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Boston Boy

Chapter 1

Finally!

Kathleen looked around the airport as she pulled her luggage behind her.  After years of being a fan of the Patriots, she’d finally bought tickets to a game and was spending a week in Boston.  And even more exciting, she was doing it by herself.  She’d never travelled by herself before, so this was exciting and slightly terrifying.

It was mid morning on a Saturday and the airport wasn’t terribly busy.  The rental car terminal was practically deserted as she entered to pick up her rental car.  The people were friendly and the car was a newer Ford Fusion with the works inside.  She plugged in the address of her hotel and made her way through the streets of Boston.  The last time she’d been to this city, it had been a horrible experience.  The Boston Marathon had been going on and they were in the middle of the “Great Dig”, so driving had been a nightmare.  This time, she was determined to enjoy every minute.

After getting checked in at her hotel in downtown with some minor difficulty since she was so early, she finally settled her bags in the room and began unpacking.  All she needed to do was get freshened up before she went out exploring.  It didn’t take her long.  She swept on some mascara and pulled her shoulder length blonde hair up into a ponytail before changing into jeans, knee high boots, and a sweater. 

It was late October, but the weather was unseasonably warm.  The city was just beginning to buzz with people starting their day.  The Patriots were playing tomorrow and most businesses had put out their Patriot pride paraphernalia.  She wouldn’t be attending that game, though.  Her tickets were for the Thursday night game against the Dolphins.  Her friend Lara was supposed to have come with her to the game, but she’d cancelled at the last minute.  It didn’t matter, though, she would be surrounded by fellow Pats fans.  Maybe she’d even make a new friend to give the extra ticket to.

Boston Common was less than a mile away from her hotel, so she set off on foot in that direction.  The best part about this trip was that she had no plans beyond the football game.  She could come and go as she pleased.  Check out the sites, eat the food, and enjoy museums whenever she wanted.  There was no rush to be anywhere and as she walked down the street towards the park.

The day passed quickly as she wandered the park and then explored the shops and eateries around Newbury Street.  The people she talked with were friendly and helpful.  They seemed to really love the fact that someone from Kentucky was such a huge fan of their football team.  A few people were very helpful on places to go to watch the game with fellow fans.  By the time dinner time rolled around, she had a list going of places to eat at and things to see or do that weren’t tourist traps.

For dinner, she decided to get something simple and eat at the park.  She stretched out on a bench with her Kindle set to the third book in the Outlander series and started eating the PB&J she’d gotten from a little sandwich shop on Newbury Street.  People wandered by her and she smiled back at them if they looked her way.  The sunset made beautiful colors on the grass around her and she enjoyed the glow all the way into the dimness of evening. 

Finally the temperature dropped enough that she needed more than a sweater to stay warm.  Deciding that was her cue to head back to the hotel, she turned off her Kindle and stood up.  Which was when she ran straight into a tall, bearded man with blue eyes.  She bounced off of him and lost her balance, falling straight back onto her backside and dropping her Kindle and purse.  The contents fell out and she moved quickly to stop a runaway Chapstick tube.

“I’m sorry.” She said as the man bent down to help her pick up her stuff.

“It’s ok.  I tried to catch you, but you bounced pretty hard.” The man said in a voice that sounded very familiar to her.

“Oh, that’s just my boobs’ natural reaction to running into things.  They throw me down.” He started laughing and she finally looked over at him after picking up her purse. “Oh!”

“Are you ok?  I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No.  I’m ok.  Thanks.  I’m so sorry I ran into you.”

“It was my fault.  I was texting and walking.”

“That’s really dangerous.  You could’ve fallen into a fountain or something.”

“Lucky for me I just ran someone down.”

“Yeah.” She laughed and realized her Kindle was missing. “Oh.” Turning around to retrieve it from under the bench, she heard a hiss come from behind her. “What?”

“I think someone didn’t clean up after their dog.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No, I’m sorry.  Oh, don’t!” He grabbed her hand before she could wipe at the wet substance on the back of her jeans. “Sorry.  I knocked you down straight into dog shit.  Here,” He took his jacket off and slung it around her shoulders, making sure it covered the spot up. “Do you live near here?”
“Uh, my hotel is only a couple of blocks away.”

“Which one?”

“The Doubletree.”

He smiled and ushered her down the sidewalk. “Let’s get you back there so you can clean up and I can apologize for this some more.”

“Seriously, there’s no need to apologize.  I ran into you.”

“How about we ran into each other?”

“I’ll accept that.” She chuckled. “I’m Kathleen, by the way.  People call me Kate, though.  Or Kat.”

“Chris.”

“Yeah.  I kinda figured that out.”

“And here I thought I was doing good at blending in.”

“Sorry.  I’m a nerd.  I love all things Doctor Who and Marvel.  It’s kind of hard to miss Captain America when he’s standing right in front of you.  Even with a beard.”

He smiled. “Have we met before?”

“No.  Why?”

“You just seemed…. familiar.  Thought maybe I’d met you at a convention or something.”

“Oh.  Well, I kinda fail at that part of being a nerd.  Don’t tell any of the others, but I’ve never been to a convention.  It’s on my bucket list, though.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” He glanced down at her. “It’s fun.  At least from my experience.”

“I can imagine.  I have friends that go to them all the time and it looks like so much fun.  And since I love Halloween, it would give me a chance to use some of my costumes again.” She looked up and saw her hotel looming. “That’s me.”

“Nice.  A Halloween fan, huh?”

“The biggest.  I go all out.  I usually start planning for the next year the day after Halloween.”

“It’s only a few days away.  What are you planning this year?”

“I was going to do Peggy Carter, and I even started collecting the pieces for it, but I had the opportunity to come to Boston and I chose that instead.” They walked into the lobby and Chris called the elevator for them.  It opened immediately and they stepped in.  She hit the button for the sixth floor.

“Is this your first time in Boston?”

“Second.  I was here in early 2001 for spring break.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You came to Boston for spring break?”

She laughed. “It’s a long story, but yes.  I came to Boston for spring break.” The elevator doors opened and she led the way down the hall to her room.  He held the door for her as she walked in. “I’ll be right back with your jacket.” She disappeared into the bedroom and shut the doors behind her.  Taking a moment to freak out that Chris Evans was sitting in her hotel room, she jumped up and down for a few seconds.  Then she caught a whiff of the dog poo on her backside and gagged.  She quickly stripped those jeans off and shoved them in the dirty laundry bag from the closet.  Grabbing another pair and checking to make sure there was no poop on his coat, she headed back out into the sitting room. “Thank you for giving me your jacket to hide the poop.” She handed him back his coat.

“No problem.” He’d made himself comfortable on the couch, but had stood up when she walked in. “This is a really nice hotel room.”

“Yeah.  My mom runs a Hilton in Virginia and she got me the employee discount despite not wanting me to come on this trip.”

“She didn’t want you to come?”

“She worries.  This is my first time travelling alone.  She’s texted me about twenty times today.  And don’t even get me started on my brother and my step-dad.”

“Bad, huh?”

“They’ve been threatening to show up and keep an eye on me.  I’m surprised they haven’t sensed there’s a man in my hotel room and kicked in the door.” She glanced at the door. “You’d think I’m not almost 30 years old and been living on my own for years.”

“It’s good they worry.  Mine do too.”

“Yeah?  Try being the youngest in a family full of boys.  Out of the eight cousins in my family, there’s only three girls.  Myself, my sister, and Cara.  Cara got married a couple of years ago and now everyone’s protective forces have shifted to me.  I’m tempted to never get married just to drive them crazy.”

“What about your sister?”

“She’s a very long story and I doubt she’ll ever get married.”

“Do you think the guys would show up if I bought you dinner as an apology for knocking you down?”

She blinked for a few seconds. “You want to buy me dinner?”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“Are you sure?  I mean…. I’m not exactly…. Well, you’re…..” She sighed. “You shouldn’t feel obligated to do anything beyond what you’ve already done.”

“I don’t feel obligated.  I want to buy you dinner.  I feel terrible that I knocked you down into dog shit on your first vacation by yourself.  Also, my mother raised me to be a gentleman and this is the gentlemanly thing to do.”

“I, uh…. Ok.  I mean, if you’re dead set on it, then I guess I’ll let you buy me dinner.  Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.  Besides, we’ve managed to carry on a conversation without either of us turning into bumbling idiots and I wouldn’t hate continuing it.”
“Yeah, I’m shocked I’m being so cool right now considering I am a fan of yours, but why would you ever be a bumbling idiot talking to me?”

“Oh, uh….” To her amazement, he actually blushed. “I sometimes have trouble keeping up a conversation with someone I’ve just met.  You can’t tell it, but I’m sweating bullets right now.”

She smiled slightly. “No need to get all sweaty nervous around me.  I’m just…. Well, I’m just me.  Not worth the sweat.”

“I highly doubt that’s true.” Before she could respond, he changed the subject. “So, dinner…. What would you like to eat?”

“Uh, I don’t know.  I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich earlier and I had planned to come back here and curl up with room service.”

“That’s no good.  You’re a couple blocks from Chinatown and some really delicious food.”

“Ok.  Chinese sounds good.”

“Great!” He bounced on the balls of his feet for a second. “I know exactly where to take you.”

She laughed at his enthusiasm. “You’re very excited about this.”

“Well, yeah.  It’s not every day I run someone down, knock them into dog shit, and get Chinese food for it.”

“Oh, you’re getting rewarded for it?”

“Yeah.  One could say that I already have gotten rewarded.”

“How so?” She walked back into her room to reach in the closet and grab her coat.
He followed her to the doorway. “I met someone new today.”

“And she hasn’t gone psycho fangirl on you.”

“You planning to?”

“Gonna try not to.” She laughed again, slipping on her coat. “Honestly, I’ve met a lot of celebrities and you’re all just like us normal folks.  I’m not going to scream in your ear or hump your leg or anything crazy.”

“Thank god.  I don’t know what I’ll do if you scream in my ear.”

She laughed as they walked out of the hotel room.  They headed back to the elevators and he hit the call button. “You know, this is definitely not how I pictured meeting you.”

“Yeah?  How did you picture it?”

“Um…. At a convention with you on one side of a table and me on the other.  Probably handing you something to sign.”

“Ah.”

“This is better, for the record.  Even with the dog shit.”

The elevator opened and he let her step on first.  They made it to the sidewalk before he spoke again. “So why Boston?” He asked as they headed down the street.

“The Patriots.”

“The Pats?  Are you a fan?”
“Big fan.  I’ve got my Brady jersey in my room ready to wear.”

“Are you going to the game tomorrow?”

“Not tomorrow’s game.  I couldn’t get tickets for it.  I’m going to Thursday’s game.”

“Nice!”

“My best friend was supposed to come with me, but she flaked out.”

“That sucks.  Why did she do that?”

“Something about she didn’t want to waste vacation days because she’s got dance things coming up.” She rolled her eyes.

He didn’t miss the eye roll. “You don’t approve?”

“It’s not that I don’t approve.  I’m glad dance makes her so happy, especially with her being separated from her husband and dealing with all of that.  My problem lies with the fact that she’s really starting to shun people for the dancing thing.  I swear, I haven’t seen her in weeks and that’s highly unusual for us.”

“You’re the same age?”

“Yes.”

“When did she start dancing?”

“It’s been off and on since she was a kid.  There’s a lot of issues there and the dancing is just a mask for them.  Honestly, it’s a can of worms you don’t want to open.”

“Ok.  New subject.  How did you become a Pats fan coming from the south?”

“My first trip to Boston.”

“The spring break one?”

“Yup.”

“I think we’ve got time if you want to tell me why you came to Boston of all places for spring break.”

She laughed. “Ok.  Well, I was living with my father at the time, but planning to move back with my mom before sophomore year of high school.  I wanted to get away from my father whenever possible because that was a horrible situation and my mom said I could come with her for my spring break.  She had a conference to go to for her job and it was here in Boston.”

“There’s no football during spring break, though.”

“No.  I know.  It was after a really terrible season, too, but everyone I met loved their Patriots.  I got my first Patriots shirt while I was here.  I started watching the team to see what all the fuss was about their 2001 season and that’s when Brady showed up.  So while the trip pretty much stunk, I was in love with an amazing football team.  Fourteen years later and I’m still a big fan.”

“Why did the trip stink?”

“It was the weekend of the Boston Marathon and they were in the middle of that Great Dig thing, so things were closed or we couldn’t get to anything because streets were closed.  It was crazy.  There was also an incident with a shrimp that scared me off them for a while.”

“You were right.  It is a long story.  I have questions.”

“Ask away.”

“I’m going to get back to the shrimp thing, because I can’t let that one go.  But, if you don’t mind me asking, what was the horrible situation you were getting away from with your dad?”

“I don’t call him dad, I call him my father.  My step-dad is my dad.  He earned that title.  My father was, uh, well…. He was abusive.”

He became really quiet and his face got very serious. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

“It’s still horrible.” 

“It definitely was.  It wasn’t just physical.  It was mental, too.  For a very long time I had body image issues and I didn’t feel like I was worth anything to anyone.  I got so low that I contemplated suicide at one point.  I had the pills in my hand, but my boyfriend at the time developed a sixth sense and called me.  He convinced me to move back to my mom’s in Virginia.  It took a lot of therapy, some great friends, and eventually getting into burlesque to get to some semblance of normal thinking back.  I still have some anxiety about certain things and I’ve been known to unconsciously sabotage relationships because I don’t feel like I’m worth the trouble and I’m almost in constant terror that they’re going to lie to me.  Gotta love trust issues.” 

“I’m so sorry you went through that.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you talk to your father at all?”

“Yeah.  He’s gotten help since then and he’s come out of the closet, so he’s a much happier man now.  He’s been trying to develop a relationship with me lately.”

“Your father is gay?”

“Very.  I’ve known it since I was thirteen and my mom confirmed it.  As a friend of mine put it, my father was so far in the closet he found Narnia and wondered what the fuck happened.” He laughed and she chuckled. “He finally came out when he turned 50.”

“Good for him.”

“Yeah.”

“It still sucks that he put you through all of that.  I’m really sorry.”

“Thank you.  I try to make the best of it.  I’ve worked with a few charities, I’ve done a couple of burlesque shows that benefit women’s shelters, and I’ve gotten to talk with some people in abusive situations that didn’t know how to get out.  I was lucky I had my mom and step-dad to go back to.  Not everyone is so lucky.”

They walked into the little restaurant and were seated right away.  Chris requested a booth in the back where it was quiet.  They browsed the menu for a few moments before deciding on a few different options.  Once the order was placed, Chris turned his full attention back to her.

“Please tell me about the shrimp now.  I gotta know.”

She laughed. “So the hotel we were staying at for the conference was super fancy.  It had this gourmet restaurant and a gift shop and a salon.  I can’t for the life of me remember what it was called or even where it was located.  Near the harbor, I think.  Anyway, mom and I wanted to go check out this seafood restaurant she’d heard about, but since the streets were all closed and wonky and this was before GPS, we got horribly lost.  Like, ended up in a different town lost.  Mom got frustrated and back tracked us back to the hotel so we could just eat dinner there.  I ordered fried shrimp with rice and when it came out, it was…. Well, it was a gourmet restaurant so the plate was very decorative.  It had this column of rice wrapped in seaweed and these brown fried sticks coming out of it.  No shrimp in sight yet.  I figured it was in the rice.  So I start to disassemble the plate and pluck one of the brown sticks out.  But it was heavier than I’d planned because along with the stick came the whole shrimp, eyeballs and all.  They had fried the entire shrimp and the brown sticks were the whiskers or tentacles or whatever the hell those things are on shrimp.  It was so unexpected that I screamed, threw the shrimp, and left the table.  I couldn’t eat shrimp for years after that without seeing those hollow, fried eyeballs looking at me.” She smiled at Chris’ laughter.  It was a full belly laugh that almost echoed around them.

“Why would they serve a shrimp like that?”

“I have no idea.  It was traumatizing for my fourteen year old self!”

Once their laughter died down, Chris asked, “So if your mom was at a conference, what did you do the whole time?”

“Explored a little bit.  Checked out where the Boston Tea Party happened.  Followed the Freedom Trail.”

“History buff?”

“Oh god yes!  I love history.  There’s this house in Richmond called Agecroft Hall.  It was built in England around the time of the War of the Roses.  In the 20s, it had fallen into disrepair and would’ve been torn down, but it was bought by a man in Richmond and he had it dismantled and brought over here to repair and rebuild it on the James River just like it had been in England.  The place is gorgeous and it’s a British history museum right in the middle of Richmond, Virginia.  I’ve spent countless hours there taking pictures and exploring and talking to the tour guides.  I even got to put on my full Tudor costume and hang out and answer questions while people visited and I once took Tudor dancing lessons there.  The Volt is very exciting and was very intimate for those times.” She noticed Chris watching her intently. “I told you.  I’m a big nerd.”

“No, it’s cool.  I like it.  You’re passionate about history.”

“If we don’t learn from the past, we’ll never change the future.”

He smiled brightly at her. “Exactly.  Wait, you have a full Tudor costume?”

“Yes.  I told you I don’t do Halloween lightly.  I went as Anne Boleyn one year.  My mom has to be my handmaiden when I wear it because there’s no way I can get into it by myself.  It’s the most expensive costume that I own.”

“I bet.  Please tell me you have pictures.”

She smiled and pulled out her cell phone.  The food came as they were browsing through her Facebook pictures.  Chris kept browsing as he ate, mind half on his food as he asked about one picture and another.  She was completely surprised at how calm she was being that Chris Evans was genuinely interested in her life.  He held her phone hostage all through dinner as he looked at the different pictures and even took some selfies of himself and them together.

As they walked out of the restaurant, he said, “You have a lot of pictures of your dogs.”

She shrugged. “They’re my babies.  And they’re all chock full of personality.  Or…. Were…. We had to put Tucker to sleep a couple of years ago.  He had cancer.  And Ireland went to sleep about a month ago and didn’t wake up.”

“I’m so sorry.” 

“She was old…. Thirteen.  Even though I was expecting it, I was devastated.  I had to leave work I was so upset.  She was a little Nazi, but she was mine.”

He laughed. “How was she a Nazi?”

“She would tell on her brother if he was in the trash or doing something he wasn’t supposed to and as soon as she was satisfied that you caught him, she’d run over to the treat bowl and stare at you impatiently till you rewarded her.  But then she would turn around and get into something she wasn’t supposed to and leave the evidence on Tucker’s bed to frame him.”

“Oh my god!” His bellowing laugh echoed around them.

“She would also smack you when you were eating to remind you that she got at least 25% of your food as payment for allowing you to live in her house.”

“She was definitely a Nazi.”

“She was also dramatic.  She got my high school personality.  I was a theatre nerd back then.  The funniest thing she ever did, though, was walk into a room and if we weren’t paying attention she would let out this huge sigh and pretend to faint.”

“She pretended to faint?”

“Yup.  Then she’d turn her head just a little to see if we were watching her performance.  If we weren’t, she’d move dead into our eye line and do it again.” The bellowing laugh returned and he had to stop for a minute as he doubled over.  She smiled at him and waited for him to compose himself. “Tucker was a ninja.  For a 90 pound dog, he was stealthy as shit.  On a number of occasions I turned my back only to turn back around and discover my sandwich or whatever I had been making was gone and Tucker was sitting in the living room licking his lips.  We never did figure out how he did it so quietly.  He also fancied himself a lapdog, but he was my protector.  If he thought someone was there to harm me, he was one tough dog to restrain.  I pretty much just prayed that I could hold him back long enough to determine if I should let him go or calm him down.”

“He sounds like he was a good dog.”

“He was.”

“How old is your Boston?”

“Gally is seven.  She’ll be eight in February.”

“What is she like?” 

“She’s crazy.  She’s got a vendetta against all fuzzy slippers in the world and her best friend is a hedgehog toy that I got her when she was a puppy.  She loves to run full speed in a tight circle or figure eight around the yard…. Or a person…. And she’s klutzy like her mama.  I’ve never met a dog who runs into walls and trips up stairs.”

“You run into walls and trip up stairs a lot?”

“On a regular basis.”

“You haven’t done it tonight.”

“No.  I’m surprised I haven’t.  I’ve had a number of opportunities.”

“Well, the night is still young.”

“This is true.  But remember how we met?  I did run into you and fall down.”

“Into dog shit.”

“Into dog shit.”

“Don’t worry.  I won’t let you fall again.” He smiled down at her and she was sure that he was flirting with her. “So, what about the newest addition?  Denali?”

“She belongs to my parents, but she’s mouthy.  Loves to talk to you and she’s not afraid to tell you off when she’s mad about something.  She’s also crazy.  She can spend, literally, hours chasing her tail or playing fetch.  And she chases animals on TV.  The TV is positioned right next to the doorway into the den and if an animal runs off screen, she’ll run into the den to find it.  Of course it’s not there, so she lets you know how upset about this she is.”

“And you live with your parents?”

“Sort of.  My step-dad converted the garage into a little apartment for me.  I’ve got my own entrance and my own bathroom…. A little living room area and a bedroom that’s sectioned off by these really pretty screens that my step-dad made for me.  It’s nice.”

“It sounds like it.” He smiled. “I still live with my mom when I’m not off somewhere shooting a movie or staying in LA.  My whole family and their families live there too.”

“Must be a big house.”

“Kinda.”

“So, you’re close with your family?”

“Very.  My brother is one of my best friends.  What about you?”

“Same.  As close as we are, I tell him constantly that I would sell him in a heartbeat for my niece.  I love her to pieces.”

“You must if you dressed up as Merida for her in Georgia in June.”

She smiled and felt herself blushing that he remembered her telling him about it when he found the picture. “Yeah.  I’ll probably end up spending most of my souvenir money on stuff for her.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.  She is pretty adorable.”

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of: being an aunt.  I love that kid.  And my best friend’s little boy is my unofficial nephew.  I spoil him when I can, too.”

“You sound like me.  I love spending time with my sisters’ kids and I spoil the crap out of them whenever I can.”

She laughed. “As much as I love spoiling Hailey, my favorite moments are when it’s just the two of us playing Barbies or going for a walk or rocking her to sleep at night.  She’s four and she still likes for me to do that when I’m there.”

“Awe!”

“It broke my heart when she asked me not to leave in June.  She woke up and came to the guest bedroom and curled up with me the morning I was leaving.  She said, ‘aunt Kat, please stay one more day.  I’ll be a good girl.  I love you.’  God, I cried for the first half of the drive back to Virginia.”

“Awe!” Chris wrapped an arm around her and hugged her tightly. “And wow!  You drove to Georgia?  How long of a drive is it?”

“About eight or nine hours.  It’s eleven hours to Kentucky.  I love to travel, so I don’t mind driving.  I would’ve driven here, but I actually won plane tickets in this contest at work.”

“Tickets?”

“Yeah.  I won two.  I haven’t used the other one since Lara was going to use her frequent flyer miles for her ticket.  So, I’ll probably take another trip by myself somewhere.”

“Oh yeah?  Where?”

“Vegas.  LA.  Alaska.  I don’t know.”

“Alaska?  Really?”

“My brother and his wife took a cruise there and they loved it.  My sister in law goes a lot for work.”

“That sounds awesome.  What would you do there?”
“Hike.  Take pictures.  Go ice skating on a frozen lake.  Take pictures.  Maybe try and camp a couple of nights.  Oh, and take some more pictures.”

“Camp, huh?”

“Maybe.  I haven’t been in a long time and I enjoyed it when I was younger.  All through high school, I had to visit my father during the summer even though I didn’t want to.  Some friends would kidnap me and we would go to Lake Glendale in Illinois and spend a week camping and swimming and riding horses and learning to shoot a bow and arrow…. Rock climb.  It was amazing.  I would love to do it again someday.” She realized they were standing in the lobby of her hotel. “Oh, we’re back.”
“Yeah.  I just realized that too.” He seemed genuinely sad about that.

“Uh, you’ve probably got somewhere to be, right?  You were going somewhere when we ran into each other.”

“Oh, not really.  I was probably going to meet Scott and some of his friends for dinner.”

“You ditched your brother for me?”

“It’s ok.  He had just invited me and I was texting him back when I ran into you.”
“But he’s your brother.”

“Yeah.  And I’ve had plenty of time to hang out with him.  I’ve only got a week with you.”

She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it when she realized what he’d said.  Instead she settled on, “I’m confused.”

“About what?”

“Are you saying you want to hang out more?”

“Yeah.  Why not?”

“Um…. You’re Chris Evans and I’m Kathleen Allen.”

“Yeah.  We’ve done introductions.  It’s the entire conversation afterwards that makes me want to hang out with you more.”

“Do you normally meet fans and hang out with them?  Or am I special?”

“You’re definitely special.  I’ve met a lot of people, but you’re different.  It’s nice.” He called the elevator and held it open for her.  As it started its ascent, he turned to her. “It gets lonely.”

“What does?”

“Being a celebrity.” He said the word like it was a sour candy in his mouth. “You meet people and they know everything about you because they’ve read it in a magazine somewhere.  All they want to talk about is how famous you are.  They don’t actually talk to me.” The elevator opened and he held the doors so she could step out safely. “But you did.  You talked and you listened.  I can honestly say that you’ve been one of the best conversations I’ve had in a while.  I’ve loved every second of it.”

She opened her hotel room door and stepped inside. “Well, I don’t know if this is being presumptuous, but you’re welcome to stay and continue the conversation.  I don’t have a mini bar, but there’s room service.”

He grinned. “Yeah.  It’s only eight thirty.” He followed her in and shut the door behind him, shrugging his jacket off. “That sounds fun.”

Before she could respond, her phone went off with the James Bond theme.  She quickly pulled it out of her pocket. “One sec.  It’s my brother Killian.” She hit the answer button. “Hey Killi.  No, I’m fine.  I went out for Chinese with a really nice guy from Boston.  Yes, I said guy.  Yes, as in male.  No, you don’t need to worry about me.  I’m fairly certain all those lessons will keep me safe if the nice Boston boy decides to attack.  Shut up and put my niece on.” Her face lit up suddenly. “Hey Hailey Bug!  I’m in Boston.  That’s waaay up north from where you are.  I miss you, too.  You’re coming for Christmas!?  That’s so exciting!  Yes, I’m pretty sure Santa will know where you are.  I’ll write him a letter and make sure, ok?” She glanced at Chris with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, I’ll sing a song for you.  What do you want to hear?  Again?  What about something from ‘The Little Mermaid’?  No?  ‘Frozen’ again, huh?  Ok.” With another embarrassed look at Chris to find he was holding back laughter, she started singing “Love Is An Open Door” with her four year old niece. “Ok.  I love you too, munchkin.  I’ll see you in a couple of months.  Bye!  Yeah.  She made me sing ‘Frozen’ again.” She rolled her eyes. “I promise I’ll be careful.  Talk to you later.  Bye.” She hung up and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“You have a nice voice.” Chris said.

“Oh, no…. No.  It’s…. Not that great.”

“You’ve had training.”

“What?  How….”

“My mom is the art director at a youth theatre.  My brother and sisters and I are trained, too.”

“My father…. On good days…. He and aunt Dolly taught me.  He sang in a Christian music group around the area I grew up and his best friend, who I refer to as aunt Dolly, was a music teacher.”

“Nice.  You do have a nice voice.  I wasn’t kidding.”

“Thank you, but no.  I don’t.  I only sing in the car and for Hailey these days.” She turned and grabbed the room service menu. “Here, you pick something to drink and I’ll be right back.  I need to take my contacts out and put on something besides jeans.”

“You wear contacts, too?”

“Yeah.  Please don’t laugh at my glasses.  I hate them.” She turned and disappeared in the bedroom.  When she came back, she was in a T-shirt with minions on it and black yoga pants.  Her long blonde hair was swept up in a ponytail and she had on her half frame glasses.

“You look nice.”

“You’re way too nice for your own good.  I wouldn’t even put the glasses on if my contacts hadn’t been bugging me.”

“Honestly, you shouldn’t be so self-conscious.  You’re beautiful with or without glasses.  And I’ve seen you in both now and can judge that honestly.” He sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. “I ordered you some sweet tea.  I hope that’s ok.  It’s what you were drinking at dinner.”

“Yeah.  That’s perfect.” She sat down next to him. “Wait, you wear contacts?”

“Yeah.  Got them in now.  I haven’t had mine in as long as you have, so they’re not bugging me yet, but I know exactly what you were going through.  It’s a pain in the ass to have to wear them that long.”

“Amen!” She laughed.

“So your brother’s name is Killian?”

“Yup.”

“And you’re Kathleen.”

“And my sister Janice is the oddball.”

“And your brother gave you fighting lessons?”
“God no!  He only thinks he’s tough.  My cousin Todd taught me how to throw a punch.  My brother taught me how to shoot a gun.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry.  I don’t carry.  I can also sword fight.”

“Now why would a nice girl like you need to know that?”

“A friend of mine is really big into medieval weaponry.  He taught me how to swing a bunch of different swords.”

“So, you can shoot a bow and arrow, you can shoot a gun, you can use a sword, and you can throw a punch.  You’re officially scary.”

“Thanks.  I consider myself almost ready for a zombie apocalypse.” Her phone started ringing again and this time it was Stewie from “Family Guy” yelling “mom, mom, mom” over and over.  Kate rolled her eyes and got to her feet. “Hi mom.  Yeah, I’m having great fun.  You talked to Killian, huh?  What did he have to say?  Oh, yeah?  He’s being dramatic.  Yeah, I did meet a nice guy that took me to dinner.  Chinese.  I met him in Boston Common.  Uh, yeah.  I’d say he was.  I don’t know.  I promise I’m being careful.  No, I don’t want to talk to him cause he’s just going to have a cow over everything.  I don’t know.  Then tie him up in a closet somewhere till he calms down and realizes I can take care of myself.  You have fun with that.  I’ll talk to you later.  Nope.  Bye, mom.” She set her phone down. “My brother told my mom I met a Boston boy and I’m probably going to move here now.”

“What would you say I was?”

“Huh?”

“You said to your mom ‘I’d say he was.’”

“Oh, uh….” She blushed. “She asked if you were handsome and then she asked if I was going to see you again.”

“That was the ‘I don’t know’ part, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, change that ‘I don’t know’ to a ‘yes’.”

“What?”

“You’re going to see me again.  Tomorrow.  I’m taking you to the game if you’ll let me.”

“The Patriots game?”

“Yeah.  While you were talking to your mom, I texted a friend of mine and got us seats in one of the suites.  Great view of the field.”

“Are you joking?  Am I on a hidden camera show?”

Chris laughed. “No.  Look, I meant what I said before.  You’ve been one of the best conversations I’ve had in a while and I don’t want to see it end.  In fact, I’ve got the next couple of weeks off and I’d love to show you around Boston myself while you’re here.”

“You do?” 

“Yeah!  Who better to show you around this city than someone from it?”

“Well, I guess, yeah….”
“We can go to the game tomorrow and then grab dinner somewhere and plan our week.”

“Chris….”
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, I do want to, it’s just….” A hundred different things went through her head to finish that sentence, but she settled on. “Unexpected.”

“Isn’t that when life is at its best?  When it’s unexpected?”

Chapter 2

Kate stared at herself in the mirror trying to see what had made Chris Evans want to spend an entire week with her.  He had stayed till almost one in the morning.  They had spent the whole time talking and looking at pictures on their phones.  Chris had taken a few of them on his phone and set one of the selfies as her contact picture when he saved her number in his phone.  Now she was waiting for him to come pick her up and take her to the game.  She’d thrown on some jeans, a pair of black leather motorcycle boots, and her Brady jersey.  Her hair was in a high ponytail and she’d thrown on her usual makeup consisting of under eye concealer, powder, mascara, and Chapstick.

There was a loud knocking on her door and she took a deep breath before opening it.  Chris stood there with his brother Scott and another guy she didn’t recognize.  Chris was beaming at her. “Good.  Got the lucky jersey on.  We should win today, right?”

“If the luck holds up.” She said, smiling back.

“Kat, this is my brother Scott and his friend Tyler.”

“Nice to meet you.” She reached out and shook their hands.

“You’re right, Chris.” Scott said. “She’s beautiful.” Chris blushed and avoided eye contact with her.

“Don’t embarrass him.” Tyler said.
“He’s my brother.  I can if I want.” Scott turned back to her. “He gushed about you the whole ride over here.  He used the word perfect about twelve times.  And I think he wrote a sonnet about your eyes.  Which are gorgeous, by the way.” It was her turn to blush.

“Scott!” Chris cried. “Man, you have no chill.” He turned to her. “I’m sorry about him.  I said I was going to the game and he invited himself and Tyler.”

“Seriously, it’s really nice to meet you.” Scott said, giving her a bright smile. “My brother is weirdly shy and for him to actually have a multiple hour conversation with a woman he just met is really rare.  Be glad he only told me about you.  If our mom and sisters find out…. Well, I hope you like Boston cause they’ll move your stuff up here for you.”

She laughed. “Wow.  My brother is contemplating coming out here with one of my cousins and my step-dad to scare ‘the Boston boy’ off.”

“We might have a war on our hands.  Fun!”

Chris laughed and looked back at her. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.  Let me grab my coat and my phone.”

“Is that David Bowie you’re listening to?” Scott asked as they shuffled into her room.

“Yeah.  You a fan?”

“Of course!  I don’t trust a person that doesn’t listen to Bowie.”

“Me either.” She turned the bluetooth speaker off and unplugged her phone before grabbing her coat.  Chris helped her into it and his fingers brushed the back of her neck as he helped release the bottom of her ponytail from the coat.  She held onto the urge to shiver but bit down on her bottom lip. “Ok.  To the game!”

“To the game!” Chris repeated, holding the door open for her.  Scott and Tyler made it to the elevators first and held the doors so Chris and Kate could get on too.  She caught Chris eying her a few times and smiled to herself.  Scott and Tyler were engaged in a conversation about the game and didn’t seem to notice the other two in the elevator.  Chris shot her a smile and she smiled back. 

The elevator doors opened and just before she stepped out, she remembered something. “Shit!  I’ve gotta run back to my room.”

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked.

“I forgot to take my blood pressure meds.”

“Oh.” Chris turned and tossed the keys to his brother. “We’ll meet you out front.” He stepped back onto the elevator and waved at Scott as the doors shut.

“I’m sorry.  I keep forgetting that I’m supposed to be taking it.  I haven’t been on it long, so it’s an adjustment.”

“High blood pressure?”

“Yes.  Genetics is a bitch.  Though I technically got lucky.  Mom was on them from the time she was 16 and her blood pressure is really high.  I just got on them last month and it’s the lowest dose of medication since my blood pressure isn’t bad.  Just high enough to make my doctor and my mom worry.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. “Have you tried setting an alarm on your phone to remind you?” He asked.

She laughed. “I’m not sure it would help.  I did that for my birth control and I forgot to take it at least three days out of every month.”

“Yikes.”

“I don’t know why my brain doesn’t process taking medication daily on time, but it fails hard at it.  It’s why I got an IUD.  I never have to remember to take a pill every day.  If they could invent that for blood pressure pills I’d be set.” She opened her door and rushed into the bathroom, embarrassed that she’d just told him that she had an IUD.

“Hey, listen, I’m sorry about my brother.  Sometimes things come out of his mouth before he can stop them.”

She laughed. “I have that problem myself.”

He appeared in the bathroom doorway. “I hope he didn’t embarrass you too much.”

“No.  It’s ok.  I think he got you worse.” She popped the pill in her mouth and took a drink of water from the bottle next to the sink.

“It wasn’t as bad as he said.  I don’t think I used the word perfect that many times.”

“I didn’t think you had.  It would definitely be a major exaggeration if you said it that many times.  Using it just once is exaggeration enough.”

“Not at all.  You’re pretty awesome.”

“You’ve only known me a day.  Trust me, I’m not that great.”

“I’ve got all week with you, so I’ll be the judge of that.” He shot her a smile and moved out of the way to let her pass by him.

They caught up to Scott and Tyler waiting in the backseat of the car.  Chris held open the passenger’s side door for her to get in before walking over and getting in the driver’s seat. “So, Kate,” Scott said as they pulled out into the street. “What color are your eyes?  Chris was confused.”

“Scott!”

“What?” Scott asked innocently. “You said they look blue, but sometimes they looked more green.”

“They’re both blue and green.” She said before Chris could get any more red. “And my left eye has a streak of hazel in it.” Scott leaned forward and she turned to look at him.

“That’s neat.”

“My eyes change color, too, depending on my mood.”

“What mood are you in now?”

“Scott!” Chris cried.

“What?”

She laughed. “I’m excited right now.  I’ve made new friends and I’m going to see my favorite football team play live for the first time.  Unless you count when they came down to Richmond for training camp last year.”

“You saw them at training camp?” Chris asked.

“Yeah.  They were at the Redskins training camp in Richmond for two days.  I was there both because I’m a dork.  I got the worst sunburn, but I got to meet Gronkowski.  The only thing I could think to say was ‘you are one big dude.’”

“Did you meet Brady?” Tyler asked.

“I shook his hand, but I didn’t get to talk to him.  There were a lot of fans there and I kind of got pushed out of the way.”

“That sucks.” 

Chris glanced over at her and smiled as she kept up a steady flow of conversation with his brother and Tyler.  They made it to the stadium and had no trouble getting inside the private entrance and up to their suite.  There were a few people milling about, but the stadium below was full of people.  There weren’t any players on the field yet, but there were other people out there getting ready.  Chris watched her as she stayed standing by the glass, staring out at everything with a look that reminded him of Christmas morning excitement.  He ordered them some drinks before joining her at the window.

“Our seats are over here.” He pointed to ones in the second row.

“This is unbelievable, Chris!” She was beaming and the smile was infectious. “I can’t believe I’m at Gillette!  I’ve only ever seen it on TV and now I’m here.”

“I’m happy I could put that smile on your face.” He was suddenly engulfed in a bear hug and all he could do was squeeze back as he held her up. “Wow.”

“Sorry.” She pulled away. “I’m just so excited and you’re the best for doing this for me.”

He laughed. “Don’t be sorry.  This is exciting for me too.”

 

 

They were well into the fourth quarter of a close game.  Chris and Kate had been yelling at the teams from their seats and barely able to sit down for most of the game.  Luckily they were surrounded by like-minded people.  Scott and Tyler were excited about the game, but Scott kept stealing glances at his brother and his new friend.  He was pretty sure that Chris was really liking Kate.  He’d never seen his brother act this way with a woman he’d just met before.

“GO!” Chris yelled suddenly as Amendola caught the pass from Brady.  The stadium went mad as the refs called a touchdown.  The people in front of them threw their hands up and one of the guys lost his grip on his cell phone and it flew back and hit Kate in the mouth.  She instantly threw her hands up, but blood was already running down her chin.

Chris moved into action to grab some napkins and the man that lost his phone began apologizing profusely.  Scott and Tyler left to get some ice and more napkins.  Finally, Chris escorted Kate out into the hallway and leaned her up against the wall.  It was quieter in the hallway.

“Are you ok?” Chris asked, holding multiple napkins to her lips.

“Ow.” She said, her voice muffled behind the napkins.  Her eyes were watering profusely and she kept wiping at them. “I think a tooth is broken.”

“Let me see.” He pulled the napkins away and sure enough, the lateral incisor on her left side was missing a chunk.  He hissed and put the napkin back.

“That bad, huh?”

“Uh, yeah.  I’m not going to lie.  You’re missing part of a tooth.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “Don’t worry.  I’ve got a plan.”

Scott and Tyler came running back with ice in a towel and more napkins. “How is she?” Scott asked, handing the towel over.

“Broken tooth.  I’m going to call dad and ask if he’ll fix it for her today.”

“Good idea.” Scott looked at Kate. “That’s some awesome mascara you have on.  It hasn’t budged at all with all that leaking you’re doing from your eyes.” That made her laugh.

“Here, hold this.” Chris said, guiding her hand to the towel against her mouth. “I’m going to make a phone call.”

Scott moved over to take his brother’s place in front of her and he smiled. “Our dad’s a good dentist.”

“Good.  Cause this hurts.” She said.

“I’m pretty sure if you asked him to, Chris would go beat that guy up.”

She chuckled. “It’s ok.  It was an accident.  I’m not mad.  Just in pain.”

Chris came back over. “Dad’s going to meet us at his office.”

“You guys go.” Scott said. “We’ll grab a cab to take us home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Scott gave Kate a quick hug. “We’ll see you later, ok?”

“Bye.” She waved at Scott and Tyler as Chris escorted her to the elevators.

“Are you ok?” Chris asked again as the doors shut.  He was clearly concerned about her.

“You should see the other guy.” She joked.

Chris chuckled. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was an accident.”

“I know, but you’re missing the last of your first game at Gillette.”

Her eyes widened and she looked down at her jersey. “Please tell me there’s no blood on it.”

He gently pushed her head back up, replacing the ice towel on her mouth.  With a chuckle, he grabbed the bottom of the jersey and pulled it out slightly to inspect it. “Nope.  No blood.  I saved the good luck charm with my quick reflexes.”

“Thank you.” The elevator doors opened and he led her out.

 

 

Bob lead Chris and Kate back out into the empty waiting room of his dental office. “You might be a little sore for a couple of days and you shouldn’t eat any hard foods for the rest of today.”

“Thanks for doing this, dad.” Chris said. “I know it’s your day off.”

“Yeth.  Thank you.” Kate said, trying not to sound funny through the numbness in her mouth.  It must not have worked because Chris was desperately trying to hold back a laugh.

“It’s my pleasure.” Bob said. “If that tooth starts bothering you, or starts acting funny, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“I won’t.” She followed Chris back outside where the sun had begun to set.

“I know you’ve got to be hungry.  You haven’t eaten much today.” Chris said to her as he helped her in the car.  He walked around to the driver’s side and slid in. “Do you feel up to getting something to eat?”

“I’m tharving, but I think I thould wait until this numbneth goeth away.  I might drool on mythelf.”

He didn’t hold back on the laugh this time. “I’m sorry.  You sound so funny!” She stuck her tongue out at him, but it only made him laugh harder. “Ok,” His laughter finally died down. “Ok, we’ll go back to the hotel and hang out there for a while.  Figure out what we want to get for dinner.”

“Thoundth good.” He laughed again as he backed out of the parking space. “Can I play thome muthic?”

“Yeah.” He laughed and handed her his unlocked phone.

She scrolled through his music before selecting a track by Garbage.  He shot her an approving smile and she settled back into the seat and closed her eyes.  It wasn’t long before they were back at the hotel and headed back up to her room.  Chris opened the door for her and she skipped the living room and went straight to the bedroom, plopping down on the king sized bed with her legs dangling from the side.  He laughed and took his jacket off, laying it across the chair in the corner before sitting down on the bed next to her.

“Did we win?” She asked.

“Yeah.  Scott texted me.  We won.” He laid back.
“Good.” She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him.  He was lying so close to her that their arms were touching and she could feel his breath tickling her nose. “Is this real?”

“What?”

“Are you really here?”

He smiled and linked some of his fingers with hers. “Yeah.  I’m here.”

“Chris….”

“Your talking is back to normal.  How are you feeling?”

“Light headed.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Starved.”

“Me too.  Let’s go for a walk and just pick a place we come across.” He stood up and held his hands out to help her up.

“Sounds good to me.” She took his hands and he pulled her up.  For a moment they were almost pressing against each other, but she stepped sideways and went into the bathroom. “I’ll be out in just a minute.”

“Ok.”

She shut the door and sat down on the edge of the bathtub.  What was happening?  Chris Evans was flirting with her.  Her of all people.  She wasn’t a movie star.  She wasn’t a model.  She wasn’t even close to his league.  Why was he flirting with her?  Fairytales weren’t real and they definitely didn’t come true for people like her.  She looked in the mirror and stared at herself.  There was nothing remotely special about her.

There was a knock at the door and Chris called, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah.” She stood up and brushed her hair. “Sorry,” She opened the door. “I was inspecting my tooth.”

“It looks good.  You ready?”

“Yeah.”

They didn’t talk much as they walked down the streets.  It was full dark out, but the street lights and the lights from businesses lit up the sidewalk.  They found a Tapas restaurant on Newbury Street a couple of miles away from the hotel and decided to eat there.  After they were seated, Chris watched her for a long moment.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing.” He took a sip of water and looked down at his menu. “So, you haven’t mentioned a boyfriend back home yet.  Nobody special?”

She didn’t look up from her menu. “Nope.  You?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t had a lot of time recently.  You?”

“I haven’t found what I’m looking for.”

“What are you looking for?”

“I have no idea.  I guess I’ll know when I find it.”

“That’s a very romantic way of thinking.”

“Yeah?  I’ve never really considered myself very romantic, honestly.  I’m not a flowers and chocolates kind of girl.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “I prefer things that don’t die in a week and my taste buds get more excited over fruity candy than chocolate.” He nodded like he was taking mental notes. “I like stargazer lilies, though.  I would accept those flowers happily.” The waiter came and took their order and they no longer had menus to hide behind. “I also have a hard time trusting people.”

“Because of your father.  I remember.”

“That’s not the only reason.” She took a deep breath. “I was engaged to this guy.  I met him at work.  He was younger than me by five years, but he seemed so much older.  When I met his family, it made sense.  They’re mostly barely functioning alcoholics and he kind of had to raise himself.  We got pretty serious pretty quick.  We moved in together barely three months after we started dating.  We were living in a house with an acquaintance of mine.  Things were good for a while, but my best friend came over one night to take me out for a girls’ night out and he didn’t want to let me leave.  He whined and moaned and said he wanted to come with me, but I laughed and said no and didn’t think much of it.  But the next few months, he got really…. Possessive I guess is the word.  I was kind of kept at a distance, but he didn’t like me going out with any of my friends.  I look back now and realize he was using mental abuse to keep me at home.  About a year into the relationship, he gave me a ring and we were suddenly engaged, but it wasn’t what I’d expected it to be.”

“What did you expect?”

“I don’t know.  A nice gesture?  Him to at least get down on one knee, you know?  But we were sitting at dinner and he slid it across the table and said ‘we should get married’.  I was so excited, I didn’t even really think about it then.  My friends that I was still in contact with weren’t happy.  They all said that I looked different and sounded different…. Like they were talking to a stranger with my face.  A few months later it was Christmastime and we were busy at work.  He left his phone in my desk while he was out in the warehouse and it kept going off, so I pulled it out to turn it off.  The first thing I see when I unlock it is this message from a girl talking about how wet she was and how badly she needed him to come take care of her again.  I opened the text up and there were more.  There were pictures passed between them that should’ve only been reserved for us, you know?”

“They were sexting.”

“Not just.  He was meeting her behind my back.  And when I dug a little deeper, it wasn’t just her.  It was two other girls as well.  And I mean girls.  They were all about eighteen years old, if that.  I kind of lost my shit and my boss had to restrain me from killing my fiancé when he walked in my office.  I screamed at him and my boss told me it might be best if I went home.  When I got there, I just couldn’t stay there so I went to my parents house.  The next day was a weekend for us, so I went home and confronted him about everything.  He blamed it all on me.  Said I wasn’t what he wanted and the only reason he kept me around was because my paycheck helped him pay the bills.  I really felt less than human at that point.  I told him to get out, but he said that he was just going to move into the upstairs bedroom.  That he was going to bring his girls home and fuck them so loud every night I would never get any sleep.  So my roommate, who heard all of this, told me he would let me out of the lease if I wanted to leave.  I’ve never packed up a house so fast.  My friends Ryan and Mike, they had heard through my parents what had happened and they came and helped me move.  We were out of there in 4 hours.”

“Damn.  I’m so sorry.” He reached over and took her hand.

“It doesn’t stop there.  After about a month of seeing him at work and still having these annoying feelings for him, I let him come back.  We started seeing each other again.  I found out that I had a strain of HPV that could be treated and gone in two years, but it was still an STD.  It’s a dangerous one, too, that can lead to cancer later on in life.  Anyway, he accused me of cheating on him because there was no way he had given it to me.  You’d think I would’ve wizened up at this point, but I let him stick around.  I was living at my parents and they went out of town, so he came to stay with me for a weekend.  That Monday he left work before me and kept asking me for the key to my parents’ house.  I told him no, I didn’t feel comfortable giving him the key and he said that someone had to feed the dogs because I didn’t know when I’d be home.  He promised he would be waiting for me.  I was busy with work and he just kept pestering me, so I gave in against my better judgment.  When I got home a couple hours later, he was just shutting his car door and getting ready to leave.  I got out to ask him what was going on and I spotted the Wii that he’d bought me sitting in his car.  He’d gone into my parents’ house and stolen it.  I tried to get past him, but he was bigger than me and he shoved me backwards.  I ended up landing on the gravel and scraping up my hands and that snapped me back to myself.  I got up and decked him so hard when he fell, he cracked his window on the driver’s side of his car.  I grabbed my phone to call the cops and he hightailed it out of there.”

“Fuck!” He shook his head. “No wonder you have trust issues.”

“I’m working on the trust thing, but it takes time.”

Their food came finally and they ate in silence for a little while.  Chris kept stealing glances at her which she pretended not to notice.  The only conversation they made was on how good or bad the food was.  They had ordered about six different types of tapas and were making their way through each one. 

A little over half way through, Chris said, “Did he even feed the dogs?”

She looked up at him incredulously, but began to laugh. “You know what?  I don’t think he did.”

“Fucking asshole.” They laughed until their sides hurt and the waiter had to come over and make sure they were ok.  They finished their dinner and Chris paid for the meal before they started walking again.  They made their way towards Boston Common and were standing on the bridge looking out over the lake with the swan boats. 

They leaned their arms against the railing and listened to the sounds of the evening around them.  Chris moved closer to her and purposely rubbed his knuckles against the back of her hand.  She looked over at him like he’d lost his mind and he gave her an embarrassed look.

“Was that too forward?” He asked.

“Uh….”  She stood up straight.

“You seem a little freaked out whenever I touch you.  I don’t want that.  I just…. I like you.”

She gave him another ‘are you crazy’ look and shook her head. “It’s barely been two days.  You don’t even know me.” She started to walk away and he moved to catch up.

“But I want to get to know you.  I feel a connection to you, Kat.  You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met.”

“How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know.  But it’s true.  I feel completely at ease with you.  I don’t feel that with anyone else outside of my family.  Especially not this quickly.” Chris boldly took her hand and pulled her to the stairs on the side of the bridge.  There was no one there, so he sat her down at the bottom of the steps and stepped back a couple of paces. “Look, I’m not saying let’s run off to Vegas and get married.  I’m just saying…. Let’s seize the moment.  Live in the now.  See where this goes.”

“I’m leaving in a week.”

“I’ve got two weeks before I need to be anywhere and I’ve never been to Richmond.  I want to get to know you and see what happens.  If you don’t feel like there’s anything here, I won’t push it.  But will you at least give it the two weeks?  Please?”

“What happens after two weeks?”

“I don’t know.  But if there’s something real here between us, I don’t want to regret not trying.”

“How could there be anything between us?  You’re completely out of my league.”

“What do you mean?”

She surged up and walked past him towards the water, stopping just before the edge. “Have you looked in a mirror?  Have you seen your ex girlfriends?” She turned back to him. “I’m a fan of yours, Chris, remember?  I’ve looked up your name on Tumblr and seen you in magazines while I buy groceries.  I know that I don’t even come close to stacking up with your life.  I’m ordinary.  You’re extraordinary.”

He laughed. “I’m not extraordinary.  I’m nothing close to it.  I’m a dude from Boston who listens to 90s music and drinks beer and laughs at fart jokes.  I’m the most ordinary guy out there.  You’re the extraordinary one.” She huffed. “Really?” She huffed again. “Ok, from the little that I know about you so far, you’re remarkable.  You’ve survived an abusive parent, you were at the brink of suicide and fought back, you went through a terrible relationship that nearly killed your spirit, and you’ve survived a family full of boys.  As far as I’m concerned, you’re a fucking superhero.  I’m in awe of you.”

She shook her head. “The internet never said you were crazy.”

“Well, the internet doesn’t know everything about me.” He grinned. “Look, it’s two weeks and if at the end of it, you don’t want anything to do with me, then I’ll go back to work and we’ll both just have great stories about the times we went to new places together.”

“Fine.  Ok.  I will spend the next two weeks with you.  But if you’re going to get to know me, then I want get to know Chris Evans, the beer drinking fart guy from Boston.”

He laughed. “Ok.  Fair enough.”

“I still feel like I’m Jim Carrey in the Truman Show, though.”

“There are no cameras.  I promise.” He held his hand out to her and after a moment’s hesitation, she took it.

Chapter 3

“So what’s on the agenda today?” Kate asked as Chris walked into her hotel room.

“I thought we could hit up some museums.  Maybe check out the aquarium.” Chris said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Someone’s excited today.”

“Yeah.  I have good reason to be.” He grinned at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Do you have something planned?”

“Nope.  I’m just spending the day with you.”

She chuckled. “Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but I keep telling you that I’m not that exciting.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.  Besides, the first day I met you, you ended up in dog shit.  The next day, you ended up with a broken tooth.” 

“I’m hoping that particular pattern doesn’t continue.”

“Well, if it does, I’m here to make sure you’re ok.”

“My hero.”

“Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll sweep you off your feet later.”

She laughed. “I doubt that.  I’m heavier than I look.  It’s all in the boobs and butt.”

He shrugged and suddenly swept her up in his arms.  She clung to his neck as her eyes widened and she realized he was actually holding her up. “I lift a lot of weights.” He kissed her cheek before setting her down. “And you’re not that heavy.”

She laughed. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.”

“No one’s ever swept you up in their arms before?”

“Not since I was in my early teens.  It wasn’t so much a sweep-me-off-my-feet thing.  It was more to get me up on doctor’s tables or put me back in my wheelchair or on my crutches.  I was in a leg brace for a while after breaking my kneecap and tearing my ACL.”

“Ouch!  What happened?”

“I was practicing a sit spin and I was too close to the boards.  I travelled into them and my knee bent the wrong way before I sling-shotted back around and hit my kneecap hard enough to crack it in three places.”

“Fuck!” He shook his head. “What’s a sit spin?”

“Did I fail to mention that I was a figure skater from age six till age thirteen?”

“Yes.”

“I was a figure skater from age six till age thirteen.” She laughed. “And a sit spin is where you spin on one blade in a crouched position with the other leg extended in front of you.”

“Oh!  I didn’t know what it was called.  So, can you still skate?”

“Not at all like I used to.  It’s not like riding a bike.  I can still go forwards and backwards and sideways and do some spins and stops, but no jumps or fancy footwork or anything really cool.  I still go skate every now and then.”

“Nice.  It’s good you didn’t leave it completely behind.”

“If I hadn’t busted my knee, I would’ve continued in competitive skating.  I loved it.  A lot.  For a while it was my escape from everything bad in my life.  It still kind of is sometimes.  There’s nothing in the world like turning on the music and having the ice all to yourself while you feel the cold air flying past you.  It’s my form of meditation, I guess.  Nothing else exists when I’m on the ice.” She sighed. “I did get one thing from my busted knee, though.  I can tell you when rain or snow is coming.  And neither of them are going to bother us today, so let’s go enjoy the day, shall we?”

He laughed. “We shall.”

 

 

Chris and Kate made their way through the aquarium side by side.  They’d strolled through two museums before making their way to the aquarium.  They’d been there for the last hour and a half just enjoying each other’s company.  At the moment, he was enjoying her reactions to the penguins.  She laughed when one penguin tried to jump from one rock to the next and failed, splashing into the water.

“I love penguins.” She said. “I think they’re my spirit animal.”

“Yeah?  How come?”

“They’re klutzy and adorable.  I want one.”

He laughed. “I’m not sure they’d make a great pet.”

“Are you kidding me?  Penguins love humans.  I imagine they’d be like puppies.”

“How would you house break them?”

“Good question.  Maybe just like a puppy?  Positive reinforcement.  Give them an anchovy whenever they piddle on the puppy pad.”

“Well what about their climate?  They need cold.”

“Not all penguins.” She pointed at the little African penguins. “They don’t live in the cold all the time.  They’re from South Africa.”

“You’ve got this all planned out, huh?”

“Not entirely.  It’s mostly just a long shot of a dream.” She turned and began to walk.  He caught up with her and she said, “Dolphins.”

“What about them?” He asked.

“They’re my favorite animal.  Ever since I was a kid.  One day I want to go swimming with them.  There’s this place in Florida….”

“Discovery Cove.  Yeah, I’ve heard of it.  Never been, though.”

“Me either.  But I want to go.” They walked into the gift shop and started browsing. “When I was little, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer.  I wanted to be able to work alongside these beautiful animals and help take care of them…. I still wouldn’t hate it.”

“Then why don’t you go for it?”

She laughed. “I’m much too old to be a dolphin trainer now.”

“You’re only 30.”

“Hey.  I’m 29.  I’ve got a couple of weeks left before I hit that particular milestone birthday.”

“It’s not bad.”

“Oh, I know.  In fact, I’d like to celebrate it.  Lauren and I always talked about going to Disneyworld for our 30th birthdays, but she’s not seeming so interested in it now.  We were supposed to start planning this year, but every time I bring it up, she has an excuse.” She sighed. “One day I’ll go to Disneyworld.”

“Wait, you’ve never been?”

“Nope.  It’s a thorn in my relationship with my mother.” She laughed. “That woman has been telling me she’ll take me to Disneyworld for almost 30 years and I still haven’t seen the inside of the most magical place on earth.  For someone who has lived and breathed Disney most of her life, it pains my heart.”

“Why haven’t you gone?”

“Not enough time or money…. Or anyone to go with.  I told mom that even if I had a family of my own, when I do go to Disney, she’s paying for me.”

He laughed. “So you’re a Disney fan, huh?”

“Of course!  What, you couldn’t tell by the Merida costume?”

He laughed. “I probably should have.  It was fairly elaborate.  Right up there with Merida from Disneyworld.”

“I know.  My niece went to Disneyworld this summer.  Thank god the woman playing the part was a good actress because Hailey wanted to talk all about the time Merida came to visit for her birthday.”

“It’s pretty impressive that she remembers it.”

“I know!  She was only two!” She looked around. “I’ve got to use the restroom.  I’ll be right back.” She lightly touched his arm before rushing off.  When she came out, Chris was waiting for her with a fluffy stuffed penguin in his arms.

“I know it’s not a real one, but I thought it was a start for your long shot dream.” He handed it to her. “And a way to remember our visit.”

She laughed. “I think I’ll name him Cap.  He looks like an honorable penguin.” He laughed. “Well, what about you?  What’s your favorite animal?”

Chris paused to think for a minute. “Probably an elephant.  They’re such majestic, peaceful creatures.”

Kate smiled at him. “Good choice.”

“Thanks.  Are you hungry?  I have an idea for dinner.”

“Oh, you have an idea, huh?  I didn’t know you could have those.”

“Ha!  Come on, blondie.  Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled to himself.  He was glad they were able to pick on each other without either of them getting offended.  It meant, at least to him, that they were getting comfortable with each other.

“You’re not going to tell me your idea?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll figure it out kinda quick.”

 

 

Chris pulled into the parking lot of Whole Foods and she looked at him suspiciously. “I make a mean chicken carbonara.  Unfortunately I don’t have everything I need, so I have to make a pit stop.”

“Wait…. You’re going to cook for me?” She asked. “Where?”

“At my place.” He smiled at her shocked face. “I just thought a night in away from the hotel would be nice.  I know it can start to feel cramped in a hotel room even after a couple of days.”

“You want to take me to your place?”
“Why not?  Afraid I’ll give you food poisoning?”

“No.  I don’t know why not.  I was just…. Surprised that you wanted to show me your place.”

“Technically this is our third date.” He got out and came around to open her door for her.

“Well, it’s our first if you’re counting the fact that you didn’t ask me to see where this goes until last night.”

“True.  But that’s just a technicality.” He stopped and she turned to face him. “I mean it when I say that I’ve never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly.  Usually I have a problem with the English language and I sweat profusely and it’s never a good thing, but….” He reached out and took her hands. “I like you.  You’ve got this light that I’m just drawn to.”

“Like a bug zapper?” She laughed, trying to brush off the seriousness that had descended upon them.

“Only if you choose to keep your guard up.”

The seriousness in his voice, stopped any jokes she was about to make. “I don’t mean to, Chris.”

“I know.  You’ve been hurt bad by multiple men in your life.  One of them you were supposed to be able to trust not to ever hurt you.  So, I know that it might take some time for you to completely grasp that I like you and I’m willing to keep trying until you trust me.”

“They’re just stories, though.”

“What?”

“Fairytales.  They’re just stories.”

“This feels like a fairytale to you?”

She shrugged. “Three days and the handsome prince is star struck by the peasant girl.  If only we’d met in the woods and gone dancing, maybe this would sink in better.  I don’t know.”
He chuckled. “Well, you are blonde like Sleeping Beauty and just as pale.”

“And you’re just as handsome as Prince Phillip.  Who was my first crush, by the way.”

Chris took her hand and they walked into the store. “You had a crush on a cartoon?”

“Don’t judge.”

“Oh, I’m not.  My first crush was Maid Marian from Robin Hood.”

“The Disney version?”

He blushed slightly. “Yeah.”
“I thought Robin Hood was cute.”

That made him laugh. “What was it about Prince Phillip that you liked?”

“He was dashing and brave and very well drawn.  And he talked to his horse like he was a person.  I’ve always talked to my animals like that.” He grinned. “What was it about Maid Marian that you liked?”
“She was spunky.  I thought I could have fun with her.  I used to run around pretending to be Robin Hood.  I would say all of his lines for him when the movie was on.  Which would make my sister Carly come after me.”

“You’re the second oldest child, right?”

“Yup.  Carly, then me, then Scott, and then Shanna.”

“What are they like?  Well, besides Scott, because I met him and he’s a pretty cool guy.”

Chris smiled as he picked out the cheese he was planning to use that evening. “Carly is your typical older sister.  Bossy, slightly overbearing, used to be a bully to her younger siblings, but you never fucked with her family or she would come after you like Jason Borne.” She laughed and followed him down the next aisle. “Scott and I were always close growing up.  I would usually get us in trouble and he would always take the heat for it because he was too nice.  And Shanna…. She’s your typical younger sister.  She’s the baby, you know.  Bratty, kind of annoying, but not loud.  She’s one of the quiet ones.  Definitely prefers to keep to herself.  I can’t say I blame her with a family as loud as ours is.  But she’s my baby sister and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

“What about your mom?”

“She’s insane.”

She laughed. “Isn’t that description of most mothers?”

“Probably?  Is yours?”

“You have no idea.”

He laughed. “Ma is…. She collects anything and everything I’ve ever done.  Every newspaper or magazine that I’m in, she collects it.  She has a shelf with nothing but DVDs and Blurays of my movies and even the TV shows I’ve done.  She’s so proud of me that she’s bursting at the seams with it.  And she’s one of my best friends.  I tell her everything.  I always have.”
She smiled. “She sounds great.  Your whole family does.”

“What about yours?”

“Uh…. Mom is definitely insane.  We don’t always get along, though.  She has very strong opinions and isn’t afraid to shove them on you.  Sometimes I get the feeling that she thinks I’m still a misguided kid that she needs to guide by the hand.  Though she’s never really had to worry too much about me because I’m boring.  I’ve never done drugs.  I didn’t have sex until I knew I was ready and it was with someone I’d been with for a really long time.  The first time I skipped school was senior year the day before prom to go shopping and like a bad episode of Saved By The Bell, I got caught by a news crew doing interviews with teenagers about the new program they were implementing at the mall.  And much to my surprise, mom wasn’t mad.  She was excited that I had done something semi-bad.”

Chris had finished getting everything he needed and they headed for the checkout counter. “So you were a goody two shoes?”

“Yeah, I guess.  I did go through a goth phase for a while.  Drove my mom bonkers because all I wanted to do was shop at Hot Topic, listen to rock music, and read vampire novels.  I even died my hair blonde on top and blood red on bottom.”

Chris looked her up and down. “I cannot see you as a goth.  Please tell me there’s photographic proof.”

“Unfortunately there is.  But, fortunately, I don’t have any with me.  It’s all back home in photo albums.”

He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I can’t wait to see them.  I feel like I’m going to have the best blackmail on the planet.” They stepped up to pay and before he could get in his wallet, she ducked under him and swiped her card. “What are you doing?”

“Paying.” She grinned up at him as she put in her pin. “You’ve gotten dinner the last two nights.  At least let me get this since you’re cooking.”

“I don’t think I have a choice now.” He playfully bumped her with his hip as she took the receipt and he picked up the bags.  The girl that had rung them up was staring unabashedly at Chris and giving Kate the stink eye from the side of her stare.  Chris seemed completely oblivious as he dug in his pocket for his car key.  Kate smiled politely at the girl and followed Chris out.

 

 

“Well, this is it.” Chris said as they walked back into the living room of the spacious apartment. “I keep it for when I need some time to myself.”

“Or when you have a girl over that hasn’t made it to family meeting level yet?”
“Uh, I guess so.  I haven’t actually had any girls over here since I got the place.  You’re the first.”

She blushed and walked over to the windows overlooking the city. “It has a great view.” They were at the top floor of a fourteen story building.

“The roof is mine, too.  I’ve got a little patio set up there with a grill.”

“Nice.” She turned back around to see him in the kitchen getting everything ready to cook.  Walking over to the island, she slid onto a stool and watched him work for a moment.  He shot her some smiles as she sat there.

“Oh!  Would you like something to drink?  Fuck, I’m a moron for not thinking of it.” He opened the refrigerator and rifled around. “I have beer, beer, water, beer, and oh look…. A bottle of white.  No idea how that got in there.  I’m blaming Scott.”

“Well, whoever it was, I’ll thank them later.”

“White wine?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Chris rummaged through the drawers till he found a corkscrew and opened the bottle.  He pulled down a wine glass and poured her a generous amount. “I have no idea what kind it is.”

She grabbed the bottle and tilted it. “Oh, yum.  It’s a Riesling.  I love Rieslings.  Busch Gardens in Williamsburg has this shop in their Germany section that sells a bottle from this winery called…. I think…. Zeppelin.  It’s all in German and has a picture of a zeppelin on it.  And the lady at the store said that it was served on the Hindenburg.  But I love it.  I get a bottle pretty much every time I go.”

“Busch Gardens?  The amusement park in Florida?”

“Well, there’s two of them.  One in Florida and the one near me in Williamsburg.  The one in Florida is more Africa themed, I think.  I’ve never been.  I know they have a lot of wildlife there.  The one in Williamsburg is called Busch Gardens Europe.  It has different sections that are different countries.  Kind of like Epcot, but not.” She chuckled. “I have a season pass.  They’re doing Hallowscream right now.”

“Cool.  Do you think we can go?”

“I don’t know.  I mean, I think this weekend is the last before they start setting up Christmastown.”

Chris stopped what he was doing and turned to her. “Christmastown?”

“Yeah.  They turn the entire place into a Christmas wonderland.  There’s lights everywhere!  One section of the park has snow.  And there’s hot chocolate for days!  The Santa they have looks like the real deal.  They have different Christmas shows and some of the rides are open.  It’s really neat.  And I’m extremely excited because Elvis Stojko has a show this year.” At his blank look, she elaborated. “He’s a pretty famous figure skater from the 90s.  Kinda known as the bad boy of skating.”

“Oh.  That’s really cool.  I’d like to go to Christmastown.  It sounds awesome.”

“Well, I may know someone who can get you in at a discounted rate.”

“Yeah?  You may need to call her up and tell her to make plans for a date one evening.” He winked at her and got back to work.  She blushed and looked into her wine glass.  Three days in and he was talking about making future plans with her.  What was happening? “So, tell me more about your family.  You said your sister is a long story.”

“Ugh!  Where do I even begin with her?”

“Well, generally the beginning is a good start.”

“Ok.  I’m three years older than her and she’s not supposed to exist.  My mom got her tubes tied when she had me.  She didn’t want another kid.  But somehow, one of the tubes came untied or something and my sister was conceived.  She was six weeks early and had all kinds of problems.  We didn’t find out until about three or four years later that she’s partially deaf.  My mom babied her and my father loved her.  He never hurt her like he did my mom and I.” She took a long sip of wine and he turned to look at her. “I had a lot of anger when my parents split up and my mom moved us to a different state and she married someone new and I broke my knee and couldn’t skate anymore…. I took it out on Janice.  I turned into my father.  My mom sent me away to my grandmother’s house.  My father was living with her, but Memaw was sort of my protector.  He didn’t really mess with me.  And then my father decided he wanted custody of us both and fought my mom.  He won and my sister stayed in Kentucky with us.  Then my grandma died and I was front and center for the mental and physical abuse.  Jan was completely oblivious to it.  When my mom found out I had planned to kill myself, she brought me here for spring break and told me that when I finished my freshman year I would be moving back with her.  She wanted to bring my sister, too, but Jan chose to stay with our father.  She was going to a school where she wasn’t getting the help she needed and our father didn’t give a shit about her, so she just…. Wilted.  My sister is a 73 year old woman stuck in a 27 year old body.  Lauren is going to school for her masters in psychology and she’s pretty sure Jan has Asperger’s.  All of her little quirks made sense once I read up on it.  But the damage is done.  Jan and I don’t get along that great.  I love her.  She’s my sister.  I will defend her with my life and have a couple of times.  But we spend a lot of time at each other’s throats.”

Chris turned back to his cooking before he burned anything. “It’s a sibling thing, maybe?”

“She’s a stick in the mud.  I’m a…. Well, the word vivacious gets thrown around a lot.  She doesn’t have a sense of humor, I’m kind of a sarcastic jerk like the rest of my family.  She’s the black sheep of the family.”

“Every family has one.” She took another long sip of her wine and realized she had drank it all. “Here,” Chris grabbed the bottle out of the fridge and poured her some more. “What about your brother?  Where was he in all that?”

“Uh, my brother is actually my step-brother.  It’s very rare that I distinguish that.  He’s been in my life since I was really young.  He’s had a tough childhood, too.  His mother was a raving lunatic and forged his dad’s signature on papers that signed his parental rights away so Killi could be adopted by her new husband.  My step-dad is an alcoholic, so he was too drunk to know what happened until much later.  He’s been sober for the last sixteen plus years.  January will be seventeen years.  Anyway, Killi lived with his mom in Tennessee and came out to visit more and more.  He went to college in Alabama and while he was in his junior year, his mother committed suicide and blamed it on him.  Left him a note saying it was because he left her and went away to college.  He was really messed up about it.  It’s only recently that he sought help.”

“Fuck!  Poor guy.  You’re closer to your brother, then?”

“Oh yeah.  Bad childhoods make instant connections.” She chuckled. “He’s my big brother and he acts like it.  We pick on each other and we share things that no one else knows.  He’s the one that convinced my mom not to lose her shit about me getting a tattoo.  When the asshole cheated on me, my sister in law said she had to beg and plead with Killi not to grab his gun and drive up to ‘take care of things’.  He was incredibly proud of me for giving the asshole a nice shiner.”

Chris laughed. “I’d say he deserved worse than a shiner.”

“Well, yeah.  He probably would’ve gotten it too if he hadn’t run off like he did.” She took a deep breath. “It smells great.”
“It’ll be done soon.”

“Where did you learn to cook?”

“Watching my family.  We’re part Italian, so there’s always someone cooking something.  I just watched and learned.  Truthfully, this is about as skillful as I get on my own.” He checked the bread in the oven before leaning his arms against the island in front of her. “What about you?  Can you cook?”

“Uh, yes and no.  I can cook, but I’m much better at baking.  I love to make bread.  It’s a lot of work, but the payoff is usually worth it.”

“Where did you learn?”
“My mom.  She and my father were both chefs for a while.  Well, my father still is.  Mom cooks almost every night.  There’s a bookshelf in the corner of the house that’s filled with cookbooks.  Everything you’ve ever wanted to make is probably in that bookshelf.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Oh god…. Uh…. Do I have to choose just one?”

He laughed. “A foodie, huh?”

“Lately, yes.  I’ve decided to try new things.  I was a picky eater for a long time.  While I was skating, my diet was pretty strict.  So was the regimen.  I’m pretty sure that it would’ve made your training for Cap look like child’s play.”

“Try me.”

“Ok.  I was up about 4:30 every morning, went to the rink to train, came home, ate breakfast, did whatever studying I needed to do for that day, then it was off to school.  After school, depending on what day it was, I would go to ballet class, or pilates, or gymnastics, or weight training, then it would be back to the rink to work on choreography before going home and doing homework, eating dinner, and then going to sleep before doing it all again the next day.  I was a machine.  At the age of twelve I could leg press 375 pounds.”

“Fuck!  Every day?”

“Every day.  I got started kind of late age-wise.  I trained like crazy to catch up and be the best I could be.  And all the while, I had to maintain no less than Bs in all of my classes or else mom would make me stop skating.”

“Yeah, I just eat healthy and lift weights every day.  Lots of protein shakes.”

“Ugh!  I always hated those.  I didn’t need them much, though.  The curse is trying to put on muscle without putting on weight.  Just a couple of pounds could throw off your center of gravity and that leads to all kinds of badness.  The list of injuries I could give you that I’ve been through is as tall as me.”

“Oh, then that’s not that long, then.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah.  I’m short.”

He laughed and went back to finish the chicken carbonara. “So, you’re trying new things, huh?”

“Richmond is full of restaurants.  It’s a very bohemian city, so there’s lots of different types of food offered there.  I’ve started trying new restaurants and new cuisines.”

“Ok, so what’s the best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth?”

“Um…. There’s a place in Williamsburg called Le Yaca.  It’s a French restaurant that actually came from France.  I think the original is still in France.  But their food is sinfully good.  Their bread is amazing.  I love their French Onion Soup and their house salad.  But they have this dish called la crêpe au crabe.  It’s fresh crab meat and béchamel sauce with Swiss cheese and sometimes there’s vegetables all wrapped in a crêpe.  It’s so good it’s made my eyes mist just thinking about it.”

“I think I might have to break my diet for that next week.”

“I think you might have to, too.  It’s not my favorite restaurant, though.  That title belongs to Pattis in Grand Rivers, Kentucky.  I’ve been going there since I was a baby.  I always get excited when I see the signs for it on the interstate.”

“It’s funny.  You really don’t strike me as someone from a small town.”

She laughed. “Well, I am.  I almost fell into the small town life.  Like a good small town girl, I had a boyfriend from seventh grade all the way until the summer before senior year.  At Christmas in our junior year, he proposed to me and I said yes because I did love him.  But a year and a half before that I had moved to Virginia and it was definitely changing me.  When I went back home in summer, I broke it off because I didn’t want to get married at eighteen.  I really didn’t want to move back to a small town with bad memories and he wouldn’t move away because he was inheriting his parent’s very successful real estate company.  But if I had chosen to go back, I would’ve been a really young mother with a white picket fence and a dog.”

“Do you regret giving that up?”

She smiled. “Not in the slightest.  If I had, I wouldn’t be sitting in Boston with someone I admire cooking for me and wanting to spend a ridiculous amount of time with me.”

Chris smiled brightly and she fought the urge to get up and pin him against the counter with a fiery kiss.

 

 

After dinner, which had been delicious, they relaxed on the sofa.  The bottle of wine was nearly empty now.  It was sitting on the coffee table next to her wine glass.  The conversation between them had flowed easily and the silence that was surrounding them now was peaceful.  They had tried to find a movie to watch, but nothing had really jumped out at them.  Her legs were stretched out in front of her and resting on Chris’s lap where he’d placed them.  His hands ran lightly up and down her jean clad shins absentmindedly.

It was Chris who finally broke the silence. “So, what should we do tomorrow?”

“The whale watching trip sounds like fun.  I’ve never done that.  And I’d like to visit the U.S.S. Constitution.”

“Sounds like fun to me.”

“Chris, do you want to go to the game with me Thursday?  Since I have the extra ticket.”

He smiled at her. “Yeah.  I’d love to go to the game with you.  Let’s make sure the people in front of us don’t have a cell phone, though.”

“Good idea.”

“Hey, nothing crazy happened today.”

“I thought for sure I’d end up at least tripping and falling into the penguin habitat.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t have minded.”

“Nope.  I’d have found a way to sneak one of them out.”

“Cap would’ve had a friend.”

“Well, it’s ok.  He’ll have plenty of other friends at home.”

“You have lots of stuffed penguins?”

“I have lots of stuffed animals.  He’ll probably end up with Captain Bearica.”

Chris laughed. “Captain Bearica?”

“When I was back home this past June, my best friend Amanda and I took her son David, my ‘nephew’ to the Zoo and to the Science Museum in St. Louis.  They have a Build A Bear on the bottom floor and he begged to go in there.  He wouldn’t make a bear until I’d picked one out for myself.  They had one Captain America bear left, so I grabbed him and I named him Captain Bearica.  He hangs out with Thumper from ‘Bambi’.”

“Awe!  I love Thumper.”

“Me too.  My Thumper is old.  I’ve had him since I was a baby.  He’s been thoroughly loved.”

“I have a stuffed Copper from when I was a baby.”

“From ‘Fox and the Hound’?”

Chris smiled brightly. “Yeah!  Good guess.”

“I told you I’m a Disney fan.”

“I’m getting that.”

She smiled and noticed that the tattoo on his chest was peeking out from his open henley shirt.  Without thinking, she reached over and ran a finger across it. “What does it say?”

“My tattoo?” She nodded. “‘When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.  When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.’  It’s a quote by Eckhart Tolle.”

“Pretty.  And very insightful.”

“Thank you.  It’s just a little reminder to myself.”

“I have one of those.” She lifted her left leg and pulled the leg of her jeans up, twisting it to reveal a tattoo on the lower part of her shin just above the ankle.  Around a four leaf clover, it read “Tomorrow is another day.” “It has different levels of meaning to me.”

Chris traced the tattoo with his finger. “‘Gone With the Wind.’”

“It’s my favorite movie.  I try to watch it at least once a year.  I got to see it on the big screen for the first time ever last year and I completely lost my shit.  I didn’t even make it to the opening credits before I started sobbing.  The music swelled and I was lost.  My mom thought it was hilarious.  It’s also the very last line of the book, which I love, and a way to tell myself to be as strong as Scarlet was.  Because she was right.  It may be hard and you feel completely hopeless today, but there’s always tomorrow to deal with it.”

He looked up at her and was smiling brightly. “You’re incredible.”

She smiled back. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Chapter 4

“My mom knows about you now.” Chris said as they made their way to the landing for the whale watching trip.

“Does she?” Kate asked.

“She called me this morning and wanted to know if I was ok since I haven’t been around in a few days.  And Scott mentioned that I was keeping myself busy in a tone that implied something more.”

“So, you told her about me?  What did she say?  What did you say?”

“I told her pretty much everything.  How we met and what we’ve been doing since…. She found it pretty amazing and said you must be something special and she can’t wait to meet you.”

“Oh.” 

“How would you feel about going over to my mom’s house Friday afternoon and staying for dinner?”

“Oh, uh…. Are you sure?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure if you don’t go, she’ll come find you.”

They found a place near the back of the ship and leaned against the railings. “Did you tell her the part about next week?”

“Yeah.”

“What did she say?”

“That it’ll be good for me to go someplace new for fun and that she hopes I actually have fun.”

“Well, I can say that I agree with her on that point.”

“She also thinks you’re very pretty.” She cocked an eyebrow up at him. “I sent her a picture.  And for the record, I agree with her.”

She let out a laugh and shook her head. “I’m just going to say thank you.”

He turned to her. “You don’t think you are?”

“I think I’m nothing special.”

“Is that your father talking?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think so.  Maybe.  I just…. I don’t look in a mirror and go ‘yeah, you’re so hot’.  Even after I spend time on my hair and makeup.”

“You’re incredibly oblivious, then.  You’re beautiful.” He reached out and pushed a strand of hair that was floating in the wind behind her ear. “Trust me.”

She blushed and looked out at the water. “You’re crazy.”

He laughed. “That’s beside the point.”

The boat shifted under them and they were headed out onto the ocean.  The wind was cold and Chris moved behind her to block her from it.  She smiled to herself and watched the city get smaller as they moved out to the open ocean.

“Why me?” She asked.

“Why you what?” Chris asked, his mouth not far from her ear.

“Let me rephrase.  What is it about me that makes you so at ease?  That made you want to take me out for dinner that night you knocked me down in dog shit?”

“I don’t know.  There was something in me that saw something in you and I asked you to dinner to see if I could figure out what it was.  I was sweating bullets before I asked you, remember?”

“I didn’t even notice.  I was kind of trying not to freak out that this actor I’ve thought was amazing since I saw him in ‘Cellular’ was sitting in my hotel room and talking to me and then asking me to dinner.”

He laughed. “You saw ‘Cellular’, huh?”

“And liked it.  Personally, though, my favorite movie of yours is probably ‘Snowpiercer’.” She looked up at him. “You were incredible in that.”

He blushed a bright red and she smiled. “Thank you.  That means a lot, actually.” His arms came around her and he held her against his chest.

“You’re welcome.” She snuggled back into him and looked out over the water. “So when are we going to see some whales?”

“We might have to join the crowd up front.”

“Oh.” They both leaned over to look up the deck at the small crowd gathered on the bow.  Behind them, a little boy about ten years old tapped Chris on the hip.  Chris turned and looked down at him with a smile, letting Kate out of his embrace.

“Are you Captain America?” The little boy asked.

Chris knelt down to be eye level with him. “I sure am.”

“I saw, um…. The Avengers…. And it was really good.”

“That’s awesome, buddy.”

“You’re my favorite, though.  Don’t tell Iron Man, ok?”

Chris smiled. “You got it.  I won’t tell him.  What’s your name?”

“Macon.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Macon.” Chris shook his little hand.

The little boy looked up at Kate. “Is she an Avenger, too?”

“No.  She’s a good friend of mine.  She’s a superhero, too, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.  Shh, don’t tell anyone, though.  She’s kind of shy about it.”

“Ok.” Macon looked up at her again. “I promise I won’t tell.  Even if a bad guy asks me, I won’t tell him.”

“Thank you.” She said.
“What’s your name?”

“Uh…. Captain Princess.”

Macon laughed. “That’s funny.”

She chuckled. “Yeah.”

“You should join the Avengers if you’re a superhero, too.  They’re the good guys.”

“Cap, here, has been trying to get me to join for years.  But if you think I should, maybe I’ll talk to Iron Man.”

“Yeah!”

“Macon?” A woman’s voice called from somewhere on the deck.

“That’s my mom.  I gotta go.  Bye!  I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re here.” Macon ran off to find his mother and Chris stood back up.

He shot her an inquisitive look. “Captain Princess?”

She blushed and shook her head. “It’s my niece’s superhero name.  It was the first thing that popped in my head.”

“Your niece has a superhero name?”

“Yup.  She has a cape and a mask and she runs around with the bow and arrow set I got her for her 2nd birthday.  Well, Merida got it for her.” At his concerned look, she added, “It’s a kids toy.  The arrows have suction cups, but she’s got scary good accuracy once I showed her how to shoot.  Poor Abby has been terrorized with it.  Abby is my brother’s dog.”

Chris laughed, throwing his head back. “You taught your two year old niece to shoot a bow and arrow?” His right hand went to his chest as he continued to laugh.

“I wasn’t going to give her a weapon without showing her how to use it.  That’s irresponsible even if it is just a toy.  And for the record, Merida showed her.”

“Oh, Kat, you’re ridiculous.” He said it in such a way that it was the most endearing thing she’d ever heard.  Then suddenly, his hands were cupping the sides of her face and his lips pressed to hers.  She stiffened in surprise, but only for a moment before relaxing into it.  When he pulled away a few seconds that felt like an hour later, they were both grinning. “Sorry.  I hope that wasn’t too forward.”

“No….” She cleared her throat. “No.  That…. I…. Oh jeepers.” She sagged back against the railing, leaning on it for support. “That was better than I imagined it.”

“So you’ve thought about it, too, huh?”

She laughed and looked up at him. “Probably more than you.”

There was a sudden commotion at the front of the boat and the boat slowed down to a stop.  Camera shutters could be heard going off at a rapid rate.  Chris and Kate exchanged looks and went up to see the whales.  She snapped some photos with her Canon DSLR that she’d brought along and even stealthily took some of Chris watching the whales with a look that reminded her of a kid at an amusement park.

 

 

When they got back on dry land, they headed to a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  The two of them sat on the same side of the table.  The booth seats weren’t huge, so they were close together.  He wrapped an arm around her as she pulled out her camera to look at the pictures she’d taken.

“You’re really good at taking pictures.” Chris remarked, munching on chips and salsa.

“Thank you.”

“You’ve got an eye for it.”

“See this sequence of pictures?” She was referring to seven pictures she’d shot rapid fire of a humpback whale breeching. “I’ll probably make a panorama of it and get that framed.”

“I want a copy of that if you do.  That’ll be really cool.”

“I can’t say the idea is mine.  My sister in law did that for pictures she took of a whale from her cruise ship when she and my brother went to Alaska.  I will say, though, that my sequence of pictures is better than hers.”

“Oh shit!  Look at that one!” He pointed to one she’d managed to get of the inside of a whale’s mouth.  It had come up to feed on krill right next to where she’d been standing and she’d quickly snapped the picture.  It looked like that whale was smiling big for the camera. “That’s so cool!  I can’t wait to see that blown up!”

“Your enthusiasm for my pictures is adorable.”

“Do you have other pictures I can see?”

“They’re on my laptop at the hotel.” She looked up at him and he was giving her puppy dog eyes. “Yes, you can see them.  Though you’re not allowed to tell Casey you saw hers.  For some reason she’s really embarrassed by them.”

“Well, I won’t look at them if it embarrasses her.”

“Just don’t tell her because I’m quite proud of them.  They’re my first venture into actual portraits.”

“Have you ever thought about being a photographer?”

“Sometimes.  But Richmond is full of talented photographers.  It’s tough to break into the business.  I just take pictures for fun and for my friends.” She sighed. “I completely forgot that I’m taking pictures for my friend Jessica and her sister Sarah next week.”

“Oh, that’s ok.  I can be your assistant.  I think I’ve done enough shoots to know how to help you out.”

She laughed. “Probably.  I think I’m going to like watching you hold up my reflector and doing what I ask.”

He shot her a devilish look. “Sounds like fun, mistress.  I’m at your service.”

She ducked her head to hide the blush.  The food chose that moment to appear and Chris went over to the other side of the table to give themselves room to eat.  The conversation was steady about photoshoots.  The ones that she’d done and some of the ones he’s done over the years.

“Have you ever been in front of the camera?” Chris asked as they left the restaurant and headed back to the car.

“Uh, a few times, actually.”

“I’m not talking school pictures or 90s Glamour Shots.”

“I know.  And while I’ve done the Glamour Shots thing, the answer is still the same.”

“Can I see those, too?”

She grinned up at him. “You’re a very curious man.  Didn’t anyone ever warn you about what curiosity did to the cat?”

That made him laugh. “I’m not a cat person, so I don’t really care.”

“Good.  I’m not a cat person, either.  I’m allergic to them.”

He slipped his hand in hers. “So, do you still want to see the Constitution?”

“Of course!  History buff, here.  I’ll almost never turn down a chance to see something as cool as Old Ironsides.”

“Then to Old Ironsides we go.”

While they waited in line to go onto the ship, Kate looked up at Chris. “Can I cook for you tonight?”

He smiled down at her. “Only if we can stop and get your laptop.”

“I think we can arrange that.”

“Cool.  What will you be cooking tonight?”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll have to go to the grocery store, so I’ll figure it out then.”

“Nice.” His phone started ringing and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s Scott.  Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

“Hey.” Chris answered his phone. “Yeah, I’m with her now.  Oh, well she’s actually planning on cooking tonight.  Don’t know yet.  Hold on.” He looked down at her. “Scott wanted to know if we wanted to go out with him this evening.”

“Tell him to join us for dinner.  I’ll cook for him, too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

He smiled and turned back to the phone. “She says come over to my place tonight and she’ll cook for us.  Great.  Ok, yeah.  We’ll see you later.” Chris hung up and stuck his phone back in his pocket. “He’s bringing a friend, if that’s ok.”

“Yeah.  I’ll just have to make sure to make enough food for everyone.”

 

 

After they finished their visit to the USS Constitution, they went back to the hotel and got her laptop before heading to the same Whole Foods that Chris has stopped at.  She decided to make Parmesan encrusted chicken, sautéed squash, and Ranch dinner bread.  Simple to make, yet still delicious.  Chris decided they needed dessert, so he picked up a fruit tart that looked almost too pretty to eat.

He was now sitting at the island watching her work.  Every now and then her tongue would peek out between her lips as she concentrated.  Whenever a strand of hair fell out of her ponytail into her face, she would blow it away and roll her eyes when it fell right back.  Her fingers were too covered in chicken goo to touch her hair, so Chris leaned over and brushed the strand behind her ear.

“Thank you.” She said.

“Anytime.”

“Sorry I’m not talking much.”

“It’s ok.  I like watching you.  You seem to really know your way around the kitchen.”
“Well, I watched you yesterday, so I remembered where everything was.” She turned to the sink and started washing her hands.

“I meant the way you seem to know when everything needs to get done.” He got up and stood behind her. “It’s like a finely choreographed routine.  It’s like I’m watching you dance.” When she turned to dry her hands, he caught them in a hold position before twirling her out and pulling her back into a dip.  She laughed as he set her back up right and pulled her into a hold again.

“There’s no music.” She said.

“Who needs it?” He began to sway, leading her, until the oven beeped letting them know the preheat was done.  Before he let her go, he ducked his head down and kissed her.  Her head swam for a moment and she grinned like an idiot. “Your lips are very soft.”

“EOS lip balm.”

He laughed. “I may have to switch from chapstick, then.”

“Your lips aren’t rough.” She shoved the chicken breasts into the oven and shut the door.  Chris leaned back against the counter and watched her expertly chop the yellow and green squash into slices and set them in a bowl before moving on to the onion.

“How is that not making you cry?”

“I stuck it in the freezer as soon as we got here.  Cold onions don’t release the enzyme that makes you cry.  Or, they do, but not as badly.  The rest is taken care of by my contacts.  They block what little onion enzyme there is from getting to me and making my eyes produce tears.”

“That’s very…. Science-y.”

Kate shrugged as she continued to chop. “My mom taught me that.  She learned it when she was in Paris hanging out with this lady who taught her to make French onion soup.  One day, mom is going to teach me how to make it because I love French food.”

“Have you ever been to Paris?”

“I’ve never been out of the country.  And I’ve never made it past Lincoln, Nebraska.  That’s the farthest west I’ve gone.”

“What’s in Lincoln?”

“A university.  My school went on a field trip there once when I lived in Omaha.” She put the chopped onion with the sliced squash and pulled out a large pan from the cabinet.

“What was the field trip for?”

“I was in…. gosh…. Third or fourth grade at the time.  The school I went to was a magnet school for math and science.  Everything was super advanced there.  I once made a working robot out of Legos and controlled it on a computer.  They took us to show us the math and science department at the college and we spent the day learning college level science shit.  I’m fairly certain it was also a recruitment trip.”

“So you’re good at math and science?”

“Oh god no!” She pulled out the loaf of French bread that they’d gotten and started cutting it in slices, stopping before she cut all the way through. “I find it hilarious that I even went to that school.  Everything I enjoyed doing was art.  I learned to play the violin there.  And I was in Japanese class.  I loved to design things on the computer.  I’m great with computers.” She grabbed a stick of butter, cut it in sections and stuck the sections in a small bowl before setting it in the microwave and turning it on.

“Why did you go to the school?”

“Uh, when we moved to Omaha, they made me take a test to see what classes they should put me in and apparently I scored so high, they wanted to send me to the magnet school.  I got accepted to it and my mom was so excited about it that she didn’t think twice about sending me.  I did really good.  I still appreciate science.  Especially astronomy.  I love looking at the stars and my brother was almost an astronaut.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She got the melted butter out and added a package of Ranch dressing mix to it. “It’s what he went to school for, but things kept getting in his way of becoming one.” Taking a basting brush, she brushed the butter and ranch mix in between the slices and all over the crust. “He trained for it a little bit.  He went up in the Vomit Comet three times.  He wanted to be on the first mission to Mars.”

“What kind of things got in his way?”

“His job, his mother killing herself, getting married, having a kid…. His wife Maura didn’t want to move either.  She wants to stay with her stupid family and hold my brother back from accomplishing his dreams.”

“Ooh, hostility.”

“A little.” She wrapped the bread up in tin foil and put it in the oven with the chicken. “I hate her family.  They’re ‘old Southern money’.  Pft!  Her mother decided that since Jan and I aren’t Killi’s biological sisters, we had no place in the family pictures when Killi and Maura got married.  So there’re no pictures of the three of us together when he got married.  And there’s only four pictures of him with our parents.”

“That’s fucked up.”
“Oh yeah.  Maura’s mother is a stuck up bitch who constantly reminds my family that we’re trash compared to her family.  But I don’t see Maura’s sister dressing up as a Scottish Highland princess in Georgia in June just to make her niece happy.  Their version of that is throw some money at Hailey.  Buy her things.  Things fade and disappear.  Memories like the ones I made for Hailey will last a life time.  She tells her friends that Merida came to visit and shows them pictures of it.  One day she’ll be old enough to realize it was me and it will make it that much more special to her that her aunt loves her that much.” She tossed the squash into the pan on the stove. “And they’re not really ‘old Southern money’, either.  Maura’s grandfather is the one that invented that horrible electric fence for dogs.  They made their fortune torturing dogs.” She glanced at Chris and saw he was watching her with a weird expression on his face. “Sorry.  Hot button.”

“No.  It’s fine.”

“What’s that look for then?”

“I just…. I’m completely captivated by you.  You’re…. Passionate.”

“Vivacious.”

“No.  Vivacious isn’t always the nicest of endearments.  Passionate is the right word for you.  And it’s incredibly sexy.”

He pulled on her hand and she was suddenly pressed completely against him.  One of his hands found the small of her back and the other hand snaked its way up her back, fingers trailing along her spine, until his forearm was pressed firmly against her and his hand gripped the back of her neck.  Her heart sped up as his lips met hers and made it clear that this wasn’t a chaste kiss like the last two. 

Her lips parted for him and he expertly teased her tongue with his.  His beard tickled her where it brushed her skin and electric currents ran from his skin into hers, curling around every single nerve where they touched.  Though it felt like the kiss went on for hours, it felt too soon when he pulled away.  Her lips tried to form words, but nothing came out.  Neither of them opened their eyes for a long moment.  They just savored the feel of the other against them.

“That was….” Her voice finally found itself, but words failed her still.

“Passionate.” He said, finally opening his eyes.  They were very, very blue as they peered into hers from centimeters away.  His voice was husky and low. “You’re good at that.”

She cleared her throat. “You’re better.  I’m really glad you’re holding me because I’m not sure my legs work anymore.”

He chuckled and she felt the vibrations of it against her. “I’m leaning against the counter for support.” After another moment, he released her slowly, making sure she had her feet solidly under her. “I don’t want you to burn the squash.”

“I hadn’t turned it on yet.”

“Good call.” He stood right behind her as she cut up half a stick of butter to put in with the squash.  When she moved to the stove with a small bowl of sugar and a wooden spoon, he wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his chin against her shoulder to watch her cook.

That’s when the door opened and Scott burst into the room. “Something smells awesome!” He said.

Chris reluctantly let her go and turned to greet his brother. “That would be Kat’s cooking.”

“It’s nothing special.” Kate said, stirring the squash and adding a bit of sugar.

“Hey Nina.” Chris said. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“I was in New York and decided to come up here for a couple of days.” Kate turned around to see Nina Dobrev releasing Chris from a hug.

Scott came over and hugged Kate. “How’s your tooth?”

“Uh, solid.  Your dad did an awesome job.” Kate said.

“Kate, this is….”

“Nina Dobrev.  Yeah.” She reached out and shook Nina’s hand. “I’m a fan of ‘The Vampire Diaries’.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nina said. “Scott told me all about you.  Glad their dad got your tooth fixed up for you.”

“Me too.”

 

 

The conversation went smoothly over dinner.  Everyone seemed impressed with Kate’s cooking.  They especially loved the Ranch dinner bread.  That was finished off quickly.  Scott had brought two bottles of wine and those were finished off quickly as well.  After dinner, Scott had decided it would be a good idea to go out for some fun.  It was decided that karaoke at a local bar sounded like the most fun.  They had a table near the back that still had a good view of everything.  Their second round of drinks were on the table and Chris and Scott were up talking with the DJ about what songs he had and choosing which one they wanted to do.

Nina leaned over to Kate. “Chris really likes you.”

Kate blushed and smiled slightly. “Yeah?”

“I’ve known him for a few years now and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this at ease with someone.”

“He’s said as much to me.”

“Do you not believe him?”

Kate glanced up at Chris. “Oh I believe him, it’s just really hard to wrap my head around.” Nina shrugged. “It’s not every day a person goes from being a fan to actually being with that person.”

“No, but it’s happened.  I will warn you, though, it’s not easy.  Especially with someone as famous as Chris is.  The paparazzi aren’t always the nicest people.”
“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it.  I mean…. Well, I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.  That’s gotten me through a lot in the past.”

“It’s a good way to live.  Enjoying the moments and experiencing life as it comes to you.  Do you do yoga?”

“I used to.  Back in my figure skating days.”

“You were a figure skater?  That’s so cool!”

“Yeah.  Right up until I destroyed my knee when I was fourteen.”

“Oh no!  What happened?”

When Chris and Scott came back, Nina and Kate were deep in conversation about Pilates and yoga and the benefits that it might have on Kate’s knee now. “I see you two are getting along great without us.” Chris said, sliding in next to Kate.

“Kat’s really awesome.” Nina said. “You know how to pick them, Evans.”

“Thanks!”

“What song did you pick?” Kate asked him.

“I thought you and I could do a duet.  I picked ‘Don’t You Want Me’.  Classic 80s.”

“What?” She glanced at the stage. “You want me to go up there?”

“I did not peg you for someone with stage fright, Kitty Monroe.” Scott said, referring to her burlesque name.

“Well, it’s real.”

“How!?  You get up and dance and take your clothes off in front of people.”

“Wait, what?” Nina asked.

“Singing is a whole different beast.” Kate insisted. “I’ve done musicals, but those don’t count as me singing.  That was my character singing.  I haven’t sang in front of people since high school and I’m not sure it exactly counted because it was at church in front of little old ladies who would never tell you if you sucked or not because ‘you’re wonderful no matter what you do, dearie’.”

“We can be the little old ladies.” Scott offered.

“You’re not going to suck.” Chris said. “I’ve heard you sing.”

“To my niece.  Who doesn’t care if I can sing or not.”

Scott waved over a waitress. “We’re going to need some limes, eight shots of your best tequila, and another round of drinks.”

“Oh god!  Tequila?”

Scott laughed. “Tequila makes everything more fun.”

“You know the song ‘Tequila Makes Her Clothes Come Off’?” Scott nodded. “Well, it’s true.  At least in my case.”

“All the better for my brother, then.”

“Scott!” Chris yelled. “Oh my god, dude!” Scott just smiled wickedly at them and waggled his eyebrows.

“Can we go back to the part about dancing and taking your clothes off on stage?” Nina asked. “Are you a stripper?”

“She’s a burlesque performer.” Scott said.

“No!  Really?”

Kate nodded. “Yeah.  I’ve been performing around Richmond and DC for a little over two years now.”

“How does someone get into that?”

“Well, there’s a school in Richmond.  A friend of mine runs it.  I went to a burlesque show and fell in love with it.  I went through a few months of debating whether or not I wanted to give it a try.  I kind of freaked out about it.  My friend Lara and I were supposed to sign up together, but I chickened out.  I ended up signing up for the next six week course and I haven’t regretted it for a moment.”

“That would be awesome to see sometime.  Do you have those pretty feather fans?”

“I just got my first pair earlier this year.  I did a Katniss Everdeen routine with them to ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ for a movie show.”

“Cool!  How many routines do you have?”

“Uh…. I don’t know.  Ten maybe?  I’ve been working on a Peggy Carter one for a Marvel show a friend of mine is putting together.” Kate looked up at Chris. “My friend Em and her friend Zhora are during a routine of Captain America battling the Winter Soldier.”

“I would love to go to that show.” Chris said. “You have to let me know when it is.”

“I’m not sure they would be able to handle Captain America himself sitting in the audience.  And I might be the most shy of them all if I know you’re there.”

Scott grabbed Nina. “Come help me sing.” He pulled her out of the booth and up to the stage.

Chris looked over at her and the look he gave her made everything inside her tighten and her face flush with heat. “Maybe you could rehearse beforehand.  And maybe I could be there to give you some helpful tips?”

“I think I wouldn’t remember anything if it was just you I was performing for.”

He smirked moving his face a little closer to hers. “What if I took one piece of my clothing off for each piece of yours?”

“Is that the tequila talking?”

“It takes a lot more than a couple of tequila shots and three beers to get me drunk.”

“Me too.  But I think it was enough to loosen your tongue.”

“Maybe a little.” He took her hand and held it between his against his chest. “I won’t push you if you’re not comfortable, ok?  I want you to feel comfortable and safe with me.”

“I’ll let you know if you push too hard.  Right now, I’m ok.” She closed the distance between their lips and kissed him.

Chapter 5

Kate woke up and didn’t know where she was at first.  Then she rolled over and smiled.  She was in Chris’s bedroom and he was lightly snoring next to her with a blissful look on his face.  They had come back to his apartment after the karaoke fun at the bar and they’d both been tipsy enough to fall into bed together.  There hadn’t been any sex, but there had been plenty of making out and a few runs to second base and almost one to third.

Trying not to wake him, she slipped out of the king sized bed and padded to the bathroom.  He had given her a T-shirt of his to wear to bed, but her breasts stretched it out in the chest area.  While it had been a little aggravating to her, Chris had seemed excited about it, swearing that he didn’t care how stretched the shirt got because she looked sexy in it.  She shook her head as she washed her hands.  She would never understand the sexy part of it all.

He lifted his head when she opened the bathroom door and she giggled at his hair sticking in all different directions.  Hers wasn’t that much better, but she had the weight from the length to at least hold the strands down somewhat.  He turned over onto his back and pulled her against him as she slipped back in bed, settling her head on his bare chest.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” She said.

“It’s ok.” He kissed the top of her head. “Did you sleep ok?”

“Yeah.  This mattress is the bee’s knees.”

She felt the rumble of his chuckle under her cheek. “We’ve got a game to go to tonight.”

“I know.  I’m really excited.”

“We’ve got to get you in that lucky jersey.”

“Right now, I don’t want to leave this spot.  You’re comfy.” He chuckled again and she looked up at him. “Thank you for not pushing last night.”

“I told you I want you to be completely comfortable with me.”

“I know.  But I also know it wasn’t easy to restrain yourself.  Things got heated and most guys would just keep going until the girl gave in, but you respected my boundaries and that means a lot to me.”

His hand came up and brushed some of her hair away from her face. “If you say ‘stop’ then I’ll stop.  I’m not most guys.”

“Well, I said stop because we’d both had enough drinks that I wasn’t sure if either of us would be in the right frame of mind for anything more than making out.  I didn’t want to take advantage of you or the other way around.  If it happened, I wanted it to be when we’re both sober and able to make good decisions.” He looked at her curiously. “Ok, what I’m saying with that long winded and kinda weird logic speech is that…. Well, I won’t say stop this morning if you wanted to….”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, suddenly not able to talk because of the look in his eyes.  It made her insides feel like boiling water.

Chris took her hand lying on his chest and brought her fingertips to his lips, kissing each one tenderly.  He turned onto his side and she turned to lay on her back, watching him.  He ran his fingers up one thigh, over her hip, and pushed the shirt up above her navel.  Her breath caught when he deftly dipped his head down to her stomach, kissing and nipping all over her exposed skin.  His fingers ran up and down her ribs and he kissed his way around her naval.  He slid his hands up and the shirt slipped over her breasts and she raised her arms to help him take it off.

She watched him stare in wonder at her breasts.  It almost made her self-conscious, but he’d done the same thing last night.  His mouth found one of her nipples and she gasped.  His tongue worked in circles around one breast while he kneaded the other gently with his other hand.  Her hands found his hair and she ran her fingers through it, continuing one hand down his back as far as it would go.  His muscles rippled under his skin as he moved himself above her.  She let out a moan when his mouth moved to her other breast.  His beard tickled and left a tingling sensation where it chaffed against her.  Then his mouth was moving up her chest to her collarbone where he took his time kissing, licking, and biting from one side to the other.

Finally he moved his lips up to her neck and she dug her nails into his back.  He’d discovered the night before that nothing turned her on more than his mouth on her neck.  She let out strangled gasps when he would bite down.  She was sure that she’d have hickies from it. 

While his mouth played with her neck, one of his hands snaked down her body and lifted one of her thighs against him.  She could feel how hard he was pressing between her legs and pushed her hips into it.  He growled and bit down on her earlobe before pushing his lips against hers.  Their tongues battled for dominance and she moved her other leg up to his hips and squeezed tight as she suddenly bucked and rolled him on his back.

He laughed as she returned every single thing he’d done to her.  Her long blonde hair tickled his ribs as it trailed up and down with her movements.  Just above his sweat pants, she could see the cuts that his hipbones made that drove her wild.  She’d actually dreamt about running her tongue over those cuts when she saw shirtless pictures of Chris before she’d met him.  Now her dream was a reality as she dipped her head and did just that.  A moan escaped his lips and it made her smile that she was the cause of it.

She looked up his body at him and his blue eyes were watching her intently.  She didn’t break eye contact as she hooked her fingers in the waistband of his pants and pulled them down.  He sprung free and she chucked the pants to the side, wrapping one fist around him.  He hissed when her mouth found his head and she began to lick and stroke him.  His hips bucked and she slid him further into her mouth, obliging him as she hummed on and off.  His fingers wrapped in her hair and she pushed him deeper into her throat, fighting the gag reflex.  He was longer than anyone else she’d been with, but she would be damned if anything ruined this moment.

His breathing became ragged and his grip tightened on her hair. “Kat…. Baby, stop before you make me cum.” She pulled her lips away and looked up to see his expression.  He looked blissful with his eyes closed and his mouth open as he took deep breaths to calm himself down. “Jesus, where did you learn that?”

Kate shrugged. “Cosmo magazine and practice?”

He laughed and sat up. “Fuck you’re incredible.” His lips caught hers and he pulled her on top of him.  After a long moment, he rolled them so he was on top again and began licking, kissing, and biting his way down from her lips to her hips.  It was torturously slow, but every second of it was making her wetter.  Finally, he pulled her underwear off and dropped them to the floor.  He spent several long minutes on each thigh, avoiding the place she wanted his mouth the most.  Here he didn’t hesitate to leave marks on her skin.  His teeth left indentations and she could feel the bruises forming. 

The pain mixed perfectly with the pleasure, though.  As his mouth worked on her inner thighs, one of his fingers moved to her opening and slid in, curling upwards and stroking inside her.  She let out a loud moan and her head fell back on the pillow.  She felt him grin against her thigh and he added another finger, pumping in and out as he curled them upward.  Finally he moved his mouth over her clit and her back arched up.  He used tongue and teeth in sync with his fingers to send her over the cliff once, twice, three times before he began kissing his way back up her body.

She was still trembling when he made it up to her mouth. “You ok?” He asked.

“I’m sorry, I seemed to have forgotten most of my basic information.” She said, cracking open one eye. “Please try again later.”

Chris laughed and kissed her. “Need a minute?”

“No.”

“Good.”

A moment later, she felt him press against her opening and she opened her legs wider for him.  He pushed into her slowly and her fingers dug into his biceps.  She wrapped her legs around his thighs and urged him on.  He kept up an even pace, pushing as far into her as he could get before withdrawing slowly, rolling his hips with every motion.  He kissed her just as slowly, languishing in the feel of her wherever he could.

A fine sheen of sweat appeared on his body and the salt from it invaded her tastebuds. “Don’t hold back, Chris.  You won’t break me.”

“I want to savor this.” He said, but his pace was already beginning to quicken.

“Let me help with that.” She pushed him over and rolled on top of him. 

Straddling him, she slid him back inside of her and started to move.  Her pace was quicker, but not punishing.  Her hair tickled his thighs when she would throw her head back.  She enjoyed watching the faces he made and the feel of his hands touching everywhere he could reach her.  Eventually they settled on her hips and he helped her move up and down against him.  Suddenly, she fell down against him as she cried out.  Her orgasm had snuck up on her and Chris held her tightly to him as she rode it out.

He moved out from under her, leaving her laying on her stomach as he kneeled behind her.  His hands ran up and down her back as his lips made their way up her spine.  He moved her hair to the side so he could concentrate on her neck.  His teeth left marks on her shoulder just above one of her tattoos.  When he thought she was ready for more, he gently grabbed her hips and moved them upwards.  She indulged him and got on all fours, leaning her weight on her forearms and giving him a beautiful view of her backside.

Chris took a moment to savor the whole picture.  She had a nice, round ass that completed the hourglass figure of her body.  He desperately wanted to spank her, but he was worried that was too much too soon.  He settled on kneading each round in his hands and watching her react to it.  Her skin was flushed and he could see the marks he’d left on her.  He swelled with manly pride and moved closer to her.  She moved her hips back against him and he entered her from behind.  Not holding back this time, he pounded into her.  They both groaned and grunted and one corner of his fitted sheet popped off as she balled the fabric in her hand.

“I’m so close, baby.” He said.  All of a sudden, he felt her flutter and seize around him and he couldn’t stop himself from finishing right behind her.  They both held as still as possible, but their bodies still spasmed from their orgasms.  Finally they both collapsed back down onto the bed, Kate spooning her back against his chest.  He wrapped an arm around her and held her tightly against him.

She loved the tickling feeling of his beard on her shoulder. “That was….”

“Amazing.” Chris finished for her.

“Yeah.  That works.”

“What were you going to say?”

“I don’t even know.  My brain stopped working a while back.”

His laugh rumbled against her back. “Let’s get some rest, maybe do that one more time, and then take a shower and get you back to the hotel so we can get that lucky jersey and get to the game.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She stifled a yawn and snuggled closer to him.

 

 

Chris sat in the living area of Kate’s hotel room flipping through pictures on her laptop.  They’d brought it with them since he hadn’t been able to look at anything the night before.  She was in the bathroom brushing out her hair and putting on some makeup.  There were a couple of noticeable hickies peeking out from her jersey, so she grabbed a white turtle neck from her bag and tossed that on.

“Kat, these pictures are really good.” Chris said.

“Thank you.” She said, walking into the room and sat down next to him to put her boots on.

“I mean, really good.  The angles are perfect.  And this one,” He brought up one of her friends’ engagement boudoir sessions and chose the one of her lying on her stomach in bed laughing. “She just looks so happy.”

“Because she was happy.  Her boyfriend had finally popped the question after waiting eight years.”

“But you captured that moment.  It’s stunning.”

“That’s her favorite picture out of the bunch.”

“Kat, you should show these to somebody.”

“Who would I show them to?  I really only take pictures of my friends.  The wedding that I did was for someone who remembered me from high school while I had no idea who she was.  Because my memory sucks from that time period.  I don’t think those are my best because I didn’t know them.”

“No.  Those pictures were great.  I love the one with the groomsmen looking at the groom’s ring and freaking out.”

“They were real sports.  Up for anything I wanted to do.  The bride and bridesmaids were all stressed and grumpy.  It was hard to get them to do much beyond smile.”

“That makes these pictures even better.”

“Well, there’s not been much call for pictures lately.” Kate stood up and went to find her coat. 

While she was gone, Chris emailed himself a few of the pictures with intentions to show them to some photographer friends of his he’d made over the years. “Hey, where are your modeling pictures?”

She came back, coat in hand, and sat back down.  He watched as she scrolled through a bunch of picture folders until she came to one that said “Me”.  She clicked on it and sat back to let him look at them.  There were multiple folders, each labeled with the photographer’s name and a date.  He clicked through them, making comments about a few of them.

“You’re so beautiful.” He said as he finished one set and moved on to another.

“Maybe one day I’ll believe you.”

“I hope so…. Oh!  Wow!” He’d found her boudoir session.

“The photographer is a friend of mine.  She had a masters in psychology, but decided she’d rather take pictures for a living.  She’s absolutely amazing.  She’s won a bunch of photography awards.  She convinced me to do this session.  She said it would be a form of therapy for me.  That I might find some confidence that I needed.”

“Did it work?”

Kate shrugged. “I was so self-conscious through it.  I was especially embarrassed about my body and my looks.  Then she showed me the pictures and I didn’t recognize the woman looking back at me.  She was so confident and…. Powerful.”

He pointed at one of her sitting on a bed, leaning forward, and looking directly at the camera.  Everything in her eyes and face showed someone who was ridiculously confident and fierce. “That’s the woman that I see when I look at you.  Strong, beautiful, sexy as hell.  You should be proud of these pictures.”

“Oh, I am.  It took a lot for me to do those.  They helped me decide to give burlesque a try.  Most people do these photos for a significant other.  I did them for me and I usually don’t show anyone else.”

“Thank you for letting me see them.”

She shrugged. “Well, you’ve seen me naked and you didn’t run for the hills.  So I didn’t think these would scare you off.”

He smirked. “Well, there’s an off involved, but it doesn’t have anything to do with fear.”

Kate laughed. “Oh my god!  You couldn’t possibly be up for another round!  You’ve gone three today already.”

“What can I say?  You’ve created a monster.” He set the laptop aside and leaned over to her, nipping at her earlobe. “I just want to spend my days making you….” She let out a moan when he moved her turtleneck down and nipped just under her ear.

“Chris, we’ve got a game to go to.”

“Then I’ll make it quick.”

“You’re like a horny teenager.”

“It’s your fault.” He got the button on her jeans open and she scooted down some to give him better access. “Shit, you’re wet.”

“It’s your fault,” She breathed as his mouth caught hers. 

He slid his fingers inside her and she let out a breathy moan into his mouth.  While he worked her over with one hand, his other hand was undoing his belt and fly.  She reached over to help him and eventually they got his jeans half way down his thighs.  Kate stood up and moved her jeans to the same area and sat on Chris’ lap, easing him inside of her from behind.  She leaned back on his chest as they began to move.  His hand found her clit and she let out a cry as the sensations started to overwhelm her.  His mouth found hers and they groaned into each other as the pace quickened.

“I’m close.” She said.

Chris wrapped his free arm around her and held her in place as he moved his hips, thrusting into her as he brutally flicked her clit.  She felt her orgasm slam into her and then another right behind it as he continued to thrust and flick.  Just as she was coming down from hers, he came, too, jerking inside of her until the sensations subsided.  The two of them sat there, boneless and panting, until their heart rates slowed down.

“Four.” He said into her ear.

She laughed and moved off of him, adjusting her jeans back on her hips. “Are you trying to beat the world record?”

“Maybe.” He chuckled. “I’ve wanted you since I first saw you.  I’ve only got these two weeks with you and….”

Kate looked at him sharply. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve only got these two weeks with you and then I go to Atlanta to finish filming for at least two months.”

“What happened to seeing where this goes?  Am I just a fling?”

Chris looked confused for a moment, but then his face brightened. “Oh!  No!  No!  God no!” He fixed his pants quickly. “Kat, no, you are not a fling.  Not by a long shot.  I’m not saying we only have these two weeks together and that’s it.  I’m saying I won’t be able to touch you for two months and I want to be able to stockpile before then.  And I do want to see where this goes.  I’ve never cared about someone so deeply and so quickly before.  And I think you feel that way, too.”

“We’ve only known each other for four and a half days.  Long distance relationships are hard enough when you’ve known the person for a few years let alone a few days.  How do you know two months apart won’t kill us?”

“Because I have hope.  Yes, long distance is hard, but it’s doable.  Especially in today’s society.  We can video chat and text and talk on the phone.  You could come visit the set on weekends.  You said you get weekends off, right?  I could fly you down on a Friday after you finished work and you could fly back on Sunday evening.  It doesn’t have to be every weekend if you don’t want.  I know you’ve got friends and a life to live.”

“You shouldn’t spend so much money on me.”

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t.”

“Can I be the judge of what I spend my money on?  If I want to buy you a plane ticket to come to Atlanta to be with me for a couple of days, then I will.  You’re not taking advantage of me, if that’s what you think.  I’m offering this to you.  I’m offering this as a solution to how we can make this work.”

“We’ve still got a week and two days before I tell you if this is going anywhere.” She looked at him coyly and he chuckled.

“Kat, something tells me that everything we’ve done today is not something you do with someone you don’t care for on a deeper level.”

She shrugged. “It’s not.” Kate took his hand and played with his fingers. “You know, you’re as wonderful as I had you made out in my mind to be.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m pretty good at reading people.  Even people I’ve never met in person, apparently.”

“Can I test that theory out?”

“How?”

“I’ll tell you people I’ve met and you tell me what you think of them and I’ll tell you if you’re right.”

“Ok.”

“Scarlett Johansson.”

“She seems like a really down to earth, straight forward person.  I don’t think she tolerates bullshit very well.”

“On the money.  How about Chris Pratt?”

“He seems just as awesome as you.  He really cares about people and from what I’ve seen, he’s never rude to anyone and if he is, it’s an accident and he’ll apologize for days.”

“This seems to be a real gift for you.  Ok, what about Robert Downey Jr.?”

“Well, I can tell you for certain that he’s awesome because I’ve met him.”

“Yeah?”

“Yup.  When I was a lot younger.  He was filming ‘US Marshalls’ around my hometown and he ate at the restaurant my father was the chef at.  I was going to tell my father something and, in true Kate fashion, I tripped and fell right next to his table.  He was the first one up to help me get back on my feet.  I was struggling because I was in a knee brace at the time.”

“You had just broken your knee?”

“It was about three months after that.  I should’ve been on crutches, but I’m stubborn and was determined to get better as fast as possible.  Of course, that backfired and I ended up with a second surgery to repair damage and scar tissue.” She shrugged. “But RDJ sat me down and propped my leg up on a chair and chatted with me for a little bit.  He asked how I hurt my knee and seemed really fascinated by me being a figure skater.  It was fun until my father came out.  Of course he thought I was bugging a celebrity, so he made me get up and leave.”

Chris smiled. “I wonder if he’d remember that.”

“You’re welcome to ask him.  But I doubt it.  It was way back in the mid-90s.”

“You’d be surprised what that man can remember.” Chris looked at his watch. “Shit.  We’ve got to go.”

“We’ve got a game to win!” She leaned over and kissed him before jumping up.

 

 

“These seats are amazing!” Chris said over the roar of the crowd.  The game hadn’t begun yet, but the teams had gone on the field already.  They were sitting on the Patriots side about ten rows back from the sideline at about the 30 yard line.

“I had to take out a 401k loan to afford them, but they’re totally worth it!” Kate said.  She looked around. “Are you ok down here?  I know you’re not the biggest fan of crowds.”

“I’m great.” He grinned at her. “I’m surrounded by my people and I’ve got my girl at my side.  I couldn’t be better.”

She blushed and looked down at her lap. “Four days and I’m your girl, huh?”

“Is that ok?  I mean, you’re definitely the only one and I doubt I’ll be looking at anyone for a very long time, if not ever again.”

“Chris!”

“What?”

“If ever?  Really?”
“I’m not ruling out the possibility.  Like I said, I’m not proposing, but I want to see where this goes.”

“That’s going a long, long, long way.”
“Maybe.  I kind of hope so.” He took her hand and gave her one of those knee melting smiles.

“Ok, and how do we deal with your life in front of the cameras and mine completely away from any kind of limelight?”

“You’re not completely away from any kind of limelight.  You’re a burlesque performer.  People know your stage persona, I’m sure.”

“It’s completely different than your situation.  You walk red carpets and make blockbusters.  I get up on a tiny little stage in a bedazzled costume and take my clothes off to music.”

“You inspire people.  You’ve told me that you’ve had people come up to you and say that they want to do burlesque because you inspired them.  They wanted to be brave like you and get up on that stage, too.  And some of them have even done it.  You’re braver than I am.  I would never have the guts to get up and do that.”

“And what will your fans think when they find out Captain America is dating a burlesque performer?”

“You’re so much more than that, Kat.”

The roar of the crowd drowned out anything she would’ve said to that.  The teams were taking the field to begin the game.  Kate looked up at Chris as he made noise for the Patriots and shook her head.  Could she really have a relationship with this amazing man?  Could she watch him make movies and walk red carpets and maybe be at his side for some of them?

Chapter 6

Kate looked at herself in the mirror for the thousandth time.  She was wearing a deep green, boat-neck, sweater dress that stopped just above her knees, grey leggings, and brown suede, knee high boots.  She’d thrown the top half of her hair up and pinned it back in a messy, but classy style.  Chris would be at her hotel room soon.  He’d stayed at the hotel with her that night, but he’d gone home to change clothes.  Kate had wanted to stay and get ready and prepare herself as best she could for meeting his mother.

Her phone started ringing and she grabbed it off the bed.  It was her brother. “Hey Killi.”

“Hey Kat.  How’s it going?”

“It’s going great.”

“Did you enjoy the game yesterday?”

“Yeah!  We beat the Dolphins, I had great seats, I was surrounded by fellow fans, and I had a great date with my Boston boy.”
“Yeah.  I saw.”

“I’m sorry.  You saw?”

“This Boston boy that you mentioned?  Yeah, you forgot to mention it was Chris Evans.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because your picture is on the internet.  You’re famous, kid.”

“What does it say?” She was already scrambling to open up her laptop.

“The one from Yahoo that I clicked on said ‘Chris Evans goes to Patriots game with mystery woman.’”

“That’s not terrible.”

“Then it says ‘the two were seen cuddling and kissing throughout the game.’”

“Oh dear.”

“Plus Facebook and Tumblr are covered with the pictures.  So, is it serious?”

“Um….”

“You’ve only known him a few days.”

“I know!”

“How can it be serious?”

“I don’t know!  He’s just…. He’s amazing.”

“Kid, you’ve been in love with Captain America since you were in college.  You sure you don’t have rose colored glasses on?”

“Ok, one: He wasn’t Captain America when I first saw him.  And two: no rose colored glasses.  I’ve given him outs and he doesn’t take them.”

“Ok, so did you stalk him or….”

“No!  God no!  I was reading and when I stood up, I wasn’t paying attention and I ran smack into him.  I bounced off him so hard that I fell and it was straight down into dog poop.  He gave me his jacket and walked me back to the hotel and the conversation was nice.  He asked me out for dinner to apologize for the dog poop and we just…. Hit it off.  I’m supposed to be meeting his mother today and he’s supposed to be coming to Richmond with me tomorrow.”

“That sounds serious if you’re meeting his mother.”

“He wants me to come visit him on set while he’s filming in Atlanta.”

“That definitely sounds serious.  How do you feel about him?  Really?  Beyond the idolization?”

“Killi, he really is as wonderful as I thought.  He listens to everything and he remembers.  He makes me feel warm and cared for.  He takes things slow so I never feel uncomfortable.”

“Good.  That’s good.”

“Why do I hear a ‘but’ in your voice?”

“Because there is one.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, what’s the ‘but’?”

“The ‘but’ is but do you feel you could handle the kind of relationship he has to offer?  He’s going to be gone a lot.  And then there’s the news stories.  People are going to want to know about you.  You know how the paparazzi have no boundaries.  Do you think fame is something you’re ready for?”

“I don’t know.  I guess that’s something I’ll have to find out.”

“But if you get in too deep with him and you’re miserable with the celebrity part of it, what will you do?”

“I don’t know.  These are all what ifs that are in the future.”

“Not really.  You made the Yahoo homepage, kid.  It’s only a matter of time before they find out who you are.”

“Has mom seen this?”

“You know that mom is computer illiterate.  She can barely use her phone, let alone the Yahoo homepage.  I’m sure your phone would’ve been filled with texts and calls from her if she had.  But you better tell her soon.  Especially if he’s coming home with you.”

“I planned on it.”

“When?”

“When I walked through the door with him.” There was a knock on her door. “He’s here.  I’ve got to go.” She made her way to the door.

“Good luck, kid.”

Kate smiled at Chris as she said, “Thanks, Killi.  I’ll probably need it.  Do me a favor?”

“Depends.”

“Dude, you owe me.  I’ve babysat your kid for free.”

“That’s because she’s your niece and you love her.”

“I know that.  Ok, do it because you’re my brother and you love me.”

“Fine.  What’s the favor?”

“Call mom and see if you can head her off or something?  Keep her away from computers and…. You know…. People.”

“Why don’t I just give you the moon?  Would that suffice?”

“Kiss my ass.”

“Not enough time in the day.”

“Piss off.”

“Love you, too.  I’ll see what I can do from Georgia.”

“Thanks.  Bye Killi.” She hung up and rolled her eyes at the phone. “Brothers.  Can’t live with em, can’t live without em.” Kate looked at Chris. “So, apparently we’re all over the internet.”

“Yeah.” Chris said. “I’m really sorry.  My manager called this morning and had about two thousand questions.  I was sure we had a lot more time before people noticed.”

“Killian saw it on Yahoo this morning.” She led Chris back into the bedroom and turned her laptop around. “You can’t see my face very good, so there’s that.”

Chris cringed. “I’m really sorry, Kat.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“No, but this isn’t fair to you.  People are going to pry and the press can be kind of vicious.  I really didn’t plan on the press finding out until we were both good and ready for that.  I don’t want anyone to be mean to you.”

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have survived high school if I was worried about what other people think of me.  Or college for that matter.  Let them be mean.  Negative things people say about others usually reflects insecurities about themselves.  And besides,” She walked over to him and took his hands. “If this thing between us is something more…. Something that could last a long time, as you’ve put it…. The fame thing is just one part of you.  It’s not the whole of you.”

“It’s a pretty big part right now.”

“Well, the good thing is that for right now, they don’t know who I am.  That buys us some time, right?  I’m not exactly a huge web presence.  I barely use my Twitter account.  I have my Facebook security settings so you can only be a friend of a friend to find me.  My burlesque page is under a different name and I don’t look like myself with all that makeup on.  So, I think we’re ok for a little while.”

“You’re very confident.”

“Roll with it.” He chuckled. “We’ll be at your mother’s today where no one will bother us and tomorrow we’re flying to Richmond.  No one who might tip the press off knows that you’ll be there.  My friends won’t rat us out once they find out.  My family won’t rat us out.  So this is not something we’ll have to deal with in the immediate future.”

He shook his head. “I just…. I know you don’t care what people think about you, but I don’t know if I would like it very much if people said mean things about you.”

“Would what anyone said make a difference in how you see me?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why worry about it?”

He looked uncertain still, but smiled at her. “You’ve got an answer for everything, don’t you?”

“It’s a curse.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him.  He smiled and kissed her gently. “Besides, there’s nothing they can say that I haven’t heard before.  My ass is too big, my waist is too big, my thighs touch, my boobs are a little saggy, my arms jiggle when I wave….” Kate shrugged. “Nothing new.  I discovered all of that on my own a long time ago.”

“Your ass isn’t too big.” His hands drifted down to the body part in question. “It fits great in my hands with some extra to play with.” He slid his hands up and settled on her waist. “Your waist isn’t too big.  It’s firm and powerful and I think it goes along nicely with how you’re shaped.” One hand snuck down to her thigh and pulled it up against his hip. “As for your thighs, I read somewhere that women with thigh gaps aren’t as tight down there as women whose thighs touch.  I like the way you feel on me.” He released her thigh and his hands moved up to her chest. “Your boobs aren’t saggy, they’re just heavy because they’re larger.” He reluctantly let her breasts go and took her hands again. “And my arm jiggles too when I wave.” He demonstrated for her and she laughed at the tiny jiggle that he was forcing to happen.  She stopped his waving and kissed his large bicep.

“See?  You found positives in all those negatives.  I think if anyone says anything bad about me, you’re good.” She bumped her forehead against his chest playfully.

He wove his fingers into her hair and cupped the back of her skull with both hands. “You’re making it easy to be your boyfriend.”

“It won’t always be like that, sadly.  I’ll have my moments.”

He shrugged. “So will I.  It’s a natural thing.” His lips met hers and they both smiled. “Ok, let’s get this show on the road.  You ready to meet the family?”

She straightened her back and took a deep breath. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Don’t be nervous.  They’re going to love you.”

 

 

Kate sat at the kitchen table while Lisa moved around the kitchen making dinner.  Chris was in the living room with Scott playing with one of their nephews.  Carly was out back with Shanna watching the other kids bounce on a trampoline.  Kate had offered to help cook, but Lisa hadn’t heard of it.

“He never brings girls home.  Usually he fights me when I ask to meet them.  Makes up all kinds of excuses.” Lisa said, pausing in her stirring to look over at Kate. “The last one was…. Minka, I think.  But that was a long time ago.  It took him a while to actually bring her home.  You’re something special.”

Kate blushed. “He certainly does his best to make me feel special.”

“Good.  I’d have to beat him if he wasn’t.” Lisa grinned wickedly and went back to stirring.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can’t do, Mrs. Evans?  I really don’t mind.”

“The only things I want you to do are to call me Lisa and for you to sit here and talk with me.  Tell me about you.”

“Ok.  I’m an open book.  Ask me anything.”

“You said you’re from Virginia?”

“Well, I live in Virginia now.  I’m from Kentucky.”

“Oh, that’s right, he did mention that.  I’ve never been to Kentucky.  I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

“It really is.”

Lisa finished what she was doing and joined Kate at the table. “I’ve always wanted to go to the Kentucky Derby.  That seems like a lot of fun.  Have you ever been?”

“Yes, ma’am, I have.  I’ve gone a couple of times.  The best part isn’t the horse race because that lasts all of, like, two minutes.  The best part is drinking mint juleps and checking out everyone’s hats.”

“Did you wear big crazy hats when you went?”

“I did.  The first time I went, it wasn’t long after ‘Titanic’ had been released, so I got a hat that looked just like Rose’s big purple one when she gets out of the car.  The second time I went, the hat wasn’t as crazy.  It was just a big white sun hat that I attached some fake stargazer lilies to.”

“So, what brought you from Kentucky to Virginia?”

“Well, my mom wanted a change and she took a job in Omaha, Nebraska.  We lived up there for a few years and then my parents got divorced and my mom moved my sister and I to Virginia so she could be closer to her brother that worked at Fort Lee.”

The sound of a herd of elephants could be heard running up the hallway before Scott, Chris, and the boys came running across the kitchen towards the back door. “Stop running!” Lisa called.  They all instantly did as she asked, but as soon as the door opened, they resumed running.  Chris held back and came over to stand next to Kate.

“Everything good in here?” He asked. “You’re not being too hard on her, ma, are you?”

“Of course I’m not!  She’s a really lovely woman, Chris.”

Chris looked at Kate with a smirk. “She’s ok.” He said nonchalantly with a shrug, leaning down to kiss her cheek.  Scott called for Chris from outside and Chris grinned, heading outside.

“He’s like a big kid.” Kate said, watching Chris climb on the trampoline.

“It’s something about being home with the kids that reverts him back to his childhood.” Lisa said.

“Oh, I understand that.  My niece has the ability to make me play with Barbies and I never did that as a kid.”

“You didn’t play with Barbies?  Why not?”

Kate shrugged. “I was surrounded by boys.  I spent more time climbing trees and trying to keep up with them.  I did have some Barbies.  My granny used to buy the Holiday Barbies that come out every year for me.  And I had some Disney princess Barbies.  But I didn’t play with them.”

“Are you a Disney fan?”

“Oh my god, yes!  I love all things Disney.  One day I’ll get to Disneyworld.”

“Oh no!  You’ve never been?”
“Long story, but no, I’ve never been.”

“Oh, Kate, you should come with us in December.  We go every year for Christmas.”

“Oh, I couldn’t impose on your family vacation, Lisa.”

“You wouldn’t be imposing.  I’m inviting you.  We go for a few days in the first or second week of December.  I would love it if you could come this year.  I’m sure Chris would be excited too.”

“I’ll have to check my schedule at work, but I’ve still got another week of time off to take before the end of the year.”

Lisa smiled brightly. “I hope you can come.  I’d love to spend more time with you.”

Chris came in just then, limping slightly. “What did you do?” Kate asked, getting up and helping him to her vacated seat.

“Fell off the trampoline.” Chris said, wincing as she moved a chair over, sat down in it, put his leg in her lap, and lifted the leg of his jeans.

“I’ll get the first aid kit.” Lisa said.

Chris watched her go for a moment. “Am I going to live, doc?”

“I don’t know.  This cut’s pretty deep.  We may have to amputate.” Kate joked as she dabbed at his leg with a paper napkin from the table.

“I’ll have to get myself a parrot to go with my new peg leg.”

“As long as you wear one of those billowy pirate shirts, I won’t mind the bird.”

He reached over and cupped her face in one of his hands. “How is it going with ma, really?”

“It’s going great, honestly.  She just invited me to Disneyworld for your annual Christmas visit.”

Chris’s eyes bugged. “Wow.  She really likes you.  She’s never invited any of my girlfriends to Disney.”

“I think she feels bad that I’ve never been.  That’s all.”

“Trust me, babe, that’s not all.”

Lisa walked back in with the first aid kit. “Chris, you’re going to bleed all over her.”

“She’s got it under control.  So, you invited her to Disney this year, huh?”

“Of course I did.  You two won’t get to see each other much and I thought you might like it if we included her on the trip.  Especially since she’s never been.”

“That was nice of you, ma.  Really.”

Lisa looked between them and smiled. “Well, she makes my son happy.  Happier than I’ve seen him in a while.”

“You can tell all of that from the two hours we’ve been here?”

“I’m your mother.  I can tell a lot of things about my son and the woman he’s fallen for.”

Kate kept her head down, but her eyes widened in surprise.  Chris coughed and she looked over at his bright red face. “Ma, seriously?”

“What?” Lisa asked innocently. “You can’t tell me it isn’t true.”

“It’s only been a few days.” Kate said, not looking up from Chris’s leg. “No one falls in love that quickly.”

“Oh?”

Chris sighed as his mother walked out of the kitchen to join her daughters and other son outside.  Kate glanced over and realized they were alone. “I’m sorry.” He said. “My mom she’s….”

“Wrong?” Kate looked up at Chris and shrugged. “It’s ok.  Like I said, no one falls in love that quickly.”

“She’s not entirely wrong.” Kate dropped the bandage box she’d been holding.  He reached out and gently cupped her face with both his hands. “Hey, I’ve been telling you for days that I’ve never felt this comfortable around anyone before.  I told you I want to spend as much time as possible with you and that included flying you down to Atlanta.  You know all of this.”

“I know.  I do.  I just…. Well…. That word…. It’s such a big word.”

“That’s why neither of us should feel obligated to say it until we’re both ready.  I know you’ve got trust issues and I’ve got a ways to go before I earn it completely.”

“You’re not doing terrible.”

Chris smiled brightly and leaned forward to kiss her.

“Ew!” Miles cried.  He’d come in without them hearing.  Chris burst out laughing and Kate giggled, blushing.

“Come here, Miles.” Chris took his leg off Kate’s lap, sliding the leg of his pants back down, and waved the four year old over. “You’re a mess.”

“Why were you biting her face?” Miles asked as Chris dusted his nephew off and tried to fix his hair before giving up and hauling him up on his lap.

Chris laughed again and Kate blushed again. “I wasn’t biting her face, kid.  I was kissing her.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s my girlfriend and that’s what good boyfriends do.”

“It looks gross.”

“Keep that opinion for a while.  It’ll make your mom happy.”

“Are you going to come back out and play?”

“In a little while, bud.  I hurt my leg and Kat is taking care of it.”

Miles looked at Kate and shrugged. “Ok.” He hopped down off Chris’ lap and ran back outside.  Chris turned his attention back to Kate. “You ok?”

“Yeah.” She took his hand. “I’m great.”

“Hey, I never gave you the tour of the house.  Mom kind of hoarded you all to herself.”

“Are you sure you can walk?  We almost had to amputate, you know.”

He chuckled. “Yeah.  You worked a real miracle.  I’m really glad I’m not losing the leg” He stood up easily and tugged on her hand. “Come on.” He walked her around the house, showing her different rooms.  The basement was really cool.  It was a performer’s dream.  She made the comment that she could easily put together burlesque routines down there.  The tour ended in his bedroom. “It’s about the same as it used to be.  Less dorky posters, but it’s the same furniture.” He said, closing the door.

“A double bed, huh?” Kate asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Well, I’m not exactly small.  I outgrew the twin and mom bought the double my senior year of high school.  I might say that I’ve since outgrown the double.  Maybe I should buy a queen bed.  I don’t think a king bed would fit in here.”

“It’s comfy.” She bounced on it slightly. “But still not as comfy as mine.”

“I look forward to testing that theory out.” He moved to stand in front of her and she looked up the length of his body to meet his sparkling blue eyes. “Right now, everyone’s outside.  We’ve got some time to ourselves.”

“Chris….” She was silenced when his mouth met hers.  He pressed her back into his bed, scooting her upwards as he crawled on top of her.  She giggled as his beard tickled her collarbone, but it turned into a gasp when he bit down on her neck.

He rolled over and pulled her on top of him as he moved up to lean back against the headboard. “I want to watch you.” She blushed profusely and he chuckled. “Don’t be shy now.”

“Sorry.  It’s just…. You’ve never said it out loud before, so now I’m a little self-conscious knowing you’re watching me.”

He chuckled again and rested his hands on her hips. “You have nothing to be self-conscious about.  You’re beautiful.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss him.  His hands snaked up her dress, leaving fire trails where his fingers touched her skin.

“This would be easier if you weren’t wearing these tights.” Chris growled into her mouth.  She just chuckled, running her hands up his shirt and lightly raking her nails down his ribs.

“Are you sure they won’t come looking for us?” She asked as he slipped her dress over her head.

“Nope.”

She sat up suddenly. “Chris!”

“We better hurry.” He laughed and pulled her back down to him.

 

 

Kate and Chris sat next to each other at the dinner table.  Scott was on Kate’s other side while Carly and Shanna sat across from them.  Lisa was at the head of the table.  Dinner had been over and they were all finishing up dessert.  The kids were at their own table in the next room and Lisa and Carly took turns checking on them.  Carly’s husband couldn’t make it to dinner.

“Kate, Chris says you’re a photographer.” Carly said.

“Oh, he exaggerates.” Kate said. “I take pictures, but I’m not a professional.”

“She’s being modest.” Chris insisted. “She takes amazing pictures.  You should see them.”

“I’d love to.” Carly said.

“She has a website.  I’ll text you the link later.  Just remind me.”

“What kind of pictures do you take?”

“Oh,” Kate shrugged. “Anything that takes my fancy.  My friends ask me to do pictures for them a lot, too.  My friend Jessica’s parents’ anniversary is coming up and I’m taking pictures of her and her sister next week.  She wants to make a photo album for them.”

“That’s a really good idea.” Shanna said. “We should do that for mom.  Maybe for Christmas.”

“I would love that.” Lisa said.
“Kat was telling me about Busch Gardens in Williamsburg doing this big Christmas thing that starts next month.  That would be fun to take them there.” Chris said.

“Maybe we could check it out before we go to Disney.” Carly suggested.

“Did Chris tell you that mom invited Kat to Disney?” Scott asked.

“Oh that would be nice.” Shanna said.

“She’s never been.” Chris said. “It’ll be her first time.”

“Oh, a Disney virgin?” Carly asked. “That’ll be even more fun.  Don’t worry, Kat.  We’ll make sure you get to experience everything you want to see and then some.”

Kate smiled. “Thank you.  I hope I can go.  I’ve got to check with my boss, first.  You guys are just a great family.”

“You fit in beautifully.” Lisa said. “And anyone who makes Chris smile that way is welcome in my family.  I haven’t seen him smile like that in a very, very long time.”

Chris looked over at Kate with the smile his mother was talking about and she smiled back. “She’s not so bad.” Chris said.
“Yeah.” Kate agreed. “You’re pretty ok, yourself.”

“So what all will you guys do in Virginia?” Shanna asked.

“Well, I do have to work next week, but I get off at four every day, so we’ll have plenty of time for stuff afterwards.  I’ve been working on a list of things for Chris to do while I’m at work if he wants to check out Richmond.”

“Cool.” Chris smiled. “That’s so thoughtful, babe.”

Kate shrugged. “I didn’t want you to be bored out of your mind and regret coming down.”

“What all does Richmond have to offer?” Shanna asked.

“Lots of things.” Kate rattled off a few things that she loved in the city. “We’ll definitely have to go to Carytown.”
“Oh yeah!  Carytown did sound really cool.” Chris said.

“It’s a very artsy area.  You’ll fit in great.”

“Can we go to that Renaissance house you were telling me about?”

“Agecroft?  Of course!  It’s right there by Carytown anyway.”

“Cool!”
“What’s Agecroft?” Carly asked.  Kate explained that it was a house built in England way back during the reign of Henry VI and in the 1920s, it has been dismantled and brought over by a rich family intending to start a small neighborhood of houses like it.  The neighborhood hadn’t gotten very far, only Agecroft and the Virginia House had been built.  And when the family had died off, they had the house turned into a museum.

“It’s like stepping back in time in England instead of Virginia.  Even the hill where they built it looks just like where it originally sat over there.” Kate finished.

“It sounds beautiful.”

“It’s probably my favorite place in Richmond.  I love to sit in the gardens and just read.”

“She’s been known to put on her Anne Boleyn costume and work as a reenactor for the house every now and then.” Chris said.

“Oh that sounds fun!” Lisa said.

“It’s a legit costume, too.  She showed me a picture and told me that she can’t get in it by herself.”

“Where did you get it?”

“A friend of mine is a really awesome historical seamstress.  She’s done work for movie productions before.  She made it for me right down to the corset.  I paid her a ridiculous sum of money for it, but I love that costume.”

“It must be a sight to see you in it walking the halls of Agecroft.” Shanna said.

“It’s pretty surreal.  I can’t help but wonder if Anne herself ever walked the same halls once.  Or even her daughter because the owner of the house was in good standing with Elizabeth I.”

“Have you ever been to England?” Scott asked.

“Sadly, no.  I almost went in high school, but my mom couldn’t make it work.  It’s on my bucket list.”

“She’s got a great bucket list.” Chris said. “I should make you write it down, Kat.”

“I do have it written down somewhere.  I used to call it my escape list.”

“Why your escape list?” Carly asked.

Kate glanced at Chris.  She didn’t know how much he’d told his family. “Is it the reason I think it is?” He asked her. 

Kate nodded. “I didn’t have figure skating anymore, so I made a list of everything I wanted to do to escape my world.”

Chris took her hand under the table and looked at Carly. “Kat’s father was abusive.”

“I’m sorry.” Carly said. “No child should ever experience that.”

“Thank you.” Kate said. “I’ve made some kind of peace with it.”

“I don’t know how anyone could make peace with it.” Lisa said. “It’s just…. It’s horrible.” 

“Kat’s a strong and beautiful person.  She’s conquered more horrible things in her life than anyone should ever have to.  I don’t know how you found the courage to smile as brightly as you do after everything, but I’m happy you did.” Chris said.  He looked over at her. “I really admire you.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Kate said quietly.

“Way to bring the mood down.” Scott said playfully.

“Sorry!”

“It was very well said, though, Chris.” Lisa said.  There was a slight lull in the conversation, but Lisa picked up a new topic. “What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Uh, we’re leaving at ten in the morning.” Kate said. “I traded my ticket in for an earlier flight since the one I was originally on was all booked up.”

“And I upgraded it to first class.” Chris added.

“Chris!”

“What?  You didn’t say I couldn’t.”

“You’ve got to stop being so damn nice.  You’re setting the bar too high.”

“You’re ridiculous.” He squeezed her hand and she shook her head at him, smiling.

All stories are written by BuffyL. I don't own any of the Buffy/Angel/Marvel characters. If you want to use my work, please ask me.

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