did. Any moment now she would find herself back in her apartment, opening her eyes to surroundings as familiar as the disappointment she always felt upon waking.
“Devin!”
When he called her name, however, she began to push through the revelers. As futile as it might be, she needed to try. The distance between them grew narrower and narrower. She was closer to him than she had ever been before. So close that she could see the crinkles that fanned from the corners of his eyes and make out the shadow of beard stubble on his jaw.
Driven, feeling desperate, she reached out again, knowing that any second he would be lost to her, every trace of him gone until their next slumberous meeting. But instead of waking up in the usual tangle of sheets, she felt their fingers touch, after which their hands clasped.
Devin cried out in surprise. The contact was not only unexpected, but seemed almost electrically charged. His eyes widened as if he felt it, too, and then his grip tightened.
“Don’t let go!” she cried. “Please!”
“Never.”
When he drew her toward him, the pulling sensation she experienced was more than physical. It was as if she were being pulled through time itself. Her knees buckled, but a pair of strong arms saved her from collapsing and she found herself staring up into a face that was every bit as familiar as her own.
At last.
She didn’t say the words aloud, but they reverberated through her bones. She touched his cheek tentatively before resting her palm flat against his warm skin. He felt so real. So…right.
Her response seemed to please him. He closed his eyes briefly and nodded before saying, “I didn’t think I would ever reach you.”
Vaguely, she wondered if he was speaking of this time or in the other dreams. Before she could give it too much thought, he leaned down and his mouth captured hers in a kiss that was unhurried and desperate at the same time. Nothing else mattered at that point—not how she knew him or why the dream hadn’t ended the way it usually did. Only the man holding Devin in his arms was important, and she had to admit, for a figment of her imagination, he kissed better than any man she’d ever dated.
Just as surely as she knew his name, however, she knew that she and Gregory weren’t dating.
No. They were married.
Chapter Three
Gregory pulled back slowly. He smiled again as he stared into the face of the woman he loved. The woman he’d worried he might never see again. She looked as dazed and relieved as he felt.
“It’s been a long time,” he told her. “I wasn’t sure…I wasn’t sure you would be here.”
“Where else would I be?” she asked.
Her confusion seemed genuine. Maybe she wanted to forget the tension that had existed between them before he’d shipped out. Gregory knew he did. It had weighed heavily on him during his entire deployment, intensifying after her letters had stopped. He pulled her into his arms again, rested his cheek against her temple.
“Nowhere,” he mumbled into her hair. “This is where you belong, Devin. Right here. Forever.”
Afterward, Gregory took her hands. His thumb rubbed against something hard on her third finger. He lifted her hand and studied the cheap, silver-plated band he’d placed there not all that long ago. Her eyes widened fractionally.
“I know it’s nothing special,” he said on a self-conscious chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’ll make good on my promise.”
She glanced up. “Your promise?”
“To buy you a nicer one. I said I would as soon as I got back. There wasn’t enough time before I shipped out. Everything between us happened so fast.”
Devin nodded as she fingered the ring. Her expression bordered on reverence.
“Do you…do you believe in love at first sight?” she asked so softly that he had to bend closer to hear.
“I didn’t,” he admitted, “until I saw you.”
“I know. I—”
Devin’s words were cut short when a sailor bumped into her. He apologized, and then both he and his companion stopped to salute Gregory, who saluted them back.
“It’s a great day, sir!” the first sailor said.
“A great day,” Gregory agreed. His gaze was on Devin. She was here. She’d come back to him.
“Better hold tight to your girl, Captain,” the other said. “There’s a guy back there kissing every woman he sees.”
Gregory glanced about. Times Square was jammed with people now.
“Thanks for the warning, but I can assure you, no one is going to kiss my wife but me.”
The sailors were forgotten when Gregory leaned forward again. This time, the kiss he and Devin shared wasn’t nearly as urgent. He took his time, and she appeared only too happy to let him.
When he finished, he nuzzled her neck, inhaling deeply to take in her perfume.
“You feel so good in my arms.”
* * *
Devin felt good there, if overly warm. The overcoat she was wearing didn’t help. Suddenly, she became aware of how hot it was outside. She had been dressed for a crisp autumn day, but in her dream it was the height of summer, and New York was steeped in heat.
“I need to take this off before I suffer a heat stroke.”
He frowned, apparently just noticing her cold-weather attire. “Why on earth are you wearing this?”
“I was trying it on,” she replied honestly. “That was before…before all of the commotion. I haven’t had a chance to take it off.”
She stepped back to do so now, but as soon as she attempted to unfasten the buttons, Gregory brushed her hands aside.
On a grin, he said, “Allow me, Mrs. Prescott.”
Mrs. Prescott. The prefix, the moniker, both should have sounded foreign, but they didn’t.
Devin’s mouth went dry as he took over the task. It was ridiculous to feel self-conscious. This was a dream, one in which he was her husband. What’s more, they were standing in a square crowded with people, and he was only helping her take off her overcoat. Still, she did feel self-conscious and almost painfully aware of Gregory as she lowered her gaze and watched him fish first one button and then the next through the holes on the placket until he was finished.
When he slipped the coat from her shoulders, it came as a jolt to realize that she was no longer wearing the wool pants and cream turtleneck she’d had on at the shop—or rather the portion of the dream that had occurred at the shop. Instead, she was garbed in a belted, pale blue dress. The skirt was slim and ended just below her knees.
