An Imperfect Couple Ch 02

This is chapter two in the series, An Imperfect Couple. It would be best if you read chapter one in the series before this one so you can get the backstory for this chapter. This is a romance and not a sex story, although the sexual tension and attraction between the two is quite evident. Please enjoy this story, and feel free to offer any feedback you think is appropriate. A writer always loves feedback from his reader.

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In 29 minutes I was at the door to her room. I was wearing dark gray slacks in a cotton/wool blend that was dressy yet still casual. I had found a nice white silk shirt in my suitcase, which I had packed with the intention of visiting this restaurant, and I wore it open at the collar with no tie. I topped it all with a nice dark navy blazer and black leather loafers. I hoped I looked the perfect mix of dressy and casual. And I also hoped that she was the type of woman to whom that didn't really matter. I knocked on her door and it almost immediately opened.

"Right on time. I like that, unless it portends stiffness and inflexibility." She hesitated, and a look of concern flowed over her face. "Oh, dear. I am doing it again, aren't I?" I tried to ignore the momentary edge that had returned to our relationship, trusting that it will dissipate as the evening wore on.

Despite her words, I really liked what I saw. She wore a teal dress in a muted shade, if you could really mute teal. It set off her jet black hair wonderfully, and clung strategically to all the attractive parts of her. There was a wide and deep plunge to the top, but not enough to be considered slutty yet still deep enough to make me wonder if she was wearing a bra. And the cleavage it showed off was wonderfully attractive and distracting, showing the swell and slope of breasts that were larger than I had originally thought she had. The hemline was several inches above the knees, giving me a view of two very shapely legs and making it obvious that she must run or work out frequently. Between the cleavage and the hemline was a slender waist. Below all that was a very classy pair of white sandals with two inch heels and straps that wrapped around her ankles partway up her calves. And she wore her makeup very light, mostly just emphasizing her eyes. All this showed that I was right earlier - there really was a nice body under the baggy sweat pants and sweatshirt of half an hour ago.

"Wow!" I drew out the exclamation. "You look perfect!" And I stood there for a few seconds as I worked very hard to control the urge to jump up and down and shout. And even though I looked her over from head to toe, I was careful to not focus on her boobs or her very shapely ass for too long

We both stood there for several seconds, uncertain what to say next. So I took the plunge, and the risk.

"Listen, Rae, this has been a weird start on a relationship, and I am not sure how to address it. Let me build a picture for you. We are teenagers in the early 1960s. I am a friend of your bother and we have just met. We are sitting on your front porch on the swinging bench your father built. It is after supper, to which your parents were kind enough to invite me. We are trying to get to know each other. I think I like you. You think you like me. I would love to put my arm around you and enjoy watching the night sky with you for the next hour or so. And you think the moonlight on the trees in the neighborhood is 'dreamy.' But every minute or so one of us gets bit by a mosquito. After several minutes of irritation and itching, we both consider calling it a night, knowing that will probably end all chances of a relationship. That's us.

"You and I both like what seems to be there between us. We are both intrigued by what could be a good friendship. Yet there is an edge to things that is irritating, and it is causing both of us to wonder if the effort is worth it.

"So, this is my suggestion. I am going to be a gentleman, with all the grace and charm I believe I have. And you are going to be a lady, with all the grace and charm I have already seen in you. We are going to enjoy a great dinner and some fine wine. And, after dessert, if we haven't attacked each other and drawn blood, then we will know there is a good friendship ahead of us. If not, by the time we finish dessert, we will be ready to part company with no more interest in the relationship. Can we agree to that?

"Wow! You really are an author, aren't you?" Rae asked in amazement.

"It's what I do," I responded in agreement, trying to find an innocent smile. "And I am often accused of speaking in long paragraphs."

"Okay, we can agree to that." She smiled up at me with that sparkle in her eyes again, and I was so tempted to kiss her.

I paused for only about a second, and then I made sure the door to her hotel room was closed and locked. I took her hand and walked her to the parking lot so we could get in my car. The drive was only about ten minutes, but I was sure she would enjoy it. And when I walked her up to my car and unlocked the door with its electronic key, I was not disappointed.

"Wow! Are we really going to ride in this?" She paused to look my new Corvette from front bumper to rear. She almost seemed to be in awe of my car.

"Well, I don't pamper myself very much, but I made an exception with this. I love driving and I spend a lot of time just driving to places. And I landed a good contract just when my older car began to give out. The timing was right and my resistance was weak. Now I own a Corvette." The truth is, I love my new Corvette. Less than two months old, the leather still smelled new.

"I hope the trip to the restaurant will not be too difficult for you." I smiled with both humor and with pride, and pulled the door open for her to get in. And she did so, pausing as she sat down, giving me an extended view down her top. Her smile indicated that she knew exactly what she was doing. I tried to suppress a moan, but it still slipped out. Then she settled into the low bucket seat, appreciating the feel of being safely hugged by soft leather. As I closed her door and walked around to my side, I had to adjust my cock as it started to respond to her intentionally revealed cleavage.

Since I really never had a one night stand, I had no bedroom intentions for the night. But it was still great to have awesome scenery and hopefully some fascinating conversation while you enjoyed a fine meal. I realized that I was very much looking forward to the evening. I settled into my seat and then asked her a question.

"Top up or top down?" She quickly looked at me in surprise.

"I said no one night stands." Her voice was a little hard. I didn't respond for a moment as I was puzzled by her comment. Then I realized what she meant and was almost horrified.

"Oh! No! I meant this is a convertible and I was asking if you wanted the top up or down." I was truly embarrassed by her response, and I tried to apologize. "I should have been more clear. I am so sorry if I offended you, but I swear it was unintentional."

Rae looked at me for several seconds, the expression on her face matching her stony voice. Then her entire face changed and she looked embarrassed herself.

"No, sorry, that was my fault. I misunderstood you." Her face showed several expressions in quick succession, and then she laughed.

"It's just that I am used to men hitting on me if I show any cleavage, and I responded as if you were doing that. I am sorry. That was my misunderstanding." We were both laughing by this time, even though we were embarrassed by the mistake. I wondered just for a second if she was actually thinking of flashing me and that was why she responded that way. But I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind. I started the car and the Corvette roared in the manner that I loved so much, and we moved out of the parking lot and down the highway. We sat in silence for a coupe of minutes, then I spoke.

"I truly was talking about the convertible top. If I was asking for the other, I would have asked more subtly." I chuckled some more, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. Truth was, I would have probably hit a tree if she had taken her top down.

"Are you still thinking of that? Relax, I believe you. Jeez, you men and boobs. That's all you ever think about." She sounded exasperated.

"Not all. We also think about..."

"Okay, okay. Let's talk about dinner." As spoke, I noticed that she looked down at her plentiful cleavage. I wondered again if she was actually thinking about flashing me. And I also noticed that she had removed her wedding ring. My interest in her "long story" increased significantly, and I began to consider how to coax it out of her.

By this time, we had crossed the bridge into St. Augustine proper and I was pulling into the restaurant parking lot. Since it was Saturday night, the lot was almost full, and I expected the resulting crowd inside the restaurant. I knew this place was quite popular and I probably should have made reservations first. I said so as we walked across the street toward the front door.

"Yes, this place can get really rocking on weekends. I hope we can get a table." Her reply was more a shout as I opened the front door and we walked inside. I pointed her to a couple of seats at the bar and I went to the front desk to inquire about a table upstairs. A couple minutes later I moved to join her at the bar, but apparently some men beat me to it. There were four men gathered around her as she sat at the bar. I almost had to shoulder my way through the group to sit next to her. The men grudgingly moved back to let me sit, not at all pleased by the fact that this very attractive woman was not alone after all. When I sat next to Rae, she looked at me in relief.

"Thanks for rescuing me. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be single and at a pick up joint like this." Her hand closed over mine, giving me something of a thrill.

"Always willing to be a knight in shining armor rescuing yon fair maiden in distress." We both laughed at that. "They said it would be no more than 20 minutes and maybe sooner before they call us for a table upstairs." I held up the electronic contraption they had given me so they could call us to the front desk for our table. Just then, I felt a strong nudge in my back. Any harder and I would have called it a kidney punch.

"We would like to buy the lady a drink," slurred one of the men I had replaced a moment ago. It was obvious he and probably his buddies had been enjoying the bar too much already, and it was only a little after 7pm. The comment was given to me, but Rae gave the response.

"Thank you. I appreciate it, but I am with him tonight." There was silence, but then the men backed off a step. She turned to me and muttered, "I hope those jerks won't give us a hard time. I was just beginning to relax and enjoy the evening."

"And I promise to do everything possible to help you continue to relax, and continue to enjoy the evening." I offered her a confident look and a smile. Just then the bartender brought us our drinks. I was surprised to see the same Honig wine we had been enjoying back at the hotel.

"I didn't know what you wanted, and I didn't want to sit here doing nothing. So I ordered more of the same. Is that okay?" I smiled to reassure her.

"When in doubt, Honig will always be the perfect drink to order for me, this time or any time." She grinned at me.

"So, you are expecting more times?" I paused, liking the banter but concerned about taking it too far.

"Not expecting, but I am certainly hoping." And I smiled back at her, wanting her to see that my reply was an open and honest response.

"That was the right response, Rick." She smiled again and squeezed my hand a little tighter before letting it go to pick up her drink.

Wow

, I thought to myself,

did my heart just skip a beat?

I found that I was grinning a little wider than I expected.

Suddenly, the strong nudge in my back was repeated. I paused for a few seconds and then turned around to face the man again. I couldn't help but notice that he was the biggest in the group, standing at least two inches taller than me and outweighing me by at least another thirty pounds.

"Is there something I can do for you?" As irritated as I was beginning to feel, I worked hard at being polite. The man breathed more alcohol than air into my face, and he repeated what he had said moments ago.

"We want to buy the lady a drink." This time I responded.

"Well, that isn't going to happen. Listen, we don't want any trouble. I am sure there are plenty of women here who would love for you to buy them a drink. Why don't you wander around a minute and I am sure you will find one." As I tried to turn back to face Rae, the man placed his left hand on my right shoulder and pushed me away from her. If I had not already been prepared for something like this, I would have fallen off my bar stool from the shove he gave me.

"You should go and find one of them. This slut is ours." His bravado was apparently for the benefit of his friends, and he looked over his shoulder at them with a wide grin. He had all the requisite attributes of the old schoolyard bully, but he made the mistake of leaving his hand pressed against my shoulder, and I knew how to take care of bullies. So I took my right hand, slid my thumb under his fingers, and grabbed two of them tightly in my fist. Then I bent those fingers back far enough to get his attention. His grunt of pain showed that the alcohol was not the only sensation he was feeling. I leaned in close close so that only he would hear what I was about to say.

"Listen, friend, the lady is not a slut and I am not a patient man. You will apologize to the lady and you will move on your way." My voice might have been quiet, but it held enough steel to make my point. For a moment, I wondered how far I was willing to take this, but the man answered that question for me.

"And if we don't?" In spite of his pain, he leaned forward until our noses were almost touching and his breath was almost overpowering.

"If you don't, I will break your fingers." I twisted those two fingers just a little more. Instead of grunting in pain again, the man pulled back his right hand as if he was going to launch a serious punch to my face. So I broke his two fingers. He yelped in pain and tried to jerk his hand back, but I held on tightly to his fingers. I knew that as long as I held his broken fingers in my grasp, I would own his ass. So I twisted his broken fingers just a little to make my point. He gasped, and looked at his hand with a stupid expression.

"You will apologize to the lady and you will move on. If you do not," and I grabbed his other two fingers with my left hand, "then I will break two more fingers." With this last, I twisted the other two fingers just enough to make my point without breaking them.

By this time, Rae had noticed what was going on and gasped. In addition, the man's friends noticed and moved closer to take up threatening positions all around us. Still glaring at the man's face, I spoke a little more loudly to the man I had decided was only a drunken thug.

"Tell your friends to back off or I will break the other two fingers. Tell them now!" And I twisted the fingers just a little more. By this time, the man was enduring a tremendous amount of pain and decided he didn't want any more.

He glared at me for about two seconds, and then quietly said to Rae, "Sorry for calling you a slut, ma'am. Now turn me loose." I looked into his eyes and saw no surrender, but I let go of the man's fingers anyway. We straightened up and exchanged threatening glares, and he turned to go.

But instead of going, he jerked back toward me with vengeance in his eyes and threw a right hand haymaker punch at my face. Rae screamed louder than I had ever heard a woman scream, but I remained focused on the fist heading right for my face. I half expected him to do something stupid like that, and I let go of his fingers. I leaned my head back and to the left, and his fist sailed right past my face. Then I trapped his wrist in my right hand and, before he could pull it back, my left hand snapped out and the heal of my hand struck his exposed elbow with all the force I could muster. The crack of his elbow breaking echoed off the walls of the bar, but it was all but drowned out by the man's scream. I held tightly to his wrist knowing that I could twist his broken arm as effectively as I had twisted his broken fingers a few seconds earlier. And I used that leverage to make sure he could not recover and renew his attack on me. The man screamed again. So far, the loud music had covered up most of the noises, but this last scream actually received some attention.

"FREEZE!" The command came from my left and I turned to look down the barrel of a Glock, Model 17, being aimed at me by a man about my age with a dark complexion who looked very serious. I knew the impact power of the sixteen rounds of nine millimeter bullets in his magazine. So slowly, I dropped the man's wrist and turned to the new threat, raising my hands in submission.

"He broke my arm, man. This bastard broke my arm. Call the cops. I want him thrown in jail right now." The bully's words were half demanding and half tearful. I said nothing, not wanting to add to the confusion.

"Terry, I saw the whole thing. You attacked him and he defended himself. I will call for an ambulance, but the only one going to jail tonight is you." This new player in the evening's drama produced a gold badge from somewhere, indicating that he was a detective with the local police force. Then he lowered his weapon and pointed it at the floor, while looking carefully at me. "Are you carrying any weapon on your person?" His question was merely procedure, and I began to breathe a sigh of relief. I shook my head in the negative and, still holding my arms up in submission, I slowly rotated so he could see for himself. The cop holstered his weapon and turned to the man he had called Terry. But before he could say anything, one of the thug's friends stepped forward to speak.

"Listen, officer, this man attacked my friend for no reason. He should be arrested for assault!"

But before he could say anything more, the cop turned to him and calmly asked, "Do you want to be arrested for being an accomplice?" The man's friendship apparently didn't include that much commitment, and he shut up and backed away.

"Okay, I am going to call for an ambulance. All of you stay right where you are, unless you want to be arrested for leaving the scene of a crime." He looked at the four men, and then he looked at me. I lowered my hands and sat down on my bar stool to wait. I glanced at Rae and saw her eyes wide open with a shocked look on her face. I tried to give her a smile of encouragement, but I could not tell from her expression if it was received as I intended.

There was silence in the bar for several seconds, and then the band struck up a new song. After a few seconds, I laughed as I recognized one of my favorites from one of my favorite groups. I looked at Rae again to see if she recognized the song. She listened for only a few seconds, and then laughed like I did.

It's like a knight in shining armor

From a long time ago

Just in time I will save the day

Take you to my castle far away

I am a man who will fight for your honor

I'll be the hero you're dreaming of

We'll live forever

Knowing together

That we did it all for the glory of love

As the song ended, the entire bar gave a rousing round of applause. And Rae's expression had changed from surprise and shock to a very warm smile. And suddenly, I felt very good.