HAPPY FOREVER AFTER

Everything was going the way she wanted. Monica thought.

Now, on her way home from a perfectly wonderful dinner with Tom, she hoped he felt the same way. She realized she liked him a lot.

Decked out in her new green sweater, black leather skirt and matching boots, she had dressed to get laid tonight, and, judging by the way Tom had stared at her throughout dinner, she was well on her way to achieving her goal.

But… But what?

She tried to dismiss any negative thoughts. There were no buts. Everything was fine.

There was a time when she wanted to be single. But she was done with that now. She knew what she wanted now. Back then she had thought she would be a fool to let fascination with a guy spoil her happy life. She figured that she didn’t really want or need a man in her life.

But now she knew she was done with all that. She wanted to share her life with someone. She wanted to be happy… With someone.

It was stupid. She thought. These doubts creeped into her mind. This was what she wanted. And so far it was going well. She liked Tom… And she was sure he liked her too. So she forced herself to think about something else.

When Tom’s car stopped in front of her apartment, she knew without a doubt she wanted to invite him up.

All night long, she had kinda been surprised by the way her expectations of him and reality failed to match up. It was almost like she was expecting either of them to do something that would ruin everything. But nothing like that had happened.

She had found him endearingly sweet and genuine and interesting to talk to and she regretted not giving her a chance back when Emma had said something.

Honestly she was kinda scared. She always felt that way during the getting to know you part of relationships. It was scary wondering if things were going to work out between you and someone.

Here she was bucking the normal female response again. She thought. Wasn’t she supposed to be thrilled when she found a guy she really enjoyed being around? Wasn’t this cause for celebration rather than angst?

She had been with all sorts of men. But there was something different about Tom. He was cute and nice. And something about his unapologetic geekiness fascinated her in a way she never could have anticipated.

Tom cleared his throat and turned to her.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“So…” he said nervously

“So,” she repeated, gazing across the darkened car at him.

“I had a really great time tonight.”

“Me, too.”

“I would like to see you again,” he said, and Monica’s mouth went dry.

She wanted to see him again, too. Didn’t she? Of course she did. She was glad he felt the same way.

“Come up for dessert,” she said, taking the straightforward approach and hoping he would say yes.

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?” Tom asked

“Yeah, so?” she replied

“I do, too. I have got an eight o’clock meeting,” he said, glancing at his watch.

“Are you saying you don’t want to come up?” she asked. Hoping he didn’t hear the disappointment in her voice.

“No, I want to, I just-”

Was he really so endearingly clueless about women, he couldn’t figure out when he was being propositioned for sex. She thought. Or maybe he was just trying to be a gentleman. Well, she didn’t want him to be.

“Worried about feeling a little sleepy in the morning? Drink some coffee.” Monica said

He smiled then, a crooked, unrehearsed smile that she found charming. “Okay, I guess I can stay awhile.”

He got out of the car and came over to Monica’s side to let her out, then escorted her up the sidewalk as properly as if they weren’t about to get it on.

All night, he hadn’t dared to make the slightest overt move on her. His restraint was kinda charming. She thought

“Want some coffee?” Monica asked as she let him in the door.

“You have decaf?”

“No.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t then, I get jittery.”

“Should I get you something to eat then?” she asked

“I can be tempted by the right thing,” he said, his breath tickling her cheek. “I like pie.”

“What kind of pie?”

“Cherry is my favorite.”

She leaned in and placed a kiss on the side of his neck, then pulled back. “No cherries here.”

“What do you have?” he asked as his gaze traveled between her eyes and her mouth.

“Some leftover potato pie, I made it”

“hmmmm… I’m sure it is gonna be good. I have tasted your cooking-it is great”

“You mean when you tasted my finger?” she asked.

He ran his finger along the neckline of her sweater, then down and around the outside of her breast, sending a chill through her.

“I didn’t mean that”. He said. “But that tasted great too”

“You know I have got talents that can be demonstrated in the kitchen — just not the traditional kind,” she said as she edged her hand up his inner thigh, stopping just short of his crotch.

“Care to show me?”

“I was hoping to serve you something sweet, though.” She bit her lip.

“Really? I thought that was just your excuse to get me up here and have your way with me,” he said, smiling.

“It was both, but I don’t like to make empty promises.”

“I will forgive you.”

“I have got some flavored coffee syrups. You can at least have something sweet in your coffee.”

“I like my coffee straight”

“Me too. But since you don’t want it in your coffee, then maybe we could find some other use for them.”

“What kind of use do you have in mind?”

“Definitely not what the manufacturer intended.”

He laughed then. “Are you always this naughty? ” he asked.

“No… Not really… Just with certain people”

“Not that I’m complaining,” he said. “I like it”