Dream Lover

by Té Russ

  All during dinner, John kept stealing glances at Liz. How the dress fit so well and nothing fell out was beyond him. It had to be against the laws of gravity. When dinner was over, John noticed Andre heading over. “Prince Charming is coming,” he whispered.

  Liz kicked him under the table. “Behave!” she whispered, scolding him.

  When Andre stopped in front of them, he smiled down at Liz. “I decided to go ahead and take you up on that offer to dance.”

  She smiled brightly and got up. “Sure!”

  They went out to the dance floor and he twirled her around. She threw her head back and laughed heartily. John felt like he was ready to pummel the guy in the face when he saw Andre place his hand on the small of Liz's back.

  “Hey handsome, what's a girl gotta do to get a dance.” John looked up to see Lila standing there with her hands on her hips. He smiled, and like the gentleman he was, he stood and guided her out to the dance floor.

  “If looks could kill sugar, Andre would drop dead on the dance floor.”

  John looked down at her surprised. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh don't play dumb with me. It's written all over your face. You are absolutely smitten over our girl. I must say, it's about time.”

  “Nothing is going on Lila,” he replied shaking his head.

  “Nothing may be going on yet, but it's only a matter of time.”

  John looked back over at Liz and thought about what Lila said. It was only a matter of time. And the time had come.

  Liz was having an excellent time dancing with Andre. He was an extraordinary dancer. “You're trying to kill men in that dress tonight,” he said close to her ear.

  She couldn't help but blush. “Lila picked it out.”

  “Well, it certainly is a number. I'm surprised your date let you away from his side.”

  Liz shook her head. “It's not like that. We're just friends.”

  “Friends do not look at each other the way you two have been looking at each other all night.”

  Liz looked down. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

  “You two clearly have deeper feelings for each other beyond friendship. Any man would be a fool to get in the way of you two.”

  She was surprised that someone else was able to detect the growing attraction between the two of them, when she couldn't even acknowledge it yet.

  She sighed. “I really don't know what else to say Andre.”

  He smiled at her. “I'm not one to fight in a battle I have no chance of winning. I know how to bow out gracefully.”

  They spun around and stopped near Lila and John. Andre stepped back and held up Liz's hand giving it a quick kiss. Then he turned and tapped John on the shoulder. “I'm sorry man, but Ms. Lila here also promised me a dance.” He gave Liz's hand to John. “Plus I'm sure you've been waiting to dance with this lovely lady.”

  John took Liz's hand and placed his other hand on her bare back. The current that flew between them was so intense they barely noticed Andre and Lila dance away. John slowly pulled her closely and they began to dance slowly. They were not even sure of the tempo of the song.

  Liz could see the raw passion in John's eyes, causing her pulse to quicken even more than it already was.

  “Liz,” he whispered.

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. The way he'd said her name was too much for her to handle at the moment. He could tell, so he brought up a safe topic. “How do you think the auction is going?”

  She sighed and he felt the warmth of her breath on his chest. The woman was slowly killing him and she had no idea.

  “I hope it is going well,” she said. “The potential of having a whole art show with just my work, well you know that is something I've wanted for a long time now.”

  He pulled her closer. “It will happen. I've told you that before.”

  The closeness, the heat radiating from his body was driving her mad. She stepped back. “I...uh...I need to step outside for some air.”

  Before she got a chance to leave, Lila was back on the stairs. “We have finished the silent auction. I must say we earned the most money this year. But the item that earned the most for the children's hospital was Elizabeth Wheeler's painting. The final and winning bid was for a whopping five thousand dollars!”

  Chapter 7

  Liz was in shock. She probably would have fainted if John didn't have his arm around her waist. People were congratulating her with hugs and handshakes. Anjelah Martin had even come by and given Liz her card saying to call her soon. She never did get to meet the buyer. They'd paid for the picture and left quickly. She figured they wanted to beat the storm home. The party was starting to thin out as people were heading home. She was in such a state of shock she had forgot about the impending storm until another loud crack of thunder jolted her back into reality.

  John finally spoke. “We'd better get you home, before the storm gets too bad.”

  “Absolutely not!” They turned to see Lila walking towards them. “I've got more than enough space for you two to spend the night here tonight.”

  Liz jumped up. The thought of spending the night under the same roof as John was scaring her more than the thunderstorm right now. “I think John is right Lila. We don't want to intrude.”

  “Oh I insist honey!”

  Liz looked down at her dress then over to John in his tux, who had been silent ever since Lila made the offer for them to spend the night. “We don't have anything to wear. And I'm not sleeping in this.”

  Lila waved off the protest. “I have some clothes you can wear.” She turned to John. “You're about the same size as my brothers and I know for a fact they leaves plenty of clothes here.”

  John shrugged. “I don't have a problem with it.” He looked over to Liz, who was tugging on the corner of her bottom lip. What he wouldn't give to take that lip into his own mouth and do wicked things to it.

  Finally, she relented. Lila clapped her hands. “Now that that's settled,” she said looping each of her arms through theirs, “Let me show you to your rooms.”

  Liz instantly regretted agreeing to spend the night when she realized their sleeping arrangements. She soon found out that her bedroom was connected to a Jack and Jill bathroom, and John was in the other bedroom.

  She was pacing around the bedroom wringing her hands nervously, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. When she'd first locked eyes with John, the feeling that rushed through her almost knocked her off of her feet. She shook her head remembering the thought. She'd already had this conversation with herself in the last week more times than she wanted to have, and yet the feelings were getting stronger.

  “This is bad. This is really bad,” she mumbled to herself continuing to wring her hands.

  Suddenly, a loud boom of thunder made her nearly jump out of her skin. By now, the thunderstorm was torrential. She screamed when she was startled by a knock on the bathroom door.

  She stood there staring at the door. She knew he was there because he'd known about her fear of thunderstorms. Ever since he'd discovered it, he made sure to be with her whenever possible, so she would feel safe. If he couldn't be there with her, he would call her. That was John, her best friend. He always looked out for her. That was what he was doing at the door.

  That's how he'd always been. That's how it would always be. She would make sure of that. She would tell him so if need be. At the sound of another thunderclap, she rushed to open the door and flew into his arms.

  Suddenly the storm outside was the least of her fears, as a storm of different kind surged through her. She realized that he'd changed into some silk pajamas that Lila had provided for him. He had not yet put a shirt on. He was resting his head on top of hers; she could feel him smiling into her hair.

  “Why haven't you changed into something more comfortable, beautiful?”

  He was stroking her back, and she couldn't speak. Her breathing became labored as she felt his muscled chest against hers. He continued talki
ng. “You know, I was wondering all night, how in the world this dress stayed up.”

  She leaned back to look up at him. Another mistake she'd made in the past few minutes. He had that look in his eye again. She moved out of his arms and walked back in the room. She desperately needed to change the subject in a hurry.

  “Can you believe someone paid that much money for my painting?”

  He smiled at her again. “Yes,” was all he said. He moved towards her again. She was trapped between him and the ottoman at the foot of the bed. “You did it, Peaches. Although I never had a doubt in my mind.” He slipped his hand behind her head at the nape of her neck.

  “I'm very proud of you,” he whispered as he lowered his mouth towards hers.

  Her eyes widened and she quickly averted her head to avoid his kiss. “John,” she shuddered. He stepped back slightly. She didn't have to say anymore. She tried to appear indifferent to what almost happened. Again. Trying to lighten the mood and release some of the tension in the room, she smiled and said. “You know the food was great, but the dessert wasn't as good as yours.”

  “You think so?” he asked as he smirked at her. She nodded. “It was less than satisfying.”

  She regretted her wording almost instantly, when his eyes got dark and he asked her, “Would you like me to satisfy you Peaches?”

  She tried to pretend not to notice the blatant double meaning, and smiled at him. “Lila says the kitchen fully stocked. Maybe we could scavenge around and see what we can find.”

  He headed back towards the bathroom. “Change out of those clothes and meet me in the kitchen. I'll see what I can scrounge up while you're changing.”

  She simply nodded as she watched him leave. She didn't breath again until she heard his door to the bathroom close.

  She needed a shower to cool herself off. She headed towards the bathroom and went to lock the door that lead into John's room only to find he'd locked it before he closed the door. She shook her head. This was John. He respected her. When she'd pulled away from him both times they'd almost kissed, he simply let it be. He did not force her into anything she didn't want to do.

  She turned the shower on and quickly washed herself. She couldn't deny the unsettling fact that each time he'd tried to kiss her she wanted to kiss him back a little bit more. She also couldn't help but wonder how many more times they would almost kiss before it actually happened. She hoped never, but even she was smart enough to realize that probability was slipping from her grasp no matter how hard she wanted to hold on to it.

  John was at the large island when she walked into the kitchen. He tried not to let his amusement show on his face. She was wearing a large t-shirt that looked like it swallowed her whole, stopping right below her knees.

  She'd pulled her hair back into a loose and messy ponytail and washed the make up off of her face. He knew exactly what she was trying to do. She was trying to look as unappealing as possible. Little did she know, to him, she was just as sexy in what she had on now as that little number she'd had on earlier.

  He saw the smile on her face when she saw him slicing up her favorite fruit, and had all of the ingredients assembled for her favorite dessert that he only made just for her. Peaches flambé. She hopped up on a high barstool at the island. His eye wandered slightly as he noticed the large shirt inch its way up as she sat down and fidgeted, showing off a peek of her thigh. He added the peaches to the skillet that already had melted butter and brown sugar. As he begun to stir them, he looked over his shoulder at Liz.

  “So, Lizzie, when do you think they will have the art show?”

  She let out a hopeful sigh. “Soon, I hope. I will try to call Anjelah on Monday.”

  He nodded, and then turned his attention back to the peaches to flip them over. He didn't say much more as he was stirring and thinking. He smiled as he added the rum to the peaches. He held the skillet and swirled it contents around for a few seconds. She was running from him, from whatever it was happening between them. He tilted the skillet slightly so that the fire would catch and flambé the peaches. They were like this dessert, he thought. They were swirling around each other, but very soon, they would catch on fire.

  “I'm still amazed by that whole thing,” he heard her say, referring to his expert handling of the fire.

  He thought that he would take good care of the fire that ignited between them when it happened. Aloud he simply said, “It just takes careful practice.”

  Once the flame died down, he stirred it a little bit more. Somehow he knew, their fire would never die out.

  “Is there any ice cream?”

  He had just poured the peaches into a bowl. He looked at her and pretended to be annoyed by her question. He suddenly turned and opened the freezer. “Now Peaches,” he said with his head in the freezer, “You should know me well enough by now, to know I would not make your favorite dessert unless it was exactly the way you like it.” He turned around and held up a tub of vanilla ice cream. He added a few large scoops of ice cream on top of the peaches.

  After putting the tub of ice cream back in the freezer, he came around the island and sat on the stool next to her. As always, they shared the bowl of peaches flambé covered in ice cream, fighting over the bigger slices of peaches and laughing.

  As Liz was laughing and trying to put a large scoop of ice cream in her mouth, some of it slid down the sides of her mouth. He turned to her and stared at her for a moment. Then he reached over and wiped one side of her mouth with his thumb. He'd done this many many times before, but this time, he took his thumb and tasted the ice cream on it. It was mixed with peaches flambé, ice cream and her strawberry lip-gloss.

  That was his undoing.

  He leaned towards her and when she didn't pull away as she did before, he slowly licked the ice cream from the other side of her mouth.

  She let out a small gasp and his mouth covered hers quickly. He vaguely heard the sound of her dropping the spoon. When he felt her wrap her arms around his neck and open her mouth to him, he stood and put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, dipping his tongue in her mouth and swirling it around to taste her.

  The combination of the dessert and her own sweet taste was intoxicating. He could kiss her forever. Suddenly, he heard her gasp and she pushed away.

  She looked terrified. “What are we doing?” she said trying to steady her breath.

  He stepped towards her. “Lizzie...”

  She shook her head as the tears welled up in her eyes. “No,” she said with her hands out in front of her to block him from her. “This can't be happening. It just can't!” Then she turned and ran, leaving him alone in the kitchen. He pounded his fist on the island and cursed. He hadn't meant for that to happen. His control had momentarily slipped.

  “Just give her time, she'll come around.” He turned to see Lila standing in the doorway where Liz had retreated from moments earlier.

  “You know our girl can be quite stubborn.”

  He nodded looking over her shoulder. Then he asked, “How long have you been around?”

  “I was coming down one of the halls and caught a glimpse of Liz running to her room. She looked too upset to bother right now.” She sniffed and walked over to the bowl of melting ice cream over peaches. “You gonna finish that?”

  He gave her smile that did not reach his eyes, then pushed the bowl towards her. “Have at it. I've lost my appetite.”

  Liz was rushing around her room, throwing her stuff into her bag she'd brought with her. She couldn't stay under the same roof as him any longer. She needed space from him. She'd called a cab to take her home.

  She'd taken a cab to the chateau because John was going to take her home after the ball and it was pointless to drive her car. That was before the storm had kept them there for the night. Before the kiss.

  She stopped and touched her fingers to her lips. She had never been kissed like that before. She'd lost all conscious thought when he kissed her. Somehow logic fought it's way to the surface an
d when she realized what she was doing and who she was doing it with, she felt she needed to put as much distance between them as she could for the time being.

  As soon as she finished packing her bag, her phone rang. It was her cab driver letting her know he was outside. It was still pouring down rain, but she couldn't stay. She looked at the bathroom door and wondered if John had returned to his room.

  She knew she was being a coward running away, but she didn't know what else to do. She grabbed her bag and stuck her head out the door. The coast was clear so she made her way out as quickly and quietly as possible. When she got to the cab door she looked over her shoulder one last time, as the rain drenched her.

  She got in the cab and gave the driver her address. She rode in tortured silence all the way home. When she got home, she changed into some dry clothes. She tried lying in bed for a while, but was unsuccessful. She threw the covers off of her and went to her studio. She looked out the large window and saw John's window.

  She shut her curtains with more force than they deserved then slumped down in a chair nearby. Finally, the tears fell and she cried until she was all cried out.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning proved to be a beautiful one. The sun was shining brightly and you would never know there had been a terrible storm the night before. John knew though. He remembered everything that happened the previous night.

  He thought about the kiss.

  The look in her eyes after she pulled away from him was haunting him still. He'd let his control slip for a moment and it had cost him. He felt like a bonehead. And he'd tell her as much when he apologized.

  He was slightly bothered because he'd had the same dream he had been having for years now of Susan. He didn't know why he was still dreaming of her, when he no longer desired her.

  He did notice that in the dream he didn't call for her this time. But he still could not see her face. She just stood there in the black orchids. Looking like an angel. Hardly, he thought. He also realized that he did not go after her. But he still had a strange longing feeling for the woman.