His Big Offer

I grab some coffee and get to work. Unlike the first date article, this one pours out of me. I cover everything from toys to food to exploring potential kinks. There’s so much here that I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface by the time noon rolls around.

Frankly, I’d be happy thinking about this article for a very long time. I get to imagine what it would be like to have Chance use toys on me, and the thought of him licking whipped cream off my nipples has me so worked up that I’m squirming in my seat. The possibilities are endless.

An email pops into my inbox, and I catch my breath because it’s from Chance. Just a few words.

Can I take you to lunch?

My heart leaps into my throat. I want to. Being out with Chance sounds like a dream come true. Even though the sex was amazing, it’s more than just sex. But should I? I’m not sure if I should keep this going. There are so many variables and so many possible things that could go wrong.

But then I think about yesterday and what I wrote about first dates being like lottery tickets. We’ve already had sex, but this would be our first date. I need to practice what I preach. I need to scratch off the numbers and see if I win.

Absolutely.

He responds right away.

I’ll come by in ten minutes.

I spend that ten minutes trying not to imagine all the possibilities I’ve covered in my article while touching up my make-up and hair. I wore a skirt that I love today, swishy and fun, perfect for a lunch out.

True to his word, Chance appears at my door ten minutes later and we walk out together. I’m going to have to accept that the rumor mill is running. At least Darcy and Emily see us on our way out, as well as a bunch of employees that I haven’t even met yet.

“So where are we going?” I ask him when we reach the elevator.

“There’s a little Italian place around the corner that I really love, if that’s okay with you.”

I smile, suddenly relaxing. “Fine by me. I love Italian.”

It really is just around the corner. One of those airy little restaurants that throws open their walls in the summer and lets their tables spill out onto the sidewalk. As we enter, the host smiles at Chance and waves him through even though there’s a line. “I come here all the time,” Chance says to me as he pulls out my chair, “so when I call and ask for a last minute reservation, they’re very willing to accommodate.”

“I’m sure being an extremely good-looking and rich CEO doesn’t hurt,” I say, smirking.

He laughs. “No, it doesn’t.”

We take a few minutes to look at the menu, and I end up ordering Spaghetti con Polpette and he orders Fettucini Alfredo. The waiter takes our order immediately and our water glasses are never less than half full.

“Is this a date?” I ask. “Are we dating now?”

“This is definitely a date,” he says. “This is not a ‘we had sex and I feel obligated to have lunch with you’ situation. And if you agree, I would very much like to keep dating you.” That smirk reappears. “Dating among other things.”

I can’t keep the grin off my face. “I think I can live with that.”

He smiles too, and for a second we’re just smiling and the world is perfect.

“So,” Chance says, leaning his elbows on the table, “what I know about you I know from reading your blog, but I really don’t know anything else.”

“What do you want to know?”

He shrugs. “Anything. Everything. What’s the story? How did you get here?”

I laugh, even though it’s not particularly funny. “Are you sure? It’s not really a fun story.”

“I’m sure.” The tone of his voice makes me think that he’s talking about more than just hearing my life story.

“My parents,” I say, “are really successful people. That’s important for later in the story. They’re both lawyers.” I clear my throat and take a sip of water. Generally, I try not to tell this story. “But when I went to college, I decided that I didn’t want to be a lawyer, or a doctor, or any not the careers that my parents thought were valuable. I decided that I wanted to study classic literature. My parents were so furious that they said they wouldn’t pay for school, which was fine. At the time I was convinced that I would a great job using the degree and that paying back the loans wouldn’t be a big deal. They thought I would back down and do what they wanted.”