The U.S.S. Intrepid loomed over the bay which bore its name. Kayakers glided along the calm surface of the bay, the more turbulent waters farther out. Kat had never tried stand-up paddle boarding, but as she expected, it was a lot harder than it looked.

The instructor was a pretty but sun-worn young woman with a chiseled core. Her physical strength, from being out on the water all day, was evident. “Stability, stroke, speed, and water awareness,” she said, but Kat was still having trouble with stability. As soon as she found her grounding, trying to paddle threw her balance off again.

Carter stood on his board next to hers—a master of the little amusement, he was stable enough to support them both. Kat’s naked legs were strong beneath her, muscles flexing to secure a decent footing, but the board became wobbly, and her posture faltered. She spent as much time reaching out, clinging to Carter, as she did mastering the principles of stand-up paddling. But not only didn’t she mind so much, she suspected Carter knew that’s how the afternoon would work out, and that he was glad for it, as well.

In fact, she felt after a while that she was getting the hang of it, but it was still more fun to hold onto Carter with his immensely strong and muscular body. She smiled to herself, pretending the new task was just too much for her. Not so different than the role-playing, she told herself, not really a lie. It lets him be dominant, lets me be frail and delicate. It’s fun!

What could possibly be the harm?

* * *

Eleven Madison Park was as ritzy a place as Kat had ever seen. Around her, black jackets mingled with silk dresses, her own elegant backless the very best one she owned. After cleaning up and styling her hair into a sophisticated bun with ringlets hanging down over the side of her face, she still felt outclassed by the other clientele.

But not Carter—he stood tall and proud in his tuxedo, magnificent, his blond hair pulled back in a ponytail to better reveal his strong, angular features. They were seated at a little table, but even after a while, no menus were left at the table.

Carter asked her, “Will you be having the aged beef or the roast duck?”

Kat blushed, feeling slightly out of her comfort zone, but still enjoying every moment. She glanced around, noting the colorful dishes and busy wait staff. “Is that all they have?”

He chuckled. “The only choice is for the main course. The fifteen others are the chef’s choice.”

Kat wasn’t sure she’d heard that right. “Sixteen courses? I can’t eat that much food!”

“They’re not big. It’s a lot of fun though.”

She decided not to question it. The courses came quickly and with a lot of style. A savory crab ceviche tostada, and chilled oysters under mignonette snow adorned their plates. A smoked sturgeon above smoldering embers was revealed under a glass cloche with a puff of smoke. The black and red caviar were served with rye crisps and cream cheese.

Kat was revelling in her surroundings and the slight buzz from the crisp champagne and the gorgeous man on her arm. Never in her life had she experienced anything close to this. Her senses were swimming, salt and savory juices on her tongue, cool champagne to wash it all down.

“I have to say, Carter, this meal is extraordinary! I guess kidnapping women really pays off.” After a moment of a little doubt, she added, “It’s just women…right?”

Carter chuckled and nodded. “I don’t do badly,” he said. “Though I really think of it more as a hobby.”

“Is that so?” They each chewed and sipped, and she enjoyed piercing the cloak of mystery around that amazing man. “You drive Uber during the days?”

He thought about that for a moment, then broke out laughing. “No, I, um, I’m…I’m quite financially set, actually.” Kat tried to remain casual. He sighed, pausing a moment. “My family’s the real source of it, to tell you the truth. Pharmacon: they make pharmaceuticals, HIV cocktails, things like that. Made a bloody fortune…and I do mean bloody. The way they all overcharge for such things, it’s…it’s criminal.” The playful look on his face, from moments before, quickly disappeared.

“I see.”

“I-I never wanted anything to do with it, at least not as soon as I became old enough to know better.”

“But you don’t mind spending their money?”

Carter wasn’t amused. “My mother had money of her own; when she died she left it to me. With that I did some investing, put together a portfolio—a nest-egg. It gets me by.”

She could only ogle the amazing restaurant around them. “I should say so.” After a few curious moments, Kat felt comfortable enough to ask, “So, um, why do you do it then—the kidnappings?”

Carter took a sip of champagne. “Why do you do it?”

She smiled right back. “I asked you first.”

They shared a little chuckle. “Fair enough.” Carter took another sip, gazing out into some imagined distance as he gave it some thought. “I do it because it’s a chance to be true to my real self—something in me, in a lot of men, women too, something primal and natural and true, some part of me that’s real, untouched by the civility of modern life, the airs and motions of it all.”

“Like you see in your family?”

Carter nodded. “They have more to do with it than that. I can’t lie to you, Kat; it drives them crazy, what I do. And there’s something about that which brings me a reasonable measure of satisfaction.”

“I can imagine.”

“You have family?”

“Mom, and then my sister and brother-in-law; they’re newly pregnant.”

Carter raised his champagne flute in a toast. “Congratulations.”

“No need to congratulate me; I didn’t do anything.” They laughed again, easy and natural, their company very free-flowing, positive energy surrounding them, drawing them together.

They ate the sumptuous feast, conversation flowing easily and covering a variety of personal subjects. So Kat wasn’t surprised when the topic of their love lives came up. “So, other than your…um, profession or hobby or whatever, are there any…other women in your life?”

Carter shook his head. “There have been a few, but…nobody special. Until now.” After a sultry silence, he asked, “And how is it that I’m lucky enough to find you unattached? Woman like you, thought you’d be married with kids by now.”

“By now? I’m not even thirty. You’re a very old-fashioned sort of person, all things considered,” Kat said playfully.

Carter chewed slowly, looking her dead in the eyes as he let her words sink in and carefully calculated his response. “I asked you a question.”

There was that power, that determination that she just couldn’t seem to resist. “I had a guy recently,” she admitted. “Turned out to be married.”

“But you didn’t know.” Carter raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not! He was living kind of a double life. Had this big red cabin out on Lake Melody, pretended to be a recluse. Turns out he had a wife here in town.”

Carter’s hovering somberness returned as he gazed out over the horizon. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. The way some people are, it’s…it’s beneath us all, don’t you think?”

Kat didn’t have to give that try much thought. She raised her glass and smiled. “Yes, Carter, yes I do.”

* * *

The view from the sixty-fifth floor of Rockefeller Plaza afforded an amazing view of the Empire State Building, lit up blue, a proud relic of a bygone era. And the music was a perfect match, a robust combination of hot swing and sweet, the jaunty rhythms of Duke Ellington and the timeless melodies of Frank Loesser.

Carter led Kat out onto the dance floor, and she was quick to see that he was a master. He swung her around with grace and certainty, whirling her around him as he guided them across the floor. Light bounced off a ball hanging from the ceiling, the entire room cast in what felt like revolving starlight. She looked up into his eyes and he down at her, the connection between them undeniable. Kat felt like a princess in his arms, being led in glorious turns by no less than a prince—a man among men. For all his toughness, he was every bit as sophisticated and classy. She began to see signs of a more refined childhood, one of world travel and education. She already knew him to be a soul both deep and wide, beautiful in a world that could be harsh and ugly.

But there was even more to Carter Fields than that. He saw through the mundane to the fantastic, the whimsical, just the same way Kat herself did, or used to be able to do. And in his company, she could see once again that, behind the veil of drudgery and boredom, challenge and trial, life could be a sparkling fantasy come to life. There was beauty in the world, both real and imagined, and one had no less value or lasting power than the other. She had always felt that way, but it took Carter to remind her, and she knew then that she’d never be able to forget it, or to forget him.

The music crescendoed, the band holding the chords, horns letting their chord ring out before the next, languid ballad began, a familiar melody in waltz time that she could almost place. When Carter pulled her close, his eyes locked on hers, and began to sing the words in a delicate whisper, she knew where she’d heard them before. But she also knew that they’d never sound the same again.

“Let me call you sweetheart,” he sang softly into her ear. “I’m in love with you. Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.” Kat swayed gently to the rhythm, looking up at Carter with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

“Keep the love light glowing in your eyes so true, let me call you sweetheart; I’m in love with you.”

The band swung hard into the refrain, Carter spinning Kat again, whisking her completely off her feet both figuratively and literally. His hands held her with gentle firmness, his legs moving with control and well-earned muscle memory. Kat wasn’t sure if it was the expensive food, the drinks, the music, or just the glamor of the moment, but she felt as if she was in a dream, floating on air, transported into another life, another world. But she knew even in the romantic fog of their musical courtship that it was more than all that; she knew what she was feeling, and when the verse came around again, she was happy to sing those lines with him—fresh in her memory, embedded in her soul.

“Keep the love light glowing, in your eyes so truuuuuuuuuuueeeeee…” The band paused again, holding their chord, locking Kat and Carter in a moment all their own, one which would last a lifetime. The two stood as if the only people in the room, in the city, in the world. “Let me call you sweetheart,” they both sang as the band drove the song to its climax. “I’m in looooooooove wiiiiiiiith yoooooooouuuuuuuu.”