A Iss

I wanted a story that was more romantic than my other writings; one that built characters and tension in a different way. The birth of this one was tough, but I'm very pleased with my new baby and hope you like it also. Please be sure to leave your comments for me.

Thank you - SassyLynn

A KISS

"It really feels like I should kiss you goodnight or something." She said to him as she reached for the door handle of his car.

"It does, doesn't it?" he laughed nervously in reply.

"Well," she said as she grabbed the door handle, "thank you so much, again, for coming out with me. I had a blast – even if the people in front of us were shushing you."

"I had a great time, too, and thank you for thinking of me. You know, for getting me out and about for some fun." He told her.

She got out of his car and crossed in front of it to get to hers.

"Hey," he called from the open window. She turned back to him.

"Yes?"

"You forgot this." He passed the night's program through the open window.

She went back to get it, grasping the booklet but unable to pull it from his hand. She saw the look on his face, nervous and tentative; like there was something more he wanted to say or, perhaps, do. She allowed him to pull her down to the window as he pulled on the program in their hands.

"It would be ok," he said softly, "if you wanted to do that goodnight kiss."

She thought about it for only a moment then leaned into the car through the open window, quickly licking her dry lips, her eyes closing as their lips came closer, her heart pounding loudly in her ears, her skin hot as she felt the flush rise in her chest.

Their lips met, gently, sweetly, touching for only a brief time, yet she felt a jolt of electricity from her lips to her toes. That moment seemed like an eternity; she stepped back, bringing her head out of the car.

"Wow." She said as she backed up, her fingertips touching her lips, making sure they were still there as she remembered the sparks.

"Yeah, wow." He said. He put the car into park, put on the brake and got out.

He stepped towards her. She was wearing heels tonight which brought her closer to his height, but still shorter than him. He reached out to her, his arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her toward him, their bodies touching, their eyes locked on one another.

His free hand touched her, just under her chin, tilting her face upwards to him. He brought his head down, their lips meeting again gently. He pulled away briefly and when their lips met again, hers parted, the tip of her tongue gently touching his soft lips, lightly probing, his lips parting to allow her tongue to explore. Their kiss became more passionate as she lifted her arms to him, one hand on his neck, the other under his arm wrapping to his back, their tongues entwined.

"Ok.", she said with a sigh as she broke their kiss. "I've got to get going – some of us come into the office early." She chuckled

"You'll be ok driving home?" he asked.

"Sure. My last cocktail was a couple of hours ago and they were weak ones anyway." She said with a smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." He said.

"Count on it." She said as she tiptoed up for one last kiss.

She got into her car and drove down the aisle, looked in her rear view mirror and saw him still standing by his car. She stuck her arm out the window, waved one more goodbye.

As she drove toward home, she reflected on the kiss. Was it so amazing because she had wanted it for so long, or was it amazing simply because it was amazing? She decided to not think on it too hard because if she did, she'd be much hornier than she already was – just the thought of his lips on hers, their tongues touching and his hand on her back made her stomach flip.

She thought back on how they'd been brought together a couple years ago, two people who needed each other in so many ways. How they'd gotten along instantly, talking like they'd known each other for years. Anyone who saw them together knew that there was a great "thing" between them – the two of them truly liked each other, got along very well and teased each other mercilessly.

She'd realized some time ago that she had developed a crush on him. She'd been in this position before and had little difficulty hiding her feelings. In the past, her humor and personality got her through when she figured out that the crush wasn't mutual. She knew this would be the same. But now, with this kiss, would it be the same?

"Well," she said to herself as she pulled into her parking place at her apartment, "only time will tell."

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

He sat in his hotel room with papers on the table, his laptop open, humming its own tune. He was at an out of town conference but there was so much going on with this client that he hadn't made it out of the room today. Hell, he hadn't even gotten dressed yet – he was sitting in the chair, dressed only in his shorts.

He'd just completed a client call, put out yet another fire and sat back in his chair. He gazed at his computer screen but didn't see what was there. His mind was far away, back in St. Louis, reliving what had happened a few nights ago.

He was glad she'd asked him to go along. He'd been on his own for a while and although his friends were helping him stay occupied, he wasn't happy being alone. Since the day he'd met her, they'd laughed and had a great time together. Whenever he needed her, she was there. He enjoyed the teasing that each of them did to the other – she made him laugh and he seemed to do the same for her.

He was surprised by her invitation to the show, but he knew that she's just a social kind of girl. She loves to go places and enjoys going with someone else, but he also knew that not having a companion for the evening wouldn't have stopped her from going.

They'd had a quick bite to eat and took his car to the theater. After the show, they drove back to her car and joked around about feeling like there should be a good night kiss or something. She got out of his car, and he realized he didn't want her to go, so he got her to come back by reminding her of the program she'd left in his car.

He took a chance and told her it was ok to "do" that goodnight kiss they'd teased about if she wanted to. And she had wanted to. He remembered the vibration he'd felt from her lips; something he'd never felt with anyone before. He didn't want it to stop, so he got out of the car and kissed her again. As he relived that moment in his mind, his cock rose; not surprising at all – he'd had a hard on after he'd kissed her the second time that night, too.

He picked up the phone and dialed her number.

"Hey there" he said when she answered.

"Hey back! How are you doing?"

"Ok, but I have so much going on I haven't even gotten out of the room." He said.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be at a seminar?"

"Well, yeah." He said. "But I haven't even gotten dressed yet. I'm sitting here in my underwear." He said as he laughed.

"Boxers or briefs?" she asked.

"Briefs." He replied, not even questioning why she would ask something like that.

"Ok, working on a visual." She laughed heartily into the phone.

"Sorry about that." He pouted.

"Oh, please, don't worry – it's a good visual, trust me." She said

They caught up on what had been going on with work when he decided it was time to dive in with both feet.

"When I get back tomorrow, can we get together for dinner?" he asked

"It's a Friday night, I don't have my son, and Lord knows I don't have a date, so, sure, I'm all yours. Is everything ok?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Absolutely. I just want to take you to dinner – my thank you for taking me along last week."

"Ok, sure." She said.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"K, take care." She said as they hung up.

As he put the receiver down, he realized his cock was harder now than when he started the conversation. He'd thought that getting his mind off of the kiss and onto business would have helped. He caressed himself through the material of his underwear and realized all it took was to hear her voice and he got a hard on.

"Great." He said to the empty room. "I'm going to have to start doing baseball scores in my head or something when I'm around her. Can't walk around the office like this," he said as he looked down at his cock poking out of his underwear.

He laughed a while on that one, caressed his smooth cock, gently teased himself, closed his eyes to see her and . . . the phone rang with, he was sure, yet another fire to put out.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

She wasn't completely sure what was on his mind and it surprised her that he asked her to go to dinner with him because he'd bought dinner that night as a thank you for the ticket to the show. But, she wouldn't pass up an invitation to a good meal and conversation.

The day was actually a bit tough to get through; her mind on other things besides the work. What did he need to talk with her about? Why did he want to take her to dinner to do it? Hmm, probably "the dinner" where he'll tell her not to say anything to anyone about what happened and that it was a big mistake and that it's never to be spoken of again. Yeah, she'd had that dinner a few times in her life – although not in a very long time.

Around 3:30, her phone rang and she saw his number come up on the display.

"Hiya." She said.

"Hey," he started, "we're about to take off for St. Louis. Are we still good for dinner tonight?"

"Sure. What time and where?"

"I want to go home for a few, grab a shower, unpack, all that "back home from traveling" stuff. How about something halfway – somewhere in Westport?"

"Sure, how about Trainwreck at the Plaza? Have a burger and a beer or two?" she asked.

"They do have awesome burgers and I haven't been there in ages. Sure, that's a great idea. Say about 6:30?"

"You got it." She brought him up to date on several things they were working on before saying goodbye.

Hmmm, what was he up to? Well, at least with it being at 6:30, she'd have time to go home, freshen up and change into jeans.

FRIDAY EVENING

He sat on his bed, fresh out of the shower, still damp and catching a bit of a chill from the breeze blowing in through the curtains. The weather had snapped; the temperatures were far below normal for the past several weeks, and this was the kind of weather he enjoyed the most.

His mind turned to her. What was he doing? He told himself there's nothing wrong in going to dinner with her; they have a great friendship. But it's the other things he's been thinking of doing with her.

He thought about that night again, the feel of her lips on his, her hand on his back, his arms around her; he enjoyed the memories and felt the tingling as his cock started to awaken from thoughts of her.

He laughed to himself thinking of having been in the airport and talking with her on the phone, sure that his jacket was in his lap – just in case her voice gave rise to something as it seemed to do lately. What the hell, it's a good way to spend a few minutes while you're bored at the airport!

He got off the bed, his hardened cock gently bobbing as he stepped over to the closet to choose his clothes for the evening. Trainwreck is a comfortable bar, so khakis and a polo shirt. That would be just fine he thought to himself as he got dressed and ready to meet her.

She sat on her bed, fresh out of the shower, her hair rolled up in a towel. She always gets too hot when she takes a shower so she lay back on the bed, arms and legs out to the sides, so she could cool down. As she lay there, she listened to the specially burned CD of soft jazz music she had playing in the background and her mind wandered.

What in the world was going to happen tonight? One of the most optimistic people anyone could ever know, she was sure all was fine, but she couldn't help but wonder if something "bad" was about to happen. Convinced that it was just her imagination, she got up to get dressed, looking at herself in the mirror as she walked by.

"Not too bad for the age and wear and tear", she thought as she chuckled. "I could stand to lose a few more pounds. Nah." she laughed at herself remembering what she'd looked like in that mirror a year ago and 80 pounds heavier. A lot had changed during that year; her divorce finalized, she slipped a disc in her back that put her into physical therapy and finally gave her that wake up call about all that weight she was carrying around on her short frame and what it was doing to her.

She remembered how she lost that initial 40 pounds after the deaths of her parents. Eat anything you want, don't limit yourself. But for her at least, when she got to the point of having to take that deep breath to be able to continue eating, stop eating. She'd gotten out of that habit when she and her husband separated then compounded the problem after a surgery a few months later. Somehow she'd only gained back about 10 pounds, so she had still been 30 pounds lighter than back in 2001.

Then when her back went out last summer, she realized that she had to lose the rest of the weight, so over the past year, she'd started listening to her body again – stop eating when you get to that deep breath. And this time she exercised with yoga, swimming and walking. She dropped 80 pounds easily during the year with no feelings of deprivation. Now she walked with ease, she could run after her son in the park and wasn't in a state of chronic pain.

She shook her head to shake off the memories and get back to picking out clothes. Jeans and a light sweater; perfect. She got dressed and started the make up and hair process. She'd be out of here and on her way in about 15 minutes. Nervous and excited, she smiled to herself in the make up mirror.

"Well," she said to the reflection, "time will tell."