She opened the door after a few minutes when he got there the next morning. He almost thought it'd been a joke or something because she went to church Sunday mornings. There didn't seem to be any activity in the house, her mom's car was on the driveway, but he believed they took her dad's car to church. So he wondered if she'd forgotten and went to church anyway.

"Hi."

"Hi," she said. She clearly wasn't dressed for church. She wore some shorts and a T-shirt, which he could honestly say he'd never seen her wear before. Even when they met for pizza downtown during the week she always wore nice things. "Sorry."

"It's all right."

"Come on in," she said, walking back toward what he knew was the kitchen. "I was just finishing my bagel, and I was reading the Tribune so I wasn't paying attention."

"No worries, Chris," he said.

"Where is everyone?"

"Everyone? You mean Mom and Dad? They're at church."

"And you're not."

"No."

"I told Mom and Dad I probably won't be home for dinner either."

"I see. Are you going to let me in on what we're doing?"

"Part of it, sure. Part's a surprise."

"I'm not much of a surprise person."

"I think you'll like this one."

She moved to the sink where she rinsed off her plate and a glass, which presumably had milk in it until a few minutes ago.

He walked toward her; sliding his arms around her once she'd finished and turned around.

"Hi," he said.

"You already said that."

"I did, but that was outside and I can't remember a time when I've picked you up with no one here but us."

"I don't think you have. Mom's usually here."

"So it occurs to me that I can actually kiss you hello like I've wanted to for months now."

"You pick me up at the train station and Mom's not there."

"That's different. There are people around."

"You can't kiss me with people around?"

"It's different."

He leaned down and kissed her. He couldn't explain to her what the difference was. There was a reason he'd never brought up her coming to his place. It was safest. There was no temptation if they were never truly alone. Even the drive-in last night he didn't count. Certainly no one would have made a big deal about it if they'd seen him have a hand on her shirt, but that was about the most he would've done there even if she'd encouraged him to do more. More than likely there were people doing more than that in other backseats.

He'd gone home wondering just what she may have let him get away with. He'd never dated someone this much younger than him and he couldn't say for sure he'd ever been involved with someone as inexperienced as she was. Some girls in high school, he supposed, but he hadn't gotten to the point with them of finding out if they were or not. Chris just happened to be one of those people who were open about it. Then maybe she wouldn't have been if the reason they'd met had been different. She told him as part of her story about the night they'd met, so it may not have come up ordinarily.

He hadn't slept all that well. A little worried she'd wake up this morning and feel guilty or realize that she'd done it as some sort of fuck you to Mike. A little wondering why he was the one that got the privilege to touch her that way. He didn't think he'd done anything overly special to stand out above anyone else, but he certainly didn't know how women thought.

She didn't act embarrassed when she opened the door. She was certainly kissing him right now as if she had no regrets. His hands slid lower, along her hips and behind her to cup her ass to tug her toward him. She made the most amazing sound when he did that and it aroused the hell out of him knowing she was getting to that point, too.

He broke the kiss for a minute. She squealed a little as he lifted her up to set her on the counter. Much easier to kiss her when she was higher up like this, she obviously agreed because her arms went around his neck and her legs latched onto his thighs to keep him closer. He wasn't going anywhere just yet so she didn't have to worry about that.

He slid his mouth along her jaw, lower to her neck, and pushed the neck of her shirt aside a little to get her shoulder. She moaned softly as he licked and sucked her skin there, taking a small portion of it in between his mouth and teeth. She was wrapping her fingers around his hair while still somehow letting him know she didn't want him to stop.

"No," she whispered when he drew away.

"I keep doing that much longer and it's going to look like I hit you or something," he said, running a fingertip along the spot. "I like these kinds of hello kisses better."

"Me, too," she said softly.

He chuckled. "I certainly don't want to encourage you to not go to church."

"Yeah, I know," she whispered.

"So what are we doing today, Chris Parker?"

"Mm, I'm still not telling you everything." She opened her eyes then, glancing at him. "You do have a grill, right?"

"A grill? As in the outdoor cooking thing Weber makes?"

"Yes."

"Sure."

"Good."

"Am I cooking something I don't know about? I don't have anything at my house."

"That's why I went to Jewel this morning. I didn't get back too long before you got here, that's why I was still eating."

"I see. What time did you get up anyway?"

"Um, like eight o'clock."

"Why?"

"I couldn’t sleep. I kept having these dreams last night."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"Good dreams?"

"They were."

"Was I in any of them?"

"Maybe," she said with a laugh, pushing on his chest a little. He stepped back, helping her off the counter in the process.

"No details, huh?"

"Nope."

"So you got up and went to Jewel."

"Well, not right away, no. I got ready and made my list and stuff and then went. Mom usually does the grocery shopping and I don't know what all you have."

"I think you'll find I have everything you need, Chris."

"In the kitchen?"

"Well, there, too, sure."

"Cute," she said.

"So, we're going to my place I'm assuming by these questions."

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Is that all right? I guess I sort of invited myself, so if you don't want to. We could grill here. Mom and Dad won't be back for a while, so we could make an early lunch."

"Hey, I never said I didn't want you there. You can invite yourself anytime. I haven't brought it up because I don't want you thinking my goal is to get you to my place alone where it'd be much easier to try and take advantage of you."

"I know, but it's too nice of a weekend to do nothing."

"Your parents aren't mad?"

"I don't blow off church often, so they were okay with it."

"Good."

"Do you go?"

"To church?"

"Sometimes, not real often. I try and go on Christmas Eve and Easter, but Sunday is the one day I never work at the garage so I tend to stick around the house."

"Oh, and I made you come here. I'm sorry."

"You didn't make me do anything. I could've said no. I was surprised you mentioned it. You usually hang with Brenda Sunday afternoons."

"Yeah, she'll have to get away from her parents some other way today."

He chuckled.

She handed him a paper sack from Jewel, which he took. "I have a bag, too, in case the weather changes."

"I don't think it's going to, but that's fine. Bring whatever you want."

He waited for her at the car as she grabbed her stuff and locked up the house. He probably shouldn't have kissed her like he did because now he had things on his mind that were better not being there.

"Ready?" she said.

"Yes. I should ask you that."

"Yes."

He let her in the door once they got there, wondering what she'd think. His house wasn't nearly as big as hers, but it was a decent house. He'd scrimped and saved to come up with the down payment. He was fixing it up as best as he could. He'd lived here two years now and she probably would've run away if she'd seen it then. The people before him had divided the upper floor and main floor into two separate apartments. There was also a basement apartment, which he'd left untouched. He had no desire to get a tenant, but it was nice having the option open if he got needy sometime. He'd worked hard, though, getting the place in good shape. The main floor hadn't been bad, but the top floor that had been a rental had needed a lot of work.

"So, this stuff needs to be refrigerated I assume?"

"Yes, unless you want to eat it for lunch."

"You're going to stay the afternoon?"

"Unless you had other plans. I didn't really ask."

"Stop sounding so unsure of yourself."

"Well, I don't know what you do on Sunday's. You might have friends that you hang out with, watch baseball games with."

"I might, but they're not nearly as pretty to look at and I don't get the same experience kissing them as I do you."

She laughed. "Is that right?"

"It is."

"So, bathroom?"

"Uh, up the stairs on the right."

"You look like you're not sure I should go up there."

"Just going over in my head whether I hung my towel up this morning."

"I won't say a word if you didn't."

"I'll put these things away then."

She came back a few minutes later. She'd bought quite a meal. Steak, mushrooms, lettuce and fixings for a nice salad, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.

"You trying to get to my heart through my stomach?" he asked.

"Would it work?"

"Keep bringing me food like this every week and it just could."

"You don't eat steak?"

"Sometimes, but these are pretty good cuts of meat." They weren't cheap at all, he noticed.

"Those are what my dad likes."

"I'll bet," he said, turning to regard her then. "Wow."

"You have shorts, I assume?"

"Yes," he said, hoping he wasn't making her completely uncomfortable staring as he was. He couldn't help it. Two piece bathing suits were made to make guys look. And she was something incredible to look at.

"You positive you aren't really eighteen and Chaylene?"

"Shut up," she said, but she laughed so she wasn't mad at him.

"So, this was your plan?"

"Yeah, I brought beach towels in case you didn't have any. You said you were jealous yesterday."

"Well, yeah, I didn’t mean you had to come here…"

"I can go back up and change if you want me to."

"No," he said quickly and she laughed again. "I have no qualms about admitting that I want you just like that for the rest of the day."

"Just like this, huh?"

"Yes. Wow. I mean, my imagination didn't even come close."

"You imagined me?"

"Well, yeah, your girlfriend mentions wearing a bathing suit and you sort of wonder, I guess."

"You probably pictured something more conservative."

"I did," he admitted. "But this is very nice."

"You're way ahead of me on tanning."

"I work in my yard a lot."

"I can tell. Without a shirt?"

"Usually."

"Now I think it's me who's jealous."

"Yeah?"

"Mm hmm," she said, looking very much as though she might just be picturing him without his shirt there and then.

"I have a couple of reclining chairs in my garage. I'm not sure I've pulled them down yet, but you can look while I change. The garage is open."

"Okay," she said heading outside.

Yeah, bringing her back here was probably very dangerous business.

She didn't have the chairs when he got outside, so he imagined he hadn't taken them down yet. He hadn't had any need to. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had to take them down. He wasn't a social butterfly, so entertaining just wasn't something he did often. Usually if someone came over they just sat at the table on his patio and drank beer. The table and chairs he'd brought out from the garage as soon as the snow was gone for good.

"So, what kind of music do you like anyway?" He asked from the doorway.

"Anything really."

"What radio station do you listen to most?"

"The Loop or WJMK."

"Really?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just surprising is all."

"You asked what I listened to most, I listen to everything, but those are the two I listen to most."

"Fair enough," he said, turning the stereo on he had wired outside on his patio. He hadn't used it in a while, so there was no telling it would actually work. He had a problem with squirrels chewing through wires once in a while, but it turned right on so he found the oldies station she said she liked and stepped outside.

It was her turn to stare. He was one of those people who tanned easy and got dark real fast. A month of decent days scattered throughout allowing him to work in his yard had given him a head start on most people who probably hadn't thought of starting yet. He wasn’t as dark yet as he would be in another couple of weeks, assuming the weather stayed as nice as it was this weekend. She evidently liked what she saw as much as he did.

"So, uh, you want to do my back?" she asked once he'd sat on the towel next to hers.

He closed his eyes with a shake of his head, knowing she couldn't possibly have any idea what that question brought to mind just then. He spotted the tanning lotion she'd brought and realized that had to be what she was talking about. He also noticed close to her like this that the little hickey he'd thought he was giving her at her house earlier wasn't that little at all.

"Sure," he said finally.

"You like oldies?"

"Sure. Good music."

"Me, too," she said as she moved onto her stomach.

He applied the lotion liberally. She probably thought he was doing her a favor, but really she was the one doing him the favor. Until this moment he really hadn't had the ability to touch her all that he wanted. He was still sort of limited, but the back of her from neck to toe was fair game. And he took advantage of the invitation.

"Feels good," she whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked. He'd never really been self-conscious about his hands, but he worked with them every day. Sometimes he wore gloves, but not all of the time. When he wasn't at the garage working on a vehicle he was here doing something around the house. They were rough and calloused with cuts and scrapes everywhere.

"Yes."

He ran a fingertip along her spine, no longer even bothering to pretend he was touching her for the reason of rubbing the lotion in. She shivered a little, but didn't tell him to stop.

"You're gorgeous, you know that?"

"Stop," she murmured.

"I won't stop. You are. Why'd you say yes to pizza with me that day?"

"You'd been beat up because of us. Me. You wanted to hear why."

"That's it?"

"I guess I'd just been hurt and it felt good to have someone randomly ask me out, even if I didn't understand what your angle was in doing so."

"My angle?"

She shrugged a little and he slid his hand up higher to her shoulder blade.

"You were kind of scary, Erik. I wasn't sure why you were asking me. I mean, you're a good looking guy you could have pizza with anyone you wanted."

He scoffed softly. "I could say the same for you. I saw that Chad guy and Mike. I don't know Dan, but I'm betting he's more of the Mama's boy type, too."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know."

She turned onto her back then and he had to act quickly to settle his fingers against her stomach. "They're cute, but so are you. It's different. You're different."

"And you like different?"

"I guess so because I'm here."

She settled her hand over his at her stomach, eyes never leaving his as she slid his hand up higher along her body. Touching her back and stomach was already bringing on the beginnings of a hard-on. He had no idea what touching her like she was inviting him to do just now would do. He didn't quite care, though, so he let her lead his hand to the top of her bikini.

She exhaled sharply, her eyes fluttering closed as he used his thumb to graze her nipple. He'd done the same thing last night but she'd had a shirt and bra on, the top wasn't a whole lot of material so it had to be pretty much like he was touching her directly.

"Open your eyes, Chris," he murmured.

"Why?" she said softly.

"Because I like your eyes and I suspect I'll like them even more watching them while I touch you like this."

She blushed and with the bathing suit on he could see that it was pretty much everywhere on her that turned red. She opened her eyes, though.

"Thank you."

"Sure," she said. She groaned softly and they fell closed again as he reached into the top to stroke her nipple skin to skin.

"Are there rules here, Chris?"

"What?"

"Well, I'm not sure what your limits are."

"I'm not sure either."

"Fair enough. You trust me to stop if you tell me to stop?"

"Mm hmm," she murmured.

He reached to her neck then, untying the strings there. He drew them down slowly, watching her for any sign he was going too far as he got to the point that much lower and she wouldn't be covered at all anymore.

He kissed her, working his way lower to her now uncovered breasts. He kissed, licked and nipped the swell of each one in turn. He reached around to her back, pulling on the strings there, too, so he could get rid of the top entirely. Her nails were digging into one of his biceps and her chest was rising and falling much quicker than it was a few minutes ago as he moved lower to the underside before finding a nipple and taking it between his lips.

She called out his name as he licked her peak, circling it and sucking it deeper into his mouth. His other hand was attentive to the other one, keeping her erect and excited. She was flushed and making the most arousing sounds he could remember hearing. He glanced at her; her head was tilted back now so he couldn't see her face at all. He spotted the hickey from that morning and worked on adding one or two more here. She liked that part a lot. So did he. He couldn't remember getting so aroused from just this amount of foreplay. He swore if she touched him in the right way he'd get off immediately. Probably a good thing she wouldn't be doing that today.

He lifted his head, kissing her stomach as he reached for the sun lotion.

"What are you doing?" she whispered when he set his hand on her and started rubbing it in on her breasts.

"Putting lotion on you."

"There?"

"Don't want sensitive parts on you to burn."

"I can't…"

"Sure you can. No one's going to see you. Except me anyway."

"You're done?"

He chuckled. "You were expecting more?"

"I don't know. You asked if I trusted you to stop when I told you to."

"Yeah, well, as much as I'd enjoy seeing what I might be able to get away with before you said stop I figured I'd be a good guy about it and stop before you got to that point. Believe me I would really, really enjoy it but I'd prefer you know I have some restraint, too. I don't want you thinking everything has to lead to sex because it doesn't."

"Oh," she whispered.

He eyed her, leaning on his side and running a fingertip along her side. "You were expecting more?"

"I just assumed."

"That I wouldn't be able to control myself? Obviously," he said, gesturing to his shorts. "I enjoyed doing what I was doing so that's not an issue I assure you. So just enjoy the sun for a while."

"You know Mike would've…"

"I'm not him, honey. Christ, you're wearing next to nothing; it wouldn't be difficult for me to push you. You liked what I was doing. A while more of doing that and you might have been willing to let me do anything I wanted, but I'm not that kind of guy."

"I know."

"You won't be able to lay out in front of your mom for a few days."

"I saw," she said, running a fingertip over one of them. "You like doing that?"

"I like having my mouth on you, yeah."

"Me, too."

"Well, that's very good for us both then."

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com