Day Seventeen

She awoke to a gray sky... the kind tinged with blue, which in winter almost always meant snow was on the way. She shivered when she put her bare feet on the stone floor. It was just after sunrise, and she'd barely slept the night before. She couldn't get what had happened to stop playing like a bad movie behind her closed eyes.

She didn't know how she could've been so stupid. She looked down at her hand. The skin where her wedding band once rested was so brightly white compared to the rest of her hand that it was like a neon sign screaming of failure.

Love was tenuous, she decided. Fragile and challenging and maybe not worth the effort. She didn't know. Or maybe her friends were right. Maybe her mother was right. She never should've married him in the first place. They were a mismatch from the beginning. He was Mr. Social. Wanted a career in politics. She was the shy, quiet librarian at the high school. She wasn't cut out for life in the spotlight, and she'd told him that at the start. He promised her he'd keep her life private, but he couldn't keep his private. Oh, but he had a silver tongue. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it, which was undoubtedly why he'd been elected mayor of their small town when he was only 25.

They met when he came to the high school to speak to the students about politics and ways they could help make a difference - even before they were old enough to vote. She was in charge of the voter registration table where students over 18 were encouraged to sign up. She was captivated by his speech, and she wasn't afraid to admit that his amazingly good looks influenced her judgment. While not an unattractive woman, she knew she wasn't a beauty. She was rather plain, to be frank. Her hair was a nondescript brown and her curls generally misbehaved in the humid weather. She typically wore it up in a bun. It was just easier that way. She had decent skin and a nice smile, but she knew the only standout feature she possessed were her eyes. They were tortoiseshell hazel... green with specks of a bright brown around her pupils. If she bothered with makeup, she could've been called pretty, but she knew it was only because of her eyes.

So when Duncan MacCloud came to her table and began to talk to her, she was a bit stunned. When he asked her if he could call her sometime, she knew her jaw had fallen open in surprise. It wasn't something Duncan missed. He quickly apologized if he'd crossed a line.

"I'm sorry. I don't see a wedding band, so I assumed you were single. Please forgive my forwardness," he'd said.

She found her tongue and somehow managed to assure him she wasn't married and would love for him to call her. She wrote her phone number and name down on the back of a voter registration card, and he'd made some quip about getting her vote. She'd laughed. He was charming, gorgeous and shockingly interested in her. She was flabbergasted.

On their first date, he rented a helicopter and took her on an aerial tool of Manhattan. He gave her champagne, and introduced her to caviar. She was surprised to like it, but she did. She also liked him. She was scared of her feelings towards him. He knew that, and was very slow to make a move.

At the end of their date, he leaned in and kissed her mouth lightly. She all but melted into his embrace, and shocked herself by deepening the kiss. He extricated himself from her arms and stepped off her front porch.

As he turned to walk away, he said, "Becca, you astound me." Before she could reply, he was in his car driving away.

They saw a lot of each other. Within weeks, they were inseparable. She knew she was in love with him. She just didn't know what to do with that information. She called her best friend and poured her heart out. Jenny just laughed at her.

"You act like you've never had a boyfriend, Becca. He's just a man. An incredibly gorgeous, well-off man... and you'd be an idiot to let him get away."

Jenny took Becca lingerie shopping. Becca had never set foot in a Victoria's Secret before. She felt her face turn scarlet as she looked at the many options. She finally settled, over Jenny's protests that she was a prude, on a pretty bra and panties set. She wasn't a prude. She had never owned undergarments so skimpy in her  life!

Duncan was infinitely patient with Becca. He took her on extravagant dates, and one night she asked him to come to her house. She wanted to cook for him. She had spent a summer abroad in Paris and had taken cooking classes at a prestigious culinary school. She made pate, home baked French bread, a seafood bouillabaisse and a chocolate souffle for dessert.

Duncan arrived with a simple bouquet of daises - her favorite flower. She smiled as she put them in a vase. She had decided tonight would be the night. She had on her new lingerie. She wasn't inexperienced, exactly... there'd been one guy before. Her high school sweetheart. She and Chris had broken up after three years when they picked colleges on opposite ends of the country. Jenny had been teasing her ever since about not getting over her first love.

Well, she was over him now... and completely smitten with Duncan. She served the pate with warm chunks of French bread. She sliced more to put on the table to go with the seafood entree. He told her how amazing everything tasted. After dinner, they went to her living room. It was December, and she had her Christmas tree lights on. He built a fire, and the snuggled on cushions on the floor  under a blanket.

Before long, their kisses became deeper and more passionate than they'd ever been. She pressed her body into his. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was being wanton. She simply didn't care. Her mouth found his neck, and she kissed eagerly while he moaned.

"You make me crazy," he whispered in her ear. "I've never wanted any woman so badly."

Shivers of delight snaked up her spine. She was exquisitely happy, and could not wait to feel him inside her. She suddenly found herself on top of him, writhing and eager, but still fully clothed.

"Wait," he said, as he gently lifted her off of him. "I need to do something first."

Confused, and slightly embarrassed, she sat up and did not meet his gaze for several moments. He touched her chin, and pulled her face up so their eyes met.

"I love you, Becca. I've loved you for some time now." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue box that she knew was from Tiffany. He opened the box to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. "Marry me."

Tears filled Becca's eyes, and she found she could not speak. She nodded her yes, and he slipped the ring on her finger. His mouth found hers, and soon they were completely lost in one anothers' bodies.

(end Part I)