Tina pulled out of the kidney dialysis clinic parking lot mentally checking off a list of errands. She still needed to pick up her dry-cleaning and maybe get a quick trim before picking grandma up from her treatment. At 19 Tina would have loved to move out on her own but now that Grandma was sick and had come to live with them it would be much harder. Mom and Dad both worked full-time hours and Tami was still in school. Tina had somewhat flexible hours at work and was really the only one able to work around Grandma's treatment schedule. She wouldn't trade for anything the joy of having Grandma close at hand to tell stories of "the good old days", or to share kitchen tips but sometimes it would be nice to have a little more freedom.
Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. It isn't like she would know what to do with more freedom if it came up and bit her on the butt. She was still alternating between numb and furious after finding out she had been cheated on by both of her last two boyfriends. They had used her as nothing more than a convenient place to get a little relief and that hurt. She didn't just sleep with anyone. Real feelings had to be involved, at least on her part.
As she pulled into the parking lot of her favorite little open-air shopping plaza she noticed that a salon had moved in next to her drycleaner. She quickly picked up the skirt suit she had dropped off earlier in the week and trotted next door to the tiny salon. Country music and the two stylists on duty greeted her warmly. Both women were busy at the moment so Tina sat down and thumbed through a hairstyle magazine. Her own sandy hair, a mix of blond and brown left her feeling dull. An hour and a half later Tina skipped out to the car after leaving a decidedly oversized tip for the stylist. Her long curly hair was now a vibrant copper red and hung in a smooth, shimmering fall straight to her waist. She felt like a new person and the added benefit that her mother would hate it was just the cherry on her sundae.
Tina checked her watch and decided she still had time to kill before she picked up Grandma. On a whim she bypassed her usual coffee stop and headed toward downtown. With her car tucked securely into a pay lot, Tina walked the two blocks to the cutest little coffee and pastry shop she had ever seen. The elderly woman behind the counter grinned like a sprite and turned to prepare an espresso in a tiny china cup. Tina didn't see the large bear of a man watching her from his table by the window. The little flossy haired woman winked and tilted her head toward the man by the window.
"You seem to have an admirer, dear." The woman's gray eyes lit up with mischief. "You should go introduce yourself." She said with a chuckle and in a twinkle she disappeared into the back room. Tina turned and nearly dropped her coffee when she saw who had been watching her.
"We've already been introduced." Tina murmured to no one in particular. Her feet carried her toward him with no conscious direction on her part. His eyes widened in shock and recognition as she stepped toward his table.
She was beautiful. The pretty but awkward girl he had known years ago had changed. She wore a fitted pinstriped jacket and a snug black skirt that ended just below the knee. Sexy without being too revealing, her sheer black stockings had a seam running up the backs of her shapely calves and combined with the stiletto heels brought to mind the pin-up girls of the past. Finally looking back up into startled eyes, somewhere between blue and green, Luke was gratified to discover that she had been as strongly affected as he was. Instantly hard behind the fly of his dark jeans, Luke didn't even try to hide his reaction to her as he stood up. He easily towered over her even in those sky-high do me heels. Tina's hands were trembling when he took the china cup and set it on the table. He took her shaking hands and pulled her up close to his broad chest.
"Luke." Tina whispered against his crisp white button-down shirt. Her reaction to him amazed her as she breathed in scents of clean laundry and sandalwood. He was "the one that got away" and somewhere in her foggy mind she wondered if this was her second chance.
"Um hmm." Luke murmured into her silky hair, still unable to speak. He released her hands so he could pull her even closer, one hand dropping to her hip and the other sliding under the curtain of shiny hair to cup the back of her neck. He held her tightly as if afraid to let her go. Tina shivered as she felt the hard steel of his erection press against her belly. Her knees felt weak and her body answered his, becoming slick with need. She stood there quietly for a moment enjoying the feel of his strong arms, her own body humming with nervous energy.
"I think I need to sit down." Tina said in a quiet but surprisingly steady voice. Luke guided her to the empty chair next to his. She never broke eye contact as he lowered himself to his own chair. "I don't usually act like this and I don't want you to get the idea that I do." Tina picked up her coffee and Luke watched her throat muscles work as she swallowed the hot, bitter brew like a magic elixir. Her eyes closed in appreciation and she calmed, for the moment suppressing the urge to climb him like a horny she-cat.
"This is different and you know it. We've never been able to keep our hands off each other." He rested his hand on her leg and caressed her thigh with the pad of his thumb. A pearl of fluid formed on the tip of his throbbing hard-on when he discovered the strap of her garter belt. Her nipples hardened under his hungry stare and her breath became rapid and shallow. "We should go somewhere a little more private." Tina could see something in his eyes that belied the boldness of his words and that touched her more than she could express. He wasn't sure what her answer would be. She knew in that moment what her decision was and reached for her purse.
