The Impostor, A Love Story (19 page)

“Shh, shh. What’s wrong, baby?

Timidly I admitted, “I thought I had lost you
forever.”

“I’m not that easy to get rid of.” He kissed
my nose, and each of my cheeks.

I raised myself off the mattress, sitting
upright so I could see his face. I needed him to understand. In
between breaths I explained, “Dylan, if I knew it was your sister’s
wedding, I never would have made other plans.”

He lifted himself up beside me, touching my
face. “Nicole, I’m not willing to end this. If you go see this
house Saturday, we can somehow make it work—as long as you promise
me you will be by my side at the wedding. It’s really important to
me. This is my baby sister. You’ll love her. I want you there.” He
kissed the top of my head. “I hate the idea of you moving in with a
stranger when I can get you your own place.” His hand brushed the
hair off my shoulder.

“For me, Dylan. I need to do this.”

“I understand.” Dylan lifted my chin again to
kiss me. His lips were so delicious.

“Mmm . . . I am so into you Nicole.” He slid
his body on top of mine, exploring my body with his hands as he
kissed my lips. “I’d do anything for you, Nicole. Anything.” His
mouth traveled slowly down my neck and to my opened blouse as his
hands caressed my body.

I tasted the salt from his skin as I fell
into his world.

His lips soon made their way back to mine. As
he pressed his body on top of me, I could feel his hardness between
my legs. I began to get moist. I wanted to feel him inside of me,
but as he made a smooth attempt to unzip my pants, my hand stopped
him. I knew once I surrendered myself totally to him, I’d lose all
sense of control. I knew I’d become even more vulnerable.

“I want to make love to you, Nicole,” Dylan
whispered, gently thrusting so I could feel how much he wanted
me—our bodies intertwined, yet clothed.

“Not tonight,” I whispered. As much as I
wanted him, he was leaving. I couldn’t give in to my overwhelming
hunger for him.

“What are you afraid of?” he pleaded with his
sexy brown eyes.

“Everything,” I confessed.

“Nicole, you don’t have to be afraid. There
is only you.” He glided his fingertips over my face.

I swallowed, lost in his gaze. “And there is
only you,” I revealed.

I could feel his heartbeat against my chest,
racing with mine. I knew once I made love to him, I would feel like
it was his blood that ran through my veins and that I’d be lost
without him.
He is leaving
, I reminded myself.
He is
leaving
. He told me he was coming back, but how could I be
sure? He began kissing me again.

“Dylan,” It was so hard to say, “I’m
sorry.”

He gently pressed his fingers against my lips
to stop me from apologizing.

“Shh, you don’t ever have to say you’re
sorry.” He tenderly kissed me. He looked into my eyes. “I will
wait.” His lips traveled from my lips, kissing my checks, and then
his nose nudged against mine in an Eskimo kiss. “I will wait,
Nicole.” His lips traveled back to mine. “For you, I’ll wait.”

Dylan put his finger over my lips,

“
Shh, let me spoil you.”

~The Impostor

“You’re gonna love this place.” Dylan leaned
over and gave me a kiss. “I’ll be back in a few hours to pick you
up.”

I jumped into the shower as soon as he left.
I no longer looked like a pitiful boxer who had been in the ring
with a prizefighter. I couldn’t believe how awful I looked all
night.

“Emily, I have no idea what to wear.”

“You’re going shopping, for god’s sake.” She
still wasn’t that excited she was kicked out of her room for the
night, especially when she found out nothing had happened
anyway.

“I know, but I have no idea how to dress.” I
rummaged through my clothes.

“Can I borrow something?”

“Here try this on,” she said, handing me an
adorable little outfit. “I think it will be cute.”

I zipped up the pants. Turning around, I
peeked in the mirror, making sure it didn’t make my butt look too
big, and pulled the tight-fitting shirt over my head. I grabbed the
jacket from her hands, slipping my arms into it. “Oh, this is
perfect. Do you have any shoes?”

“You are so needy.” She smirked, handing me
shoes and a purse that matched perfectly.

“You are an angel.” I tried everything on and
modeled it in front of the little mirror on the dresser. “This is
perfect! What would I do without you?”

“Probably die.” Emily smiled.

“Are you sure you won’t come to Seattle? It
could be fun.”

“I need the money. I have to work. I’ll go
with you Saturday to see the place, though. It’ll be great to have
our own rooms. You are kind of a slob.”

She glanced at the things I’d hurled out of
my suitcase while trying to find something to wear. It was pretty
bad. We tried using the drawers in the room, but there were only
two, and they were too small to fit everything.

Before long, there was a knock at the door.
Dylan had returned.

“Hey, beautiful, you ready?”

I grabbed the purse Emily let me borrow.
“I’ll see you tonight.” I gave her a hug as I walked out the
door.

“Have fun,” she replied.

“I’ll try,” I thought.

I love those scenes in the movies where the
girl tries on all these different outfits and the guy thinks
everything looks great on her. I wasn’t so sure it was going to be
that way for me. Usually when I go shopping, it takes me forever to
find a pair of jeans.

“The store I went to with my sister is too
far, but there is a boutique in town that is supposed to be nice. I
saw this cute dress in the window.” He leaned over to me, “You look
beautiful by the way,” and gave me a peck on the cheek. “Although
you sport that raccoon look pretty well also.”

“I was going for the boxer look,
actually.”

An incredible selection of dresses covered
the mannequins in the window—featuring all different styles and
colors. We were greeted at the door as if we were guests at their
villa. The scent of rose and lavender filled the air, and a soft
live cello serenaded us.

“How may I help you today?” a woman asked
while taking our coats.

“We need a few outfits for this astonishing
young lady,” Dylan replied, glancing at me. “A dress for a wedding,
and then some outfits for a brunch and sightseeing or whatever we
decide to do.”

“Are you the bride?”

He laughed answering for me, “Not yet.”

I peeked up at Dylan timidly and smiled.
If only.

A gentleman came in the room and asked,
“Would you like some cappuccino, or wine perhaps?”

“Cappuccino sounds perfect. What about you,
Nicole?”

“Yes, cappuccino does sound perfect.”

The lady led us into a room filled with
gentle lights around a large mirror. There was a small platform to
stand on and check yourself out from every angle.

“You can sit here,” she motioned to Dylan,
“and we shall return.” He sat in a chaise. I could smell the mocha
cappuccino fill the room as the gentleman placed the two cups in
front of Dylan. The lady proceeded to bring me back to a huge room
with flowers.

“I think you will look stunning in this.” She
pulled out a dress, draping it in front of me. “Why don’t you try
this one on?”

When I came out of the dressing room, she had
matching shoes and accessories waiting for me. I slipped my locket
into Emily’s purse so I could put on the necklace.

“This is beautiful.” I put my hand on top of
the necklace.

“The center stone is deep lavender Swarovski
crystal with clear Miyuki seed and delicate beads.” She
admired it too.

The
lady then led me into Dylan’s waiting room.

As I entered the room, his face lit up,
shaking his head. Dylan stood up and walked over to me.
“Exquisite.”

Taking my hand in his, he leaned over and
kissed it. “We’ll take it—all of it. That necklace is beautiful,
and I love those earrings too. You need to wear that to the
wedding, Nicole.”

“All our accessories are handcrafted by the
New Orleans jewelry artist, Aleta O’Brien.”

“We’ll take all of it,” he repeated.

“Dylan, you sure?” I mouthed. “It’s really
expensive.”

He put his finger over my lips, “Shh. Let me
spoil you.” He turned back to the woman. “How about the black dress
in the window? I bet that will be beautiful also.” We went back to
the dressing room, and I was adorned with another dress and
accessories. I felt like Cinderella getting ready for the ball,
even though the dress was short, and I didn’t have any glass
slippers. It was like my fairy godmother was making my dreams come
true.

I couldn’t believe he was doing this. I
didn’t understand why he was so nice to me. He could have anyone. I
remembered with Ronald, I’d have to pay for my own Chinese food. No
one had ever treated me like a princess before—except, of course,
my dad.

“Perfect, we will take this one too.” He
grinned. “You are breathtaking.”

“I only need one dress,” I started to
say.

“And the accessories too?” The lady
interrupted politely making sure I didn’t mess up her sale. “They
add the finishing touches beautifully, don’t you agree?”

“They do, although she is even beautiful in
yellow, waterproof overalls. Let me see one more dress and about
five or so outfits, since she never lets me take her shopping.”

“Dylan,” I walked over to him. “This is too
much,” I whispered. “It’s just a few days.”

He pulled me close, whispering, “If I play my
cards right, I hope it will be more than that. This way we won’t
have to go shopping when I get back in town, since you hate
shopping so much.”

Hate it? It was magnificent
. I really
did feel like a model or royalty or a Disney princess. I waited for
the horse and buggy to drive us off into the sunset.

“Like I said, one more dress and five or six
outfits. I love these boots. What do you have that will go with
these?”

We spent another few hours playing dress up.
When we got to the counter, everything had already been wrapped up
and neatly placed in bags. The accessories were each boxed like
Valentine’s gifts. With each outfit, he bought a matching purse and
shoes. He spent more money on me in a few hours than I have spent
in a lifetime on myself.

Grabbing some really sexy lingerie, Dylan
smiled, leaning over to whisper in my ear, “Well, if we have to
stay in our clothes all night, I thought . . . well . . . these are
clothes, right?” He leaned over and gave me a playful peck.

I could see my face turn red in the mirror
behind the clerk as I put them on the counter. “We’ll take these
too.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed me.

“I’m not saying you’re gonna get lucky.”

“To see you in that . . . I’ll be the
luckiest man alive.”

The woman motioned to one of the employees to
put all of the bags in the car, and Dylan took my hand and led me
to a day spa.

“Dylan, you are crazy!” I protested.

“You will love this place.” His smile made me
melt.

“This is way too much.”

He didn’t listen. He just took me to the
counter and spoke to the woman sitting there.

“For the lady, a manicure and pedicure and
whatever spa treatment she desires.”

“Dylan, really.”

He again put his finger over my lips. “Shh,
let me spoil you.” He leaned over, giving me a kiss. “I’ll be gone
for at least four weeks, so I won’t be able to do any of this.”

“You don’t have to. Really, I’d have been
fine going to McDonald’s with you. I figured you were a poor,
struggling musician. This is way too much.”

“I am sorry, but you said I could take you
shopping. We are not done yet.” Squeezing my hand gently, he
assured me he wasn’t going to let me stop his pampering.

“I have to run a few errands to get ready to
go, and I still need to pick up Brenda’s wedding present and all.
I’ll pick you up in a few hours. Enjoy it. I can’t believe someone
hasn’t done this for you a long time ago. He turned back to the
salon attendant. “Anything she wants. Actually knowing her, she
will say she doesn’t want anything, so give her this spa treatment,
that one, a manicure and pedicure, and her hair cut or styled any
way she wants it.”

He then turned to me. “It’s already paid for.
Please relax and enjoy it. I’ll be back, and we will go to dinner
before I take you to work, okay?”

“Thank you,” I kissed him. I could have
argued, but truly, he had already won. “You are amazing.”

“So are you.”

He kissed me goodbye and left me in the spa
to spoil myself. It was so different than Ronald leaving me on the
side of the road because of a drunken rage. What had I seen in
Ronald? Why did I waste so many years, giving him a second, third
and fourth chance?

Dylan was helping me move on; helping me
break the chains I was bound in for so long, and helping me learn
to love again.

Shit what did I just say
?
No, not
the L-word
. I had to shake myself out of it.

I remembered everyone warning me he was
leaving.
Do not fall in love. Whatever you do, don’t fall in
love.
The truth was it was too late. I had never known anyone
who enjoyed pleasing me the way he did. He thought of everything.
It was as if he wanted me to fall in love with him. How could I
not? He could read from my soul what I truly longed for. He saw
things I didn’t even see myself. Dylan embodied everything I had
ever dreamed of in a man and so much more.

“Come with me.” A tall woman took me into the
spa.
Utter relaxation
. After hours in heaven, they sat me in
front of the stylist.

Sebastian asked with a flamboyant voice,
“What are we doing with this fabulous hair?” He fluffed it in his
hands as he talked.