May to December

"Sorry about Jeff. He thinks I'm his baby sister and he has to protect me. He doesn't mean anything personal."

Scott smiled. "I won't take offence if you come here instead of hovering by the door like a hummingbird, ready to flit away at the first sign of danger."

Dawn tried to hide her trepidation in flippancy. "You're just on a roll with the imagery today, aren't you? Are you sure you're not also a writer in your spare time?"

"Stop stalling and come here," he said, chuckling, and waited till she stood in front of him. "There is nothing that you can do to make me go, except to tell me to go and never come back." Suddenly, he was more serious than she had ever seen him to that point. "If that's what you really want, Dawn, then tell me now."

He didn't touch her, though he was aching to do more than that. He wanted her with a fierceness that shocked him, and he tried valiantly to keep his eyes away from her sensuous mouth that he had been wanting to steal a taste of since the day before. He failed. But he wouldn't go any further till he knew what she really wanted. He watched her struggle with herself, and wished she would just let go and be the passionate woman he suspected she was beneath all that cool reserve. He could imagine himself with someone like her, someone with a deep well-spring of sensuality and love, someone lustful and wildly sexual.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Scott," she began, but before she could continue, he interrupted her.

"Why not?"

She paused, then plunged in. "I'm much too old for you, for one thing, and I have too many trust issues with men to ever be relaxed completely with you. The most I could allow is friendship, and only after you proved yourself."

Even as she said it, she knew he had already earned that small measure of trust. He had proved that he could be a friend. He hadn't made a move on her, after their initial meeting, and he had been considerate and gentle, and had even forgiven her for throwing him to the wolves, so to speak, when Jeff came over that first time. He didn't respond, just waited, as though he recognized that she was not finished with her answer.

"No, I don't want you to go away and never come back," she conceded, "but I have a girls' night out with a few friends who will be here in an hour, and I need to get ready."

"I guess I'll catch you soon again, then," he said, and smiled at her. "I'd better get going. I'm on at midnight."

He walked away to the front door, and waited till she was next to him again before saying, "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" she replied, and then gasped when he bent to buss her lips with a gentle kiss. She watched him walk out the door, her hands touching the spot his lips had touched. She could still feel him there, and smell his scent surrounding her, and she found she was turned on and confused.