The Cougar and the Cowboy

She heard the doorbell and knew it was Collier, ready to pick her up for the evening. She wasn’t about to let Will ruin this.

“Sorry Will, but I have to go. My date is at the door.”

She smiled as she said it, knowing this wasn’t a date, but she couldn’t refrain from telling him that.

“Now that you have the land line number, you can call tomorrow morning. Bye.”

As soon as she hung up, she unplugged the phone from the wall jack.

“Wait, Camille…damn!” The line was dead and he still didn’t have the combination to the safe. He had no choice but to wait until tomorrow. He poured himself a glass of Scotch and turned on the television. What difference did one more day make?

‘I know you too well, Camille. You’re going to unplug that phone from the wall jack and I’ll be back to square one.’

He absently swirled the liquor in the glass and suddenly had an inspiration. Cell phones had area codes from anywhere but landlines still had area codes from cities. He grabbed his phone and googled the area code he had previously dialed. Montana…what? Only one area code for the entire state? Perfect…just perfect. He decided to check the prefix of the number. Surely the towns had different prefixes. This time he was successful. The prefix was for a town called Bozeman. If she didn’t answer tomorrow, he would fly there. It wasn’t a tiny town, but somehow he would find her.

His mind replayed their short conversation. ‘Did she say she had a date? That was fast. She didn’t date anyone when she lived here.’

***

Camille answered the door with a smile on her face hoping she didn’t look as pissed off as she felt inside.

“Hi Collier. I’m ready. Do I look okay for where you’re taking me?”

He nodded his head slightly and gave a low whistle, “You look fantastic. Wow is about the only word I can come up with at the moment…Emily.”

She was impressed with him, also. She’d never seen him when he wasn’t wearing work clothes. He looked good then too but tonight, he was stunning…if you could use that word to describe a man. The tight jeans, cowboy boots, hat and chambray shirt were a plus although she had to admit she liked the ‘no shirt’ look, too.

“You remembered my name. I’m so impressed.”

“Well, I’m here to impress, ma’am. Seriously, I remembered to call you Emily right now, but that might not last all night so if you see me faltering with your name, just jump in and rescue me, okay? I’ve never had a date with a woman who had two names.”

‘Did he just call this a date? That’s okay with me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out with someone other than friends from work. I could get used to this…maybe I’ll be a real-life cougar.’

Collier couldn’t help but notice the smile that slowly spread across her face. “Was it something I said or is my shirt on backwards or are my jeans unzipped?”

She shook her head. “None of those things. You look all put together to me, Cowboy. Let’s go find this bar you told me about.”

“This is a night of ‘firsts’ for me,” Camille commented as they left her drive.

“How so?”

“Well, I’ve never worn a pair of cowboy boots, I’ve never had a pair of jeans this tight, I’ve never gone out to eat with someone I just met and I’ve never ridden in a pick-up truck.”

Collier glanced across at her and blurted, “You’re kidding, right? I mean, you haven’t been living much, huh? Do you classify yourself as a workaholic or just anti-social?”

She pursed her lips and frowned. “Let me think about that. Maybe both. I do work an inordinate amount of hours, I suppose, but the anti-social part…hmmm…maybe. Yeah, maybe I am. My coworkers are all younger than me and with the exception of a few of them, we don’t have the same taste in food, music or conversation. We don’t share the same life experiences.”

“They can’t be that much younger than you or they’d all be in college.”

“You know how to flatter a woman, that’s for sure. I appreciate the compliment, Collier but I’m a bit older than post-college.” She hesitated and then decided what difference did it make? Might as well be truthful about something. “I’m 56. Now you know and if you want to forget our evening, I’ll understand.”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Camille.”

She didn’t have a response so she went back to their previous conversation. “I’m sure I am missing out on a lot. It’s easier after a day at work, to go home, kick my shoes off, have a glass of wine and maybe watch a little bit of television with Will, although we don’t usually like the same shows either.”

Collier frowned a little. “Who’s Will? I don’t mean to pry but I’ve always made it a point to not go out with married women and I don’t aim to start now.”

“Oh no, I’m not married. Will is my housemate. We share a townhouse and the expenses. Well, we did share expenses until he lost his job. Now I’m supporting him, I guess.”