It took Kate the better part of two weeks of ignoring even more emails from Brian before she had the nerve to contact him about meeting him. He was anxious to meet her and thought that she might be up for meeting him for one of their usual trysts. When she explained that she just wanted to talk to him, he told her that he was going to have Baylee over the weekend and he was taking him to the zoo. They made arrangements to meet at the zoo. She gave him the number of a prepaid cell phone so that she could be sure he wouldn’t be texting her or calling her on her regular phone.

He did leave a few voicemails and texts for her. He even told her in one voicemail that he guessed she was using a disposable phone for their meeting. He didn’t leave any more messages after that.

Kate saw him at the zoo and just watched them for a while. She was surprised to see Leighanne there, but judging from emails she had read, Leighanne didn’t trust Brian to take care of Baylee alone. She called Brian & he explained that he would send Leighanne and Baylee off to the petting zoo or somewhere so they could have some privacy to talk.

She waited for them to leave and joined him. He greeted her with a big hug and she had to admit to herself how much she liked being in his arms. He kissed her cheek and they sat down. For the better part of the next half hour, they just talked about how they had been living their lives since they had been apart. They were interrupted by Baylee running up to Brian and being crazy excited about the baby ostrich he got to pet. When Baylee noticed Kate with Brian, he said hello and introduced himself.

Kate was near tears at meeting Baylee. He was like a mini Brian. She introduced herself and shook his hand. She had heard so much about him over the years and had grown to care about him very much. She had only gotten to speak with him for a moment when Leighanne walked up.

To say that Kate was shocked at having Leighanne walk up and talk to her would be the biggest understatement ever. Kate was surprised at how calm Leighanne was considering the things that she had heard about her over the years. After a few minutes, Leighanne told Brian that they needed to get back so Baylee could get his nap. Brian walked Kate to her car. He hugged her goodbye and got her to promise to call him. Once she promised, he gently kissed her. He wasn’t sure if her less than enthusiastic response was related to her feelings for Donnie or the fact that Leighanne was watching them.

Kate did call Brian later that afternoon to arrange dinner with him that night. When she got dressed and was headed out, Donnie came in from rehearsals. He saw her all dressed up and tried to hide how much it was hurting him to see her go out with Brian. He quickly kissed her cheek and headed for the shower. He was pretty sure he was about to lose Kate that night. And as much as he loved her and just wanted her to be happy, he really didn’t want her with anyone else.

Once he was done with his shower, Donnie grabbed a bottle of Gentleman Jack & headed out on his balcony. He hadn’t been really trashed in a long time. He had given up smoking because it seemed to bother Kate so much. Fuck it all. He and Jack were gonna sit and enjoy a pack of cigarettes for the rest of the night.

Kate drove to Brian’s hotel and met him in the lobby. He was dressed up wearing a suit & tie, looking very handsome. He took her to dinner at one of his favorite sushi places he had found since they had been in town for rehearsals. Brian sat next to her at the table was very attentive. They had a great time talking and laughing. Kate was about to order a third glass of wine, when Brian leaned over and nuzzled her neck the way he used to when they were together. She knew that was his first hint that he wanted her. Soon. Kate wasn’t sure what she wanted at that moment, but she knew she was enjoying being with Brian out in public without worrying that someone would see them. For some reason, she just wasn’t comfortable with the public display of affection he was wanting. She was still Donnie’s fiance.

Donnie. The sweet man who had shown her what it felt like to be loved. She gave herself a mental head shake. Donnie wanted her to figure out if there was still anything between her and Brian.

“Are you okay, Kate?” She looked up to see Brian staring at her looking very concerned.

“I’m fine. I might have had a little too much wine.”

“Wine always makes you sad…and sleepy. Let’s get out of here and I’ll see what I can do to make you smile and wake you up.” He signaled the waiter and gave him way more than what they owed for the meal so they could just get out of there.

Walking around holding hands was so much fun to Kate. She and Donnie did it all the….dammit…he was always in her head. Brian could see her mentally fading again and started talking more.

“I’m so glad you got to meet Baylee. He talked about you nonstop for 2 hours. He thinks you’re beautiful. He even asked Leighanne if she thought he could get you to marry him one day.”

“Oh my God. What did she say?”

“I have to give her credit. She was really nice. She knows I want to be with you and want you to be part of Baylee’s life. She just told him that she thought you already had a boyfriend you were pretty serious about. She may still be angry, but she wouldn’t poison Baylee toward you.”

“What if Baylee finds out the truth?”

“What if he does?”

“Aren’t you worried about what he will think of us?”

“Kate, Baylee saw how things with me and Leighanne were. We had a lot of problems. My feelings for you were just one of many things that she blamed for our divorce. Leighanne and I get along much better now that we aren’t around each other all the time. Baylee sees us happier now than we were. He’s happier too.”

Kate smiled and Brian couldn’t help leaning in to kiss her. She kissed him back, but it wasn’t an aggressive kiss. When the pulled apart Brian smiled back at her.

“That felt kinda like our first kiss, didn’t it?” She nodded. “I guess it was. I hope it’s not the last.”

Kate looked at Brian’s face. A face that she had spent so much time kissing over the years. It was so unlike him to not assume she was going to let him take things further. “Kiss me again,” she said. There was no hesitation this time, no reservation. Brian wanted her and every inch of him was trying to let her know that. He broke their kiss and took her by the hand to his hotel. It took every ounce of his restraint to not attack her in the elevator.

Once he got her to his room, all bets were off. He had wanted to go slow with her, but he needed her too much. It had been too long since he had been with her. He had her pinned against the door long enough to pick her up and wrap her legs around him while he kissed her. He laid her on the bed and attacked her neck while he slid his hand up her thigh. When he started touching her, she responded eagerly. She seemed completely into what he was doing and then, suddenly, she wasn’t.

“Kate, what’s wrong?”

She sat up and straightened her dress a bit. “Brian, I can’t do this.” She looked down at her engagement ring from Donnie. “I love him now. I want to be with him. Being with you isn’t the same as it was.” She grabbed her purse off the floor and headed for the door. She stopped and looked back at him. His hair was a mess where she had run her fingers through it. His shirt was half unbuttoned. The look on his face was so sad.

“Kate please,” he begged.

“Brian, I’m sorry. This is over. Do not contact me again with plans to be anything other than somebody I used to know.”

“But I love you!”

“It’s too late for that.” She stepped through the door of his hotel room and closed it behind her. She stood there for a second and couldn’t help but smile. Donnie had given her the strength to be the woman she used to be before she knew Brian. She heard Brian yell from inside his room and heard a crash of glasses. She had never witnessed his temper, but then she had always given him what he wanted. She had a feeling she didn’t want to see it in person and headed on down to the lobby to get a cab.

She tried to call Donnie on the way home, but he wasn’t answering. There was a huge accident and traffic was backed up for miles. She was desperate to get home to Donnie, so she paid the cab and hopped out to walk for a while and maybe pick up another cab on the other side of the traffic. She managed to get caught in a sudden downpour after walking about a mile. Her phone was soaked and quit working. She finally got another cab and made it home around 3am. Traffic was still a nightmare. She was completely unprepared for what she saw when she got inside Donnie’s house.

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