Love at Large (23 page)

Fallon nodded to the deejay, and the music started. She began to sing, barely glancing at the TV screen in front of her, recalling the lyrics from memory.

Across the bar, Marcus had just picked up the drinks and swung around to stare at the singer. The nagging feeling of familiarity was suddenly—amazingly—clear. The redhead was Fallon, his Fallon. He gripped the glasses to keep them from tumbling to the floor.

Maturity had only added to her beauty—her curves were more lavish, her face had more character, and she was more beautiful than he’d ever imagined she’d be. He watched her, mesmerized by how she sang to everyone in the bar while she seemed to be seeking out one person. Did she know he was there? Was she looking for him?

He glanced away from her for a moment to stare at his friend. He knew from Erik’s expression that Erik had known she would be here, and that was why he had suggested they come tonight.

Erik arched an eyebrow and grinned. Marcus mouthed something, and Erik shook his head, indicating he didn’t understand. Marcus took a deep breath and turned to watch Fallon sing. He remained by the bar, not wanting to miss a moment of her performance.

The song took him back twenty years to the dock. He recalled drawing the rose for her birthday gift, and how touched she’d seemed by his gift. The kiss was both the most exhilarating and most embarrassing moment in his life. Exhilarating because he’d kissed the girl he’d fallen in love with, and embarrassing because his best friend had interrupted the special moment. He remembered the deep joy at finally telling her how much he cared.

As he watched her now, twenty years later, he wondered why they’d lost touch. Why had he let this beautiful woman slip through his fingers? He shook his head as Fallon acknowledged the applause and glanced around the room one more time, as if she were still looking for someone in particular.

He quickly navigated his way to Erik, who leaned over and said, “Are you ready to visit that table now?”

Marcus inclined his head toward Fallon. “You knew, didn’t you? You wanted to come here because you knew she’d be here.”

Erik shrugged. “Maybe.” His smile gave him away. “I’ve kept in contact with Fallon, and she recently mentioned in an email that she and her friends come here regularly for a girls’ night out. I thought maybe it was time to reunite you two kids.”

Marcus stared, wondering why Erik never mentioned the fact that Fallon lived in the same city.

“Erik?”

Erik held up his hands. “Before you get mad, I never told you because you never asked, and while you were married to Amanda, I didn’t think it appropriate. Somehow I got the feeling it would have created more problems.”

Marcus closed his eyes and swallowed. The pain of discovering his wife in the arms of another man had been difficult to cope with, but it hurt more to know that Fallon had been so near while he was going through his personal hell. She had been right under his nose, and he never knew it.

He was willing to admit Erik was right; it would have created problems in his already crumbling marriage. He admitted many of the difficulties stemmed from his constant comparison of Amanda to Fallon.

The memory of his first love had played a role in all his dating relationships. Because no woman seemed to match up to the memory of Fallon, they never remained in his life longer than six months. His marriage to Amanda had been the only exception, and that had ended in disaster.

Marcus opened his eyes and looked across the room at the curvaceous woman who had haunted his dreams and thoughts for twenty years. Without speaking, he stood and walked toward her, not waiting to see if Erik followed.

F
ALLON WAS LAUGHING
at some comment Felicia had made about the current singer when she felt someone beside her. She looked up and gasped at the sight of the man standing next to her table. Even without his glasses, she recognized him immediately. “Marcus?” she whispered.

Felicia, Camille, and Sandra stared at the man gazing at their friend. Fallon slowly stood and reached out to touch his face, her hand trembling as her fingertips skimmed his cheekbone, her thumb grazing the cleft in his chin.

Marcus grasped her hand and brushed her fingertips over his lips, kissing each one. She had trouble breathing as he pressed his mouth against her palm.

“You’re a dream, aren’t you?” she asked in a shaky voice.

He placed his hands around hers. “No, Fallon, I’m very real.”

She stared at him, her heart pounding in her chest. He was here; the boy who’d kissed her on her sweet sixteen stood before her as a man. The years had honed his boyish features, creating a handsome and interesting face. Only his eyes had stayed the same—intense, watchful, and kind.

Erik broke the silence. “Hello, Fallon.”

Fallon let out a yelp. “Erik, what are you doing here?”

Marcus stepped aside as the two embraced.

Erik pulled away from Fallon and splayed his hands in front of him. “I promised you a surprise if I ever came to your fine city, and here he is.”

Fallon faced Marcus, reaching out to touch his arm. Smiling, she gazed into his eyes. “It’s a wonderful surprise.”

She grinned at her friends. “I guess you’ve figured out this is Marcus, and this tagalong here is Erik. Marcus and Erik, these are my friends Camille, Sandra and Felicia.”

Everyone shook hands, and chairs were added to include the men into the group. Chills danced along Fallon’s spine when Marcus’ shoulder brushed hers, and he leaned over to whisper, “Are you cold?”

They smiled as they remembered their special night. As adults, they understood her shiver had nothing to do with cold and everything to do with the physical contact between their bodies.

Fallon started to fight the urge to snuggle closer, then gave into the temptation to curl into the shelter of his arm. Just this slight contact with him thrilled her more than the intimacy she’d shared infrequently with Dan.

Marcus moved his free arm across his body and reached for Fallon’s hand, which sent more tingles of pleasure racing through her veins. A desperate need to be alone with him filled her.

Fallon and Marcus smiled at Erik’s attempts to flirt with Felicia, who seemed intent on ignoring him. Fallon peered at Marcus, her lips grazing his cheek. She pulled back as he turned his head, their lips inches apart.

The tension between them thickened, and everyone seemed to fade away until they were the only two at the table. He gazed at her lips, and she wondered if the touch of his mouth against hers would feel as exhilarating as the first time. She took inhaled then exhaled, her warm breath feathering over his mouth.

“Not yet,” he muttered.

“What?”

“I’m waiting for the right time.”

“The right time for what?”

“The right time to kiss you again. I need to be sure I pick the perfect moment.”

Fallon laughed as a sense of contentment and joy flooded her. “How will you know?”

He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes dropping to her lips once more. “I’m not sure, but I’ll know.”

She caressed his cheek, savoring the feel of his stubble against her fingertips. “I hope it will be soon. It seems like I’ve waited a lifetime to see you again.”

He tilted his head back and laughed. “Yeah, it does. But I’ve never forgotten that night or our kiss.”

She sighed. “Neither have I.”

They were pulled back to the present when someone asked, “What is your friend doing?”

“Oh, no. Marcus, he isn’t,” Fallon whispered.

“Oh, I hope not.” He frowned.

Erik wandered toward the front to the area where people put in requests. Fallon and Marcus both groaned as he signed up to sing. They knew he was tone-deaf and couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

“I’ll find out what he’s up to, although, I think I have an idea it has to do with your friend Felicia.”

“There are easier ways to get her to notice him. Falling over a chair and breaking his leg comes to mind.”

“He told you about that, did he?”

“Yeah, and I’m till wondering how a grown man can’t see a chair tilted on its side in the middle of a well-lit room.”

“It was a sight to see, and he would have had her undivided attention. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll trip on his way back.”

When Erik returned to the table, Marcus nodded toward the bar, then stood and said, “Tell us what you’re drinking, and we’ll go for refills.”

The two men walked to the nearest bar and gave the drink order to the bartender then propped against the counter to facing their table.

Fallon sagged in her chair and exhaled. When Marcus and Erik strode across the room, she compared how their appearances had changed in twenty years, or rather how much Marcus’ appearance had.

In the intervening years, Erik had added only three inches to his height, while Marcus had added at least six. Both men were lean, but Marcus had filled out following his growth spurt, becoming the more muscular of the two. Marcus’ light brown hair and blue-gray eyes contrasted Erik’s dark hair and eyes, and both men’s faces were studies in finely chiseled features.

Camille touched Fallon’s hand. “Are you okay?”

“I guess. I’m just so confused and excited and shocked, and I don’t know what to say or think.”

Felicia grinned. “Well, girl, I’ll say this. Marcus is all that and a bag of chips, no wonder you fell for him.”

Fallon’s mouth quirked up at the corners. “Yeah, he is. His eyes are so incredible, between the color and the intensity of his gaze. I think that will stay with me forever.”

“Yeah, and he’s looking at you even now,” Sandra commented, nodding her head in the direction of the bar. “I think he’s ‘twitterpated’ over you.”

Fallon’s eyes darted back to Marcus, and she found him staring at her. She wanted to kiss him, to see if it would be as explosive and intense as their first experience. She was willing to bet the past would pale in comparison to the present and the future. She wanted a kiss and more, and she wanted it soon.

Fallon turned her head to Felicia and smacked her arm. “But you, you should be ashamed of ignoring Erik like that. The poor sap is obviously trying to catch your eye.”

“I know. Don’t think I haven’t noticed, but tonight should be about you and Marcus. Erik can wait in line to get some of this.”

“You gonna’ give him a chance?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“I should warn him about tangling with you, but he’s a big boy and can handle you.”

“That’s exactly what I’m hoping for.”

They grinned at each other then turned to stare at the men.

M
ARCUS SAW
F
ALLON
gazing at him, and recalled something from many years ago. He leaned over to Erik and said, “I’ll be right back.” He walked to the request booth, then returned to the bar and helped Erik carry the drinks back to the table.

Everyone tried to talk over the noise, but soon realized it was too much effort and fell into whispered conversations. Marcus intertwined his fingers with Fallon’s and held her hand on his lap as they talked.

Up close, he could see the fine lines around her eyes, the only sign of her aging. Her eyes were the same clear hazel, her lips still a soft coral, and her hair that warm, lustrous auburn. She was fuller and rounder than she’d been at sixteen, but he liked the added voluptuousness.

Being honest with himself, he regretted never having a more physical relationship with her. The kisses they’d shared had been wonderful, but as a randy teenage boy with raging hormones, he’d wanted to go around all the bases with her. Over the years, he’d had numerous dreams of making love to her. Waking from these dreams had frustrated him no end, because there was no Fallon to embrace.

“Out of all the karaoke bars in town, you had to pick this one. I just can’t believe you’re here,” she said.

“I think it’s safe to say luck had nothing to do with it.” Marcus glanced in Erik’s direction. “I think a certain someone was playing matchmaker.”

“Sort of like twenty years ago?”

“Yeah, sort of like that.”

“I have a confession to make.”

“What?” He couldn’t stop himself and brushed a tendril of hair from her cheek.

“You know that drawing you gave me?”

He nodded.

“I still have it. I framed it and have it hanging in my bedroom.”

His heartbeat stopped for a split second. “I don’t know what to say.”

“No one has ever given me something so special, nor has anyone touched my heart the way you did.”

He responded by kissing her forehead. They fell into a comfortable silence.

A little later, Marcus leaned over and said, “I have a confession of my own, Fallon.”

“What?”

“You’re not the only one with a twenty-year old memento.”

She tilted her head to one side. “What do you mean?”

He looked at his hands then stared into her eyes. “I still have your best dancer certificate. After we lost touch, it was the only link I had to you.”