One Swinging Summer (5 page)

"True, which means you really do solve every case in an hour, have unlimited rounds in your pistol, and still can't hit the broad side of a barn." I said with a laugh.

"Someone's feisty this morning, it's pre-date excitement, I just know it."

"Yeah, that's it."

I gave him my address for tonight, and we set a time. He told me to pick where I wanted to eat, I said I'd think about it, and we said goodbye.

I got off the phone feeling a lot better about tonight. I even start to look forward to it. Something about talking to him just sets everything at ease.

He rings the bell at seven o'clock. Right on time. I answer the door before I can chicken out, we get into his truck, and he asks, "So, where to?"

I had been pondering that same question all day. It was such a nice night to be outside, so I decided on a local boat marina. They had a full restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining, and usually had a band on the weekends. Plus, with all the people walking around, and the boats coming and going, I thought that if the conversation died there would still be plenty to look at and listen to.

It was a short drive, so the conversation flowed easily. Most of it involved giving him directions. We arrived at the restaurant, chose to sit outside, and the hostess showed us to a table. The band was just warming up. We ordered drinks as we settled into our chairs.

"How did you know what I drink?" I asked him.

He looked over at me with his eyebrows raised in question.

"When you subtly brought me a drink last night in the corner. How did you know what I drink?"

"Oh, that." He laughed. "That was easy. I asked your bartender. I knew it wasn't a fruity drink, but I wasn't exactly sure. I had her make two, that's a good whiskey. I hadn't tried it before last night. Smooth."

"I discovered it on a trip to Ireland, I've been hooked ever since. It displaced tequila as my go-to drink."

"I can't do tequila, bad memories."

Our waiter brought our drinks, and we sipped in silence for a minute, watching the band warm up.

"You didn't think that was subtle?"

It was my turn to look at him questioningly.

"Last night, buying you a drink."

"That was not 'buying me a drink,' that was a dog pissing on a utility pole to mark your territory."

"You are a direct one, aren't you?" He asked while trying not to choke on his drink.

"I just call it like I see it."

"OK, maybe I didn't enjoy watching you two in the corner. If you were in a corner with someone, I wanted it to be with me."

"I wasn't 'in a corner' with anyone. It's the only place in that bar where you can have a conversation. " I replied, secretly thrilled at the thoughts that being in a corner with him conjured up.

"So..." He said, dragging out the word.

"So what?"

"You are really going to make me ask?"

I just looked at him, with my own shit-eating grin firmly in place.

"Who was the guy? I didn't like the looks of him."

I looked at him for a beat more, dragging out the torture. "He's an ex. All friends, no chemistry. He was there on his bachelor party, bringing me up to speed on the lucky lady."

The waiter brought the appetizer we had ordered with our drinks, and another round.

As the waiter walked away I asked, "Are you trying to get me drunk? I haven't finished my first one."

"Would it work?" He asked with a smile.

"Maybe." I grinned back.

"No, I figured as soon as the band really gets going and the tables fill up it is going to take longer to get a drink. This way we are set for a while."

"Sure."

We sat back and relaxed, and let the surroundings wash over us. Sipping on drinks, listening to the band start up, watching the water and the boats. Stealing looks at each other when the other wasn't looking. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

The band was great. They played a little of everything, the perfect addition to the balmy night. They had cleared a small dance floor at the base of the stage and a few couples here and there would dance. Moms danced with little kids in their arms, more kids thrashed with abandon as the adults laughed and relaxed. Our food came, we ate, drank some more, and began getting to know each other a little. After the waiter cleared our plates, the band started playing "Brown-Eyed Girl."

"I love this song." I said, and started to sing along, kicked back in my chair.

Thankfully the band drowned out any sounds of my singing. Caleb scooted his chair back, stood up, extended his hand and said, "Would you do me the honor?"

Never one to turn down a dance, I said, "It would be my pleasure," and stood up to join him. He didn't lead me to the small dance floor, but pulled me tight right there by our table. As the band played, we danced and twirled all around our table, to the smiles of those sitting around us. As the song ended, he bent forward with me tight in his arms and dipped me right between the tables. Our little area erupted in applause. As he brought me back up to a standing position, he leaned in and kissed me, squarely on the tip of my nose.

We shared a dessert, mainly to prolong the meal as we were not quite ready to leave. We somehow talked the waiter into giving us one last drink. In a To-Go cup. A big no-no that could have cost him his job. We had to promise that we were not leaving the premises and just wanted to walk around the marina for a while. No driving for hours yet. Amazingly he complied, and I noticed an extra large tip on the table for him as we left the restaurant.

We could still hear the band as we walked around. There was a small store that operated as part bait shop, part convenience store beside the restaurant, and we killed some time in there. Back outside, we watched little kids feed the fish. We found a fish food dispenser near the store and fed them ourselves. It was fun to watch them clamber over each other to be fed. The ducks noticed that the fish were getting all the attention, and they came over, too. The water was so thick with fish that the ducks could almost walk on top of them.

We sat on a dock, dipping our feet into the lake water, sipping our illegal drinks, and talking. The sun had gone down on us long before, and we leaned back, enjoying the warm breeze and the comfortable conversation.

"Warm weather for late April," I commented, looking up at the stars. There weren't many to look at, with the lights of the marina being so bright. Out over the dark lake you could see them a little better. The lights on the boats in the distance looked like stars that had fallen into the water.

"Is there anything else you want to do tonight?" He asked. "Late movie? Stop for ice cream?"

"No, it's too nice of a night to be inside at a movie, and ice cream after liquor does not sound good. It is getting late though, if you are good to drive, and when we are done enjoying this place, I'll probably just have you take me home. It's been so nice, I'm not in any real hurry to go home. "

"Me either," he stated quietly. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder into me playfully and said, "You are easy to be around."

I bumped him back and said, "You're not so bad yourself."

"Surprised?" He asked.

"Pleasantly." I stated.

I looked over at him and caught him studying me.

"What?"

"I have been wanting to kiss you all night."

"So what's stopping you?"

He leaned in slowly toward me, his eyes not breaking contact with mine until the last possible second. The kiss started slowly, teasingly. As his mouth moved against mine, I felt my hand come up to the side of his face, and slide back behind his head, pulling his mouth more firmly against mine. That seemed to be all the encouragement he needed, and with a groan deep in his throat, he pulled me against him and kissed me thoroughly and deeply.

Long minutes passed as our mouths explored each other, tasting, testing. Both of my hands behind his head now, pulling him closer. His arms wrapped around me, pressing me into him. When we slowly broke away, looking at each other, I could see that he was just as effected by this kiss as I was. He had a glazed, heated look in his eyes and his breathing was quick and shallow, just like mine.

I blinked up at him, trying to recover my breath. My heart was racing, my hands itched to touch more of him, to run up and down the muscles in his back, to feel the strength in his shoulders, to run down the length of him and feel the hard curve of his butt. I could see similar thoughts running through his mind, given away by the smoldering look in his eyes.

"You are right, it is much too nice of a night to spend inside." His voice was a bit deeper, showing after-effects of our kiss. "Let me take you home. To my home, I mean. Sleep with me tonight, outside under the stars on the trampoline. Let me make you breakfast in the morning, and spend Sunday with me, tangled up on the couch watching movies."

"You'll have to do better than that, some guy offered me the same exact thing last night."

"Is that so?" He asked with a smile. "I can throw in a campfire, and a package of marshmallows."

"Sold."

CHAPTER 7
TRAMPOLINE

"Are you sure about this? You purposely did not shave your legs, just in case you were tempted, and you wore your ugliest Spanx as a back-up plan," my mind quietly nudged. "Interesting," I thought, "My mind is quietly nudging instead of screaming 'What the hell are you thinking?' " Progress. I guess. Or the liquor. Or pure stupidity. Or maybe this will all work out. Either way, I figure I am due some fun. Hopefully the kind of fun you don't have to pay for later in spades, but, you only live once, right? Did I want to play it safe my whole life?

Soon he was opening his front door, and showing me around. He showed me where he kept his liquor and told me to make our drinks while he started a fire. Drinks in hand, I let myself out the back door, and headed toward his dark shape, bent over coaxing the fire to life.

"Nice yard, at least what I can see in the dark."

"Thanks, it is a work in progress. The trampoline came with the house, and probably won't be here much longer, so consider yourself lucky. Once I get that far, it will be gone."

I could see why. A trampoline didn't really fit with the rest of the decor. I stepped down from his wood deck, and made the short hike down a slight decline toward him. The decline eventually led to what looked like a wooded area. The grass between the deck and the woods was trimmed, and surrounded by shapes that I assumed in the dark were flower beds. Not your uptight annuals planted all in a row, but sectioned off places that swayed with the breeze and smelled heavenly.

"Is that honeysuckle I smell? I love honeysuckle."

"Yeah, it's a bit early, but it has been so warm."

"It smells like spring."

He walked toward me and took his drink, freeing my hand to be taken by his. He lead me to a section of lawn chairs surrounding a fire pit.

"Classy place," I said in approval.

We settled into side by side loungers and watched the fire.

"Don't be surprised when you wake in the morning and see deer in the yard. The early morning hours seem to be when they come by here. Although I do see them at night as well if I'm outside. They just seem more abundant in the daylight."

"It's just like camping, I love camping."

"Camping, but with the convenience of a fully stocked kitchen and a working bathroom feet away."

"Speaking of camping, I believe someone mentioned marshmallows."

"I do aim to please," he said as he pulled a bag of marshmallows and two long sticks from some dark place beside him.

There was music playing softly from speakers hidden somewhere. We talked in quiet bursts, preferring to listen to the music and the honeysuckle leaves swishing. We toasted and ate marshmallows 'til I thought I'd burst from them.

After a while, the fire burned down. The stars were out in full force, and I figured it had to be about 2 a.m. I tried to hide a yawn behind my hands.

"Am I boring you?" He asked.

"Far from it, I haven't been this content in a long time. It's peaceful. Relaxing. That was a relaxed, contented yawn."

"Come on, I'll get you a pair of sweats and one of my t-shirts. We can go to bed."

"On the trampoline," I piped up, reminding him. "I was lured here with visions of sleeping on a trampoline."

"Of course, on the trampoline. Let's change and I'll round up the blankets."

I changed in his downstairs bathroom. From the looks of it, the house was a work in progress as well. He had mentioned that he was renovating, saying that it was taking a while because he liked to do all the work himself. I laughed at my reflection in his mirror. It was leaning up against a far wall waiting to be mounted, but it was large, and the angle it was leaning allowed me to see myself top to bottom.

His t-shirt was impossibly soft, I kept rubbing my hands over it. But it was massive. It came nearly to my knees. His sweats were just as bad, I had the draw-string waist pulled tight and it billowed out from there. "Oh yeah, sexy," I thought.

"How's it going in there?" I heard him ask from just outside the door. In answer, I just opened the door, and struck a pose. One hand in my hair, one on my waist, I threw my hip out, pouted my lips and batted my eyelashes at him.

"Sexy." He said, but in a totally different tone than I had just used in the mirror. "I like a girl that can pull off 'so not high maintenance.'"

His arms were full of pillows and blankets and he winked at me over the pile.

"Follow me, your chariot awaits. Wait, that's cars. Umm... Follow me to the master suite. Yeah, that's better."

As I shook my head in amusement following behind him, trying not to trip on dragging blankets, I said, "This is definitely not how I pictured this date ending."

"It's not over yet." He said over his shoulder.

"But no basement, right?" I teased.

"No basement," he laughed.

We climbed up onto your typical large, round, black trampoline. It was set up farther back from the house, more toward where the grass blended into woods. We arranged the blankets so that we were laying on the thickest, padded one, and spread the lighter one over us.