Chapter 5

Joe did just what she asked and pulled up to her house at 10:50 and beeped two short toots on the horn and her front door swung open and she ran out. She swung the door open and told him to pull away quickly.

They got to the end of the block and Selena asked him to find a place to stop and talk as soon as he could. Turning from the development he pulled into the lot of a failed strip mall turned to office suite plaza.

Besides a hello and how was your day they had little time to say anything in the minute she had been in the car as he slid the gear lever into park.

"I don't know if I want to kiss you or slap you, right now." Selena said looking straight ahead.

"Wha... I don't..." Joe began as she stopped him.

"I've listened to two of the girls I worked with tonight talk about shacking up with you all night long. I wanted to slap them and had to bite my tongue all night long. Just what am I getting myself into?" she asked, staring at Joe demanding some explanation.

"Kendra and Darcy. Yeah, they both called me tonight and left messages. I'm sorry Selena but I told you I had a reputation and working there you were going to hear a lot of crap. Over the years Lynn seems to have spent every slow minute in that store talking sex with the girls. They sit and look at guys asses and eventually they talk about Lynn's conquest and then the girls pitch in. I don't know if Lynn thinks she needs to be my agent but she always makes sure she tells them that I'm unattached and not looking for a commitment. With a lot of the regular girls they just call my house and ask to stop by. Most of them are in school and don't have the time to invest in a steady relationship, but want to blow off steam. I'm sorry that I'm a whore, Selena. But after being burnt so many times it's been the only way to keep my heart safe. I use them as much as they use me. But, for what it's worth, anytime I have been in a committed relationship, I have never, ever, ever, cheated, or even come close. I treat hearts like I want mine treated. But, I'm afraid when it comes to female charms, I have little self control, otherwise."

Selena sat and looked straight ahead.

"God, they talk in fine detail about nights they've spent with you like you're a ride at the fair."

"Selena, I'm sorry about some of the things I do, but you can't hold against me anything that happened before I met you. I am not a cheater and I've told you that you are the one I want to save my heart for. As long as you want me to, I'll keep it that way." Joe apologized.

Selena kept her forward stare but raised her hands in fists as if talking to the dash.

"THEY TALK SO FRANKLY ABOUT SUCH INTIMATE SEX!! How can I compete with that!!!" she spat out through gritted teeth.

"There is no competition, Selena. You've won till you tell me you don't want it."

Joe emphasized.

"But Joe, I'm not sexually versed enough for you. You've spent nights with either one of those two tonight that have eclipsed my whole experience."

"Selena! Am I demanding anything of you? Do you know the difference between fucking and making love? When I'm with one of them it's the same as another guy playing racquetball to blow off steam. It's recreation. Yes, I'm a pig, but it's so readily available and when I have no love of my own, I am weak. Let's take our relationship a day at a time and let it happen. I make no demands of you, except to open yourself up to me and let me show you how I can appreciate you and your feelings you may have for me."

Selena finally turned her face to Joe, imploring him with her eyes.

"OK Joe. I'm trusting you. I like you so much so far that I will put all of that talk I hear behind me. You say you can change from free heart to committed heart. I only want a chance with you. But, right now the thought of such a sexually committed relationship scares me. I've never been like that before. Don't demand anything and let things happen. OK?"

"Selena, that's the way it was always going to be, believe me." Joe said as he reached out his hand to hers. She responded by turning to him and leaning to kiss his lips to seal her leap of trust and faith.

Joe kissed her once but pressed his lips for another as he encircled her shoulders and pulled her to him.

"I am really smitten by you," he whispered. "I won't do anything to hurt you or hurt our chances at a relationship."

She gave in and fell deep into his arms as his tongue probed her mouth. They necked for a minute or two and he broke their clench.

Before we get too involved here let's go out for a drink to someplace quiet where we can talk.

"No, let's go right to Shillelaghs and Shenanigans. I want to have a coming out with you and get it over with. Goddammit I'm not going to sneak around with you. At least this way I can stop the talk. When they ask how the sex is I can tell them, it's none of their fucking business." She told him emphatically.

"OK, but remember it was your call." He said chuckling under his breath. "Oh, this is going to be a BIGGGG mistake." He said with a wry smile.

The nightclub was loud and raucous as the made their way in, hearing a local band pound out popular songs. A waitress who knew Joe greeted them and told Joe that there were no tables but she would keep an eye out for them. After getting them each drinks she melted into the crowd as the two tried to talk. It seemed everyone in the place knew Joe as they passed him and patted his back or extended a hand for a shake. Lots of females just squeezed by with a curt "Hi Joe" and a look at Selena.

Lori the waitress came by and said that she was getting a bill for a couple and had asked them to stay at their table until she came back. If they wanted the table they should follow her.

They did and came and sat with the couple that was leaving, looking like they were joining, but then with their bill paid they left, leaving Joe and Selena alone.

"You realize that tonight enough people have seen us together already, that it will get back to Lynn." Joe warned her as the band took a break leaving them an opportunity to talk without shouting...

Selena leaned up and whispered forcefully in Joe's ear.

"I don't give a FUCK what Lynn thinks, Joe and it's pissing me off that you do. You better decide if you want to be with me, or if you want to worry about her. Maybe that's why you lost your other loves, they couldn't get over your obsession with Lynn."

Joe was surprised that she swore, but was knocked for a loop by her accusatory words. He went to defend himself, but Selena grabbed his finger as he was pointing to make his point.

"Don't Joe! You can't defend that. It's all I hear when we might be seen. That's why we're here. I'm proud to be with you and want to build a relationship, but I'm not hiding. Yes, I could be your daughter, BUT I'M NOT. If someone doesn't like us together, tough shit, don't look. I'm telling my father tomorrow and if he asks if I'm sleeping with you I'll tell him it's none of his business if I do. Now do we sit here and have a good time and get to know each other, or do you bring me home so you can worry about Lynn?"

Joe received the kick on the ass he may have needed for a while from her. He didn't really think he obsessed that much on Lynn and what she might think, but Selena's point told him he might have. The thought of losing his chance to get to know this brilliant little pixie hit him like a ton of bricks. He had already decided that whether they hit it off as a couple or not, she would be a trusted friend and confidant, her knowledge of the financial aspects he loved so was so great.

"Okay, okay. I definitely want to be with you and get to know you better. But, don't get the feeling I obsess over Lynn because I carry a torch for her. It's the unabashed ass busting she does with anyone around that bugs me. Yes, I love her. She's my cousin!" Joe defended.

"But, you don't have to please her, Joe, you have to please me, we have to please us. I am not going to hide anymore, period. I know it's just been a short time, but I really like you and enjoy your company. Don't let other people ruin this, Joe. I've never felt this way about anyone before."

"I understand that, and I feel very special about you as well. Just realize that we are going to be judged. You're 18 by your birth certificate, but far older in maturity and I like to think that I am nowhere near my own 40 years. Just be ready for the criticism, and I'm not sure I would tell your Dad my real age."

"I'll cross that bridge, as they say..." Selena said dismissing the thought.

Joe took each of her hands in his and pulled her toward the middle of the little cocktail table until their faces were about a foot apart over the lit candle bowl.

"Have I ever told you how pretty you are and that just a look at your face changes my whole mood and demeanor? I feel like you're looking through me talking to my soul. I've told you how I thought I was in love before with perfect mates but this is an entirely different feeling. How can I feel this way in such a short time?"

"I don't know, but it scares the hell out of me too. I don't need the pressure of falling in love on top of everything else I have going on. I've thought of putting you on hold, but I can't. I promise I won't steal your heart and run away with it, but you may have to be patient with me at times."

"I was going to tell you the same thing, that there may be times when I need space or when I think you need space to keep your goals in sight, but I am here for you and I won't go without warning. This is just happening so fast and I don't think its infatuation." Joe said as the band began it's next set.

The band was playing songs from a decade earlier all night and began this midnight set with power ballads from the same genre, announcing a lover's set.

"Can we get up and dance, Joe? I want to hold you and feel you."

Joe smiled and took her hand as he stood. If anyone in the place didn't think they were a couple, they were about to dash any doubts. They went to the floor and Selena draped her arms around Joe's neck and just looked at him and smiled as he began to sway and step to the slow rhythm.

"This is nice," She said as she settled her head against his shoulder.

After 2 songs in a row they stayed on the floor as the third began.

Selena craned her neck up to whisper in Joe's ear.

"I want to stay with you tonight. I don't know if we should make love or not, but I want to be with you and not let go. I'm not sure if I ever really made love before, because I've never felt like this. Be patient with me."

"Not to worry my little angel." Joe said to reassure her. "Nothing will happen that you don't want to. Just being with you is making love."

The set ended after a fifth song and the band took its last break before their last 45-minute set. Joe and Selena didn't seem to care, as they stayed embraced on the dance floor for a moment before sitting down again. They paid their check and made their way out through the dwindling crowd. The two were seen by enough of the girls Joe had known from The Corner Store for him to know they would be tomorrows topic of conversation. Selena had convinced him not to care.

As they drove from the club towards Joe's house Selena reached for her hand to touch his as it lay on the console.

"What is it that draws two people together? I've felt something about you almost from the moment I met you. The wanting I have inside me right now is overwhelming. I know I can't make you happy like those other girls can, but I want to try."

Joe slowed the car to a stop at the next curb, slid the gear into PARK and took her hand in his.