Honey couldn't imagine that she would be with someone like him. But now that they were together, she had to come grips with who she really was.
**********
"You gotta catch them all."
"How many is enough?"
"Whatever fits in your basket."
As the three of us milled about in the freshly-mowed grass, I surveyed the park filled with hundreds of rambunctious children, and a few determined adults, searching high and low in the trees and bushes for pastel eggs for our town's annual Easter carnival. "Don't you have to find all ten colors to win a prize?"
"Those were the instructions," Stella replied, lowering a pair of sunglasses from her forehead to her nose, "but you know my kids, Honey. They will eat the candy inside before they get that far."
"I should have thought about that." Jacob frowned as he noticed various scavengers pausing to snack on their findings. "My store's team members got so excited about where to distribute the eggs, we didn't consider that stuffing them with chocolate would slow down the hunt."
"Speaking of hiding," Stella turned to her left, then to her right, "where are my kids?"
"Probably with your husband," I said, standing next to her in a shirt dress and ankle boots.
She pointed at the picnic area. "The one sleeping on the bench? I told him to make sure they stay together." She walked away from us without another word.
"How many does she have in her brood now?" Jacob asked me.
I viewed Stella plucking children of various sizes from the verdant terrain. "More than a handful, fewer than a dozen."
"So, six? Seven?"
"Approximately."
"Aren't you their godmother?"
"I remember their names, and when they were born," I defended. "It does help that both are listed on the cards when I get their birthday invitations in the mail."
Jacob stuck his thumb in my direction. "Godmother of the year over here."
"Enough about me. When are you going to find some eggs?"
He stated plainly, "I'm the Easter Bunny. The one who laid them all the hiding places. Well, I supervised."
"But if you don't find all the colors, then you won't win a prize."
"Is this your way of telling me that you want me to bring you some candy?"
I cupped his elbow. "I think it would be fun to explore what the rest of this park has to offer."
"Together?" He linked his arm in mine. "What sort of prize should I expect?"
I led him towards a dirt path that wound away from the hubbub and into the bushiest section of the forest. "Who knows what sweet treats we'll discover?"
Jacob and I left the clamor of the crowd behind, delving further into the woods.
"15 days," I said, as we strolled next to each other. The rays of the afternoon sun shined between the leaves of the boughs overhead.
"You've been counting?" Jacob helped me avoid a ditch on the soil in front of us, as we approached a clearing.
"It's been a while since I spent two straight weeks hanging out with the same person."
"Best two weeks of my life."
His words stopped me in my tracks. My boot heels sank an inch into the damp forest floor.
Jacob examined my stoic face for a reaction. "Not yours, though?"
"I'm liking this," I finally answered. "A lot. It's just not what I thought I would be doing at 36 years old."
"Tramping in the woods on a quest for candy?"
"Dating a younger man."
Jacob gasped. "Are we dating?"
I groaned at him.
He scooped me into his arms. "Think of it this way: you're not old enough to be my mother."
"Technically, you are correct." I looked up into his eyes.
"What are you afraid of?" he growled, his London accent spilling out. He maintained his warm embrace, his biceps pressed against my sides, making my skin tingle.
A breeze rustled the cadre of branches above us, while the rest of the forest remained still.
"I can't think of one specific issue."
Jacob clasped his hands, making a loose fist that rested on the small of my back. The buckle of the belt holding up his cargo pants rubbed against my stomach. "Worried that I'm a bad kisser?"
"I wouldn't know." I pinched his hips. "You haven't kissed me yet."
"You haven't asked."
"Neither have you."
He sucked in his breath. "I guess we'll never know."
"Can we both kiss each other and find out?"
He leaned down.
I brought his head closer to mine.
"Yes." His lips met my nose, then each of my cheeks, then my chin, until Jacob zeroed in on his target.
My lips hungered for his.
We began softly, slowly, tasting each other for the first time.
The air seemed to swirl around us, stirring the wild plants near our toes, but I thought nothing of it.
His palms remained clamped on my lower back.
But my fingers traversed up and down and left and right, through the strands of his floppy black hair, then lower, under the buttoned shirt and the waistband of his boxer briefs, attempting to experience every pore on his tight body.
As I kissed him deeper, I felt his crotch bulge, which caused my wetness to escape my panties and trickle down my trembling thighs.
I felt the earth move under the soles of my feet. I heard the pebbles rattling against each other on the path.
Was it me, or was the ground actually shaking?
Or was it both?
When I spotted the roots of a banyan tree rising from the soil, I jumped back in fright.
This wasn't what I had planned.
"Whew!" Jacob couldn't stop grinning. His cheeks radiated with glee. "That's a lot to take in."
The leaves above us kept rippling, but the sturdy trunks of the trees slowed their quivers.
"Pretty amazing. Amazing. I need to stop saying 'amazing'." He noticed my trepidation. "Honey? Did I do something wrong?"
The roots had retreated underground.
Concerned, Jacob waited for my answer.
