Don
Saturday evening…
There was no telling what sexual shenanigans were going to be taking place at his house that night. Knowing Jessie, it would probably end up as a full-blown orgy before the night was over. He wouldn’t have minded staying and finding out for himself, of course, but he was extremely happy for the distraction he was being given.
His first date with Candy had been amazing. All of his other recent dates had been downright abysmal, but this one had single-handedly restored his faith in the hope of finding someone that he could be with.
She was incredibly sexy, smart, funny, and after Jessie and Dex’s sexual display, obviously didn’t scare easily. It seemed too good to be true. From the moment the date started to feel like it was going well, he’d been expecting something to happen to ruin it.
After that, he’d started to think that this might be the start of something real but was determined to keep his head on straight and not get his hopes up. Candy’s invitation to come eat dinner had come quick, as far as he understood from what he knew of the rules of dating. It was an encouraging sign for her to be just as excited about the prospect of the two of them together as he was.
He’d gotten dressed and left as soon as he realistically could, not wanting to be a potential target for any of Jessie’s crazy sexual plans. After stopping to buy some flowers on a whim, he pulled up into Candy’s driveway on time and hopped out. After walking up to the front door, he took a moment to collect himself and then rang the doorbell.
A few seconds later the door opened, and Candy smiled widely at him just inside. There were a few seconds of silence between the two as they both stood there smiling and waiting, but then she surged forward and kissed him intensely. He wrapped her his arms and pulled her tight, delighting in the adorable whimpers and sighs.
After a few seconds of passionate embracing, she stepped back and took a deep breath, looking up at him with a frown on her gorgeous face.
“What?” he asked, wondering what he’d done wrong.
“You just look so damn handsome, I couldn’t control myself,” she said. “Come on in,” she continued as he laughed.
“Thanks,” he said, and smiled as she slid her hand into his after shutting the door.
“I was trying to keep control of myself too,” she said with a brief frown. “I told myself that I needed to behave and not act like a horny teenager.”
She slid close to him, her other hand grabbing for his and finding the flowers he was clutching there instead. With a chuckle, he kissed her on the forehead as she leaned her head onto his chest for a few comfortable seconds.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, drawing her face up to look at his.
She smiled sweetly and rolled her eyes. “God… can’t you be inconsiderate or something at least?” she said, looking down as he brought the flowers up between them. She took them from him and pulled them to the side, then kissed him again.
“It’s good to see you too,” he said, smiling in amusement.
She gave him a quick tour of the house before they ended up in the kitchen where she went to find a vase to put the flowers in. As she busied herself with that task, he drank in the exquisite sight she presented.
She looked even better than she had the previous evening. She was wearing a dress, this one slim and sexy, red in color and tantalizingly low-cut. The skirt modestly ended at her mid-thigh, and despite his failed attempt to not look, he couldn’t see panties when she bent down to retrieve the vase.
Watching her as she clipped the flower stems shorter and held them up to the vase, then did it again, he felt a happy, content feeling come over him. He had a vision of his first wife doing that very thing. She would measure the flowers several times before she was happy with the length, then spend several minutes arranging them just so, until the arrangement was just to her liking.
Candy did the same thing, taking her time getting the flower the right size and arranging them perfectly before filling the vase with water.
“Sorry,” she said, blushing adorably. “I’m very particular about certain things.”
“Like arranging flowers?” he asked, amused.
“Like arranging flowers,” she confirmed, laughing easily.
He found himself musing about how much he liked the sound of her laugh. It wasn’t anything strange or particularly unique, but there just seemed to be something about how she laughed that he adored. It was like she was laughing with her whole body.
He realized he was staring again and briefly blushed as she brushed a long lock of blonde hair back over her ear.
“Sorry,” he said. “I just find myself staring at you and can’t stop…”
“Oh… I’m not complaining,” she said. “Just finding it hard to behave around you.”
“You know, you’re going to need to stop massaging my ego,” he said, and fixed her with knowing smirk.
“Stop being so handsome and sexy,” she shot back, frowning at him. “I’m not trying to massage any ego’s around here.”
He laughed but didn’t press the point. Even if she was spreading it on a little thick, it was nice to hear after being so alone for so long and going on so many bad dates.
“So… what’s for dinner?” he asked, telling himself to focus and stop daydreaming.
“Lasagna,” she said. “It’s easy, but it’s something I also do really well, so it seemed like a natural choice.” She turned quickly to look back at him as she moved to check the food. “You like Italian, right?”
“I’ll eat whatever you put in front of me,” he said, but then winced when she raised an eyebrow and giggled at him.
“Is that so?” she asked, cocking her hip to one side.
“Yeah… that didn’t come out right,” he said, groaning internally. “Why am I always putting my foot in my mouth around you?”
After a few more laughs at his expense, she gave him a wink and resumed checking the food.
“So, is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.
She initially shook her head, then turned and looked at him quietly for a few seconds. “How about you open the wine,” she suggested, and gestured toward a bottle on the counter.
“Can do,” he said, stepping into the kitchen and reaching for the bottle. Next to it on the counter was the corkscrew, and after removing the seal he worked the cork out and set it on the counter.
Candy had finished looking in on the lasagna by then and had closed the oven back up. Turning, she stepped over to one of the cabinets near Don and opened it, producing two wine glasses that she held out for him to fill.
“Trying to get me drunk?” he joked, winking at her.
“Trying to get you to get me drunk,” she corrected, and the two shared a laugh.
She stepped close to him and clinked her glass to his, then moved in even closer and rested her hand on his chest as he put his own around her waist.
“I sooo like this,” she said, and sighed comfortably.
“Me too,” he assured her. “Feels… good.”
“Feels perfect,” she amended, and leaned in for a gentle kiss.
Her lips were warm and soft, yielding to his as she timidly pushed her tongue briefly into his mouth before she broke the kiss and smiled happily at him. A few comfortable moments of silence passed between the two as they enjoyed each other’s presence, but she eventually stepped back and reached down for his hand.
“We’ve got a little bit before the food is ready,” she said, pulling him toward the door. “Let’s go sit and get comfortable.”
He followed quietly, silently hoping that the evening went as wonderfully as the previous night had gone. Well, most of it at least. He could have done without Jessie and Dexter interrupting it with an impromptu sex attack in the middle of it. Other than that, of course, everything had been almost magical.
She led him back into the living room and settled down on the couch, the two of them putting the wine glasses on the coffee table in front of them. She turned after leaning back into the couch and hooked one leg over his, propping her head up on the back of the couch with one hand and staring at him silently for a few seconds.
While the lasagna continued cooking, the two settled down and began to converse. The topics were safe, both of them sticking to the basics and making small talk. After a while, Candy got back up and went back into the kitchen to check on the food. A short time later, the two were sitting at the table eating and drinking their wine, the small talk continuing.
Afterward, even though she insisted that she could handle it, the two cleaned up the mess; Don washing the dishes and Candy drying them.
“You weirded out by this?” he asked.
He’d finished washing the last dish and had rung out the scrubber, placing on it back where he’d found it next to the sink.
“Most men that I’ve gone on dates with wouldn’t volunteer to do the dishes,” she said, grinning his way. “It’s different but in a great way.”
He chuckled and shrugged, turning to watch her as she dried the last dish. “I’m not one of those guys that expects his woman to wait on him hand and foot. I know you might have heard that Jessie tends to take care of cleaning up around our house, but I’ve told her dozens of times that she doesn’t have to.”
“Still, it’s nice of her to do so,” Candy said. “I’ve never minded taking care of my man in that manner, as long as it wasn’t something he ever demanded of me, you know?”
“Definitely,” Don confirmed with a nod.
“So… want to go relax on the couch with a movie?” she asked, tracing a line on his chest with a single finger.
“Whatever you’d like to do is fine with me,” he said.
She smirked at him but didn’t move.
“Don…” she said, drawing his gaze up to hers. “One thing you’ll learn about me is that I’m not the type of woman that needs to have every date be all about what I want to do. You get to have a choice too.”
He smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “That’s nice to hear, but I figured since you asked me over, it was your evening to plan.”