Kiss Me Cate Pt. 04

"Don't, you have no reason to be." I turned the lights out after lighting a couple scented candles and leaving them on the counter. I leaned down and kissed her. "Enjoy and stay in the shallow end."

I went out to the living room and put the game on low and opened another beer. Monday nights in December in America mean football and I was not immune to it. At some point into the second quarter I heard her moving around. She was out of the bath and going into the bedroom. A few minutes later she walked around the corner wearing only a football team tee shirt and leaned against the wall. Her long legs glistened in the soft light, her hair brushed out into soft waves. It wasn't her flannel, but I wasn't going to complain.

"What's the score?" She asked crossing her legs at the ankle and her arms under her breasts.

I just stared for a long minute before I reached for the remote and turned off the game.

"I have no idea, but I think I just won." I replied. Her grin quirked up at an angle.

"You don't have to turn it off."

"Yes I do." I felt my mouth go dry. She moved her hands behind her against the wall. Her breasts lifted slightly. She lifted one knee ever so slightly, the muscle tightened down her thigh, her toe pointing down at the floor.

"Well I was just curious if you were up for some other sport."

"What did you have in mind?" I said smiling.

She shrugged blithely, unable to wipe the smirk from her face. "Oh I don't know, maybe a little full contact wrestling?"

"Greco-Roman?"

"Irish-American." Her grin widened, a challenging glint caught her eye.

I grinned just as broadly. "Best two out of three falls?"

She shook her head. "Last man standing."

"You fight for keeps."

"When you have something worth fighting for, you're damned right I do." She turned and walked around the corner, then put her hand back around and beckoned me to follow. When I got to the bedroom she was kneeling at the end of the bed facing me. She nodded at me. "We do hold to the same rule as the Greeks and Romans, we fight in the nude." She said. I grinned and began disrobing.

"Well I'm ready, but you're still in your team colors." I said nodding at the tee. She bit her lip and reached for me, and walked into her arms. She turned quickly and pulled me face down onto the bed.

"First point Ireland!" She cried and whipped off the tee shirt swirling it around her over her head. I was laughing hysterically when I rolled over and she straddled me. "It doesn't count if I don't pin you too." She leaned down and kissed me effectively removing any fight I had in me. "Are you giving up already?"

I grabbed her by the hips and rolled her over and pinned her arms above her head then planted a kiss on her nose. "I haven't even started." I kissed my way down her chest, and though I'd let go she left her arms above her head. Her hips rolled gently beneath me. "Looking to get pinned are you?"

"Mmm hmm." She moaned through tightly closed lips. I entered her slowly, and completely. She sighed deeply. "Point USA!" She moaned and arched herself up, offering her breasts up to me. I didn't hesitate to indulge.

"Who won?" I said chuckling in her ear as we lay in the darkness, her bottom nestled into me, my hand tucked up under her chin.

"I think we both did." She laughed. "Or it was a tie to be decided again at another date."

"I like that idea." I said nuzzling her behind the ear. We were silent, I could feel her heartbeat against my palm. My eyes started to close slowly, sleep coming on me like the tide takes a beach. I was roused by a soft giggle. "What?" I whispered.

"I was just thinking I should find a white sale somewhere the way we're going through sheets." We both slipped off to sleep.

Over the next few days I'd found a small artificial tree to put in the corner of the living room. It made sense since we wouldn't be here for the holiday anyway. Cate referred to it as our Charlie Brown tree. She hung a little mistletoe over the doorway.

"You should have just gotten a hair clip and put it on there. I'm not likely to wait until you walk through the doorway." I said smiling, watching her stretch to pin it up.

"Sweetheart, you don't ever have to wait."

"Since you went to the trouble, we may as well follow tradition." I took her in my arms and kissed her quite thoroughly.

At some point during the week a present ended up under the little tree. I smiled and made another appear. She in turn place another small package under the tree, and we went back and forth like this until the weekend.

"In ten days we'll be winging our way back to the old country Miss Murray. Are ye quite prepared for the trip?"

"Aye, I think so Mister Butler. The question is, are you? It's a pretty daunting affair to be meetin' the father o' yer sweetheart." She replied, her accent broadened to match my own. "Remember, they're a bit more straight-laced. Kissing is okay, groping is not." She added with a laugh.

I wrapped my arms around her placing both hands on her backside and gave it a squeeze. "I guess I'd better get as much groping in as I can before then."

"You don't think the blue dress is going to be too frumpy to wear to your parents."

"Not at all. I told you that you could wear jeans and they won't care."

"I couldn't do that, not for our first meeting. I don't want them to think I'm some sort of layabout."

"If you don't like the blue one, and don't try to fool me, I've seen you scrunch up your nose when you mentioned it, we can go look for something else you won't mind."

Her eyebrows rose. "You want to take me clothes shopping. Are you mad?"

"Not if it will stop you from panicking about meeting my parents."

"Panic seems a bit of an exaggeration." I stopped her with a kiss.

"Get your coat and we'll brave the stores."

She looked at me shrewdly. "What do you hope to gain from this."

I shrugged. "Oh, I thought we'd work from the inside out." I said, giving her sleeve a pinch. It slowly dawned on her what I meant and she smiled.

"Well I guess we can't only cover the old couch with a slip cover now can we."

"Well your upholstery is a little worn, but I can vouch for the inner springs." I ducked a swift and expected cuff to the head. We headed into the city, to one of the bigger department stores, known for being more upscale. Cate looked at me nervously. I guess she'd been here before, or knew it's reputation.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Was there somewhere else you wanted to go first?"

"No, it's just that..."

I smiled. "Cate, relax, go crazy."

"I can't! I feel awful."

"Do you want to attempt surviving the basement store a week before Christmas? I'm sure you'll fare well considering your wrestling moves. I hope you can throw a punch though." We both laughed.

"Okay, let's not do that. Are you going to assist or are you going to wander?" She asked as I held the door open for her.

"I'd like to watch. I like to watch you." I said with a wink.

"Good because I'd like your input."

"It's a deal. I have one stipulation. You're not allowed to look at the price tags, you choose what you like." Before she could balk I stopped in my tracks and added, "It's either that or we stop now and we're wearing jeans."

She turned to face me after a few steps, a shrewd look in her eye. A middle-aged woman that was passing us stopped and looked at Cate. "Honey, you're not going to get a better offer than that. Take it before I take him shopping myself." Cate reached out a hand to me quickly.

"No it's quite alright, he's already taken." She said smiling. After much debate and a little arguing over what looked good and what didn't she ended up with three outfits, two pairs of shoes, and a nice overcoat.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into this. I couldn't have afforded all that in a year."

"We had a deal." I said looking at her critically.

"I didn't look at a price tag, but I did see the register as it was rung up." She growled.

"We haven't even shopped for the naughty bits yet, eh what?" I added.

"Stick with the Irish accent, you're better at it." She said grinning. "We're going to keep it somewhat... refined I hope."

"Oh yes, very dignified." I added with a polite cough.

"No missing bits or panels." She said, her eyebrow rose again.

"Well we'll just have to see what we can find." I said with a grin.

A little while later we entered the lingerie store. "Should I be concerned that you didn't have to think twice about where this was?"

I just smiled. "We could always go to the place that department store that sells hardware, appliances and lingerie downtown. I'm sure you'll find something very usable, maybe in canvas or flannel."

She peeked around and smiled. "No, I think I might like this a little more."

"Good, because they do have flannel here too, it's just a lot sexier."

"Are you saying my pajamas aren't sexy?"

"I like the top part mostly."

I began wandering the store and realized that she was following me like a mother watching a child in a candy store. She wasn't looking around at all.

"Does anything look good to you?" I thought we might need to try another store.

"I'm curious what looks good to you." She said grinning.

"We don't need any of this then. You're what looks terrific to me."

A shopper not far from us uttered, "Damn girl, he's good. Keep that one."

Cate rolled her eyes and we moved on. After several dirty looks and disagreements under her breath. "You want a string up your backside then you wear it. I have before and it's a bit uncomfortable to me."

"I just thought you might not want panty lines that's all." I said defensively, unable to hide my smile.

"Well I wear clothing that fits, not clothing that's so tight I can barely move." She leaned in closer. "I'm a college professor for God's sake."

"You really should think about what goes through your students minds when you're going on about trojan horse viruses and key-loggers. I assure that at any given moment, one of your male students is wondering what color your knickers are." I'd gotten into the habit of switching the phony accent on and off when I wanted to tease her.

Her eyes widened at that. "Men. You're all lechers."

I nodded vigorously. "This store isn't for women, and you know it."

"I find it funny since I've arrived that American girls want to be seen so badly that they'll over do on the make up and clothing, and then get upset if a boy notices, and pretend they didn't want the attention in the first place. You don't see that much where I'm from."

"Girls don't want to be noticed?"

"Well I wouldn't say that." She smiled. "They just aren't nearly as overt about it. When I was waiting for you last week at the food court there was a girl that walked by with her knickers, as you so aptly refer to them, showing above the waistband of her blue jeans. There was no way that it was a mistake the way she was showing them off."

"Scandalous."

"Very."

"So you like bold colors, but not patterns. Good to know."

"How did you know which size to take?" She asked laughing.

"Well I have done the laundry a few times since you've moved in." I just shrugged.

"If we keep this up, you're going to have more to do. You're also going to end up losing any closet space you had left."

"I have the one in the spare bedroom if I need it."

She pawed through a table full of lacy panties flipping tags until she found ones in her size and slipped them free without disturbing the display. I smiled, I liked her choices.

"I've been thinking." She paused. "Is it too soon to clean out my apartment? I was thinking of sub-letting it for the remainder of the school year." She glanced at me to see my reaction.

"Too soon? I was trying to haul you out of there three weeks ago."

Her eyebrows rose. "Has it been so little time?"

"Remember a few weeks ago when we were in that cafe by the lake? You offered a penny for my thoughts." She nodded. "Well I didn't say everything I was thinking because I didn't want to scare you off." Cate's eyes widened and she glanced around to see who was in hearing range.

"Should I ask now or wait until we're alone?" She asked, concern coloring the question.

I looked around and held up a scant bit of lace in front of her hips. She swatted me away making me laugh. "Well I don't want to tempt fate." I smiled at that. "It's just that I was hoping this wasn't a temporary thing. Your living with me I mean." I stumbled. "Well I guess what I want to know is if you're my girlfriend or not." Time stood still for a moment. She paused in mid-reach for an item on the table in front of us. Time began again, and she slowly picked up the piece. She tossed it back haphazardly and dropped the basket she had on the table and turned toward the exit and began walking quickly.

"Cate!" I called after her and dashed between the other patrons. I caught her thanks to a crowd of people blocking the way.

She turned on me, her face bright red. "What Dylan?" She snapped harshly. She lowered her voice and got closer. "You think I'm in it for the money? I told you I loved you when I thought you were a broke grad student, now you question whether or not I'm even your girlfriend?"

"That's not what I meant Cate! Damn it!" I took her by the arms and tried pulling her close but she resisted.

"What did you mean then?"

"You told me to be careful, and I have been, maybe too careful."

"What are you talking about?" Her rage turned to confusion.

"Cate I want to know that you're mine." I let go of her arms and took her hands. "From the day I brought you home, to my apartment, I've wanted nothing more than to keep you all to myself. I didn't want you to go back to your place. When you said you wanted to bring the rest of your things to my place, to our place, I about leapt into the air and clicked my heels together." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Cate I'm in love with you, completely and I'm so worried you don't love me the same way." I took a deep breath and let it out. When I opened my eyes her expression had changed. "It's all happened so fast, and though I've done my best to act casual, I'm scared that we're headed for a brick wall and I'm going to crash into it like a cartoon character and fall over flat." Her eyes had darkened, the flush left her face but left a telltale pink on her cheeks. "Someone has laid the most perfect fragile thing in the world in my hands and I'm scared to death that I'm going to drop it and ruin it forever." She made sure my hands were empty of merchandise, grabbed me and hauled me out of the store. "What about..."

"I have lingerie, and it will do just fine. I think we need to talk a whole lot more than we need to gild the lily." In the parking lot she stopped and held out her hand. "Give me the keys." I hesitated, her expression brooked no delay as she wiggled her hand at me.

I swallowed hard. "Where are you going?"

"Where are WE going Dylan. Remember it's us, not you and not me as you've repeatedly pointed out." She lunged forward and started fishing in my pocket for the keys and pulled them free. She unlocked the doors with a click. "Get in." She stomped to the driver's side got in and slammed the door. I feared the worst and got in, grabbing the seatbelt as she started the car and yanked it into gear. She backed out and headed for the for the exit. She looked around when we got to the main road and turned onto it. We weren't going my apartment. She turned towards the city, and the direction of her apartment. I felt ice trickle through my veins. I pushed her too far and this was it.

"Cate, I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong, but I'm sorry. It's just that, that I've never had anyone I've been so scared to lose before." She didn't say anything. I looked over at her, and there were tears running down her cheeks. "Please don't do this." I whispered. She pulled up in front of her building and threw the brake on and parked.

"Come on." She said opening the door. We went upstairs and she unlocked her apartment door. She stormed into the cool darkness and I followed closing the door behind me. She stomped into the bedroom and I heard a door open, and things started getting thrown around. "Get me a rubbish bag from under the sink. One of the large ones!"

I was completely stunned and had no idea what she was doing. I did as she asked and walked into the bedroom to see her stuffing the contents of her drawers into a suitcase, none to gently. "Get the shoes from the closet, and there's a handbag on the inside of the door, get that too please."

"I don't understand."

She stood quickly and charged up to me. "Listen to me Dylan Connor Butler, from the first day I said that I loved you, I've never questioned myself on it. I trusted my instincts and they haven't failed me yet, not with you at least. At some point you felt it necessary to start strutting around like a damned peacock and showing off. Do you remember when we talked about being equals? Don't walk before me, for I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, for I may not lead. Walk beside me, and be my friend. Do you remember that?" I nodded slowly. "Somewhere along the line you forgot about it. You've tried to pay off the lease on this place on me, and I wouldn't let you. It's my place, and my responsibility and I won't shrug it off. Then you talked about getting me a car! A fucking car Dylan! I said no, and I swear if you even think another moment on it I'll knee you in the stones! I was worried about what to wear to meet your parents, and suddenly I'm in My Fair Lady being decked out like Eliza Doolittle getting ready for race day at Ascot by some over eager salesgirl who mooned over you!" She pushed me back knocking me onto her bed. "Enough Dylan!" She scrambled on top of me and pinned me down by the shoulders. "It's time we get a few things straight, you and I. If I say, "Gee I really like that dress," while flipping through a magazine, it's not a request, and you don't need to immediately present it at my feet. If I say, "Too bad I won't be able to go home for the holidays this year," I'd better not be getting a packet of airline tickets from a travel agent a few days later." Her face was bright red and she was breathing hard. "When I say I love you, I mean it, and you don't have to do anything else for it other than be the same sweet, warm, caring person you've been towards me for the past several months. Do you know why Dylan?" I shook my head. "It's because I love you for who you are, not what you can do for me, or buy for me, and that's the bloody truth. I love the shy boy who said I looked hot on a July afternoon, and made me blush because I sincerely thought he was talking about the weather. I love the nurse who rubbed my back when I thought I was going to cough up an organ or two when I had the damnedest cold. I love the man who left his family to rescue me from near crushing loneliness one dark night. He held me, and wanted nothing more of me than to not feel alone," tears streamed down her face. "and I didn't anymore." She whispered.

She sat back, breathed deeply trying to calm herself and brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Sometimes we're not going to agree, and that's fine. Sometimes I may turn into a raving maniac, like now." She sniffled and smiled. "I'm sure there are times when I'm going to want to clobber you over the head for being as daft as a post, like now." She kept breathing deeply, slowing down. She licked her lips. "Dylan, love isn't about romantic getaways, and amazing sex. It comes from here." She jabbed my chest. "Here," she poked my forehead, "and only lastly here." She cupped the front of my jeans. "Is this important? You're damned right it is, but it's never going to touch the truly important things like trust, faith, honesty, communication, and most of all, respect." She rolled off me and visibly deflated. "Let's gather my things. We're out of class after Wednesday, I'll come around and clean up the place and put together an advertisement for it for the spring semester. I'm sure there will be someone willing to jump on it for what it costs to finish out my lease."