Me And Mrs Jones

by Marie Rochelle

  Renee knew how to relate to a man her own age. They could share a common bond by sharing and discussing events from their past. But there were very few things that she and Travis could have a conversation about that didn’t involve a huge generation gap.

  “Stop doing what you’re doing,” Dana scolded as she got up from the bed. “I can already see your mind working overtime and I don’t want you doing that at all. Travis asked you out on a date because he finds you extremely attractive.”

  “Just go with it and let things grow and develop. I promise you that he’ll do everything tonight to make sure he gets second date from you. Remember, I told you that I know the look and Travis had the look.”

  Why did Dana have to be right? Renee thought to herself.

  Dana always seemed to know what was going on with her before she even uttered a word. Sometimes it felt like Dana knew her better than she knew herself. She guessed that was one of the reasons she had become such instant friends with her.

  “Fine,” she sighed “I won’t over think my date tonight. I’ll just have fun and try to forget about everything else.” Renee turned towards the mirror but spun back around when a thought crossed her mind. “Are you okay with this? I mean you did have a little bit of interest in Travis. Does it bother you that I’m going out on a date with him?”

  “No, not at all,” Dana assured her. “Travis has known me a little longer than he has you. If he wanted to go out on a date with me then he would have asked me a long time ago. Forget about me. Have fun tonight. I need to leave anyway. I’m going over to Cruz’s house tonight. I’m having dinner with him and his brother. You know we’re going to have too much fun.”

  Coming up to her, Dana gave her a quick hug. “Don’t allow this chance to slip through your fingers. Travis is a good guy. At least give him a chance to prove it to you. Every man isn’t Robert, so why keep giving your lousy ex-husband control over you? It’s your time to have fun and shine.”

  Stepping back from Dana, she smiled at her very opinionated friend. Dana was right. She was already thinking about how not to enjoy her date with Travis instead of allowing things just to happen.

  “Alright Mother, I won’t scare Travis away with me bringing memories of Robert and his horrible treatment of me. He’s out of my life and that is where he’ll stay.” Renee was confident enough to know that she wouldn’t go back on her word.

  “Excellent, Just remember as soon as you get home give me a call because I want to hear every single detail and I do mean every single detail.” Dana touched her on the shoulder. “You don’t have to walk me to the door, I know the way.” Walking past her, Dana headed out of the bedroom and a few minutes later Renee heard the door close downstairs.

  Facing the floor length mirror again, Renee rechecked her appearance one last time trying to get rid of the butterflies in her stomach. She ran her hands over the olive one shoulder dress that tied at the waist and stopped right below her knees.

  She had purchased this dress six months ago when she was in New York trying to get an artist’s work in her gallery. Unfortunately, she’d been too late and the painter turned down her offer. He informed her that he had already signed with a local gallery in New York blocks away from his condo.

  So, she decided an impromptu shopping trip might take away some of the sting of losing a client. Just as she was about to give up all hopes of finding the ‘perfect dress’, this stunning creation in the back of the shop caught her eye.

  The dress wasn’t overly seductive but it wasn’t matronly either, it held just enough sexiness to be eye-catching and appealing to a man of any age.

  When Dana was here, Renee had tried her best not to show how excited she was about her date with Travis, but she was thrilled to death. She guessed that she had done a good job, because Dana didn’t offer her any more advice about how to act. Honestly, she wasn’t in the mood for anymore guidance about how she should behave tonight.

  Yes, it had been a little while since she went out on a date. But she still knew the mechanics of what went on when a woman went out with a man. Travis might be younger but he was still a man.

  Her date with Travis tonight was her chance to cut loose and just have a good time. Nothing was going to hold her back. Everything was running smoothly at the gallery. With the addition of Travis’ paintings she now had enough for another small show for a selected clientele who were only involved in adding to their already huge collections of paintings.

  Right at this moment, Renee didn’t think her life could get any better than it already was. Moving closer to the mirror, she turned around and looked at the dress from the back making sure one final time that everything was in place.

  Liking what she saw, Renee slowly faced forward again and allowed all of the unnecessary built up energy to leave her body. This was her night! Once she walked out of that front door with Travis, she wasn’t going to allow anything to influence her mind with bad vibes.

  Ever since her divorce from her lying, cheating ex-husband Robert, she had always sought out perfection from the way she ran her gallery down to the clothes she wore. For some little reason, Renee believed that if she worked hard enough and did her best somehow the perfect man would fall in her lap or Robert might see his mistake and come back to her.

  However, she quickly came to her senses realizing that she didn’t want Robert back. She was too much woman for him. The next man she got into a relationship with had to walk side by side with her and not want her to be a step behind him.

  She knew there was no such thing as a perfect man. Renee only dreamed the man who was the perfect fit for her was out there searching for her. She wasn’t dependent on a man, but she did love how it felt to be in a relationship.

  Renee learned rather suddenly after her divorce how she loved the simplest things in life. She didn’t have to show off to impress anyone. If a person liked her then fine and it they didn’t then she was okay with that too. All that mattered was how she felt about herself each and every night when she laid her head down on the pillow.

  Could Travis be the man she had been looking for all along? Renee wondered about this as she left her bedroom making her way down the hallway into the kitchen. She wasn’t quite ready to let her mind go there yet.

  Reaching into the kitchen cabinet, she pulled out a glass and filled it with water from the sink. After taking a long satisfyingly drink, she rested her back against the sink and thought about what would happen once her first date with Travis was over.

  Would this date with Travis lead to many more?

  Intelligent and interesting men were the ones who attracted her mind the most and Travis definitely had abundance of both coursing through his well-built body. She knew Travis would be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with her during dinner.

  Renee paused for a minute with the glass halfway to her mouth. Wait a minute. What if she was wrong about him? What if Travis was all talk and no action? Would he drop the ball on her when she least expected it?

  No...Travis might be worse than that. He could be the kind of guy that when he was out in a crowded restaurant would be a show-off or worse, brag about himself so much that it came across as overly self-important.

  All kinds of thoughts raced through Renee’s mind as she took another sip of water before she finally shut her mind down. She was doing it again. This thing she promised herself not to do when it came to her date with Travis. She was envisioning the worst before the date even happened. During her conversations with Travis, he never once came off as any of those things. So, why would he take a drastic change on their date tonight?

  Usually she spent so much time giving things around her so much attention that she missed the forest for the trees; however, tonight none of that was going to happen. Renee promised herself to take things slowly with Travis.

  .No thinking about tomorrow or the day after that.

  “I can do this,” Renee said to herself as she set the glass inside the sink. Taking a deep brea
th, she shoved her doubt and nervousness to the back of her mind because there was no place for it tonight.

  Squaring her shoulders, Renee walked out of the kitchen and headed for the living room just as the door bell rang letting her know Travis was right in time. She stopped in her tracks as her heart sped up in her chest so fast that she felt like she had just come from running a marathon.

  “Okay, this is it,” Renee whispered to herself as she smoothed her hands over the dress and then slowly made her way to the front door. Without giving herself a chance to find a way to back out, she wrapped her hand around the cool metal doorknob and opened the door.

  Chapter Ten

  Instead of ringing the doorbell when he first arrived at Renee’s house, Travis decided to stand on her front step for a minute or two so he could get his racing thoughts pulled together. He didn’t want to say anything dumb to make Renee regret agreeing to this date.

  However, his entire well thought out speech disappeared from his mind the instant he laid eyes on Renee’s killer figure in the body hugging dress. She looked like a flawless gift waiting to be opened by him.

  Travis never thought Renee could ever look more beautiful than when he first laid eyes on her at the café, but she truly looked stunning in front of him right now. He almost wanted them to stay at her house, so no other man would get a chance to look at her.

  “You look breathtaking,” Travis said as his eyes wandered over Renee’s body in the olive colored dress. He had always been a fan of the color green, but he was even a bigger fan of it now.

  “Thank you.” Renee opened the door wider. “Why don’t you come in?”

  “Thanks.” Travis moved past Renee and went into the house. He waited until she closed the door before he handed her his present. “These are for you. I wasn’t quite sure which ones to get, so I finally decided on these.”

  “Yellow roses are my favorite,” Renee said, taking the flowers from him. She took a whiff smiling at him over the top. “Please have a seat and let me put these in some water. Then we can go.”

  Walking past him, Renee went into the kitchen but instead of sitting down like Renee asked he followed behind her. He wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to see her toned ass in the dress.

  Standing halfway inside the kitchen, Travis watched as Renee found a vase in the cabinet and took care of the flowers. He loved how her beautiful face lit up with a huge smile when her eyes landed on them. He knew right then he had made the right choice.

  “You have a beautiful home. I love the Spanish decor. How long have you lived here?” Travis asked as Renee placed the yellow roses down on a table in the breakfast nook by the back door.

  “I lived here with my ex-husband. I got it in the divorce since it was the only thing I wanted from Robert,” Renee said, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

  Travis hated hearing about Renee’s ex-husband. After their kiss at the gallery, he wanted to know more about her so he asked around a little and found out a lot about her ex-husband and his treatment of her.

  What man in his right mind would have an affair on a woman as sexy as Renee?

  Tonight, Travis wanted to work hard to show Renee that all men weren’t as unworthily as her ex-husband. He wondered how she was going to like his surprise for their first date. Several ideas for the spot had crossed his mind and then he’d finally decided on this location.

  A bad first date location was what could make or break getting a second date and Travis knew he was going to want a second date with Renee.

  Easing across the room, he closed the space between him and Renee until he was within touching distance of her. He was trying to keep his distance but he had to touch her or he wouldn’t be able to make it through the date.

  “You have something right here,” Travis said, touching the corner of Renee’s mouth with his index finger.

  “What is it?” Renee’s soft hand reached out to brush it away, but he grabbed her finger before she could make contact.

  “My lips,” he whispered then kissed her.

  Renee wrapped her arms around his neck as he continued to kiss her. Slipping his tongue between her full lips, Travis sucked Renee’s tongue back in his mouth loving how she readily followed his every move like she had been starving for another kiss from him.

  Her reaction made him feel ten feet tall; it showed him that the bundle of sexiness in his arms craved him just as much as he desired her.

  The memory of their kiss from this morning lingered in his head so much that he couldn’t even paint anything when he had gotten back to his campsite. All he could think about was getting back to Renee, in hopes they might end up like this again.

  Travis wanted Renee with a fever that shocked him, but he didn’t want to move too fast and scare her away before whatever was going on between them got started. Gently, he eased his mouth away from hers and rained a series of kisses at the side of her mouth and along her neck.

  “Renee, as much as I would love to continue this,” he whispered against her silky vanilla scented skin, “we need to go or we’ll be late for our date.” Travis eased back from her soft body staring down into her upturned face. The look of desire in her eyes pleased him.

  The tip of Renee’s tongue peeked out from between her teeth and she ran it across her lips. The innocent movement made Travis’ cock jump and swell.

  The idea of staying here and making out with Renee some more crossed his mind, but he really wanted to surprise her with their first date. He would have time again later before the night was over for him to have another taste of her.

  “Are you ready to go?” Travis asked, touching the side of Renee’s face with his fingertips.

  “Yes, I just need to get my stuff out of the living room on the way out,” Renee answered, taking a step back from him.

  “Let’s go beautiful,” Travis said, grabbing Renee by the hand. “Your night of surprises is waiting for you.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “How did you do all of this?” The shock was loud and clear in her soft voice.

  Renee stood frozen in the park as her eyes stared at the twinkling lights hung on the low branches of the trees. The entire patio was set up for a romantic meal for two. Music played softly in the background while a chef was busy at the side preparing their food. She took her time taking in everything.

  “I did a painting for the man who’s the groundskeeper and he opened it to me for tonight,” Travis asked as he came up to her. “I wanted to do something special for our first date. I didn’t think you’d have ever eaten a romantic dinner by a pond, so I tried my best to make it happen.”

  Spinning around, Renee smiled up at Travis. No one had ever done something so unique and touching for her ever. Not even her ex-husband Robert had thought about doing something like this for her.

  Travis was right. This would be a night that would stay in her mind for the rest of her life.

  “Travis, this is stunning. I will remember this forever,” she said, glancing around the area again.

  Pulling her to him, Travis ran his hand down the side of her neck. “I want to do a lot of amazing things with you Renee. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to you, but I’m not going to fight it. I’ll let it happen and see where we end up. Are you willing to take the same plunge as me, or am I in this alone?”

  The suggestion intrigued her making Renee wonder when the last time was that she’d truly taken pleasure in being in the company of a man. She had sensed there was something special about Travis from the very beginning, but was she ready to explore it to the fullest?

  Travis looked as if he was battling himself not to ask her the question again; however, what surprised Renee the most was her own driving need to agree to what he wanted. For the past months, she had been so swamped with work that she never thought there would be any time for romance in her busy schedule.

  The thought barely crossed her mind before another followed. Could she handle work and trying to date Travis? An even more terr
ifying realization washed over Renee. She wasn’t scared to give it a shot. If it didn’t work out, so what, but she wasn’t about to lose this chance. Sometimes things only came by once in lifetime and this was going to be her chance.

  “I’m willing to take the plunge with you,” Renee answered. “Just don’t move too fast. I really want us to get to know each other.”

  A faint light twinkled in Travis’ eyes as he grinned at her. “I’ll try my best to take it slow with some things, but kissing isn’t one of them. I love how your mouth tastes. I want to sample it as much as possible.” Lowering his head, Travis kissed her again to prove his point.

  The soft kiss consumed Renee making her wrap her arms around Travis’ wide shoulders. She didn’t think about anything else but getting lost in the kiss and how it felt to have Travis’ arms around her.

  A voice interrupted them. “Excuse me, sir.”

  “I think someone wants our attention,” Travis whispered, staring down at her.

  “I do too.” Renee smiled.

  Turning her around in his arms, Travis hugged her to his body as he looked at the waiter. She was guessing their food might be ready.

  “Yes, Antonio,” Travis said.

  Chef Antonio smiled at her then addressed Travis. “Your meal is ready and already placed on the table as you requested. The dessert is in the container on the table and the wine is chilling in ice by the side of the table. If you don’t need me for anything else, I’ll be leaving.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Travis whispered in her ear before moving away.”

  Standing back, Renee watched Travis as he walked away with Antonio to take care of whatever was left for their date. She took a whiff of the air loving the smell of freshly cooked food that filled it. She was such a sucker for a well-prepared meal. She had skills in the kitchen, but sometimes it did feel good to have someone else cooking for you.