It was a Tuesday night in late July. I was all dressed for my first official 'date' down here. Courtney and I had met Shawn for happy hour the day before. He had brought two friends, Ben and Derek. Both were also cops. Cops and service industry workers worked well together. Each worked long, odd hours and their off days were typically weekdays.
As we were leaving the happy hour Derek asked me out to dinner the next night. I was flattered and immediately accepted.
I had decided on a short black dress which accentuated my tan skin and platinum locks and a black thong underneath.
I drove downtown to the restaurant we agreed to meet at. He was already there, sitting at the bar with two other men.
"Hey Derek."
All three men turned around and I could feel their eyes scanning me, from head to toe and then back up to my cleavage. Men in this town made no attempt at modesty and I often found men staring at and taking to my chest.
"Gentlemen, I must leave you. My date has arrived," Derek quipped.
It was corny but I laughed regardless to make him feel good. Derek wasn't exactly what you would call good looking but he wasn't ugly either. He was about six feet tale with sunburned skin. He was slightly heavy, around two hundred twenty pounds if I had to guess. My best feature were his eyes. They were a light green and he had eye lashes I would die for myself.
We sat down and immediately ordered drinks and appetizers. He told me he lived outside the city and had two dogs. We talked about our upbringing and our sports teams. He was from New York and was a Yankees and Giants fan. That was an immediate turn off but he seemed really nice, so I tried not to let that taint my perception of him. He didn't seem like the other men down here. He had just ended a two year relationship and had a one year relationship prior to that one. I could use that type of stability in my life.
"So...have you dated much down here?" he asked.
"No. Not really. I've been busy with work and getting assimilated. Not much time to date or party."
"Really? As pretty as you are and in your industry I figured you would get asked out all the time."
"Well I do, but I don't date customers. I just fuck them."
Derek's head swung toward me in shock. He had momentarily stopped chewing his food.
"I'm joking!" I lied.
The last thing I wanted was to ruin this date.
"Wow," he laughed. "You didn't strike me as one of those slutty types we have down here. It caught me off-guard."
"So tell me more about these pups," I interjected in an effort to changed the topic.
It worked. Crisis diverted.
As a whole the date was going well. He was attentive and talkative. I found both the conversations and my martini's were flowing. At this point I was ready to continue this date back at his place.
I found myself staring into his green eyes. His glance caught mine and he leaned in and kissed me. His hand found a resting place on my thigh to sturdy his weight. My hand found his thigh as well and rubbed up toward his crotch.
He jumped and pulled his lips away.
"Too much?" I asked.
"For a first date, yes," he replied. "I really like you and I've enjoyed our date. I have to get home to my dogs now. Can I call you tomorrow?"
"Of course," I assured him through a smile of disappointment. I was miserable at reading men's intentions and this was no exception.
He paid the check and walked me out to my car where he gave me a sweet kiss before he drove off. I sat in my car debating my next move. It was only 9pm. I had gotten drunk anticipating Derek was driving me back to his place. Now I was questioning whether I was capable of driving back to Palm Beach Gardens. The answer was no. I put my keys in my purse and climbed out of the car.
*****
Knock. Knock. Knock.