Two weeks ago she had seen him - her high school crush. She was walking the dog and he'd been running. He nearly passed her by, but the woman stopped in the middle of the road, mouth agape, likely caught his attention. He slowed and gave the cursory polite nod before recognition kicked in. He stopped to say hello. She offered him water. She watched unabashedly as he drank. His skin was covered in a fine sweat, just enough to make her pay attention to arms and shoulders and thighs and.... His breathing wasn't labored, but quicker than if he'd been out for a stroll. Good god, he looked good. She simply stood in the road and admired the man.
Tall, dark, handsome -- more so now than he had been as a kid. He had teased her in high school with charming smiles and appreciative looks, but he never took it any further. She was too shy to encourage him. Now, nearly two decades later, she was still at a loss for words when faced with this man. Their conversation was brief and polite. They spoke of family and careers and how long it had been. Then he was running, long strides in the opposite direction while she stood in the road with a pink blush staining her cheeks and an impatient dog pulling at the leash.
Thoughts of him lingered since they bumped into each other. She remembered the boy from all those years ago. She considered the man he was now. Mostly she just kept imaging him running. Off all the things to fantasize about, this isn't what she would have picked. Never the less, it what she saw when she closed her eyes. That long frame and gorgeous skin. Muscles bunching and contracting. Mmmmm.
Now she was surrounded by friends on a rare evening out without the kids. The night was a celebration of a friend's birthday. They had taken over a park and there were people everywhere. She stood by her husband's side and smile and laughed and thought about the ridiculously brief encounter with a guy she once knew. She had to banish him from her thoughts. Rum, she thought. Rum would help. She murmured something to her husband about finding a drink and slipped away.
She stopped by the picnic table that had been designated as the bar and procured the self prescribed rum and coke. Instead of returning to her husband's side, she wandered through the crowd. She greeted friends and acknowledged smiles from those she didn't know as well. She paused to watch a group of slightly drunken party goers attempt to start a volleyball game. The task of organizing teams seemed to baffle them. She was laughing at their antics when she felt someone close behind her. She turned. Tall, dark and handsome.
"Hi," he said simply. He smiled. She did her best not to swoon.
"Hello. What are you doing here?"
"Party." He gestured at the crowd around them. "I'm friends with the birthday boy. And you?"
She nodded. "Same." At a loss for what to say, she sipped at her drink and looked everywhere but his eyes. Eye contact would give her away; he'd surely see the all the lustful salacious things she wanted to do... He looked fabulous again. Simple white tee shirt and jeans. He looked like the classic rebel without a cause. His jeans had settled low, a thick black belt keeping them from slipping lower. She wasn't so sure she liked that belt. He cleared his throat and she realized she had likely been focused on his buckle, willing it to come loose, for a just a bit too long. She bravely raised her gaze to his.
He was watching her with those dark coffee eyes. Her body reacted -- a quick, hot rush that pulsed through her, straight to her core. She wanted to touch, to slip her fingers into that low waist band... to slide her open palms over that warm tanned skin on his belly.
