Page 61 of Dreaming of You

"And your opinions about marriage and weddings must also be in opposition," Vanessa said, her gaze flitting from Barrett to her. "Barrett blamed our wedding for everything that went wrong in our marriage. Did he tell you that?"

"He mentioned it. I know he's not a fan of weddings," she murmured.

"He doesn't ever want to get married again," Vanessa continued. "Isn't that true, Barrett? Isn't that what you told me?"

Barrett drew in a breath. "I don't think we need to get into old history."

"Vanessa, Doug, Mary," Pamela exclaimed, coming over to greet her friends.

Kate was actually relieved by his mother's interruption.

Barrett took advantage of her appearance to pull her away from the group. "Let's get out of here."

"Really? Are you sure? Your mom will be disappointed if you leave." As much as she was happy to go, she didn't want to become a wedge between Barrett and his mother.

"I'm positive. I'm not going to put up with anyone disrespecting you, not even if it's my mother."

She was more than a little touched by his words, although she couldn't help pointing something out. "You don't really respect what I do, either."

"I respect you." He looked deep into her eyes. "And I like you, Kate."

"I like you, too," she murmured, feeling the unmistakable heat running between them.

"Then let's get out of here." He started to turn, then paused. "Unless you want to wait for the Hunts to arrive, so you can schmooze with them?"

"No. I turned in my proposal this morning, so whatever they decide is up to them."

"Then let's get out of here."

They grabbed her bag and wrap out of a guest room and slipped out of the house.

"So, what's your favorite place to eat?" he asked, as they walked to the car.

She thought for a moment. "There's a place near the Sausalito Harbor that serves tapas and really good wine."

"You're on," he said, flashing her a smile. "That sounds a lot better than this."

She thought so, too.

* * *

Barrett had made the right decision. Getting Kate out of his mother's house had been a far better idea than ever getting her into it.

At a table by the café window overlooking the harbor lights, they shared small plates of honey-rubbed ribs, roasted carrots, patatas bravas, sesame seed crusted salmon and a kale salad with cranberries, coconut and pumpkin seeds. In the warm, cozy restaurant with good food and good wine, he felt infinitely more relaxed.

The conversation flowed easily, and Kate's blue eyes sparkled as she regaled him with crazy wedding stories.

"I know I'm just making you hate my business even more," she said, as she sipped the last of her wine.

"Actually, I'm just amazed at how many different ways people want to say I Do. The horses on the beach at sunset were clearly fraught with problems from the onset."

"I know, and I tried to talk them out of it. I said there might be fog or the horses could spook, or, you know, go to the bathroom at an inappropriate time, and they said they were confident it would all go well."

"But it didn't. Everything you just said went wrong."

"I will never do horses again," she said with a laugh. "I'm not big on boat weddings, either. Someone always gets seasick, sometimes me."

He smiled at her self-deprecating humor. He liked how real Kate was. There was absolutely no pretense about her. She was who she was, and she was proud of it. She genuinely liked herself, and that was rare in most people he knew.

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