Karen and I were neighbors. She lived in the middle of the street, I lived on the corner. I was separated, and lived in a small home near the wife and kids. Karen had a fantastic smile, short reddish-brown hair, and had kept her figure despite having three kids under ten. Karen's husband John had a sales job that kept him on the road a lot. I had jumped Karen's car for her one morning, and we'd talk sometimes when she was walking her dog.
I had a few girlfriends since I had separated, but nothing serious. I guess I just wasn't ready to date. They seemed so flat, kind of boring, too shallow... I wanted someone who was fun to be with. Which is probably why I liked Karen's company so much.
Sometimes I'd play ball with her kids. They were good kids, skinny, and it was fun to tease 'em. Karen would come out and watch us, always with a delightful smile and a laugh that made you grin. Funny, I never saw her husband out with the kids. I kind of found out why when I saw him coming out of Frederick's in the mall with his girlfriend. Guy had better things to do, I guess.
I'd see Karen around frequently, and she always had a wave and a quick smile for me. Driving home from the store one hot Saturday afternoon I saw her out mowing her front yard. I grabbed a couple of 7Ups from the fridge, and walked down the block. "Hey, you, take a break."
I could see John's car was gone. "I could use a break."
Karen had beads of sweat on her upper lip. I opened a can, and handed it to her. "How did you get so lucky as to always pull lawn duty?"
"John's been working a lot of weekends lately, and the goat's on strike, so I got nominated."
"Why not have Kevin mow- he should be able to handle it now."
"I would have, but the boys left last night to spend the weekend with their Grandpa and Grandma. I've got the weekend off, and nothing to do but yardwork."
"Could be worse things in the world than a weekend of peace and quiet."
She sized me up, and said "Could be better, too."
I was taken aback, a little confused. Was this mother of three coming on to me? I wasn't going to take a chance at making a fool of myself. "Well, hey, I better let you get back to it. Thanks for the drink."
I headed back home, did some laundry, watched some TV. I was channel surfing when the doorbell rang. "Well, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Karen looked great, a sleeveless white cotton blouse over blue denim shorts, hair still damp from the shower.
"I figure I'd get even with you."
"What...?"
"For the drink, stupid."
"Oh, no problem"
"Get yourself cleaned up and come over at seven. I hope you like burritos," she grinned and turned away. Maybe it wasn't my imagination after all.
The burritos were good, and the Cervaza's were cold. We split a six pack by the time we finished eating. "Nice to have a homecooked meal."
"Nice to have an adult to have dinner with." I helped clear the table. Karen was at the sink, and I brought over the plates.
I tried to put the plates down, and we did a little you-go-this-way, I'll-go-that-way back and forth kind of thing.
"Dinner and dancing, I'll have to come here more often."
"Just make sure you make reservations early, we're kind of exclusive, you know." A laugh, and a look.
I touched her arm gently. "Hey thanks for dinner. It was really good, and I enjoyed the company."
"What the hell are you talking about? You're not leaving yet are you? Go sit down and watch some TV while I finish this."
"Why don't you let me finish, and you go sit down, lawn mower woman."
That laugh again... "OK, if you insist." She smacked me on the butt, and headed out to the family room.
Only took a minute or two to finish the kitchen. She kept a clean house, not easy with three kids. "Hey, don't go to sleep out there," I called to her. A loud, fake snore was my response. I laughed, dried off my hands, and went out to join her. Karen was sitting on the couch with her sexy little legs curled up underneath her. I moved towards the easy chair, but she patted the cushion on the couch. I sat next to her, feeling a hot tension I hadn't felt in quite a while.
"Gimme that remote."
"Just like a man, has to have the remote in his hand to be happy."
"Yeah, just like a man... Now gimme that thing so I can see if there's some wrestling, sports or Sylvester Stallone movies on." I started scanning the channels. 'Cops' was had just started.
"Bad Boys Bad Boys, what'cha gonna do? What'cha gonna do when they come for you..." I started singing along. "Bad Boys, Bad Boys, what'cha gonna do, what'cha gonna do when they come for you..."
"God, I wish a bad boy would come for me" she said, laughing.
"What the hell would a nice lady like you want with a bad boy?"
"What do you think I'd want, I'd have him wash my car."
I loved this woman's sense of humor. "Whew, thank goodness... for a second there, I was worried that my image of you was going to be shattered."
"Hey, who said he was done after he washed my car? It's been over two years since I had my pipes cleaned."
"Two years? Don't you mean two months?"
"I wish."
"Jesus, I'm going nuts and its only been two weeks."
"Awwww, poor baby, ain't got none for two whole weeks." Cute and sarcastic, a wonderful combination. "Wait until you catch up with me- then you'll have something to complain about."
She threw a pretzel at me. "I'll complain if I want to."
I threw one back at her "Oooh, real tough guy, aren't you?" She threw one back at me, giggling.
The dog had gotten up, and was eating the errant pretzels. "Oh, I see... you're going to have your wolf protect you while you bombard me with mini-twists... How courageous of you."
"I don't need any protection from you, buster. I can handle myself." She grabbed a handful of pretzels and whistled. "C'mon boy, let's go. Time for you to go to bed. And you, don't you run away now, I'm not finished with you yet." She lobbed another pretzel at me, which I attempted to catch in my mouth. It hit me in the forehead. Laughing some more, she said, "Oh, very impressive." She turned the corner and went down the hall with the dog.
I got some ammo and slipped into the kitchen behind the counter. I heard the door close, and hunkered down behind the counter. "Walt?" I popped up, and tossed a couple shots at her. "Hey, cheater, sneak attack!!" She raised up her arms to cover up. I zipped around the counter and continued my pretzel assault. Unable to get to the bowl for ammo, she turned and came after me.
Laughing heartily, I wrapped my arms around her. "OK, OK, truce, truce."
She stopped struggling, and said, "Who says I wanted a truce?" Her blue eyes smiled, and she cocked her head to the side.
"OK, no truce."
I'm not sure why, but I kissed her. Our lips pressed together for several warm, very pleasing seconds. I pulled away. "Karen, I'm sorry, I..."
"Shut up." She pulled me closer to her, and we kissed again. She opened her mouth, and I pushed my tongue in, deep kissing her, holding the back of her head with one hand. "Ummmmmm" she hummed, and gave me her tongue. "That's nice..." she said, smiling, running her hand over my chest.
"You sure are..." I told her, and kissed her again. I held her face with both my hands, and kissed her passionately. I started to gently walk her backward, still kissing her, taking baby steps, moving her towards my target. She broke the kiss, but stayed very close.
"Just what do you think you're doing, mister?" I had backed her up to the end of the sofa, the arm just behind her back legs.
"THIS..."
I pushed her, and she went backwards onto the couch. I followed, landing on top of her. We both laughed, and I scooted her up some so we could get comfortable. "You must think you're very clever, don't you Mister Walt?"