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  “I can’t believe that you have enough shoes they require their own box,” he had said, seriously flabbergasted.

  Katy had just smiled and was thankful he didn’t know there were actually two boxes of shoes.

  So when the morning came that she was really moving out of her house, she was incredibly relieved that Mark was there for emotional support, as well as free labor.

  “I don’t think I’ll need to hit the gym for a few days,” he had teased. “You’ve kept me working so hard I think I’ve lost a few pounds.”

  They spent their last night in Portland at The Monaco Hotel. After they had made love, Katy had to fight the tears off.

  “Are you regretting your decision?” Mark had asked.

  “No, not at all,” she had replied. “I think I’m just letting go emotionally of everything, so that when we arrive in New York tomorrow, it’s a clean slate, our fresh start.”

  Mark had cradled her in his arms and she had fallen asleep, knowing that tomorrow really was the beginning of her happily ever after.

  So here she was, in New York City, her house in Portland already leased, her personal items waiting for her at Mark’s apartment, and a new life to begin. As they retrieved their luggage from the carousel at the baggage claim, Katy felt calm and peaceful, happy and optimistic for the future.

  Stepping into the early April air, Katy inhaled and closed her eyes, cherishing the moment, which was rudely interrupted as she was tackled from the side.

  “KATY!!!”

  She grinned at the sound of her name and dropped her bag to embrace her best friend. Janie refused to let go and the two women stood on the sidewalk, oblivious to the world around them, as Mark, Matt, and Ray loaded their luggage into the trunk of the black BMW parked at the curb.

  “How long do we let them stand there?” Mark asked his older brother.

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past several months, it’s to not ask questions,” Matt grinned.

  *****

  Matt and Janie dropped Mark and Katy of at Mark’s apartment. He had lived in Greenwich Village for the past few years and loved it. He hoped that Katy would love it too.

  The elevator took them to the tenth floor and Mark unlocked the door and anxiously let Katy in.

  “It’s two bedrooms, right?”

  “Yep,” Mark said.

  To the right was an open kitchen with modern appliances and a long counter that divided the space from the dining area. To the left were a powder room and an alcove where Mark obviously worked. There was a computer and printer and a bookshelf full of binders and books and file folders. Straight ahead was the living room. It was a big open space with comfortable furnishings and floor to ceiling windows. Katy walked between the two leather sofas and stood looking out over the Hudson River.

  “Water,” she smiled.

  She turned to Mark who was standing just behind, waiting to hear what she thought.

  “Let’s see the rest,” she said.

  Mark showed her the guest bedroom and its adjoining bathroom.

  “It will work for Derek, don’t you think?” Mark asked.

  Katy smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Yeah, it will work just fine.”

  Across the hall was the master bedroom. Mark pushed open the door and the first thing she saw was the king-sized bed against the wall. There were two bedside tables on both sides and a long bench at the foot. The color scheme was neutral; tans and creams with a touch of brown. There was a chair and reading lamp next to the door and long curtains that were drawn across the windows. Mark hurried over and pulled on the cord, revealing a similar view to that of the living room, only there was a small balcony that held two chairs and a small table.

  “A nice place for coffee in the morning or a cold beer in the evening?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes,” she grinned.

  There was a luxurious bathroom and a walk-in closet to complete the suite.

  “Well?” asked Mark. “What do you think?”

  Katy turned and left the room and headed back into the living area.

  “I thought you and Matt were partners?” she asked.

  “We are.”

  “Yet, he has a sprawling apartment with thirty bedrooms and marble over every square inch and you’ve got what? Fifteen hundred square feet?”

  Mark’s eyes opened wide and he felt a little panicked at her tone.

  “It’s two thousand square feet, but if you want to move, we can. I’ve lived here by myself for a long time but we can buy something else.”

  Katy studied him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

  “Just kidding!” she ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. “It’s perfect! I love it!”

  “Fuck, Katy. You scared the shit out of me!” Mark sighed, relief flowing through his body.

  “Matt and Janie’s apartment doesn’t have thirty bedrooms, anyway,” she teased. “I believe there is only seven. Maybe eight.”

  Mark laughed. “You’re sure? You can live here happily?”

  “I can live in a box happily,” she smiled. “As long as I’m with you.”

  *****

  Katy spent the next few days unpacking her boxes that had arrived and organizing her new home. Mark had given her free reign to do as she pleased. He had also given her a credit card to buy whatever she wanted. She could change furniture, décor, anything. He didn’t care. He wanted her to be at home and comfortable.

  Janie joined her for lunch several times and invited them over for dinner the following weekend. Matt was out of town on business for a few days otherwise it would have been sooner.

  “But I’m sure you don’t mind,” Janie had teased.

  “Mind what?” Katy asked.

  “Mind staying in at night, alone. Just the two of you.”

  Katy grinned. She didn’t mind at all.

  Mark and Katy had developed a routine very quickly. They worked out in the gym in their apartment building and then had breakfast. Sometimes it was at the little café across the street and sometimes, if it wasn’t too cold, they ate cereal or bagels on their little balcony. Then they showered, together, and Mark went off to work. Katy worked on the apartment, reorganizing and shopping because Mark’s kitchenware was seriously lacking, and she looked in the paper and online for a job.

  A few days later, Katy had just finished her thirty minutes on the treadclimber in the gym as she watched a woman, Katy guessed to be in her early seventies, working with some two pound weights.

  “I don’t mean to intrude,” Katy said, “But I have been a nurse for a long time and have seen some injuries, especially in older people, because they do these wrong. Would you mind if I helped you for a minute?”

  “Oh not at all,” the woman smiled.

  Katy showed her how to do some simple upper arm exercises.

  “Thank you,” the woman smiled. “That is more comfortable. And it doesn’t hurt my neck.”

  “And it will do more for you too. I’m Katy, in apartment 1005. If you’d ever like me to help you, just call.”

  The woman thanked her and Katy headed to the stationary bike to cool off a bit.

  “That was really well done,” said a man sitting on the bike next to Katy. “You know what you’re talking about.”

  Katy smiled and climbed on the bike.

  “You’re a nurse?” he asked.

  “Yep. Although not working right now.”

  The man stopped cycling and hopped off the bike.

  “I’m Alan. Alan Rainer. Dr. Alan Rainer,” he said and held out his hand.

  Katy shook it. “Katy,” she replied.

  “This could be fate,” he smiled.

  “What?”

  “Meeting you, like this.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not…”

  “No!” he interrupted. “I’m not interested like that,” he frowned.

  Katy grinned.

  “Oh, that did not come out right,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. Can I start o
ver?”

  “That’s okay,” Katy laughed. “I’m too old for you anyway.”

  Alan grinned and held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Dr. Alan Rainer and I am older than I look,” he winked. “But,” he continued, “I am an orthopedic surgeon and I specialize in geriatrics. Well, anybody over fifty, really.”

  Katy smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “I think you are just what I have been looking for. I need a nurse to help with post-op and sometimes a little bit of rehab, not physical therapy, but answering questions and offering suggestions to patients when they ask. I watched you with Mrs. Landry and you’re a natural.”

  “Really?” Katy asked.

  “Well, it wouldn’t be full time. I only work two days a week.”

  “Two days?” Katy was surprised.

  “Well, I have a quiet office day as well, but it’s just me and the receptionist. So, I guess, I’m offering you a job. Interested?”

  Katy took two seconds to think about it and then smiled.

  “Yes, I think I am.”

  “Think you are what?” Mark asked, coming to stand next to her. He put his arm possessively around her waist and glared at Alan.

  “Mark?” Katy smiled. “This is Dr. Rainer. He’s an orthopedic surgeon and has just offered me a job.”

  “This is my…” Katy looked at Mark. “This is Mark, my boyfriend.”

  Mark shook hands with the doctor and looked at Katy.

  “Congratulations?” he said.

  “Maybe,” she grinned.

  19.

  That night, Mark and Katy enjoyed a delicious meal together and then took their glass of wine and sat out on the balcony of their apartment. It was mid-April and the days were starting to get a little longer and little warmer. Tonight was the first night they didn’t grab a jacket on their way outside.

  The lights flickered on the river and Katy savored the moment.

  “Perfect,” she sighed.

  “What?” Mark asked.

  “Everything,” she grinned. “You, us, the apartment, the city, Janie and Matt, the future, the wine. All of it. I can’t imagine it being any better.”

  A small gust of wind whipped across the balcony and Katy shivered.

  Mark stood and stepped inside.

  “I’ll grab you something.”

  He returned with a small blanket and draped it over her shoulders.

  “Thanks,” she smiled up at him.

  Mark bent over and kissed her on the nose.

  “I’m glad you’re happy.”

  “Oh Mark, I don’t think I could ever be happier.”

  He stepped in front of her and bent down on one knee, pulling a box from his pocket. Katy’s eyes opened wide and she sat up in her chair. Her hand went to her lips.

  “Katy, I know that I asked you this once before and it was the wrong time. But a lot has happened in the past few weeks. There have been a lot of changes, for both of us. And they have all been wonderful. All those changes have led us to this moment, right here, right now.”

  Mark took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

  “I agree with you. Everything is perfect. There is only one thing that would make it just the tiniest more perfect,” he smiled. “I don’t want to be your boyfriend. I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife. I love you, Katy. Marry me? We don’t have to get married this year, or even next year, but marry me? Please?”

  Katy moved her hand slowly away from her lips as a smile formed lighting up her big brown eyes.

  “I love you Mark Lathem. With all that I am. Yes. I’ll marry you.”

  “WOO HOO!!” Mark screamed as he pulled her to him and they fell onto the concrete laughing and crying, smiling and kissing.

  “Perfect,” he whispered, as he opened the velvet box and slipped the diamond engagement ring on her finger.

  Katy’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the exquisite princess diamond solitaire slide on her hand, the gem sparkling brilliantly in the moonlight.

  “Perfect,” she agreed.

  *****

  Mark kissed her forehead, her eyebrows, her eyelids and her temples. He kissed the tip of her nose, her cheeks, her chin and her lips.

  “I worship you,” he breathed as he kissed her ears.

  Katy’s eyes were closed, her wrists in Mark’s hand above her head on the pillow. She was naked and Mark had starting kissing her toes and taken his sweet time slowly inching up her body leaving a trail of desire in his wake. He had used his tongue to lick her clitoris ‘til she thought she would scream if he didn’t make her come right then. But he had grinned and said she needed to wait.

  Now, as he lay covering her body with his, his skin rubbing over hers, her nipples begging for his touch, her hips bucking to find relief, he said it again.

  “I love you. Now and forever. You are mine. Always.”

  He let go of her wrists and she wrapped them around his waist and buried her face into his neck.

  “I love you,” she whispered, kissing his shoulder.

  Mark pushed her legs apart and lifted himself up onto his hands. He was poised at her entrance and as he gazed into her eyes, and she into his, they knew the bond they had forged would never be broken.

  They had come together under the most traumatic of events, but they had turned the darkness into light, the scary into safe, and the nightmares into their own happily ever after. Katy would never forget those terrifying thirty hours, but she had found the strength to move on, to climb the hurdle and not look back. Her knight in shining armor had rescued her from the ropes, but she had battled her own demons and won. And now they would enjoy their reward.

  He pushed into her and Katy cried out as he filled her completely.

  “I will never get enough of you,” he growled, as he withdrew and entered her again.

  Katy held his hips and pulled herself up to him as he entered her. The sensation of their joining was incredible and the sound of the bodies coming together was sensual and stimulating. All of their senses were on overload as they made love, excitement building, and their hearts overflowing.

  “It only gets better,” she gasped, holding him inside her as her orgasm began at their union and rushed down to her toes and all the way to the tip of her head. Mark watched her as she bit her lip and arched her back and when she cried out his name, he tumbled down after her, coming hard and with such sensation it took him several minutes to recover.

  As they lay together, their bodies still as one, panting for air, their world was absolutely perfect.

  *****

  A few nights later, Mark and Katy once again celebrated their engagement. This time it was with Matt and Janie at their sprawling Battery Park apartment. The women hugged and the two brothers shook hands and slapped each other on the back.

  “Nice job,” Matt said. “You’re welcome.”

  Mark grinned. “So you’re gonna take credit for this?”

  “Well, I did have the master plan,” he laughed.

  They opened a bottle of champagne and toasted to the future. It was a fun evening and as Mark and Katy said their goodbyes and headed home, Janie was overwhelmed and began to cry.

  “What is it my sweet Janie?” Matt asked as he kissed her cheeks, tasting her salty tears.

  “Happy tears,” she sputtered.

  Matt grinned and pulled her close.

  “Can you believe it?” she asked, gaining control over her emotions.

  “What?” Matt looked down at his wife.

  “It was a year ago this week.”

  Matt thought for a moment, the realization of her words sinking in.

  “It was!”

  Janie nodded. “A year ago I was lonely and sad and I came to New York and I found you.” She looked up at her husband and placed her hand on his cheek. “And now look?”

  Matt kissed her sweetly. “The day that changed my life,” he remembered, smiling.

  “And now Ka
ty and Mark. Who would have thought?”

  “Well I thought,” Matt grinned, feeling very proud of himself.

  “Yes you did,” Janie agreed. “You were very sneaky with that whole Seattle thing.”

  Matt grinned bigger. “You made quite a catch, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “I got you and I helped out my brother. I think I deserve some kind of reward, don’t you?” Matt winked and Janie laughed.

  “Yep, you got yourself good and hitched,” she smiled. “And Mark appears to be well on his way in your footsteps. So then, which brother is next in receiving your matchmaking skills?”

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