Chapter 4 [Sandy writes]

I walked back to my condo. I had the feeling that I could have been kissed or hugged or both or more! I was unsure how I felt about that. I only met Jack a day ago. I went inside and opened a water and went to my patio to think.

My next door neighbors are a young married couple named Paul and Jennifer Rogers. She came out to enjoy sitting out to catch a little sunlight. She looked over at me and said, “It looks like you have made friends with the new guy down the street. He’s pretty good looking.”

She walked across our little lawns and sat down in a chair. “Tell me about him.”

I knew that I might as well. Otherwise, she would make something up! I said, “His name is Jack Norris and he’s in his early fifties. He’s fairly freshly divorced. He’s an early retiree and seems to be a nice guy. He bought a camper and talked me into helping him outfit it. We’re going out for supper tonight. He seems to be pretty strong on not owing people favors. He’s a runner getting back into the habit. That’s how we met.”

Jennifer said, “Are you interested? He’s more your age.”

“He’s a little older. Right now, we’re just becoming friends. I don’t know if it will even get that far much less farther. He has children almost as old as you and Paul. I’m not thinking about any future with him or anyone else right now. If he pushes, it will be over very quickly.”

“Sandy, give him a chance. He might be a really nice guy.”

“That’s what I’m doing. I just don’t have any expectations.”

“Well, I’m going to cheer for the two of you.”

“Okay. While you cheer, I have to get cleaned up. He’s taking me out to dinner.”

“That’s cool.”

“No, it’s dinner.” I grinned and headed inside to get in a shower and figure out what in the world I would wear that would send just the right message.

I went to my room and stripped. I looked at my body in the mirror. I knew I wasn’t bad looking. I could still wear a bikini without being ashamed. My breasts had a little sag from age but weren’t bad nor very big. My tummy was tight with a good ass. I went to shower still thinking about clothing. Under the water, I made a quick check for stubble and was still smooth. I washed my hair and then doused the rest of me in body wash. When I got out, I was clean and decent smelling. I used some complementary perfume in all the good spots though I had no intention of Jack getting to smell any of those spots at close range. I quickly fixed my hair. I kept it short. That made styling it easy. I applied my usual little smattering of makeup and went into my bedroom again and opened the closet.

First choice should the underwear match the outside clothing? I liked to do that even though I would be the only one to see that I did indeed match. After some thought, I decided on red. That was actually my most scandalous underwear. The bra allowed my cleavage to show if my exterior covering allowed anything to be seen. I put that red set on with the thong of the panties going up my crack. After putting those two pieces on, I checked out my appearance in the mirror and liked what I saw. I had made a red silk scoop-neck blouse and pulled it on. Now the question was slacks or a skirt. I decided upon a light gray skirt that I had also sewn. It was comfortably tight and short but not too short. Pull-up stockings in a black shade and red heels finished off the outfit. I wore earrings and a choker-type necklace both in yellow gold to complete the look. I had a jacket to match the skirt and brought it downstairs with me. I hadn’t decided if I would wear it or not. I would take my small black purse. I sat in the living room to wait the five minutes before he was due.

I sat on my couch wondering where in the world I was allowing my mouth to take me. I kept saying to myself that I needed to slow down. There was no rush.

I decided I would wear the jacket. Having the top down might have enough chill that it would feel good.

I was ready and I was now anxious. I admitted that I wanted this to go well.

Jack drove up and the top was down. I put on my jacket as he began walking to the door. Just as he started to knock, I opened the door.

“Hi, Jack. I’m ready.”

“Sandy, you look great. Since you’re ready, we’ll go.”

He took my hand gently and led me to the passenger side of his car. He held the door for me and I took my seat letting him see plenty of leg.

I don’t know why legs in a skirt are so appealing to men. Jack had seen more of my legs in my shorts and particularly in my running shorts. However, I noticed that his eyes widened appreciatively at seeing my legs.

We pulled out at a decorous pace and he drove us to the restaurant. It was an independent restaurant specializing in fish. He took me into the bar and we ordered drinks. I had pink Zinfandel and he had a Scotch on the rocks.

They were delivered and I asked, “What brand of scotch is that?”

“It’s not well known. It’s Teacher’s. For Scotch, it’s very smooth and not as dry tasting as some of the other brands.”

“May I have a taste?”

I took a tiny sip enough to get the flavor. I said, “It’s very good. You are very right about the taste. I have tried other brands and they were dry to my palate. I could drink some more of that.” I smiled at him.

He smiled back and took a sip. “Maybe you’ll come over for a nightcap?”

“Maybe I will.”

At that moment, our table was called. We took our drinks and were taken to our seats. Tuesday nights weren’t busy so we had the place much to ourselves.

The meal was delightful. Jack knew his fish and obviously had been here before enough to know what to expect from the menu. He talked me into an appetizer of fried mushrooms which surprised me. They were small enough to be bite-sized and the horseradish sauce gave them a great bite to go with the taste. While we were still eating our salad, he asked, “Do you like Caesar salads?”

“Yes, I do, though have found few are really that good. That’s why I chose the house this evening. A house salad with blue cheese dressing is safe and if the dressing is good, the Caesar might be good.”

“The blue cheese dressing is great here and the Caesar is good. However, I’ll take you to a place where the Caesar is first-rate.”