That Wednesday, Heather was finishing her shift at the club; putting up the leftover drinks and food and cashing out her receipts.
"Hey," a familiar voice called to her, instantly sending tingles through her body.
"Hey," she replied as nonchalantly as she could, and continued with closing down her cart.
Henry walked over to the cart, looking extremely handsome in a green polo and khakis. She watched from the corner of her eye as he perched on the edge of the seat, leaning forward and using the putter in his hand for balance.
"Busy shift today?" he asked her, waving to one of the marshalls who was headed toward the clubhouse.
"Not too bad," she answered, locking the glass doors on the mobile pantry. "How about you?"
"Yeah, I had a little bit more than normal, but it's tournament season. Pretty usual for this time of year."
"Mmm hmm. I'm heading back in to turn in my receipts and clock out," she said and walked around to the driver side.
"Mind if I ride with you?"
She laughed. "Of course not. Would be kind of weird if I didn't offer since I'm going right near your car."
Putting it into drive, she pressed on the gas.
"Yeah, so about that...".
She looked over at him, quizzically, and steered the vehicle towards the cart barn beside the clubhouse.
"I'm gonna be driving you home tonight. Kristen tried to find you earlier, since y'all can't have your phones on during the shift, but she must've been on the wrong path. She told me she picked you up and y'all rode here together. I let her off her shift early because Chris' parents offered to take them to dinner for his birthday tonight. I guess they surprised him last minute."
"Oh, okay," she replied as goosebumps broke out all over her body and she continued towards the charging station.
"Hey, Heather!" one of the attendants hollered, waving her over. "Just park it there and leave the keys. I have to wash that one before we plug it in for the night."
"Okay, thanks, Jake!" She pulled to where he had directed and put it in park.
They hopped out of the vehicle, grabbing her bag of receipts and cash box, and walked up the short sidewalk to the kitchen area.
"Yeah, I hope you don't mind," he said, holding the door open for her.
"Thank you, and I don't." She smiled up at him and walked through to the employee section to put her things in the safe and clock out.
"You hungry?" he asked, as they made their way out to the parking lot.
"I could go for a bite."
It was a familiar sight to anyone who knew them since all the employees and members at the club knew the relationship between the families. Walking side by side, his hand at the small of her back as he helped her into the pickup, was nothing out of the ordinary. The underlying tension they felt from the endless possibilities of what could happen between them that evening, however, was anything but ordinary.
He hopped in and slammed the door shut behind him before buckling up and starting the engine. "How does pizza from Gino's sound?"
She smirked at him and rolled her eyes. That had been her favorite Italian place since she was little and he obviously knew that. "I think you know the answer to that."
Suddenly, she felt panicked. "Is that such a good idea, though? What if Gino or one of the family mentions seeing us there tonight without Kristen or my dad?"
He reached his hand down to the skin just below the hem of her shorts. "I already thought about that."
She chuckled in relief and laid her hand on top of his. "Of course you did."
"Do you trust me?"
"Always."
He grinned at her and gently massaged his way up her leg. "Text your family and let them know that you're going out to eat and will be home a little late. I don't want them to worry."
The sultry tone he used and the movement of his hand on her leg was getting her extremely aroused.
"You cold?" He asked wryly, continuing his ministrations as he worked his hand underneath the cotton fabric of her shorts. "You've got goosebumps."
"That's your fault," she replied, trying to control the rate of her breath as she did.
Heather observed his face, staring straight ahead, watching the road as he maneuvered through the winding neighborhood they'd driven a thousand times before. She wondered what exactly he had planned as he pulled into Gino's and told her to wait in the car.
Just 15 minutes later they were sitting at one of the concrete picnic tables on the McDowell Mountain Trails, the cheese pizza now half eaten in front of them as the sun dropped slowly over their neighborhood, below them on the horizon. He had chosen a spot he'd noticed on the trails' map. It was off the dirt path by about 200 feet, several fully bloomed Palo Verde trees between the table and trail to obscure it enough that you couldn't see it, even from the parking pad across the way.
He had felt a wicked thrill as she looked around in confusion when they got out of the truck, not yet understanding his choice of destination. It was the perfect place for them to spend time together away from prying, judgemental eyes...and the desert sunset view was gorgeous.
They talked about work, about golf and how she was preparing herself to start with the collegiate team at ASU at the end of the summer. She expressed her two possible majors, business and education, and the courses she planned to take while she chose between them.
The conversation stalled after awhile as he stared into her eyes. She leaned forward and took his face between her hands to kiss him gently. They turned towards one another on the bench as the kiss intensified, his tongue seeking hers out. He worked his hand under her shirt to cup her breast, teasing the nipple with his thumb through the fabric of the thin satin bra. His other hand pushed the box of pizza to the end of the table, the scraping sound loud in the relative silence of the desert evening.
He stood up from the table and reached for her hand. "Come here," he commanded.
Heather untangled her legs from the bench and followed him to the short end of the table. Henry put a hand on both sides of her waist and lifted her so she was sitting on the concrete slab they'd been dining on. He kissed her lips briefly before leaning her back on the table and kissing down her neck.
