Chapter 2

Mike was a mess the next day having gotten little sleep the night before. When Caryn came home, he started dinner. She joined him in the kitchen. He was uncomfortable, feeling, as he did, he had spied on a private moment. She also seemed uncomfortable. The silence dragged on.

Finally, Caryn broke the silence. "Mike?"

"Uh, yes sweetie?"

"Last night," she paused.

Mike dreaded what was to follow. He prayed she hadn't heard or seen him peeking in. Christ, he would be embarrassed beyond endurance. He had been so stupid.

"I thought I heard my door close before I went to sleep. I was thinking about what you said about always telling the truth," she paused again.

Mike was hoist on his own petard. He turned, "I have to apologize, sweetie. I have no excuse, but I was coming down the hall and I heard something that made me think you were having a nightmare. I was worried so I opened the door just a notch." He blushed recalling what he had heard. "Um, once I knew you were okay, I closed it as fast as I could and went to bed."

"Then you heard me..."

'Oh Shit!' Mike said to himself. "I really really really apologize, sweetie. I didn't mean to, I really didn't."

Caryn was engulfed in teenage embarrassment when he acknowledged hearing her. Had he heard her saying his name as she touched herself? What would he think of her now? Caryn buried her face in her hands and started to run away. Mike instantly grabbed her putting his arms round her. She turned in his arms her back towards him. "Please don't turn away from me, Caryn. Please don't turn away. I love you," he said holding her, trying to comfort her, and yet feeling like a fool.

She felt his arms and him turning her back around to hold her next to his chest. Then she heard, "I love you." Her breath caught. Could he feel the same way? She pulled her hands from her face and looked up. His face was so close to hers, filled with care and love. Without thought, her face moved and her lips touched his.

Mike felt her lips touch his. His concern vanished with the touch. Without thinking he returned the kiss. Her arms went round him pulling him to her. The kiss lingered, drawing them closer, physically, but even more, emotionally.

Mike finally pulled back from the kiss, "Oh my." Caryn's face was full of desire. "What have we done?" he asked. "We need to talk."

"No," she said. "No, no, no," as she leaned in to kiss him again.

He held her away. "Please, my sweet. Please. We have to talk."

Caryn's emotions had been whipsawed, from hope, to embarrassment, to love in seconds. She was in no shape to talk. She needed to feel, to express, to experience. Her arms were like a clamp, turn by turn, pulling Mike back to her. He resisted but as his lips drew closer he felt his own will wavering. Caryn's desire never wavered and it overwhelmed his wavering will. Their lips touched again and the electric current ran from one to the other and back. Mike's body was alight. Caryn was in love as she had never been before, and with the ardor of youthful love, it consumed her completely.

She pulled back, her face bright as the morning sun; it nearly burned his eyes. "I love you, Mike," she said with her whole being.

He was stunned. He had said he loved her, he remembered saying it. But he had never rationally considered what his feeling for her was. It had just come blurting out. Mike knew he had a situation.

"We need to talk," he said. Caryn smiled and kissed him. "We still need to talk," he insisted. Caryn tried to kiss him again but he dodged.

She pouted. "About what?"

"About us," he said.

"What is there to talk about?" she asked.

"Oh, let's see. Maybe that Deanne is going to kill me," he said.

"Then don't tell her," Caryn said reasonably.

Mike reached up and pulled her arms from around his neck, led her to the table, "Sit while I get dinner."

Caryn pouted for a second, then smiled, "You said you love me."

He had to smile at her infectious enthusiasm. "Yes, I did, didn't I? That is something we need to talk about."

"Why? Unless you are going to take it back, there's nothing to talk about," she said accusingly.

He smiled, "No, I don't think I am going to take it back."

Caryn nearly melted hearing that. He wasn't going to take it back. He loved her.

Mike saw the look on her face and he knew that he was now in a serious situation. Caryn's face was full of adoration. He was the responsible adult here. He somehow had to get the whole thing under control.

"Mike, I'm not a little girl. I'm nearly seventeen," she said.

"Nearly seventeen?" he asked.

"Don't you make fun of me. I'm not a virgin if that's what you're thinking," she said.

Mike hadn't been thinking of that at all. But once she brought it up, he couldn't get it out of his mind. It immediately was thrust to the forefront of his thoughts. She wasn't a virgin. "I don't think of you as a little girl," he said. She's not a virgin. "I'm not sure exactly what I do think," he said. She's not a virgin.

"If you love me and I'm not a little girl, then..." Caryn left that thought hanging in the air like the elephant in the drawing room, it couldn't be ignored no matter how hard Mike tried.

Mike looked up from the pan as he continued stirring. "Yeah, I know. What does it mean and what is the right thing to do?" She's not a virgin.

Caryn started to say something but subsided. She wanted Mike as her boyfriend. She wanted him to hold her and kiss her. She wanted what she dreamed about every night now. She wanted to tell him, 'I want to make love with you, ' but she couldn't say it out loud. "I liked kissing you."

Caryn had fallen in love with Mike that first night as he held her in his arms. It had deepened in the months that followed. It had bloomed in his humor and compassion. It had changed and grown to the love of a woman for the one special man, as she came to know what a special man he was. It was only natural that she felt it in her body and mind, that she wanted him both body and soul.