her, taking care of her when she needed him.
He took Catherine to an old country inn in Virginia for dinner, and he listened while
she talked about her father. In the middle of telling a funny story about him, Catherine
began to cry, but strangely she felt no embarrassment in front of Bill Fraser.
He suggested that Catherine take some time off, but she wanted to keep busy, wanted
to keep her mind filled with anything but the death of her father. She slipped into the habit
of having dinner with Fraser once or twice a week, and Catherine felt closer to him than
ever before.
It happened without any planning or forethought. They had been working late at the
office. Catherine was checking some papers and sensed Bill Fraser standing in back of her.
His fingers touched her neck, slowly and caressingly.
“Catherine…”
She turned to look up at him and an instant later she was in his arms. It was as though
they had kissed a thousand times before, as though this was her past as well as her future,
where she had always belonged.
It’s this simple, Catherine thought. It’s always been this simple, but I didn’t know it.
“Get your coat, darling,” Bill Fraser said. “We’re going home.”
In the car driving to Georgetown they sat close together, Fraser’s arm around
Catherine, gentle and protective. She had never known such happiness. She was sure she
was in love with him, and it did not matter if he was not in love with her. He was fond of
her, and she would settle for that. When she thought of what she had been willing to settle
for before—Ron Peterson—she shuddered.
“Anything wrong?” Fraser asked.
Catherine thought of the motel room with the dirty cracked mirror. She l ooked at the
strong intelligent face of the man with his arm around her. “Not now,” she said gratefully.
She swallowed. “I have to tell you something. I’m a virgin.”
Fraser smiled and shook his head in wonder. “It’s incredible,” he said. “How did I
wind up with the only virgin in the city of Washington?”
“I tried to correct it,” Catherine said earnestly, “but it just didn’t work out.”
“I’m glad it didn’t,” Fraser said.
“You mean you don’t mind?”
He was smiling at her again, a teasing grin that lit up his face. “Do you know your
problem?” he asked.
“I’ll say!”
“You’ve been worrying too much about it.”
“I’ll say!”