Another Rainy Night
Amanda King stood at the glass sliding door of the sixth-floor hotel room that she was currently staying in, watching the seemingly endless streams of rain pouring down upon them. Interesting plays of light and shadows danced over the vehicles parked below, thanks to the many pole lights scattered throughout the parking lot.
Mother nature herself was also putting on an interesting spectacle. Lighting danced and streaked in the black sky of night with the occasional song of thunder for accompaniment.
Silently, Amanda gave a small prayer of thanks that she was safe, warm and dry.
So lost in her thoughts she was that Amanda jumped when warm hands touched her back.
"Sorry," Lee Stetson said. His voice was calm and soothing. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She turned around and looked at him.
"I guess I was lost in thought."
He nodded.
"Obviously."
He paused for a moment, as if unsure what to say next.
Amanda could feel his unease. This was such an odd time for them both.
After what seemed an eternity of stalling, holding off and driving each other insane, it was if the floodgates had opened and a river of pent-up emotions and desires had been unleashed once they had shared that sweet and heated kiss in the Q-Bureau.
And yet, strong as the passion was, they were till stumbling their way through the briar patch. There were still issues to be dealt with – their jobs, Amanda's family and the ever-present need for secrecy.
And then there was Lee.
Amanda had no doubt as to the strength of his feelings toward her. But Lee Stetson obviously didn't want to be known as a playboy anymore. With all his sweet and romantic actions, it seemed as if that part of his past were still embarrassing to him.
When nobody else was watching, Lee Stetson was valiantly proving his devotion and intent on being the perfect suitor.
Amanda found all of it touching, adorable and quite romantic.
And yet, while all too thoroughly enjoyable, sometimes a girl didn't want a gentleman.
What the woman inside of her craved was his heated touch, raw masculinity and the deliciousness of what happened when the gentleman was pushed off the stage and his wild, passionate side just waiting to be released took center stage.
With a softness that only Amanda could bring, she took his much larger hand in her own and guided him away from the window. She took a nice, slow and steady path to the bed.
"I thought we were going to order room service for dinner?"
"Maybe dessert first?" she asked him.
Lee chuckled.
"My Amanda, mother by day, tigress by night."
They both laughed, together.
When they were alone, in settings like this, it was so damned easy.
They could be goofy, serious, or anywhere in between. Sharing moments of honesty, quietness or finishing each other's sentences over a glass of wine and a shared meal.
"Well," Amanda shrugged. "We aren't going anywhere tonight, and I really doubt we're going to have any visitors."
"I'm kind of glad the weatherman was wrong," Lee admitted with a glint in his hazel eyes that spoke volumes of his intentions.
Amanda smiled.
Indeed, the weatherman had been wrong, by about thirty-six hours.
The large storm that wasn't predicted to hit them until tomorrow had arrived early.
Almost like clockwork, at 2:00 in the morning, the storm had reached them and with absolute certainty had cancelled the outdoor reception that they were supposed to be working this evening.
There had been nothing for Mr. McNeill to do but cancel his little soirée.
As for Amanda and Lee, there wasn't much for them to do either.
The stunning black party dress was still hanging, in its garment bag as was Lee's tux.
Instead of playing spies they had spent the early morning hours checking in with Billy and Amanda's family. Afterwards, they had enjoyed brunch at the hotel's fabulous restaurant.
Amanda then had picked up a few things in the gift shop for the boys and her mother.
It was in the gift shop that they spotted the poster announcing the opening of an exhibit on third floor in the large conference room.
Hats and Shoes – Throughout the Ages.
With nothing else to do, they had ventured to the third floor and laughed at the irony – one very long table displaying a variety of fez hats.
Red fez hats.
Truth be told, they had both enjoyed what could have been a very dreary, dismal day.
Now, as they stood at the foot of the bed, all thoughts of the storm that raged above them and the red hats vanished into nothingness. For this moment in time, there was only the two of them. Safe and secure in their own little universe and with virtually no possibility of intrusions, they could give into the passion that had been stirred from just a simple touch.
Clothing fell, whisper-like, to the floor.
Thoughts of ordering room service dissipated.
All traces of their lives, the spies that existed within, the former playboy, and the dedicated mother of two dissolved into nothingness as passion rose between them. In this moment, they simply became two lovers.
With each kiss, each touch they simply became one. A beautiful, serene and intimate dance between the two of them, not to be shared with the outside world.
And, for that moment in time, that was all it really needed to be. Simple, beautiful and filled with nothing but the newfound love that unexplainably but had been discovered to exist between them.
While, to the outside world, they had the title of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, in the here and now, there existed only one title.
Simple, easy and filled with wonder, intoxication and passion – lovers.
And for Amanda and Lee, that one-word title was just fine by them. It seemed as if they might always have been destined to arrive at this spot in their journey, their paths crossing inexplicably one morning.
Let the rain come down, the storm hover above.
For Amanda and Lee, it didn't matter. They had finally found each other and stolen moments like this were few. Nights like this were meant for lovers to discover, experience and enjoy.
Lee Stetson and Amanda King – lovers on a rainy night.
The rest of the story?
Left to the reader's imagination. It doesn't all have to be there on the page, to be read. Just take a few moments and imagine. Simply enjoy the story of true love being discovered. Because, for Amanda and Lee, there was always meant to be true love.