Page 13 of A Moment Of Forever

“Ooooh!” She heard herself moan.

Then, another shift and her vision was filled with the eyes of a little one who mimicked the two of them with resplendency. Adorable, loving, full brown orbs, a tiny nose, soft hands, a heartbeat that mirrored her own and love like nothing she’d ever experienced shuddered through her existence.

Vanessa snapped from her reverie, pulled from his lips, taking a backward step. Breath bated, Vanessa’s chest rose and fell as she eyed him, astonished at what she’d seen, and thoroughly confused as to how in her forty-two years of life, she’d never had a beautiful premonition until now. Not only that, but she didn’t know there was anything as lovely as her visions.

“I…um.” Tongue-tied, she covered her mouth as he stared at her, patiently waiting for her to continue. “I…I…” She exhaled long and slowly, shoulders rising and falling as she continued to sail down from an unexplainable high.

“Under one condition.”

A sparkle of thrill shuffled through his dark gaze.

“You have to court me first. We can’t just…” She ran her tongue across her teeth, almost wanting to take the words back and jump the broom now. “I—”

…never felt anything like this ever…

“You believe me,” he decided.

Silence covered them in the darkness of night, and she fought to calm the beat of her heart as she tried to find a reasonable explanation for what she’d witnessed.

A nod, then, “Maybe. I’m not one-hundred-percent sold yet but—”

She was lying, knowing she couldn’t refute the soul-stirring exuberance of that moment of forever. It was real. Uncanny. Breathless. Authentic.

“Why?”

She searched for comfort.

“Because it’s unrealistic to think we could wed and live happily ever after without knowing one another for at least—”

“We’ve been over this.”

She sighed harshly. “What are you, a hopeless romantic? This is not the movies; this is real life.”

“Which is why you have the contract for your ease.”

“It’s a stupid contract.”

A smirk quirked at the corners of his mouth. “So, you won’t sign it?”

“No. We’ve been over this,” she threw back at him.

“I can’t court you if you don’t sign it.”

Her eyes lurched. “Are you insane?”

“When it comes to you.”

She shook her head and laughed crazily, naughtily. “What is with you?”

“Okay. I’ve been honest with you but laying all cards on the table, I must let you know. I received…”

She lingered, waiting for him to continue.

“What?”

He cleared his throat. “A vision.”

Her throat clogged.

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