Always Been You

Katherine leaned over and touched his lips lightly with hers. He was a beautiful hunk, a business magnate, and he was hers. But at times, she loved to defy him. It produced such interesting consequences.

“Hey, what was that?” he exclaimed. “Your kisses have improved measurably since right after the accident but that dry little thing can’t possibly count. I think I will just screw the fact that we are on a plane and collect a real sizzler of a kiss” he teased.

Katherine’s yawn produced his heavy browned frown. She apologized with a smile. “I’m just messing with you, Jensen,” she said.

“You better be” he said and she chuckled.

He turned away from her and Katherine watched him. Something unpleasant was netting him. She read it in the muscle tightening in his cheek and the jut of his jaw. “What is wrong, Jensen?” she asked softly.Content © NôvelDrama.Org 2024.

One hand lifted to glide through his hair.

“Jensen?” she repeated.

He turned to her. His expression darkened. “Do you have any idea what my life was like before you came back, Katherine?” he asked.

“I imagine it was full of exciting people and challenges. The kind that most people only read about. You have traveled all over the world…” she said.

“I suppose it would look like that to you” he said slowly, “But on the inside…” A loneliness crept over his expression as he sought her eyes. “I want to show you my life, Kat. What it was like without you. Then I want to close that chapter of my life. I was okay. Money and shit like that… I had all that. But the way you make me feel… You make me so happy.”

He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “When you left I was broken, angry, couldn’t get over you and I pretended that I had, lied to myself, tried to shut it out and all it took was you walking into my office to bring it all back. I fell in love with you all over again. Because you are mine, Kat. Made specially for me. Your heart, your body… I know that if something happens again, that I will find my way back to you…. I will always find my way back to you”

Katherine’s eyes shone. She wanted to cry and hug him really tight. “Oh, Jensen,” she said. “I love you so much. And I’m sorry that I left. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry that I blamed you too… But I’m right here now. And I’m staying this time”

“Good,” he said and smiled. His hand left hers to arrange the curls lying on her shoulder. He studied her thoughtfully. “Honey, you can hardly keep your pretty eyes open. You are supposed to get plenty of rest. Relax in your chair… I promise not to disturb you… As much as I would like to”

“I just tire easily, Jensen,” Katherine said. “It’s nothing to worry about. And In a few days I will have both hands out of bandages”

She paused, frowning. “You may be ashamed of this Ozark hillbilly in San Francisco, Jensen. My hands are still too tender to arrange my hair. Mother has been doing it”

He wrapped a long dark strand around his index finger. “I will do it. I dreamed about it in my empty bed, as a matter of fact”

The hungry look in his eyes dried Katherine’s throat. I’m proud of you, sweetheart, “he stated quietly.” I want to show you off. My secretary is arranging a little cocktail party to introduce you to my staff and associates”

“Jensen, I’m not your usual San Francisco party goer” Katherine protested.

“Don’t look so stricken,” Jensen said. “They all stand up naked in their clothes the same way as you. However, yours is a beautiful nakedness, Katherine, come on now and rest” he insisted.

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When they landed, two men quickly unloaded their luggage into a motorized lift while Katherine stood waiting beside the transport vehicle. She gripped the lift’s fender with her good hand and wondered when the pavement beneath her feet would stop trembling.

Jensen circled the cart to her. He grinned down at her, then frowned. “Is something wrong, Kat?” he asked. “You look pale”

She swallowed the lump rising in her throat and tightened her hand on the fender. How could he look so fit when she felt so displaced. “I feel fine,” she said. “For someone who has just dropped out of the sky”

Jensen laughed. “You will catch up with yourself in two hours”

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As they drove through San Francisco’s busy streets in a black limousine, Katherine felt that the giant city was a world of street cars, rushing people, and crowded, tall buildings. The limousine slid into an underground parking lot.

In his penthouse, Jensen tipped the uniformed building attendant who helped carry their luggage, and closed the door behind him.

Katherine wandered around the living room. Thick white shag carpeting contrasted sharply with the black and white plaid couch sprawling across the room. A huge round glass table stood before it. The chrome and glass beauty of the apartment was expensively sterile. It contrasted with the warmth of her own home, even his back at home and Katherine understood how different Jensen’s life was here.

“It’s functional, Katherine,” he explained. “I didn’t design it though and I don’t stay here a lot” He shrugged. “We can go some other place if you don’t want to stay here”

“I’m staying, Jensen,” Katherine said. “You can’t get rid of me that easily”

He stared at her for a moment, then strode quickly to her. He cupped her shoulders with his hands, “Lady, I want to take care of you, not get rid of you. Don’t say that, ” he said.

“Shhh,” Katherine said. Her index finger sealed his lips. “Now show me my room. I have to freshen up”

“At your normal command, madame,” he said playfully. He lifted her suitcases easily, tucking one under each arm. “Follow me”..

The hallway was as stark as the living room. White wall relieved by black and white prints. “Your suite, my lady, ” Jensen said.

Katherine walked past him into the large bedroom. Decorated in French provincial, the room was a gold and white fantasy world with a beautiful bedspread and canopy and satin drapes bordered in tiny fleurs-de-lis.