by Selina Snow
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. She had no idea how he had found her, but she was not impressed. As much as she enjoyed their evening, she hadn’t signed on for a stalker!
“Me?” he asked, his face showing his shock. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m having dinner with friends!” she retorted.
“Me too!” he insisted.
“Monique and Larry!” they exclaimed in unison. They stood on the sidewalk, staring at each other in shock. They both knew Larry and Monique? How was that possible? In this big city?
“Larry is my partner and he invited me yesterday,” He explained.
“Monique is a friend of mine and she invited me yesterday,” Grace added.
“Well, I guess we better make the most of it,” he said a bit uncertainly.
“Yeah, I guess we better,” she agreed.
“But don’t say anything!” they turned, pointing their fingers at each other.
“Of course I won't," He looked almost offended, as though the thought would never have crossed his mind. But obviously, it did if he mentioned it too.
He opened the gate and motioned for her to go through first and they walked up the pathway together. Grace’s head was spinning and she had a hard time forming a coherent thought. Luckily, he took control and pushed the doorbell and opened it when they heard someone inside calling them to come in.
“Oh, I see you two have met already,” Monique came to the door with a huge smile on her face.
“What?” Grace asked.
Monique looked at her a bit oddly as she took the bottle of wine out of Grace’s hands.
“You both arrived at the same time?” Monique responded.
“Oh, yes,” Grace stuttered.
Just then Larry came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron that had “ I just take orders” emblazoned in red.
“Hello! Grace, this is Morgan, Morgan, this is Grace,” he introduced them to each other, taking the bunch of flowers that Grace had just noticed Morgan was holding in his hands.
"Nice to meet you, Morgan," Grace said as she attempted a smile.
“You too,” Morgan responded.
Monique invited them into the dining room and they took their seats across from each other. Monique kept up a stream of conversation that centered around the latest antics of her children. She had her guests smiling when she recounted a particularly funny story that involved the boys' bath time last night.
It was a good thing that Monique was such an attentive host because Grace wasn’t sure how she would have been able to keep up her end of the conversation while still processing that the man she spent the night with was sitting in a chair a mere table width away from her.
MORGAN
Morgan was reeling from this turn of events. He had always half-heartedly agreed that it was a small world, but this had made him a true believer. His partner’s wife was good friends with the woman Morgan had met in a bar two nights ago; a woman he was trying desperately to get out of his mind.
He tried not to stare, but his eyes kept being drawn to her. Her hair was as beautiful, her body as curvy and full-bodied as he remembered. When she reached over to pick up her wine glass, his mind went back to those hands exploring every inch of his body. He had to work at pushing his recollections far into the back of his thoughts. He was feeling distracted, flustered and overwhelmed. He thinks he even saw Larry send him a sideways glance when he hesitated after Monique asked him a question. “ Get it together Morgan, she is just a woman.” What was it about her that had his palms sweating and his heart pounding?
They ate an amazing dinner of lamb, whipped potatoes and roasted vegetables. As they sat sipping the wine Grace had brought, Monique asked Grace how her work was going.
“What do you do?” Morgan asked her.
“I’m a paramedic,” she responded, her eyes not quite meeting his. “Work is good, keeping busy of course.”
“How did you two meet,” Morgan probed.
“Funny story!” Monique interjected and saved Grace from having to talk anymore. “We met when we were both in boarding school. The rest of the girls had gone home for the holidays and Grace and I were the only ones still there.” She then proceeded to tell a story that made their time at the school seem funny and carefree rather than the prison that Grace remembered.
“When we graduated, Grace went on to pursue her dream of becoming a paramedic and I met Larry,” Monique concluded, reaching across to place her hand on Larry’s. “And the rest, as they say, is history.”
There was a lull in the conversation until Morgan stood up and started reaching for their plates.
“Oh Morgan, you don’t have to do that,” Monique said as she made as if to stand. Larry pulled her back down and stood up.
“Don’t worry girls, we men will do the heavy lifting,” Larry joked as he winked at his wife.
They both grabbed a handful of dishes and took them into the kitchen. Setting them on the counter, Larry quickly turned towards Morgan.
“I’m so sorry man,” he began. “I had no idea Monique had invited her friend. We aren’t trying to set you up, honestly!”
“It’s okay,” Morgan reassured his friend. “All good.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been pretty quiet,” Larry asked.
“Absolutely,” Morgan insisted. “I’m good. But just so you know, I can’t stay long, I have some work I need to get done tonight.”
“Really?” Larry asked doubtfully.
"Yes, really," Morgan responded. "Everything is fine, I just need to get some stuff taken care of later."
“Okay,” Larry said in a tone of voice that showed he didn’t really believe Morgan.
After they had cleaned off the table and straightened up the kitchen, the men went back to the dining room where the women were deep in conversation. Morgan raised an eyebrow in Grace’s direction, as though asking if she had said something she shouldn’t have. Grace stared back at him defiantly and Morgan was the first to lower his gaze.
“Monique, thank you for yet again an amazing meal,” Morgan began. “And thank you for welcoming me into your lovely house.”
“For you Morgan? Anytime! It’s just a shame the little rascals weren’t around to see you, you know how they love your horsey back rides.” Monique said with a smile. “But do you have to leave so soon?”
“I’m afraid I do,” Morgan answered. He turned towards Grace.
“It was very nice meeting you,” he said stiffly. “Have a nice evening.”
He was out the door in about two minutes flat and Monique and Larry were left looking slightly confused.
“I’m so sorry Grace,” Larry directed an apology towards her. “Morgan is usually quite a bit friendlier than that.”
Chapter Seven
GRACE
The next day, Grace was working hard; both at her job and putting Morgan out of her mind. Although she had to admit that knowing his name made things seem a little less awkward somehow.
She and Mike responded to a call at a house in the west end of the city. It was a domestic violence call and Grace hated them with a passion. Emotions ran high and it was often difficult to get people to accept medical help. And often there were children. That was the worst. Seeing children stuck in the middle of a very adult situation tugged at her heart. Unfortunately, this call involved children. The husband had smacked his wife for some perceived wrong and she had landed on the floor, unconscious. Mike was tending to the wife while she walked over and squatted in front of the kids. She knew they would be scared and upset with all the strangers moving around their home. The police had arrived just before them and were talking to the husband.
“Hi, what’s your name?” She asked the little girl.
"Tiffany," the flaxen-haired girl answered.
“How old are you Tiffany?” Grace probed, trying to put her at ease.
“I’m eight,” she answered. “And my brother is Blake and he is six.”
She was holdi
ng onto the hand of a petrified looking little boy.
“Six? Wow, you’re a big boy!” Grace exclaimed.
He bowed his head and moved behind his sister, as though hoping to disappear from sight.
“Grace!” She heard someone call out from across the room. She stood up and turned around to see who was looking for her; her partner was busy with the mother. She couldn’t believe it when she met eyes with Morgan. Her Morgan.
“Morgan! What are you doing here?” she asked and then immediately knew it was a stupid question. He was a police officer, just like Larry. He was one of the people who responded to domestic violence calls.
“Never mind, dumb question,” she said, shaking her head.
“The world just keeps getting smaller and smaller,” he commented. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you there.”
“I’m surprised you could recognize me,” Grace responded, motioning to her uniform. Morgan just smiled slightly.
“You have a way with kids,” he stated.
“Well, I always feel bad for them in these situations,” She explained. “People usually forget to talk to them.”
Just then, her partner Mike came up and joined them.
“Wife is refusing to go to the hospital,” He informed them. “I think she’s got a concussion, probably not the first time this has happened.”
Grace sighed deeply. She tried very hard to have compassion for the people they served but it could be so frustrating when they wouldn’t take their medical advice.
“Let me see if I can talk some sense into her,” Grace said.
“Well, if anyone can talk some sense into her, you can,” Mike responded and he and Grace exchanged a smile. They had been partners for the last couple of years and they were the perfect partnership. Whenever people skills were needed, Grace stepped in and whenever they needed pure muscle and a strong presence, Mike was the one.
MORGAN
He noticed the smile that Grace and her partner exchanged and it made his stomach plummet. They obviously shared a great deal of admiration for each other. Was that all they shared?
Morgan was shocked by the strong reaction he had to considering that Grace might be interested in another man. He knew she had been a virgin but that didn’t mean her heart hadn’t already been given to someone else. The idea of it made him feel slightly sick to his stomach and it took all the restraint he could muster not to grab Mike by the collar of his neatly pressed uniform and haul him up against a wall. His feelings must have been showing on his face because Mike backed away carefully without saying another word. Returning to his car where Larry was making notes and waiting for him, Morgan tried to control his emotions. He couldn’t believe his reaction to Grace and her partner.
“Grace was on that call,” he stated as soon as he got in the car.
"Yeah?" Larry responded absentmindedly.
“Yeah, Grace. Grace from last night?” Morgan said. Larry looked up from his notes with a frown on his face.
“Okay, yeah,” he stated. “I run into her once in a while. She’s good at her job.”
“Yeah,” Morgan mumbled. “Do you know her partner?”
“No, not really,” Larry answered. “She talks about him once in a while, says he’s a good guy, why? Did something happen?”
“No, I was just wondering,” Morgan said.
Larry set his notebook aside and turned to look at Morgan more closely.
“Dude, I don’t know what is up with you lately, but whatever it is, you need to deal with it.”
Chapter Eight
MORGAN
It had been a long night of tossing and turning for Morgan; a night where he could not turn off his mind or his emotions. Larry had told him he needed to deal with things and he was right. But how was he supposed to deal with this? After seeing her at his friend's house he had hoped that it would answer questions he had about her and he could move on. Questions like what her name was and what she did for a living and was she a good person. But what he learned about her only seemed to stoke the fires of his obsession. She was an intelligent, hard-working woman; a woman who was befriended by good people like Monique and Larry.
About half-way through the night, he resigned himself to the fact that what he was experiencing went way beyond his interest in a one-night stand. He was interested in her. It took the rest of the night for him to admit to himself that he was falling in love with a woman he barely knew. It seemed so incredible to him that wrapping his head around it took quite a while. In the end, he decided he needed to stop fighting it and just accept that as crazy as it seemed, that is where he was; in love with a stranger.
But what was he going to do about it? If he went barging into her work and declared his love, he would look like an idiot and probably find himself forcibly removed. By morning he decided the only logical thing to do was to back things up and approach this as they had never had an amazing night together.
After making that decision, he was able to get a few hours of sleep. After rolling out of bed and showering, he grabbed his car keys and headed out.
GRACE
Returning from a call, Grace was busy restocking the ambulance and chatting with Mike. It had been a fairly slow day and the mood in the station was relaxed and jovial. The paramedics who had finished all their work and were waiting for a call had begun to play practical jokes on each other. It helped to pass the time and also break the tension that came with having people’s lives in your hands.
“Grace, you have a visitor,” the overhead announcement came through loud and jarring.
She looked at her Mike and frowned slightly. Who would be visiting her at the station? She raised a quizzical eyebrow in his direction as though to ask if he knew anything about it. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. She threw down the cloth she had in her hand and walked towards the reception area.
As she came through the doors, she was shocked to see someone standing there with a huge arrangement of flowers obscuring his face. Who would have flowers delivered to her? Just then the flowers were lowered and she received her second shock when she saw it was Morgan. He stood there a bit uncertainly, shifting from one foot to the other. Grace realized her shock was obvious and she quickly tried to recover.
“Umm, Morgan! Hi!” she stuttered.
“Hi Grace,” he answered.
They stood there for an awkward moment, looking at each other and the receptionist looking from one of them to the other with interest in her eyes.
“Is there somewhere we can talk?” Morgan asked.
“Oh, yes, of course!” she responded.
Grace took him through to the back office and shut the door behind them. She had no idea what he was going to say, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was nothing she wanted the receptionist and therefore the office gossip to hear about.
“I wanted to drop these off for you and see if you would like to come out to dinner with me,” Morgan stated.
“Dinner?” Grace repeated.
“Yes, dinner,” Morgan replied. “You pick the night, I’m open.”
“But why?” Grace asked incredulously.
“Honestly?” Morgan responded. “Because I can’t get you out of my mind. Since the night we spent together you are all I have thought about.”
Grace continued to stare at him, unsure what to say. He had run out of Monique and Larry’s house so quickly after they had dinner together that she thought he couldn’t stand to be around her. And here he was asking her out for dinner?
“At first I thought it was just because it was, well, such an amazing night,” he floundered to explain himself. “But then when I met you again at Larry’s, I knew I wanted to get to know you better.”
“Oh,” Grace stated.
“I figured, what better way than to ask you out,” Morgan continued. “Not to continue from our first night but to get to really know each other.”
“But I didn’t want anything more than what we had,” Grace continued. “I wasn’t l
ooking for more.”
"Is there someone else?" Morgan asked, lifting his head slightly as though to brace himself for her answer.
“No, No,” Grace said. “It’s nothing like that.”
“Grace, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind,” Morgan stated. “I think about you all the time, it is even affecting my work. I didn’t want to say this but, I think I’m falling in love with you.”
She stared at him in shock. Was he actually saying he was that serious about her? That he had been feeling the same way she was? A warm glow spread out over her body and she began to smile. As she smiled, he looked at her questioningly, but as she smiled wider and wider, he also started to smile.
The next thing Grace knew, Morgan had thrown the flowers onto the nearest counter and was sweeping her up in his arms. He held her so closely, she could feel his heart beating. He gazed at her with eyes that were full of love and passion. He lowered his head and as his lips touched hers, she felt pure joy flood over her. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer yet. For the first time since she was a little girl being shuttled off to boarding school, she felt as though she was truly home.
EPILOGUE
Months Later
Grace languidly stretched out in bed, savoring the last few moments before she had to get up and get ready for work. The last few months had been like a dream for her and every morning brought an appreciation for all that life had given her. Morgan walked into their bedroom holding a steaming cup of coffee for himself and an herbal tea for her. His face lit up with a smile as his gaze wandered over her. He still could hardly believe that his life was so full now; full of love, laughter, and happiness. He couldn't imagine how he could possibly be any happier. He set their mugs on the bedside table and reached down to give her a good morning kiss. He was aiming for her forehead, but at the last minute, she moved her head so his lips landed on hers. She pulled him down on the bed and giggled as he tried to resist.
