Mike pulled up his car to the front of a modest house. Amanda looked at it, the place was nice. Two stories, painted white, with black trim. Nothing outrageous, not that she would have expected that. She just hadn’t been able to really picture what his place would look like.
“Come on inside, I’ll give you the three-cent tour.”
“Three-cent tour?” Amanda asked.
“I honestly have no clue, but I thought it sounded better than I’ll show you around.” Mike laughed.
They walked in the front door to an open living room. It had plush and comfortable-looking brown couches, and the carpet was a light brown. He had a few pictures on the walls, they were all nature shots, showing animals in their natural habitat.
He pulled her into the hallway that led to the kitchen. She looked around, it was modestly decorated, and not much color there either.
“Come here, I’ll show you the greenhouse that I built last year. I grow herbs in it for cooking.” Mike led her out the back door from the kitchen.
She looked at the greenhouse that was fairly large, and appeared to be well-built, not that she knew much about construction.
“You did it by yourself?” she asked.
“No, a few of my friends helped me, one is an architect, and another owns a construction business. So, we made sure it was up to code, and wouldn’t need to be knocked down.”
He pulled open the door and she saw many green plants growing. “So what herbs do you have?”
“Parsley, mint, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, and I just planted some chives and tarragon last week. They haven’t sprouted yet, but I’m hoping they will. I hope to try and use them in a variety of recipes. I like to think of myself as a bit of an amateur chef.”
“Really? That’s interesting. I don’t think I would have ever imagined you were into cooking.”
“Why not? I love food, and I love to try new things.” He smiled broadly at her, the look on his face hinting to something besides food.
She blushed. “I know… but you are in great shape, and a lot of people who cook, well, I always seem to think they weigh more.”
“I also exercise a lot, so that I can keep my weight down. My cooking is the type with a bunch of butter and other things that will make it unhealthy. But I try and make healthy meals that are low-fat, and low-calorie, but big in taste. I know it’s hard to imagine, after all the food we just ate.
“But, I do watch what I eat, normally, and the only thing that was super fattening was the dessert. I don’t eat those often myself. But, I really wanted you to try it,” Mike explained.
“You are a man of many talents. What else do I not know about you?”
He laughed. “Stay longer, and you’ll learn all you want to know about me!”
She looked at him and rolled her eyes. “You aren’t going to give up on that, are you?”
“Not until you agree to it!” he admitted.
“When we get back, I’ll see how much the cost will be, and talk to Janice and my parents. I need to make sure they are able to take care of my cat until I return.”
“You have a cat?”
“Yes, she’s been with me for around twenty years now.”
“Wow that is a long time.”
“I rescued her, she was thrown out of a car. I was walking one night in my neighborhood, and I saw a plastic bag on the side of the road. It was sitting in a rain puddle, it was monsoon season. I saw the bag move as I walked closer, then I heard a tiny meowing sound. I had to look, and there was an adorable little black and white kitten.
“Sadly, her jaw had been broken when they threw her from the car. I couldn’t leave her to die. So, I took her home, washed her up, and took her to the vet the next day.”
“You are a sweetheart, not a lot of people would have done that.”
“There are plenty of animal lovers out there, I’m not special. But, I do love this cat, she’s grown up with me, and is now quite old.”
“What did you name her?”
“It isn’t very creative. I call her Bow Tie.”
“Oh, that’s cute. I had a cat at one time, but she died about two years ago. I haven’t been able to bring myself to get another one. However, if I found one that needed to be rescued, like you did, I would take it in a heartbeat.”
“I knew I liked you for a reason!” She kissed his cheek.
“Let’s go see the rest of the house.” He led her back into the kitchen. “Come this way.” He took a left down another hall. “This is the second bathroom.” He opened the door.
She peered in, no color, but a simple bathroom stood in front of her. “You don’t do a lot with color do you?”
“No, I’m color blind, so I’m horrible with colors. If I tried to do something, I’m sure it would be all different versions of a color, but none of them would match, and it would look very bad.” He laughed.
“Still another thing I learned about you. Interesting. How do you do graphic design so well, being color blind?”
“Simple. If you’ve seen most of my work, it is black and white. The few colors I use, I don’t use a lot, and very limited.”
“Hmm, makes sense. But, what if someone asks you for a colorful design?”
“Then I give it to my other workers. None of them are color blind, and I’ve made sure I only hire the best. That one guy, Matt, in class, he’s coming to work for me next month. He’s truly brilliant. Did you see his homework? I’m sure the colors were most likely more stunning to the normal eye,” Mike commented.
“Oh yes, it was fantastic. But, you acted like you could see it so well. How do you do that?” she asked.
“Well, I’m not completely color blind, but my vision is limited. I still see colors, they are just muted, and some don’t look as bright as they would to you. So, it’s not as bad as being color blind. I guess it would be more like color challenged.” He laughed.
Amanda laughed. “You are an amazing man.”
“It is about time that you noticed that! This is the bedroom and master bathroom.” He walked into a room at the end of the hall.
“Oh, I love the tub, is that a Jacuzzi?” She peered into the master bathroom.
“Yes, you want to take a bath together? We can put bubbles in it if you want.”
“How did you know I love bubble baths?”
“Don’t most women? Plus, the Jacuzzi tub is perfect for mixing up the bubbles and giving you a heap of them, with very little soap used.”
“Well, when should we be back to the hotel?”
“We have time for a bath, we’ll go back at around midnight; the traffic should be lighter.”
“Sure, how can I pass up the chance?”
“Okay, I’ll start the water and put the bubbles in. You, my dear, can just undress and look sexy for me.”
She smiled at him. “So, this was just another ploy to get me naked?”
“If I could, I’d have you walking around naked at all times. Of course, I would never get anything done. On second thought, we’d have to pick times for that, and I’d be sure to enjoy them!”
He turned on the water and poured in the bubbles, and a lavender scent hit her nose immediately. “Oh… I love lavender!”
“Good thing I had that for bubbles.”
“I have to ask, why would a man have lavender bubble bath?” She wondered if they were from a woman who he had over before.
“Like I said, the Jacuzzi bath is perfect for bubbles. Don’t share my secret though, I know it’s not very masculine of me. But it takes me back to when I was a younger boy. I loved bubbles and my mother would always fill the tub up to the brim with them. I don’t think that bubbles should be limited for just girls.”
“You are right, why can’t everyone enjoy them!”
She undressed and walked around the bedroom. The bed was huge and had a canopy over it. She lay back on the bed and sighed. It was comfortable, the mattress conformed to her body perfectly. It felt like she was wrapped in a silk glove, thanks to the silk sheets he had on the bed. “I love this bed!” she yelled out to him.
He walked out of the bathroom. “You do look wonderful on it. If you stay, you’ll be able to enjoy that bed!” He laughed.
“I already promised to talk to my parents and Janice tonight. I won’t make up my mind until I make sure Bow Tie will be taken care of, and that the ticket change isn’t too pricey.”
“I already told you I would pay for the difference. It doesn’t matter how much it is. I’m not a poor man, I have plenty of money, and I will pay for this, no matter how much it is,” he said firmly.
“I still have to make sure that they are able to watch Bow Tie. If not my parents, Janice. But I can’t leave the cat to fend for itself. That would be cruel, she trusts me to make sure she has food and water. I have to ensure her welfare while I’m gone,” Amanda said.
“I know, sweetie. I don’t mean to push this so much. I just really want you to realize how much you mean to me.” Mike pushed her down on the bed and kissed her deeply. “The bath should be about ready.” He held his hand out and helped her up.
The bubbles had almost run over the sides of the tub, there were so many. Amanda smiled and jumped up and down like a little girl. “So many of them.”
“I put a little more in than I normally would. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of bubbles.” Mike smiled.
She kissed him, and he helped her into the tub. She watched as he undressed. His chest was almost bare, with a sparse amount of hair that covered it. He was well-built. She hadn’t really concentrated on his body much, well… one part, before this.
She could tell that he worked out, his stomach wasn’t a six-pack, but it was flat. His arms held just the right definition of toned muscle, he looked very trim and fit. Not the type of guy she had imagined would go for a bit of a bigger woman like her.
Again, not that she was fat, she was fit. But she held a bit of extra weight here and there on her body. Her butt was larger, and no matter how much she tried to work on it to slim it down, nothing had ever seemed to help.
He lowered his pants, her eyes were drawn to his underwear, which showed the erection that was hidden behind them. She sucked in a deep breath.
She looked away for a second, then couldn’t resist, and turned back to view him as he removed all his clothing. He revealed the hardness that she had come to know quite well. She licked her lips. She had never made love in a bubble bath.
Mike crawled in the tub and pulled her over to him. He kissed her neck and murmured sweet nothings into her ear. “I really hope that your parents or Janice are able to watch the cat. I can’t think of a better way to end every night than this. I can take a nice warm bath with you and make sweet slow love to you.” He kissed her neck.
Amanda leaned back against his hard chest. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feelings of closeness between them. She felt his fingers as they ran over her body, under the bubbles. Suddenly, he took a bunch of the bubbles and blew them into her face.
She laughed and grabbed a huge handful of bubbles and threw them at him. The bubble fight ensued and soon there were bubbles all over the floor of the bathroom. They laughed as they continued to try and get as many bubbles on each other as they could.
“Okay, you win.” She took a deep breath as she laughed. “I can’t fight anymore, I’m crying from laughing so hard.”
He chuckled. “That was far too easy to win!” He threw another handful of bubbles at her.
She shook her head. “Just how old are you?” She couldn’t hold back the laughter, though.
“Old enough.” He pulled her to him and kissed her.
“I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a bubble bath quite this much. But all the bubbles are on the floor now. We’ll have to clean them up,” Amanda said.
“I got it, you just enjoy the Jacuzzi and let it relax you.” He got out of the tub.
She watched him as he mopped up the water and the bubbles. Soon her eyes were drifting shut. The warm water, and the circulation of the streams of jets, hit her in all the right spots. Making muscles that had been sore, relax. He’d given her quite a workout over the last couple of days.
“Hey Amanda, time to go.” He woke her up. “Sorry, I’d let you stay in there longer. I know how relaxing it is.”
“You didn’t get to enjoy it as much though. I enjoyed it plenty. Plus, I’m hoping I’ll be able to share this tub with you many more times.”
“Me too, actually.”
He helped her out of the tub and dried her off with a towel.
“The towel is warm,” she commented.
“I put it in the dryer to warm it up, so that when you stepped out of the tub, you wouldn’t be too cold.”
“That is so sweet of you.” She kissed him.
Amanda allowed him to dry her off, then took the towel and dried her hair as much as she could. It hadn’t gotten too wet, but she didn’t want to go out into the rainy weather with a wet head. The last thing she wanted was to get sick.
They dressed in silence and she thought about everything new she had learned about Mike today. She also tried to figure out if her parents or Janice would give her any grief about staying longer.
The biggest issue she had thought of was trying to be good with him paying the fee to change the ticket. She felt as if she would be taking advantage of his good nature and she didn’t want to feel that way.
Even though he had stated many times he was okay with paying for it, and wanted to, she still felt like it wasn’t right. But, he’s the one who’s asking you to stay, her mind reminded her. Amanda wasn’t sure if that was enough, though.
She really did want to stay longer. She would love staying in this house with him. Being able to cuddle up with him in his huge bed, and sleep. Or taking a bath each night, with bubbles, in that enormous tub. These were all of the things that tempted her to say yes.
Amanda knew that her fear that he wasn’t completely serious was holding her back. But, she laughed at the stupidity of that thought. He’d made it clear many times over how he felt. He was already talking about visiting her in Phoenix. How much more committed did she need him to be?
She shook her head. She’d always been a person who carefully analyzed a situation and made an educated decision. No guesswork would be involved in her decision. To her, this was closer to guessing than an educated decision, though.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as he opened the car door for her.
“About staying,” she admitted.
“Good, have you come any closer to a decision?”
“I have to make that call first. But, if they say yes, I will most likely extend the trip.”
“Wonderful. For how long?” he asked.
“It depends on how long they are willing to take care of Bow Tie...”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” In her mind, she worked out the logistics of this decision, and if it was wise or not. She was almost positive that her parents would agree to keep Bow Tie longer. They loved the cat. Was this a smart choice for her emotionally? Staying longer would guarantee that her feelings for him would be sealed, and she would either love him madly, or have found something she didn’t like, and possibly ruin the memory of what they had.
Do you like him? she asked herself.
Yes, she thought and smiled. He was caring, romantic, amazing in bed, intelligent, and funny. All good things. But, no one is perfect, and so far, you’ve not seen his flaws, they have to be there. The side of her mind that liked to point out the negative spoke up.
Not all things that were negative would be bad, she thought. Maybe he liked to wake up later than she did, would that be so bad? she thought. No, it wouldn’t really matter to her. She could do several things, lay beside him and study his features to memorize him, for when she left. Or she could get up and do work. There were so many things that made her want to stay, and very few that made her want to leave.