Page 34 of Second Round

“Oh Leo.” She kissed me back hard, and we tumbled ontothebed.

I licked her neck, relishing the salty taste. I reached down and cupped her ass, squeezing the bouncy cheeks through thefabric.

“You feel so good,” I told her. Her eyes were screwed shut, and she kissed me blindly. I ran one hand down the bare skin of her neck, then reached over to undo hershirt.

There was a sudden shift as Jackie’s eyes opened and she stiffened. Instead of relaxing into my touch, her whole body was tensed. Her eyes widened, and she bitherlip.

“What’swrong?”

“Nothing.” Her voice was highandthin.

I took my hands off her and looked down in concern. “Did I get the wrong impression here? I thought youwantedthis.”

She closed her eyes again and the corners of her mouth turned down. “I’m so sorry. I do want this, so much. It’s just... I haven’t done this forsolong.”

“Donewhat?”

“Any of this. Like made out with someone new, or had sex. If sex was what was going tohappenhere.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I was hoping for. But, it’s not a big deal. If you need more time,that’sfine.”

We bothsatup.

“I’m so sorry,” she repeated. “I feel like the world’s biggest cock tease or something. But when you started to get down to it….” She motioned to her blouse. “I had a total panicattack.”

I reached out to put my arm around her again, but settled for holding her hand. “Why do you think you’re sonervous?”

“I guess I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong and turn you off completely. You’re the first guy I’ve been attracted to in forever. Nobody’s ever given me the butterflies I getwithyou.”

“You getbutterflies?”

“Yeah, inside me. Like the kind you get in your tummy but, um,lower.”

I laughed. “Merci,Jackie. I think that’s a big compliment. Look, it’s not a big deal. I want you to feel ready in every way. Wecanwait.”

She looked at me with wide eyes. “So, you still want to go out with me, even after I’ve acted like the world’sbiggestbaby?”

Again her vulnerability struck me. On the surface, Jackie looked like someone who had it all, but underneath she was complex: alternately confident andinsecure.

“We’re getting to know each other. When you trust me more, then we move to the nextstage.”

“You’re so sweet,” she said and leaned against me. She smelled like vanilla, and I wanted to take a bite out of her. We’d just have to figure out why she was having reservations about something she clearlywanted.

12

FliporFlop

Jackie

The one goodthing about post-divorce dating was the lack of time to moon around. Between chauffeuring the kids to various places, going for a run with Wendy, and working a shift at the art store, I had very little time to dwell on how absolutely humiliating my night with Leohadbeen.

It wasn’t until Wednesday morning, after I’d delivered the kids and Tristan’s oversized Socials project to school, that I actually had time to stew in my middle-aged version of teenangst.

I had just sat down with a cup of tea when I got a call. “Jackie, how’s the house clean-up going?” Brentasked.

“Not even a hello?” Iwondered.

“Okay. Hello, how’s the house clean-upgoing?”

---