“I do.”
“I trust you too. I know that’s a big thing for both of us.”
Taking her outside by the hand, they joined a few of the others in the pool before they moved into the spa bath. She sat on his lap, leaning back against him, and she giggled when feeling his excitement. Wasn’t the first time she’d excited him and wouldn’t be the last. He ran his hands up and down her body. When they were alone, she took his wrists and ensured he felt her breasts for the first time.
“Do you mind if they’re fake?”
“Of course not, sweetie. If you wanted to enhance what you had, that’s entirely your decision.”
“Do you think they look good on me?”
“Cindy, trust me, can I put this bluntly?” She turned and nodded. “You’re absolutely fucking beautiful.”
She turned and straddled his lap, the next kiss they shared more passionate than anything they’d shared until that moment. She could obviously feel his excitement as he ran his hands up and down her back, tempted to undo the string of her bikini top and free her breasts. But he didn’t want to see her naked the first time in front of his friends. Such an event should be somewhere in private.
He wasn’t embarrassed to be one of the first guests to leave. His friends knew he hadn’t been drinking too much so was safe to drive. Cindy was relatively sober as well. Wishing everyone goodnight, he noticed the women present all hugged Cindy, and there was more than one whispered comment into her ear that had both women grinning. As for his friends, they simply said he’d done well for himself considering he was an ugly bastard.
Driving them back to her apartment first, he parked up and walked her to the door. Sharing a very long kiss, he felt her mould into her body, neither of them wanting to break the kiss first, before they finally parted at the same time to catch their breath.
“Dinner during the week? Maybe a movie?” he asked.
Cindy nodded before stepping into him, resting her hands on his chest. “Next weekend, you can meet my friends. We’ll go out, have dinner, a couple of drinks. They already know everything about you, but they are very excited to meet you in person. And considering how I feel…”
“How do you feel?” he asked bluntly.
He savoured the blush as he knew what it meant. She didn’t have to say anything. “I really like you, Mark,” she whispered, “I just want to keep taking things slow for now.”
“So I best walk back to my car?”
“Part of me wants you to stay. But…”
He hugged her tight to his body. “I’ll message you when I get home, Cindy.”
They shared a last kiss, and Mark would admit that he wanted to confess that he was already feeling far more than just ‘really liking her’. But when he thought about it, maybe that’s what she’d meant by ‘too soon’. Maybe she was already thinking of the L word too.
*****
The next weekend…
Cindy couldn’t decide what to wear. It wasn’t so much she was meeting up with her besties. She smiled as she knew she had to look good for Mark. She loved dressing up, see his face light up in a smile, life in those beautiful blue eyes, whenever she turned up for coffee or dinner with him. She loved feeling sexy, but he always called her beautiful or gorgeous, though she knew he was also thinking ‘she’s fucking sexy’ but was perhaps too polite to say it.
“Cindy, you always look great in black, girl,” Alexa called through the phone.
“I know, but Mark really loves seeing me in red. Or blue.”
“Well, tonight is for the both of you. What are you thinking?”
“My little red dress. Red stockings. Red heels. Definitely some red lipstick… ”
“Get it done and show me, girl.”
She giggled and started sorting through her closet, taking out everything she needed. Everything was red, including her lingerie. If the night finished on a positive note, she’d have Mark in bed next to her. Maybe not to have sex, but she was tired of living alone. What surprised her is how trusting she was of him. She just hoped it didn’t blow up in her face like all the other times before.
Once she was ready, having chatted away to Alexa while she was dressing, doing her hair and applying make-up, she finally showed Alexa the results. “What do you think?”
“Girl, that man is going to propose to you tonight!”
“Or he’s going to freak out when I tell him. Or at least tell me he’s not interested,” she muttered.
“Cindy, from everything you’ve told me, this is a man who will understand. Do you love him?” She dared not answer that question, otherwise she’d start crying. But she’d felt strong feelings for him from almost the first couple of days. “Okay, Cin, you don’t have to answer that,” Alexa said softly.
“I’m getting ready to leave, Lexi. I’ll meet you outside the station.”
“Okay, gorgeous. I’ll see you soon.”
Taking a last look in the mirror, she loved her own reflection but could only hope that Mark loved it even more. The taxi was waiting outside to take her to the train station, Alexa already waiting for her, only waiting a couple of minutes for Michelle and Jamie to arrive. The restaurant wasn’t too far away from the station, and she wasn’t surprised to see Mark was waiting for her. Dressed in dark trousers and a button down long sleeved t-shirt, it was tight to his chest and arms.
Hugging him immediately, they exchanged a soft kiss, and she couldn’t help smile and gaze up at him as he wished her a quiet hello. Then came the introductions to her friends. “Mark, this is Alexa, Michelle and Jamie. Girls, this is Mark.”
No handshakes for her girlfriends, hugging and a kiss on each cheek. She almost giggled as even Alexa seemed surprised by the greeting, before he asked if they were ready to eat. Opening the door, he was ever the gentleman, stating they had a reservation with the greeter, and made sure their seats were pulled out and they were sat down before he took his seat next to her.
Ordering drinks and then their meals, conversation flowed easily as her friends interrogated him in a friendly manner, lots of jokes and friendly repartees exchanged, and she could see that her friends liked him immediately. She held his hand the entire time, only letting it go when they needed to eat their entree and then their main.
“Dessert?” he asked, glancing at her, “Maybe you’d like to split something?”
That meant they fed each other, and for a few minutes, they were the only two people in the world. She giggled almost constantly at his comments. The restaurant wasn’t the place to share a private conversation, though they already knew of a quiet bar they could gather together, share a drink or two and chat.
Taking her hand as they left the restaurant, she leaned into him as they walked along, hearing the whispered gossip of her friends behind them. The bar was busy but it wasn’t too noisy. Mark had booked a table for them, the five gathering in a semi-circle booth. After ordering drinks and then arriving rather quickly, Cindy took a sip of her wine and he didn’t miss her hand was shaking.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She took a deep breath and turned towards him. She felt confident that her friends were by her side, but she just had this feeling that, even if he reacted poorly, he’d still be polite and friendly. But she hoped he’d see her for the woman she was and love her as she was.
“I need to tell you something, Mark,” she stated, trying to sound as confident as possible.
“You can tell me anything, Cindy.”
“There’s a reason why I’ve taken this relationship slow. I’ve been hurt before by more than one man. They get what they want out of me then dump me immediately. I’m just a notch, a tick off the bucket list. I’m fetishized by others. Chased by men who don’t care about me as a person.”
She noticed the confusion on his face as he probably didn’t quite get what she was referring to. Taking both of his hands in hers, he asked, “I understand you’ve been hurt, Cindy, but I’m not quite sure what you mean.”
Taking a deep breath, she squeezed his hands, almost pleading with her eyes as she said, “Mark, I’m trans. I’m transgender. A transwoman. Do you know what I mean?”
What she didn’t expect was the smile that formed. When she felt him lean forward and his arms wrap around her, she almost burst into tears. “I know what you mean now, Cindy, but what I see and what I have in my arms right now is a beautiful young woman.”
She wept against his chest as it was the almost perfect response. She heard her friends sniffling at the same time. Her previous boyfriend had been shocked and she should have realised how it would have ended. Guys behind that were over-excited by it and experience showed the warning signs. “You don’t mind?”
“I have questions but I’m not sure how to ask them without being insensitive. I don’t know much about trans issues, to be honest. But I’ll do my best to understand.” He lifted her chin with a finger, feeling his fingers softly wiping her cheeks dry. Then his lips touched hers and it almost set her off again. “What you need to know about me, Cindy, is that I really like you for who you are at heart. We’ll figure out the rest going forward.”
“Okay, so when the hell are you two getting married?” Jamie joked, and that caused all five of them to chuckle.
Alexa ordered them another round of drinks before conversation continued. Mark looked around and he smiled. “I don’t wish to be presumptuous, and you can tell me it’s none…”
“I definitely am, Mark,” Alexa replied. Jamie and Michelle nodded their heads.
“I’m a lucky man to be surrounded by four beautiful women.”
“You mean that, Mark?” Cindy asked softly.
“Of course. The most important thing is that my girl is next to me in a stunning little red dress, she’s wearing those glasses that make her look as sexy as anything, gorgeous stockings on her legs which make me think naughty things…”