Kate had almost caught up with Jeffery.  She wanted to hold onto his arm.  To be seen with him.  She knew the next kiss from him would be tender and meaningful.  He was like that.  First he established his ownership, more for the review of any competition.  Then he became the tender lover.  The one who eased the pain she felt in her body and in her heart.  The room was filled with the thundering beat of the music and the sweating body’s of the dancers.  Razor thin lasers sliced across the ceiling in green and golden hues.  Kate was feeling the passion of the music and her body responded: she needed to dance, but first a kiss from Jeffery to seal the evening and grant her permission to roam.<br/><br/>She was reaching for Jeffery’s arm when someone touched her shoulder as if to stop her from going any further.  She whirled and saw Billy behind her.  He was saying something but his words were downed out by the music.  She frowned at him.<br/><br/>“What?”  She shouted.<br/><br/>She looked quickly back toward Jeffery.  He was drifting away from her.  The crowd was swallowing him up.  She turned on Billy in a rage.<br/><br/>“What?  What is it?  What do you want from me?”<br/><br/>What<em>did </em>Billy want from her?  He was a stranger who had no clue who she was or what mattered to her.  The look on his face was almost childlike in its agony of concern.  She blinked at him then grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the bar.  She shoved her way through the growing crowd until they were leaning against the bar.  Calling over the bartender she ordered Billy a Heineken and herself a shot of Southern Comfort.  It was a bit early for shots but she figured what the hell.  She tossed it down and felt the fire course through her chest and belly.  Taking a deep breath she turned to Billy who still had that pained look on his face.<br/><br/>For the first time she actually looked into his eyes.  He was searching for something.  He so desperately wanted that little blonde girl back in his life.  His eyes spoke volumes.  She shook her head and smiled.  He was not going to let go of that vision easily.  She needed to help him forget that little girl.<br/><br/>What happened next happened in slow motion:<br/><br/>Kate blinked.  Her long eyelashes closed slowly like a fan and then rose again to expose those electric blue eyes.  Her eyes sparkled as she brought her hands up and gently placed them on the sides of Billy’s face.  Her little fingers rubbed against his ears as she leaned closer.  Focusing first on his lips then back to his eyes Kate took a deep breath, closed her eyes, tilted her head to the right and gently pressed her lips against his.  For a moment the music and the pounding of the beat slowed then stopped altogether.  There was only the ringing in her ears and the pounding of her heart as her warm, moist lips parted, and she slipped her tongue gently between his lips.  For the briefest of seconds she felt him hesitate and then surrender to her.  His lips parted and she slid her tongue in his mouth searching for, then finding, his own.  She held the kiss for a long moment until she felt his body relax; only then did she let go.  She smiled at him, her eyes gleaming.  Then she drifted a short distance onto the dance floor where the music enveloped her and possessed her soul.<br/><br/>Kate loved to dance…<br/>