my own goodbyes to Ethan and Elaine.
Then we left to start the rest of our lives together.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kate
Five weeks later…
What possible Christmas gift could you buy a man like Drake? He had enough wealth to buy a small country, although you’d never know it from the rather ordinary lifestyle he adopted. I thought he was worth millions, but it was far more. He never told me exactly how much until we signed a pre-nup, and then I had no choice but to look at the legal papers and calculations. Even for me, who had grown up around old money, it was a huge amount. The corporation was doing exceptionally well.
As a result, we could have lived anywhere in Manhattan – a new apartment, the most expensive penthouse with a view of Central Park, but Drake wanted to move in to the 8th Avenue apartment and make it our own. Drake sold his apartment in Chelsea, and I gave up my tiny one-bedroom in Harlem and slowly, over the next couple of weeks after we returned from our honeymoon in Nassau, we got the place in shape. We hired professional cleaners, donated most of the old furniture to a local charity, gave the place a fresh coat of paint and updated the kitchen with new appliances and a nice granite countertop on the island, but that was about it.
Although not huge, the apartment was big enough for now. Drake wanted to combine it with the apartment below us and make it a two story. I was happy to be with Drake wherever we chose to live but 8th Avenue was special. Not only did we start our relationship there, it also had such sentimental value for Drake. I liked to see him sitting in the huge overstuffed chair by the sound system, listening to his music mixes while reading over files or keeping up on the latest surgical developments in the medical journals. Sometimes, I’d stand in the kitchen and watch him sitting there and think of how lucky I was that I wore those high heels over a year earlier and that I took a chance and contacted ‘Mistress Lara’, despite my fears. I had begun to doubt if I’d ever find someone I could love passionately and completely. Then I met Drake.
That sunny Sunday afternoon in November, I leaned against the dining room table and watched Drake sorting through a box of Liam’s things. Dressed in a white cable knit sweater and faded jeans, he looked especially handsome. His hair had grown longer, and fell into his blue eyes and down the back of his neck. My heart did a little flip flop when he glanced up and saw me watching him and smiled.
He was mine.
