Dream One, Chapter Three

(Anything in asterisks is supposed to be italicized.)

Ryodan had me working at a small store near one of his businesses. It was mostly operated by women and two young men. I was one of the closers that night. I always came in a few minutes early to call Barrons, knowing that if I called him from where I was staying, it would only depress me when he didn't answer. Usually I guess I must have seemed pretty subdued to them because they couldn't stop commenting on how happy I'd seemed.

When we had no customers, they pressed. They cornered me. I was caught off guard.

"What's got you in such a perky mood?" Crystal asked as she sidled up to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a laugh. A few years ago, I had gotten really good at putting on and maintaining an act.

"Don't get me wrong, you're always generally pretty upbeat," she told me with a shrug, "but today you just seem...different."

"Right? I noticed it, too," Lisa said from nearby.

"So did I," Margo added with a nod.

I laughed again as I tossed my hair over my shoulder and said, "I really don't know what you mean."

"No, something's definitely changed, MacKenna," Lisa said adamantly. (I was using my sister's middle name as my own.) "Crystal's right, you're usually pretty cheery but there's also this kind of underlying sadness. It took a while for us to notice it, but it's not there tonight. What changed?"

"Did that person you try to call before every shift finally pick up?" Crystal asked with interest. Apparently, I'm not as good at putting on an act as I thought because I failed to hide my joy.

"Whoa, they picked up? You've been calling them everyday for a month!" Margo said.

"Who *do* you always call?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah, who?" Margo said.

"It's your boyfriend, isn't it?" Crystal said. "You turn down every guy who asks you out, which is, like, all of them, and you don't wear a ring so it's not because you're married."

"Wait, you have a boyfriend?" Margo said.

"Why didn't you tell us you had a boyfriend?" Lisa demanded. "All those times we've been slow and bored out of our minds and you never once thought to mention that you have a boyfriend?"

"Because he's not my boyfriend," I blurted out. We didn't go out on dates and "boyfriend" just does not feel like an adequate title for Jericho Barrons. We also meant so much more to each other than that. "At least, we don't call each other boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Then what do you call him?" Crystal asked. There was no getting them off of this now. I should have said something else, but I hated it when someone referred to Barrons as my boyfriend. Sadly, I didn't know what to call him. We both knew we were soulmates, but that's become so overused and clichéd.

"Let's just call him my lover," I told them.

Yeah, that would do, I guess.

"Why didn't he ever pick up the phone for you?" Margo asked.

"MacKenna, don't tell me you're involved with a married man," Crystal said. "That only leads to heartache."

"He's not married, Crystal. Trust me, it takes a very special kind of woman to deal with that man. I don't call him my boyfriend because, well..."

I searched for an answer that wouldn't sound totally idiotic. It took longer than I would have liked.

"If you ever see him, you'll realize that he's not the type of man you call your 'boyfriend.' My sister once called him that and when I told her he wasn't my boyfriend, she referred to him as 'the man you love,' so I just call him my lover whenever someone asks."

"Do you?" Lisa said. "Love him?"

"Yes, I do."

"Does he love you?" Crystal asked.

"Yes, Crystal, he does."

"Then why didn't he ever pick up the phone when you called him?" Margo demanded.

"He had to go away for a while," I said with a shrug. "He couldn't get reception." I was saved from having to say anything more when a customer came in.

&&&

The four of us were standing outside the doors as Lisa locked them, laughing and joking for a few minutes. They had also managed to learn that I call him Jericho sometimes but everyone else calls him Barrons and that I was expecting him soon but I wasn't entirely sure when.

Then Crystal nodded with wide eyes to something behind me and quietly said, "There's someone leaning against your car."

It was him.

He was just far enough away that I hadn't felt his presence, gotten that familiar surge of energy. He was in an Armani suit with one of his blood red silk shirts. Dressed to crisp perfection as always. His eyes were closed and his hands were laced together behind his head. I knew that look; he was deep in meditation. I stopped breathing as my heart pumped wildly. I hadn't seen him in so long.

Then I realized I hadn't really been breathing without him.

For.

Seven.

Months.

"MacKenna," Lisa said as she shook me out of my trance. "Are you okay? Do you know him?"

All I could do as a grin slowly spread across my face was whisper, "Jericho." Somehow I managed to start walking across the small parking lot. When I was ten feet away, he opened his eyes and stood up straight as I stopped walking and just stood there, taking him in. He had that look in his eyes and that wild air about him that meant he had recently ate and was raring to go. My back arched a little as his eyes went up and down my figure before he gave me a look that told me just how much he missed me. Then he gave me a wolfish smile and I couldn't really move as he approached me. My chest was heaving and I dropped my purse and wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me close and kissed me so hard I couldn't breathe anymore.

Everything was right again in my world because Jericho Barrons had his arms around me and his mouth pressed against mine.

I felt him smirk as my coworkers reacted to the sight in typical female fashion. Then he was just hugging me and lifting me off my feet. He sent shivers down my spine and I love the way he smells of spices and I had to resist the urge to take him right there when he growled in my ear, "Get your ass in the car and drive, Rainbow Girl."

"Missed you, too, Jericho," I growled back with a ferocious grin. I kissed him again when he put me back on my feet and I waved goodnight to my coworkers as he snatched up my purse and handed it to me.

"Three thousand miles away from Dublin and I'm still picking up after you," he mocked.

"Just get in the damn car," I shot back at him. The corners of his mouth twitched. "We have to pick up Lor and Fade on our way back to the house."

"Was wondering where those two fucks were."

"Didn't Ryodan fill you in?"

"I didn't give him much of a chance," he shrugged.

"Did you kill him?" I asked as if it was the most normal reaction in the world. A testament to the strangeness of my world and those who surrounded me.

"Dani requested I not do that," he answered tightly. "Makes me miss the days when we were faster than her. And the days when she wasn't fucking him." I laughed and he shot me a look that rolled right off me.

"I have found her speed and the fact that she's figured out what buttons to push with him to get what she wants very useful."

He shot me a look that said, *I'll bet you have.*

All I could do was laugh again. I'd missed the silent conversations we used to have.

"Please tell me you're here to relieve us," Lor said when he and Fade got in the car. "I need to go get laid." Fade grunted his agreement.

Barrons looked at me and asked, *Do you work tomorrow?*

*Not for another few days, actually.*

*Good. Cancel any other plans. You're mine, woman.*

I grinned my agreement.

"Yeah, take the next few days."

"And after that?" Fade asked.

I glanced at him with interest but did my best to keep my eyes on the road because all three of them hate my driving.

"We'll see," he said after a moment spent looking at me.