Turning Paige Ch. 02

We headed back to the B&B, neither of us speaking much. There was a hum of anticipation in the air, and I didn't dare interrupt it. She turned off the ignition. "Did you bring a tie with you?"

"I did, just in case. I was a boy scout, always prepared." I smiled.

She patted my cheek with her palm. "Good, that'll come in handy if we find any old ladies needing help crossing the street. C'mon we've got about an hour before we need to get going back into the city. You boys take forever to get ready." She said rolling her eyes and smiled.

We went into the B&B and she said she'd see me in a bit, and to go up and get ready. She made her way with her little bag towards the back of the first floor. She stopped as she got to the door to open it, looking over her shoulder she blushed when she noticed I was watching her, and she was gone.

I took the stairs two at a time getting to the room. Her bra and top were sitting on the small dresser, the bed was made and the room tidied up. I thought Aunt Paula is either exceptionally cool or is now sitting at the bottom of the stairs with a shotgun. I got undressed and got into the shower, did my usual pre-date ablutions. I got dressed in slacks and the shirt that Paige had tried on earlier. I don't know what made me do it, but I put it to my nose and inhaled, and a slight scent of her perfume lingered in the fabric. It gave me a heady feel as I finished dressing, checking myself in the full mirror. I looked around the room to make sure I hadn't trashed the place in the process. I tossed the damp towel over the bar in the bath, and headed downstairs.

Paula was behind the desk reading something when I came down. "Wow, what a handsome man." She smiled. "You go on in the parlor and I'll let her know you're ready." I thanked her and went in, wandering around a bit picking things up and setting them down. Paula came back and poked her head in and said she'd be right out. A few minutes passed and I had done at least two more laps of the room wondering if I'd be better off just sitting down. When I heard Paula make a noise and looked towards the doorway.

"Girl you look beautiful! Wait a minute I want to see his reaction." Paula walked into the room and stepped aside watching me as Paige walked into the doorway and stopped a step inside. Her face turned slightly to the side, one foot in front of the other, and her hand on her hip like a fashion model. Her hair was swept back on the side held back with a silver barrette, my eyes swept downward to a black silk dress with small pink bows highlighting down the left side of the skirt. It stopped a healthy distance from her knees and had more of the pink along the hem. Her black heels finishing the ensemble. She gave a little runway spin flipping a light coat over her shoulder peeking back at me.

"I think you've done good girl, he's speechless." Paula said laughing. "Oh my, wait a minute, go stand next to him, I've got a camera behind the desk." She said ambling out of the room. "Boy if you don't close that mouth you're gonna to start catching flies."

Paige walked towards me slowly, her impish grin deepening. "Is she right? Do I clean up okay?"

"You are stunning Paige." I said softly.

She smiled, closing her eyes, the lids shimmered faintly pink. "Call me Christa, or Chrissy, please?" She chuckled.

"Button up!" Paula pointed at my coat when she stormed back in with her camera. Christa stepped beside me turning to face her. I held my arm out and she took it. I couldn't take my eyes off her, and Paula noticing this told us to stop goggling at one another and look at her. "Girl let that smile out, and stop grinning. That's it!" A few flashes later we convinced her to let us go.

"You kids wait, a minute." I found it funny that she referred to us as kids, because it did feel vaguely like prom night. "Here." She handed me a set of car keys. "You're not having her climb in and out of that truck of hers. Take my car, it's all cleaned up, and the tank is full." Christa gave her a hug thanking her. "Don't go getting all wrinkled sweetheart. You kids have fun, and if there's a scratch on that car in the morning, it'll be on your bill." She said pointing a finger at me.

I laughed. "Not a scratch. I promise."

We walked out onto the porch and a silver Lincoln sat in the driveway. I let out a slow whistle. "Very nice, and appropriate." I smiled.

"She gets a new one every few years, handy to have during wedding season, for people who don't want a limo but would like a nice car handy. I led her around opening the door for her causing her to smile."

I got in and we headed for the city. She directed me when necessary, right into downtown. "That building over there," she pointed, "that's where we're headed."

I peeked up at it through the windshield. It was a tall office building. "Are we going to dinner or meeting Donald Trump?" I chuckled.

She smiled. "It's called Fraser's on 29. I'll give you three guesses as to how tall the building is, the first two don't count. They have a special entrance to the garage on the side of the building. Up there take a left." The side street had a lighted sign over a garage entrance for the restaurant. I turned carefully into the garage and pulled up to the curb where a small podium stood with a few guys in vests and slacks were standing. One pulled a slip off the stand and walked towards us. Christa's door was opened, one of them helped her out. I got the ticket and slipped him him a tip. I walked around buttoning my jacket noticing the admiring looks that Paige was getting from the guys. Which made me smile as I held out my arm and she took it smiling. Yes boys, I thought to myself, she's all mine tonight. We stepped into one of the two elevators, and I reached up hitting the button clearly marked for the restaurant.

We were the only ones in the elevator. Christa turned to me taking a deep breath. "Dinner is it." She looked at me. "That's the end of it."

I looked at her, not quite understanding, but having some inkling of her meaning. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

She turned back to face the door. "That was the agreement." She paused and added a little more quietly. "Anything that happens after dinner wasn't part of it." She looked down.

I took her elbow turning her to face me. I looked up at her face under her hair. "The only thing I expect after dinner will be coffee, and depending on how I feel, maybe dessert." I said softly. "That's it." I said resolutely. "I have an idea why you said that, and I want you to get that idea out of your head right now. In fact I consider your part in this complete, the rest of this is just icing on the cake." I said waving at the elevator door. "I had fun last night, and I consider that our 'date' for all intents and purposes. You owe me nothing. That being said, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I'm not ecstatic to be here right now. You are absolutely terrific. Those things that you said to Megan earlier made me want to kiss you right then and there, because you care about people, and it shows. Which, I guess, is kind of handy being a nurse."

"I just didn't want you to think..." I reached up putting my finger to her lips.

"Don't." I said.

I lifted her chin and kissed her, just as the elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened. A few couples stood there, and some chuckling ensued as I broke the kiss noticing Christa blush when she heard them. I smiled holding out my arm to her again she took it as we exited the car. Both the ladies sighed as they watched us pass. We walked the hallway to the entrance where the host stood. We were shown to a table with a view of the city, and seated. He handed us menu's and wished us a nice dinner.

"I wonder if they have cider?" I asked flipping open the wine list.

Christa chuckled. "I doubt it. I wonder if they have raspberry wine coolers?"

I joined in laughing. "Would you settle for wine? What are you thinking about for dinner?" When she mentioned seafood I found a good bottle, and when the waiter arrived I ordered it. He returned showing me the label, uncorked it and decanted it. He poured a small sample in the glass in front of me. I swirled it around the glass and placed my nose into it and got a deep breath of it, then sampled it. I nodded at the waiter with a smile, and he proceeded to pour a glass for Christa, and then filled mine. He took our order and left.

"Well that was quite a show you just put on." She smiled.

"It's times like this that being French has it's advantages." I winked at her.

"There were a few people I would have been afraid of if they were here instead of you." She said softly. "I'm glad you came."

"So am I."

She looked out the window at the city lights. "It's pretty up here."

"Is this your first time here?" I asked.

"First time at night. I came here for lunch once with a..." She trailed off, her expression chilled.

"Go ahead." I encouraged.

"I came here for lunch once with a doctor, from Hickory. I think he figured this would ease his way into my pants. Country girl in the big city and all. To bad for him it didn't work out that way. I found out he was married before it went any further." She gave a little head shake, and she chuckled. "I have the lousiest luck with men."

"Maybe you've been looking in the wrong place." I smiled.

"Where should I look? If not at work, then bars, or clubs? Maybe I should set up a profile on one of those online dating sites." She laughed.

"Maybe you should stop trying so hard, and let him find you." I said.

"The ones who find me tend to be interested in a quick anatomy check in cheap motel." She said.

"Is that why you booked me in at the B&B?" I laughed. "I'm betting it's not cheap, and Paula doesn't rent by the hour."

She chuckled at that herself. "She's very liberal minded, but not quite that liberal minded."

"I found you online." I said, letting the comment stand for a moment to see what she would say.

She looked around, the restaurant was busy, but nobody was close enough to hear. "Who was there for a quick anatomy lesson?" She asked looking me in the eye.

"Who was there giving it?" I lobbed the remark back into her court.

She closed her eyes for a moment. I could see her tensing up, and I laid my hand on hers squeezing it gently. "I'm getting the distinct feeling that you're not happy about that. What's really going on?"

She opened her eyes and looked at me with complete trust. "I lost my job a few months ago when the hospital cut back. Around a hundred people got pink slips. There isn't much work in private practice and what there was, a hundred applicants were suddenly jockeying for them from my hospital alone. Now I work for a placement agency, like a visiting nurse. I do private duty work but it's not always steady. I thought about moving down here to Charlotte, when I'd heard that it happened here too. The government cut back funding, so the hospitals took that as a sign to cut back services rather than cut back on some administrators crazy high salary."

I gave her hand another squeeze. "So you started camming to supplement your income."

"I started doing it so I could keep eating, and have a car, and keep a roof over my head. I have fun and all but I'm not there to just hang out. When I have a bad day, I get worried." She stopped. "Why are we talking about this? Look where we are, we should be enjoying ourselves."

I smiled. "I am enjoying myself."

The waiter arrived with our first course, and the conversation turned to lighter topics. Dinner was beyond incredible, Christa indulged her inner choco-holic and ordered a lavishly rich slice of chocolate espresso cake for dessert. When he set it down he placed a fork next to her plate, and another next to me. I laughed. "I'll need something bigger than that if I plan to get between her and chocolate. Do you have a machete in the kitchen that I could borrow?"

"I think it would be safer if I just brought another piece." He replied with a questioning look.

"Probably, that would be perfect, thank you." He came back immediately with another slice placing it in front of me. We finished dinner, and coffee, and I paid the check. Giving Christa a look when she made to reach for it. We left the restaurant, picking up the highway back to Hickory.

"Thank you." She said softly. She took my hand off the seat and placed in her lap, holding it. "I was prepared to cover it. I'm the one that made the reservations after all, I knew what to expect."

I turned my hand up and took her hand in mine and brought it to my lips kissing it. "Thank you, for everything. I'm having the time of my life." I said smiling.



***

I pulled into the driveway and stopped in front of the porch. Christa motioned me to keep going and put it in the space around the side of the inn. I killed the engine and got out, making my way around to open her door. We made our way up the steps and I quietly opened the door.

"I need to get my, uh, things from earlier." She said looking up the stairs.

"I'll get them for you if you like." I replied.

She looked up at my face, "No I'll get them."

I set Paula's car keys behind the counter, on the desk.

"Okay." I said climbing the stairs to my room. I unlocked the door and went in turning on the small table lamp. I took off my coat hanging it up, and loosening my tie.

"Would you mind if I?" She pointed to the bathroom. "The wine, the coffee, I feel like my back teeth are floating."

I chuckled. "Go ahead." I unbuttoned my collar, and undid the cuffs of my shirt.

She came out a few minutes later, I saw that she'd let her hair down.

"My turn, excuse me." I relieved myself and washed up. I looked in the mirror as I dried my hands. I thought I looked younger than I really was, but it's hard to be objective about yourself. I didn't feel old right now, I felt more alive than I'd ever felt before. I walked out of the bath and noticed that Christa had lit a different lamp turning off the table lamp. She also seemed shorter and I looked down and she wasn't wearing her heels. She turned to me taking a step and stopping. She looked into my eyes, and I closed the gap between us her arms wrapping around my neck as our lips crashed together. I crushed her body against mine, my hand ran up her back pinning her against my chest. She got a hand down between us and pushed against my chest. I relaxed letting her push away from me. I felt like a child who's had his Christmas gift yanked away, and I'm sure I must have looked that way to Christa too.

She just shook her head. "Relax, I just don't want you tearing this dress off, it's silk and it cost me a fortune." She smiled. "Besides I need to work on doing this a little slower as you pointed out." She pushed me back a step, then another until I fell back sitting on the bed. She stepped back and reached up under her arm, lowering it slowly I heard the sound of the zipper sliding down. She slipped the shoulder straps off, letting it slide down her body giving it help as it needed it. She stood there in a strapless bra, and the pink panties I'd bought her this morning. She bit her lower lip and laid her dress neatly across the back of a side chair.

"Catching flies again?" She said smiling.

I closed my mouth and smiled. She stroked the fabric of her bra with one hand, reaching up behind her with the other. I saw the tension let go, but the hand in front kept it pinned in place, as she turned around letting it fall, her long back glowing ivory in the low light. She folded it neatly on top of the other clothes that she'd left earlier. She looked over her shoulder, swaying her hips as she did. "I'm not going to fast for you am I? If I am let me know." She slipped each forefinger into the hem of the panties, and ran them around behind her, pushing down slowly, then running them back around front out of sight. Each pass she made they went down a little further. She turned slightly her thumb catching the hem on the side pulling them down at an angle. "You still okay over there? I'm not going to quick am I?" She peeked over at me through her hair a small smile appearing when she saw the obvious sign of what she was doing to me. The other thumb did a similar service to the other side and eventually her butt was bare. Her hands slid down inside the front pushing them down as she lowered her hands, the panties giving up and slipping down her legs. She stepped out of them carefully, and did a deep knee bend to pick them up. She shook them out holding them in front of her as she turned. "For you." She said and gave them a quick flip into my lap. She practically ringed me with them. She stood with one knee bent in front of the other, her hands on her hips. "Now what?" She asked.

I picked up the panties, feeling the lacy fabric between my fingers, and tossed them on the floor. "Right where I like them." I smiled, falling back on our inside joke. I kicked off my shoes, reaching down to toss the socks with them and stood up. "Turn about is fair play, right?" I reached up and pulled my tie loose, sliding it from neck, and tossing it into my open suitcase.

"I feel like I should have a stack of singles in front of me." She said smiling.

I unbuttoned my shirt slowly, when I reached the last button, I undid my belt, sliding that out and tossing it in my bag as well. I pulled the shirt from my slacks and slid it off, laying it across my bag. I reached across myself and took my t-shirt by the hem lifting it over my head, tossing that in my bag.

"Jamie was right, there is something definitely sexy about crossing your arms when you do that." She said, "I'm also seeing your point about not being in a hurry."

I unbuttoned my slacks, and turned away from her, slowly lowering the zipper. I peeked over my shoulder to see a huge grin on her face. I pushed them off. I bent down and picked them up, flipping them out and laying them across my case with the other things. "How am I doing?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Sweetheart if you don't hurry up, you'll be filing charges against me in the morning." She said followed with a nervous laugh.

"Good luck getting me to sign that complaint." I said smiling. I didn't try being sexy about the boxers, they just got slid down and kicked aside. I walked over to the bed, keeping my back to her, and pulled back the covers. "Oh, you're still here? I was just going to get some sleep."

"Like hell you are." She reached behind her slipping something off the bureau and bringing it up to her mouth. I heard a little tearing noise as she approached me from behind and nearly hip-checking me onto the bed. I had to scramble fast not to cause permanent injury to myself. "Sweet Jesus!" She said staring at me. "I'm sorry sweety, but you've had your foreplay, I can't wait, and it doesn't look like you can either." She took the condom out and placed it over me, sliding it down. She climbed onto the bed straddling me, and took me carefully, getting used to me. She quickened the pace and in no time we both arched our backs, hitting our peak in unison.

My head fell back on the mattress like a dropped cannon ball. I was sure every bone in my body had just turned to jelly. Christa slowly lay down on top of me, and I felt her trembling. I instinctively put my arms up around her holding on to her, and realized that she was really shaking. I lifted my head and looked down at her. Her cheek was pressed against my chest her mouth hanging open. "Are you okay?" I asked. She just nodded slightly.

"Just tell me that you can do that again." She said hoarsely. "My body feels like a live wire."

I chuckled. "Let a guy catch his breath for a minute."

Christa continued to shiver, and I rolled her beside me pulling the covers over her. "Are you cold?"

"No, I'm on fire." She said smiling, and kissed me. She pulled back a slight frown on her face. "I'm sorry."