I Remember (Remembrance Series) (26 page)

He whispered in my ear, “This is destiny. I feel intensely connected to you. You are the other half of my soul, Jordan.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I continued staring at the heart shaped pattern our arms formed before turning around and asking, “Do you use the dreams to know what I like and dislike?”

“No. That is all us. We just happen to have similar tastes.”

I sat unmoving for what seemed like an eternity. Words failed me. Gregory proceeded cautiously, leaning in toward my face, hesitating to see if I would turn away. I felt his lips brush gently against mine. When I didn’t flinch, his eyes closed and I felt the pressure of his kiss.

I was afraid to respond, not wanting to believe everything I had just listened to or witnessed. Then I heard that familiar gentle voice inside say,
“He is your destiny.”

My heart began to speak for itself as my lips started to move in unison with his. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me tight against his chest, where I felt his heart beating in time with mine.

He was the one to break the kiss, nervously asking, “Are we all right?”

“I think I feel relieved.”

“Relieved?” His eyebrows furrowed.

“I thought I was going crazy because my dreams felt too real; now I know why. You’re right. I feel the intense bond between us, too.”

I was about to say more, when Gregory’s cell phone rang. He looked to see who it was, “I’m sorry; it’s my father.”

“Hi, Dad. Yes, Jordan’s here. Her move went wonderfully. No, you’re not interrupting. We were just talking.” He listened intently. “I will see what I can do about arranging that. I would love for you both to meet her, soon. I will take a look at that tomorrow and have it ready for presentation on Monday. Love you, too. Bye.”

“What was that about?”

“I told my parents I had met someone wonderful and showed them your picture, which, by the way, they find you adorable. They know I care a great deal for you and want to meet you.”

I was a little surprised they already knew about me. “I guess since you have already met my mother, it would only be fair for me to meet your parents.”

His face was full of delight. “How about next Saturday?”

I was shocked by how quickly he wanted to progress with things. “I need to check my mom’s plans before committing to anything.”

He leaned back into the sofa. “We still have a couple of hours before we need to be at the restaurant. Did you want to see the rest of my place or would you like to listen to some music?”

“Some music might be nice.”

He picked up a remote off the end table and turned the stereo to the same easy rock station that I enjoyed listening to

He pulled me close. A commercial came on advertising a card shop, reminding me of the card I had for him. I leaned over to get it out of my purse.

“What are you doing?”

I handed him the card. “I got this as a way to show you how much I appreciate what you have done.”

I was not expecting him to lift me up onto his lap nearly crushing me with a hug. “What was that for?” I asked in shock.

“You always bring a bit of sunshine into my life.”

I tried to move. “Don’t get up. I want to have you close as I read it.”

The card read:

Before I knew it, Gregory wrapped one arm even tighter around my waist pulling me closer to him and the other held the back of my neck as his lips found mine. “Thank you,” he whispered softly as his lips got more powerful.

I found myself responding. Each kiss was an electric shock to my soul, making my heart thud wildly against my chest.

My arms wrapped around his neck with one hand twisting through his hair, pulling his face closer to my own. The passion was far beyond any kiss he had ever given me before.

I felt my breath get ragged as my head began to swirl from the excitement coursing through me.

I pulled back breathlessly uttering, “What was all that about?”

His lips continued kissing across my cheek and over to just beneath my ear. “What do you mean?” He continued down my jaw line to my neck and back up to my ear again.

“The passion of your kisses, they are different; leaving me breathless.”

He cradled my face with both his hands, “I have been holding back about how I feel about you. I have never felt this much devotion towards anyone, wanting to spend every possible moment with you. I finally feel free to express the depth of my love to you, Jordan.”

Without any thought, I found myself declaring, “Me too!”

The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine again, with purpose. He held me up a bit with both arms as he shifted his legs slightly from under me and leaned me back against one of the pillows of the sofa.

One hand pulled me closer to his chest, feeling the beat of his heart in time with mine. His other caressed the back of my head, playing with my hair and drawing me even closer to his mouth, where each fervent kiss seared its way into my heart.

At that point I could no longer hear the radio, nor did I care what time it was. I only knew that our hearts were beating as one and that I had found my soul mate.

Gregory’s hands continued to hold me close. His every touch sent my heart racing and left me breathless.

“Oh, Gregory, I’ve wanted to tell you of my dreams, how I felt, and how much I love you for weeks. I fell for you when we first started talking on the phone. Then, when we met, you stole my heart. I have never felt such an intense desire to kiss anyone on the first date before. I couldn’t wait to feel your lips pressed against mine.”

Gregory stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Jordan, there’s no need to feel self-conscious about how you feel. I always want to know what is on your mind.”

What he said next took me by surprise “You mean so much to me. I only feel complete when I am with you. You are my life and I’d be lost without you.”

I responded. “You are my everything.”

We laid on the sofa in each other’s arms, listening to the music, for what seemed like an eternity.

“Jordan?” He nuzzled against my ear nipping at my earlobe. “Sweetheart; it’s time to wake up.”

Groggy, I tried opening my eyes. “What?”

“It’s 5:30. And while I could hold you in my arms forever, we should probably get ready for dinner.”

I got up from the sofa. “Are you ever going to tell me where we are going tonight?”

“Nope. I like surprising you,” he said, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

I grabbed my purse and headed upstairs to change. After freshening up my hair, makeup and perfume, I put on the dress.

“Are you ready, Jordan?”

I opened the door to find Gregory dressed in gray dress slacks, a white oxford shirt and a tie with hints of gray, white and pink that perfectly matched my dress.

“You look and smell amazing.” He leaned in to give me a chaste kiss. “However, there is one thing missing.”

“What?” I panicked, wondering what I missed.

“Turn around a second.”

I did as he asked and felt his hands move my hair aside, as he slid a necklace into place around my neck.

“What is this for?” I asked in surprise.

“I saw it the other day and it reminded me of you,” he whispered gently below my ear, as he kissed slowly up my neck, sending a shutter through me.

He guided me over to the full length Victorian mirror in the corner of the room so I could take a look. There, on a small chain, were two hearts intertwined with a diamond in the center.

“Do you like it?”

“It is amazing, but I can’t accept this.”

“Why not? It looks incredible on you.” His arms wrapped around me, pulling me back against his chest, nibbling on my ear.

“Gregory, you have given me too much already.”

“I want you to have this because it reminds me of our two hearts starting to unite into one.”

“Thank you,” I didn’t know what else to say.

“We should get going, so we are not late for dinner.” He grabbed my hand and led me downstairs and out the door.

On the way to the restaurant, he held my hand in his lap, continually massaging the back of my knuckles with his thumb. I sat back in the seat, closing my eyes, feeling like the luckiest woman alive.

“What are you thinking about, Jordan?”

“How happy you have made me.” I smiled and squeezed his hand.

When the engine suddenly stopped, I asked, “Where are we?”

“At the Copper Pot, a new fondue restaurant, here in Downtown. It opened a few months ago and has had rave reviews. I thought we should give it a try.”

There was a huge crowd waiting to be seated. Gregory approached the hostess stand, giving his name. To my surprise, we were led to a quiet table for two, away from the main dining area.

The table had just enough room for two people to share a meal, sitting side by side. He motioned for me to take a seat first and then sat beside me.

The hostess said, “I will let your waiter know you have arrived.”

I was confused by the lack of menus. “I hope you don’t mind, but in order to reserve this table, I had to pre-order one of their meals.”

“This place is lovely, very romantic. I’m sure I will love everything.”

The waiter arrived with our drinks, along with an appetizer of Swiss cheese fondue and some fruit, vegetables and breads for dunking.

I watched as Gregory used a long forked, skewer to grab a piece of apple and dunk into the melted cheese. He held it out for me to take a bite. I was amazed at how wonderful the tastes were. He ate the remainder of the apple piece before skewering a piece of bread and repeating the process.

“You know, I can feed myself.” I joked.

“I know. I just enjoy taking care of you.”

I decided to pick up my own skewer and stabbed a grape, dipping it into the cheese and holding it out for him to eat. “Two can play this game, you know.”

“I know,” he said, pulling the grape off of the skewer with his teeth.

Next, the waiter brought out two petite Cobb salads.

“Have you ever been in love before?” Gregory’s question caught me off guard.

“I thought I was, once.” His face looked crestfallen.

I grabbed hold of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “There was a guy, Richard. We were very good friends when we were growing up. When we were seniors, in high school, neither of us had gone out with anyone, so we decided to give it a try.”

I paused for a second to gauge his reaction before continuing. “We went out several times, even shared a kiss or two, until we talked about how we felt. We agreed there were no sparks. So, we opted to remain friends, but it was weird after that and we ended up going our separate ways. We used to talk from time to time.”

“Did you love him?” Gregory asked.

“I thought I did, but what I felt for him is in no way compared to what I feel for you.”

He took a deep sigh of relief and leaned in silencing my lips.

“What about you?”

“I would be hard pressed not to use the word ‘ditto’, because I had a similar situation. In college, I was friends with a girl named Angela. We tried dating for a while. I thought I was falling for her, but realized she only cared for me when I bought her things. When I stopped buying her gifts, she dropped me and moved onto someone else.”

“I am so sorry you had to go through that. I hope you know you don’t have to buy me anything.”

“That is one of the many reasons why I love you; you don’t expect anything and you always try to repay kindness. I don’t expect anything in return for the things I do. But, if it makes you feel better, you can cook me dinner again soon!

“The reason I give you things, is because you have brought my heart to life and made me see what love is. I take pleasure in spoiling you and showing you just how much I care.”

A tear filled my eye and my lips quivered when I spoke. “Your love is all I need.”

“Ditto.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me, gently.

I couldn’t believe how much food was coming at us. The main course was a selection of meats and seafood, cooked in an aromatic broth. Everything tasted heavenly.

On the drive back we held hands and listened to the radio.
“I Knew I Loved You,”
by Savage Garden began to play and reminded me of Daniel and Angeline. Before I could say anything, Gregory said, “This should be our song. It expresses how we met and fell in love.” I nodded in agreement, our connection still amazed me.