Connor MacLeod was up and getting ready to go to work when John Clayton brought Katherine back to the house, both of them looking a little worse for wear. When he felt her *buzz* he glanced out the window just in time to see John lean down and give her a tender kiss on the forehead before turning and walking towards Ev and Rayden's house next door. Connor heard the front door open and he came out of his bedroom. He leaned over the banister, watching as Katherine dropped the stuff she was carrying in a pile by the door and headed for the nearest chair to collapse in it.

"Good Morning Katherine, me dove! You look like something the cat drug in!" he called down in a cheerful voice. He then laughed at her rude and physically improbable comment she mumbled in response to that greeting. By the time he made it down the stairs she was already half asleep. He pulled her up to a sitting position, ignoring her mumbled protests and gave her a welcome home kiss. Looking down, he was surprised to see a long line of healing claw marks up the side of one of her legs.

"What happened here, Katherine?" He asked as his fingers traced the fading marks.

"A half grown lion cub decided to use me as her own private scratching post and a chew toy when we were on our way out. She tried to bite John too when he drug her off me, but he made her behave", she explained as she yawned, barely able to keep her eyes open. The use of Lord Greystoke's given name by Katherine did not escape Connor's notice and he could not help but wonder how he had managed to persuade her to begin calling him by it.

"Sounds like you two had an interesting time last night then", he teased as he gathered her up in his arms and carried her limp form up the stairs into their bedroom. He sat her on the edge of the bed and pulled the dress she was wearing over her head, then covered her up with the comforter as she lay curled up on her side, a slightly smug but satisfied look on her face. Giving her another kiss on the forehead, he played with the damp ringlets of her hair, removing some grass that was tangled up in it.

Katherine sighed happily and then yawned, her eyes already closing and said, "Aye Captain. We did. Might be awhile before I climb any more trees with him though." Connor raised an eyebrow and decided that was a story he would insist upon hearing later. Chuckling softly at the already sound asleep girl, he turned off the lights and closed the door to the bedroom. On his way out he picked up her things, noticing a leather case wrapped up in her shawl. Curious, he opened it up and saw it was a flute. It looked like John Clayton had figured out that music was the one sure way into Katherine's heart. He put the shawl and shoes in the hall closet and then placed the flute on a table next to where her guitar was leaning so she could easily find it when she woke. Then humming to himself, he walked out the door into the bright morning sunshine.

Later that afternoon, Connor was going over possible additions to the inventory of MacLeod & MacLeod Imports with his store manager when he felt the warning buzz of an approaching immortal. He turned to see who it was, only to almost get knocked off balance when he was tackled by a little blonde whirlwind. Hugging Katherine close to him for a moment, he then reached down and lifted her off her feet and raised her up so her mouth was level with his. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, while Salvator looked on, shaking his head in amusement. Connor kissed her back fervently ignoring their audience while wondering what had happened to make her come there. Up to now she had made it a habit never to disturb him at work.

He lowered her to the ground and ruffled her hair. "So Katherine, your little nap following your big adventure last night has totally revived you, hasn't it?" That comment got him punched lightly in the stomach but the glee in her eyes told him she was really feeling good. She was all but dancing in excitement over something. She started to say something but she heard Salvator chuckle off to the side, and she glanced at him quickly, then did a double take. Katherine looked him over intently for a moment, her head cocked slightly to one side. She turned back to Connor and poked him again, asking him when he was going to remember his manners and get around to introducing them to each other.

"That's right, you haven't met the manager of my store yet! Katherine, this is Salvator Guiliano. Sal, it is my privilege to introduce to you Lady Katherine Dixon", Connor said in an amused tone of voice.

"Buon giorna, belladonna. I am very happy to finally meet you. I have been hearing many wonderful things about you." With this the Sicilian took her hand in his and kissed the back of it slowly as Katherine almost purred in delight.

"Down, girl!" Connor said as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. This earned him a sharp jab in the ribs with her elbow and a scathing look. She turned her attention back to Salvator and she answered him in fluent Italian. It had always amazed Connor how quickly his little friend picked up languages. When he first met her back when she was just a teenager she had already been able to speak Gaelic, English, French and Italian.

"Scusi, Signor Guiliano. May I borrow Connor for a few minutes?" she asked, her sky blue eyes shining as the two of them looked each other over.

"But of course, Lady Katherine!" He bowed slightly and kissed her hand again before turning away, busying himself elsewhere in the shop so the two of them could talk. Katherine watched him walk away, licking her lips slowly with a very impish look on her face.

"You are all fired up and ready to go, aren't you?" Connor teased as he swatted her on the butt to turn her attention back to him. "Are you going to tell me what brought you here, or do I have to guess?"

Katherine made a face at him and punched him lightly again. "Behave, you! Actually there are two things. Ev called. She and Rayden want us to come over for dinner tonight. She said they have something special to show us. Oh, and it's a fancy dress dinner."

Connor rolled his eyes back and laughed. "Those two! They are always up to something. I wonder who else is going to be there this time!"

Katherine just shrugged. "She said all the boys will be there. And she mentioned something about a special guest as well. I was thinking of wearing that long midnight blue dress. What do you think?"

"I think the *boys* will be more interested in eating you up than any dinner if you wear that one. I know I would", he said with a wicked grin on his face as he ran his hands up the back of her shirt.

"Now who's getting all fired up? Behave!" she said, but made no effort to remove his wandering hands.

"Ok, that's one thing. What's the other?" Connor asked as he pulled her slight body tight to his, cupping her firm rear with one hand while the other caressed her back under her shirt. Katherine stood there for a moment, enjoying the feel of his hands on her body before pushing herself away from him. She then pulled out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of the jean skirt she was wearing, a broad smile on her face and her eyes dancing in excitement.

"An interesting letter from a lady named Kimmer came to me. Take a look and see what you think!"

Connor took the note from her hand and unfolded it. He pulled Katherine down with him onto a loveseat and put one arm around her so she could lean against his chest and they could read it together.

"Is this something you would really like to do, love?" Connor asked, knowing the answer already by the bright beaming look on her face.

"Aye Captain! It tis! I've always wanted a place of my own like that!"

"I think it would be a great experience for you then. Give me a few minutes to finish my business here. Then we can go down to Simon's office to look over the paperwork to see what has been arranged", Connor ruffled her hair again and gave her a tender kiss before getting up. Katherine was so wound up she couldn't sit still very long and she was soon up out of the seat and wandering around the store, checking out all the merchandise while he and Salvator finished up what they were doing.

"Looks good Connor, I will contact these suppliers and see what they can do for us", the Sicilian said once they were done. He looked over at Katherine who was examining some Irish lace. "You, Signor, are a very fortunate man. That little one has a lot of fire in her belly, no?"

Connor chuckled and looked over at her too. Katherine glanced up and flashed a radiant smile back at him. "For sure, my friend. That is for sure!"

Katherine unlocked the door of Kimmer's Koffees with the key that Simon Pemberton had given her and went into the building with Connor. He stood back and watched as poked around the place, as excited as a child at Christmas. She ran back over to him and hugged him tight. "This is wonderful! I can really see myself here!" she told him as she snuggled tight up against him. He just held her tight, glad that this was making her happy.

The two of them spent the next several hours going over the place from top to bottom, discussing all the possibilities. He had a little difficulty at first convincing her not to worry about the costs of any renovations. She finally agreed to let him pay for them with the condition that she pay him back the costs as soon as possible. The place had sat unused since Kimmer had left and needed a good cleaning but Katherine wanted to also repaint the walls, hang new curtains and pictures as well. They talked about building a small platform stage built along the back wall, as well as display cases and additional shelves along the walls. There was a small kitchen area off to the side where food could be prepared, as well as a lovely terrace for outside seating. They discussed what décor to use, the food and drinks she would sell. It was decided a sound system would be nice so she could have music playing in the background both in the building, and out on the terrace. Connor also gave her some advice on a sideline of items she could have available for purchase. He told her he could help find her suppliers for all of the items she needed. Katherine listened carefully to his advice and only argued over some of it. She figured out that if she worked on it steadily with occasional help from him she could have it ready to reopen in a couple of weeks. Katherine headed back to the closet full of cleaning supplies and would have gotten started right then and there had he not stopped her.

Closing the door of the closet firmly, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard and passionately. She resisted for a moment before throwing her arms around his neck and returning the kiss wholeheartedly. When they broke for air, she looked up in with a questioning look. "What was that for?" she asked.

Connor just grinned. "Just because", he said as he caressed her jawline. "But mainly I wanted to be the first guy to give you a kiss here in your new business." That earned him another even more fervent kiss.

Taking another break for air he asked "Are you going to keep the name of the place the same?"

She nodded and said, "The place still belongs to Kimmer, so I kinda have to. But I am thinking of adding the words *featuring the Captain's Lady* below the name of it on any advertisements I put out. Do you like that?"

Connor chuckled and held her close. "Hmmmm. Yes, you are the Captain's Lady indeed. And you always will be." They stood in the middle of the empty room in a close intimate embrace for quite a while before Connor reluctantly broke it up. "But we have a dinner party to go to now, so we had better go home and change. Tomorrow will be soon enough to start cleaning."

He escorted her out of the establishment and locked the door for her. He then reached out to take her hand in his to take his Lady back home with him.