You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago

We sat down until the band returned and we were back on the dance floor where we spent most of the rest of the evening. It was a joy to dance with her and though we came physically closer as the evening wore on, there was never any lewd rubbing of torsos or ass grabbing. Around eleven I suggested we call it a night and drove her back to her place. Holding her hand, I escorted her to the door where I suddenly found myself acting like a teen on his first date. Should I kiss her? Would she let me? Would she invite me in?

You see, normally I would have been more assertive and try to get invited in and see what might happen. But with Jess, somehow it didn't seem right. When we got to her door, she turned to me and thanked me for the wonderful evening. I gave her hand a tiny squeeze and reached over, kissing her on her cheek. After wishing her good-night, I stepped back, ready to leave but she held onto my hand, pulled me towards her and laid a sweet, chaste kiss on my lips. She gave me a little smile, unlocked her door and slipped through.

As I drove home, I thought about the evening. It was, in a word, wonderful. I had not felt so comfortable with a woman in a long time and I was perfectly happy with the way the date ended. I really liked her and somehow it wouldn't be right to try and bed her right off the bat like I had with so many other women. I figured taking it slow and easy was the way to go.

The next day I called Wendy and told her as gently as possible I was ending the relationship. I tried to reassure her it 'was me and not her' though I'm sure she doubted it. I did tell her I knew a great single guy and asked if I could give her name to him. She surprised me by saying 'Yes' and we hung up with pleasant good-byes, something that didn't happen too often.

By Tuesday I was nervous about calling Jess. I wanted her to know I enjoyed our time together the previous weekend but did not want to appear too pushy. I decided to punt and texted her a single line requesting her to call me when she had a second. About two hours later as I was getting ready for bed, my phone rang with her on the caller ID.

"Hey, Jess, thanks for calling."

"Sure. I was busy earlier but have time to talk now. What's up?"

"Well, it seems I have a little dilemma."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and I was wondering if you might give me some guidance."

"Shoot."

"You see, I went out on a nice date last weekend with a very interesting gal. We had dinner and did a little dancing, you know, fun stuff."

"And?"

"And now I'm not sure how to proceed. Should I ask her out again now or wait a week. If I ask her out now, well maybe she'd think I was desperate but if I wait, she might get pissed and turn me down when I do ask. So, what's the sweet spot?"

"Wait a minute. Is this Theo, the accomplished attorney, or his little brother, you know, the one who is a freshman in high school?" she laughed.

"Theo."

"Well, Theo, I'm surprised. I heard rumors you were quite the man about town but now you are sounding like you aren't too sure of yourself."

"Maybe I don't want to screw things up with you."

"Don't worry, you haven't screwed anything up so far. So, to answer your question, I think Tuesday evening is the perfect timing to follow up. It's not too soon like you're desperate but not too late to make you look disorganized or noncommittal."

"Great. Thanks. I'll give her a call next Tuesday," I chuckled.

"Now don't you dare," she shrieked, "Tonight's fine."

"OK, OK. So, Jess, I'd like to invite you out this weekend."

"And?"

"And I was wondering if you have any preferences. Movie, picnic, museum, dinner, sex club..."

"You can forget the last one," she giggled, "You choose. I'm open for any of the other options."

"Great. Let's see what the weather will be doing. If it's going to be OK, maybe we could hike out to Patterson Falls. I'll pack a lunch. If the weather looks bad, we can talk about other options."

"Just so long as it's not the sex club."

"It won't be and besides, the idea of those gives me the willies. I mean, how could one do that in front of others, anyway?"

"I don't know. You have to realize I was raised in a conservative family and while I think I've spread my wings a little more than my parents might have wanted me to, I'm not out there all crazy when it comes to sex."

"Glad to hear it. I'd be embarrassed to go to one of those clubs anyway because of my need to drive a sportscar."

"Oh, you silly man. I was teasing you, I hope."

"Ouch. You have a way of taking my joke and throwing it right back at me."

"Good. If you are at all a decent lawyer, you should be able to handle it."

"OK. Look, I'll call Friday evening and we can firm up the details for our Saturday together."

"Sounds good and thanks for the invite."

"You bet."

On Friday the forecast for the next day was great so we confirmed plans for a hike to the falls and a picnic near the base. When I picked her up on Saturday, I was struck by her outfit and how well it fit her. She had on a tight T-shirt with a drawing of a mermaid on it. Although she obviously had a bra on, she filled the shirt very nicely. She had on a pair of snug blue jeans shorts as well as a pair of well-worn hiking boots. Attractive and sexy but not lewd or over the top. We made good time to the park and the hike was a blast. She was more than capable of handling herself on the trail and when I commented on it, she recounted several tales of her Girl Scout days and some of the hikes she had done since then. I particularly enjoyed the view up the trail as her ass was frequently right in my line of sight. Her shorts came down several inches below her cheeks but were snug enough to give me an idea of how she might look without them. I think she caught me staring at her ass one time but she never said a word.

After the hour and a half hike, we arrived at the falls. I was surprised to see there were only two other couples in the immediate area. We spread out a small blanket and I pulled out the food and a half bottle of wine, enough for each of us to have barely a full glass, and two plastic goblets. We had veggie sticks with dip and some small sandwiches before I opened the wine.

"Are you trying to get me drunk so you can have your way with me, Old Man?"

"No and I hardly think a glass will get you drunk. Anyway, we can't be stumbling down the trail, can we?"

"You're right and you know, this is kinda special. Thank you. I propose a toast: May this be the beginning of something very, very nice."

"Cheers."

As we sat there sipping our wine and watching the mesmerizing falls, my mind kept going back to her toast. It sounded like she was interested in me; she had hoped this was a beginning, after all. Once we finished, we left the blanket and strolled up closer to the falls until we were getting wet in the mist. It was a warm, almost hot day and I did not think about the mist much until I looked over at her. The mist had moistened her top until it clung to her curves. I must have stared because she looked down and suddenly turned away.

"You perv," she laughed, "You drag me up here just to get me into a wet T-shirt contest."

"Nope, that was not my plan but I have to admit, it would've been a great one."

"Brr, now I'm getting a little cold."

"Let's get back into the sun and warm ourselves."

We stretched out on the little blanket with her using my chest as a pillow. It was so relaxing listening to the roar of the falls that we both ended up falling asleep for probably fifteen minutes or so. She stirred first, wakening me in the process. She sat up, looked down at me lightly stroking my hair. I had closed my eyes again and was enjoying her gently running her fingers through my hair when I felt her shift next to me. Her lips met mine, lightly at first and then a bit more vigorously. I kept my eyes closed and let her be in charge. There was no tongue hockey but she did tease me a bit as her tongue tip gently stroked mine. After a minute or so, she pulled back with a soft hum of contentment and her hand slipped from my hair down to my face.

She gave my cheek a tiny little pinch before whispering, "Thank you."

"Taking advantage of a slumbering man, I see."

"You objecting?"

"Absolutely not. In fact, I'll stay lying down and you can do that again, if you want."

"Hmm, maybe another time. Say, if we head back now we'll get home by six or so and I'd like to invite you for dinner."

"Oh, sounds nice. Where? That is, what should I plan on wearing?"

"It's called Jess' Place. Very small and very exclusive. Interested?"

"Yeah, definitely. If it's OK with you, rather than go home and come back, why don't I stay and help with the prep?"

She agreed and we soon hit the trail back to the car. At her place she put me to work prepping the salad and veggies while she worked on the main entrée. The dinner turned out quite nice and once the dishes were done, she took my hand and led me to the sofa.

We chatted quite a bit and I was surprised at how fast time flew by. Around ten or so I decided I should probably plan on leaving. When I told her, she got a cute little pout on her face.

"No kissy-face?"

"Well, if you insist," I chuckled as I leaned over to her. She met me with a warm and promising kiss. There was something about that kiss. It is hard to describe but it was much more than swapping spit. There was some unspoken message there, I was sure. When we broke apart, she clung to me a tiny bit and let a tiny little whimper escape her lips.

"More?"

"Please."

Who was I to deny her? We sat there, arms loosely around each other, and continued to kiss for another ten minutes or so. Normally, I would have brought my A-game to try and get the woman into the sack but with Jess, it would not have passed the smell test and quite frankly, I did not want to. Once she broke away, she looked at me with a soft smile.

"You, kind sir, do know how to kiss. I'm looking forward to seeing if you know how to do more?"

"If you treat me right, maybe I'll let you find out," I laughed softly.

"I look forward to the day."

"Me, too."

On the way home all I could do was think about the whole day. It had been absolutely wonderful and I got the idea she enjoyed it as well. Right before I crashed, I texted her a short message wishing her a good night. I got back an emoji of the little yellow face with eyes closed and a smile on its lips.

Our next date a few evenings later was a quick visit to a local bar for a drink and some laughs. At that time, we agreed to getting together the following weekend. I suggested a visit to our local art museum, which had a traveling exhibition of impressionistic painters, before dinner at my place. The museum visit was well worth it and we were both impressed at how our little city museum was able to arrange for such an exhibition.

I was nervous about dinner. I am not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination but can usually put together something that will not poison too many people. I put roast beef in the oven for a slow cooking and arranged all the side dishes in advance. Everything came together perfectly and I could tell Jess was rather pleased.

After we cleaned up in the kitchen, I poured her a small glass of wine and invited her into the living room for some Backgammon. We stretched out on the floor with the board between us, agreed to the basic rule (Winner gets a kiss) and proceeded to play. Actually, she was a decent player and we ended up each winning about half the games. Collecting the prizes was enjoyable but when she eked out a win on our seventh and deciding game, she demanded we sit together on the sofa for her prize.

I sat there expecting her to sit next to me but instead, she sat on my lap. I let my arms rest lightly on her back while she put hers over my shoulders and pulled me to her. The proximity, her ever hotter kisses and the feel of her lean torso combined to make me realize I wanted her. I wanted to drag her into my bedroom and have my way with her. But, but there was a niggling thought I needed to go slow with her. After a stretch of wonderful kisses, she leaned back and looked at me.

"You, you have no idea how exciting you are to be with."

"You don't either."

"Theo, I think you've got the idea I don't hop into the sack very quickly. I'm a little old fashioned that way, I guess."

"I understand. I'd love to take you back to my bedroom right now but I'd want to only if we both were ready."

"But I will admit one thing: You keep kissing like you've been doing and I'll be ready before you know it."

"Good," I laughed, "Come here and let me work on that."

Later when I took her home, she paused at her door, gave me a nice little kiss and whispered in my ear the single word 'soon'. I was smiling all the way home. We had come closer and closer, enjoyed each other immensely and I hoped we would take the next step soon, as she had implied.

'Soon' turned out to be almost ten days away. Our firm was involved in a high-profile case which had the local community riveted. I will not go into the salacious details but it involved accusations that a local college professor was sleeping with her student in return for better grades. When he did not get the grade he anticipated, he went to the press and sued her. The college canned her citing her contract and she, in turn, sued the college for wrongful termination. Somehow both cases were rolled together for one trial and we ended up representing the college. Anyway, I was extremely busy and had no time for seeing Jess. I tried to be upbeat and promised her a long weekend once the trial was over which seemed to win her over.

After all the work and over seven days of trial activity, the professor, the student and the college all decided to settle rather than run the risk of letting the jurors decide. We asked the judge for twenty-four hours and after hours of grueling negotiations, the three parties settled. As in most cases like this, no one was truly 'happy' with the outcome but all decided they could live with it.

That afternoon I went home and collapsed on my bed. About four hours later I woke up slightly disoriented, cleared the cobwebs from my brain and fixed a light meal. As it was not too late, I called Jess.

"Hey, it's me."

"Hi, Sweetheart. How're you doing?"

"The case got settled this afternoon. I've been so stressed over it I came home and collapsed. I'm doing better now with a few hours of sleep and a meal. You?"

"Oh, OK, I guess. Missed you."

"I you too. I think I owe you a little trip, at least I think I promised you one."

"Yes, you did."

"Where'd you like to go?"

"How about something simple. Let's drive down to the coast and see if we can't find a little place to stay, walk the beaches and collect sea shells."

"Yeah. I'd like that. Let's leave early on Friday and return late Sunday."

"How about Monday?"

"If you want, yeah, I can get another day off. No trials planned, so, sure. Let's."

The four days were some of the best in my entire life. She insisted we take her car so we could bring a couple of suitcases that would not have fit in the Porsche. We made our way towards the coast and arrived at an old fishing port before noon. We ambled around the tiny downtown window shopping until we got hungry. After a too greasy meal at a local fish 'n' chips shop, we headed further down the coast. We were in no rush and stopped frequently to take pictures, look at the historical markers and search for seashells. By late afternoon we arrived at Orca Cove. A tiny resort consisting of about twelve scattered cabins all arranged with huge picture windows facing the cove and ocean had a 'Vacancy' sign out front and Jess insisted we check the place out.

Inside the office we were met by a wizened old lady who indicated she had multiple vacancies. She showed us what each cabin had and as I was getting nervous about what type of room to request, Jess reached over and pointed to a cabin at the end of the little drive.

"How about this one, Honey?"

"Uh, I guess," I answered as I realized she had pointed to a single.

"Singles are one seventy-five a night. This one has the best view and is available for three nights. It comes with a small kitchenette and all the coffee you can drink."

"Looks good," Jess said, "We'll take it."

It was at that moment I knew we would be sleeping together and I certainly hoped we'd be doing more than merely sleeping.

"Any restaurants in the area?"

"Yes, in town about five minutes down the road are a couple. We provide a continental breakfast here in the office from eight to ten am every morning."

"Sounds great. Here's my card."

Four minutes later we drove up to the cabin and went inside. Although the cabin was obviously old, it had been updated recently and the furniture was all modern. The main room featured an open floorplan with the bedroom and bathroom through a door to the left. The view from both rooms was stupendous and once we opened the windows, we could hear the soft roar of the surf from below.

"This is lovely," whispered Jess as she came up and gave me a hug. "I'm sure we'll enjoy it."

"Mmm-hmm. About dinner, when would you like to go?"

"Pretty soon. I'm hungry and I want to save some time later in the evening for something more fun," she grinned before giving me a quick kiss.

We hit a small vegetarian restaurant in town and made it back in time to see the final light of day fade over the water. We stood on the deck until it got totally dark and too chilly to stay outside.

"Theo, why don't you turn on the stove in the bedroom while I use the facilities?"

"Sure. You showering?"

"Just a quick one."

"Good. Save some hot water for me."

I was in the living room reading an old magazine when she finished and told me the coast was clear. After a quick shower, I pulled on my shorts and entered the darkened bedroom. A single candle illuminated the most wonderful sight: Jess wearing a slinky nightgown and a sexy, come-hither smile. I felt my pulse pick up as my mouth became suddenly dry, a sure sign of my nerves. But why was I nervous? I had been with many women and not once recently did I get nervous but on that night, I found myself with butterflies in my stomach. I wanted her but more significantly, I felt this could be the beginning of something big, maybe even long-term and I didn't want to screw things up.

I walked over to the bed, sat down next to her and leaned over for a kiss. Her kisses were tender and sweet, like before, but they also seemed to promise so much more. I broke away briefly and looked into her eyes.

"I'm getting the idea this was a set up."

"How so?"

"Dark room, candle, sexy nightie, you..."

"Umm-hmm. Enough clues for you?"

I leaned over and gave her a few more kisses on her lips and slid over to her ear. After nibbling on it, I whispered, "Maybe. I know I want this but just checking..."

"The answer's 'yes'."

"Mmm, good. I'm going to start right here with your neck."

"Oooh," she shivered, "I like it when my neck gets kissed."

Although all my sexual release in the prior weeks had been me shaking hands with Yul Brenner, I was in no hurry. I wanted to slowly explore things with Jess, getting to know everything about her in detail. We made out with our hands roaming slowly over each other and when I reached her breasts, she tugged her nightie open on top, exposing them to me. Her breasts were perfect, perhaps a tad smaller than average but a wonderful shape and very responsive nipples. While I was exploring them, her hands were busy on my chest, stroking my nipples as well. Her hand slid down to my shorts and through the slit. She began to rub my cock slowly, making me more and more excited by the second.

"Better go easy or we might have a mess on our hands."