She had caught him looking, or at least Sandy thought he was peering intently at her. I must be kidding myself, she thought.
Joel worked for another mortgage broker in her building and they had often walked in from the parking lot together as they began their work day. He was pleasant, attractive and not too forward. He never made any overtures, so she had pegged him for married, though he didn't wear a ring. Over several months they had developed a friendly rapport, sometimes passing at lunch in the building's common break room. Then about 3 weeks ago he had greeted her at the car as she parked with news to share. He had received a promotion that would allow him to move out of the place he shared with his roommate.
"Ah, a roommate, not a wife." Sandy had thought to herself.
Finding house had happened rather fast for Joel and the paperwork was expedited to get him into the place as quickly as possible. He had just finished the cleaning and painting when he once again waited for her to park and get out of her car.
"I want you to come to dinner. I want you to be the first to see my new place." His brown eyes danced with excitement. "What? Me? What about your family or girlfriend?" "My family lives on the East Coast, I won't see them until Christmas. As for my girlfriend, she broke it off with me about a year ago. She claimed that I was in a nowhere job and she didn't want to wait for me to get somewhere." His fingers wiggled in the air in mock quotations at the statement. "So, will you come to dinner on Friday night, if you are free?"
The slight pleading look on his face had been hard to resist and Sandy was free Friday, so she had agreed. Upon arrival at the house on Friday evening, she had been slightly surprised to see that while it was a nice older home with plenty of charm and character, Joel's house was radically under furnished.
He apologized, "The furniture store doubled booked their delivery schedule, my stuff won't arrive until tomorrow."
So they had their dinner on the floor of the dining room, eaten off the paper plates provided by the pizza delivery guy. It was fun and relaxing and a bit like a picnic. They had discussed his plans for the house and how much nicer it would be once the furniture arrived. Then toasted the promotion that allowed for a general upgrade of his living arrangements. After the dishes were thrown away he guided her into the living room to see the new, massive TV he had purchased. With the exception of a floor lamp, that was the only furniture in the room.
Joel mentioned watching a movie, and Sandy started to decline, but the movie he selected was one that she had missed when it was in the theaters and had really wanted to see. So, she agreed to stay, finding a comfortable place to sit cross legged on the floor, commenting on the cushiness of the new carpeting.
That had been nearly an hour ago and the evening sun had faded enough to warrant turning on the lamp to its lowest setting. Joel was sitting a short distance away and Sandy had adjusted her position from sitting to laying on her stomach, hands under her chin as she became more engrossed in the film. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Joel glance at her, then he did it again.
"That's odd", she thought. At the third glance she felt his eyes linger on her a little longer. She surreptitiously looked down at the front of her blouse and to her great dismay she realized that thanks to the way she was laying, her blouse opened to reveal a generous portion of her breasts. The pale flesh against the teal blouse was as obvious as if she had installed a neon sign saying "Look here!"
She demurely placed her hand across her chest, lightly tanned fingers splayed against the creamy skin and looked at Joel apologetically, "I did not realize..." and began to sit up and straighten herself, blushing slightly.
"You can stay there, it's okay." though trying for a light mood, Joel's voice betrayed him.
"No, I should probably get going, its getting late and I have to be up early in the morning." Sandy stood brushing off imaginary dust from her jeans and straightening her blouse. She had heard the tone in Joel's voice and it made her both uneasy and intrigued. A little voice in her head whispered, "What if?"
"Thanks for dinner and the tour of the house, its really nice and I hope that you will be happy here. Perhaps I'll come back to see it fully furnished", she laughed.
"You haven't seen the whole movie, please don't go." His eyes searched her face for a sign of wavering, but Sandy was looking for her bag while trying to quiet the voice in her head long enough to get out the door.
"Where did I leave that thing, its not like its hiding under something", she wandered from the living room into the dining room then to the kitchen. "Ah ha! There it is, by the sink." Bag in hand she turned to say good-bye once more, but stumbled into Joel who was following right behind her. Very close behind her. Staring at the expanse of his chest, Sandy hadn't realized that he was quite that tall.
With her back up against the counter and Joel close in front of her, she had no where to go. With a nervous laugh, she saw his hand come up from his side to grasp her jaw. He tipped her head slightly back as he leaned into her for a kiss. All breath left her body and as his lips crushed into hers he was breathing for them both. The kiss was an audition for things to come. It continued on, changing in its intensity and strength. One moment hard and demanding, the next soft and playful, coaxing her to respond, testing the response to see if the invitation was accepted.
Seconds became minutes and then time stopped altogether. She drew a ragged breath, oxygen, she needed oxygen, badly. The room was spinning and her body was reacting in a way that made it difficult for her to stand, much less walk...away. Befuddled as she was, her bag slipped from her hand, landing on the floor with a soft thud.
"Stay" he whispered, his forehead against hers. It was not a request, nor a demand, just a single word and as he uttered it, his breath gently blowing on her face, he slid his hand around the back of her neck, grasping firmly, lifting her to her toes, he returned to her still surprised lips.
Her mind, numb from the shock of the situation, abandoned her completely and she nodded into the kiss, she would stay. At that, his other hand deftly approached her body to touch and explore the enticing pale flesh of her breasts. Through the material of her blouse and bra, his hand cupped her breast, the nipple hardening at his touch, poked into his palm. Target located, he brought his thumb and forefinger to the nub and as his tongue delved deep into her mouth he expertly rolled the nipple and pinched it, HARD! Her body rocked with the simultaneous assaults and she moaned deeply into the kiss.
Sandy became aware of the drawer handle pushing hard into her back and she shifted to relieve the pain it caused. Her hand on his chest, she nudged Joel back a half step. He grasped her hands and pulled her to him, then leading her out of the kitchen he pointed her towards the stairs. With shamefully little hesitation she climbed up to the second floor, his warm hand on her hip as a guide to the room she had not yet seen.