The Right Environment Matters...

All names, places and references are fictional.

When my wife and I married, we were like what I guessed any couple would be. We couldn't keep our hands off of each other. We had a very fulfilling sex life, but after many years and a couple of kids, it had devolved to maybe once a year. During those times, she'd spread her legs and just expect me to perform, no foreplay, nothing to really get either of us in the mood. That led to my erectile dysfunction issues and she wasn't terribly understanding and that caused conflict in our marriage.

I'd spent a lot of money and time on doctors only to find that there weren't any physical reasons, so that led to psychological exams, which in turn led to marital counseling.

I was just under fifty and felt I was far too young to be experiencing these issues and the medical diagnosis supported that, but the one thing that stood out was when one of psychologists had suggested that it might be mental, but perhaps not with all women. She was pretty quick to say that she wasn't suggesting that I go cheat, still I felt I understood what she was telling me.

I was still physically fit, and according to some of my female coworkers, still a somewhat attractive guy. One thing I had noticed over the last few years was that I would get and keep erections when I would occasionally view some online porn and even masturbated several times. That kept me sane I guess you could say, knowing that at least the equipment still worked so to speak. But a large aspect of sex for me was pleasing my partner and that part was still missing.

My wife had just gotten offered a partnership in her law firm and with the hours she was working and given that the kids had moved out a few years ago, we decided on some time apart. I think I should have felt bad about that, but frankly, I was looking forward to being alone. I moved out of the house and got a two bedroom town house on the other side of town.

We weren't hurting for money. My wife was making a really nice six figure income, and I was as well. She was an attorney, and I was a C-Suite member of a large corporation. My role was Information Security and I managed the IT team.

The job wasn't without stress, but overall, I had a great team and we had pretty clear goals and focus. So aside from the occasional breach attempt, things were pretty good with my team.

The town house I had gotten was in a nice neighborhood and was what I guess would be considered a bit high end. It was fully gated, had lots of amenities and its cost sort of made it exclusive.

Granted it wasn't the home I was used to, but I honestly enjoyed the solitude. It was sparsely furnished, but I had enough things there to make me feel at home and I was enjoying how quiet it was. My daughter, Samantha, or Sam as we called her, had been really supportive during my wife and I's separation, my son Kevin, on the other hand, was what I would consider really reserved and indifferent.

Sam had come over and we'd had lots of discussions and she was very driven in asking why things were this way and specifically what led me to move out. At first I tried to use my wife's new role and our agreement to have some time away from each other, but she was persistent and I eventually shared all of the tests and why I'd had them.

I had warned her that it'd be a fairly private over-share that would cross the line into too much information. She laughed, and seemed unphased by what I had shared. I wish it had been that easy for me.

She looked me in the eyes. "Dad, do you think it's just a you and mom thing, or a you and any woman thing?"

"I don't know honestly, I've only been with your mom for the last thirty plus years."

"Dad, don't take this wrong, but I get the feeling that you and mom are test driving a divorce. I know that both of you have sort of tried to put on a brave face for me and Kevin, but it's more than obvious that you guys have stopped being husband and wife. It might be time for you to test the waters."

"I'm not sure. We're still legally married."

"Have you thought about it, dad?"

"I have. But haven't had the courage to act on those thoughts."

"Dad, you're a good looking guy, I'm sure you'll not have any issues meeting someone, in fact next Saturday there's a mixer here where you can meet your neighbors."

I started laughing, "Thanks for your vote of confidence. I'm not sure I'm ready to go meet people."

"Dad, I'll do some checking for you and let you know what I find out. Plus, I'll also give you some ideas on what to wear. Before you start to complain, you're going, end of discussion."

She got up to leave and came over and gave me a hug. "Dad, you've not been yourself for years. I'm happy you shared this with me and I'm looking forward to getting my old dad back. "

The week had flown by. My daughter had come over and dropped off some things to wear to the mixer. She explained that it was not too informal and almost seemed business casual. So she'd gotten me a nice button up shirt, some socks and then looked in my closet to match some slacks and a sports coat to go with them, even going so far as to choose shoes for me. She was really putting a lot of effort into making sure I was presentable.

I had been to enough mixers over the years, both for my job as well as my wife's to understand the general flow of these things. I wasn't a fan of them, and never drank alcohol during them because at least in a business setting, they almost always felt like a forced social interaction with people that weren't friends.

I've even seen them used to prune employees based on behavior. My wife's firm used them to identify which junior attorney's may have drinking problems. At least her particular firm would exercise some sound judgement and counsel the person and offer help if they felt they would be worth retaining. Others would be released.

My company had a larger tolerance of dumb-assery during our mixers, but I can assure you, that behavior was still noticed and would come back to haunt people during performance evaluations in the non-technical areas.

I went over to the recreation building and was surprised at how large it was. I hadn't really explored the property, outside of reviewing the pictures on the website. I was impressed. It didn't have the normal feel of a corporate mixer. I was greeted by a nicely dressed couple. I recognized the man as Tom, the guy that I had dealt with to sign the lease. They introduced themselves as the property management and leasing team. The lady introduced herself as Nichelle, the property manager. She was a very attractive lady, and was at least six feet tall without heels. She had a caramel skin tone with green eyes. There would not be a situation where she'd not be considered beautiful.

She smiled and extended her hand, "Doug, you are our newest resident and you've signed a two year lease and paid up front. Both are somewhat rare, thank you for both wanting to be with us for the next two years, but also for unexpectedly paying up front. We certainly appreciate that."

I accepted her hand and laughed, "Of course. It's easier for everyone involved. You get paid, and I don't forget to pay and have you guys come calling."

I was using several techniques I'd learned over the years to begin to memorize people's names in large group settings. It helped shape conversations with people to hopefully keep things from getting awkward.

After we excused ourselves, I moved over the bar and got a ginger ale. It served two purposes, one, it helped calm my stomach and two, it appeared as if I had a mixed drink. I was just walking around the room noting when people showed up. As the evening progressed I met numerous people and briefly introduced myself. Most seemed quite a bit younger than me, and seemed to cleanly fit into what I would consider a young professional category. In all honesty, it felt like I was clearly an outlier based on age. From a quick scan of the other guys there, I was in the top 10 percent or so for what might be considered healthy. Quite a few guys were overweight and didn't appear to be healthy. I sort of chuckled to myself and thought about some of the younger IT guys on my staff. If you had to pin down a stereotype, it was that of what everyone imagined a geek or nerd to be. Very pale, glasses, overweight and patchy facial hair.

I recognized that from myself from many years ago when I started in IT as a Database Administrator. Luckily I'd had some great mentors and they convinced me that while my technical skills were good, my interpersonal skills needed work. They invested in me and I was open minded enough to really accept the training they provide. I continued to learn and educate myself over my career and I ended up with two Master's degrees, one in Cybersecurity and one in Communications. The latter was probably more responsible for my promotions and certainly my current role.

The mixer was coming to a close and I noticed Nichelle up on the stage when she grabbed the mic and started to make some announcements.

"First and foremost, thank you all for coming over and spending the evening getting to meet your neighbors. I think we can all agree that we had fun. I even saw a few of you dancing. Those pictures may or may not be in the next newsletter." That got a pretty big laugh out of the group.

"We're doing something new for this mixer. I'd like to present a few awards to some of our residents. The first one is for our most tenured resident. Nicole, I know you're out there, I've seen you tonight, please come up to the stage. While we're waiting for Nicole. The next award is for our newest resident, Doug, come on up."

I was walking up to the stage when I noticed another person moving towards the stage at about the same time. She was a gorgeous woman. Not quite as tall as Nichelle, but still well above average. She had a stunning figure, sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes. Her smile, though, was lighting up the room.

We were standing next to Nichelle when she presented the awards to us. Nicole got her award first and it was a bit larger than the one that I was given. Nichelle had even made a joke about the awards getting bigger with tenure.

As Nicole and I were walking off stage, she held her trophy next to mine. "Yep, mine is a little bit bigger..." She sort of looked away and seemed sort of flustered. I was laughing to myself, that she probably caught what she had said a little too late and might have been embarrassed.

I thought I'd try to inject some humor and hopefully keep her from being too embarrassed. I chuckled, "Luckily, it's not the first time I've heard that..." She looked at me with wide eyes. "You know, coming in second generally means a smaller trophy." I winked at her and what started as a small curl on the edge of her mouth slowly turned into a huge grin.

We walked over to the bar. "I realize it's an open bar, but I'd like to get you a congratulatory drink if you want. But first, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm your newest neighbor, Doug. The guy with the smaller trophy."

She started laughing, "Hi Doug, I'm Nicole you're more senior neighbor with the obviously larger trophy and yes, I'd like a drink. I'll have one of whatever you're having."

We both got a good laugh out of our introductions. "I'll be honest. I'm drinking ginger ale, so I'd completely understand if you didn't want one."

"That's actually perfect. The little bit of ginger in it will help my stomach."

I smiled at her. "Great minds..." and asked for two ginger ales. We walked over near the stage and found some seats. "So Nicole, if I may ask, how long have you been here?"

"Almost 10 years. I moved in literally as soon as they opened. I did some cost comparisons and the cost here better fit my needs than buying a house would have and given my job, I was concerned that I might have to move and didn't want to deal with having to sell a house."

"First, I completely agree with the house part, especially if you thought you might be moving, but did your parents drop you off here when you were fourteen, you don't look old enough to have been here that long."

She got a good laugh out of that and looked around and leaned in, "I'm thirty four."

"I am stunned. I would have never guessed that."

"Luckily it's poorly lit in here, or you would have noticed, trust me."

"That's crazy talk, did they put something in your ginger ale?"

She was laughing loudly. "I know exactly where you live. I live across the courtyard from your place. I even talked to a young lady the other day, Samantha. She talked about you a little bit."

I felt like I was turning red. "Sam's my daughter. She's been an awesome help to me since I've moved here."

"She did mention that you were single..."

I started to laugh. "I'll be sure to remind her that she said that... Yes and no, long story, but I'm here for the next two years while my wife and I figure out what time away is like."

"Forgive me for prying, but two years seems less like a feeling-out period and more, uh, well... sorry. I'm not sure where I was going with that.

"You're good. I intentionally chose a two year lease here because I tried a month-long getaway, and I felt like my overall mental health and general demeanor improved, so part of the test is to see if longer equals better. Uh, wow, that didn't sound right, I'm sorry, I meant to say that that my hope is to see if being away longer..."

She put her hand on my arm and smiled what I felt like was a nervous smile, "I understand. You seem like a nice guy Doug. I'm headed home. Care to walk with me?"

"I'd love to, I'm not much on these types of events." We stood and walked outside.

"Your daughter mentioned that as well..."

"That girl..."

"She clearly cares about you. I'm guessing she's a daddy's girl."

"She is. She and I have always been close. I think she saw things that my wife and I thought we were hiding from her and my son. She's very smart."

"Yeah, I was that way with my dad as well. I guess it's probably normal. Does your son have a similar relationship with his mom?"

"I'm not sure. He's sort of deep into being indifferent right now, I'm really hoping it's a phase so to speak."

"That seems pretty common lately. I have a few people on my team that are like that."

"Any suggestions to break them out of that?"

She laughed, "Yes and no. As you might imagine, people receive and process things differently. So, Doug, what do you do for a living?"

"Let me preface the title with what it actually is, at least from my perspective. What I do is manage a diverse team of people that handle all aspects of IT for our corporation and more importantly represent them at the C-Suite table to ensure that their value is known and appreciated. I also translate IT speak to the C-Suite. I'm the Chief Information Security Officer for one of the large corporations in town."

"So lead geek?" We both started laughing.

"Yes, that's pretty accurate. I started off as one of those guys locked in the server room. Fortunately I had some great mentors and learned some soft skills along the way and that got me pay raises and moved me out of the dungeon."

"You have my curiosity piqued Doug. I'm going to guess which IT role you started in, if you're up for it." I noticed a small bench and asked her to sit down.

"Yes please... This will be fun."

"Oh, another hint. I love challenges. So, I'm guessing that you've had at least some time in Cybersecurity, right?"

"Yes, pretty much a requirement to be in my position."

"I'm guessing Network administrator?"

I made a buzzer sound. "Sorry ma'am. Two more tries."

She started laughing. "I have to make these next two count... I'm going with DBA."

I looked at her with a blank expression. "Damn, you're good. I was a DBA as a young guy. If I may ask, how did you arrive at that?"

"Well, this may seem shallow, but your skin is one hint. You have nice skin and quite a few of the people I've known from IT, especially those that were coders or SysAdmins, they all had beards and the few that shaved had lots of acne. Lot's of stereotypes lumped in there, sorry about that."

I was laughing. "No worries. It's mostly all true. I've worked in this field far too long and may have looked that way when I was younger. I enjoyed the problem solving aspects of the job along with finding efficiencies to make my databases run as smoothly and quickly as possible. It's my turn now. May I ask what you do?"

She smiled. "Nope, too much info on a first date, plus I need to get home. Thanks for the laughs tonight, though. How about we grab a coffee sometime and discuss your question and its implications."

I smiled at her as I held up my trophy. "Attorney, and yes, I'd love to grab a coffee, but I'll defer to your opinion, especially since yours is bigger."

She started to laugh. "You're a very smart CISO Doug. I'd love to grab a coffee. How about brunch, tomorrow at my place. I'm directly across the courtyard from you. 1102, you're in 2102, correct?"

"You are correct Counsel, 2102. Any specific time, or when brunch is generally accepted?"

"How about eleven. That'll give us both a chance to sleep off our ginger ale's"

I smiled, stood and extended my hand. "Nicole, it was truly awesome, meeting you tonight. Any suggestions for attire?" She accepted it and stood.

"Since it'll be near noon, how about shorts and t-shirt?"

"Perfect, I have some of those. Any off putting colors that I should avoid..."

"No preferences."

"I'd offer to walk you to your door, but I'm sure that you know your way around here better than I do."

"How about you walk with me as I walk home, and you'll see where I live so you won't get lost tomorrow."

As we got to Nicole's door, I thanked her for a great conversation and said I was looking forward to seeing her for brunch.

She gave me a polite hug and wished me a good night. I wandered around for a while until I found my way back to my place. The sidewalks sort of meandered around between the buildings, so while I could see my place, there wasn't a direct route to it..

Later that night my daughter called to see how the mixer went. I told her that I got an award for being the newest neighbor. She immediately asked if there was an award for the longest tenant.

"I didn't measure her, but yes, there was a lady that got an award for being the most senior neighbor. In fact she said she met you."

"Whoa, wait a minute dad, I met a lady there, but she wasn't a senior."

"Her name is Nicole, she's been here about 10 years. In fact she shared some of what you guys talked about. She even said you told her I was single..."

"I may have mentioned something like that. You didn't tell her the truth did you?"

I laughed, "Yes, at least the part about being married, but separated. Pretty sure she doesn't need to know the other stuff."

"Come on dad, the lady I spoke to seemed really attractive and might be able to help you test some things..."

I started laughing. "You know she's more than fifteen years younger than I am and given her looks, she is more than capable of finding a much younger partner."

"You never know dad, she might be attracted to more mature guys."

We were both laughing. "Thanks for your help nonetheless. The mixer wasn't as bad as many I've attended over the years, so thank you."

"Soooo, dad, are you going to see her again?"

"Yes. She invited me over for coffee tomorrow."

I could hear Sam laughing. "Dad, wear protection, I don't need another sibling. The one I have is problematic enough."

"Too funny, plus, it's not like I'd need them, regardless."

"Dad, have fun. Let me know how your date goes tomorrow, okay?"

"Will do girlie, have a great night, love you."

"Love you too dad, good luck."

I didn't really sleep well. I had forgotten how much sugar was in ginger ales. Maybe that's what Nicole was thinking when she said we'd have to sleep them off.

I grabbed a book and started reading, that was a sure way to make me drowsy.

I woke up around 7 am and set about looking to see what I had for shorts and tee shirt. I settled on some that didn't look too offensive, plus it's not like it was a real date. I had thought of it as more of just hanging out with a new friend perhaps.

I went over to the exercise facility to work out. I almost always felt better when I'd had a decent amount of exercise. I did a circuit workout with the equipment available and then decided on a run on the treadmill.

I was running and was focused on the music in my earbuds and I had it fairly loud, plus I had noise cancelling on. I was looking towards a TV on the wall, it was above the doorway leading to the pool, so I was staring out the doors. There wasn't anyone out there, but I'm certain it looked like I was watching TV. I felt someone touch my shoulder and it startled me and almost caused me to trip.

I jumped off the treadmill and looked and it was Nicole. She had a shocked look on her face. I started to apologize for not hearing her as I took out my earbuds. She started to smile. "I didn't even notice you had earbuds in, sorry for startling you."

"You're good. I was in my own world and was just staring out the doorway."

"Must have been some good music. Care to share what you were listening to?"

I started to laugh. "I listen to metal when I run, it generally has a faster pace and the aggression helps push me."

"You were listening to 'Mouth for War'."

I'm certain I had a shocked look on my face. "Was it that loud?"

She laughed, "No, but you were sort of singing along, I guess you could say, and I recognized the lyrics. That's on my favorite Pantera album."

"First, I'm sorry, because I simply cannot imagine what that sounded like. Second, agree. That was my first Pantera album and it's my favorite from end to end."

"You're singing wasn't too bad. It's hard to replicate Anselmo, but you were doing good. Quick question in music, do you listen to other metal, and if so, do you happen to have a favorite Slayer album."

"For me, 'Season's in the Abyss'. It was my first Slayer album and's on my running playlist. I know some feel that 'Reign in Blood' is their go-to, but I'm fond of albums that introduced me to the bands."

"I can see that and feel the same way about music. Lately though, I just use a streaming service like Pandora and just create a channel around a specific band."

"Same, I would sort of categorize my music as sort of mood music. Metal is aggressive for me and it is my exercise music. I love reggae and dub music and that's generally the music I listen to when I drive."

"Interesting, any favorite reggae music?"

"I love most honestly. Lately, 'Stick Figure' is one of my favorite Pandora channels, but I really enjoy lots of classic reggae like Marley and some older roots reggae. I'm also really enjoying some of the other bands that get mixed in, like Pepper, Rebelution, and Iration."

She was smiling. "You're quite the interesting guy, Doug. Music says a lot about people."

I laughed, "Pretty sure my music would identify me as schizophrenic."

That made her laugh again. "Same. I'll not go into too much detail, but feel you'd not be surprised hearing music in my house."

"I'm pretty open minded, so I'm good with any music, of course the more i like it, the louder I like it."

"I'll try not to test your musical limits during our brunch later. I'll let you get back to your run."

"I'm pretty much done. I think the ginger ale had way too much sugar in it, it took forever to get to sleep last night. Exercise makes me feel better and makes my day feel easier because my mind is clear."

"Yep, you're quite the interesting guy Doug. It's refreshing to speak with someone that is as aware and present as you are."

"Thank you. I try to be aware of myself and hopefully my surroundings, but I'm still human and full of faults." I smiled and winked at her. "Many, many faults."

She started laughing, "We all have faults. I have plenty as well. Not the least of which is inviting people to my house for brunch."

"Yep, stranger danger for sure... speaking of that, does the stranger need to bring anything?"

She was laughing again, "An appetite. I've got some stuff in the oven and will also make a sort of breakfast bar."

I winked at her, "I'll wear shorts with an elastic waistband."

"I'm going to run for a bit. I'll see you at eleven sharp. Okay?"

"See you then, I need to go get cleaned up."

"If I may be so bold, and given it's a non-work day, may I make a request?"

My mind was racing. "You've piqued my interest, please."

It almost appeared as she was blushing. "It's a bit personal, but I'd prefer it if you didn't shave. I think the mixed, salt and pepper stubble is cute."

"You got it. It's mostly salt, but I'm more than happy to facilitate your request. See you at elven, sharp."

She stepped on the treadmill and waved. "Don't be late..."

I smiled and saluted her, "Yes ma'am!" Which made her giggle.

I walked back over to my place and I noticed I was smiling the entire time. My internal dialog was pretty interesting. I was ecstatic to have met Nicole and was really enjoying our conversations, but I had a feeling in my gut that it had the possibility of being something more and I wasn't entirely sure what that might be, but it still made me nervous.

My mind started to race and replay all of the issues I'd had with my wife over the last few years. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and frankly left me feeling quite ill. The humorous side was that I was acting like a young kid headed out on his first date. I decided to run out real quick and grab some flowers. Nothing too romantic, just a nice simple arrangement. In fact I specifically asked the florist for something that would be appropriate for a new non-romantic female friend.

I got cleaned up and per her request, didn't shave and headed over and knocked on her door at about ten minutes to eleven. She opened the door and smiled. "You didn't have to bring anything, but thank you. Both for the beautiful flowers, but also for being early."

She invited me in and asked me to put the flowers on the counter. "I've always been taught, if you're on time, you're late. I always try my best to be early, especially for important events."

She smiled. "Coffee's ready, how do you take yours?"

"However you make yours please."

"What if I use mostly flavored creamer with a splash of coffee?"

"Then I'll happily drink it but may have a sugar crash later."

She started laughing. "Okay, just a little creamer then. No need to have you pass out unnecessarily. Please have a seat while I finish the last few things."

"I'd love to help if you want me to."

She looked at me and smiled. "Tell you what, grab the plates, they're to the left of the sink, up top. Silverware is just below them. Please set the table for us."

I got everything and headed over to the table. It was a square table, so my immediate thought was where to place the setting. I went next to each other instead of across from each other, thinking we could always move if needed. Plus I really wanted to be near her.

I glanced back to see her smiling at me. I smiled back, "I figured friends would sit next to each other instead of across from each other."

"Grab our coffee and put it on the table please. I'll get my attempt at a buffet ready."

I moved our cups to the table and made a guess at which might be the head of the table and placed her cup there, I was the guest after all. "The buffet smells amazing by the way, I'm pretty sure you've done this before."

She smiled, "Would you believe that I googled how to do this last night and I may have watched several videos as well? Come on over and dig in. I compromised and only put out a more traditional spread, with the obvious theme being make your own breakfast burrito, but with some added fruit for a fresh side."

"The thing that strikes me first, is that you dove right in and from what I can tell, hit the mark. You had the goal in mind and took the risk knowing that you could do it. Great work by the way. Secondly, and this may be a bit forward, but I'm quite awe struck by my host, so I would never complain about anything you chose. Thank you again for inviting me over, I truly appreciate it."

"Thank you so much Doug, I appreciate your kind words. You have no idea how badly I would have freaked out if this hadn't gone well. I am a bit of a risk taker... inviting a guy I don't know over for brunch, deciding I was going to make brunch... The risks I take are almost always well thought out, but occasionally they still backfire."

I nodded with a smile. "The burrito is great by the way and as far as backfires... do tell. You don't seem too scared up from any that went terribly wrong."

She started laughing. "Not all scars are visible. But I've had a few and a big one was when I thought I was going to have to move right after I first got here. I'm not originally from the area, and I took a risk and asked out a manager from a different area in my firm. That blew up in my face in several ways, not the least of which was that he was gay. Secondly, and as he was quick to explain to me, there was a policy against employee fraternization, especially between employees and managers. Luckily, he didn't report me. But a few of my coworkers knew."

"I can see how that could have gone really bad, given the policies. We both know, policies or laws only work if people enforce them. Most are in place for good reasons, others, well, those are there as CYA's most likely to protect the business."

She started to laugh, "Yep, you nailed it. Business must continue to exist first and foremost, or there's no need for the people that comprise it."

"Oh yeah, I've seen some strange things happen during some board meetings and I was fortunate that our CEO had listened to me during some of my Risk Management speeches. Primarily, that Risk Management isn't just if we lose a portion of our IT, but it's also related to people. If our board members act in a way that devalues our stock or affects our credibility, they too are risks that must be dealt with."

"That's interesting, I've dealt with some litigation related to just that. Our board removed our CFO for some dubious practices that were found during an audit, and the CFO sued us stating wrongful termination. That was an interesting case, after the evidence was presented to his attorney's they withdrew the case. Easy day, but still very interesting."

"The funniest way I've heard of describing a corporation is that of a spoiled, needy, entitled toddler. You never get in the way of them getting what they want when they want it or there'll be hell to pay."

Nicole started laughing. "I thought only the CEO's were entitled toddlers... That may very well change the way I view corporations as a whole."

We made small talk and finished our meals. She started to clean up and I stood and helped. We were at the sink and were bumping into each other as we were both trying to wash things. She bumped me with her hips.

I bumped her back. "We need to figure out roles here or there's going to be a tussle. However, since mine was smaller, I will defer to you to decide on who does what."

She giggled, "I like that Doug, you've admitted that mine was bigger. Smart man. You wash, I'll rinse and dry. Fair?"

"Yes ma'am, more than fair. Who knew doing the dishes could be this much fun? Pretty sure I owe you for the meal and of course the company."

"I'll be right back, I'm going to put on some music. Any choices? Guests get to choose."

"I defer to the host. I'm good with most music."

"Opera it is. I'll be right back..."

I had started laughing when I heard Stick Figure playing. "I'd actually pay to see this opera..."

She came back over and bumped me with her hip again. "Me too. I'm not much on traditional opera, so the thought of trying to tolerate it just to make you uncomfortable wasn't worth it."

"This new side you're showing hints towards some mean spiritedness... I'll keep that in mind."

"Much like the rest of me, my spirit is pure." I stopped and looked at her and started to slowly smile and she lost it and started laughing hysterically.

"Okay, most of me is pure."

I raised my eyebrow. "Most, you say... Hoping I don't have to guess."

She bumped me with her hips again, so I bumped her back. We stood there giggling and bumping each other until we finished the dishes.

"Do you want another coffee?"

"Only if you're having one. I'd hate to be a rude guest."

"Pfft, Too late, offering to guess what parts of me might be impure, as if any were..."

I started laughing again. "I said I hoped I didn't have to guess. So right now your thoughts are hinting towards something less than pure."

She was laughing pretty hard. "I may have a less than pure mind, but only because of my vocation. How about a beer and before you complain, it's a sugar free ginger beer. I need to say the name slowly..." She took a deep breath and slowly said, " Cock and Bull Ginger Beer. Would you like one?"

"As long as they're the same size..."

She had a devilish grin, "From what I remember, Cocks and Bulls are different sizes."

"I've only seen a few, so I'll agree with that statement."

She brought over the bottles and handed me one. "The taste isn't too bad, you certainly get the gentle heat from the ginger, which I love, but there's always that artificial sweetener aftertaste. Still better than drinking several tablespoons of sugar."

I took a sip and she was 100 percent correct. "Yep, you nailed it. Gentle heat, and the after taste, still pretty good though. I may need to get some of these. Cock and Bull you say?"

"I did say that, very carefully..."

We were both laughing again. "I'm pretty sure there's a reason for that name... certainly close enough to be a double entendre."

"Oh yeah, I read the label several times in the store laughing to myself as I kept reading it wrong."

I looked at the bottle, "Yeah, I could totally see Cook and Bull."

She started coughing and jumped up running to the kitchen covering her mouth. "Thanks Doug, smart ass, now I've got this stuff coming out of my nose!"

She looked at me, and I just smiled at her. "Damn it Doug, don't you dare say it!"

"I have no idea what you were thinking... I was not going to say anything about having Cock and Bull running out of your nose and how it might burn!"

She was bent over from laughing with her hands on the counter, while trying to catch her breath. I got up and went over and helped her stand.

"Ma'am having Cock and Bull running out of your nose can be traumatic, please let me help you to a seat." I put my arm around her and walked her over to the couch. She had tears in her eyes. "Water?"

She shook her head and patted the couch next to her, so I sat down next to her and rubbed her shoulder. "Are you going to make it?"

She took a deep breath. "Barely, I literally have not laughed that hard in years. I knew what you were doing and I couldn't keep myself from laughing. Thanks. I really needed that. I really love your sense of humor."

She looked at me and smiled. "Doug, I know that you're a CISO, and you know I'm an attorney. But we really don't know each other, but I'd like to get to know you better. That is if you wanted to."

"I'd love to get to know you as well. You've met Sam already, my son Nick is indifferent, however if I had to guess if he saw you, he'd come out of his shell."

"Really, why?"

I smiled. "The obvious answer is that you are a stunning woman. That would certainly grab his attention, unfortunately, he'd probably never look past that to see the beautiful person. The one with great taste in music, an incredible sense of humor, a great cook, a risk taker..."

She reached for my hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you Doug, that's really kind. I get approached all the time because of my looks, most have no interest beyond my looks and what they'd like to do to me. It was really refreshing to hear a man's point of view, especially when it's as flattering as what you've said."

"It's easy to speak the truth... Trust me." About that time her eye's got big and she jumped up looking for her phone. I stood up out of reaction.

"I'm sorry about that, I'm trying to change the song..."

"No need, I like it. Not sure what it says about me that I know the lyrics."

She started to laugh as we both started to sing along, "Colt 45 and two zigzags, baby, that's all we need. We can go to the park after dark and smoke that tumbleweed..."

When we got a little further into the lyrics, I made a substitution that cracked her up. As we sang along, "I met this lady in Hollywood, she had green hair and damn she looked good, she took me to her house 'cause she was fine, but she whipped out a TROPHY that was bigger than mine."

We finished the song and the next song up was an instrumental version of a slower Stick Figure tune and she put her arms around me and pulled me in as we sort of swayed to the music and continued to chat.

"You are quite an interesting person Doug, I would have never guessed that you would know the lyrics to Afroman songs. So, now I have to ask, what are your top five songs from him?"

"Easy day. First, Crazy Rap, Palmdale which is my personal favorite, of course Because I got high, hum.... The last two. Grow up to be homeboys and a Homeboy can survive. The last two because I love the way he played off of some country music staples. There are a few others that I really enjoy as well."

She smiled and sort of giggled, "tell me about the others."

I cleared my throat, "The other two are somewhat, er, how should I say this, more risque perhaps. Wet Tight Energy and Dong of the South."

I swear she was starting to blush which made me feel awkward for having named those last two, so I was trying to apologize.

"You're good. I know those last two as well. Just wasn't expecting to hear you say them out loud."

"Yeah, my mind was racing with how to name them, without saying them, and it went blank, so I just said them. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as Cock and Bull."

She giggled, "Yeah agreed. Still funny to watch you turn red, Doug."

"Yeah, I'm certain I did, you may have changed colors as well, so we're even."

The next song that came on was a bit more up tempo, so we just sort of separated and sat down. It had been years since I had been that close to anyone and I had really enjoyed it.

"Doug, thanks so much for coming by today and for being great company. I'll admit that I was pretty nervous at first, but you have a great personality and of course your sense of humor is awesome. I don't think I've laughed this much in years. I guess I'm going to destroy the mood, but I'd like to ask a few questions if that's okay."

"No worries, I'm an open book. Not all chapters are PG though, some may cross over to other ratings."

She laughed a little at that. "You're married. I'd like to know more about why you're here."

"Well, that is going to be difficult. One reason is that my wife and I had sort of stopped being a couple. She is an attorney as well and she was recently offered a partnership at her firm, so that led to more hours. We'd had some, well, uh, some intimacy issues, so we jointly decided to spend some time away from each other."

"Thanks for sharing. I know we just had an internal memo come through that mentioned that Thatcher and Smith had a new partner. I'm guessing your surname might be Anderson?"

"Yes, Doug Anderson. My wife, Kelly, was offered a partnership. She was working some very long hours and she said that was what got her the offer, but she also said that the hours would probably continue. I was working quite a few hours as well as we worked on rolling out some new infrastructure changes, so that meant less time together."

"This will be personal, but you had mentioned intimacy issues. May I ask?"

I felt the hair on my arm stand up and what felt like some fight or flight response in my gut. "This is a delicate subject and is the primary driver for our separation."

I took a deep breath and tried to get some composure and attempt to explain without giving too much detail. The internal feeling I had was to just lay it all out there, but that scared me to death. I was comfortable with her, but also didn't want to just lay bare my personal issues.

"My wife and I, well... we, uh, our. This is a bit more difficult than I expected. I'm going to be blunt and hope I don't offend you."

"Doug, I can sense this is a tender subject... you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Thanks for giving me an easy way out. I think I'd rather just be honest and accept how it's received." I took a deep breath. "My wife and I were, well, we have been married for thirty years. As a young couple we had a normal relationship, we had two kids. Our sex life was normal I would guess. Over the course of thirty years, it changed. I don't think either of us really put the work in to keep things interesting. The last few years got to the point of us being intimate maybe once a year and then it wasn't fun so to speak. It became something along the lines of her wanting to fulfill some sort of perceived perfunctory duty. That didn't exactly set the mood and frankly wasn't fun and led to me not performing."

I sort of looked away from her and my mind started to race about what she thought.

"I'm sorry for dropping that bomb, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"You're good Doug. I think that happens to far more couples than we realize. I'm pretty sure that's what happened with my parents. Their situation was further complicated by some cheating, which was discovered which led to some revenge cheating. That aspect was the worst for me and my sister, they got quite ugly with each other before the divorce and that didn't help anyone."

"Yeah, I can see that. I'm honestly not sure where mine is headed."

"This may seem insensitive, but do you think that your wife is seeing someone?"

"I'm not going to say that it hasn't crossed my mind. She was fairly direct in stating that she wasn't happy with my performance, so to speak, so it's completely plausible that she sought that from someone else."

"Have you sought that with someone else?"

"No, I'm a bit old fashioned in that regard. I've thought about it, but never had the nerve to act on those thoughts. My thought being I'd rather be divorced than attempt to lead two lives and frankly, in my short time living here, my mental health has improved by orders of magnitude, so divorce has been on my mind. I don't want to be vengeful and fight with Kelly, but would like a fair distribution of our assets. Luckily the kids are grown and their college bills paid, so that's one less worry. Our salaries are similar, but she does make a bit more, so in that vein I'd be open to getting a bit less than half of everything."

I started to laugh and sat back on the couch. "Sorry about that, I had this thought pop into my head that I was dragging you into either a therapist role, or that of my attorney. I apologize if it seemed that way. I will say that you make it far easier to discuss these things than I had expected, thank you."

She sat back, smiled and put her hand on my arm. "Thanks for indulging my questions. I promise to be your sounding board any time you need one. You make it easy to listen. I think I've pushed you far enough for one day with my questions, is there any you'd like to ask me?"

I laughed. "Of course, but I'd be too worried about how they'd be perceived."

"Really, after you just bared your soul to me and you're worried about me having to answer your questions. I love that you're considerate, but come on, we need to be more open and trusting with each other, please."

"Okay, but remember you asked for this. First question, how is an intelligent, beautiful lady such as yourself, still single and living alone?"

She smiled, "First, I never said I was single, that was an assumption you made. Secondly, what if like you, I enjoyed being alone for the mental health benefits it brings?"

I started laughing, "You got me... I made assumptions, I am sorry."

She laughed with me. "You're good. I am single, but haven't been my entire life. I was married just long enough to see the actual personality of the guy I married and got it annulled."

"At least it didn't drag out for decades, so that's a win I suppose."

"That's one way to look at it. For me, it meant that I was single again and I hate the idea of looking for a mate. It seems forced when I think of it like that, but also waiting around for the right person, seems like it's taking forever."

"I can see that too, but at least the natural aspect seems less forced and in that regard may lead to better results. I can only imagine the difficulty you face in weeding out those that may only have a singular purpose in trying to meet you though."

She started to laugh, "Yeah, clearly most seem to be thinking about M-E-A-T the verb, which is off putting for so many reasons. Of course I think we all appreciate a physical connection, but that can't be the only connection, otherwise you've not found a true partner, but rather just a sort of friend with benefits. Don't get me wrong, those types of relationships can have their role as a sort of fill-in."

I smiled as she turned red. "You know what I mean..."

"Yep, multiple meanings, temporary stand-in for a partner and a more physical fill-in for other needs. Remember I'm still a geek and have the sense of humor of a fourteen year old boy."

She started laughing and rolled her eyes. "Now you tell me... Any more questions?"

"Just one for now. You know me as Doug Anderson, I only know you as Nicole...?"

She extended her hand, "Hi Doug Anderson, I'm Nicole Webb."

I shook her hand, "Esquire?"

She laughed, "no, I never cared for that. I have business cards and diplomas on the wall if needed. I view being an attorney as my profession, not my identity."

"Well said! I love that. IT has no shortage of people with technical certifications that can't make that distinction."

"I know I've been here for a while, and I'd hate to waste your afternoon, with me spilling my life story... I'd certainly understand if you have other things to take care of."

"What are your plans for the afternoon, Doug?"

"I am headed to the store to get some Cock and Bull, would you like me to get any for you?"

She started to smile and it turned into a big grin. "Sir, are you propositioning me?"

I smiled and winked at her. "Ma'am, your dirty mind is showing... Plus, you know, me being married and what not sort of puts a damper on those sorts of things."

"True, it does, but I have some thoughts on that and we can discuss those later if you want. When are you headed to the store?"

"No real schedule, just whenever it felt like the thing to do. Care to join me?"

"I'd love to. Which store are you headed to?"

"I was hoping you'd know where to find Cock and Bull..., so I was going to defer to you."

She started laughing loudly. "As long as I don't have it coming out of my nose again, I'm good with showing you."

I stood up, "Grab what you need, I'll drive if that's okay with you"

She looked me up and down and smiled. "I'll grab my phone and bag and meet you at your place in about half an hour, okay? Plus it'll give you some time to, ahem, fix that."

I followed her gaze down to my shorts and I turned bright red and started to stammer, trying my best to apologize. She started laughing. "How about you sit down, I'll freshen up and we can walk out to your car. I'm guessing you don't want that flag flying so proudly at the moment."

I sat there and stared at her. "Nicole, I'm sorry. I literally had no idea... I never meant to make you uncomfortable. I promise."

"I know. We can talk more about this later. I'll be back out in a few."

I sat there thinking how in the hell did I not notice or feel that was happening. It was clearly the first time it had happened in years. Much less around a woman that wasn't my wife. I was embarrassed, and felt that I had embarrassed Nicole as well. I wasn't even sure how to really apologize for what I'd done.

Nicole had changed into a different shirt and came back into the living room smiling. "Things settled down now?"

I sort of laughed and felt the heat in my face, "Yeah, I think so. I'm sorry about that."

"You're good Doug. Like I said, we can discuss things later."

"Thanks for being understanding. This has been a first for me and not in a good way."

She started to laugh, "at least you didn't need to change your shorts, so you're good."

"I'm really hoping I would have known that was comin... uh, happening."

She was laughing again. "I know that wasn't intentional, but maybe had a bit of a Freudian slip to it, but still that was really damn funny."

"It didn't feel too funny from my perspective..."

"Then you weren't doing it right." She winked at me and reached out for my hand. "Come on we need to go find at least some Bull as you've already brought the other."

"You're not helping..."

"You never asked for help."

I stood there smiling. "Nope, not going to comment, I'm in over my head in this conversation."

"Smart man. Now get out of my house... so I can lock the door."

"You are very mean spirited..."

"Just one of my many talents... all pure of course." She winked at me.

"Uh huh, pure."

She had locked her door and I offered my arm. "Ma'am, if I may?"

"Please lead the way, Sir. I'll let you know if I notice anything."

She was just smiling and looking straight ahead.

"Such a bad person..."

"Uh huh, I'm the bad one... not that I've had anything spring up in my shorts. Speaking of that, would you have said anything if I had?"

I started to laugh. "That's a great question. I guess I may have tried to let you know you had your flag flying."

She was laughing out loud. "Doug, today has been nothing short of incredible. The laughs, the singing, the company. Even the show. All phenomenal..."

"You are too kind..." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not accustomed to putting on shows."

She had a cute smile. "I know. I could tell by your embarrassment. I thought that was cute."

I laughed. "At least I'm able to entertain. I generally go for a joke, but I guess the show was sort of a small extension of that."

She looked at me and saw me grinning and she started to laugh. "Nicely played, perhaps not as small as you thought it was."

I laughed. "Ma'am, you need to have your eyes checked."

We got to the parking lot, and I pointed to my truck.

"Interesting, I had sort of pinged you for a BMW sort of guy."

"They don't make trucks..." I opened the door for her and extended my hand to help her in.

"Doug, this is a very nice truck. I can see that you like some finer things."

"I do, but prefer that they be functional as well."

"Yeah, I can see that... at least the functional part."

I started to laugh. "Nicole, if I may be so bold. The reason or maybe a symptom of my separation was just that. The ability to function. Without the graphic detail, I wasn't able to function with my wife and that led to her frustration."

"Ah, gotcha. Sorry about that, but it seemed to be earlier... If I were to ask for some graphic detail, would you be okay telling me. You don't have to of course, but I'd like to know."

"I am very comfortable with you and in your spirit of risk taking, I'll try." I took a deep breath. "My wife and I's sex life had devolved to maybe once a year and for that one time of the year, she would sort of spread her legs and pretty much tell me to perform and get it over with. That stressed me out in numerous ways, not the least of which was being asked to perform without any foreplay, or even for those time's I did perform, she wasn't interested in getting off. That was off putting to me. A big part of sex for me, is to please my partner. So being denied that opportunity added yet another layer of stress and that meant I couldn't rise to the occasion."

"So pleasing your partner is that important to you?"

"Absolutely. It's supposed to be fun for both. I think everyone's goals might be to finish together so to speak, but there'll be times when there's some give and take maybe. I enjoy giving as much or more than receiving. As odd as it may sound, it makes me feel like a man when I help my partner have orgasms."

"Wow, that isn't quite the answer I expected, but I really like that. Most of the guys I've dated over the years, I'd not put them in that category at all, in fact most were only really concerned with getting themselves off, much less what I may have wanted."

"Or needed. I think we all need that release. I'm not very knowledgeable in the biochemistry of the human experience, but I have experienced the effect of that release and I know that it's beneficial to my mental health."

"Yeah, I agree. So, that leads to the next question that may have a graphic answer, in the absence of your wife, do you still get to have that release?"

"I do occasionally, uh, help myself with at least that part."

"I do as well. Thanks for answering. Next question and I'll most likely stop after that... maybe."

I started laughing. "Fire away. Not sure I can get much redder at the moment."

She stopped laughing. "First and foremost, thank you for being honest and genuine with me, but also for allowing me access to ask these questions. I know it's difficult to have someone that you trust enough to ask things this personal. Here we go. What is the primary aspect you like in helping your partner get off?"

"Humm, let me think. Primary aspect? I think it's seeing the pleasure I cause, or seeing the physical effect I have on them. I feel empowered by that, in that I helped them have that release and I think that boosts my ego maybe, well maybe not ego, but it makes me feel like a man I suppose. I'm really struggling to put that feeling into words."

"I can see that. In fact, earlier, when I noticed your flag... I felt some pride or maybe it boosted my self esteem in knowing that I had most likely caused that effect."

"Very well put. It boosts my self esteem. Thank you. To your other point, you certainly deserve credit for the flag. Nicole, you're a stunning woman. I realize that is stating the obvious, but I can only imagine that you might have that effect on most guys."

She sort of lightly laughed. "I'm sure I'm fodder for some guys to spank it and that seems icky to me. But to see that effect on someone I like, that's an entirely different matter. Doug, just to make sure you understand, I like you and seeing your shorts, it made me feel good about myself."

I reached for her hand. "Thank you for not being freaked out. I was embarrassed and what's worse is I thought I had embarrassed you as well and that was the hard part."

"The hard part appeared to be in your shorts... just saying." We both started laughing.

"Honestly, and I don't say this to diminish how attractive you are, but given my issues with my wife, that was literally the last thing I thought would happen."

Nicole was pretty quiet as we drove to the store.

"Sorry if I've managed to make things even more awkward, it wasn't my intention."

"What were you thinking when you raised your flag?"

"Honestly, I was thinking how fortunate I was to meet such a fun, interesting person that shared my taste in music. Of course I did acknowledge how gorgeous you are, but the fact that sort of pushed things over the edge was that I felt like we were developing maybe more than a causal connection as neighbors. I was also worried that you might consider that our age difference might be a barrier to anything more than friends."

"Thank you Doug. I feel the same way and I don't see age as an issue. Do you?"

"You've already seen me turn red, guess the game is now to count how many times?" She giggled when I winked at her. "I've been with the same person for the last thirty years and up until a day ago, the idea of meeting a younger woman wasn't on my radar, much less one as beautiful as you. So I don't think it's an issue for me. I've been very honest with you and feel that it was uncomfortable for at least me and possibly you. One sort of obvious thing hasn't been addressed..."

"You're married. I get it. I'm not sure where we're headed, of course I have a few hopes... Perhaps we can do our shopping and then talk more later if you want?"

"I'd love to. I do want to put this one thing out there. I don't have any expectations on what might happen with us, like you I may have some hopes. I'm really enjoying being with you and getting to know you little by little, even if you are quite mean occasionally."

"Mean, you've not seen my mean side yet... plus only one of us has flashed the other."

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, I was fully covered..."

She smiled and lifted her shirt and bra up. "Wasn't talking about you Doug."

I sure my mouth was hanging open and words were failing me. "Wow, I'm not... Wow. Uh, Nicole, if I may be so forward, you have some incredibly sexy breasts... didn't expect the pierced nipples, but I find them quite sexy as well."

She leaned over, kissed me and giggled. "Doug, I just kissed you to get you to close your mouth."

I was smiling... "You could have just as easily put something in my mouth, but the kiss was perfect."

She pulled her bra and shirt back down and got situated. "Anything I put in your mouth will be perfect, so no complaining and I'm certain I'd feel the same way for anything you put in my mouth. I wouldn't complain. Come on now, let's get out of the truck before we think of reasons to stay."

We walked around the store and got what we needed when she reached for my hand and guided me to the drink aisle. "I am pretty worked up and could use some Cock and Bull."

I squeezed her hand. "I'm sugar free..." which made her start laughing.

"After tastes?"

"I'm sure it's more of a personal preference or acquired taste type of thing."

She giggled and rolled her eyes, "Uh huh, sure."

She was showing me the different ginger beers, which one's she'd tried and what she thought about them. "Cock and Bull is still my favorite. In fact I'm going to grab some."

She glanced around and without warning stuck her hand down my shorts and grabbed my cock and balls.

She smiled and looked me in the eyes. "Very nice Doug, very nice indeed," and with a gentle squeeze, pulled her hand out. I felt that familiar sensation.

I leaned in and quietly said, "Ma'am, what you grabbed was more akin to cock and balls... and I'm thinking the flag is being raised."

She looked down and smiled. "Cause and effect my dear man, cause and effect. If you need to hide it you can walk really close to my backside."

"Not sure that would help the flag issue."

She leaned in and kissed me. "That wasn't the problem I wanted to help with. We might want to pay and head home."

I was almost certain that my face was red, which really didn't help blend in with my grey shirt and light blue shorts.

We got in the truck and I leaned over and kissed her. "Quite the naughty risk taker... grabbing cock and balls in the grocery store."

She returned my kiss with passion. "We need to get home. I plan on putting several things in your mouth by the way, so be ready. I'm pretty sure I'll have some of you in my mouth as well."

We were driving back to the apartment when my phone showed that Sam was calling so I answered. She didn't wait or even hold back.

"Hey dad, how'd your date go, remember I told you I don't want another sibling..." I started laughing.

"Hey Sam, I headed back from the grocery store, Nicole's in the truck with me. Sam, Nicole. Nicole, Sam. I understand you guys may have met before."

I heard the gasp from Sam and Nicole was bright red. I just laughed. Nicole looked at me and I wasn't certain, but felt she wanted to punch me.

"Sam, come on now, you're never at a loss for words. How's your Sunday?"

She sort of coughed. "Um hi Nicole, nice to talk to you again, sorry about the joke with dad."

Nicole smiled at me. "You're fine. I can tell you guys have a close relationship. Nice to talk to you again as well."

"Dad, I have to go, I'll call you later. Have fun."

"Did I mention that she's quite forward sometimes."

Nicole started laughing. "You did, but that surprised me."

"Yeah me too."

We pulled in to my parking spot and got the grocery bags out

"If I may be so bold... I'd like to invite you to my apartment. Also, if you want to stay for a bit and talk, we can put your Cock and Bull in the fridge to keep them cold."

"Not where I want to put them..."

She smiled at me and for the first time I noticed her nipples were showing through her shirt.

"Ma'am, you've got two small flags flying."

She blushed. "Yeah... We need to head to your apartment."

I opened the door and invited her in.

"It's pretty sparse on decoration... but it's home."

She walked in and sat her bag on the counter and turned to face me, motioning for me to join her.

I went over and sat my bags down and turned towards her. "Like I mentioned earlier, I don't have any expectations, but I do have a few hopes."

She smiled and put her arms around my neck and looked me in the eyes. "Care to tell me about those hopes."

I had my hands on her hips and leaned in for a kiss. "I'd love the chance to please you... hopefully of course"

She giggled. "Uh huh, I'm liking that hope so far."

She kissed me lightly on the lips. "Doug, I'm sure I know where this is headed and wanted to let you know that I'm on birth control, so no need for Sam to worry about getting a little brother or sister."

I smiled and gently kissed her neck. "About those things you planned on putting in my mouth... I really want to taste every single part of you."

"Ummm, Oh yeah, that is one of my hopes as well."

I reached down and picked her up and she put her legs around my waist as we shared a very passionate kiss. I walked us to the bedroom and gently set her down on the edge of the bed and kissed her again.

I stood and removed my shirt as she smiled. I put my thumbs in my waistband and paused. She was looking at my shorts and looked up at me, smiled and nodded. I slowly moved them down, little by little. I'd pause and she'd look at me, almost longingly. I'd move down a bit more as she kept smiling. My shorts were down over my butt along with my underwear, but my cock was still mostly trapped by them. She looked up at me and slowly licked her lips as I pulled them down and my cock sprang free.

She reached out and wrapped her fingers around my cock and pulled me close. She kissed my belly. "Damn it Doug, you are one sexy man." She squeezed my cock, "I expect this to be in my mouth later..."

I kneeled down in front of her and kissed her and placed my hand on her back under her shirt. "May I undress you?"

She almost whispered, "yes please."

I lifted her shirt over her head and laid it on the bed. I leaned in and kissed her neck and flicked my tongue over her earlobe before I moved down and kissed her shoulder. I could see the goosebumps on her skin. I moved down and kissed her collar bone and moved down to kiss just above her breasts as I put my arms around her and released the clasp on her bra. I slid it over her shoulders and laid it next to her shirt. I put my hands on her breasts, they were phenomenal. She had perfect C cups with pale areolas and pierced nipples. I kissed just above them and slowly licked down over one nipple and then the other, stopping to suck on them.

She was moaning and pulling my mouth onto them, before just pulling me up and kissing me. "This is perfect... I love your gentle touch."

I stood up and extended my hand. She looked at my cock and smiled and stood before kissing me again. "Damn it Doug. You're killing me and I'm loving it."

I kneeled down and kissed her breasts and then down her belly and placed my fingers inside her waistband. "May I?"

She had her hands on my head with her eyes closed, "uh huh". I'd slowly slide her shorts and panties down a little and kiss where they had been. I'd drag my nose across her belly as I moved from side to side. I had them down enough to see a small triangle of fine hair. She was absolutely perfect. I gently sucked the inside of her hip and could smell her arousal. When I had them over her hips, she opened her legs and when they fell to the floor, she stepped out of them. I reached behind her and grabbed her ass cheeks and pulled her towards my face as I kissed the inside of her hip.

I lightly drug my nose across her pubic hair stopping to gently suck the soft folds of skin above her clit. I was kneading her ass cheeks as I explored more of her. She moved her feet a bit further apart and that gave me more access. I pushed my tongue between her sexy labia and felt how hot and wet she was. Absolute perfection. I stood up and she hungrily kissed me, sucking on my tongue. I pulled back. "You need to lay down... I've got more hopes I need to address."

She smiled and laid down. "You need to get over here and finish what you started."

I stood there, taking in the woman that was laying in front of me. "Did I mention that you are perfect... I just need more taste tests to be sure."

She giggled and spread her legs a bit wider. I climbed on the bed and kissed her. She wrapped her legs around me and I felt my cock on her pubic hair. She rotated her hips and felt how wet she was was. I pushed in a little bit as I kissed her and then quickly pulled out and began kissing her throat and moving lower.

She moaned. "Damn it Doug... tease."

"You know it. We'll get there, but I want this to last... for both of us."

I stopped to suck on her perfect breasts. They were soft, but still firm and her nipples were hard. I sucked on each of them, flicking my tongue around the studs. I could feel her moving under me. I moved lower and kissed her belly. Gently nibbling as I moved my way down until I got between her thighs.

I gently licked between her sexy labia up over her clit. "God damn, I love your scent and your taste, both are beyond perfect..."

"Uh huh... Doug..."

I could feel her tremble. I began to slowly kiss and suck the area between her labia and her inner thigh and would drag my tongue up over her clit as I moved from side to side. She lifted her legs and pulled her knees up to her chest. I understood completely that she wanted me to focus and I did.

She made this deep, sexy moan and grabbed my head. I parted her labia with my tongue as I began to lick and suck while sliding my fingers in. She was starting to buck her hips to match my rhythm. I added a finger and sucked on her clit as she began to moan loudly, then she put her legs around my head and screamed. I couldn't move, so I kept my tongue on her clit as she was squeezing my fingers. As the tremors rolled through her body, I didn't really have words to describe how it made me feel.

She released her grip on me and sort of melted into the bed and just looked at me and smiled.

"That was incredible... come up here and kiss me."

I crawled on top of her and kissed her. She was licking around my face, cleaning me up.

I pulled back, "Everything you put in my mouth was perfect!"

"As promised... Now I expect anything you put in my mouth to be just as perfect..."

I kissed her and rolled off and laid next to her. She rolled over to face me and threw her leg over me and kissed me. She leaned down and kissed my neck. "You know where this is going, so have fun. By the way, I don't spit..." she kissed my chest and as she was sliding down I felt my cock slide in and she stopped and placed her forehead on my chest. "God damn..." I felt her move lower as she took all of me. She sat up and smiled at me, "Any thoughts?".

I had my hands on her hips. "Words can not express what I'm seeing and feeling."

She smiled and slowly lifted off of me and kissed lower, stopping to suck on my nipples while pulling on them with her mouth. "So fucking manly... I love the hair on your chest, not coarse, just perfect. Ummm, damn."

She kissed lower and I felt her wrap her hands around my cock. I looked down and watched her drag her lips up and down the shaft. She was moaning and seemed to enjoy herself. She moved back to the tip and looked up at me and smiled before licking around the head before sliding the foreskin back as she took me in her mouth. I gasped and moaned. The feeling was beyond description.

"Doug, I know you like this, and so do I. I love the fact that you're uncut, so fucking hot. You're making my mouth water, so it might be messy."

"I love the way that all of that sounded."

She moaned and got up on her hands and knees and put my cock in her mouth and started to suck me without using her hands. I reached down and moved her hair so I could watch. She looked up at me and appeared to smile, or at least it seemed that way with my cock in her mouth.

She kept at it and was enjoying herself. "Nicole, I'm getting close..."

"Ummm..."

Her moaning on my cock was pushing me over the edge and I think she noticed and increased her pace.

"Fuck... Nicole!" I almost screamed as I shot stream after stream into her mouth. She kept moaning and sucking.

It was easily the strongest orgasm I'd ever had and certainly felt like I had shot more than any time before. It honestly felt like it lasted for several minutes.

She laid down and was milking my cock, squeezing out everything she could. I had gotten so sensitive that everything she was doing was making me convulse, so I reached down and pulled her up and kissed her deeply, tasting my cum in her mouth.

"Damn it woman, that was beyond words. The best I've ever gotten, no comparison."

She giggled. "That was pretty damn incredible from my perspective. I didn't think you were going to stop cumming."

"It has been several years... so, I was making up for lost time."

She sort of leaned up on her arm, "Years? Really? How many?"

I looked at her and was trying to recall the last time my wife sucked me off. "Maybe 10 years... maybe, I honestly can't remember the last time."

"Wow, that's a long time. Was it as good as you remembered?"

I kissed her deeply. "Not even in the same category. I can say without exception that you've established the new standard. You are quite talented..."

She giggled and crawled up on top of me. "You are as well..." She started to kiss me and I felt both her grinding on me, but also felt myself responding.

I was squeezing her butt as we kissed. I moaned into her mouth as I slid into her. She broke our kiss and sat up and smiled as she began to slide back and forth on my cock. "You know if you cum as much as you did before, we're going to make a huge mess..."

I reached up and caressed her sexy tits. "Hopefully... as long as I'm with you, I'm good with any mess we make."

"Good... If things go right, we can make a really big mess and take a shower together."

"Count me in... "

She sort of giggled, but had her eyes closed and seemed really focused. As much as I enjoyed having her ride me, I was picking up on a pattern. She would lift up until I was almost out and she'd slam down and grind her clit into the base of my cock. Time and time again. Her breathing was getting heavy and sort of erratic. I decided to match her actions. I'd lift up on her hips and then pull her onto my cock pretty hard and then I'd move my hips to try and grind into her.

She had begun to smile, and sped up. I was grunting with every stroke and she was making a noise that I could only describe as a stifled scream. I knew I was getting close and really hoped she was too... I wanted to make sure she got off either before I did, or at the same time.

"You are so fucking hot bouncing on my cock... I want to see you cum sexy..."

She still had her eyes closed and was grunting as well. It almost felt like I could feel her squeezing my cock. "I am going to fucking cum all over your cock, fuck... I'm close Doug, oh fuck..."

I reached up and was squeezing her tits. "Cum for me sexy... cum on my cock."

She looked at me, but it felt like her eyes weren't focused on me. I also noticed that she had goosebumps all over her body and she stopped and made this low growling noise and then screamed. It caught me off guard, but she squirted and started to bounce again. I put my hands on her hips and was doing my best to drive as deeply as I could into her...

"Oh fuck I'm close... Nicole... god damn..." I held onto her hips as she kept squirming around while I was cumming. I was almost screaming as she did that. She would giggle and I could feel her squeeze my cock. She had a small tremor roll through her body when my cock slipped out.

She leaned down and kissed me. "That was perfect, damn it Doug. I really needed that and I'm guessing you did as well."

I kissed her again, "Oh yeah. You were so damn sexy when you were riding me. Damn it woman, there just aren't any words to describe how perfect that was for me."

She kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "How's your self esteem?"

"Overflowing, like something else..."

She giggled. "Oh yeah, you filled me up. As much as I want to stay exactly like this, we need to clean up..."

I pulled on her hips to move her up towards the headboard as she looked down at me with a crazy expression. "I'd like to help clean you up..." She looked at me with a wicked smile and moved each of her knees up over my shoulders and put her hands on the headboard.

She was watching my face as she lowered her creamy pussy to my mouth. I slowly lapped up our combined juices and was loving hearing her moan. I pulled my mouth away, "In case you're wondering... you can ride my face as hard as you need to... I want you to cum again... all over my face."

She smiled. "My naughty man wants me to face fuck him and cum all over his face?"

I sucked her clit, "uh huh".

She reached down and grabbed my head and began to pull me onto her pussy as she was grinding on my tongue. "Fuck Doug... Oh... fuck..."

I'd pull on her labia with my tongue and lips before sucking on her clit. She was clearly into the idea and she suddenly slowed down and began to grind her clit into my mouth with her body weight, when it felt like she began to have convulsions. She had squirted again and was pushing my head away from her pussy while looking down at me with a crazy smile.

She quickly jumped off of me and laid down next to me. "What the actual fuck Doug!?"

I kissed her. "No idea what you're talking about. Pretty sure you just face fucked me quite thoroughly... and I really, really enjoyed it."

She started to laugh. "Yeah you did. You are a bad man Doug. Very bad." She laid next to me and we kissed for what seemed like an hour, but it was probably just a few minutes as she came back down. "Doug, that was a couple of firsts for me... one, I've never had a guy clean me afterwards, and before you get any ideas, you're the second guy that I've let do that. To use your words, you've set the standard in that regard. Also, I've never squirted from oral."

"Glad I could help out... as they say, the pleasure was all mine."

She laughed again, but then she became serious. "This may be bad timing, but does your wife know what she's giving up? If you were mine, no chance in hell I'd let go of you... and that's just the sex. Doug, you're a great guy. I know we're still learning about each other, but you're what my girlfriends and I would call a keeper. I'm prepared to fight to keep you... Just so you know."

I kissed her and squeezed her ass. "Did I mention that you have a perfect heart shaped booty. Also, I think you're a keeper as well. Damn, who knew that waiting this long would have been so perfect. Also, what we've done has helped me in more ways that I can express. I want to talk some more about that later, but right now, since you've almost killed me, I'd like to lay here with you for a while before we shower."

"My ass is pretty cute huh? Tell you what, you can play with it anytime you want along with all the other parts that interest you. As for staying here for a while, I'm pretty sure I'll fall asleep."

"Me too and to be honest, I really want you in my arms when I do."

She kissed me and put her knee up over my cock and rubbed it around and laid her head on my shoulder and I think we both passed out. I don't remember when she got up, but when I woke up, I saw her sitting on the edge of the bed staring at me.

We pretty much said it at the same time, "Penny for your thoughts?"

I went first. "I simply don't have words for what today has brought. I'd really like to spend a lot more time with you if you wanted, and before you answer, I'm going to get a divorce. You helped me in more ways than you realize. I know we just had some pretty good sex, and that helped me, but having you with me means so much more than just the physical part."

"You offered a penny for my thoughts... right now, I could bankrupt you. Our sex wasn't pretty good, it was mind altering." It almost seemed like she was starting to tear up as she continued. "Being next to you when we fell asleep, I felt something that I wasn't expecting and I don't really have the words for it, but I felt safe and peaceful."

I reached over and put my hand on her knee. "Like my world was in alignment."

She started to cry and leaned over and kissed me. "I wasn't expecting this... maybe that's what makes it feel right."

"You, my crazy, risk taking friend, are one hundred percent correct. I was happy to meet my sexy neighbor and possibly get to be her friend. Who would have known she would have been slamming her perfect sex into my face?"

She started to laugh, "Oh no you don't, you asked for that if my memory serves correctly, in fact I asked if that was what you wanted."

"I couldn't fully respond because of what you had pushed into my mouth..."

"Uh, huh, I see how things are going to be."

I sat up and pulled her over to me. "We can decide who did what to whom later... first I'm having withdrawals and need a kiss."

"I might be addicted to you as well... Come on, let's take a shower and wash each other."

"Oh my, I really love the way that sounds."

She looked at me and bit her lower lip and stared at my cock. "Me too."

We got in the shower and washed each other. Nothing too sexual, but certainly sensual.

As we were drying off I was just staring at her. "Nicole, thank you. I know those may not seem like the right words, but I don't know how to explain what I'm feeling. I'm grateful that you took a risk with me. Hopefully it was worth it for you. For me, I'll do my best to display some restraint, but I'd really love to spend more time with you. Of course the sex was incredible, but just being with you is phenomenal in its own right."

She smiled and put her towel on the sink and put her arms around me. "Thank you are perfect words right now." She looked up at me and kissed me. "I'm grateful as well Doug. I had butterflies in my stomach last night when I asked you to walk home with me. I was cursing myself for offering to make a breakfast buffet, but that's what came to mind. The reward for that risk was more than worth it, even before we came back here. I really enjoy spending time with you and yes, I will need some restraint as well. I'm really thinking we need to have some part of each other in one another's mouth at all times though. You might not realize it, but you've shown too much of your talents and now I'll want them all the time."

She sort of laughed, "You'll find this funny. A few of my girlfriends were having a discussion after work one day and the topic of mature men came up. Each of us had shared our frustrations with guys our age but none of us had been with a mature man. Guess I'll have to let the group know that they're missing out. I've found my man. Doug, I know this is quick and forward, but I really like what we have. It's certainly friends with benefits I guess you could say, but I'd like for us to grow it into something more."

I pulled her tight. "I would love to grow our relationship into something more as well."

We broke our kiss, and she smiled. "In addition to our relationship, you're clearly growing other things..."

"Both our relationship and my flag, they just need the right environment to grow."

"I will call an attorney tomorrow after I call Kelly and let her know. Unless she fights it, it'll be an easy one."

She looked like she was in tears as I asked her, "Know any Divorce attorneys?"

She grabbed me and kissed me hard. "Actually yes. When you walk me home later, I'll give you her card. I'll also contact her tomorrow and let her know that I've recommended her."

"You know it pains me to hear you say that... walk you home. I'm addicted to you already."

She smiled. "Me too. I am very much addicted to you and your dick." She winked at me and walked to the bedroom.

"Damn it woman... such a fine ass to go with such a perfect personality..." She turned around and smiled and put more sway in her hips.

She looked over her shoulder and said, "Get your ass in here!"

I ran in behind her and pressed my semi hard cock against her ass. "Yes..."

"That's perfect... but we both have to work tomorrow and if we stay together tonight, we'll only get an hour of sleep in fifteen minute intervals between orgasms."

"Okay, count me in."

She started laughing. "Do you meditate?"

I smiled, "I do. I use it to decompress and focus on what I'm grateful for."

"Me too. I've got lots to be grateful for."

"Same. We're still naked, want to meditate together?"

"Too funny, I know exactly why you asked that... uh huh, meditate?"

"I tried..."

"Help me find my clothes. Pretty sure my panties are soaked, so I'll have to walk back home without them. Just think about my sexy little ass in just my shorts, with no panties as I walk home."

"You are cruel... you know damn well, I really like your perfect ass and now you give me that image. So mean."

She smiled and bent over at the waist, "Found my panties and shorts."

I walked up behind her and pushed my hard cock between her ass cheeks.

She stood up and turned around and kissed me and grabbed my cock. "I'll give you a different image..." She turned around, moved her legs apart, bending over and put her hands on the bed.

"God damn..." I walked up behind her and rubbed my cock between her pussy lips as she pushed back.

"Ummm fuck Doug... tell me when you're close" We settled into a pretty quick pace. I knew damn well I'd not last long given both what I was feeling and also what I was seeing.

"Nicole..."

She pulled off of me and spun around and got on her knees and began to suck my cock. She was stroking me with one hand and cupping my balls while looking up at me.

I had my hands on her head, "Fuck..." She took as much of me as she could and put her hands on my ass and pulled me deeper into her mouth as I came.

I never let go of her head, but quickly kneeled down in front of her and kissed her. "Damn it woman that was incredible."

She looked at me and smiled. "I really liked that too. Both parts. Also the fact that you kiss me after you've come in my mouth. That's really fucking hot."

"It is really hot, but only because you're the one I'm kissing." We both stood up and I held her. "Thanks for that... you know you didn't have to. I was happy to just stare at your sexy butt."

She laughed a little, "Yeah, I know. Like I said, I really liked that as well. I can't really explain, but I really like sucking your cock..."

"As much as I like having you do it?"

"Maybe more..."

"Oh my. Well as your friend and addiction support buddy, just ask and it's yours."

She was laughing pretty hard. "Oh I will. Trust me. As my support buddy, if you notice me acting like I'm having withdrawals, just put it in my mouth to make sure I don't have a seizure."

"Oh yeah... I just may do that. I'll try to get you to a private location, but if it's an emergency, it just might be a public insertion."

She had tears in her eyes from laughing. "Maybe..."

We stood there in an embrace for several minutes. "I know you have to leave, and I respect that, and as much as it pains me, I'll walk you home."

We got dressed and she gave me a kiss. "Your bed is destroyed... Do you want me to help you clean up?"

"My preference will always be to have you help me make messes like this. As for the bed. I'll throw everything in the washer. Thanks though."

She giggled. "I'm good for both making messes and cleaning up, in order to make more messes."

We walked out to the living room and she picked up her purse. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be... to go home."

I leaned in and kissed her. "I'm quite surprised I've been as ready as I have been. I think you've given me the right environment to grow, so to speak."

She kissed my neck. "That means the world to me. You're a good man Doug and you taste good too. I'm sure I've already acquired a taste for you."

"I've acquired a taste for you as well sexy and your sex too."

She giggled. "Please walk me home."

I looked at her. "You mean your home, don't you? Because you can consider this your home as well."

She smiled. "Damn it Doug, I'm trying to not cry and you aren't helping."

"Come on, I'll walk you to your home."

As we got to her door, she turned to me and gave me a kiss. "Doug Anderson, I am falling for you bigtime."

I smiled. "Nicole Webb... I am falling for you as well. In fact I may have already fallen for you. We have many more discussions and tastings to do, but I could not imagine anyone else I'd rather do those with."

She turned to go into her apartment. "Hold on. Let's exchange numbers please."

After we exchanged numbers we kissed and I walked home. I can't even describe what my day with Nicole had done to repair many years of self doubt with my wife. I was looking forward to closing that chapter of my life, at least with my wife. Of course the kids were still going to be a part of my life, and I was hopeful they'd accept Nicole.

The next day I woke up to a text from Nicole telling me how much she enjoyed our evening. I replied with "looking forward to tasting you again."

Monday at work was business as usual. Briefing the board, handling some minor hiccups on product roll outs and so on.

I had just gotten home when Kevin called me which sort of surprised me. "Dad, I have a problem and I need some advice."

"Sure buddy, what's up."

"I don't even know how to say this, mom sent me a text and it had pictures of her private parts."

"Private Parts?"

"Dad! You know, her private parts...."

"Her breasts?"

"Yeah, those too"

"Don't get offended, but were they meant for you?"

"Dad! No! So wrong!"

"Gotcha, just trying to figure out who she might have intended them to. Can you do me a favor and screenshot the message from her and send it to me. I'll see if I can figure it out."

"Are you and mom getting a divorce? I've had several conversations with Sam, she's right. You guys haven't been mom and dad, the couple, in a very long time. We still love you guys, regardless."

"Thanks buddy, you know I'll always love both of you as well. We are. I think we thought we were hiding some of that from you guys. Clearly we underestimated you both. I'm sorry for that. I'll let you know what I find out from your mom. Don't delete the message yet, please."

I sent Kelly a quick text. "Please check your phone, Kevin said he received an odd text from you. Give me a call please."

About five minutes later my phone rang. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry Doug. I never meant to send those to Kevin. You have to believe me."

"I believe you. Kelly, we've been married for 30 years. I know you'd never send those types of pictures to Kevin. However I do have to ask, and I also understand that you don't have to answer me. Who were you sending them to?"

I heard her take a deep breath, "Ken, he's an attorney in the office here. We've been seeing each other for a while. I'm sorry Doug."

"I understand. Of course I think we both knew it would end eventually. I'd like a divorce and before you think that I'm going to ask for something crazy, I'm not. I plan on being more than fair. If you want to keep the house, that's fine. We can have it appraised and you can buy out my portion and instead of a clean fifty fifty, I'd like you to have sixty, and I'll take forty percent. You've earned more than I have over the years so that seems fair. Also there are a few things left in the house that I'd like to get that are personal to me, but those are my terms. I'll get an attorney and we can start the process."

"Doug, I'm sorry. I've treated you badly over the years and that wasn't fair to you. Fifty, fifty. I owe you at least that."

"Thank you Kelly, I appreciate all of the good years and of course Sam and Kevin. We have great kids. I'll talk to you later."

I sat back on the couch and had fallen asleep when I was startled by the doorbell. I went to open it and was surprised to see Sam, Kevin and Nicole.

"Come on in, everyone. Introductions are in order."

After everyone had been introduced I asked to speak to Kevin on the patio.

"I talked to your mom. She meant those pictures for her coworker. We are getting a divorce, but I had decided over the weekend to start the process."

"You're good, dad. I figured it was something like that. Tell me about Nicole."

"In time buddy. We're just starting to get to know each other." We were interrupted by Sam and Nicole laughing loudly. Both were bright red.

Kevin and I walked in. "So would you ladies care to share the joke?"

Sam was still laughing and bright red, "Nope."

"Nicole?"

"I'm with Sam, I plead the fifth."

They would look at each other and laugh even harder.

"Kevin, don't question it, just be happy that they're happy. I'm guessing they're having a bit of fun at my expense."

It was contagious and pretty soon we were all laughing. Only Sam and Nicole knew what we were laughing about.

After everyone calmed down. We had started to talk about getting dinner. Nicole asked if we wanted pizza and after we agreed, she ordered it. "Sorry guys, I forgot to change the address, it's getting delivered to my apartment, do you want to come over and have dinner, or just bring them over here?"

Sam looked at me, then to Nicole and started to laugh. "I've seen dad's apartment and would love to see yours if it's okay with you? Plus, it'd be nice to see actual decorations on the walls. Yeah, I'm talking to you dad..."

I started laughing again, "okay, okay, I'll work on the decorations. I'm all for heading over to Nicole's, how about you Kevin?"

"Yep, works for me. Plus you guys said the magic words, 'free pizza'."

"Nicole, if you don't mind, could I keep Sam and Kevin back for just a few minutes? Then we'll head over."

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and turned to the kids and told them she'd see them soon.

After she closed the door, both Sam and Kevin ran up and gave me a hug. "I'm sorry your mom and I weren't honest with you guys. We will be getting a divorce, but I'll not let that impact our relationship, you know I love both of you guys with all of my heart and your mom loves you guys as well. You've both met Nicole and I think we're starting a relationship and while I don't expect you guys to treat her as your new mom, I do hope you guys accept her."

Sam was sort of crying and started to laugh. "I'm happy for you dad, Nicole seems like a really nice person and she looks even better than I remember. Plus it seems I'll not be getting a sibling, so thanks for that."

Kevin just looked at us, with a goofy grin. Sam spoke up, "I'll tell you later."

He started to smile, "Is that what you guys were laughing so hard about?"

"Maybe..." She leaned over and whispered something in his ear that made him change colors.

"Damn dad... congrats!"

"Oh hell, now I need to know what you guys were talking about. Come on, let's head over to Nicole's."

We walked over to Nicole's and I pointed to her patio as it looked like she was setting a table for us. She saw us and had a huge smile and waved to us.

We ate pizza on the patio and the conversations were fun and all over the place. Surprisingly, Kevin was engaged not only with Nicole, but also with Sam and I as well. He was certainly acting differently than he had in quite a few years.

It sort of hit me that maybe he had been reflecting some of the stress that my wife and I were experiencing. That hit me hard. I felt bad that I'd not been honest with them while Kelly and I were having struggles in our marriage.

After dinner we talked for a while more, before long, Sam and Kevin said they needed to leave. Nicole and I walked them out to the parking lot and while Kevin and I were saying goodbye, I noticed Sam and Nicole were quietly talking and giggling. Then I noticed them making odd gestures with their hands and they'd giggle more. I started to laugh.

"Too funny, you two, I now know what you're doing... "

Sam turned bright red and Nicole was trying to keep a straight face. Sam and Nicole hugged and then Kevin came over and hugged Nicole and quietly said something to her and it looked like she was tearing up. Nicole came over and put her arm around me as we waved as they drove off.

"First, I saw you respond when Kevin said something to you, care to share?"

She hugged me tightly. "He said we made a great couple and that he hopes we spend more time together." She cleared her throat, "Sam and I were discussing how you passed your test and seem back to your regular self."

"Uh huh, I saw the hand gestures..."

Nicole started laughing. "Care to walk me home... I called Emily and told her that she might be receiving a call from you. I forgot to give you her card last night, I'll grab it for you when we get back to my place. You can stay a while if you want. Pretty sure I'm having withdrawals."

I reached down and squeezed her butt. "Me too."

We got back to her apartment and just stood in a tight embrace. Feeling her body next to mine was beyond words. She looked up at me and smiled. I put my forehead on hers. "I've completely fallen for you. Completely."

She kissed me. "And I for you..."

"Doug, if I may ask, what did you speak to Kevin about?"

"His mom. She sent him a text with some nudes. She told me that she meant them for her coworker that she's been having a relationship with. I told her that that didn't really change my mind, but that I wanted a divorce before I found out."

"What? How did she accidentally send those sorts of pics to her son?"

"The intended recipient's name is Ken, I'm guessing that it was a typo. Either way I have a screenshot of the text and asked Kevin to not delete it yet. She did admit that she and Ken had been seeing each other for a while"

"Smart, just in case. How did she take the news?"

"Pretty well, I think she's more than accepted things as being over. I told her that I didn't want anything crazy. I even suggested that she get sixty percent, she agreed to fifty fifty citing the way she'd treated me. I told her that if she wants to keep the house, we could have it appraised and she could buy out my portion."

"How much do you guys owe on it?"

"Nothing, we weren't getting any tax benefits, so we paid it off and invested the amount that would have made up the house payment."

"Next question, how much is the house worth?"

"No idea honestly. The websites show it being worth over a million, but I'm not sure if it would legitimately appraise for that or not."

"Interesting. My attorney mind is playing through all sorts of scenarios, but I'll keep those to myself. Emily will help you out. She's a very smart person and this is her specialty."

"Tell you what, we can discuss that stuff later. I'd like to discuss something more important right now." I pulled her close and held her. "I really loved the way that Sam and Kevin got along with you tonight. I'm happy that they like you."

She looked up at me. "Me too... I was so worried about that aspect. Kevin was really engaged, and of course Sam and I hit it off pretty well."

"Yeah you guys did... care to share what the gestures were about?"

She turned bright red. "Maybe not right now... but I sort of broke the ice with Sam when you were talking to Kevin. I told her that she'd not be getting any siblings any time soon, but not for a lack of trying."

I started to laugh. "I'll leave the details as your secret with her."

"She loves you and was worried about you. I assured her that you were back to your normal self."

I squeezed her tightly. "As long as you're happy with me being back to what you want normal to be, I'm good."

"Oh yeah, I'm more than happy with you... Just so you know, it's more than just the fun we had at your place yesterday. It's also how you acted when we met at the mixer and then when you came over for brunch. I wasn't really expecting you to be such a nice guy."

"Careful, I can be super clingy... especially when I'm falling for a beautiful woman."

She giggled, "Do I know her?"

"Oh yeah, pretty sure you witnessed her slamming certain parts of her anatomy into my face..."

She started laughing, "Uh huh, I vaguely recall something like that. Pretty sure you enjoyed that at least as much as the lady did..."

"So very true, possibly more." I kissed her deeply. "You know, that you make it easy to want to please you..."

"You too. Doug, where do you think we headed?"

"That has many, many answers. All good as far as I'm concerned. When I saw you earlier talking with Kevin and Sam, I felt a tightness in my chest. I know that feeling. I really enjoy spending time with you, getting to know you, making you laugh, making you scream... Nicole, I know this seems quick, but what I am saying is that I'm falling in love with you and you make it easy to love you. I wasn't looking for it and that is what makes this feel perfect to me."

She had tears in her eyes. "I'm falling in love with you too... I'm nervous, but in a fun, exciting sort of way. Yeah, I know this feeling too and couldn't imagine a better person to feel it with."

"I know it's Monday and we both have to work tomorrow, and we've only known each other for a few days, but I'd like to invite you for a sleepover and before you answer, the only expectation would be to spend the night with you talking. I love getting to know you."

"Just talking... I'm pretty sure you want to do more than that and I may as well.."

"The invite is for talking, of course if other things arose, I'd be open to addressing them if you wanted."

She started to giggle. "Uh huh, 'arose', so far you're the only one that's done that so far."

"Perhaps, but you did have two flags flying yesterday, plus what you were slamming into my face was the perfect size as well... just saying, if it were to arise, I'd be more than happy to help you with it."

"Speaking of perfect sizes, everything you shared with me yesterday touched all the right spots, so it's the perfect size for me."

We stood in her living room kissing and just holding each other. I gently nibbled her neck. "Did I mention that I'm on a three day roll of having the best day of my life? Pretty sure tomorrow will be the best day as well."

"So no bad days?"

"As long as I have you in my arms, never."

"It's your turn sexy, where do you think we headed?"

"In the short term, for a sleepover at your place. I share your feelings... I love every minute I spend with you. I have this feeling in my gut like there's no obstacle we couldn't conquer together. For right now, I'm going to go pack an overnight bag and bring it with me."

"I love all of that! Bring your work clothes... no need to cut our morning short."

She started to laugh. "Just so you know, I had lunch with my girlfriends today... Do you know the very first thing they asked when they saw me?" I shook my head, while smiling. "Literally the first thing they asked was if I got laid. I'm certain I had a big goofy grin and that devolved into spilling the tea. They now know I've met a mature guy. They think you're sixty or something."

I started laughing. "Damn, sixty. Wow. I'm not sure how I feel about that... I'll be fifty next month, but still sixty?! What did you tell them?"

Nicole was barely able to stand from laughing. "I told them that you were very handsome, had some very sexy salt and pepper stubble and that you were quite well endowed, and uncut. I also mentioned that you were an exceptionally skilled lover. So maybe they thought all of those things made you at least sixty."

"I can't wait to meet them, I may even dye my hair fully gray and get a walker... I'll even let them know that we met at my nursing home while you were volunteering your time to push me around in my wheelchair. I'll tell them about my fountain of youth that you discovered."

Nicole could barely breathe and just sat down on the floor, so I sat down in front of her. She was bright red. She kept trying to catch her breath. "Damn it Doug, you are killing me. Stop it!"

I leaned over and kissed her and gently helped her lay down on the floor and crawled up on top of her. I kissed her again and gently bit her lower lip. "Good thing I love you... I guess I can tolerate you girlfriends... but if they make me feel bad about myself, I'll need your help to boost my self esteem."

She put her legs around my back, "I'm sure I can help boost your, ahem, self esteem. At least I think that's what I feel poking me."

I stood and helped her up. "Doug, do you want to spend the night here?"

I kissed her again. "I'd love to, but I'll need to grab a few things from my place."

"Trust me, I have everything you need right here..."

"I love the way that sounds. My offer stands though, no expectations, I'd love to spend the night talking until we fall asleep in each other's arms."

She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a passionate kiss.

We took a shower and spent the night together and mostly talked, before falling asleep naked next to each other without having sex. I woke up spooning Nicole. I was rock hard when her alarm went off startling both of us awake. I rolled over on my back, stretching and she rolled over and she looked at me.

"Doug, I'm pretty sure I felt that pressing against me most of the night. I'm happy we both managed to have some self restraint. Care to take a shower with me?"

"Last night was perfect... you're perfect and yes, I'd love to take a shower with you."

We stood up and as I stretched again, she walked over and put her arms around me and pulled me tightly to her. My cock was pressing on her belly. "Doug, you need to trust me. I'll let you make this up to me later, but right now, I really want you to lay down on the bed for a few minutes."

I smiled and laid down. She never took her eyes off of my cock. "You know what's coming, right?"

"I'm guessing one of us... "

She started to laugh and moved between my legs. "I hope you enjoy this as much as I do..." She pulled the foreskin back and slid her mouth over my cock. We both moaned at the same time. I hated not being able to touch her, but was really enjoying what she was doing for me.

She was stroking my cock and it was slick with her saliva, which added another layer of sensation.

She pulled off of me and just smiled. "I love sucking this thing... fuck Doug, so damn tasty!"

I was experiencing some sensory overload, of course the feeling of what she was doing for me, but also seeing this sexy woman with my cock in her mouth was almost too much to comprehend.

I had begun to moan rather loudly and would grunt when she would take me in her mouth. "Nicole, I'm not going to last much longer... fuck this feels incredible."

She moaned and again the feeling of the vibrations in her throat was beyond description. I moved her hair out of the way to watch what she was doing. I started to almost pant, I was right on the cusp of cumming and as badly as I wanted this to continue, I couldn't hold back. I was almost screaming through my teeth as I came. She slowed down and very methodically squeezed out the last she could. I was damn near convulsing from the sensation.

She smiled, then crawled on top of me and kissed me. I could tell that she hadn't swallowed everything and felt she was sharing some with me. We hungrily kissed each other before she sat up on me and looked at me and smiled with her eyes closed.

"I definitely owe you at least one for that... Pretty sure I could get used to that." I reached up and gently squeezed her breasts.

She moaned loudly. "Damn it Doug, I want to stay in bed with you and I hate the idea of having to go to work."

"You know I can feel how hot and wet you are... you're not allowed to touch yourself. You have to save that for me. I plan on sucking you dry later. Just imagine, I'll be slowly kissing every inch of your sexy body."

She rolled off of me and I climbed on her back and whispered in her ear, "Every inch of your sexy body will have my lips on it..." I leaned down and lightly drug my lips over her neck. I lightly drug my tongue down her spine until I got to her lower back. I kissed each of her perfect ass cheeks and then gently pulled them apart and licked from her soaking wet sex up over her cute little ass to her lower back.

She made this deep guttural moan and shivered. I saw what looked like a wave of goosebumps appear on her back. "Every single inch..."

I slid my hands under her and cupped her breasts as my cock was resting between her ass cheeks. She was moving her hips, against my cock. I whispered in her ear, "As badly as I want to make you cum... you have to wait... You have my promise that you'll be screaming later."

"Fuck... Doug..."

I leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth. "I love you... and plan on a long evening of pleasing you tonight." I crawled off of her and stood up and stared at her sexy body. "Did I mention that you are the picture of absolute perfection... but that's only a small part of why I love you."

She rolled over and sat up. I extended my hand and embraced her as she stood up. I moved her hair and kissed her neck.

"You're incredibly cruel Doug... I know what you're doing and the temptation is killing me. I'm literally dripping right now... Damn it. I'm not going to be able to concentrate today."

We shared a very passionate kiss. "The wait will be worth it... but just so you understand, I will be taking my time tonight. Teasing, getting you close, just to tease a bit more before you get to cum... I'm hoping you enjoy it as much as I will."

She kissed me and giggled. "I am so worked up right now that I'll cum so hard that you'll need a snorkel."

I lightly bit her lower lip. "Challenge accepted. Come on, let's take a shower..."

As we got cleaned up, I would gently kiss her neck or her shoulder. I loved teasing her.

We had dried off and I had gotten dressed, just enough to head back over to my place and get ready for work.

We kissed one last time, "Remember, no touching yourself... I'll take care of you. I love you, Nicole."

She smiled. "I'll be lucky to remember my name today... you've got me wound up pretty tight. Pretty sure I'll explode later when that tension gets released. I'll see you later sexy. I love you too."

I was completely distracted at work. My mind kept replaying images of Nicole laying naked in bed. I was hoping she was at least as distracted as I was.

I had been sending her very short texts during the day, most were along the lines of "kissing..." or "licking...", or "Sucking..." I sent her a text after lunch. "Lunch was okay, but wasn't what I was hoping to eat... Love you."

She replied with several emojis. One was a fountain emoji and the other was a devil followed by a large red heart.

I took a few minutes in the afternoon to contact Emily to get an appointment to start the process. I got a hold of her front desk when I called. They asked who I wanted to leave a message for and I provided Emily's name and the fact that she'd been recommended to me.

About half an hour later I got a call from Emily. She was very friendly and professional. She had given me a list of documents that I needed to provide to her along with providing a deposit.

"Doug, first thanks for choosing me. Based on what you've shared, I think this should go really smoothly. Also, thanks for taking care of Nicole. I've never seen her like this. She's head over heels in love with you."

"I owe her more than I possibly can express. I love her deeply. I'll stop by your office and give the deposit later. Thank you so much for helping."

"I love to hear that and I'm happy for you guys. I'll get started on some of this stuff and once I get the documents from you, I'll get back in touch and set up an in-person detailed meeting. I'm looking forward to meeting you."

A few minutes after we hung up, I got a text from Nicole. "Emily thinks you are a great guy, just from your short call... I reminded her that you're mine!"

I replied with a grinning emoji. "You are my one and only... They'll have to pry me off of you, or maybe scrape me off of you, either way. I love you and you only! I have to stop by Emily's and leave the retainer fee. I'll be home around 5pm, your place or mine?"

"My place, 6pm. I'll send you the code to my door... ring the doorbell once, I'll be waiting."

My mind was racing. I left the office early and went over to Emily's office and was paying my retainer fee when Emily came out and introduced herself. I smiled and shook her hand. I decided to have a bit of fun. "Hope I don't look like I'm sixty."

That got a laugh out of Emily as I watched her change colors. "I think we all assumed the worst. You appear to be just as handsome as Nicole said you were. I'm happy for you both. I've literally never seen her so happy."

"I can assure you, that if you'd met me a week ago, you would have met a much different version of me. She's changed my life, all for the better."

We said our goodbyes and I was laughing to myself as I headed back to my apartment.

I took my time and got cleaned up and put on some nice slacks and a nice shirt, even though I knew I'd be out of them somewhat soon. Still, I wanted to look good.

I got over to her apartment a few minutes before 6pm and waved to Nichelle as she was walking by. She smiled and winked at me.

I rang the doorbell once, and entered the code for her door. As I got in, my eyes had to adjust. She had the lights off with the blinds closed, but there were candles lit in the living room and small tea candles on the floor leading to her bedroom. I opened the door to her room and she was naked, face down on her bed and had a silk blindfold on. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. She was perfect. Her arms were out to her side, but her legs were together, with her head turned to the side, facing the door.

I moved next to her and lightly drug my lips across hers as I kissed her ear. "Tonight, no holding back. I want you to cum for me. I'm going to take my time and ensure that you are satisfied, okay?"

She almost whimpered, "Uh huh..."

I kissed her neck and between her shoulder blades. Taking my time to slowly and softly kiss as much of her as I could. I also kept talking to her to make sure she understood how much I was enjoying myself, but to also make sure that she was comfortable with things.

I had reached her lower back and I was tracing between her sexy ass cheeks with my tongue, and would occasionally push it between them to her sexy ass. I would gently bite each of her cheeks and use my mouth to pull them apart. The scent of her arousal was intoxicating.

I could feel her body trembling from my touch as I kissed down the back of her legs, stopping to gently suck the tender skin on the back of her knees. I kissed her ankles and then back up to her sexy ass. I used my hands to pull her ass cheeks apart and began to lick and suck every single inch of her sexy ass. I'd barely touch her soaking wet sex, before moving back up and pushing my tongue in her ass. She had begun to moan loudly as I was eating her ass. I felt her contractions on my tongue as she came. I gently bit her ass cheek and placed my knees on either side of her legs and leaned down and kissed her neck.

"Having fun sexy?"

"Ummm... fuck. You're killing me."

I smiled to myself thinking that I was achieving my mission. I leaned down and kissed the side of her breast and her ribs and that made her move. I was guessing that she was probably ticklish. I moved to the other side and kissed the side of her breast.

I slid down and pulled her ass cheeks apart again and licked from her soaking wet pussy, up over her perfect ass. She moaned very loudly as tremors rolled through her body. Her vocal feedback along with what I was feeling in her body, kept pushing me.

I crawled up on her back. I was grinding on her even though I was still clothed. I kissed the back of her neck and whispered, "I love you..."

"I love you too... and I also love what you're doing to me."

I crawled down to her feet and with my hands on her legs motioned for her to roll over onto her back. She spread her legs which made me smile. I pushed her legs together and put my knees on either side of them as I crawled back on top of her and kissed her neck. "Did I mention how perfect you are? I love how you respond to my touch, I'm paying attention to your every sound and movement."

I smiled as a shiver went through her body.

I kissed along her jawline before lightly sliding my lips over hers, stopping to trace the outline of them with my tongue. I was letting my shirt slide over her nipples. I wanted her to feel the difference in texture. I interlaced our fingers together and pushed her arms straight out as I kissed her collar bone moving to kiss down her shoulder, then down her arm, stopping nibble and suck on her fingers, before moving to her other arm.

I got back to her chest and moved up to kiss her throat and would firmly suck on it and gently pull on her skin using my lips. Not enough to leave a hickey, but enough to convey the lust I was feeling.

I slowly kissed down between her breasts, before moving slightly lower and gently kissing her ribs to the bottom of her breasts. As I licked up to her nipple studs, I'd gently pull on them with my teeth and that caused a visceral reaction in her. It felt almost like a convulsion and she screamed through her clenched teeth. In my mind, it seemed like the same reaction when she had squirted previously. Regardless, I knew she had a fairly strong orgasm and that made me feel good.

I leaned up and kissed her lightly on her lips. "That was very hot... Guess we'll have to build up some more"

"I'm not sure how much more I can take..."

"Just a bit more..."

I slowly moved my way down her belly, taking my time to give every inch of her the attention she deserved. As I got down to her hips, I took my time and sucked on them. She was wet all over and I was beginning to feel it soak through my trousers... she had squirted again. One thing I noticed was that she had shaved. To me, I preferred her natural state, but as long as she was comfortable, so was I.

I kept kissing down her legs to her feet and licked between each of her toes, before moving to her other foot and kissing my way back up. I crawled off the bed and stood up and slowly undressed, trying to be very quiet, so that she'd not know exactly what was happening. Of course it'd be pretty obvious once we touched, but I was hoping to achieve some level of suspense.

I crawled back up top of her, with my knees on the outside of her legs and allowed her to feel my cock sliding up between her legs as I kissed her. She had started to moan again. "I hope you're loving this as much as I am... still more work to do."

She giggled. "I'll get you back for this..."

I lightly bit her chin before kissing back down her chest and taking my time to kiss and lick each of her sexy breasts. "Ummm, damn woman, you are perfect..."

I got down to her hips and I would lightly drag my lips across her pubic bone. I stopped to lightly suck on the soft folds above her clit. Taking my time to make sure that I didn't directly touch it. My goal was full arousal. I still had my knees on the outside of her legs and could feel her wanting to open them for me.

I moved off of her legs and when she spread them I lifted one and kissed her calf slowly moving up to her thigh. I loved the feeling of her trembling in my hands. I kissed the inside of her hip before lightly dragging my tongue over her perfect pink labia, before just brushing against her clit with my lips. She had another convulsive reaction to that. I pushed her legs apart and began to suck on her sexy labia, one at a time. She was so wet and slippery. I could feel the heat on my face. I was in heaven. I moved up to lightly circle my tongue around her clit while I slowly slid in one finger.

She had started to moan loudly as I added a second finger and placed my mouth over her clit. For the first time, I felt that she couldn't restrain herself and reached down and grabbed me by the hair. I added a third finger and began to rub the roof of her sex with my fingers. She screamed and began to buck her hips and squirted several times, I swear I'll never tire of feeling her squeeze my fingers. I never moved my mouth, but would slowly lick above her clit, paying close attention to not touch it directly.

"Sensitive?"

"A little, be gentle please..."

I began to slide my fingers in and out of her again and would lick her above her clit... I could feel it under the soft hood and I would suck that area as well. Her hips began to move in a jerky, uncontrolled way and she screamed again, squirting, but not as much, but this time she pulled my face up to kiss me and closed her legs.

"Fuck Doug... I can't take any more... my god..."

I kissed her and lifted her blindfold. "There's my beautiful woman... Love you. "

She smiled and kissed me. "Get up please."

I moved off of her and she rolled over on her stomach, and turned her head to the side and smiled. "Back on top?"

I smiled and climbed on her back. She spread her legs slightly and I moved up and pushed my cock between her thighs and felt her slick sex open to accept me. We both moaned loudly as I sank in. I had my knees on either side of her ass and she was arching her back to meet me. I started to pump into her. I was grunting with each stroke, she felt so perfectly wet and tight. I sat up and would push forward as hard as I could while squeezing her ass cheeks.

"Fuck, Nicole, I'm getting close... Fuck.." I kept stroking and she was making noises that almost sounded like growling that was getting louder. I was hoping I could last long enough to see where those noises led when I saw that she put her hand under her and almost screamed immediately and squirted. That pushed me over the edge and I pushed into her with all of my weight as I came. I was seeing spots in front of my eyes and felt dizzy. I had never cum so hard in my life. I couldn't hear anything but my heartbeat in my ears.

I laid on her back and kissed her cheek, while trying to get my breath. "Holy hell..." I shuddered as I pulled out and laid next to her.

She put her arm over my chest and kissed me. "God damn Doug, can it get better than this?"

I started to laugh, "One way to find out..."

She laughed.. "I'll need to take time off work from today... not sure when I'll be ready for that test."

I kissed her deeply. "You know, I still want to make love to you... but really owe you for this morning."

"That debt is over paid. Damn it, I may be forever in debt to you for tonight..."

I put my arms around her. "We can arrange a payment plan..."

She started to laugh. "Uh huh, no telling what I'd have to do..."

"Nothing you've not already done, just saying."

She looked over at her night stand, "It's almost nine, you tortured me for almost three hours."

"You make it sound so mean... tortured? Teased maybe, but not tortured."

She giggled, "Okay, bad choice of words, but still it was torture for me. It took every bit of self restraint from fucking you senseless. Each time you touched me I was hoping you'd make me cum, only to have to have you move to a different part of my body. I tried to not cum, but you pulled on my studs with your teeth and I lost it. I've never done that, I am amazed at your ability to make me cum... Damn."

"Worth the restraint?" I winked at her.

"Words cannot describe what each of my orgasms were like. You got to hear and see them... damn it Doug. I've soaked through my sheets, several times over. It might be the wrong time, but I love you and plan on keeping you... possibly locked right here in my bedroom."

"You mean I get to be your personal sex slave? Where do I sign up?"

She started laughing. "You think I'm teasing... I have handcuffs, just so you know."

"Such a sexy, naughty woman... I'm certain you've got some other accessories in here as well. You need me to use them on you."

"Fuck no... you are literally all I need."

She sort of laid on my chest and kissed me. "I love you, you crazy talented man."

I smiled, "I love you too, you incredibly sexy woman. I am certain that I could get used to evenings like this... having you in my arms makes my world seem like it's in alignment."

We fell asleep like that and I woke up around midnight with my cock sort of stuck to her leg with our combined mixture. I was trying to move very slowly to make sure I didn't wake her, but she woke up regardless.

"Trying to sneak off?"

I started laughing, "Pretty sure my legs are still like rubber from earlier, so no running in my future."

"Yeah, as badly as I wanted to clean up earlier, I was too spent."

I smiled, "care to take a shower, it's only midnight."

She crawled out of bed and stood up and staggered around. "Don't say anything, you caused this."

I laughed, "Nope, I'm in the same boat." I stood and was holding on to the wall.

She came over and put her arms around me and pushed me against the wall and kissed me.

"Be sure to remind your friends that I'm not sixty..."

She was laughing like crazy. "There's no way they'd believe what I've experienced today..."

"So now that we've mastered friends with benefits..."

She got a crazy look in her eyes and ran off to the bathroom. I heard her peeing and laughing. "Damn it Doug, I almost pissed myself."

"Just one of my many talents..."

"Get the water running, I'll join you in a minute."

I went over to shower and turned the light on and while my eyes were adjusting I noticed the rose petals on the floor and the candles on the counter. I lit the candles and started the shower and the tub. "Hey sexy, how about a shower and then a soak in the tub? I've got the candles lit already... Nice touch."

I heard her giggle as she walked in the shower to join me.

We both just stood in the warm shower holding each other. "I know we've destroyed your bed, so my offer is on the table... sleepover? My place?"

She smiled and kissed me. " You've worn me out, so I'm not sure I want to sit in the tub tonight. As far as your place, that sounds good to me. I'll pack some things once we finish and we can head over. After I put my bedding in the washer, especially after the mess you caused."

"I just helped... "

"Yeah you did... Doug, I've never experienced anything quite like that before, I'm pretty sure I've dreamed about something like that, but damn."

"That was a first for me as well... I've never gotten to do that, so you've clearly set the bar for what I think that should be like, but in all honesty, as long as it's you I'm worshipping, I'm good with however you let me."

"Really, you've never done that before...?"

"Nope, I think you bring out the best in me." I winked at her and she giggled.

"Uh huh, sure. You are quite the devious man... For the record, I'm about dehydrated from earlier. Let's get dried off and head over to your place."

The next several months flew by. My divorce went quick, my ex-wife and I sold the house and the proceeds were split down the middle. The house was only on the market for a day before we accepted an offer at asking price. I later learned that the person that bought it was Kelly's boyfriend. Good for me, in that I got my share of the house and good for Kelly in that she didn't have to move. That chapter in my life was fully closed.

As part of my birthday gift, albeit a bit late, Nicole had invited me to be her plus one to a formal black tie event for the city's legal association. I had on a nice, new suit and clearly looked the part and per her request had trimmed but not shaved. She was wearing a beautiful platinum colored gown.

There was an award ceremony for some of the association members followed by some news about each of the Firms and Corporations in town. Of note, Kelly was announced as new partner in her firm and more importantly, Nicole was announced as the Deputy Chief Counsel for her corporation.

I knew it was inevitable that I'd cross paths with Kelly at this event, but I almost had the feeling that Nicole was almost sort of flaunting me. She went out of her way to introduce me to everyone that she met and depending on how well she knew the person, my introduction ranged from 'my friend, Doug Anderson', to 'my man, Doug Anderson'". Either way, with her on my arm, I was more than happy to meet and greet everyone she introduced me to.

We were chatting with her boss and their CEO when Kelly and the other partners of her firm came up and were introducing Kelly to them. I stood next to Nicole and smiled and made pleasantries with some of them as they talked. I noticed Kelly was checking Nicole out and that made me chuckle to myself. I also noticed that Nicole never let go of my arm, she was truly claiming her property. I didn't think I held any bad feelings for my ex-wife, but seeing that exchange reminded me that I may still harbor some ill sentiment towards how she'd treated me.

I reminded myself of the flip side of that in that I was orders of magnitude happier now that I had been in years and had a self confidence that I had forgotten and Kelly was responsible for causing both issues.

I snapped out of my thoughts when Nicole introduced me to the partners in Kelly's firm. I know the two original partners recognized me from the many events I'd attended with Kelly over the years, but obviously I had no idea if she'd shared that we'd divorced and frankly didn't care.

After that conversation ended, Nicole and I walked over to the bar. I smiled at her, "Our usual?"

She giggled, "What's the usual?"

"I'm going to see if they have come Cock and Bull."

She started to laugh out loud. "Yes, the usual please."

To my surprise, they did have that exact brand. I knew the label had instructions for making a Moscow Mule, so figured that was the reason. We had walked over to the windows and were looking out on the city when she turned to me and kissed me. "Do you think I was obvious?"

I winked at her. "Not sure what you're talking about... but if it was the fact that we stayed arm in arm, when Kelly was talking with your group, I noticed and had no problem with it."

She kissed me again. "Good. You're mine, just as much as I'm yours."

"Couldn't agree more, plus, I'm the luckiest guy in the room tonight."

"Really, what makes you say that?"

"I have the most beautiful woman, in the most gorgeous gown, but more importantly, she loves me and I love her."

She squeezed my hand. "You are so going to get it later..."

"Uh, huh.. We'll see who gets what later." She leaned in and kissed me, just as we were interrupted.

"Excuse me, hi Nicole, we were introduced earlier but I just wanted to say that it was a pleasure meeting you tonight and let you know that you've hit a homerun with Doug. He's a good man. I truly hope for a bright future for you guys. I agree with Sam and Kevin, you make a great couple. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make my rounds and gracefully exit. It was nice seeing you Doug."

Nicole was polite and thanked her and wished her well, but never let go of my arm.

I kissed Nicole's ear, "What does the victor want for her prize tonight?"

"Just tonight? What if I expected a prize of a longer duration, time wise..."

"Ma'am, you need to define your terms... although I'm certain I'd agree regardless."

She looked at me and I could see the nervousness in her eyes. "My terms are that you'll be my prize indefinitely."

"I can arrange that... I will literally glue myself to you."

She was laughing. "I'm being serious, and you're making jokes... I will get you for that."

"In all seriousness, you are my forever partner and promise to be yours... for better or for worse..."

She had tears in her eyes. "I know what you did there... In sickness and in health?"

"Till death do us part. I love only you."

She put her arms around my neck as we kissed. "You know sexy, we sort of talked around the subject, but I felt we both understood the commitment we just made. We can make the announcement when you're ready to. Did I mention that I am on a record streak of having the best day of my life, every single day since we met?"

Nicole laughed. "Me too. We may have to have a competition later to see who can prove their best day is better than the others."

"I'm in... What if my best day to make sure you had your best day? Draw?"

"Hum, interesting proposal. I'll need to test that over several sets of linens." She smiled at me and then looked down at my pants. "Sir, your flag is flying."

"Only for you."