Enchanted Dreams (35 page)

Cassie remained silent.

Peter smiled. "Jeez," he said. "I didn't mean to get all serious on you like that."

"I don't mind it at all," Cassie told him.

The group alternated between talking and dancing until closing time, and Georgia lived every moment of it with Cassie. She remained riveted to her computer screen throughout, unwilling to fast-forward through a single detail. But her eyes were drooping and there was little of the night remaining. She was exhausted and she felt like hell. Yet she had to see how the date would end.

As she watched the men escort Cassie home, Georgia felt that she might have been watching a scene from a date four or five centuries previous. The men were so polite and courteous, it called to mind early America with their ideals about courtship. But Georgia supposed that this return to chivalry was a natural result of evolution. The playing field had become more competitive now, and while some men would take the low road, turning to violence and other means, the superior men would naturally evolve into something more appealing to women. She couldn't wait to see how they would handle the good-night kiss.

Craig, Steve and Peter escorted Cassie to her door together. Georgia wondered if the men had agreed to it ahead of time because it was so seamlessly carried out. Cassie turned to face them, uncertain.

"May we kiss you good-night?" Craig asked her.

"Yes!" she said, beaming.

Craig stepped forward first. The other two discreetly looked in another direction. Craig took Cassie in his arms and kissed her on the lips. Although it was not an overly passionate kiss, it was a kiss to stir, but he was mindful not to linger too long. Afterward, he took an extra moment to look down into her face. She stared up at him. "Thank you for tonight," he murmured softly. "I had a wonderful time."

Peter stepped up next. "I had a great time, too, Cass," he said. "And I think I was enjoying myself too much to remember to mention how absolutely beautiful you look." As Craig moved away, Peter touched her face gently, caressing the line of her jaw where it curved into her neck. He brushed his lips over hers lightly at first, and then pressed them more firmly over hers. It was evident that he was struggling not to ravish her. Cassie shivered.

"Okay, okay," Steve interjected. "We don't want her to freeze to death out here while you two are mauling her. Here!" He opened his jacket and captured her inside, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "There," he said, snuggling up close to her while effectively trapping her inside his embrace. "That's better, isn't it?"

"Uh…it's not even cold outside, Steve," Craig reminded him. "You're probably suffocating her." But they could hear her giggling from inside Steve's coat. This encouragement was all Steve needed to squeeze her even tighter. He maneuvered himself a little so he could find her face. Then he kissed her, again and again, making loud smooching sounds all around her face. But she stopped laughing suddenly and looked up at him. He stopped laughing then, too. He leaned in slowly and pressed his lips on hers, flicking his tongue out over her lips to get her to open them. She did, and he dipped his tongue inside. Georgia was the only one to notice this little intimacy, however, because she had zoomed all the way in as close as she could get. Craig and Peter were still standing behind the two, waiting silently. With visible effort, Steve finally managed to pull himself away from Cassie.

"Good night," he said, his voice jagged with emotion.

"Good night," Cassie whispered back. She looked at Peter and Craig. "Sweet dreams to each of you, and thank you for a wonderful night!"

Georgia watched until the men were gone, aware once again that even more events had taken place while she'd been watching. Perhaps they had even spent their first night together. A ripple of excitement rushed through her at the thought. But she was so tired. It was already time for her to go back to work! Yet why bother?

But she was not ready to abandon the project in spite of the fruitlessness of it all. If she didn't go in and enter more data, the program would simply start breaking down sooner, putting an end to the lives of Cassie and the boys. She could not bear to let that happen. She got up and stretched. Her body ached everywhere.

Besides, she told herself, once she was at the office and began the data-entry process, she could easily sneak in a few hours to watch the rest of it unfold. If she didn't stop now, she sensed that she never would.

She pulled her hair back, threw on her clothes and somehow got herself back to the office.

This time she heard Donald when he came in. She had just attached the disc containing the updated data to the program and was about to sign on and see what was happening.

"Did you get a chance to read over—whoa! What the hell happened to you?" From the expression on Donald's face, Georgia could tell that she looked every bit as bad as she felt. He looked at her in alarm. "For crying out loud, Georgia, close down the project right now. Get some rest. Take a vacation. You need to move on."

"I know, I know," she agreed. "I will."

"You will? Is that why you're installing more data?"

Georgia forced a penitent smile. Secretly she wished he would leave so she could get back online and see how Cassie was progressing. But to her chagrin he lingered.

"I want you to look over the information I left you," he said. "You've been so wrapped up in this outdated mode of looking at the future through a computer-simulated program that you don't even realize we're on the cusp of actually seeing the future firsthand." When he finally got the response he was looking for from Georgia, he gave her a smug smile. "That got your attention, eh?"

"What do you mean?" Georgia asked, thinking she must have misunderstood him.

"Time travel, baby," he confirmed. "That's where it's at now."

"What?
Actual
time travel?" A thousand questions and ideas popped up in Georgia's head all at once. "Has a hypothesis on how it could be accomplished actually been accepted for testing?"

"Read the information," he said. "It's all in there."

When Donald left, Georgia immediately fished through the papers on her desk for the ones he'd left. There were more than forty pages of information, so she scanned them quickly. Her heart began to beat faster as she discovered that the time travel barrier had, in fact, already been breached in an earlier experiment. In this new project that Donald had found, they would test the parameters of time travel, possibly discovering ways to send something tangible, such as a robot, into the future to collect data. As she continued to peruse the file, she saw that it included hypotheses for sending living matter into the future, as well.

Georgia could hardly believe what she was reading. Time travel! Her mind conjured all kinds of scenarios, most of them placing her in a fixed time and place in the future.

This brought her thoughts back to Cassie. Georgia had to catch up with Cassie and the boys. She updated and immediately began scanning, intentionally passing by all kinds of interactions in her search for that one specific event. As she fast-forwarded through Cassie's life, Georgia tried to imagine how she would handle the situation if it were her.

If I were the centerpiece of this little dance,
she thought,
I would take control of the floor.
She knew that the guys would want to lead by instinct, but she felt it would have to be Cassie who held the reins in this potential minefield of emotions. Her eyes looked sharp, suddenly, as she caught sight of Cassie packing an overnight bag. The moment she had been waiting for had come. But still she kept forwarding the scene ahead, until Cassie at last stood just outside the door of what could only be Craig's house.

Before Cassie could raise her arm, the door flew open and Steve appeared.

"Hello, gorgeous," he said with a large smile. "We've been looking forward to this for a long time." He opened his arms and when she stepped inside, he grasped her in a huge bear hug, literally lifting her feet off the ground.

When Steve released Cassie, breathless and flushed, Craig stepped up and took both of her hands in his. He just stood back and looked at her for a moment, smiling, and then lifted her hands to his lips. He tenderly kissed the sensitive flesh on the insides of her wrists.

"I'm so happy you're here," was all he said.

Even Peter could not contain his joy in seeing her, and she actually cried out from how fiercely he squeezed her.

"Welcome," they all kept saying.

Everything within was tidy and comfortable, although the decor was quite plain and masculine. As they showed her around and attempted to make her feel at home, it was obvious to Georgia that all three men had formed a strong attachment to Cassie, and she to each of them.

"Everything's so nice," Cassie kept murmuring.

Steve took her bag to her room while Craig and Peter led her into the kitchen for a glass of wine. Georgia noticed that they had food cooking on the stove.

"Something smells wonderful," Cassie observed.

By the time Steve returned, the wine had been opened and poured. All four held up their glasses.

"To us," said Craig.

"To us!" the rest of them agreed enthusiastically.

They discussed the meal the men were preparing for a few moments, but it didn't take long for the subject to turn to the sleeping arrangements.

"I put your bag in the spare bedroom," remarked Steve casually. "Later, I'll show you how to get to the tunnel I dug from there to my room."

They all laughed.

"I'm glad you brought that up, actually," Cassie began, a bit nervously. She looked at Craig. "I know in your last e-mail you said there were no expectations and I appreciate that. But I think each of us has expectations anyway." Her glance swept over each of them. "I want all of you to be as happy as I am."

The three men looked at each other, clearly impressed by this little speech.

"Tell us what's on your mind, then, Cassie," Craig said.

"Well, tonight, for one thing!" She laughed.

"What about tonight?" Craig encouraged.

Cassie took a large gulp of her wine. "I have been thinking a lot about how we should go about this. You've all agreed to leave the choice to me. That is, I suppose, the only way it can be. But before I decide, I would at least like to get your input. I was hoping we could work this out together."

The guys thought about this.

"The problem, of course," Steve chimed in, "is that each of us, given the opportunity, would say, 'Pick me tonight.' We'd get all competitive. Peter'd probably let it slip about Craig's sex-change operation. Or Craig would leave Peter's rash ointment prescription out for you to find."

This got everybody laughing.

"I'm just saying it could get ugly," Steve remarked.

"What kind of input were you looking for, Cassie?" Peter asked. "Oh, and, I don't have any rash ointment, by the way."

"Oh, sorry, Pete, I just thought, you know…because of the rash," said Steve.

"Okay, Steve," Craig interjected. "Continue, Cass."

She smiled, surprisingly calm, considering. "You're each very special to me. I know it may seem hard to believe, but I want to be with each of you equally. In a strange way, I've come to think of you as each individual parts of one relationship. It's the only way I can do this, to look at it that way." She paused. "The truth is, I can't just pick one of you tonight. No, don't interrupt until I get this out. I can't bear to think of two of you lying in your beds alone all night while I spend the night with the chosen one. I know that's how most nights will be, but for tonight, I…" She seemed to be searching for the right words. "For tonight, at least, I want to split the night into three equal parts and spend a third of it with each of you. If you'll have me," she added at the end.

The men were speechless for a moment.

"And you'd like us to determine the order?" Craig asked finally.

"Yes," she said solemnly. "Let's go into this with our eyes wide open. We said honesty first, right? I don't want to choose between you tonight. I am committed to all of you, and I want to be with each of you."

Georgia's mouth was wide open as she watched. She couldn't believe how much Cassie had changed, how assertive she'd become. And she noticed that all three men regarded Cassie with admiration and respect.

In the end, they decided that Craig would get the first shift with Cassie. Georgia felt there was a certain correctness in that and apparently so did everyone else. They all seemed to be satisfied when they announced their decision to Cassie. After Craig would come Steve, and then Peter last. Cassie was radiant and seemed remarkably at ease all throughout dinner, but when the time came for her and Craig to retire, Georgia saw that a shudder vibrated through her. Craig saw it, too, and he reached out and took hold of her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

Alone in his bedroom, Craig took Cassie in his arms. She brought her arms up and around his neck, pressing her breasts hard against his chest. Both moaned as the kiss grew more passionate. But Cassie pulled away.

"I would like to change," she said.

"Sure, Cass," said Craig. "The bath is over to your left. I've already put your bag in there for you. Take your time. I'll be here waiting."

Cassie walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She leaned back against it for a moment, as if she had grown weak, when all of a sudden she noticed something on the wall in front of her. She stood up straight then, taking a step forward. "Oh, my God," she whispered. Georgia followed her gaze and gasped.

There, hanging on the wall, was a stunning silk negligee with intricate lacework over the bodice. It was revealing, but tastefully so, and from the expression on Cassie's face, Georgia felt that she approved. Attached to the negligee was a note that read, "Your choice."

Georgia knew that by "Your choice," Craig was telling Cassie that she could wear the gown or not, according to her own preference. It was just another way of letting her know that he was looking out for her.

"Not bad, Craig," she heard Cassie murmur under her breath.