Chapter 1

Michael Fielding was a strange duck his peers all agreed. He had manners, a superior intelligence, could think on his feet, analyze a problem and decide on a course of action faster than anyone they knew. He was handsome, fit and had that something that caused men to follow his lead and women to flock to his side. He was the man many other men liked but hated at the same time. Mike was not a bad boy but he had that self confident attitude, that little something that made women decide HE was the one or at least the one for right now. Women flocked to his side and almost begged him to take them to bed—or a car or stock room or anywhere just so long as he took them. Other, lesser mortal men could only grimace and take his rejects.

Michael was not a predator, he was an honorable man but he was a man. Like other young men he wanted, he needed, he searched for sex and hopefully love. He did not move in on other men's women but just by being in the same room with them they seemed to pay their men less attention. Many times he had to gently remind women they were with another man and were paying too much attention to him. He never knowingly "took" or moved in on a woman who was married or in a relationship. In fact a time or two he dropped a woman he was with when he found out she had taken up with him while she was still in a committed relationship. He was once heard to tell a woman who had done this "I believe in fidelity to your partner. I am a one woman man and I expect my woman to be a one man woman. I demand honor, ethics, kindness and consideration from my friends and from my lovers. If it is over, end it then move on but never, never will I accept anyone who is in a relationship and begins dating me while her other man still thinks they are exclusive."

Michael had told the woman that while she was surrounded by her friends. When he left her she was running after him begging him to reconsider. She cried out, "But Mike, I needed to date you first to find out if you were a better choice before I told Jason. You're the one I choose. PLEASE come back."

Mike stopped, turned to her and said, "I'm sorry but I just can't do that. I'm not built that way. When we started dating I understood you were not in a relationship. You lied to me and to your boyfriend. How do I know you won't do the same thing to me? The trust is broken but truthfully, I was beginning to think dating you was a bad idea before I found out about this. You were always too eager to flirt and to run around evenings without me. When I marry I want a woman who wants to spend her life with me, not just live with me and be with me when she can't find anything more interesting to do."

All her friends gathered around her and made comments to each other about how much an asshole Mike was. One wrapped her arms around the crying woman and led her toward the restroom. She said, "Come on Honey. Forget about him. He's just another Navy Asshole. You can do lots better than him. I don't think Kevin knows you've been seeing Mike. I'm sure you can get back with him."

Michael was different in other ways also. While he was not personally rich his family was and he stood to inherit significant wealth in the future. The family expected each young member to stand on their own two feet, to obtain an education, a position, a life, based on their own abilities. That many of the members of the family at least started their working life in the military was a well known and respected fact. The name was known for miles around the small southwest Missouri town they called home. Their family name was also well known in the Army and to a lesser degree in the Navy.