against hope that it might be Daniel saying that he had changed his mind and that he loved her after all, she got to her feet as quickly as she was able to and headed to the door.
“I’m coming,” she called as she hurried down the hallway.
Taking a second to look through the peephole on the door, she saw that no one was there.
Dammit, she thought. I’m too late!
Whipping the door open, she stepped out into the hallway looking both ways to see if she could spot her elusive caller. But there was no one in sight. She turned to re-enter her apartment when her foot kicked something. Looking down, she saw a gift wrapped box sitting at her feet. She stared at it curiously for a second before leaning down to retrieve it. With a puzzled look on her face, she carried it with her back into the apartment.
This package had been delivered personally as it was wrapped in shiny red paper with a white satin ribbon. There was a matching red card attached to it with her name on it. Catherine opened it and read the brief message that had been written there.
“Such a beautiful woman should never be sad. You should be appreciated and adored. That is just what I plan to do with you tomorrow night.
Someone who cares”
Still highly puzzled, Catherine set down the card on her kitchen bar and then picked up the package. Carefully, she opened the box to reveal a sexy little teddy in a wicked red color. She withdrew it from the box and held it up against her. It seemed as if it was the right fit.
Yes, her gift was lovely, but who could have sent it? Not only that, who was planning to “appreciate and adore” her tomorrow night? Shaking her head a little, she walked back down the hallway to her bedroom. Carefully, she hung the teddy on a padded hanger and stood back to admire it once more.
Finally, she decided that she needed to get some sleep. Only in dreams could she seem to forget about Daniel and his cruelty. Oddly enough, tonight she was sound asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next day dawned bright, sunny and cold. Catherine found herself to be happy even though she knew that Daniel wouldn’t be a part of her Valentine’s Day. Instead, she spent the afternoon at a day spa getting a facial, massage, and body wrap. Then it was on to the salon to get her long dark auburn hair curled and her nails manicured. By the time she returned home late that afternoon, she knew that she looked beautiful. Darting into her closet, she pulled out the new red teddy and slipped into it. She had been right. It fit perfectly! Choosing a deep red dress with a scooped neckline that showed off her impressive cleavage, she put it on and looked at herself in the mirror.
I do look gorgeous! She thought, smiling.
She was dressed by 7PM when her doorbell rang. This time when she looked through the peephole, she saw a man wearing a uniform of some sort. Keeping the chain on, she opened the door a crack.
“Yes?” she said.
“Good evening, ma’am,” the man said in an almost courtly manner. “Are you Miss Catherine?”
“I am,” she replied.
“I’m instructed to ask you to accompany me,” he said.
“Accompany you to where?” she asked.
“If you look out your window, you’ll see the limousine waiting. That is for you.”
Slowly she pushed the door shut and walked over to her living room window. Looking down, she gasped as there was definitely a limousine waiting.
Deciding that even though it might not be the smartest thing she had ever done, nevertheless she grabbed her coat and purse and went with uniformed man. When they reached the limousine, he opened the back door for her and invited her to get inside. Stepping in carefully, she was greeted by one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.
He was smiling and handed her a glass of champagne. His hair was black, and his eyes were an ocean blue. A sexy lopsided smile showed her perfect white teeth and a slight dimple on one side of his mouth. She accepted the champagne and simply sat staring at him.
“Hello, Catherine,” he said in a low sexy voice. “I’m so happy that you agreed to join me. Shall we drink to new friends and future possibilities?”
“Ok,” she managed to whisper.
Once they had sipped the champagne, Catherine found her voice.
“Who are you,” she asked. “And how do you know me?”
“My name is Marcus,” he said. “As for the rest, I’ll be happy to share that with you later but, for now, can it just be an exciting sort of mystery?”
Smiling a bit, Catherine nodded and off they went into the night.
What a night it was! Marcus took her to a five star restaurant that he had rented out for the evening where they enjoyed one of the most delicious gourmet mills she had ever had. Following that, they were entertained by a private band where they danced until well after midnight.
Finally, they were back in the limousine and on their way to Catherine’s apartment. Marcus was holding her hand. She really didn’t want this night to ever end and she kept trying to think of a way to keep it going. She needn’t have worried about that.
When they reached her building, Marcus got of the car with her and walked her up to her apartment. Outside of her door, he turned her face up to him and placed his mouth on hers, gently at first. However, it quickly caught fire and they were both caught up in a very heated kiss.
“Do you want to come in?” Catherine managed to gasp as she broke away from him.
“I was so hoping that you would ask,” Marcus whispered.
Once they were inside of her apartment, Marcus was kissing her with abandon now and moving his hands all over her body, whispering how beautiful she was. His mouth blazed a trail from her mouth down her neck and just to the top of her cleavage. When she didn’t protest, he slowly removed her dress and she was standing before him wearing the red teddy, sheer silk stockings and a matching red garter.
He stood back and stared at her with a smile on his face.
“You did wear it!” he exclaimed. “I’m so happy! And you look just as amazing in it as I knew you would!”
“You sent this to me?” she asked breathlessly.
“I did,” Marcus replied. “Do you like it?”
“I love it!” Catherine said as she smiled back at him.
“It truly is a shame that it will be on the floor in just a few minutes,” Marcus teased.
Catherine
