Ted was in kind of a hurry, being late for watching the football game on TV with his buddies. So, when he raced through the local supermarket, his mind was on getting his beer and getting his ass in gear. He hurried to the beer and wine section, focused on only one thing...getting the two six packs and getting out. It was gonna be one helluva game and he didn't want to miss any more than he had to.
He frantically searched the shelves for his favorite....Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. Ahh....there it was. He reached quickly for a six-pack, never even noticing the woman next to him reaching for the same one. Their hands slammed into each other, and Ted immediately apologized. The woman was shaking her hand as if it had been injured.
Still apologizing, Ted instinctively took her hand and looked at it, rubbing it and checking for an injury. The startled woman was looking down at her hand, watching Ted rub it as he flipped it over and searched for marks or scrapes.
"I'm really sorry," Ted said sheepishly, "I'm in such a hurry I guess I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. I apologize if I hurt you. I can be quite a klutz when I'm rushing."
"It's ok, really. I'm fine. No harm done," she replied through the most sensually moist lips he'd ever seen.
Ted was now holding her hand, palm down, in one of his hands, his other hand gently rubbing the top of it. He looked down at the back of her hand, still somewhat concerned. When his rubbing of her hand seemed to go on for an uncomfortable length of time, the woman felt uneasy, but for some reason left her hand in his, allowing him to continue to fawn over it.
Eventually, Ted looked up into her eyes and his face flushed. He smiled nervously and, unable to think of anything else to do, he lifted her hand and kissed it, on her two center fingers midway between their base and tip. He still held her hand as he spoke.
"Um...I'm Ted. Pleased to meet you...and sorry if I hurt you." He smiled an embarrassed smile.
"I'm Diane," she smiled back at him, "and like I said, I'm fine. Can I have my hand back?"
"Oh! Yeah...sorry. You're sure you're okay?" he asked, reluctantly freeing her hand.
"Yes....look, it works just fine." she laughed as she wiggled her hand to show its good health.
"Well, it's just such a pretty hand, I'd hate to see any harm come to it."
"Oh, a flatterer, huh? First you wing 'em and then you flirt with 'em...that your style?"
"No, seriously...I couldn't help but notice you have really nice hands. No flattery...just an observation. But I am sorry if I was outta line by kissing it. I guess I was just flustered maybe...or impressed by how pretty it is.....I don't know." He blushed again. Now it was Ted who felt awkward.
"Actually," she said, "I rather like having my hands kissed. It's so....romantic."
Ted had forgotten about the football game and was becoming quite enchanted with Diane's bright smile, lush lips, pretty eyes and delightful personality.
"Well, if you like it so much, maybe I should kiss the other one, too. I mean, I'd hate to see one hand get jealous of the other. You do need them to work together sometimes and how would it be if they didn't like each other and refused to cooperate? Then where would you be?"
She laughed. "Well then, Sir Lancelot....perhaps you'd better kiss my other hand right away." She held up her other hand and smiled.
Ted looked at her hand, then into her eyes. Without taking his eyes from hers, he bent and kissed her undamaged hand, but this time he kissed the very tips of all four fingers. He stopped after the last finger, hesitated just a second, then thought about it and kissed even her thumb. Diane was smiling broadly, looking at Ted as if she saw some sort of promise there.
"Well, thank you, Ted. You do that very well. Had alot of practice, have you?"
"No, not really," he chuckled, still holding her hand. "There's not alot of call for that sorta thing...not alot of ladies want their hands kissed...at least not much, anyway. They prefer to have other things kissed."
Saying that, he blushed again, adding quickly, "Um...sorry...didin't mean to imply anything dirty. I mean....I....well.......sorry....."
"Relax, Ted. No offense taken. But, you're right. Most women prefer a man's lips in other places, I'm sure. And I admit, there's lots of places I like to have a man's lips...but when a man kisses my hands I feel so......special. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I think it does. I've always liked those days of chivalry when a man greeted a woman by kissing her hand. There's something sensual about it. I don't know....maybe I'm just odd."
"Well, if you're odd for thinking like that, then more men should be odd."
The two of them looked at each other and smiled. Then Ted said, "Are you busy? I mean, do you have anything special planned right now?"
"Planned? You mean as in anything urgent that I have to do right this instant?"
"Yeah....is there something you have to do right this minute? Something that can't wait?"
"Well, no, not really...why?"
"Well, I find you not only attractive, but alot of fun to talk to. I thought maybe we could go have a cup of coffee together somewhere. I'll even continue to kiss your hands if you want. Well, that is if you don't have some three hundred pound rib-cracking gorilla of a boyfriend lurking about somewhere."
Diane cocked her head to one side,smiling and mulling the offer over a bit. As she studied Ted she came to the conclusion that he seemed genuinely interested in talking with her. Even though he was a complete stranger, he did seem nice, so she thought she'd give it a try.
"All right. I suppose what I have lined up for today can wait until later. There's a coffee shop just a few stores down that I like. How about we go there?"
"You mean Sue's Coffee House?"
"Yes, it's a quaint little place...quiet...intimate.....you can even kiss my hands and no one will notice." Her smile was warming, beguiling...and infectious. He smiled back.
"Deal." he said, lifting her hand to kiss the tip of her center two fingers again.
"Mmm...you do that very well, Ted. And, Ted...?"
"Yeah, Diane?"
"Do you realize you've been holding my hand the entire time we've been talking?"
Embarrassed again, and thinking she might have taken offense at his holding her hand so long when they were complete strangers, he immediately released her hand. She laughed and told him she didn't mean he had to let go...it was just an observation. Then he laughed too.
Ted turned and offered his arm. "Well, then, Milady.....would you join me for the caffeine-enhanced drink of your choice?"
She took hold of his arm and replied, "Certainly, kind knight. Lead the way to the caffeine."
They walked out of the supermarket arm-in-arm...chatting happily, Diane's plans and Ted's football game completely forgotten.....and the Cherry Wheat unpurchased.
Ted and Diane stopped at the entrance to Sue's Coffee House and when Ted reached to open the door for Diane, she started laughing, holding her hand to her mouth as she chuckled.
"What's up?" he asked, "My fly unzipped?"
"No," she replied, managing to stifle the laugh, "I just realized that neither one of us got our Sam Adams."
Ted smiled and thought not only about the beer, but the football game as well. He shrugged and said, "Oh, well, I'm sure it'll still be there if we want it later."
"And what if they sell out?" she quipped, "What'll we do then?"
"I'm fairly certain they'll make more."
"Ah, well, as long as you promise me I won't go without."
"Never, Milady. You have my word on it."
"Hmm....well, okay then....shall we?"
She slipped gracefully through the doorway into the quaint coffee shop, the subdued lighting bringing a smile to both of them. They chose a corner table near the window and Ted offered to go get the refreshments.
"Actually, Ted, I'm not really in the mood for a coffee. Would you mind getting me a root beer instead?"
"Sure. I didn't know they had soda here."
"They just added the fountain about a month ago. The root beer is really delicious....with that frothy old-fashioned taste. It really is delicious."
"Well, then, if you recommend it, I'll have one too. We'll chat and watch each other lick the root beer suds off our lips. Should make for an interesting conversation at any rate."
Smiling, he trod off to get their sodas. He came back shortly with two very large glasses, each brimming over with frothy brown bubbles. When he set Diane's down in front of her, she commented, "I should've told you to get me a small one. It'll take me all day to drink this."
"Good," he smiled warmly, "then we'll get to talk longer." She looked at him, searching for sincerity, and found it.
"All right," she said, "but I hope I don't bore you."
"I doubt that could happen." Another warm smile.
After they'd been talking for about a half hour, Ted suddenly reached out and touched Diane's hand. She looked first at his touching hand, and then up into his eyes.
"Just checking," he said, "making sure that lovely hand is ok."
She laughed quietly, "Ted, I already told you several times it's fine. Stop worrying about it."
"Well, I guess I should confess. I know your hand is okay. I just wanted an excuse to touch it again. It really is a lovely hand. You seem to take very good care of yourself."
"I do," she smiled, looking at him quizzically, "but I doubt you can tell that just from my hand."
"Actually, yes, sometimes I can. Your hand is very soft. No dry skin, no cracks. The cuticles are clean and not marred in any way. Your fingernails are well manicured and you paint them, which means you take pride in your appearance....even your hands."
She'd never thought about it that way before, but had to admit he had a point. She did pride herself on her appearance, and even tried to make sure the little things were taken care of before she ventured out into the critical world.
She blushed a tiny bit and said, "Why, thank you, Ted," and then added humorously, "it's always nice to be appreciated, even by a man who attacks my poor, defenseless hand in his rush to buy beer."
They both had a good laugh over that and then continued chatting in the dim lighting of Sue's Coffee House. It was only after they'd talked for another half hour that they both noticed Ted was still holding Diane's hand. Her hand was palm down on the table with his thumb underneath her fingers and his fingers on top of hers. His thumb and first two fingers were gently caressing up and down the length of her fingers, moving from one finger to the next. They both stopped talking at the same time and looked down at their intertwined hands.
