Dinner

I didn't see Natalie again until the dinner we'd planned at her place a couple of weeks later, though she did send me a cheery reminder text that reassured me her sunny attitude hadn't changed. Natalie and Jed were both pretty successful professionals, and they'd bought and reno'd a fantastic rambling old house in an established neighborhood, rather than buying some monster in the burbs. Emma and I loved going there, and this would be a really fun night, since we were all kid-free - our 9-year-old Richard was at a sleepover, and their 17-year-old daughter Samantha was up north tree-planting. Natalie and Jed had met and married quite early - something Emma and I occasionally envied - and at 38 Natalie was often mistaken for Samantha's older sister.

Tonight would also be a celebration, as Jed had recently completed a six-week course of treatments for the chronic condition that affected his nerves. Jed had developed this condition over the past few years, probably a related to the considerable stress of his consulting business, which had been booming for a decade now. This was the third time in five years he'd taken this treatment, through a clinic in Switzerland, and it was remarkably effective. Natalie had told Emma that he no longer had the tremors that had plagued him since the winter, and his eyesight had also improved. And his neurologist had given him the green light to consume alcohol again, after two months of abstinence. So we would be able to toast his health.

"Damn, girl", Emma sighed as she wiped the edge of her mouth, "every bite of this meal has been a delight".

"Amen to that. You are a culinary star, Natalie", I said.

"Yeah, can we get the check please?", Jed added, finger in the air. Natalie flicked a towel and snapped his leg.

"Actually, Jed did the beet salad, and the veg paté, which I think was the highlight for me", Natalie said.

"Well bravo and brava", I said, raising my wine glass, not for the first time. "To our chefs! Or is it chevs?"

"No, that would be goats", Natalie added.

"Or overrated cars", said Jed. "Either way they couldn't cook." We were on our third bottle of wine, so this conversational thread seemed pretty logical.

"I think we should toast your remarkable recovery, Jed", said Emma.

"We already did", protested Jed.

"No", I said, "we toasted the end of your treatment. Emma's right, we neglected to acknowledge your recovery, which is indeed remarkable. Here's to your continued good health, my brother." We all clinked glasses. Jed downed his Pinot Noir with the gusto off the long-deprived.

"Hey, lets light a fire and play Cards Against Humanity" Natalie chirped.

"Didn't we play that last time, and Jake ended up climbing a pole to retrieve a stolen vagina?", Jed laughed. "I'm all for the fire though." He refilled our glasses and we all went off to their funky living room that looked out over a lush ravine.

I watched Natalie light the fire, which she'd had already set up earlier. I'm the first to acknowledge that there's a lot more to admire in a woman than her looks, but at that moment I had to admit that it doesn't hurt when she looks good too. In her typically tasteful style, Natalie had on a short bolero-style jacket over a sexy V-neck shirt and a pair fine cotton dress pants, which she filled perfectly. As she bent over the fire I stole furtive glances at the delicate curve of her ass, leading to her faultlessly proportioned thighs and her dangerously sexy calves. A tiny sliver of her ass crack was exposed, and the small of her gorgeous back. She got up suddenly and caught me watching her, but she just smiled and came and sat down beside me.

The deep comfortable couches were as delicious as the meal. Jed sparked up a joint and the peaceful vibe was complete. The crickets and tree frogs were quite active, and for a while we just sat quietly and listened.

"I was going to put on some tunes again, but I kind of like the wilderness soundtrack", said Natalie. "You guys wanna sit outside?"

"I went out a while ago, and the mosquitoes are getting pretty bad", said Emma. She hiccuped.

"Hey do we still have those mosquito coils?", asked Natalie. "Jed?" Jed had passed out. Natalie shook him, but he just snored a bit.

"Maybe this was a bit too much too soon. We should go." I started to get up.

"No", said Natalie, "It's early, please don't go. I'll take him up to bed, and then the three of us can hang out for a while. Please, I've really been looking forward to seeing you again. I looked at Emma. She looked pretty relaxed, not in much of a hurry to leave.

"Sure", she shrugged. "I'm down. I'm up. Whatever. I think I'm drunker than I think."

"Let me give you a hand", I said to Natalie, and we each grabbed an arm and heaved Jed up, drunk-walking him up the old creaky stairs. As we helped him along I felt our arms touch behind Jed's back, the symbolism not lost on my hyper-analytical mind. Natalie looked at me and smiled, a smile of innocent gratitude. We got him into their bedroom and plopped him on the bed. I turned to leave but Natalie said "Can you help me get his pants off?"

"Uh, sure. I'll lift him, you pull." Between the wine and the weed, we were pretty clumsy. Natalie got one leg out but the other kept getting snagged on something and she kept falling forward. Once she tumbled right into my arms. My defenses weakened, I couldn't help holding her for several seconds. Again I smelled her subtle and seductive cologne and felt her breath on my neck. Her soft shoulder was touching my cheek, and I could see right down her top. Red alert. I quickly got back into lift position and finally the stubborn pants came off. Natalie covered Jed up and gave his inert face a quick peck goodnight. She turned to me.

"Thanks again for the help. Hero." She reached up and kissed my cheek, again holding my other cheek for a few seconds. This was torture. I was getting hard again and Emma was bound to notice. I smiled back and hooked her arm in mine, and we walked back down to the living room.

Now Emma had passed out. Unlike Jed she had no medical justification, but it wasn't actually all that surprising when I thought about it. Emma is a very cheap drunk - she gets woozy just looking at a grape - and she'd probably had four or five glasses of wine; really, it's a wonder she's lasted this long, I thought. I knew from experience she'd be hard to revive; she slept like a bear at the best of times. There'd be major snoring tonight.

"Oh boy", I said. "Now I really think we gotta go."

"No, nooo", Natalie pouted. "We just finished dinner and there's finally time to talk. What am I, a kitchen slave?"

"I'm sorry, it was a spectacular meal, as always, and I'd love to stay, but half our troops are MIA. Emma should be in bed."

"I know!", she said suddenly. "Why don't you guys spend the night? You said Richard won't be home until tomorrow afternoon. I have a whole box of spare toothbrushes for guests. You can have the upstairs guest room - the bed's already made." I actually wasn't quite safe to drive yet, and I really wasn't looking forward to getting Emma into the car and then into our place and up the stairs at home. And Richard and his friends were going straight on to a picnic lunch tomorrow, so there was no compelling reason not to stay the night. Except for the fact that this would mean that Natalie and I were essentially alone together, and I worried that in my challenged state I may say or do the wrong thing. I already had the earthquake lumber to live down. God knows what she'd think of me if I blurted out something stupid now. I resolved to stay but take no chances.

As I assumed, efforts to rouse Emma proved fruitless, so I picked her up and carried her up the stairs to the guest room. Undressing her was much easier, even solo, and I was back downstairs in a few minutes. Natalie had stoked the fire again and was lighting another joint. This worried me. Weed made me both horny and stupid, never a great combination, but doubly dangerous under the present circumstances.

We spent the next hour and a half talking - about work, family, our childhoods, books, movies - it was a gloriously wide-ranging conversation with a brilliant woman who was as interested as she was interesting. It confirmed for me that I was hopelessly in love with her, but for the most part I was able to keep at a safe distance, even while sitting right beside her. There were a couple of moments. Natalie's top was rather low cut, and as she periodically shifted positions I couldn't help but see much more cleavage than was safe for a man in my state; I may have even spotted bit of one nipple, though I panicked and looked away before I could confirm. At one point we'd both taken off our shoes and socks to feel the warmth of the fire on our toes, and it was hard to completely avoid touching each other's feet. Whenever we did it was electric for me, though I doubted she was even aware of it. We went outside for a while to enjoy the evening symphony - the mosquitoes had retired by then - and there was a bit of a chill despite the heat of the day. Natalie pulled close to me and put her arm on my back. I couldn't stop myself from putting my arms around her, to keep her warm, I told myself. We had a few minutes together like that before we decided to go back inside. Although I was as hard as a rock for the whole evening, I managed to avoid embarrassing myself too much, and betraying the trust of my amazingly wonderful hostess.

I wasn't sure how long I could go on resisting the ever-present temptation to cuddle up to her and get physical, so at a lull in the conversation I feigned fatigue and prepared to head to bed. Natalie stood up and faced me.

"Jake, it's been a really enjoyable evening. It's too bad our partners flaked out early, but I've really enjoyed spending this time alone with you. You're a wonderful person." Once again she leaned in and kissed my cheek, holding the other one. I wanted to believe that this time her lips landed a bit closer to mine own lips, but I knew it was just that: what I wanted to believe.

"Thanks Natalie. I've really enjoyed it too. I think you're wonderful too." I held both her hands in mine for a few seconds, and I was as close to the breaking point as I'd ever been. I so wanted to throw her down on the couch and make passionate love to her, but I knew as soon as I made any move at all, that would be the end. I'd be sent home and the friendship would be over, possibly my marriage too. With a monumental effort I let go of her hands and said goodnight.