like I’ve been in a holding pattern for almost a year. Not single, but not married anymore. I hate the limbo.”
“Does that mean you’re available for a second date?” he asks.
“I thought we were currently on our second date.”
He smiles. “Third, then?”
“Hmm.” I tap my chin. “We’ll have to see how the rest of this one goes before I commit to anything,” I tease.
“Challenge accepted,” he declares, and then he cups my face and brings my lips to his.
I open to him, and he deepens the kiss as he goes to his back on the blanket. I follow him down, and he feeds a knee between my legs, so I’m flush on top of him, chest to chest.
His arms come around me and hold me tight to him.
He breaks the kiss, and we are nose to nose.
“How’s it going so far?” he asks against my mouth.
“So-so,” I answer.
He grins.
One minute, I’m on top, and the next, he has me flipped to my back. He comes over me, and he grazes my earlobe with his teeth.
Oh, I like that.
I moan my approval.
“And now?” he whispers in my ear.
“Getting better,” I answer.
He brings his mouth back to mine and kisses me again. This kiss is different from before. It’s not soft or sweet. It’s demanding and needy, and I feel it all the way to my toes.
I lace my hands in his hair and hold on.
I don’t think anyone has ever kissed me so thoroughly, and here we are, in a public park, in the middle of the day, and Foster has my body on fire.
“And now?” he asks as he lifts his head to look into my eyes.
“I think a third date is in order,” I admit.
“Damn right it is,” he says.
Then, he rolls over and sits up. He helps me up, and then he pulls me into his lap and wraps his arms around me. I feel his chin fall to my shoulder, and his cheek nestles into mine.
“The kids are going to eat that frog,” he says as we watch them pouncing around, chasing the frog that is leaping across the field.
“We should probably intervene,” I say.
He sighs. “Yep.”
I stand and reach down to help him up, and we take off running after them, shouting the whole way.
Foster
We need to talk.
I read the text from Wendy and press Delete. I wonder what it is this time.
Did her car break down again? Does she need more money this month? Is the water heater out?
Whatever it is, she’ll have to deal with it herself. I’m trying to get the silo clean for my date with Sonia tonight. Or as clean as I can in the hour I have. I’m not a complete slob, but I’m not exactly a great housekeeper. I don’t leave dirty dishes sitting around, and I keep the toilet clean and take out the trash, but I usually come in and drop my muddy boots on the floor, and most of my clothes come out of the dryer and sit in a pile in the chair in the living room until I wear them again.
She’s coming over, so we can make dinner together, and I don’t want her to think I’m unable to run a vacuum.
Sue hides under the kitchen table while I furiously straighten up. Once the house is reasonably tidy, I go outside and fetch a couple of bundles of firewood and pile them on the stone hearth.
I take a shower and change into a pair of well-worn jeans and a white V-neck tee.
I hear her car pull up as I toss a few logs into the fireplace and top them with kindling. I manage to get the fire started before I hear her footfalls on the porch, and then I open the door to greet her.
Her arms are loaded down with grocery bags. I relieve her of them and walk them to the island.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get George,” she says, and I catch her before she makes it back out the door.
“Hi,” I say and lay a kiss on her lips.
“Hi yourself.”
“You sit down and make yourself comfortable. I’ll go fetch George,” I tell her as I guide her to the couch in front of the fire.
The weather took a turn the past few days, and the temperatures have been falling into the freezing numbers at night.
I slip on my moccasins that are by the door and run out to her car. George has her paws up on the dash, looking