Chapter 42

Early the next morning, Emma slipped out of bed while Jess and I were still asleep. I stirred at her movement and turned to see what she was doing.

She bent over and kissed me on the cheek.

“Please don’t get up. I have a very busy day today and need to get going. Please stay here with Jess and I’ll catch up with you guys later,” she whispered to me.

I reached around and stroked her neck lightly.

“Ok, have a good day,” I whispered back before snuggling tight to Jess and falling back to sleep.

Emma did have a busy day of dog walking and school. She was excited about her date again, but also a bit terrified. She resolved to be extra cautious and not let herself get hurt. She also told herself that she should be open-minded at the same time. Especially if her date didn’t get out much and was shy; not that she was all that experienced with dating herself.

At home, she thought about what she should be wearing. The dress that she wore for Todd was out of the question, but BNB333 hadn’t mentioned any sort of dress code. She knew the restaurant and knew it was casual, so she decided on a loose fitting floral blouse with buttons down the front. Down below, she had on khaki colored shorts and a pair of sandals.

She arrived right on time at the restaurant. She’d been there once before, many years earlier. It wasn’t a particularly fancy place, but it had decent fried fish with friendly service. It had gorgeous water views as it sat right on the beach and also had an outdoor seating area where you could eat or order drinks.

She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to go in or wait outside for ... who? She realized she still didn’t even know the guy’s name. Shit, did she even know for sure that it WAS a guy? What if it was a woman? Did she specify on her profile that she was strictly hetero? Since Jess had set it up for her, who the fuck knows what Jess put. If it WAS a woman, how did she feel about that? Would she be polite and eat dinn-

Her train of thought was broken by a yappy bark and the sight of a little pug racing towards her. She blinked a couple of times, caught off guard.

“Bruiser?” she said. The little pug ran right up to her and jumped up, trying to reach her chin to lick it. She bent over and picked him up; he started licking her like crazy.

“Bruiser, what are you-” she asked him. Then she saw Brent, smiling and waving to her from a table in the outdoor area.

Emma, totally confused, carried Bruiser over towards him.

“Hi, Brent, it’s funny seeing you here. I’m actually meeting a blind date here tonight,” Emma said as she nuzzled Bruiser’s belly.

“Uh, yeah ... I know. I’m your date,” he said, clearly uncomfortable. Emma was caught off guard for a second time in two minutes.

“Huh?” was all she managed.

“Um, I wanted to ask you out, but I chickened out and couldn’t do it. So, um, I Googled your email address that you had on your business card and it came up on your dating profile. Sorry if that sounds creepy and stalkery,” he said. He was blushing furiously.

He continued. “I know this is weird, so if you don’t want to have-”

Emma stopped him. “No, it’s fine. I’d love to have dinner with you. You could have just asked me, though.”

Brent smiled and shrugged. “My wife and I were married for a long time. It’s been a very long time since I’ve asked a girl out. And never a pretty, younger girl at that.” He realized what he had just said and blushed even redder, which Emma wouldn’t have thought possible. He suddenly realized she was still standing and holding Bruiser.