Even though I was self-employed, Monday was still a workday. Laura was on summer break, so she was home with the girls. She called my cell at about 10:00 AM. Using her pure logic, she informed me that since I had to eat lunch anyway, she made enough for me and I was expected at 12:00. I’m not stupid. I was there at 11:50.

At lunch, she also convinced me that I shouldn’t have to eat lunch or dinner alone. I had no say in the matter. I tried not to argue with her logic, and from that point on we ate two meals a day together. Over time she emptied the meager fresh food in my kitchen and we stocked up her pantry. She fought me and lost on who would pay the grocery bill. This wasn’t moving in together or making assumptions. It was being pragmatic. But it had the elements of living together in that we were getting familiar with each other through a daily routine.

The Friday of our first week together was fast approaching. I wanted to do something special because our entire experience as a couple had been either at her house or at church. It was time to take dating up a notch. Since it was my normal night with Sarah and Bobby, I assumed they might be available and I was right. They agreed to come to watch the girls thus allowing me to take Laura out on our first real date. I arranged for a gourmet Italian meal to be delivered for the four of them—pizza! It was the girl’s favorite.

Wednesday at dinner I told Laura of the plan.

“This Friday we’re going out on the town! Sarah and Bobby are coming to watch the girls, and we’re going to dine and dance the night away.” I thought she’d jump out of her skin she was so excited. Her smile? Priceless!

“What do I wear?” she asked seriously. I had less than serious answers but decided to play it straight.

“It’s a dress-up night.”

Friday evening, I arrived at the front door. Amazingly, it was the first time I used that entrance. I knocked—also a first.

I was greeted with the vision of jaw-dropping beauty before me.

Laura had her hair styled and put up in a way I’d never seen on her. I loved her hair down, but up like this made her neck look longer and extremely kissable. She was beautiful even without makeup so I was glad she took a minimal approach. Her black dress was both simple and elegant. It was sleeveless with thin straps that made her appear both delicate and delicious. Her breasts were beautifully highlighted with a crossing pattern that provided sufficient modesty while highlighting their perfection. The dress flowed to a little above her knees giving the admirer (me, in this case) ample opportunity to appreciate her marvelous, shapely legs.

I was not worthy!

“Hi, Ben!”

Was it her dress or her voice? I thought her sex appeal was off the charts before. I was melting in front of her.

“Ben? You can close your mouth now and come over here and give me a kiss.”

I rushed to her to comply and stepped back to look again.

I finally uttered a sound trying to appear to have some intelligence. “Ah, hi! I mean…. WOW!”

She blushed and turned around to the audience - Sarah, Bobby, Hanna, and Mattie were standing behind her all grinning ear to ear. “I think he likes it!” she giggled.

Trying to regain my composure, I handed her a bouquet of flowers. “I’m a little embarrassed now,” I said, “because as beautiful as these are—I mean—you put them to shame!”

She turned red, gave me another kiss, looked sweetly into my eyes and simply said, “Thank you, stud!”

I melted a little more. Then I heard Sarah explaining to Mattie why her mommy called me “stud” and the humor brought me back to some level of composure. I turned to the onlookers with gifts.

“Mattie and Hanna, I have flowers for you as well along with some of your favorite jelly beans!” Sweet little hugs and kisses on the cheeks followed.

“Sarah, these are for you!” I handed her a bouquet.

She hugged me she asked with a grin, “Where’s my jelly beans?”

“I’ll share with you, Miss Sarah!” Mattie offered. What a sweet child.

“Bobby, I didn’t forget you!” I handed him a six-pack of his favorite brew.

“Thanks, Bro, but where’re my flowers?

More giggles followed while Mattie asked, “Why’d Mr. Ben call Mr. Bobby ‘Bro’, Mommy?”

The ping of a text announced the arrival of our ride. We quickly said goodbye and left to begin official date number one. I had arranged for an Uber to eliminate the stress of parking downtown and give us a chance to talk more attentively. I felt like I was floating on a cloud.

I held her door for her and helped her in the back seat. I always hold her door for her, but the special feel of the night made her take notice. “My shining knight! Thank you!”

The ride was long, but we didn’t care. We held each other, and just drank in the feeling of being together. She kept asking where we were going. I told her to the restaurant of someone who shared her ancestry… McDonald's! I wanted her surprised, so I wasn’t going to give in until we arrived.

I had dinner reservations at Ditka’s Restaurant in downtown Chicago. It was not the fanciest restaurant, but I always like the food and it was close to our next destination.

As we were seated, Laura’s eyes were wide and glowing.

“I always wanted to come here! Iron Mike was my dad’s favorite player of all time. Every good and bad play was compared to what Ditka would have done!”

“Really! Sometimes you see him here. I saw him once at the big table at the top of the stairs on the second floor.”

That seemed to somehow impress her.

We held hands across the table and silently prayed, then shared a dozen oysters as an appetizer. Laura couldn’t pass up the obvious question.

“So… oysters! A well-known aphrodisiac! What are your plans for tonight?” Her voice was teasingly accusing me of nefarious intent.

I raised both eyebrows a few times. “You’ll have to wait to see!”

Laura ordered a cup of Crab Bisque, and the Crab Cake entrée.

“You’re not feeling crabby tonight, are you?” I touched her hand and impishly smiled.

“Not yet, but the night is young!” I was so glad our humor meshed.

I went with the Wedge salad and the Day Boat Scallops. I loved the steaks, but didn’t want to fill up too much since I knew that night’s next destination.

We shared bites off each other’s plates. I offered Laura a bite of scallop and she licked her lips. She flashed me a sultry smirk that inflamed my desires. Her eyes sparkled with a naughty glow. Her moans and sighs proclaimed how she savored each bite, and spoke volumes about her skills as a seductress. I’ve never wanted someone more than I wanted her at that moment.

The food was excellent, the conversation comfortable, and my dinner companion was perfect. I couldn’t help noticing every man glancing at her. She was a vision of beauty and grace. I felt on top of the world.

I was fuller than I’d hoped I’d be, but neither of us could resist dessert. Laura had the Grasshopper Pie – one of my favorites. I went with the Blueberry Cheesecake. Again, we shared with suggestive moans and expressions. The sweetness of the dessert and looks between us as we fed bites to each other released a flood of pheromones that continued to stoke our fires.

We finished dinner and walked out the front door. No sooner out and she pulled me into her until our lips met. We shared the tastes of the fabulous meal in an even better way!

“So… what now?” she asked.

“We have a short walk, and then you’ll find out!”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with the oysters, does it?”

“How would you feel if it does?” I joked back.

“Tempted!” I felt the swelling of passion by the grin across her face and the look of desire in her eyes.

We held hands and walked several blocks to a nearby Jazz club to enjoy some cocktails and dancing. It was light jazz, perfect for a romantic evening. The music was excellent. The volume was comfortable enough to enable close conversation. We sat at a small, intimate table and both ordered Moscow Mules. I thought to myself, ‘Do we even have the same favorite cocktail?’

Laura continued to glow as she drank in the atmosphere. We both immersed ourselves in our growing bond and companionship. With every passing moment, we grew closer and closer. Holding her tightly on the dance floor was divine. I felt I was experiencing what heaven had to be like.

We were dancing slowly to a very romantic tune, moving together side to side, gently swaying as one. I gently kissed her neck. No words were needed. Our dancing embrace passed a library’s worth of communication between us.

I felt her shake her head, breaking the spell.

“Is something wrong?”

She pulled back to look at me and smiled. “Are you kidding? Everything is beyond wonderful! There was just some guy looking at me with a clear intent of cutting in, and I wanted him to know it wasn’t going to happen.”

“Thank you. I expected to be beating guys off with a stick with the way you look tonight, but I’m a lover, not a fighter!”

“Lover, huh?”

“Oh yeah!”

I had no sooner said the words when the band started a lovely jazz style version of “The Way You Look Tonight.” The timing couldn’t have been better.

Swaying slowly to the mellow jazz, with her head on my shoulder, I felt her kiss my neck. Nature took hold of me and it was clear she felt the evidence of my arousal.

“I think somebody is awake!” she whispered with a giggle.

I chuckled. “It’s not going to soothe my embarrassment, but please take it as a compliment!”

She pulled her head back to look into my eyes with a grin. “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m totally flattered, but maybe we should take a break and return to our table. I don’t want other women to be more jealous that they already are.”

“If you’re not embarrassed, I can deal with it!” I said. “I really don’t want to stop and let go of you!”

“Just hold me tight.” She smiled. “It’s dark enough in here that I think we can keep things hidden.”

We danced for several more songs. Mr. Happy may have been hidden from everyone else, but he was more than evident to the two of us.

Finally, I laughed. “Maybe the oysters weren’t such a good idea! I think a break may be best!”

We walked back to the table and I added, “I guess my rise raised another subject we should cover!”

“Good idea!” she added. “At least the elephant this time has a big trunk!”

Our resulting burst of laughter caught lots of attention, but we didn’t care.

We calmed ourselves a bit as she continued. “I’m glad I stumbled on that hot spot on your neck, though. Something tells me I’ll find some more secret places.”

“I expect we’ll both have fun exploring when we get to that crossroad, and I do mean when and not if!” I clarified. “Something tells me we’re both gonna find that a fantastic experience!”

Her smile of agreement made my temporary condition much worse.

We talked a little longer, danced some more once I was back under control, and then thoroughly enjoyed just being together.

I arranged for an Uber to take us home. During the relaxing ride, we exchanged soft kisses and snuggled. The back neckline of her dress was cut very low, and I could rub a good portion of her back with skin to skin contact. I never wanted the ride to end, but, of course, it eventually did.

We thanked Sarah and Bobby, and they made a graceful and quick exit with warm smiles of understanding. It was a little after midnight and we decided to sit together a little longer.

Laura let her hair down and I started to run my hands through it. That made her purr with contentment. I knew now was the time.

“Laura, you know I EXTREEEMLY like you!” She laughed and turned to look at me. Her timing was perfect as I continued. “I’m also, madly, deeply, and EXTREEEMLY in love with you!”

I softly kissed her as tears streamed through her beautiful smile. She looked deep into my eyes through our puddles of emotion. “I would never have believed this could happen. We’ve known each other just under a week, yet… I know… I’m madly, deeply and EXTREEEMELY in love with you too!”

Every emotion that had been building throughout the week and the special night we just shared came to the surface. We locked into our most passionate kiss yet. More followed. We couldn’t get enough of each other. It wasn’t lust, although there were elements of that in our lips and tongues meeting. This was love and passion overflowing.

Fifteen minutes later we took a break to embrace. “Are we nuts?” I asked. “Can this happen this quickly?”

“There are two little girls upstairs that know it’s true!” she explained. “And Sarah told me last Sunday that she never believed in love at first sight until she saw us together. So, yeah. It can happen this quickly. It has surprised the heck out of me, but what a great surprise!”

She looked at me, and again we joined in a deep kiss. This was real, and I had no doubts.

“Now what do we do?” she asked. “It’s getting late.”

“I could stay like this for an eternity.” I sighed. “But I should probably head home and get some sleep. I think this weekend will be filled with happy discussions we both want to have. When should we get together tomorrow?”

“I want to spend every moment with you I can!” she pleaded.

“Me too, but I should mow in the morning and do a little yard work, or the neighbors will complain! By the way, I’ll take care of your lawn at the same time.” Laura gave me a look like she wanted to argue and then thought better of it.

She smiled. “I guess I can let you go long enough to do that. How about if you come over at lunch and plan to stay until the wee hours of the morning?” she said with a kiss.

“I think we have a plan.” I agreed. “But if I don’t leave now I’ll never get up in time to do anything in the morning.”

“Ben Hawkins!”

“Yes?”

“I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone!”

“Laura Wilson!”

“Yes?” she said with a giggle and a smile.

“I’m looking forward to telling you that same thing every day. And I’m anxious to show and prove my love every moment of every day.”

After another long and passionate kiss, we reluctantly said our goodnights.