Getting Soft Washed

"How dramatic was the change for you?" she asked.

"At the risk of seeming like a narcissist...."

Dillon scrolled through his pics again then handed her the phone.

"That was taken six months ago."

She gasped audibly when she saw it then looked at him as she remembered his 'fat' pic.

"My uncle says I have muscles in my...."

He leaned over and whispered, "In my shit."

Sarah had never heard that and couldn't help but laugh.

"That looks like a very apt description," she told him. "I don't have words to describe your transformation."

"Thank you, but the more important thing to me is that I feel good. Really good. And once I got into it my whole life changed. It's what pushed me to start my own business. I knew that if I could work that hard at one thing and get results, I could do it in another area of my life. I was relentless in pursuing the weight loss, and now I apply that to my company."

Sarah sat there and stared at him as he spoke. A newfound sense of admiration rose up in her, and he now seemed...older. Or perhaps the better word was more 'mature'.

"If that sounded conceited in any way, please for...."

"Dillon, it was anything but that," she assured him. "It was actually inspiring."

"I know it doesn't sound like it, but I don't like talking about myself."

He laughed as he said, "I mean, I already know how every story ends."

Sarah laughed, too, and told him she loved his sense of humor.

"Can we talk about you now?" he asked, and the way he said it caused a release of endorphins or some kind of very pleasant chemicals in her body.

"Oh, gosh. I'm so...boring!" she said with a laugh.

"No. No, you're not," Dillon gently replied. "I think you're pretty incredible."

Sarah opened up to this handsome, younger man like she hadn't with anyone else but Tammy in many, many years. By the time they left the restaurant two hours later, she'd told him her entire life story with Dillon saying nothing unless it was to ask for clarification or how something related to something she'd said before.

When he opened her car door on the way out, she looked at him for a moment then looked away but then looked at him again.

"You are so beautiful," she heard him say. She knew she looked a mess, but she couldn't help but believe that he meant what he'd just said in spite of her disheveled appearance.

"Ha!" she quietly replied. "I believe that would be you."

He smiled at her as he asked, "You think I'm...beautiful?"

"Duh. You're like some kind of...Greek god or something."

"Yeah, right."

"Yes. Right," she told him as their eyes met and locked.

She saw him leaning closer but still couldn't believe he was about to kiss her, but when his lips met hers, reality set in and she kissed him back.

She barely looked at him when it ended. He just told her to be careful as she sat down. He closed her door, and as he walked around to the driver's side, she felt overwhelmed in several different ways.

On the drive back neither of them spoke until Sarah asked the question she could no longer not ask.

"May I ask how old you are?" she carefully said, only kind of looking his way as she did.

"I just turned 25," he calmly replied. "Should I stop the car and let you out?"

She knew he was young, but 25 years old? And yet a part of her didn't care. Or maybe it was just obsessing about her having to now tell him her age, and she feared that when she did, he would indeed stop the car and tell her to get out.

"Dillon? I'm a lot older than you," she said, hoping to stave off the inevitable.

"What's a lot? Five years? Ten? Who cares?"

"No. Not five or ten."

"Okay? So?"

"Um, well, if you add those two numbers together...and subtract one...."

He said," WHEW!" so loudly it scared her.

When she looked at him, he smiled then laughed.

"My...upper limit...is 40, so we're good."

He said it so seriously it made her laugh.

"Stop! You can't think that's okay."

"I can't? Then why is it that I do?" he asked in a 'well, la-di-da' kind of way.

"Dillon, I was 14 when you were born. I...I could have been your babysitter!"

He didn't even crack a smile when he said, "Did you just call me, baby...baby?"

When Sarah didn't immediately respond, he cut his eyes her way, causing her to spurt.

"You're...ridiculous!" she laughed.

"But am I still your baby...baby?"

He turned her way and wriggled his eyebrows, and that only made her spurt again.

"Shouldn't we maybe wait a little while before we decide that?" she asked, her mature side taking over again.

He looked at the Apple Watch on his wrist then said just as seriously as before, "Sure. Should we give it two hours or will one be adequate?"

A third spurt erupted, and Sarah knew she was hooked. If there was any doubt it dissipated when he reached over for her hand. She looked at it, looked at him, then gave hers to him.

They only had another mile to go, but neither said another word until he pulled up to the curb.

"Thank you for lunch," she said when he shut it off.

He started to say, "You're welcome," when he saw her smile before she said, "Baby."

Both of them laughed briefly before he leaned over and kissed her again. Sarah not only kissed him back she briefly offered him the tip of her tongue. The offer was returned in kind, and a very sweet, very romantic French kiss ensued that lasted a good five seconds.

"Wow. The dessert was better than the meal," Dillon whispered.

"I thought you didn't eat dessert," his 'baby' said.

"Just the no-calorie kind," he told her before kissing her again before hopping out and running around to get her door.

"Thank you...baby," she said very sweetly.

"My pleasure, baby," he said right back.

He closed her door then took her hand and asked, "So what's next?"

"Well, there are several options," Sarah replied.

He stopped her then turned her way.

"Don't say 'going to bed' is one of them."

He was smiling, but even though she wouldn't have said it, she was definitely thinking it.

"Because I want this to work," Dillon said as he brushed her messy hair back. "And I want it to last."

Sarah didn't ask how he could possibly know that at this point in their budding relationship, because that was exactly what she was thinking and wanting, too.

"That can wait," she replied quietly.

"So...the bedroom?" he suggested, drawing a head shake from his 'baby.'

"The floor. You mentioned a board that creaks.

"Oh. Right!" Sarah said, the thought of actually going to bed with Dillon gradually leaving her mind.

"Hey, you didn't think I meant...."

"What? NO! Of course not," she lied, knowing it was only a little white lie.

"Good, because we really do need to give that some time," Dillon reiterated.

She had no idea how or why she said the next words, but they did come out of her mouth.

"We do need to give that some time. Maybe two hours? Or would one be adequate?"

Dillon remembered the earlier exchange and laughed.

"I have never met anyone like you, Sarah Cox," he said as he ran the back of his hand along her cheek.

"Does that mean you want to kiss me again...baby?" she purred as she put her arms around his neck.

Just as their lips met the sound of a car horn startled her so badly she yelped.

Tammy had just pulled up, and as she got out of the car, Sarah thought, "Uh-oh."

"Hey, lovebirds!" she called out as she strode up to them waving like a fool.

"You scared me half to death!" Sarah said.

"Sorry. Did I interrupt something?" Tammy teased.

"We were just getting back to work," her friend insisted, feeling a little rattled.

"Work, huh? Okay. If you say so!"

She looked at Dillon with that 'go get her' look in her eyes, and when she did, he chuckled.

"We had a really good morning here and we just came back from lunch."

"Oh, and I spoiled dessert!" Tammy said as though she were oh-so sorry, unaware of Sarah's previous dessert comment.

Dillion kind of coughed but he did smile as Tammy asked if she could be of any help. Sarah began telling her the things she needed to do just as Dillon's phone rang.

"Hey, Javi. What's up?" the two women heard him say. "Really? How bad?"

Sarah looked at Tammy who was looking at Dillon.

"As long as you're okay," he said. "I'll be right there."

"Is everything okay?" Sarah asked.

"Someone ran into Javier. Broadsided the truck. He's fine, so it's no big deal, but I do need to...."

"No! Go! Go take care of your friend!" Sarah insisted.

"Yes, go!" Tammy joined in.

"I'm really sorry," he told Sarah as he moved a little closer.

"Don't be. We uh, we have plenty of time, right?"

"We better," Dillon quietly replied with a little smile. "I'll call you and let you know what's going on."

"You better...baby," she told him with a smile of her own.

Tammy pretended not to listen or to watch when he kissed her best friend goodbye, but as soon as he was in the truck, she demanded details.

"All of them!"

Very little work got done the rest of the day as the two women talked endlessly about Dillon, the budding relationship, Sarah's feelings, and the kisses.

"And did I hear you call him 'baby'?" Tammy asked at one point.

Sarah laughed then explained where that came from.

"Oh, my gosh! He's...twenty-five?"

"Stop! When you say it like that it sounds...." Sarah began saying.

"Yummy?" her BFF suggested as she did the eyebrow thing, too.

"Speaking of yummy. You have to see his before and after pics!" Sarah bubbled as she discussed the six pack/eight pack thing.

"Okay, stop!" Tammy said after she described the eight pack. "If you don't, I'm gonna have to ask to use your vibrator and go lay down!"

Sarah laughed happily as did her friend who hugged her and told her how happy she was for her.

"Just one question," Tammy said. "Does he have an older brother?"

Before Sarah could answer Tammy said, "Oh, hell. Younger would be okay, too!"

They both laughed again and hugged one another.

"No, but he does have an uncle named Mitch who evidently has the same kind of body only he's quite a bit older."

"Is he single?" Tammy asked as though that was all that mattered.

"I don't know, but he does live in Colorado."

"I like Denver. And skiing. I could so do that," her friend informed her before they startled piddling around with the next task they never did finish.

As promised, Dillon called later that evening, and let her know Javier was fine. The truck was totaled, but their insurance company promised to cut a check within 72 hours, so all was well except for being down a vehicle for at least a week and maybe two.

"What I really want to know is...when can I see you again...baby?" Dillon asked.

"I'm tempted to say 'right now', but I'm afraid that could be dangerous," Sarah said with a smile he could 'hear'.

"I like danger," Dillon replied so fast it made her smile.

"Are you sure?" she asked both pensively and hopefully.

"The more important question is, 'Are you'?"

She only thought for a moment before telling him she was.

"How about in two hours?" he suggested.

"I think one will be adequate."

They both laughed before Dillon said, "I'll be there in an hour, baby."

When she hung up, Sarah was so happy she did the foot stomping thing as her arms also flew up and down as though she was 'pepper stepping.'

"I uh, I believe that's my cue to leave!" Tammy told her friend.

"No, don't go!"

"Hey. Two's company and all that. Besides, I'm just so happy for you...baby!"

The two women laughed then hugged each other.

As badly as Sarah wanted to make love with this incredibly attractive, much-younger man, she drew the line at 'crossing the line'. Dillon was completely receptive and made no attempt to try and push things eve a little bit. He told her twice more that he felt she was worth waiting for and meant it.

Her willpower gradually wilted over the next two weeks and she, and her new boyfriend (a word she joked with Dillon that gave new meaning to the word) finally did the deed in a five-star hotel after an amazing, romantic dinner at one of the best restaurants in Seattle.

Giving in was easy, and not just because he was so hot she needed to figuratively wear an asbestos suit whenever he was near. It was also because Dillon was mature beyond his years. He was goal-oriented, driven, hard working, and as much as she admired those traits, what Sarah really loved was that he gentle and kind and a man of his word.

She quickly realized that in his case age really was just a number. She also learned that she would have loved him were he 20 or 50. Okay, 20 might be a stretch, but the point was that he had every quality she'd ever dreamed of in a man. That he was so much younger than her meant nothing except in those moments when she worried he might tire of her somewhere down the road.

Dillon knew that and found ways of letting her know that would never happen. The most convincing was the way he spoke of his parents' relationship and how badly he wanted that in his own life. And after meeting his mother and getting to know her, she fully trusted and believed this woman's son and soon realized she was falling in love with him.

Dillon helped her at every turn in the remodeling of her home, and by the time it was done it looked amazing--inside and out. She would now be able to get above-market offers were she to sell it, but she had no intention of doing so.

That insistence that they live there, however, also began to slowly fade when six months later Dillon asked her to marry him after another romantic dinner in Vancouver, BC, as she dreamed of having a family and maybe a larger home. Trembling with excitement, and with tears streaming down her face, Sarah said 'YES!' before he could finish the proposal.

Not long after that, Dillon's company opened another location in little old Enumclaw, and he now had just over 150 team members working for him. Sarah had never asked about money, because she didn't care how much he made. She loved him for who he was and when she later vowed to love him for 'richer or poorer' she meant it.

Four months after their fairytale wedding, Sarah, who was then just shy of 41, told him she had some very exciting news as they lay in bed that night.

"What kind?" her handsome husband asked.

"Well, you and I are going to be...parents," she told him.

Dillon flung the covers off, rolled over on top of her and said, "Tell me that again, baby."

"You...and I...are going to have...a baby, baby."

"Are you serious?" he said, so excited he could barely contain himself.

"That's what my doctor said the tests revealed, so...yes. I'm sure."

Dillon was beside himself with happiness. He was in a dream state for weeks. One day he pitched the idea of a new home. They'd been living in Sarah's since they got engaged, but she was open to the idea as long as she could still teach at Westwood.

Three months later they closed on a beautiful 2,575sqft home with five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms that was located just out of town in an area called Veezee. The home, the yard, and the view were nothing short of spectacular, and while Sarah fretted over the $2.5 million price tag, Dillon assured her they could easily afford it.

"Babies are expensive. You know that, right...baby?" she said the first night they spent in their new home after making passionate love in their new king-sized bed.

"Babies? As in...plural? Are you having...twins?" he asked excitedly.

"No, silly. Just one. Our baby. But I'm open to another one...if you are?"

"Yes! I am SO open to that!" her husband said. "Whenever you're ready, just let me know."

"Down, boy! I haven't even had this one yet. Don't pressure me, okay?"

"No pressure, baby. Just letting you know I'm ready, willing and able, and that I can't wait to be a dad."

"You're going to be a great dad, honey. I can't believe I was so lucky to ever find you."

"Yeah. Good thing you bought a house that needed some work, huh?" he teased.

"Hey, we got just under a cool million for that fixer-upper, buckaroo," she teased back.

"We really did fix it up, didn't we?"

"Yes, we did. You and me," she said, a sweet smile on her face.

Dillon placed his hand on her baby bump and told her how much he loved her.

"And I always will, baby," he said before she pulled him back on top of her, reaching for him as she moaned softly and dreamed of her future with this amazing, younger man.

Sarah delivered a healthy baby girl, and just three months later, they began working on increasing the size of their family. A year later, they had a son, making their lives complete.

As Dillon left for work one morning she looked at the truck he was driving and thought about the soft washing business and how they met. Her daydream was interrupted by the sound of their little boy crying, and as she went to feed him she realized how wonderful her life really was.