Signs of Interest 14

Proposals

@J Hontz and S Pickrel 2009 - all rights reserved

  Justine let herself into her house and leaned back against the door with a long, silent exhale of air.  She loved Goldie like a sister but god, she hated drama.  A pot of chamomile and a long hot bath, with candles and bath oil and music and a cold cloth over her eyes. 

A perfect plan.

She tested the bath water and started to strip.  Five buttons later the door bell rang.  She knew who it was.  She'd no doubt he'd let himself in.  She moved on to the front clip of her bra and was shimmying out of her jeans and thong when she heard the front door open and close.  Smart man.  About some things.  She tossed the dirty clothes in the hamper and stepped into the tub, settling back with a low moan of pleasure.

"Hi," Luc said softly as he stuck his head in the door. "I guess you don't want a glass of wine."

"When I get out," she said, lifting the cloth over her eyes to look at him.  God he was gorgeous.  From the six pack abs to the perfect ass that just made her want to mold her hands around it and squeeze.  The man was sin on legs and he made her want to do every evil thing nice girls didn't.  "How'd it end?"

"Enjoy your bath. We can talk when you get out. Okay?"

She nodded and lowered the cloth.  "There's food in the fridge if you're hungry.  Leftovers and cold cuts."

He was sitting slumped on her couch when she walked out of the bathroom. He hadn't gotten out of his street clothes.  There was a bottle of wine, open, and two glasses on the table in front of him. He hadn't had any yet though. He'd been frowning down at his boots until he sensed her watching him and looked up.  "Hi," he said.  "You look.. amazing."

She was in a short silk robe, belted but without buttons.  Her cleavage showed to her belly button.  Her feet were bare and her hair was tumbling around her shoulders.  "You look unhappy," she said.  "Be right back."  She came back with a tray of cheese and bread and fruit and a few other things and set it next to the wine.   Then she shoved him back against the couch and straddled him.  "Tell me."

He reached out to touch her hair, amazed at how soft it felt. "It's just... We'll need to go home soon. At least for awhile. So we really need to talk. I need to explain a lot of things I've been avoiding, and I'm not sure how to do it. That, coupled with Justin... " his voice trailed off.

"Hmmm.  Justin will be just fine."

"Not so sure. He won't talk to Goldie. Thinks she hates him. He's a stubborn and proud bastard."

"Hmm," she said again.  "She thinks he's too good for her.  They sound perfect for each other."

"Well, it's her or no one ever for him. At this point he either reaches out for her or he deals with loneliness all his lifetime."

"They'll figure it out.  I refused to talk to him for her so she'll have to do it herself."

"Good, tell him the same thing when he asks you," Luc advised. "If they have to at least talk there's hope."

She handed him a glass of wine and waited, sipping her own.

He shifted a little so he could take a sip and not hit her with the stem. "So, how much do you know about us?  Me and Justin I mean."

"You're both so hot you make me pant, you're cops from the future and you hate talking about yourselves."  She said it like she was reciting the alphabet.

"And you and I are bonded, and Justin is bonded to Goldie, even if she isn't to him."  He took a sip. "The bad guys are from our world. They were after Goldie's paintings because she is considered one of the greatest artists we know."

"Wow.  I've got couple of her pieces.  Who'd have thought.  That's really cool."

"She's got at least one more major work to paint.  Then she disappears."

"That doesn't sound good," Justine said.

"Yeah, well. Most of the historians assume she was murdered and her body never found."

"Why murdered?"

"Her father reports her missing. There is a big effort to find her, and speculation mounts that either a disgruntled boyfriend or possibly her father murdered her and hid the body. She never turns back up again."

Justine took several minutes to parse what he'd said.  "But you don't believe it."  It wasn't a question.

"Although Justin and I and the other folks in our squad time travel, the math and science tells us we cannot, no matter what we do, change the past. So, I'm thinking the disgruntled boyfriend, who also disappeared, is probably Justin. And you, my darling girl, given what Justin recently found out, disappear about the same time, but oddly enough, no one raises a hew and cry about it, not even your brother Dane."

She took longer that time.  Then she got up and headed for the kitchen without a word.

Luc followed her after a few minutes. He didn't approach her, just stood in the doorway watching her.

She poured scotch into a glass.  "Want some," she offered, before drinking hers down.

"No. Are you all right?"

She refilled her glass and put the bottle away.  "Hard to say.  I'm guessing there's more to come."

"Yeah. Maybe you better bring the bottle," he suggested softly.

She obliged and followed him back to the living room.  "Just so we're perfectly clear, my middle name's Ruth."

"Yeah, we know. See, your family is very well known where we come from. Famous, actually."

She laughed.  "No, hot shot.  I was referring to the Old Testament.  Where you go I go.  Your people are my people.  And like that."

"Oh. And.. do you mind terribly?"

"Don't know.  It'll depend on what happens.  But I'm counting on the compensations."  She licked her lips, looking him over as she said it.

"Yeah, well, it could, probably will, be very uncomfortable at first. If Justin does bond fully with Goldie, I think those two will have an easier time of it if he takes her back.  He'll be in trouble because he's breaking all the rules taking someone forward in time, but given who she is, he'll have enough juice to pull it off, and might not even lose his job."  He paused and took Justine's hand and kissed her palm. "For us, things are going to be trickier."

"Oh."  She tilted her head, looking at him sideways.  "Why don't you tell me about it so I can gird my loins."

"It's my family. I'm already on the outs with them. Black sheep and all. My father is going to be furious and will use all his political and economic power, and it's considerable, to go after us. Well, me.  And I'm sorry as hell I got you in this, and was, honestly, thinking we could stay here. Now, I'm not so sure."

"What about my famous family?  Descendants I assume."  She nibbled a piece of cheese absently as she spoke.  "Of Dane's?"

"Yeah, there is that. When we realized who Dane was, well, Justin thinks they, yeah, Dane's descendants, would give us the edge we need, one that would make my family back off.  And, given the way the family trust is written, very oddly, it almost sounds as if Dane arranged it all."

"You lost me."

"You'll be the head of the family, if you go back, and have control over everything. 'Oldest living blood-related Calloway,' is I believe how the decision as to who controls the trust is written."

"What trust?"

"The Calloway family trust. See, Dane and his grandson after him, create the underpinnings of our society.  Remember that weird conversation Justin and I had with Dane?  That."

"Space-time travel?" she asked, resisting the urge to guzzle some more scotch.  "You made his space cowboy dreams come true?  I can't tease him anymore?"

"Hey, you would never have met me otherwise!" Luc replied grinning.

She gave into temptation.  Fortunately it was Friday.

"So... What else do I need to tell you?" he asked warily.  "Other than I love you?"

"What's the plan?"

"Well, I figure we've got to tell Dane almost everything. Otherwise why the odd Trust?  And then, when we get married, Justin and Goldie have to talk to one another cuz, he's my best man, and I'm assuming Goldie will be your bride's maid."

She cocked an eyebrow.  "I wasn't aware I was getting married."

"You weren't?"

"Nothing on my calendar.  Though Dane seems to be laboring under the same impression you are."

"Uhm?  We're bonded. I figured you'd want to get married, so we could make it legal for your world, and probably we'll have to endure a formal ceremony in my world too.  You don't want to?"

She narrowed her eyes.  "You figured?  Like adding two and two?"

"I ... Uhm... You don't want to marry me?"


She sighed.  He was such a guy.  "How do I know?  I haven't even been asked."

"Oh! Well, I asked you to bond so I thought.... " He slipped to the floor and was on his knees. "Is this how you do it?"  He took her hand and kissed the back of it.  "Justine, will you marry me? I love you and want us to spend the rest of our lives together, me loving you and you alone. Always."

She blinked back tears.  "Yes," she said, squeezing his hand.  "But let me make myself perfectly clear.  We are not having a circus for a wedding."

"However you want it, sweetheart."

Once he was settled back on the couch she leaned into him, settling herself against him as his arms came around her.  "I love you."

"Uhm, I told you, right, that the rest of our lives could be a very, very long time."

"Long?"

"Very long. As in thousands of years. Unless I get myself killed."

"Yeah. Is there anything else you haven't told me?" she said.

"I love you?"

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