Presque Vu

Chapter 38

Raina located a few generously sized wine glasses and set them down on the counter, observing the tiny quiver in her hands as she did so . She told herself to settle down, this was only a chat, she had certainly done far wilder things with Jared than chat. But this was different. Things done in the heat of passion, drunk on lust, were easy for her. Sitting down and calmly , rationally dissecting her feelings on anything wasn't a journey she took to easily . She was determined, however, to get through this...

Looking for the corkscrew, Raina rustled through one of the kitchen drawers but came up empty-handed . With a sigh, she closed that drawer and went to open the next one. In her anxiety and haste, she yanked too hard on the drawer. It came loose from its track with a clatter, sending silverware and kitchen implements spilling across the white tile .

"Dammit!" she exclaimed as she bent down to pick up the mess. "Why the hell does someone who can't cook have this much crap in his kitchen drawers?"

"Because he likes to have other people cook for him. And he has delusions of cooking for himself sometimes," Shannon chuckled from behind her . He bent down, his eyes crinkled in merriment as they met hers.

Raina gave him a grateful smile. "Oh, sorry. I didn't hear you come back in."

"It's okay." His big hand slid across hers as she went to pick up an errant pair of kitchen shears. "Let me get this for you."

"You can help," Raina conceded before moving on to some grill skewers that had skittered underneath the edge of the counter.

"You know, you could do to take a few deep breaths while I get this, stubborn girl. Pour some of that wine you have set out."

"I need the corkscrew. I was trying to find it when..." Raina gestured to the mess on the floor.

Shannon fished around for a minute before locating the needed implement and pressing it into her palm . "Here. Open your wine. I've got this. Jared needs to get the catch on the drawer fixed anyway. It's been broken for months."

Raina straightened herself up and drew a nice deep, steady, breath in through her nose, held it, then slowly exhaled . Her tension was completely out of proportion to the situation and she knew it. She took a few more calming breaths before opening the wine bottle.

"Did I tell you you look beautiful tonight?" Shannon murmured as he moved in behind her, hands sliding around her waist and crossing her stomach before clutching her against his own warm body .

"Only about a dozen times," she laughed.

"Well, that's because you do. You look absolutely stunning and it's nothing to do with that dress."

"Oh? What it is then? The stockings?" she teased.

"No," Shannon turned her around so that she was facing him. "It's just you. You are shaking off those shadows that you've been carrying with you all this time. The more you do, the more you that comes out. And you are remarkable."