The Brass Ring Ch. 01-02

"Hi," I said as brightly as I could. "Thanks for seeing me."

"Hi ... Duke," she grinned. "I didn't know you had a nickname. Pretty classy one too."

"Well ... I didn't pick it and I've had it since grade school, but I figured anything was better than Dieter," I confessed.

"I think Dieter is a very nice name." I got the feeling she meant it.

"Call me what you like ... I'm okay with it."

"I think I'll stick with Dieter. But it may mean I'll have to get Daddy to sell you a Mercedes." Now she was having a bit of fun with me.

"I don't know, Merilee. I'm more of a Corvette kind of guy."

"I noticed. When are you going to give me a ride in that cute little car?"

"Whoa, hey! Corvettes aren't cute. '55 T birds are cute. New Beetles are cute. 'Vettes are cool," I informed her.

"Oh ... well, forgive me," she said, not meaning a word of it.

"It's okay. I'm a car guy, so I guess I get a little touchy now and then," I smiled, hoping to cool things off.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Well, if the weather's nice this weekend, I'm available," I said optimistically.

"Saturday afternoon?"

"That'll work. What time and where do I find you?"

She gave me her address and suggested two o'clock.

"Great, I'll see you then."

"Aren't you going to stay for that coffee I promised?"

"Yeah ... oh ... sure. Thanks." This was going differently than I expected. I was still a bit edgy. Girls like this didn't usually hang with guys like me. Just the same, she was hot, and I wasn't stupid.

We sat and talked for almost a half hour before I had to go. She surprised me. She was easy to talk to, once we got past the car thing. I found out she didn't have a boyfriend, but she didn't explain why. With her looking like she did, that was a surprise. I figured there'd be a lineup outside her door, but that's not what she was telling me. I told her that I dated, but nothing serious. I was waiting for just the right woman to come along. She looked at me kind of funny when I said that.

I left after promising to pick her up on Saturday afternoon, rain or shine. We'd find something to do if the weather wasn't nice. She gave me a nice smile and I thanked her for the coffee and got on my horse. As I was driving, I thought about her quite a bit. She was a surprise. She seemed to be interested in me, but I couldn't figure out why.

Sure, I'm doing okay with my business, but looking at myself I had to admit I'm no prize. I'm five-ten, one-seventy-five, dark straight hair cut medium, gray eyes, good teeth, clean shaven, no tattoos. I guess I don't look that bad or I wouldn't get the number of dates that I do. I just never considered myself to be anything special.

When Saturday rolled around, I was nervous about our date. I must have spent an hour trying to decide what to wear. T-shirt and jeans was out. Dress slacks and collared shirt was too formal, I thought. We were just going for a ride in the country. So I ended up in khakis, polo shirt, and loafers. It was going to be a nice sunny, fairly warm spring day, but still I took a windbreaker with me. I lifted the hardtop off with the overhead sling in the garage, then put the fabric top up. I wasn't sure if Merilee wanted me to have the top down.

When I drove up to the front of the Jenkins' home, I could see I was looking at serious money. It wasn't a mansion, but it wasn't far from it. It was probably twice the size of the old man's home, but with the cut stone front and the fancy glass in the windows, you knew it was pretty classy inside. I didn't get a chance to see inside since Merilee was out the door and moving to the car before I got out.

"Dieter ... it's a nice day. I want a ride in a convertible today," she said, obviously disappointed.

I grinned at her. "No problem. Give me a hand and you'll have your convertible in less than two minutes."

It took very little effort to stow the top, and we were off with the wind in our hair and sun on our faces.

To be continued...

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Editing by ErikThread and DaveT with my thanks for their thoroughness and helpful suggestions. Any errors are mine.