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Six months later.....

"Lily if you don't hurry up we're going to be late!"

Running a hand through her shoulder-length blonde hair she gave herself one last scrutiny in the full length-length mirror as she called back, "Coming!" Straigtening the hem of her knee-length, strapless black dress, she turned from reflection and hurring out of the bedroom. Going down the stairs as quickly as her black stilletos would allow.

"Are you sure you should be wearing those?," he said as he eyed her shoes with concern.

Letting out an exaccerpated sigh, Lily rolled her eyes at her husband-to-be. "Jon I'm pregnant not porcelain."

"But the doctor said.."

"The doctor said when the pregnancy becomes more prenounced and my ankles start to swell that it would be best to wear flats or sandals with no more than a half ince heel," she said as she cut him off.

"Alright, alright I was just trying to look out for you."

Giving him a small smile as he helped her with her red silk wrap she said, "I know and thank you for being so concerned. It's one of the many things I love about you, you know."

He smiled at her in return and bent to kiss her lips, "I know, and by the way you look ten times more beautiful than you normally do. Especially like this." He brushed his hand lightly across her slightly protruding stomach as he said the last sentence.

A small pang of guilt ran through her, but she ignored it and instead stood on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his cheek as she reached around him for her red and black clutch. "Come on," she said,"we're going to be late."

Placing a hand at the small of her back he led her out the door and into the cool night air to the silver Saturn parked in the driveway. His eyes never left her for even a second as he helped her into the car and then went over to the other side to get in himself. Clearly he was excited about tonight. If only she was as well.

Neither one of them said anything on the way to the restaurant. Both were wrapped up in their own individual thoughts. Him wondering if she would approve of his future buisness partner and her trying to remember whom and why they were meeting for dinner.

As they pulled into the parking lot of the 'Senorita' she decided to forget about her embarrassment for not remembering and asked, "Why are we here again?"

"I told you last week that I was thinking about investing in the restaurant buisness and I chose this particular restaurant and its owner for that express purpose. First I want you to meet him and hear his proposal before I give my final say."

"And his name is..." she faltered.

With a sigh of impatience Jon looked over and said, "Townsend, Jeremy Townsend."

The feeling of being submerged in ice cold water came over her. "It couldn't be...could it?," she thought.

Her mind was swimming with thoughts of that fateful night over five months ago now and the thought of possibly seeing him again. Even worse the thought of her future husband going into a buisness dealing with him! The havoc this would cause was not good, not good at all. She tried to convince herself that the changes of this being the same Jeremy she had known were slim to none. After all there had to be tons of Jeremy Townsends in the state of California alone. She was still trying to convince herself of this when she noticed that her and Jon were already standing in the restaurant. Jon standing there with his arm around her waist as he scanned the crowd for the owner.

"There he is," he said, gesturing to a tal dark-haired man sitting in a corner booth with a red-haired siren seated next to him.

As they walked closer to the couple she felt her stomach start to drop. The closer they got the more familiar he looked but she couldn't be sure till she saw his face. Right now it was turned away from her as he appeared to be in deep discussion with the red-headed woman beside him. As they stepped up to the booth though he turned and his eyes caught hers. Yet again she found herself lost in those chocolate brown eyes that had haunted her dreams plenty of nights. She didn't even realize anyone was saying anything to her until she felt a hand on her arm.

"Lily are you still here with us?," Jon asked, his tone light but the look in his eyes that of concern.

"Sorry I was trying to remember if I turned off my hair straightner," she joked.

A ripple of laughter ran through the group.

"She's become quite absent-minded since the pregnancy," Jon explained.

"Oh really, how far along are you?," the red-haired woman asked.

"Five months," she replied as she slid into the booth next to Jon.

Immeadatley she wished she had chosen to sit on the opposite side. Where she was sitting now put her directly across from Jeremy. It was all she could do to keep from running out of the restaurant and never looking back. She wasn't sure if she could manage to stay focused through a three course meal with his leg constantly brushing up against hers like it was now. As they ordered their drinks introductions were made and she found out the woman seated next to him was his girlfriend Claudia.

"It sounds like the name of a hooker...or maybe even a stripper," she thought. Guilt flooded her. SHe had no right to think such things about a woman she had just met. She refused to acknowledge the fact that she was thinking such tings because she was jealous. Violently, she pushed any more thoughts like that out of her mind and strengthened her resolve to stay focused on the reason she was there. Which was to hear the buisness proposal that Jon was so interested in. Not the fact that she was sitting across from a man she barely knew yet had a strong attraction to that went beyond all reason.

Pasting a smile on her face she joined in the conversation. She didn't even taste the food that was placed before her. The whole dinner seemed to pass by in a blurry haze. She nodded her head in all the right places and occasionally made a comment here and there but her mind was always miles away. It wasn't long before they had eaten dessert and were sipping cups of espresso.

"Finally," she thought,"we can get out of here." But just as she thought that Jon made a suggestion that made the night take a turn for the worse.

"Jeremy, Lily has always been interested in the behind the scenes aspect of the restaurants like this. Do you think we could give her a tour?"

"I don't see why not, but poor Claudia here has had her fill of that aspect I'm afraid. I'd hate to drag her through yet another one."

"I could always stay here with Jon, dear. There are plenty of financial aspects of the buisness proposal that we could go over," Claudia said.

"Please, please say no," Lily thought, casting a furtive glance at her fiancee.

"That sounds like a good idea."

Her heart sank, she didn't want to be alone with this man. It was bad enough that she had to go through a whole meal sitting across from him. Actually being alone with him was going to come close to killing her. Anxiously she tried to find an excuse not to go, but she came up empty-handed.

"Shall we?," he asked, stanind up and offering her a hand.

"Of course," was her reply as she gave him a half-hearted smile and accepted his help.

Placing a hand at the small of her back he guided her towards a long hallway just beyond where they had been seated.

"Lets start with the kitchen, does that sound good to you?"

For some reason she couldn't manage to voice her answer so she settled for nodding her head instead. From there on out she did her best to pay attention to what he said, but the whole she was on pins and needles waiting for him to either bring up that night between them or ask her why she had run that night. Throughout the whole tour though he never mentioned either one. In fact one would think that he had never even met her befor that night. He barely even touched her the whole time they were alone together except for the most casual brushes of an arm or a hand. Part of her was elated that he seemed unaffected by her presence and the electrical currents that seemed to flow between them, but on the other hand part of her was devastated. After all she was hyper-aware of his presence and he was the epitome of calm, cool, and collected.

Before she knew it thought they were back at the booth where Jon and Claudia were waiting for them. Goodbyes were exchanged and hands were shook while promise to get together in the very near future were exchanged back and forth. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm slightly tugging her away from the others.

"Thank you for coming tonight," he breathed in her ear. "I hope you enjoyed the tour."

Then he placed her hand in his and lightly brushed his lips over the top it. In the blink of an eye he was back next to Claudia and she was left in a daze. It took a few minutes for her to regroup her thoughts and notice that he had slipped something into her hand. Looking down she saw that it was a tiny piece of paper with the words 'Calloway Park, midnight' scrawled across it. As she glance back up her eyes met his and for a split second time froze and it was then she realized he knew who she was and he was waiting for her response.

As she slipped the paper into her clutch she gave him a discreet nod. A smile flashed across his face in response to her answer and then he turned his attention back to what Jon had been saying as they all started to move towards the door as one.

Stepping into the chilly night air, they all exchanged another round of goodbyes and then began to move in the general direction of their respective vehicles. Moving ahead of Jon, Lily hurried as quickly to the car as she could without arousing suspicion. As he slid into the drivers' seat next to her and slipped the key into the ignition she glanced at the clock on the dasboard. Ten-thirty p.m. its neon green numbers read. Just an hour and a half before she needed to meet him. Enought time to change, ready herself for what was to come, and come up with an excuse for Jon as to why his five month pregnant fiancee' needed to go out at midnight.

The whole way home she barely heard a word he spoke to her. Her body may have been in the car with him, but the rest of her was six months back in the past reliving a fateful night that had left its mark on her in every possible sense.