Chapter 3

We actually lay with our backs to the ocean to get the best angle of the sun although she put on a cover up having had enough sun on her stomach and what showed of her breasts. She had heavily lotioned her legs.

We hadn’t said much and just enjoyed the sun for about 15 minutes when she asked “Aren’t you going to put any sun protection on?”

“I suppose I should, I hate to since I just showered, but yes I will.” I said as I went through my bag and got my SPF 30 out. I started my face first being careful not to get any in my eyes and then I worked my arms. That was about the time Melody got up from her low beach chair and said, “Here, let me do that for you.”

The tone and timbre of her voice and the fact she said it and not asked it was comforting and special to me. 99 times out of a 100 if Piper Lee had asked me to put my lotion on for me I would have rejected her saying “What am I, helpless” but I welcomed her doing this.

Now, having a beautiful woman lather sun lotion all over you is not a sacrifice, it was very enjoyable and all the while I marveled at how I would never let this happen with ANY woman I had been with before. Her earlier concern and this kind act was beginning to open my feelings toward her. In so many ways I hoped she wouldn’t be special to me for a couple reasons. One being, I didn’t know where she lived and if she ended up a thousand miles away a relationship would be difficult, the other concerned both of us, if we got back home in our comfort zone, would we still feel a kinship?

She had figured out a little about me as she lathered my chest and belly when she said, “I’m surprised you let me do this, I thought you would reject me. I know it’s a little personal.”

I gave her a strange look and when she caught my eye she stopped her hands.

“What’s THAT look for?”

“You think this is personal?” I said in a low voice, “Do you forget that I had my tongue inside your pussy last night and you sucked the sperm from my balls?”

She blushed and then smiled. “No, I didn’t forget. I’ll never forget that. As a matter of fact, I may ask for an encore.” She said smartly while avoiding eye contact and continuing to lather me.

She finished getting the lotion on my exposed areas and handed the bottle back to me without further comment, but the “I know what you’re thinking” look on her face along with the continuous eye contact until she put her sunglasses back on had me getting chubby in my trunks.

I was beginning to think I had known her for a long time. I don’t believe in any of that supernatural stuff but it was like Piper Lee’s spirit had entered her. Where I rarely felt this comfortable with any woman, Piper was special and she knew what to say and when and how to please me and not bug me. I, in turn, was her lover, soul mate, and “general pleaser” (her words). Besides, most of the the women from my early life didn’t want a commitment and looked me up for gratuitous no strings sex, most other women didn’t like me because I didn’t call them or look them up après sex.

I started reading on my Kindle and she her book when out of nowhere she said aloud to not anyone in particular (supposedly), “I’d like to say it was making love.”

I let it go for about 90 seconds and said to the same no one in particular, “Love is a pretty strong word to toss around after such a short time.”

It took another 2 full minutes, by the clock on the Kindle, to elicit, “It wasn’t a pick-up fuck and suck, I’ll tell you that.” Without lifting her eyes.

“No, it definitely was not” I said to my Kindle a minute later to which she immediately reached out with her foot and touched toes with me. (We both smiled to ourselves)

After that, besides passing my water bottle to her a couple times, we didn’t speak and at around 6:30 the sun was just moving behind the building and if we wanted any more sun we would have to move our chairs.

I stood and stretched and asked, “Would you like to dip your feet, just to say we went in?”

“Sure.” She said and got up beside me as we walked down. Very unlike me, I put out my hand and she quickly took it. We walked down and got about up to our knees where the occasional waive just touched your sex unless you rose up to avoid it (and I did). We both scanned the horizon looking at the couple sailboats and lobster boats out there.

“If you were back in your chair we would make one of your pictures wouldn’t we?” She said smartly.

“You paid attention to what I said. Yes it would.” I said as I let go of her hand and turned around. She took my hand this time, not that I wasn’t going to offer it.

She squeezed my hand to get my attention. “We are a lot alike in how and what we like in a relationship. If you tell me what you would ask me if I told you I was going home in the morning, I’ll tell you what I would ask you, and I can’t cheat, I’ve already done it.”

“Wrote it down?” I asked

“Yup, it’s inside the back of my book.”

“I don’t do relationship quizzes.”

“Didn’t figure you would.” She said looking away, then adding “We aren’t IN a relationship are we?”

“Touché” I answered with a grin as we got back to our stuff.

I packed up my things, folded my chaise and headed to my door.

“Don’t want to play?” She hollered, still not moving from where she gathered her stuff.

“Inside.” I said coyly tipping my head towards the door.

She walked ahead of me to the door and stopped. I told her to go ahead in.

“No,” She paused, “Let me hear what you might ask, and then I’ll give you MY list to read. I’m NOT going to discuss it here. You know where I’m staying and I’ll be there all night.”

Spooky feelings again, THAT was a Piper Lee answer, mysterious, yet provocative.

I walked to meet her at the slider and looked at her, pretty as anything, with an impatient look on her face.

I said nothing for about a minute. Then, just as she was bending to pick up her chair and walk away, disgusted but determined, I gave in and rattled off my questions in quick succession:

“Where do you live?” “Do you want to see me again?” “Are you going to tell your closest girlfriends what happened between us?” “If I showed up on your doorstep at home would you send me away or invite me in.” “If your mother in law came over would I have to hide in the basement until she left?’

She put a stern look across her face and reached into the book in her bag and took out the sheet she had written and handed them to me, and then turned on her heel and went to her room.

I sat down on the stoop and unfolded the paper, it read:

“Where do you live?” “Do you want to see me again? (not just for sex)” “If I came to visit you, uninvited, would you ask me in?” “If Pipers best friend showed up to see how you were doing and I was there, how would you explain it?” “Who would you tell about us? Your closest friend or everybody?”

I felt like a high school girl, but it really wasn’t as childish as it seemed. Neither of us knew how long we would be there and we both had our interest piqued. If the women that I dumped after a few dates or one roll in the hay saw this, they would be laughing their collective ass off. I had already tipped my hand and did something I never do; I (sort of) showed her that I cared for her.

I had already broke one of my most stringent rules, that was, never plus or minus 5 year age difference. I didn’t want to be stuck, nor did I want to stick anyone with a person who might not be able to keep up with the other, in any way. Yet, I was drawn to her and she had left the ball in my court. If I was to see her again she said “You know where I am, I’ll be there all night.”

I surmised; Suppose I just ignored her, called her bluff, and waited for her to come down to the beach tomorrow.

Suppose she walked a 100 yards away from me and ignored me?

What if she was gone in the morning? What if I just went up to Mikes and drank alone and forgot about her? That also left the possibility she might go to Mikes and get hit on by someone, or even leave with someone in front of me.

She had played her hand as if she knew my every move and knew I was more interested than I might have let on. My “aloof” act may have been overplayed. Was I that out of practice with the opposite sex, or did I actually find someone stupid enough to care for me and put up with my shit? That was how Piper and I started out, but soon she held the reins, whether I knew it or not.

I went in the bathroom and did a quick rinse off shower to freshen up, and then I dressed as if I was going to visit a woman for a second date. My old persona had taken a beating and I was admitting that YES, I was terribly interested even though I stood to end up the loser if it were a head game, or not. I was older and definitely had fewer prospects than she, conversely she was younger and would have many suitors to choose from should she choose to just go home, or anywhere, and play the field. For the first time at this stage of a relationship, I had to wear my heart on my sleeve. I wasn’t sure how I should feel. I only knew that I didn’t feel confident, and I’ve rarely been in that position.

After locking up I went up the stairs across the way to her door. I knocked and I expected her to answer the door with a shit eating grin, but instead she looked sad, maybe even conciliatory.

“Hi Bart. I’m sorry I played a high school game on you, but I needed to do that for my heart and yours too. Understand that. When you left here this morning you were playing a chess move. It took me a while but I figured a way to check you, to even the battlefield, so to speak. No matter what happens between us, don’t blame yourself for how it turns out. Our heads are obviously on the same thought line and we need to answer the questions we have for each other honestly. I’m OK with it if you are, but I have to ask you to go first.” She said waiting for my response.

“As much as 24 hours does not make a relationship, I’m willing to walk the plank on this one. The return seems too great to step away from, even knowing so little of the details.” I said taking a deep breath. “Firstly, I want you to know that last night was not a chess move on my part. I had no intention of ever making a play of any kind for you. I was just looking out for you, at first, because you seemed a little fragile.”

She nodded knowing I hadn’t calculated anything and said, “I started this as a fling, but we quickly found something in each other. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve had one night stands before, but only 2. It was what I decided I wanted at the bar and when you left I knew my best prospect had gone. I couldn’t believe I just let you leave without letting you know I felt something. I know you didn’t try to hit on me.”

It was like a line had been drawn and we each made a quick statement.

She stood aside and showed me to the sofa, the same one we made oral love on the night before. I sat down and took the paper from my breast pocket and unfolded it, and read the first one aloud.

“Where do you live?” “I travel a lot during the summer and then sporadically the rest of the year, but Piper and I have a home in Highland Falls, New York. It’s small but sits high, right over the Hudson River. It’s easy access to a New York and there’s also a big airport nearby in Newburgh.”

I paused and she looked to me to read the next question.

“No,” I said, “Now you. I basically asked you the same questions, agreed?” (she nodded) “Well, I’m not spilling MY soul without hearing word one from you.”

“No, you answer everything first.” She said firmly.

I looked down at the sheet and got up and headed to the door saying, “You’re obviously playing some sort of game here to emasculate me, have a little fun at my expense while you satisfy your urges.” I said pissed off that I even came up and then let her toy with me.

“No, that’s not it at all!” She protested loudly. “I just wanted the upper hand.”

“Upper hand, horse shit! You could hear all my answers and then do an edit on yours to either shoot me down or draw me into some web.” I spat back.

“Could you just check your male fucking ego at the door? In 24 hours I went from mourning my 6 year husband and marriage to doing things with you that ONLY he did with me. I have to know what’s real and what’s not before I subject my heart to something that could crush me.”

I looked at her determinedly saying, “Imagine that same statement coming from my mouth to you. I ended the longest period of my life being true to one woman for you. I held your honor is high esteem all night making sure you weren’t doing something fueled by alcohol that you would be sorry for in the morning. I was no predator.”

She knew I was right and the look on her face told me she had just come to a realization she hadn’t considered.

“I have a home in Towson, Maryland. There’s actually a deal to sell it on the table waiting for the final details. It was our marriage home, but I can’t live there. It was too big in the first place. It was our only asset. I have no connection to the area besides the house. I grew up on Army bases in Texas, Oklahoma, and Washington, DC.”

Satisfied, I walked back over to the sofa and sat again, reading from her list,

“Do you want to see me again, not just for sex?”

“Keep in mind, these questions were posed under the pretense that you would be gone in the morning. Yes, I feel a weird kinship to you and I don’t think it has anything to do with our like circumstances. Before Piper I usually, in my mind, tore apart every woman I went out with. She was too this, too that. While I certainly wasn’t vetting you or planning to hit on you, somewhere along in the night I came to a realization that you were special and fit into a slot that really only Piper ever held. NOW you can say something about my “fucking male ego”. Yes, I’ve always thought I was pretty special because I was a pleaser of women, and women wanted me and, yes, I took a certain amount of pleasure of leading them around. Piper was like a hard slap in the face, I found no great reason to screw around with her. She hooked me. I felt a lot of that sameness last night. Do you know how many times I promised to “make love to you in the morning” and snuck out in the middle of the night, leaving my nut behind? I wasn’t leaving for ANY reason last night, or this morning. So the answer is YES, I want to see you again, and if sex isn’t part of it, that’s OK. I think we could have fun together.”

She took the paper from my hand to read the question, “Do you want to see me again, not just for sex.”

She exhaled deeply through her nose. “Yes, of course, even if sex was included, but just sharing some things would be nice ways to get to know each other. I like sex, but I’ve never really passed it out. Including you I’ve just been with 6 or 7 guys. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t active. You can’t help but notice that we are a lot alike in ummm ... I’m not sure of the word to use ... ATTITUDES, I guess. If we were stuck on an island together I don’t think we would argue much. I think we both see black as black, white as white instead of many shades of gray.”

I nodded in agreement with her, although I wasn’t sure, thinking later, if she understood my nods were agreement.

I looked down at the next question and read;

“If I came to visit you, uninvited, would you ask me in?”

“I’m assuming you would find my address through some way, like stalking me, that would worry me. But if you left today and then showed up at my door at my home, I would certainly appreciate the fact you took the time to find me and thought enough of me, of us, that you would look me up. I would let you in for sure and want you to stay.”

She smiled at my answer and then joyfully re-read the question, like she was on a game show.

“If I came to visit you, uninvited, would you ask me in?”

“I guess I mean if I just left tomorrow morning and you hunted me down, much like you said, like stalking, but I wouldn’t think of it as creepy. I would surely invite you in and ask you to stay as long as your intentions were good, and not mad I left you high and dry.”

I think she expected me to be all happy and smiles, so I acted aloof again, just a little chess move on my part. I hoped it didn’t show. I had my reasons.

I read the next question;

“If Pipers best friend showed up to see how you were doing and I was there, how would you explain it?”

“I don’t know if you think she might have her sights on me or not, I can’t tell the tone you wrote it, but assuming she was just checking on me I wouldn’t try to hide you, I would be straight forward and say that I was trying to move on and I met someone. I wouldn’t mention the circumstance of our getting together, you know both losing partners. I would never convince anyone that it wasn’t just mutual rebound. To be clear, I don’t think it’s mutual rebound. Happenstance and circumstance, yes, but not mutual rebound. If we were still with our former partners and met, I still think we would see an attraction, perhaps even become friends.”

Melody played my card this time and pulled the aloof act, never smiling or agreeing to think my answer right, wrong, or remotely cute.

She looked to her paper and said, “I believe your question of this type was something about you being there when my Mother-In-Law came to visit, would I hide you in the basement?”

“Let me just say I would not introduce her to you until I FOREWARNED her I was seeing someone. If she came out of the blue, I might try to hide you and get rid of her fast. But if she just walked in and saw I was with another man, I KNOW she would freak out, especially inside of a year. I think she wants me to be in black for a year with a veil. I would tell her right away but not on a cold call, I would not be ashamed of you or myself at all.”

I rose my finger to make my point of asking THAT question. “That’s what I wanted to know, would you be ashamed of yourself or me and I’m happy (damn, I wanted to keep that from her) you feel that way about yourself and me.”

I then read the last question out loud;

“Who would you tell about us? Your closest friend or everybody?”

“That depends. If I woke up in the morning and you were just gone and I had no way of finding you, I would certainly tell my male friends that I met an incredible looking lady who tried to help me forget. But I doubt if I would explain your circumstance. It wouldn’t be bragging of a conquest since I treasure it too much. If you left and I never saw you again, it would never just be another roll in the hay.”

She closed her eyes and tried to remember how I worded my question. “You asked if I would tell my closest girlfriend.”

“I only have one close girlfriend and she doesn’t live in Towson, we usually speak by phone unless I get to Washington. (She blushed) She’s the kind of friend who I would say how good our sex was the night before, or she would tell me she was seeing a new guy and describe his penis and their latest sex. So yes, I would tell her every detail, but no one else.”

We both just looked at each other for a solid minute before I spoke.

“So, ARE you leaving in the morning?”

“No, I’m here until Sunday. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going, I called Frankie’s sister to say I was safe and getting some ME time in. I told her I would check back every couple days.”

“Me too, I’m here for the rest of this week.” I said quietly not knowing if another shoe should drop or not.

“Bart, I know you have concerns about our difference in age. I don’t care about that. If by the end of our time here we still feel the same way about each other I want to continue seeing you. There, you got your way, I’ve played my hand.”

“I feel the same way, we both played to a draw. Let’s just work on it.”

“You mean do things as a couple, none of this ‘maybe I’ll see you on the beach shit’, alright?” She asked in reference to my comments that morning.

“Yes, definitely. We’ll try to see if we can irritate the other enough to make one of us go home early.”

She laughed out loud. “Now you’ve got the spirit. We can test each other’s resolve.”

I stood. She stood, looking at each other like kids on the doorstep after the Junior Prom.

“Aren’t you going to kiss me?” She asked.

“I was waiting for you to start.” I said as she tried to punch at me for being difficult from the start, but we kissed long and hard. She tried to pull me back to the sofa, but I stopped her.

“Let’s go someplace where we can get something to eat and sit and talk.”

“You know it’s nearly 7:00, every place will be packed.” She said lobbying to stay in.

“I know a guy at the Irish Pub who will get us in. He thinks I’m a celebrity.” I said with a grin.