THE DATE

Vince knocked at Jen's door wearing his Sunday's finest. When she answered it, his breath was taken away by the vision of her in a long, black strapless evening gown. He took her hand in his and, looking into her eyes, he raised it slowly to his mouth, and gently kissed it. “You look absolutely radiant tonight,” he said. The pics she had posted on her Facebook page did her absolutely no justice.
“As do you,” she replied.
He offered her his arm and she took it. He escorted her to the car and held the door open for her. As she was getting in, she asked, “Will you tell me what the plan is for tonight is?”
“Do you trust me?” he responded, smiling.
“Yes, but...”
Shaking his head, Vince interrupted her thought, and said, “All I'm going to say is that tonight is all about you.”

About ninety minutes later, they arrived at an intimate restaurant on a beach. The place was dimly lit and crowded. At one of the tables, stood a well dressed man playing a guitar and singing. The maitre d' escorted them to a small circular table out on a deck that was lit by tiki torches. Each table had a candle as a centerpiece. A big, full moon hung just above the the horizon in a high clear sky. It's light was dancing on the water's surface.
Vince held Jen's chair for her as the maitre d' lit the candle. He handed them each a menu. And Vince ordered for the best bottle of wine the establishment had. “Will that be all?” the maitre d' asked/
“I don't know.” Vince looked at Jen and asked, with a smile, “Would you like anything to drink?”
Jen smiled and laughed slightly. He looked at the maitre d' and motioned for him to leave. As the maitre d' walked off, he said something, but Vince was to taken by Jen's beauty, as she looked out at the water, to hear what he said.
“This view is breathtaking.”
Vince looked around and said, “It is. But not nearly as breathtaking as you, milady.”
Jen smiled shyly, “Why, thank you.”
“I love that smile.”
Their eyes locked and a moment of tension built, She could see in his eyes that he wanted to kiss her and awkwardly shifted a bit in her chair and broke the moment. “It's a full moon tonight.”
“You're safe,” Vince chuckled. “I assure you.”
“What?” she inquired.
“I won't bite. At least, not hard and then only if you want me to.”
She blushed at the thought that ran through her mind.
Vince smiled. “Why are you blushing?”
“Because,” she replied, “I may actually let you.”
“Ooh”
Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red. “Did I just say that out loud?” she asked.
“I kind of hate to say this but, yeah, you did.”
“Oh, my God,” she said, slowly, in disbelief as she lifted her menu and sank down behind it.
He overheard her say to herself, “And I didn't even so much as have a glass of wine yet.”
Vince laughed half to himself, saying, “It's okay, sweetie.”
He then cleared his throat.
“I don't know if this is good thing or not,” he said, tapping on her makeshift hideout, “but I think our wine is on it's way.”
She put the menu down and straightened up as the waiter opened the bottle and poured out two glasses of the vintage.
“Are the two of you ready to order yet?”
Vince looked at Jen with a half smile, and, jokingly asked, “Did you put your time behind the menu to good use?”
Jen gave him a funny look and kicked him playfully in the leg and answered in the negative.

After they placed their order, the guitarist came by and asked if they had a request. Jen asked Vince if he would sing her a song. Vince asked the gentleman if he would mind and he said that he didn't.
At that moment, the sky lit up for a brief second as a brilliant streak glided through it. The gentleman asked. “Did you see that?”
Jen said, :That was a beautiful shooting star.”
“Spectacular,” Vince agreed.
“You need to make a wish,” he told them.
Vince stood up.
“I already have,” Jen said. She looked up at Vince and asked him if he had. Vince responded by whispering something into the guitarist's ear. The man nodded his head and strummed a chord.
Vince looked into Jen's eyes, took her hand in his, and sang. His voice was velvety as he sang about how his wish came true when he met her. She lowered her head and turned it slightly, blushing. HE brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers and as she looked back at him. He went on about how he searched his whole life for her. He pulled her to her feet and held her close as he continued on with the song. Finishing it up by stating about when he “found true love at last”.
They stood there, within an inch of each other, gazing into each others eyes, as the last chord was strummed. Electricity charging up in them. The tension building between them again. They both pulled back at the same time and then Jen nervously stammered, “I need to go powder my nose.” She started off and then came back, grabbed her pocketbook and hurriedly said, “I forgot this.” As she went off the guitar player asked, “Your first date?”
“Yeah, kind of...”

Oh, my God, Jen thought as she entered the ladies' room. I must be losing it. No guy ever made her feel the way she was feeling right now since her days in high school. That was twenty-five plus years ago. She cringed, slightly, at that thought.
She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look her age. She was forty-four but could pass herself off for thirty-four without a problem if she wanted to. Which was exactly how old she was when her world came crashing down around her. Her husband, the man who she had devoted herself to for thirteen year, dumped her for another “woman”. He left her with a ten- and twelve-year-old to raise on her own. And raised them she did.
She had to take on a second job to make ends meet which put a big damper on her social life. Not that she had any difficulties in getting dates. She just didn't have the time. And, after a handful of blind dates that her girlfriends set her up on and another handful of online dating service disasters, she found, quite frankly, she ran out of interest.
They were all after one thing. She was worth more than that and she knew it. So, she decided to devote all of her time and energy into raising daughter and son. But now, with her daughter having a husband and baby of her own and her son being away at college for the past two years, she was finding herself all alone and lonely. There's where she was at when she saw the friend request from Vince on her Facebook
She didn't know how to take it at first. Unlike all the other guys who had sent her friend requests, Vince had nothing in his introduction note about how “hot” she looked. The only thing he wrote was that he noticed when he was on her page how much they had in common and that he would like to get to know her better. So, she added him to her “chamber of torture”.
Her best friend, Chandra, jokingly came up with that title for her site. Jen figured she had a good point because all she ever did was flirt with the “men” unmercifully. Leaving them suggestive comments and messages. Hell, why not toy with them, she thought. Based on the way the men in her life treated her, she figured all guys wanted to do was play games anyway. So, she thought, she would do just that. Play with them.
It would never fail, they would last, on average, two months before they would start begging her for her phone number. That's when she would cut them off at their knees. Her girlfriend said she was a “damn good cock tease”. But she objected, vehemently, saying that she wasn't “cock teasing...just teasing big dicks”.
But Vince?
Vince was proving himself to be different from the rest of the guys on her wall from the very beginning. When she logged back onto her page the evening after she approved his request, she noticed he had left her a flirty comment saying: “Thanks for the ass...I mean add” and a message.
The message's subject line read: “GOOD MORNING”. In the body itself, he simply wished her a pleasant day and again expressed his wish to get to know her better.
She saw that he was online and she found herself bored and a bit curious and wasn't really in the mood to “play” with her “victims”, as Chandra liked to call them. So she sent him an IM invite.
She typed, “hey”. And waited. As she was just about to turn off her computer, Vince responded:
vince: hey there...how was your day?
Jenny1975: it was nice thx
vince: coo
Jenny1975: urs?
Vince: well?
It was a day let's put it that way
Jenny1975: o...k
vince: so whatcha up to?
Jenny1975: nm...just bored
lol
only my first day of vacay
vince: well that sucks
Jen sat there looking at her monitor screen wondering why Vince's friend request introduction played on her mind so much.
vince: you still there?
Jenny1975: yeah...lol
vince: you ok?
Jenny1975: yeah...just thinking
vince: 'bout?
Jenny1975: UGH!!!
can I ask u a ?
` w/o it upsetting u?
vince: sure...shoot
Jenny1975: u aren't a girl r u?
Lol
og...i'm sorry
vince: well...when I got out of the shower 2 hours ago, I was all man
lol
y u ask?
Jenny1975: wow
u r different
vince: i take it that that's good
Jenny1975: oh yeah
just not used to ti that's all
i'm kinda use to men making comments on my looks when they
befriend me
vince: well if it makes you feel any better...
Jenny1975: yes?
Vince: I was taken by your pic when I stumbled across ur page
that's what made me scroll down to read ur interests
but it was ur interests along that made me send the friend request
Jenny1975: np
She went on about her experiences with men.
vince: ahhhh I see
men can be so crass
don't get me wrong...i flirt
but it's no way to make a good first impression though
and I admit I want to impress you
Jenny1975: so far, so good
vince: cool
The night flew by. But, before it was over, she knew he held a business degree, was five years divorced, had two boys, and currently wasn't working because he was taking care of his ailing mother.
Jen glanced at her watch and did a double take. Damn, she scolded herself, he's going to think I abandoned him. She freshened herself up and left the bathroom.

When she got back out to the deck, Vince was putting his cell phone away. He stood up as she approached the table and got her chair for her. As she sat down, she asked, “Were you calling for a rescue party?”
Vince chuckles, “I was thinking about it.”
“I'm sorry it took so long,” she said.
“That's okay. It gave me a chance to touch base with my sister and see how mom was doing.”
“Oh, is she okay?” Jen asked with concern.
“Yeah yeah,” Vince replied. She's fine. Just after caring for her for six months, it feels weird not having her around. You know?”

They spent the meal making small talk about their lives, hopes, dreams, and ambitions. Not that there was much left to talk about there. They had known each other for a little over six months. There wasn't much they didn't know about each other already. During lulls in the conversation, Vince thought about how, before Jen came along, he scoffed at the very idea of soulmates. Whereas, he considered himself a romantic, the thought that there was someone out there to truly complete him seemed impossible. It was just a cute little notion, just like the cherub that fluttered around with his little bow and arrow, taking pot shots at unsuspecting couples. But, if the last few months hadn't changed his mind, tonight, as he held her in his arm and sang to her, sure as hell did. And that arrow hurt.
After they were done eating, Vince ordered another bottle of wine while Jen got up and went to the deck railing to look at the moonlight dancing on the water. The waiter refilled their glasses with the fresh bottle of wine. Vince took both glasses and offered one to Jen. She took a sip as Vince slipped an arm around her waist. She laced her empty hand on his hand as Vince took a hit from his glass. He then nuzzled the nape of her neck and Jen tilted her head giving him access to it and sighed peacefully.
“It really is beautiful,: she said, sounding distant.
Vince looked out as he took another small sip of his wine. “Yeah. It is.”
Jen reached her hand up and caressed his cheek and he took it kissing it delicately. She laid her head back on his shoulder, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sighed again. She then turned to face him. A slight breeze kicked up and blew Jen's into her face and he brushed it back. Taking advantage of it, he stroked her cheek as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes and said, almost to himself, “You're beautiful.”
She looked down, blushed,and silently replied, “Thank you.”
Vince put his finger under her chin and lifted her head back up. Their eyes locked. They looked deep into each other's eyes and, again, felt the electricity. Jen's lips quivered.
As they rode the wave of the moment, they slowly moved their mouths closer together. Just as their lips were about to meet, the wave crashed on the rocks of their waiter's voice. “Would you care for dessert?'
Vince pulled back from Jen and paradise muttering in frustration, “I was just about to get some.”
Jen smiled and said she would rather take a walk along the beach. Vince was about to protest when he reminded himself what he said to her earlier. “I said, 'Tonight is all about you.'”
“Awe,” she replied. “I'll be right back. I promise.”
As she walked off, Vince talked to the waiter.
When she returned, Vince was sitting at the table with a small box and a bottle of champagne. “What's all this?” she inquired as she gestured towards the table.
“It's a little something for later.”
“What's in the box?”
With an amused look and chuckle, Vince playfully chastised her. “Boy, you're just full of questions.” He flirtatiously continued. “Do I need to give that beautiful mouth of yours something else to do?”
“Ooh,” she responded, teasingly. :So much for your gentlemanly facade.”
He stood up, chuckling, “Let us depart, milady.”
He grabbed the box and bottle of champagne and they left.

When they got out to the car, Vince handed Jen the bottle and popped the trunk. In the trunk was a case of water, a light blanket, a heavy quilt, some towels, a little CD player/radio, a guitar, and a duffel bag. Putting the box down in the trunk, he said, offhandedly, “I was a boy scout. I'm always prepared.”
“So I see. But a guitar?”
“Well, that's because I'm a musically inclined boy scout,” he responded with a smile.
He opened the duffel bag and put the box in it.
“I need to get rid of this,” Vince said, while undoing his tie. He took it off, threw it in the trunk, and closed it while he undid the top three buttons of his shirt.
“Ooh. Are you going to completely strip?” Jen asked with a mischievous look in her eyes.
“Bey you'd like that?” he responded, jokingly.
“You never know.”
He unlocked the passenger door and held it open for her. “There you go, sweet stuff.”
He smiled and shook his head as Jen got in.

They drove a little way and found a lit parking area with trees on both sides of it. Vince pulled in. They could see small fires burning on the beach with people huddled around them and as he opened up his door, he heard music playing and people having fun.
As they were going to the trunk, two guys were stumbling across the parking lot, talking and laughing. Vince kept an eye on them as he popped the trunk and started gathering the stuff together. As the two guys got closer, Vince and Jen could smell the sweet scent of burning marijuana. When the two strangers got to them the first guy stumbled into Vince, spilling some of his cup of beer on the sleeve of Vince's jacket.
“Whoa, dude, I'm lie, so tolly, sorry,” he said, apologetically, in a slurred, mellow voice.
“No problem, pal,” Vince responded.
Spying the guitar, the second guy said, “Oh, hey, do you play, dude?”
It was painfully obvious that they were both wasted.
“Yeah, a bit.”
“So coo,” said the first one. “Our band is throwing this party. We're set up in the pavilion down the beach a way. You ought to come n sit in with us.”
“Oh, hey, yeah. That would be so coo. What are you into?” asked the second one.
“A lot of different stuff,” Vince said.
“Lie?” inquired the first one.
“Elvis, Motley Crue, KISS, the Scorps, Billy Idol...”
The second one interrupted and said, “Oh, hey, classic rock.”
Vince said, painfully, “Yeah.”
Jen tried to stifle a little giggle.
“Coo,” said the first one.
“Thanks. But I'm more of a singer than a guitar player though,” Vince said, trying to wiggle his way out of the invite.
“Whoa, heeeeeey,” said the first one, “that's, lie, so coo. Lie, Tony, our lead vocalist, is so tolly fried.”
“Yeah, he wun't know his ass from a ho' in the ground ight now. Ya know?” the second one volunteered.
“Yeah,” said the first one.
“Oww, fuck,” screamed the second one, shaking his hand while looking at it, causing the rest of them to jump and more beer to be splashed on the arm of Vince's jacket. The first one, again, apologized.
“Here, let me hold that for ya,” Vince said, taking the cup from him.
“Oh, coo,” he replied, as if he had an epiphany. “Lie, thanx, dude.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
As the second guy mumbled on continuously about hardly smoking the joint, the first one asked, “So would you croon a few tunes with us?”
“Dude, come on,” Vince said. “I'm on a date here.”
The fellow looked at Jen and Jen looked at Vince, saying, “I would love to see you perform.”
“Perform for your g-f, dude,” the first guy said.
“I don't know,” Vince said. “It's been a long time since I played with a band backing me and I don't know your material.”
“Come on, dude. You would save the party,” he said.
Vince looked down at the lively partiers and replied, “Doesn't look like the party needs any salvation.”
“C'mon...”
He stood there thinking about it and Jen ran her hand up his arm. He looked at her and she gave him puppy dog eyes that made him melt. He recalled saying that tonight was all about her.
“Do it for me, baby,” she cooed.
“Yeah. Do it for your g-f,” the guy said.
“Okay, okay, okay, okay. I'll do it,” he relented. “I'll sing a few numbers.”
The second one mumbled off his train of thought and said in unison with the first one, “Coo, coo.”
The first guy then, finally, introduced himself as Jessie, the drummer, and his buddy as James, his guitarist.
Vince returned the favor.
He then handed Jessie his cup back and the two strangers started stumbling off towards the front of the car. Vince lowered his head a bit and muttered, half to himself, as pulled out the duffel bag, CD player, and light blanket, “I hope they [lay better. Oh, how I hope they play better.”
He looked at Jen and said, teasingly, handing her the blanket, “And as for you...”
She took the blanket and draped it over her right arm. “If you do this, I'll, lie, tolly let you bite me anywhere you want,” she said, mocking their style, with a mischievous grin and slight giggle.
Vince hoisted the duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbed the CD player.
“Whoa, coo,” he responded, while shutting the trunk.

“We can call it 'Karaoke With a Live Band',” Jessie said to James, sweeping his right hand through the air like he was envisioning it in lights. Vince envisioned he was going to be wearing some more of Jessie's beer. He thanked God he was wrong.
“We're ready,” he said to Jessie and James.
“Oh, coo. Follow us, dude,”said Jessie.
“Yeah,” said James.
As they were following them down the steps, Jessie looked back towards Vince and continued on about their current situation. “Yeah...so, lie, Tony is all fucked up, dude. When we came up here, he was sitting down there rocking back and forth looking at his hands lie he jus discovered 'um. We've been pumping canned jams through the...”
He was interrupted by something that, apparently only he could see and just wandered off up the beach, away from the pavilion, on his own.
James looked back at Vince and Jen and said, “This haps occas'nlly when he gets lie this.”
“Yeah, no doubt,” Vince said, wondering what he just got himself into.
As James went off after Jessie, Vince looked at Jen and said, softly and with a lot of skepticism, “Oh, yeah, this is bound to be good.”
He took her by the hand and they headed off down the beach, navigating carefully around the minefield of partiers stumbling around with drinks and cigarettes or joints in their hands. The air was heavy with the scent of Mary Jane. By they time they reached the pavilion, they were both slightly buzzed from the second hand smoke. Nickelback was blaring from the PA system. Behind the band equipment, there were people milling about. As they walked around the side of the structure, they saw people sitting around tables eating and drinking. At one of the tables at the far end, was a buffet set up. There were some people working the grill and stove down there also.
They walked into an empty space at the table closest to them and set down their stuff. A slight breeze kicked up and Jen folded her arms around herself. Vince took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome. Don't mind the beer on the arm.”
Jen chuckled, “I won't.”
“I wonder where Jessie and James are?”
“With the way Jess was staggering around, he could be anywhere between her and out there,” Vince said, motioning towards the water, “somewhere.”
“Hey,” some dude shouted as he walked towards them. “You two are a little overdressed for here,a aren't yas?
“Yeah,” Vince responded
aJen explained to the fellow how they came about to being there.
“Oh, cool,” he said. “So you know Jess and James?”
“No. We just met,” Jen replied.
“My name is Glen, by the way,” he said, shaking their hands. “I'm one of the two sober members of the band.”
Vince made their introductions.
“I play the keys,” Glen continued. “So you sing?”
“Well, I never had any complaints.”
“Cool, cool. Who do you sound like?”
“Me? Some people say I can do a good Alice Cooper. But I can never hear it.” “Decent. But then anything is better than what we have right now,” he said, as he pointed back to a guy, who's head hit the table almost as if Glen's pointing to him pushed it down. He bounced back up and fell off the back of the bench.
Glen winced, “Ouch. That's gonna hurt in the morning.”
“Let me guess?” Jen said. “That's Tony?”
“Yeah,” said Glen. “He's toasted. Oxies. Lemme go put his ass back on the bench. I'll be right back.”
As Glen Qalked off, Vince turned to Jen. Brushing her hair out of her face, he said, “This isn't quite the way I was expecting the evening to turn out.”
“Well, it is certainly becoming an adventure, that's for sure,” Jen said with some amusement.
“I'm...kay. I'm...kay,” Tony shouted loudly and slowly.
Vince chuckled. “You can say that again.”
“God, I hope they get back soon,” he continued. “We've got stuff that either need to be consumed or put on ice.”
“What have you got, Vince,” asked Glen.
“A bottle of champagne and a small cheesecake.”
“Hey, Andy?” Glen shouted.
“Yo?” a voice shouted back from the other side of the pavilion.
Glen looked back at Vince and Jen and said, “That's our bass player. The other sober one.” Then he shouted back to Andy, “Get one of those small Styrofoam coolers and put some ice in it for me.”
“Check.”
“That'll take care of that.”
“You didn't have to do that,” Vince said.
“Think nothing of it.”
When Andy arrived with the cooler, Glen made the introductions as Vince put the champagne and cheesecake in it.

The longer they waited for Jessie and James to return, the more Vince worried about what about what he was getting himself into. He hadn't performed with a live band in what seemed like ages. And now, he wasn't only going to be fronting a band that considered his music classic rock, but two of the members were stoned out of their minds. Not exactly the way to make a good impression with Jen. Even though she knew all there was to know about him, she never heard him perform. HE wondered if he still had it in him.
“Sweetie?” Jen's voice pulled him from his brooding.
“Yeah?”
“You okay?” she asked, rubbing his shoulders.
Trying to shake the doubts from his mind, he said, “I'm sorry.”
“What's wrong?”
“Just nerves. Always happens to me when I play.” He prayed she wouldn't push it.
“Well, you'll be fine. I have faith in you,” she said, with a comforting smile.
Oh, great, he thought, more pressure.
Mustering up courage that he didn't have, he smiled and thanked her for the vote of confidence.
“Would you like something to drink?” Jen asked.
“Yeah, that would be nice. I don't care what you get me so long as it's strong.”
“Okay,” she said and off she went.
Vince put his head in his hands and saw two pair of feet stop right at him. He looked up as Andy tossed it down on the bench beside him.
“That's our repertoire,” Andy said.
As Vince opened up the notebook, Glen asked if he was okay. Vince explained his reservations about performing. They both assured him that Jessie and James could be puking their guts out between sets but that when they hit the stage you couldn't tell the were fucked up.
Vince found four songs among their stuff he knew cold and picked a fifth one that he messed around with by himself and had always wanted to try. And the lyrics were perf3ect for him to sing to Jen. He figured that would be a nice touch.
Once Jessie and James returned and Jessie announced his plan to everyone there, Vince hit the stage and sang. He was pleasantly surprised. Jessie and James were on top of it all.

Jen watched in amazement, as Vince performed. He certainly knew how to work the crowd. He had them eating out of the palm of his hand by the time the second song was over.
And God, can he move, she thought. He said he was in a band when he was in his teens and early twenties. She wondered what he must have been like back then. My God, her mind reeled. He still had it in him.





Before Vince knew it, the fourth song was completed. He thanked the partiers then said, “For my last number, I'm going to slow it down a bit. 'Truly, Madly, Deeply'.”
As they hit the middle of the song, Vince walked over to Jen, stood right in front of her, took her hand into his, and stared deep into her eyes. During the short instrumental break, he led her up to the stage area.

Jen looked in Vince's eyes and saw that he wanted to give her the sun, moon, and stars and the frustration he felt from the fact that it wasn't within his power. As she stroked his cheek, the look in her eys said that it was okay.
Vince ran his hand lightly and slowly up Jen's arm, across her shoulder, up her neck, and stroked her cheek as he repeated the opening lines of the song. As one of the guys whispered the line, “I love you,” Vince brushed his lips against hers. Her lips quivered and her legs trembled. And as he put an arm around her waist to hold her up, he brought the mic up between them and sang the last choruses.
They searched deep into each others eyes and found the others soul as James soloed out of the tune. To applause, whistles, and cat calls, Vince kissed Jen softly.
“I was wondering when you were going to do that,” she stated.
He smiled slightly. “I've been wanting to all evening. Still up for that walk?”
“Please?” she responded softly.
He nodded his head slowly in response.




They said their goodbyes to the guys, gathered up their gear, and headed back up the beach. “You sounded great back there,” Jen remarked.
“I'm sure you're just saying that but thanks.”
“No. I mean it. And that last song, as well as the one at the one at the restaurant, made me melt.”
Vince stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed Jen's hand as she stepped by. She turned and faced him. He looked at the way the moon hit her hair, the soft features of her face and the curves of her body. “What?” she asked, sounding a bit self-conscious.
“Nothing,” he said reassuringly. “I just want to look at you.” He brushed her cheek delicately with the back of his fingers. Shaking his head slowly, he added, “You are absolutely breathtaking.”
She smiled bashfully and lowered her head a bit. Vince slipped his arm around her waist and they walked on silently, arm in arm, enjoying the sound of the water lapping up to the shore.

About a mile up the beach, they found a place that was laid out in such a way as to afford them some privacy, They put their stuff down and Jen opened up the duffel bag, pulled out the ground cloth that was in it, and laid it down by the fire pit that was there as Vince turned on the CD player. Soft, acousticguitar music filled the air.
“Mmmm, nice.” Jen sat down on the ground cloth.
“Would you mind getting the two cups that that are in the bag?” Vince asked as he attempted to pop the top of the champagne bottle.
“These?” she asked, as she pulled out two hard plastic, collapsible cups.
“Those would be it.”
“Okay,” she teasingly said. Stretching the word out as she extended the cups.
“Well, I'm sorry the they don't make champagne flutes for emergencies,” Vince retorted as the top popped off the bottle and the foam spurted out the opening.
Jen squealed as she held the cups out.
Vince sat down, poured the champagne, placed the bottle back into the cooler, and took a cup from her. He touched his cup to hers and said, “Here's to your beauty. A beauty that outshines that of Aphrodite herself and to the only thing that it's bested by. Your inner beauty.”
She blushed and said thank you then took a sip.
As Vince took a sip from his cup, Jen looked up at the sky. He followed her gaze. “Want to hear a story a bout a pair of star-crossed lovers?”
Jen nodded her head. Vince pointed up to the sky. “You see those three bright stars directly above up with the milky white streak going through them? They form a triangle?”
“Yes.”
“That's the Summer Triangle or Lover's Triangle.”
“I never heard of that constellation before,” she remarked.
“Actually, each star is from different ones. You have Vega in Lyra the Harp. The bright star coming down from Vega on the right is Altair in Aquila the Eagle. Then the third one is Deneb in Cygnus the Swan.”
“Okay.” She lifted his arm, put it around her shoulder, and cuddled up close to him as he started telling her the story.
“Altair was a shepherd and one day he was tending to his flock by a stream when seven handmaidens decsnded from the heavens to bathe. Altair was struck by the beauty of the youngest one, Vega. And she was quite taken with him too. So much so, that when her companions returned to the heavens, Vega remained behind.
“The two of them eventually got married and had a son and daughter. After a while, the Queen of the Gods called her back because things were running slow in the heavens. She was the only one allowed in, so she had to leave Altair and the kids behind.
“Some time passed, and Altair, beside himself from grief, gathered up the two children and snuck into the heavens to find Vega. They spent a lot of time together and so the productivity started slipping again. Now, when the Queen of the Gods realized what was going on, she grew angered with Vega and decreed that Altair and the kids never again have contact with her. And she drew a line in the heavens.
“Well, through that line, the Celestial River came through. That river is so deep and so treacherous that not even the Gods would dare cross it. Thereby, keeping them forever separated.
“One day, their little girl, in hopes of reuniting them once again, tried to drain the Celestial River with a little ladel. The Gods, upon seeing this, took pity on Altair and vega's plight and issued a decree that they could reunite briefly for one night every year when the big celestial birds bridge the great Celestial River. That night falls sometime in the month of August.
“So the story goes, that all the stars you see in the sky are the wishes of love and promises they have made to each other over the ages.
“And, that if it storms on their night, and they miss their chance of meeting that year, the tears they cry fall to the Earth as a warm rain.”
“Oh, my God, that's so sad. The Fates brought them together only to keep them apart.”
“Yeap.”
He felt her shiver. Removing his suit coat, he placed it around her shoulders and said, “Let me try to get a fire going.”
“Try?” she asked.
“Not one of my stronger suits, I must admit,” he responded. “But...” He reached into the duffel bag and pulled out a box.
“What's that?” Jen inquired/
“It's called Magic Kindle,” vince said, opening the package. “Supposedly, even an idiot can get a roaring fire going in a matter of minutes with this. We shall se.”
“Have faith in yourself,” she said reassuringly, as he set the contents of the package up in the fire pit. Vince chuckled and shook his head.
“Princess, I can kill artificial flowers. I know. I have done it,” he said.
She laughed as he strucka match. He dropped it into the pit and nothing happened. He struck a second match and a breeze came in off the water and extinguished it. “Oh, God,” he muttered. “This is my luck.”
Jen giggled.
“Yup, laugh it up,” he said jokingly. “Unless I have some books of matches in that bag, this it the next to last match that I have here.”
He heard her rummage around behind him.
“Third time is a charm the say,” she volunteered.
As he struck the third matcch, Jen said, “And you've got two more packs here.”
Vince lit the book with a match and dropped them both in. The Magic Kindle ignited.
After the fire was going, Vince sat back and grabbed the cheesecake.
“What kind is it?” Jen asked while he was opening the container.
“Strawberry.”
Upon opening the box, they saw the cheesecake was covered in strawberries and glaze.
“Do you have any forks?” she asked.
“Um, nope,” he replied, pulling a hunk of strawberry off the cake, and sticking it in his mouth.
“And you call yourself a boy scout?” she asked, in jest, while Vince licked the glaze off his fingers.
“I got the fire going, didn't I?” he offered in his own defense.
“Yeah,” she guffawed. “But you cheated.”
“If I recall correctly though,: Vince said, while pulling off another chunk of strawberry, “I said I was 'a musically incline' boy scout. Not a good one. And still I got the fire going.” He put the piece of strawberry to Jen's lips. She parted them and closed them around the tips of his finger and thumb and sucked on them gently.
“Mmmmm,” she said, closing her eyes in delight and slowly licked the glaze off of her lips. “Heavenly.”
“Heavenly is right,” Vince whimpered softly. He broke off a bite sized piece of the cheesecake and carefully fed it to her.
She did the same. But when he went to take it from her, she pulled it away and asked, “How bad do you want it?”
“I love cheesecake.”
Jen smiled wickedly and said, 'That didn't answer my question.”
“Bad,” Vince replied.
“How bad?” she purred.
“Real bad,” he said softly.
“This bad?” She rubbed the cheesecake tauntingly across the top of her right breast. He licked the streak of strawberry glaze it left in it's wake. She moaned slightly.
“This bad?” she asked then ran it across her mouth. He ran his tongue across her lips.
“This bad?” She stuck out her tongue and placed the piece on it.
Vince closed his lips around the cheesecake and sucked on it lightly. He then licked the bit of glaze off that was on her nose. As he brushed his lips lightly across her left eyebrow, down her nose, across her lips, down the left side of he neck, and across her shoulder, she ran a hand through his hair and asked softly, “When are you going to bite me?”
He brushed his lips back across her shoulder and gently bit the soft sensitive skin at the juncture of the neck. She caught her breath. “Oh, my God, yes.”
Vince traced the curves of her body lightly with the tips of his fingers and said softly:
“Is it the curves of your body
The way that your dress clings”
He pulled down the zipper of her gown as he brushed his lips up her neck to the ear, inhaling her scent. He whispered:
“Or the soft sweet scent of your perfume
making my head ring?”
She softly whimpered. He brushed his lips back across hers:
“The passion of this moment
has my head spinning 'round
I want
to be one
with you
tonight.”
She rise up to her knees and her gown slipped down over her breasts. Vince gently slipped it over her hips. He felt the heat emanating from her. He then lightly ran his hands up the outside of her thigh as he lately traced her navel with his tongue.
“Touch me,” she begged, “please.”
He reached into the cooler, pulled out a chip of ice, and held it in place between her legs. She winced and let out a slight whimper and put her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, God, baby.”
He put the ice chip in his mouth and rose up on his knees. He could clearly see the outline of her nipples through her bra. He teased them with his icy cold mouth as he ran his hands lightly up and down her side. Pulling away from her slightly, he undid the the front clasp of her bra and left it fall to the ground. Jen ran a hand through his hair and pulled his head firmly into her left breast. He curled his chilled tongue around it's erect nipple. He bit down gently on it and pulled. A soft sigh escaped her lips.
He trailed soft kisses up to her collarbone to her neck. Brushing his lips up her neck as she brushed hers down his cheek, they sought each others mouths. They brushed their lips across each others. Vince ran his fingers through her hair and whispered, breathlessly, “Do you know what you're doing to me?”
Their lips brushed again. “The same thing you're doing to me,” she replied just as breathlessly. Their lips brushed together one final time then their tongues clashed and intertwined. As Jen peeled back his shirt and exposed as much as his broad shoulders as she could, Vince reached down between them and tugged up on the waist of her panties, applying pressure to her clitoris with them.
“Yes,” she moaned softly.
She kissed down his neck across his shoulder and back, across his collarbone to his other shoulder and down to a nipple and sucked on it. He held the waist band of her panties in place thus allowing more pressure to be applied to her swollen pink bud.
She brushed her hand across his crotch, feeling the firmness. Vince left out a pleasurable sigh.
Jen didn't know if it was the effects of the alcohol, drug, or the moment or any combination of them, and she really didn't care, but bits of the songs she heard throughout the evening started swimming around in her head. “My wish came true when I met you”, “my heart started beating fast”, “with every breath truly, madly, deeply do”, “til the sky falls down on me”, “my head spinning round I want to be one with you tonight”, “found true love at last”. She looked up at Vince and saw her hunger mirrored in his eyes. He cupped her head in her hands, leaned down and kissed her passionately.
Jen returned the kiss has she unbuckled his belt and undid the catch of his trousers. She jerked the shirt free from his pants, finished unbuttoning it, and slid it off his muscular shoulders. As she did this, he caressed her breasts and brushed his lips across her nipples. Her whole body tingled and felt aflame.
Vince kissed both nipples delicately then flicked them with his tongue.
“Oh, God, Vince,” she panted as she ran her hand through his hair. He drew a nipple into his mouth and suckled on it.
“Don't stop.” She reached a hand down into his pants and stroked him. An electric shock traveled down Vince's spine when he felt her fingers wrap around him as involuntarily bit down on her nipple.
“Yes,” she sighed softly.
Vince slid his hand down between Jen's legs and felt her juices. She started to grind slowly on his hand, grabbed her free breast, closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Tilting her head back, she left out a series of short whimpers. Her abdominal muscles convulsed and she coated Vince's hand in her juices.
She pulled down his trousers and boxers and gently pushed him back unto his calves. She crawled out of her gown, towards him, and with an intense hunger in her eyes. She could see his hunger was just as intense. When she got to him, she ran her hands lightly up his chest. She trailed kisses up his chest and neck. Everyone of them brought him pleasure. As she raked her erect nipples across his chest hairs, she cooed. They kissed deeply as she ground slowly on his lap.
Vince sat up on his knees and guided Jen down onto her back. He kissed up her legs and, upon reaching her waist, he slid off her panties.

Vince slowly made his way up to Jen's garden as she opened it's gates. He lovingly massaged and then parted the petals of the love flower she offered him and inhaled the sweet scent of it's fruit. She watched as he delicately licked the beads of moisture from them. Carefully, taking the flower into his mouth, he suckled on it's sweet nectar. His hot breath against her soft skin sent her senses reeling. She writhed.
“Oh, Vince,” she sighed. She bit her lip, rolled her eyes in pleasure, and tilted her head to the side.
He suckled on the petals and sent his tongue a little further into the flower. He rubbed his face in it.
Jen started breathing heavy and bucking her hips. “Oh, God,” she panted. “Yes.” She put her hand on his shoulder and, momentarily, tensed up. Like a starving man, he greedily sucked up the sticky sweet nectar that issued forth from the fruit of the flower. He savored each drop of it.
As Jen laid there, trembling, he slowly kissed his way up to her mouth.

Vince pulled a strawberry dripping with glaze from the cheesecake and offered it to her. She seductively opened her mouth and curled her tongue around it taking it from his fingers and sucked the glaze off of them.
Foreigner's “I've Been Waiting For A Girl Like You” started playing on the CD player. He kissed her cheek tenderly and brushed his lips against hers.
“I want you,” Vince whispered.
With a soft smile, Jen said, in wonder, “Forever the gentleman...”
He smiled slightly as the singer sang the opening line of the song.
The smile faded from her face and her lips quivered as her eyes flared with passion. “I'm yours. Take me.”
As he entered her, she raised her hips to allow him to go deeper...

The moment they entered her temple the world fell away. All the cares fell to the side. They had nothing to prove to anyone. Nothing else mattered. All it was about was him, her, and this moment communing with Aphrodite. The goddess led them to her altar where they willingly followed her. She answered all their questions and showed then each the other in her eyes.
She freely gave herself to them and, to her delight, they greedily took all that she had to offer. They gorged upon her fruit. Got drunk on her wine. They both touched and got touched.
They moved to her music, They stepped away from and back in towards the other then moved together to the beat of her orgiastic music, Their hearts raced in time with the rhythm of it.
She looked for a sacrifice from them but they held back.
The music got louder and faster. They kept dancing to it.
She asked for a sacrifice. They refused.
The music got even louder and faster. Still they danced. It got to the point they needed to scream to hear each other over the music. Their hearts felt like they were going to burst forth from their chests.
The music built more. The rhythm got faster. They writhed and bucked to it. The sweat rolling off of them.
Finally, out of breath, Jen pulled Vince close and dug her nails into him so she wouldn't fall over from exhaustion. They both screamed the others name as they sacrificed themselves each to the other and to the goddess. They collapsed, exhausted. Pleased, Aphrodite smiled down at them and winked.
That quickly they found themselves back on the beach.

They were laying on their backs looking up at the sky trying to catch their breath bathed in the afterglow of the encounter. “Thank you for a beautiful evening,” Jen said.
Vince propped himself up on one arm, stroked her face, and said, “No. Thank you.”
He put his arm around her and absently ran his fingers up and down her arm, She laid her head on his chest, placed her leg on his, and played with his hair.
He brushed his his cheek against her hair and said, “I love you.” He kissed the top of her head.
She sighed, contentedly. “This is nice.”
“Yeah. It is.”
They fell into a peaceful sleep knowing, in their heart of hearts, they had found what they were searching for throughout their entire lives.