Another Favor

"Yeah? She's a neat girl. She's a lot more mature than most females her age."

Jake laughed and told him about his own white ass being mistaken for Billy's. Billy said she had been out to the house a few times, more as a friend than anything else, but a couple of times to help with one of the dogs who couldn't seem to shake an ear infection.

Billy admitted he was aware of Janet's mild crush, but also knew it wasn't anything serious. She just didn't have a current boyfriend to capture her attention. "Some lucky guy is going to find out about her some day. I just hope he doesn't keep her from finishing school. She'll make a great veterinarian."

"I've got a little problem, Billy. Maybe I could use my younger brother's advice."

"Oh, yeah?"

"It's about Janet."

"Oh, it's like that, is it? I tell ya man, she's a special one."

"You don't think the age thing is a problem?"

"I don't think so. Some women have a level head when they're fifteen and others still can't make a good decision when they're forty. But dammit, don't you hurt her."

"I did some pretty heavy thinking last night. I won't hurt her."

"Whew Jake, I'm not sure if I should even tell you this, but it seems like now is as good a time as any. You know I met Cathy on a blind date. I was just doing a favor for a friend, she was visiting his girlfriend. Man, I knew, like ten minutes after I saw her and before we even left for the movies. I knew. It was that fast."

Jake took a deep breath, "If you had told me that last week, I'd have said you were nuts. I'm not so sure I can say that today."

"Don't you hurt her Jake. But hey, big brother, don't let her hurt you either. Give her some time if she needs it. Cathy needed a few weeks and then told me she didn't understand why I waited so long."

"I think I'll take her to Sidney's tomorrow night."

"Oh shit man, that's only five days."

"Yeah, but I might wait until Thursday to ask. I've got special plans for Wednesday night."

"Call me if you need the combination to the safe. Oh hell, forget that, Jake. It's your birth date and then mine."

***

Jake met Janet outside Tuesday morning when she arrived. After making sure she was ready for her tough exam that day, he asked, "Can you have dinner with me tonight?"

"Dinner? You mean like a date?"

Jake laughed, "Yes, Janet, just like a date. You know, wear a nice dress, fix your hair, put on makeup. I'll shave very carefully, put on a suit, and come pick you up."

"Wow, it's just like in those old movies?"

"Not quite, but you get the idea. Now, can you have dinner with me tonight?"

"Oh, sorry I ... yes, Jake Tranton, I'd love to have dinner with you tonight." Trying for a note of sophistication, Janet asked, "What time will you call for me?" However, her question was barely out of her mouth before the giggles started.

"I have a reservation for Sidney's at eight o'clock."

She did not manage to hide the awe in her voice when she repeated, "Sidney's?"

"I thought you might like that."

"That's a ... it's a ... my folks went there on their twenty-fifth anniversary a couple of years ago."

"Then you know it's an elegant dining establishment, rather than just a simple restaurant."

"Yeah ... yes ... oh wow, Sidney's."

"Give me your address and tell me if you can be ready at a little after seven?"

Janet nodded and seemed to finish her job of feeding the dogs and washing the kennels in a daze. Jake spent most of the morning inside the house in the office. When he could finally get away from the telephone her car was already gone. It took him an hour to realize he felt depressed because he hadn't been able to kiss her.

The truck bringing the dog food arrived shortly after that, giving Jake something to do. Although the driver unloaded the bags, Jake still had several bins to fill and varmint traps to check and bait. By the time he finished in the storage room, all he wanted was a cool place to sit until the muscles in his arms stopped trembling from hefting fifty pound bags.

The only time that afternoon he moved from the couch was to answer the front door to receive several boxes from Billy's favorite harness and leash supplier. Somewhere around five o'clock Jake was so hot and sweaty, tired of the musty smell of dog food and overwhelmed with the cloying odor of new leather, that he was glad he had time for a soak in the whirlpool bath in the master bathroom.

***

"Jake I'm scared I'll do something wrong, like a social gaffe."

"I guess I understand that. I wasn't much better off the first time I had a meal in a place like this."

After spending a few minutes in the bar with mixed drinks, they were sitting at their table. Janet's hands were shaking after the maitre de led them across the very quite small dining room with low lighting on the individual tables filled with gold trimmed china and sparkling crystal.

"I'll tell you a secret," Jake spoke softly, as he held Janet's hand on top of the table. When she turned her attention from their surroundings to look at him, he lowered his voice. "I learned most of the waiters are just a little snobbish but they enjoy being asked for help. They like to show their skills to someone who may not be familiar with the food, utensils, and wine served during a multi-course meal. Ask you questions quietly and look at him, he'll tell you what to do."

During the first course, Janet could barely eat her appetizer because she was so busy looking around the dining room at the service people. They seemed to move about without making a sound as they removed dishes and replaced them for other couples also enjoying a very special meal.

During the second course, she was finally able to taste the soup, appreciating the waiter who unobtrusively touched the end of the soup spoon indicating which utensil she should use. She listened to Jake and understood when he suggested she take only a few sips of the wine.

During the third course, Jake looked up from his salad, "Janet, you can't keep looking at me like that."

"Why? Does it bother you that I'm impressed?"

"I don't mean those looks. It's the ones where you lick your lips as you watch me. Even if I were desperate, I could not walk across this room without embarrassing myself."

As the waiter removed the half-eaten salads, and another brought the fourth course, a light sorbet to cleanse the palate, Janet asked, "Why, Jake, are you aroused?"

"Yes dammit, and you know it. That dress just barely covers your nipples and you are absolutely naked under it."

"I'm not dressed inappropriately, am I?"

Abandoning the sorbet, Jake leaned back in his chair. "No, you're not dressed inappropriately. I doubt any other man in the room knows how you are dressed with that sweet little jacket covering half of what most of them want to see. Besides, the lighting is low and they are giving their attention to their partners. It's just that I know it."

"Okay then, since I'm doing it for you, just enjoy what you know and look but don't touch. That's what you want, right?"

When he had arrived at her parent's house, as she had instructed, her mother had opened the front door, introduced herself, and invited him inside to meet Janet's father. The two men were seated in comfortable chairs, conversing about Jake's job, when he heard a small noise at the living room door. Unaware he had done so after his lower jaw dropped, Jake stood when Janet entered the room.

"Oh darling, you look lovely," Sarah Beyer had complimented her daughter. "You're wearing the jacket too, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mother, I'm wearing the jacket." Janet had walked across the room, put her hands on Jake's shoulders and rose on her toes to kiss him on the cheek as his hands went to her waist. From the low cut of the front of the body hugging dress, and the lack of a single seam showing beneath the clinging fabric, he knew without a doubt she was wearing absolutely nothing under the dress except her skin. He had no idea how her stockings were held up. She was ravishingly beautiful and he told her so.

As if she was familiar with the process and had done it many times, she had handed her short jacket to Jake and turned her back to him. From the nape of her neck to a few inches above her waist all he saw was skin. He had held her jacket as any gentlemen should. She slipped her hands into the sleeves, changing her small handbag from one hand to the other as if with practiced ease. Then he rested his hands on her shoulders for a moment while he used every ounce of his willpower not to lean over and kiss the back of her neck. It wasn't that he didn't dare kiss her like that in front of her parents; he feared he could not stop there.

Jake had felt a tingle in his groin and knew he was going to be in a similar state for the remainder of the evening. Why he had ever suggested and then agreed to the ridiculous notion of hands off, he did not know and was learning to regret his impulsiveness with each passing day. If he had been thinking with the head on his shoulders, he never would have suggested such a thing. He only hoped Janet was a miserable as he was, but he doubted it. She seemed to be enjoying showing him what he was missing.

Hiram Beyer had walked to his daughter and patted her on the shoulder, shook hands with Jake and announced, "You two young folks have fun. I remember how wonderful our meal was when I took Sarah. Don't pass it up if they have macadamia cups with passion fruit and cream for dessert."

Now, as the fifth course was placed before them, Jake was struggling to give his attention to the chicken. He had no interest whatsoever in listening to the waiter describe how the poultry was prepared with a coating of almond crusted with blueberries, peaches, & Grand Marnier. Nor did he care what vintage the wine was, nor the vineyard from which it came.

"Jake?"

"What, sweetheart?" Oh God, Jake was ready to kick himself and call himself every kind of a love-sick fool. He had just used a term of endearment for a woman he had only known for a few days. That he could count, he had spent somewhat less than fifteen hours with her and he was already so captivated, enchanted, and fascinated he couldn't think straight.

"You won't be upset with me if I don't eat all of this, will you?"

"No, sweetheart, the salmon is a lot better than the chicken. If you eat some of that we can enjoy your father's favorite dessert and not be too miserable."

Despite his desire to take Janet back to Billy and Cathy's house and have his way with her, he took her home. After all, it was near midnight. A full-service, seven course meal, with all the ceremony of wine selection and presentation can last up to three hours. When the ritual of being shown to a table and placing their order was added to a final cup of coffee and a special brandy or other liquor to settle the meal, four hours spent in such an elegant atmosphere was not unreasonable.

Jake walked her up the stairs to her small apartment over the garage and declined to go inside. He knew better. Janet was a little unsteady on her feet from all the wine and the late hour. If she leaned toward him and put her arms around him he might lose his restraint. Instead, he told her he would take care of the exercise and feeding of the dogs the next day and promised he would wash out the kennels, too.

"I'll fix something for us to eat tomorrow evening. If you pack an overnight bag after your last class and drive out to the house, we may have time for a late swim."

"Yeah, I can do that," she answered against Jake's neck as he held her while they stood on the small landing at the top of the stairs.

"Jake, I had a wonderful evening. Thank you so much."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did I tell you how beautiful you are?" Unable to resist, Jake had his hands under the short jacket that matched her dress. His hands were against the bare skin of her back and he was miserable. Every time he moved one hand or the other, Janet shuddered or caught her breath.

"I wasn't counting, but you did say something like that a few times. The one I liked the best was when you tasted the dessert. You said you'd rather taste my passion than some silly fruit which didn't deserve the name."

Jake chuckled, "The waiter seemed to particularly enjoy that remark, too."

Janet's tinkling laughter rippled up Jake's spine and caused chills to form across the top of his shoulders. He was going to be miserable for the rest of the night.

"Kiss me good night, beautiful."

***

Jake was awake before daylight. He could still smell Janet's perfume with every breath he took. He didn't even bother with a morning shower. Instead he walked down the hall and out to the patio, along the side of the pool, then dove into the deep end, and began to swim, working hard until he was so out of breath he could no longer think about anything but crawling out of the pool to lie down on one of the rope beds to recuperate.

As he dressed to tend to the dogs, he was almost glad he had forgotten his boots. Billy's were half a size too small which gave him something to think about other than holding Janet and kissing her and burying himself so deeply in her heat that he could remain there for the rest of his life. After washing the kennels and filling water bowls while the dogs played and chased the rope knots he threw for them, he pulled the mower out of the garden shed and cut grass for a couple of hours. He was even industrious enough to trim some low branches on the trees in the front yard and feed them through the chipper, filling the mulch bin until it was over flowing. Those were the chores he had always grumbled about doing when he was growing up, but for the first time he realized how much satisfaction he felt when the work was done.

As he reached to pull the garden shed doors closed, he looked at the ten acres next to Billy and Cathy's house. When Billy had bought this land and built the new kennels, he had encouraged Jake to purchase the ten acre plot next to it. Even if Jake never built his own house on the land, it was a good investment. He had never cut any of the trees, as Billy had done when he had his house built, so Jake's property was well shaded. Without a fence between the two home sites, the additional land seemed almost an extension of Billy's property.

Although he had already serviced and cleaned the riding mower, he started it again and rode it out of the garden shed. Without giving much thought to why he was doing it, he drove around the perimeter of his acreage then continued to cut the longer grass that received the most sunshine. More than an hour later, he rode the mower back to clean and service the machine. As he once again started pulling the garden shed doors across the wide opening, he felt calm and satisfied with the work he had done that day.

When he walked out of the guest bathroom, he saw Janet standing in the middle of the bedroom, still holding her small overnight bag. She turned her head from looking at the bed to look at Jake.

Her voice trembled when she said, "Jake." Then she took a deep breath and admitted, "I knocked, but ... I can't believe how nervous I am."

Jake wrapped the towel around his waist and walked to stand in front of her. "I'm nervous, too, sweetheart." He took her bag and placed it on the bed then turned back to her, lifted his hands to thread through the hair around her face, and held her for his kiss. He lifted his head and for a very long moment Janet stood still with her eyes closed, until she licked her lips as if she was savoring the taste of something delicious, much as she had done in the restaurant.

"I'm going to put some clothes on and go fix something for our supper," Jake said. "Why don't you take your shower? I should have things ready by the time you finish."

Not bothering with a shirt, Jake pulled on a pair cut off sweatpants he had worn so many years they were almost threadbare. He wasn't expecting company, there were no neighbors, and Janet had already seen all of him there was to see. He was dressing strictly for comfort.

While putting their supper on the table, Janet appeared with her hair still wet. She was wearing a mid-thigh length oversized t-shirt and panties. It seemed she understood the idea of comfort, too. As they ate supper, they got into a long discussion about what Janet needed to do when she was ready to open her own clinic. She didn't want to join another vet and share a practice. She didn't mind not really making much money at first, as long as she could cover the overhead. Jake said he felt, in addition to animals needing hospitalization, if she wanted to take in a few animals while owners were out of town or on vacation, the income would go a long way toward covering that part of her expenses. She might also consider stocking some of the special diet foods, particularly for the much older pets some people seemed to pamper as if they were children.

As they cleaned up the kitchen, Jake asked, "Do you want to go for a swim?"

"Not really," Janet answered, her voice a little subdued and quiet.

"We were up pretty late, how about a nap?" Before she could respond, Jake held his hands up and said, "Honest, a nap. I spent so much time outside today that I'm almost out on my feet."

"Yeah, okay, that sounds like a good idea. I almost went to sleep in class after lunch. The guy who sits in front of me does it all the time. I think he has a part-time job and works late, or he has too many women to satisfy."

Janet was laughing as Jake took her hand and led her down the hall toward the bedrooms. They pulled the spread off the bed and were just as quickly under the sheet with their heads on the pillows. Jake told Janet to turn over then pulled her against himself and held her with her hips nestled against him. She was asleep in minutes and he was dozing soon afterward.

***

Jake opened his eyes as Janet slid out from under the covers and headed toward the bathroom. When she returned he knew something was different, but he wasn't sure what it was. She lifted the sheet, crawled into the bed, moved over to cuddle against him, and shivered a moment as if she were chilled from the air conditioning.

Jake slid one hand under her and put his other arm around her, pulling her into his arms and then moved his hands down her back until he reached her bottom. He knew what was different. She had taken her panties off. She whimpered as he massaged the twin globes and pulled her to him. Her kiss held hunger and passion as he slid his hands slowly and lightly up along her back to her shoulders holding her, lost in their kiss.

Soon, they had to come up for air. Jake lifted himself up on one elbow to lean over her, not wanting to leave her lips. The kiss started out soft and sweet but before long it was growing in passion by leaps and bounds. Janet was panting, showing her urgency and Jake was trying to slow himself down.

Janet had gotten one of her arms under him and was running her hands up and down his back. She stopped for a moment to feel the ridges of his shoulder blades, then trailed her fingers down his backbone, bumping across each vertebra until she slid her hands inside his shorts.

"Have you been working on some tan for this white ass?" Janet asked as she moved her leg over his hip and pushed against his ass. When he pushed his erection against the openness she was giving him she gasped and shuddered.

"Jake..." she was pleading, her arm under him applying pressure to pull him on top of her.

"Janet, I need to..." He struggled to slide his shorts down his hips and thrashed his legs to kick them off the side of the bed.

"No! Now!" she demanded.

His only thought was the demand in her voice and the demand of his own body. He was above her, moving slightly down and then back up, slipping along her slit, feeling her wetness spreading over him until the head of his cock was pressing against her hot opening. Janet drew in a full breath of air and held it, pulling him toward her as he pressed forward.