Chapter 1

Oh c'mon Ange, it's only 10:00, surely Brad lets you stay out later than that," Brandi said with a little twinkle in her eye.

"Brad has nothing to do with my wanting to go," Angela replied, "some of us aren't on vacation and have to work in the morning."

"Oh please," Alison piped in, "you own the studio, I think you can take a day off. Sit down and have another drink. After all, Brandi hasn't been out with us in forever."

"Yeah Ange, live a little," Brandi said, laughing at her best friend.

"Alright, one more, but then I really have to go."

Brandi laughed again as she raised her hand to get the attention of the waitress. "Uhuh, you know you love us Angie, ain't nothing you can do about it."

Angela just shook her head, knowing that there was no winning with Brandi when she was like this. "Whatever you say, sweetie, but I'm serious, just this one and then I'm going."

Angela took a sip of her drink, looking around the table at all the girls that she was close to, listening to the chatter and laughter as they all caught up on their lives. Brandi has just arrived that morning from Virginia. She was home visiting her family and wanted a night out with the girls to kick off her stay, so she had Angie set it all up.

"Is this seat taken?" The distinct male voice from behind her seat asked of the empty chair next to her.

Before she could react, Brandi looked at her with a little wink and said, "Not at all, why don't you have a seat?"

Angela was completely caught off guard, what was this girl thinking? Inviting a strange man to sit at a table full of women! Not just that, but the empty chair was next to her, she didn't want some stranger sitting here with them, intruding on their fun.

As the man took the seat, Angela got her first look at him. It was like she forgot to breathe, it couldn't be, there was no way that HE could be sitting next to her.

Angela tried her best to get her mouth to close before the others saw her reaction, but as she looked across the table, she knew that at least one person was watching to see how she would respond. Brandi was trying desperately to stifle her laughter as she watched her best friend trying to compose herself.

"Ladies," he said as he took his seat, raising his glass in salute to the beauty that surrounded him.

"Girls, this is my friend Vic, he's a Canadian, he called me last week and told me he was going to be in Houston the same time as I was, and I wanted you all to meet him, so I asked him here tonight."

"Vic, these are the girls." Brandi said with a flourish of her arm.

"Girls," he said with a little grin, "so nice to meet you, I'm sure that I've heard some of your names in stories, but I'm not sure who's who, so you'll have to put faces to names."

He turned toward Angela, "Let's start with you, which of her lovely friends would you be?"

Angela tried desperately to bring her thoughts into line, this couldn't be happening, there is no way that he could have done this to her without her being aware. She was going to kill Brandi.

"Hey Ange, the man is talking to you, what's your deal?" Alison asked.

"Uhh, sorry, lost in thought, I'm Angela," she said, forcing herself to extend her hand, "It's nice to meet you Vic."

"Very nice to meet you Angela. Did anyone ever tell you that you had the most amazing eyes?" he asked with a little grin, his hand taking hers and gently squeezing it.

Tingles ran up her arm with his touch, she felt her breath catch and hoped that none of the others noticed, except of course Brandi, who was finding all of this vastly amusing. Just when things were looking somewhat normal, the band kicked it into gear and Brandi decided to haul everyone to the dance floor.

Vic quickly begged out, "not me kiddo, you know I dance like a white boy, but you all have fun."

Brandi paused, "Ange, you should stay here and keep Vic company, I wouldn't want some of these sharks to take advantage of our nice Canadian friend."

"Sure, I guess I could do that." Angie replied, trying hard not to smack her friend between the eyes.

As Vic turned to watch them weave between the tables, he looked over at Angie out of the corner of his eye, a small smile on his lips, "It's nice to finally meet you Bree."

Her breath caught when she heard him use that name, she knew the intimacy attached to it. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" she asked, her eyes searching his for an answer.

"You don't like surprises princess? I'm surprised at you" he said, the tips of his fingers tracing up the side of her arm.

He watched as the hairs on her arm stood straight up in reaction to his touch. "Is my little slut not happy to see me?"

Again her breath caught with the term he had used, "it's not that, I'm just in shock. I never expected you to be here, and if you were, I thought you would tell me first." As she stared into his eyes, she immediately felt the pull of them.

"Now where would be the fun in that? I like to see your reaction at being caught off guard. You know you are completely safe here, I would never do anything that would embarrass you."

"I know that, it's just such a shock," she said as she looked down to see that she had twisted her linen napkin as tight as it would go.

Vic looked out on the dance floor, watching the girls from his table as they danced in a circle, other guys trying valiantly to break into the group only to be ignored. Brandi looked across at their table and waved, laughing at Angela's discomfort.

"Soooo," Vic said, looking back toward Angie, "are any of these ladies ones that you had considered setting me up with?" He asked, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Angie's head snapped up to look at him. "Don't even joke about that here." She said, "it's one thing to do it online, but with you here in person, this close, don't even tease me about doing that."

Vic looked to see that none of the girls were looking before he bent his face to her ear, his lips taking the lobe between them and sucking gently on it, "But didn't I hear you say you were going home after your drink?"

They both looked to see that her drink was just about gone. "I'll get another," was her quick reply, a little grin showing itself for the first time since he had taken his seat. "There is no way that I am leaving you with this bunch."

"You may have explaining to do if they see you staying now, don't you think?"

"Screw 'em!" was her quick response, "it's my life, and if I changed my mind and decided to stay, then that's what I decided." She looked across at Vic, trying to gauge his reaction.

Laughing, he reached and touched her hands in her lap, "Now that's my Bree".

With his touch the room around her suddenly seemed deathly quiet, it was as if she could hear her own heart beat and it sounded like a tribal drum in her ears.

She took a deep breath, "I wondered about this for so long," she said, as she looked up at him, "I dreamed about meeting you face to face and how I would react, I wasn't even close."

"Are you wet pet?" he asked, his voice low so no one else could hear him.

Again her breath caught, "I'm wet now," she replied so low he could barely hear her, not even sure he was supposed to hear what she had said. She looked at him sideways, a little grin playing on her lips.

"What?" He asked.

She lifted her head to look him in the eye, "I always wondered if you would have the same affect on me in person as you did online, or on the phone. I wondered if that made it more mysterious, but I was wrong. This is ten times more intense, it's like I have no control at all."

He smiled at her words and at the same time noticed the girls returning from the dance floor, Brandi in the lead, a big grin on her face. "That was fun."

"What, leading those poor guys on?", Vic asked, "you're such a slut."

An audible gasp could be heard from the girls around the table.

Brandi cracked up, "Didn't I tell you he'd call me a slut?" she laughed.

"So where are you staying Vic?" Alison asked.

"Fortunately, I'm staying right here in this hotel, so I can't get lost on the way home."

Angela's eyes flashed at Brandi, "You knew he was staying here," she accused, "that's why you pushed so hard to come here tonight."

"Am I missing something," Debbie asked, looking from Angela to Brandi, "is there something that you're not telling us?"

"Angie just doesn't like surprises," Brandi said, covering her friend's statement.

Angela looked at Brandi and noticed the evil twinkle in her eye and knew she was up to something.

"Soooo, Vic, you're in town for the week right?" Brandi asked innocently.

"Yep."

"Hmm, so what are your plans?"

Angela didn't like where this seemed to be going.

"Well, I have a conference starting tomorrow and running for three days, but it's only during the day. Why do you ask?"

"Well it just doesn't seem right that you should have to be all alone in Houston. There must be someone that can show you the 'sights'," she replied.

Vic laughed, "I'm pretty sure hubby would not appreciate you showing me the night life in Houston sweetie."

"Oh, you and I both know that," she replied, "but surely one of us must know a lady that would be willing to be your arm candy for the week. After all, you're not totally grotesque."

Vic found this very amusing, as did the other ladies at the table. "Well, I have to say, having company while visiting your beautiful city would be a bonus. Who did you have in mind as, what did you call it, 'arm candy'?"

"Hmm, this could take some thought, right girls? After all, we wouldn't want just anyone to escort our nice Canadian friend, would we Ange?"

Angela's look continued to shoot daggers in Brandi's direction. She was enjoying this whole thing way too much.

Brandi was trying not to laugh at her friend's obvious discomfort, but at the same time she was enjoying it all very much. "Don't worry Vic, we'll take care of you, but I'm thinking that our night is pretty much over. I'd better let the girls get home before their cells start ringing."

"I have your cell number, I'll call you tomorrow with plans," Brandi said, as the ladies gathered their things and started to leave. "C'mon Angie, you're my ride."

"I'll be right back, let me run to the ladies room first," Angela replied.

Vic said goodnight to the ladies and stood chatting with Brandi, as she awaited Angela's return.

"You don't think she's too upset do you?" Vic asked, watching Angela leave the room.

"Nah, she'll be fine," Brandi replied, "it's just going to take her a bit to get used to the fact that you are actually here. Of course, you don't have to ride home with her and listen to the abuse that I'm going to suffer."

"Was it worth it?" Vic asked.

Brandi looked at him with an evil grin, "More than you will ever know."

Just then, Angela returned. "Brandi, can I have a moment alone please?"

"Sure, I'll wait for you in the lobby."

With that, Brandi turned toward the exit, "Talk to you later hot stuff."

"Nite Brandi," Vic replied.

Angela watched her friend leaving the room toward the lobby trying to collect her thoughts. This had been a little overwhelming to say the least. A guy she had met online over six years ago, who had come to know her and whom she had come to know, was now standing less than three feet from her and she wasn't sure what to do about it.

She didn't look at him, thinking that would help her think more clearly, but she could sense him, she knew he was close, so very close. Her arm still burned where he had touched her, a touch she had never expected to feel. That he was so much older didn't matter, he was here, in the flesh, standing so close she could smell his cologne, Polo if she knew anything.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't feel him move until she felt his hands sliding around her waist from behind, meeting at the front to interlock his fingers. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she felt him bury his nose in her hair and take a deep breath. She smiled to herself, so many times he had typed this very scenario to her, wrapping her in his arms and smelling her hair, only this time there was flesh and blood attached to the action.

"If I had known you were going to be here, I'd have worn my hair off my neck," she said as she leaned back into his embrace.

She felt, rather than saw him smile into her hair, "That would have been a little bit of overload for me, I'm afraid. It was hard enough to be that close to you and not touch you with all your friends around."

She giggled, "If you had told me, I could have come alone and then there wouldn't have been anyone to see."

He loosened his grip, and turned him to face him, "I know that Bree, but I refuse to compromise you any more than is humanly possible. I wasn't about to put you in that situation. Your friends were here as a safety net."

"I didn't realize I needed a net," she replied.

"Not you silly, me. I needed them here to ensure I didn't do something stupid like maul you at the table."

She laughed, "a little melodramatic don't you think?"

"Not by half sweetie, not by half."

"So, Brandi has your number?" Angie asked.

Vic sensed the underlying threat in the question, and a smile played across his lips, "Yep, she does. After all she is my partner in crime. Although she does scare me a little with that whole escort business."

"And she should, she'll do it you know," Angie said, "she would do it just to watch me squirm. Probably set you up with one of our 'sure thing' friends."

He could see the agitation in her eyes as she played the scenario through in her mind, 'Brandi may not make it home, ' he thought to himself.

"Ok, let's do the math. I've flown for eight hours to attend a conference I don't need nor want to be at, just to meet you. I finally meet you and you are even more beautiful than your pictures, I get to touch you for the first time and feel your flesh beneath my fingers, to smell your hair, and I'm going to tour the city with an escort arranged by Brandi and bed her just to tease you? I don't think so!"

"I'll do the escort thing, just to protect you, but she could do it naked and I wouldn't touch her, I promise, I might take a few pictures..."

She slapped his arm, as she smiled, "No pictures mister!"

He laughed as he pulled her into his arms for a warm embrace, "Mmmm, you fit so nice here Bree."

He leaned back to look into her eyes. The magnetic pull drawing them together slowly until his gently slid his lips across hers for the first time. They both felt the shock of that meeting as their eyes closed and he gently pulled her bottom lip between his.

His fingers came up to gently caress the side of her neck and up along her cheek as he kissed her lips softly again, he opened his mouth slightly to taste her and found the tip of her tongue waiting for him.

A soft moan came from both of them as the kiss gained in intensity.

"Ahem!"

They pulled apart to find Brandi standing there watching them with a big grin, "Umm, didn't you have to leave like over an hour ago?" She teased.

"That was before you pulled this stunt," Angie replied.

Brandi's eyes travelled down the pair, "Well, he seems glad that you're here," she laughed as she noticed the bulge in his pants.

Vic blushed with the realization that it was obvious.

Angie laughed at her friend's observation, "You are so mean Brandi."

"Not mean, just honest." Brandi laughed, "But we really do have to get going Ange, it's getting late."

Vic pushed Angie toward Brandi, "Go before I drag you off to my room."

"And that would be bad because..." Angie asked with a little grin.

Vic moaned in frustration, "Look this is hard enough..."

"I know how hard it is baby, I felt it."

"Geez louise, enough already." Vic said in exasperation.

"Can I have one more kiss before I go?" Angie asked.

Vic took a deep breath, knowing full well that this girl could be the end of him, "You are trying to kill me."

Angela, moved toward Vic, more confident now that the ice had been broken, feeling his fingers once again sliding along her cheek and through her hair, pulling her face to his. She closed her eyes and allowed the sensation of his lips softly touching hers to take her over.

She felt his other hand tracing lightly up her bare arm, as his lips captured hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth to wrestle gently with hers. She pressed her body tight to him, hoping this wasn't a dream, feeling all of him pressing into all of her.

She felt his hardness pressing against her pelvis, but resisted the urge to reach down and feel it with her hand, knowing if that happened that she wouldn't make it home tonight.

"Ok, you two, enough already, your making me horny." Brandi complained, looking around to see if anyone else was aware of the two lovers in their embrace.

The kiss continued as if she weren't even there, and then Angie felt the back of his hand brush across her breast, a slow low moan escaped her as her nipple rose in response to the contact.

Suddenly she was pushed away.

Vic looked at her through hooded eyes, trying to catch his breath, "Ok, Brandi's right, this is too dangerous."

"I'd walk you out, but then we'd be right back in the same boat again, so I'm going to say goodnight now and get to my room and a cold shower before I do something stupid. Love you Bree." And he was gone.

Brandi looked at her friend as she watched Vic leave for his room, "Umm, Wow!"

"Huh?" Angie said, shaking herself back to reality.

"I think I came," Brandi whispered as she took her friend's arm to lead her to the parking lot, "that was some kiss."

As they were walking out, Brandi's phone buzzed. When she looked down and read the message, she looked puzzled.

"What?" Angie asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's Vic, he said, 'tell Brad he's welcome' what the fuck is he talking about?"

Angela started laughing, "He knows he wound me up and he thinks I'll jump Brad's bones for relief."

"Is that what you're going to do?" Brandi asked, looking sideways at Angela.

"Normally, if we were chatting and he worked me up, that's exactly what I would do, but this is different. He's here, he's right back there in that hotel, in a room all alone, and I've just had his hands touch me for the very first time. This is weird Brandi, I'm way wound up, but I want him to unwind me."

"He seems ok with it all though," Brandi responded.

"Of course he is, that's why I feel about him the way I do. Not that he's into sharing, but he knows where he fits, the problem is, I don't know where he fits. Six years ago, if he had said, 'Angie, come to Canada and be with me', I'd have done it, and he knows that. I'm going to kill the pair of you."

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Brandi asked, looking at her friend.

"You two set me up, and somebody has to pay, and I've decided that both of you should."

As they drove home, Angie was very quiet, lost deep in thought about the whole evening. "Who are you setting him up with Brandi?"

"I haven't decided yet. I was thinking that I might actually enjoy doing it, that or maybe Debbie, she said she wouldn't mind at all."

"I bet she did." Angela replied. "Are you going to give me his number?"

"Hmm?" Brandi asked innocently, "I don't know 'Bree', after all, if he didn't give it to you, I'm not sure I should either. I'll have to check with him first."

"Yep, I'm going to kill both of them," Angela muttered under her breath.

Vic entered his room and collapsed back onto the bed, his arm going over his eyes, "I must be the stupidest man alive," he muttered to himself. "It's not bad enough that I don't tell her I'm here, but then I practically rape her in the restaurant."

He grabbed the remote to try and find something that would distract him. "Hey, its game 7 tonight, I wonder if I can get hockey here. Texans probably don't know a hockey stick from and igloo," he chuckled to himself. Fortunately, he found the game he was looking for and was soon caught up in the action. "Thank God for hockey," he muttered to himself.

He was startled awake by the buzzing of his cell phone, "Hello."

"Hey stud," Brandi answered, "you got our girl all wound up now."

"She's wound up? I may need Ritalin to settle me down," he responded.

"Heheh, you were fine Vic" Brandi replied, "you handled yourself very well, even though you tried to choke her to death with your tongue."

"I wanted to do a whole lot worse than that, I just restrained myself."

"Anymore and they would have hosed the pair of you down, but hey I understand, you're old and you have to move fast." Brandi jibed.

"Uhuh." Vic replied unimpressed.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Brandi enquired.

"I haven't decided, and to be honest this whole thing has me more than a little freaked."

"Why are you freaked?" Brandi asked.

"Think about it Brandi. I've known Angie for six years, we've talked off and on over that time, but never for a real prolonged period, she's freaking 25 years old, married to a doctor..."

"Blah blah blah," Brandi interrupted, "just get over yourself already. You two were practically screwing on the table and you're worried about all this other stuff? I was there Vic, I saw the way the two of you checked each other out when you thought no one was looking."

"She was gorgeous," Vic responded.

"Ok stay with me here champ, I don't want to have to ice you down," Brandi laughed.

"So I've had a couple of calls from the girls that were there tonight who were willing to act as your chaperone for the next couple of days."

"Girl Scouts looking to do their good deed?" Vic quipped.

"Something like that. Actually, I think they want to try some Canadian bacon," Brandi laughed.

"Ok, I've been called worse," Vic chuckled. "So who's the lucky contestant?"

"I'm not sure just yet, I have to ask Angie, she's going to want to know what's going on. Knowing her, she's probably thinking about it right now wondering who's going to be hitting on you."

"I'm sure she'll be fine with whoever you choose, Brandi. You love to tease, but you'd never do anything to hurt her, she knows that. She may bitch and moan about it, but deep down she knows the truth."

"Ok, but I'm telling her this was your idea if she comes at me with any kind of weapon."

"Fair enough." He replied, "So I'll leave it to you to set it all up and get back to me with the details, but right now I've got to get some sleep if I'm going to survive tomorrow's meetings."

"K, nite Vic, sweet dreams." Brandi said, disconnecting the call. "This guy is going to get me killed," she muttered to herself as she tried to decide which of her friends would act as his guide over the next couple of days.

The next morning, Angie opened the door to her studio and set about getting set up for the mornings classes. She was thankful that she was alone for a bit so she could get her thoughts in order, "Like a few more minutes will help," she muttered to herself, "I couldn't get them straight all night, and I expect them to suddenly fall into place now?"

After she finished getting ready, she went back to her office to get some of her paperwork out of the way. She was vaguely aware of people entering the studio, but gave it little thought, her instructors were able to deal with most things, and if anything important came up, they knew where she was.

Just then there was a soft knock at the door, "Come in," Angie called.

The door slowly opened and a little girl looked in, "Miss Angie, there's a parcel here for you."

Angela looked up at the little girl, peeking through her bangs at her, "Ok sweetie, I'll be right there."

Angela wondered if the shipment she had ordered had arrived, although she didn't think it would be this fast, as she left her office to move to the front door.

The delivery man handed her a bouquet of white sweetheart roses when she identified herself and asked for her signature for delivery.

All the girls watched as she took the bouquet in its vase to her office, some clapping, "Ms. Angie's got an admirer," the little girl who had knocked on her door, whispered to her little friend.

Angela smiled at the two little girls as she brought the roses to her nose and entered her office. She put the vase on her desk and took the card from the envelope, "Every princess deserves to be surrounded by beauty. Love you Bree." Was all the card said, but she knew, only he called her Bree, he always had.

She grabbed her phone, "Early or not, she's got to tell me what's going on."

"Hello," Brandi mumbled into the phone.

"Who's taking him out?" Angela asked without thought.

"Geez Ange, I'm on vacation, remember?" Brandi griped.

"Look, you two planned this little surprise, no one told me what was going on, so expect no sympathy from me. Now, who's taking him out?"

"Alison," Brandi yawned into the phone.

"Alison?" Angela repeated. "And you were going to tell me this when?"

"Ange, its only 8:00 a.m. give me a break, or at least a chance to wake up before I fill you in on all the details, sheesh."

"Forget it, I'll call Alison myself." Angela stated.

"Uhh, Ange," Brandi interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you?" Brandi asked. "After all, he's supposed to be my friend and suddenly you're calling Alison to put her through the inquisition?"

"Look, he came here to see you, do you honestly think that he would give his attention to anyone else? He's male, but he's not stupid."

Angela sighed in exasperation, "I know, but at the same time it should be me taking him out! It should be us touring around together, not him and Alison!"

"Sweetie, if it were you and him, something tells me he wouldn't see anything but the inside of his bedroom, not that he would mind, but you and I both know you both would never leave that room."

Angela laughed at the image, "You're probably right. Should I call him?"

"Nice try there Colombo," Brandi laughed, "I might have just been rudely awakened, but I'm not THAT slow. I'm not giving you his number."

"How am I supposed to talk to him then?" Angela fumed.

"Hmm, let's see ... for the last six years, off and on, you've communicated how?"

"But I don't want to use Yahoo, he's here in Houston, besides, he's in conference this morning, he's not going to be online. Brandi, I'm losing a whole day that I could be spending with him and he's only here this week."

"Ange, you have a business to run, there's nothing you or he could do."

"Don't worry, I've already talked to Brad and I'm taking you out to dinner tonight. Of course the minute I said that, he was booking a tee time." Brandi laughed.

"Yeah? And are we eating alone?" Angie asked.

"Well, I was going to bring a friend along if you were ok with it. He's in town and doesn't know anyone, you don't mind do you?"

"Well, if he's all alone, I guess its ok."

"You're gonna like him, he's kinda cute in an old sort of way, and he does make me laugh."

"I'm going to tell him you called him old," Angie laughed.

"Just don't get us arrested tonight, ok Ange?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Angie, I was there last night, remember? I saw how he looked at you, I saw the way you said 'good night'. It's a wonder you didn't just go at it on the table, poor bugger probably blew out the zipper on his pants."

"It wasn't that bad." Angie said.

"Ange, Alison noticed." Brandi replied.

"WHAT?! What do you mean, 'Alison noticed', we didn't do anything when they were there. He touched me when you were dancing, but that was it."

"Ange, I'm telling you, you two were smoking last night. There were little looks that you threw at each other, subtle little glances, and when he looked at you, it was like no one else existed. Sure he talked to everyone, but when you looked his way, no one else seemed to matter."

"Don't worry, I just told Alison that I had talked to Vic a lot about you and he was just checking you out. I didn't tell her that he was checking your tonsils with his tongue though."

"Shut up," Angela laughed, remembering the kiss from the night before. "What should I wear tonight?"

"Body armour." Was Brandi's quick retort. "I don't know Ange, you could wear a garbage bag and he wouldn't care. I'm sure you'll look great, just don't overdo it."

"Oh my god, I have a class in five minutes, I'll see you tonight, and I want the details on Alison's tour guiding."

Brandi rolled her eyes, "Yes ma'am," she laughed as she hung up the phone.

She had no sooner settled back down, and her phone buzzed again. "Does no one sleep in anymore?" She mumbled as she answered her phone.