Nervous

I decided to help him out with an appropriate word that wouldn’t sound too demeaning. “I’m shyer.”

“Yes, that’s one way of putting it. I knew the things she was saying and the way she was acting just wasn’t you.”

I changed the topic. “So what’s next or is our date over?”

“No, our date is not over. In fact, we’re headed out.”

“We are? Do I need to go change?” I asked, looking down at the pair of jeans and simple sweater I had on with a pair of penny loafers. “All I need is about fifteen minutes.”

“No, you look great and there’s no need to get dressed.” He stood up and twirled around. “Check me out. It’s not like I have on a tuxedo or anything.”

Mason had on a pair of khakis and a button-down alabaster shirt. He was sexy as hell, too.

As we left our building and walked to his car, I began to wonder if things would lead to something sexual that night and if I were even ready for it. In my mind, I had never experienced sex, even though my body had obviously engaged in it countless times. Would I be able to “hang” as some people called it? Would I even halfway know what I was doing in order to please him? I was scared to death.

We ended up at a large office building downtown and I was wondering what in the world we were doing. “Mason, what is this place?” I asked as we pulled into a spot in the empty parking garage.

“Don’t worry. This is where I work.”

“You’re taking me to your job?” I asked incredulously. “At this time of night?”

“Shh,” he whispered, placing his index finger over my lips. “Just relax and go with the flow.”

We were greeted by the night guard at the desk who gave Mason a high-five and we then took the elevator up to the eleventh floor. Mason directed me into his office and told me to have a seat.

“So, what are we doing here?”

“We’ll only be in my office for a second.” He opened a closet and disappeared inside. I glanced around; his office was impressive, to say the least. He had a magnificent picture window that spanned the entire wall and a mahogany desk with a high-back black leather chair. There were two computers on his credenza and a flat plasma television was hanging on one of the walls.

He came back out holding a duffel bag. “Let’s go.”

We got back on the elevator and headed to the roof. “I don’t know about this,” I said after I saw which button he pushed. “I’m not a big fan of heights.”

He gripped my hand. “It’s all good. Don’t worry.”

I forced a smile. “If you say so.”

He kissed me on the cheek. “I do say so.”

When we got to the roof, it was a gorgeous night and I could immediately see why he took me up there. There was a spectacular view of the city skyline.

“I’ve never seen anything this beautiful,” I told him.

“That makes two of us.” He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I eagerly accepted it. While we had kissed many times before, this time was different. There was something permanent about it. I could have stayed that way, in his embrace, for an eternity, but he broke the kiss. “Let’s dance.”

“Excuse me?”

“We never got to finish dancing at the now infamous wedding so I figured we could finish the dance here.” He paused and studied me. “That was you that I danced with at the wedding, right?”

“Yes, I remember everything until the point when you walked off with Smitty.”

“Cool.” Mason opened his duffel bag and pulled out a battery-operated lantern and boombox combination. He turned on the light, directing it toward where I was standing, and then took a CD out of the bag and put it inside the boombox. “Without You” from Charlie Wilson’s Bridging the Gap started playing.

Mason came to me and put his arms around my waist and started singing to me about how the sun doesn’t shine without me. I was weak in the knees. We were lost in each other and the music for the next two hours. I could not have imagined a more perfect evening. There was no way to top it off. At least, that’s what I thought until we went back to Mason’s place.

He asked me, “Is it okay if I run you a bath?”

My nerves were shot. It was time to make a decision and it was an easy one. I just prayed I would measure up.