The Fall by Kate Stewart Page B

not disappoint. My insides sighed as I studied him.
    Beautiful bastard.
    Dean was half-Hispanic from his mother’s side and could credit her for his flawless olive skin and startling blue eyes. His parents had met when his father had taken a trip overseas after college. I had met them a few times when we were kids and once in college. His mother, Dayana, had a nickname for me that she spoke frequently in her native tongue. Dean had refused to tell me its meaning. I would constantly worry when we were younger that she didn’t approve of me, but she treated me with nothing but kindness. It seemed so long ago and yet I couldn’t help but notice the same kindness in her son’s eyes now as he watched me closely.
    Dean grabbed his tie, studying it without interest as he spoke. “I was just meeting you halfway and to treat you to day-old egg drop soup and green Jell-O for lunch in the cafeteria, but it looks like you already had a lunch date.”
    “Yes, I’m all set. Maybe tomorrow.”
    “Sure.” He gave me a small smile, nodded, and waved a goodbye at Beatrice before he walked off.
    “Oh...shit...honey, I smell trouble,” she said, shaking her head as she picked up the phone when it rang.
    I couldn’t help but laugh at her spot on assessment of the situation. I fully intended on making sure that lunch happened with Dean soon. I wanted to know why he was back in Texas and working in my hospital, and why he was so reluctant to talk about his fiancée.
    Whatever the hell was going on with him, I had decided to find out sooner rather than later.

    Dean
Then
    It was three long years before I heard three words that would forever change me. I was walking across campus toward the Marshall Hall building when the voice sounded. “Dean, Dean Martin?” A smile was already on my lips as I looked in the direction of the voice. Dallas’s laugh was unmistakable as she walked toward me. What I wasn’t expecting was the mere sight of her would leave me scrambling to regain basic fucking motor function. My smile quickly faded as she flew at me in a hug. All the breath left my body as I inhaled her scent. I gripped her to me tightly as she laughed and hugged me back. When she pulled away, my arms were still securely around her. I knew I had to be grinning like an idiot as she beamed back at me.
    “How the hell are you?” she asked, a little Texas twang in her voice.
    “Better now,” I said, still refusing to let her out of my grasp.
    We spent a little longer than we should in our embrace, neither of us willing to pull away from the other. In that instant, I felt the pain of missing her ease slightly. My chest tightened at the return of a familiar stir.
    It was just that damned easy.
    “Let me look at you. Damn ...” My voice was hoarse as I let her go to take her in. She was wearing tight jeans, knee high, rider boots and a tight fitting red sweater. I took in every curve as I whistled slowly.
    “I know.” She waggled her eyebrows up then down and did a little turn for the full effect. She was a far cry from the skinnier version I left. She had a small amount of curve on her hips and her long legs remained one of her best assets. This was no longer the tempting Lolita that I had left. This was the young woman I had always pictured but even more beautiful than I could have imagined.
    “Still dressing like every day is a Sunday at church,” she said, poking fun of my clothes, as usual.
    “I don’t hear anyone else complaining,” I pointed out, still overwhelmed with the sight of her in front of me. “And you are still a pain in the ass,” I noted as she laughed.
    “You have no idea. So did you miss me, Dean?”
    “You know the saying ‘Don’t know what you got till it’s gone?’ Well, I can’t stand most of the girls at this school,” I assured her.
    “Well, don’t tell me the infamous Dean Martin has changed his ways,” she teased.
    “No, I still sleep with them. I just run like hell after,” I chuckled.