This is the older woman/younger man version of a set of four separate, three-part stories. All are basically the same with slightly different character relationships. "It Doesn't Count" involves a brother and sister, "A Mother's Lust" involves a mother and son, "It Doesn't Matter" involves an older woman and her daughter's young ex-boyfriend, while "It Shouldn't Matter" involves a young woman and her younger sister's ex-boyfriend. You can read any or all of them, according to your tastes, but the vast majority of all parts of all stories are the same.
-- The Author
Dan glanced down at Mrs. Carver's slim, well manicured hand, the tan line still showing where she'd removed the ring after her recent divorce. It rested just millimeters from his, with her long, delicate fingers beside his own, on the table between plates littered with the remnants of a moderately expensive lunch. She was so close he could feel the warmth of her, but her hand wasn't touching his. He looked up into her eyes, seeing a mischievous twinkle there. She'd placed her hand there, just that way, on purpose, as a subtle reminder.
Dan had to look away. He felt a blush rising in his cheeks. A quick glance told him she was grinning, enjoying his discomfort. He didn't know why this was all so much easier for her. He'd always thought that he himself was the boldest person he knew, the most shameless person ever.
He'd always considered Mrs. Carver to be a careful, considering, planning mom, and absolutely nothing more. She bought groceries and told you to wipe your feet. She told you to look both ways before you crossed the street. She told you to always play by the rules. She never pocketed a bill that someone else had carelessly dropped. And she always tried to make sure she had a royal flush before she made even a small bet, if she played poker at all.
When Dan had been dating Mrs. Carver's' daughter Stephanie, an affair that had lasted through most of his adolescence, he could always count on Mrs. Carver to be plain, reserved and carefully thoughtful, making sure that he never crossed over the white line with her own precious daughter, although he frequently had.
She was a generation older than him, yes, but he was still far more daring. He considered himself to be more mature, too, at least in affairs of the heart. Or, rather, especially when it came to sex. She thought he was a hound, now that he and Stephanie had split. He thought he was well traveled.
She herself had been divorced for just a six months, but had been separated for two years. Her ex had moved all the way across the country, where he didn't even bother to stay in touch, yet she had never even tried to date. She had kept that silly wedding band on, and hid out in her tiny apartment, so now she was woefully unprepared to find another man. She didn't even really know where or how to start.
She took her hand away to reach into her purse to pay the bill. Dan felt a sudden sadness as she did so.
"Let me pay, today, Mrs. Carver," Dan offered, knowing he couldn't really afford to pay for even his own meal, let alone hers, too. "Just this once."
She looked up at him with her wide, sea green eyes, her hand at rest in the maw of the purse. She hesitated a moment before continuing to look in it for cash.
"No, lover, I've got it."
She had never called him lover before. It sounded strange, and a little unsettling. She'd been saying things like that throughout lunch.
"No, let me, come on," Dan argued.
"It's the twenty first century, sweetie," she said, looking up at him with a smile. "Men don't have to pay for their dates anymore. Anyway, I have a job, you don't."
Dan glared at her, letting his face harden into ice.
"It's not a date, Mrs. Carver."
"Whatever you say, lover," she said, smiling, as she dropped some crumpled bills onto the check on the table. "And call me Laura. I've gotta get back to work. I'm running late."
She rose from her seat, then walked around the table to pass him on the way to the exit. As she reached him she suddenly bent down to put her broad, full mouth to his, or almost to his. She stopped with her lips just a hair's breadth away. He felt one long, warm breath caress his lips.
She made a slow, soft kissing sound, then was up and off, never having touched him. Dan watched her walk away with a motion that made him sit up straight. He felt something stirring in him. He tried his best to ignore it.
* * *
It had happened, or rather started, rather innocently. He'd stopped by to visit her at her apartment on Friday after work. He did that often, as a favor to both Stephanie, and Mrs. Carver herself. Sometimes it was to fix odd things around the place for her, to help her out. Stephanie had asked him to check in on her from time to time, kind of being the missing man in her life, helping her out with "guy" things, like unclogging her finicky sink. She'd even given him his own set of keys.
But mostly it was just to keep her company. And Dan enjoyed the visits, too. She was like a second mother to him. This time he had even brought along some of his laundry for her to do. She liked that, or so she said. It made her feel more connected to people.
The change in life for Mrs. Carver had been dramatic, as much as she tried to act like it wasn't. She had sold her house soon after her husband took off. With Stephanie far away at college, not even able to easily return on weekends, it just felt too vacuous, too stale to stay in by herself. She'd said it was like an echo chamber, and she didn't want or need to hear the echoes.
When Stephanie had gone away to college, Steph and Danny had tried to stay together themselves, but it just didn't work. At first they pined, and then they drifted, and finally they each felt trapped and annoyed. Near the end of their freshman year she broke it off, and he was both sad and grateful that she had. She was a great, sweet, beautiful girl. They had literally shared half of their short lives together, first as kids and best friends, and then as lovers. But it just couldn't work long distance.
Especially as horny as Dan always felt.
Mrs. Carver was getting ready to go out for the evening with friends. He just wanted to borrow some of her CDs before he left. As a poor, struggling senior in college, it was a lot cheaper than buying his own.
As long as he was there, she'd said she wanted his opinion.
"Be honest. Brutally honest, if you can."
"About what?" Dan asked, not really listening, as he sorted through her collection. She had far too many slow, romantic pop albums. That stuff made his skin crawl. He'd thought she had better taste than that. At least, she did with everything other than music.
"As a guy, not as my daughter's ex best boyfriend ever, just as a guy."
