Chapter 8

Kevin

Taking a girl jogging and then out to dinner while still in our workout clothes wasn’t exactly my best dating game. But Jenna seemed skittish about hanging out with me, and I was afraid if I gave her too much space, she wouldn’t agree to see me again. She already looked like she was ready to run in the opposite direction at any moment.

“How does Super Duper Burgers sound?” I asked as I let my hand grab onto hers while we were walking from the waterfront into town.

It was a perfect day for a walk, although I did enjoy watching Jenna running. Her perfect formed ass was a pleasant surprise in her tight black leggings and tank top that barely hit her waist. Most dancers I knew didn’t have curves like hers; it was a huge reason I’d never ended up dating a dancer before. I liked my women with curves in all the right places.

My attraction to Jenna was about more than just her figure, though. She had a calmness about her that most women just didn’t have around me. Plus, the fact that she didn’t seem to care who I was or how much money I had, that was an amazing feeling. I loved that she was pretending to be uninterested in me, yet everything about her body language was telling me that she wanted me right then and there.

Obviously, I couldn’t avoid people hearing all the dirt about my past or looking up the mistakes I’d made that were well documented. But from what I could tell so far, Jenna didn’t seem to care about any of that. She had some other trepidation about what was going on between the two of us, though, something that was holding her back, and I was determined to figure out what it was.

“That sounds like a good option. Is the nearest one on Market Street?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s a bit of a hike, but we can stop off anywhere else if you’d like and rest. Are you in a hurry? Any specific time we need to be done by?”

“No, I like that one. It’s in a great neighborhood, and they always give out extra fries. It’s perfect. Let’s go for it,” she said as she smiled back at me. “I don’t have anything going on today. My life is rather boring.”

Her smile radiated warmth and gentleness. Even thought she seemed to have a lot of unease at first, she was warming up to me and had even been holding my hand for the last twenty minutes or so while we were walking.

“I seriously doubt your life is boring. But we can talk about that more another day,” I said as we continued walking into town. “Should we walk through the Palace of Fine Arts?” I asked as I pointed to the beautiful gardens in front of us.

“Yeah, I haven’t been there in ages. Probably since I was in high school.”

“That doesn’t seem that it was very long ago,” I said with a wink.

“I’m not that young. I just turned twenty-four,” she protested as if that was old, and twenty-four was an age that I would identify as old. It was hard not to laugh at her, but she was serious, so I tried to keep a straight face.

“Yeah, that isn’t a good argument. You were in high school, what … six years ago? I’m sorry, but if it’s less than double digits, you are losing this battle.”

“Fine, it wasn’t that long ago,” she gave in and laughed. “I just feel really old for my age. Most of my friends are going out partying and staying out all weekend; meanwhile, I’m home eating Ramon noodles and watching HGTV.”

“I remember those days fondly. Plus, I bet since you’re at the studio all day long dancing, it’s probably exhausting, and you just want to put your feet up,” I added. “I couldn’t imagine working out all day long. I enjoy my time at the gym, but at some point, I’m done and want to sit at my desk and get the work finished for the day.”

I remembered my sister always rubbing her feet after she had been at a full evening of dance class. The shoes she had to wear were impossibly uncomfortable. I could only imagine what life must be like for someone who was dancing all day every day. Jenna’s feet must hurt her all the time. I made a mental note to give her a foot massage the first chance I got.

As the thought crossed my mind, I felt like a total idiot for suggesting we go for a long walk through the city. Jenna had just finished a whole day of dancing; she had agreed to go for a run with me, and now I was basically dragging her four miles into the city for a mediocre hamburger. I felt like a giant ass.

“Yeah, being on my feet all day can get tiring,” she started to say and then seemed to be searching for what she wanted to say next. “But I enjoy being in the studio, and I love my job,” she added.

“I’m sorry for suggesting that we walk to dinner. I can get us a car. It was insensitive of me. I totally forgot how much damage you dancers were doing to your feet.”

“No, I’m fine. Walking is okay. Look at these comfortable shoes I have on.” She laughed and pointed to her Nike’s.

“I remember my sister had some ballet shoes that had this hard flat part on the end of them. What are those called? Do you wear those a lot? I can’t even imagine trying to dance on your tiptoes like that. It must be so hard,” I said as I tried to find some common ground to talk with Jenna.

My words seemed to ramble on a little, and my normal confidence when talking to women just wasn’t there that afternoon. Jenna threw me off my game. She made me feel unsteady in an incredible and totally new way.

“They are called pointe shoes. Basically, they are supposed to make dancers appear weightless. I don’t actually dance in them much anymore. Like our dance for the fundraiser, we often do contemporary routines where we use normal ballet shoes or go barefoot.”

“So you’re okay with walking? Your feet don’t hurt? I really am fine with getting us a ride,” I said.

“Yeah, I’m capable of walking,” she said with a smile. “So tell me more about your upcoming retirement. What else are you going to do with yourself?” Jenna clearly didn’t want to keep talking about dancing, her feet or walking, and I welcomed the change of subject.

“I’m planning a big charity fundraiser and thinking about starting my own organization. I just don’t know which area I’d like to concentrate my efforts on. I love the arts, but I really do enjoy helping kids, the homeless, veterans, I mean the list goes on and on. I want to do as much good as possible.”

“Why do you have to choose?” she asked as we walked into the outside theater area of the Palace of Fine Arts.

Because it was such a nice day out, there were a lot of people who had a similar idea to walk through the Palace. The monument was such a beautiful place to be, and I honestly couldn’t have planned a more perfect place to sit and talk with Jenna. We grabbed a bench next to the building, and she finally released my hand as we watched the people walking by.

Her fingers sat on my leg, and I tried not to reach over and grab them again. There was a constant pull from inside of me to get closer and closer to Jenna. It didn’t matter that we had just been holding hands. It didn’t matter that she was only inches away from me and had her hand on my leg; I wanted more. I consistently wanted more and more of Jenna.

There was a couple in their wedding attire who were in the midst of a photo shoot. Both Jenna and I gazed over at them in silence as we watched their interaction for a moment. I couldn’t imagine ever being that in love with someone. I knew it happened to people; I just had no experience with that sort of thing myself. Their eyes locked onto one another as if not a single other person existed in the entire universe. It was moving to watch the young couple and how much in love they were.

“I’m not sure why I have to pick a specific cause.” I laughed as I thought about it. “I guess I could think of my own organization that maybe helped lots of different people. I was going to do a big event over New Year’s Eve, but I think I’d like to do something sooner.”

“What sort of event were you going to have?” she asked as she turned to look at me, her eyes lit up with excitement.

Jenna was engaged in my idea and totally present with me as she asked questions. I could tell she liked this idea of me starting my own foundation, or perhaps she was just a really good actress. Ed and I had barely talked about the idea, so as I began with my ideas, I realized not everything had been thoroughly thought out. Possibly because it had all just been a spur of the moment idea, and now talking to Jenna was making it more of a reality.

“I was going to have a big event at the Playboy Mansion …”

“What? No, you can’t do that.” She stopped me. “You can’t have your first big event in Los Angeles when your home is here. No, don’t do that.”

“Okay, why don’t you tell me how you really feel,” I said playfully. “It was just an idea.”

“Sorry, I should hear you out first. Why are you waiting until New Year’s?” she asked probingly as she leaned in toward me. “When is your company selling?”

“In a couple of weeks, it will be officially sold, although I’ll stay around for a few months. I don’t know why I thought New Year’s would be good, maybe just because it’s a good time to have a party. I want it to be a big event and tons of fun. Not stuffy and boring like a lot of charity events that I go to.”

“So have your party here in San Francisco in a couple weeks. It could be a celebration. Maybe your entrance into the non-profit world. Or just pick a few charities you really like and have them be your beneficiaries. It’s just supposed to be a test for what you want to do later, right?”

“Yes,” I said as I took in her ideas in utter awe. “I like this plan. But can a charity event really be put together in a couple of weeks? That seems pretty ambitious.”

This girl hardly knew me, and I’d done a rather horrible job explaining my idea for a charity. Yet, she seemed to understand exactly what I wanted to do. She was right. I didn’t want to throw the event in Los Angeles; those celebrities would come to me if I invited them.

My charity work was important, and San Francisco was my home, so that was where I was going to have my party. Maybe I’d even have the party at my house. God knows I had plenty of room there.

“Your house, you should just throw the party at your house,” Jenna said as if she had just read my mind.

“That was exactly what I was just thinking. How did you know?”

“I’m a mind reader,” she teased. “It makes sense. You don’t seem to use most of your house. It would be easy to have a party planner come in there and set everything up. Do you have an assistant or someone who could get the invitations out for you?”

“Yeah, I have someone at the office who could do that.”

“Then it’s decided; you’re having a charity event at your house. What is your theme going to be?” Jenna asked as if I had any idea what I was doing.

She had a huge smile, and I couldn’t help smiling in return. The softness of the way she looked at me urged me to be the best man I could around her. I didn’t want to be a guy she was willing to give up on. I couldn’t just be some jerk who she didn’t want to give her phone number to or who she snuck away from in the early hours of the morning. This girl was going to take more work than that, and I was up for that challenge.

“Will you go to the event as my date?” I asked Jenna.

“Maybe, it matters what the theme is?” She smiled back at me.

“I like formal events. I’d like to have an old-fashioned ball. Everyone in their tuxedos, the women in their fancy dresses; I think that would be good. Is that a theme, though?”

We both laughed a little, but she didn’t say yes to my offer yet. Jenna was holding back. She seemed to have lots to say but was always trying not to say it.

“Maybe you could call it ‘Star Gazing, A Black Tie Affair’,” Jenna said as she stared at the couple getting their photos taken. “You could have a star theme and invite your celebrity friends and even have your front driveway turned into a red carpet. Maybe your own little version of the Playboy Manson.”

“Yeah, that sounds fantastic.”

“What are your three favorite charities? You could have something special set up outside where people could bid on silent auction items for each of the charities.”

“Are you sure you are a ballet dancer?” I teased.

“Of course,” she said and looked angrily at me. “Why would you ask that?”

Jenna’s face went white at the accusation. I was only teasing her; she was obviously very organized and had wonderful ideas for the fundraiser. She might have made a good event planner or something like that. I absolutely didn’t mean any sort of disrespect by my comment.

There was new tension between us now, and it was all because of my comment. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do or say to rectify the situation. Sometimes I just blurted things out when they came to my mind. I had been trying to give her a compliment about her party planning skills, but obviously I’d hit some sort of nerve, and I felt horrible about it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. What I meant was that you seem to be really good at planning things and have great creative ideas. You would be an excellent party planner. I wish I could hire you to help with my project. Did you help with the ballet event?”

“Yeah, I did some of the work and helped with the choreography,” Jenna said as her smile softened again. “Sorry if I jumped down your throat; I just get a lot of people who don’t understand my job. Choreography is one of the big parts of what I do, and my boss had me doing a lot of the party planning too. She’s hard to get along with, though.”

“Cassandra? Yeah, she seems like a hard lady to like.”

“You think so too?”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Are there people who actually like her? Because I can’t imagine she even has friends. She’s nasty to nearly everyone. Unless you have money, then she pretends to be nice.”

“Wow, I thought it was only me and the other dancers who saw that,” Jenna said with a bit of relief.

“It’s hard to hide a cold heart,” I added.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief as she quickly moved past the comment and was pleasant with me almost instantly. One of my biggest turn-offs from women was when they held onto things and continued to bring it up over and over again. It was as if I couldn’t apologize enough for them to ever be satisfied.

We are all human, and I tried to accept people’s apologies for what they were and not dwell on things; I expected the same courtesy from the people in my life. So far, it appeared that Jenna may have a similar philosophy.

“Should we continue on to our burger date?” I asked as I held my hand out and stood in front of Jenna.

It was sort of a test to see if she was really willing to forgive and forget so quickly. As she grabbed my hand and held onto it, I couldn’t have been any happier. The laid-back personality she had was combined with a sweetness and honesty that I’d been looking for in a woman. I wasn’t sure I even knew that was what I was looking for until I had Jenna standing right there in front of me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jenna asked as her face flushed red, and she shyly looked away from me.

“Like what?” I teased as I pulled her close to me. “How am I looking at you?”

Her body was soft as I held her next to me. I groaned with longing as her breasts pressed against my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss them. When she was this close to me, it made my whole body go on alert. I throbbed thinking about what she was like in bed and how much more amazing a second time would be now that I had gotten to know her even more.

I imagined the taste of her skin as my lips moved over every inch of her. Sooner or later, I was going to have her in my bed again, and this time, she wasn’t going to be running off early in the morning. I would make sure her legs were too weak from all the orgasms she was going to have all night long.

“You’re looking at me like you did when we were in bed,” she said without looking at me. “Like you want to devour me.”

“Because that’s what I’m thinking about right now,” I admitted. “I’m thinking about kissing every inch of your body. Thinking of your sweet moans of pleasure as I lick and please you. I can’t help it. I want to taste you.”

“What?” she asked as her face turned a solid red now. “You are not thinking about all that right now.”

“Oh, yes I am,” I playfully said as I raised my eyebrows and held her body next to me as she squirmed. “And I’m thinking of a few things that are a little too dirty to say in public.” I winked.

“Stop. Don’t think about that right now. Oh, my gosh, I’m so embarrassed.” She reached up and covered her face with her hands.

I just held onto her and moved her from my side so she was standing right in front of me. I kept my hands on her hips as I closed in and let my lips kiss the back of her hands until she finally shifted them away and let me see her face. She looked mortified that I’d brought up our time in bed together and my fantasies for the future. But she also looked absolutely adorable.

“I can’t stop thinking about how damn sexy you were in my bed.”

“You have to stop talking about it,” she said as she looked me straight in the eyes. “No more, I can’t talk about it.”

“Okay, I’ll talk about it for the both of us.” I laughed. “Your ass, wow, I could have kissed and licked it all night long. And don’t get me started on the way you moaned. I get hard just thinking about how loud you screamed out when you came.”

“I’m going to pass out right here in this park from total embarrassment if you keep talking about this.” She laughed as she finally wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in close enough that I could kiss her.

“This is a good way to get me to stop talking,” I said after pulling away for a moment and then leaning in again for a long kiss. “Kissing is a great distraction from talking.”

The familiarity of Jenna’s lips was growing on me faster than I was used to. She was already comfortable to me. My arms wrapped around her there in public as if I didn’t care if the world saw us together. This was so unusual for me; typically, I was worried some newspaper or tabloid would see me and click a picture that would cause havoc. But on this day, I didn’t have that fear, and the comfort was a welcome change.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go get our burger,” Jenna finally said as she pried herself out of my arms.

I held onto her hand though and wasn’t about to let that go as we continued our walk toward the burger joint. Super Duper Burgers was a mini-chain restaurant that was local to San Francisco and one of the best burger joints I’d ever eaten in. Their garlic fries were particularly good, although I might not choose to get those since I planned on kissing Jenna a lot more throughout our evening together.

“Do you get much time off from dancing to explore the city?”

“I have a long commute into work. So during the week, I’m basically on the train for an hour, then working all day, then on the train for an hour back home. Not much else going on. But on the weekends, I sometimes go out with my girlfriends. Sometimes I just sit home and watch television and relax, though. I’m not much into the bar scene or partying.”

“Despite what you might have heard, I’m not a party guy either. I try not to go to everything I’m invited to, and I have stuck to charity events the last few months. But it’s hard to say no to everyone.” I laughed. It was very hard for me to say no to people, but I didn’t usually admit that shortcoming to the women I was with.

“I think I understand. The manager of the ballet isn’t the nicest of ladies, and I have a horrible time saying no to her. She once asked me to take her dog to the vet for her.”

“And you did it?” I asked a little in shock at such a request of a dancer at the ballet.

“Yep, I did it. I couldn’t say no to her. You don’t understand; she’s one of the meanest women I’ve ever met.”

“Wow. She actually asked one of her own dancers to run errands for her. That’s pretty wild,” I wasn’t all that surprised, though. I’d met Cassandra Hutchinson on a few occasions, and she was dreadful during every one of our meetings.

Although Cassandra tried to pretend like she was a very nice woman, she only covered it up when she was directly in front of me or other big donors. I always saw her yelling at other people and being utterly dreadful. Fake people could only hide their true personalities for a little bit; sooner or later the real person came out.

“Yeah, she’s not the best. Although, I heard she was once a nice woman. Some of my friends who have danced with the ballet for a few years tell me she went through a bad breakup, and that’s when she turned nasty. So maybe if she finds a new guy she will be nicer?”

Jenna laughed it off, but there was probably a little bit of logic to that train of thought. I’d have to think and see if I had any friends that I could send her way in an effort to make things a little more comfortable for Jenna in her working environment. I knew a lot of older divorced guys who could put Cassandra in her place. Sometimes a cranky woman like her just needed a little love in her life.

“I love this place,” I said out loud as we walked in the front door and I held it open for Jenna. “Do you get to come here very often?”

“No, I haven’t been in a few months. But damn those garlic fries smell amazing. Want to share some?”

“You’re perfect. Yes, yes I would like to share some stinky garlic fries with you.” I gave a laugh. “If you don’t mind my garlic breath when I kiss you.”

“I won’t mind yours because mine is going to smell just as bad.”

How much more perfect could this girl be? We meshed well together. Our humor was lined up, and I felt so at ease around her. I was sure I was going to do or say something that was going to throw her off, but for the time being, I was enjoying having her there with me and feeling like a teenager as we ordered our burgers and sat down at the counter to wait for our food.

“My breath is going to stink after this,” she said with a totally serious expression. “I’ve changed my mind; you can’t kiss me.”

“Oh yes, I can! I’ll have stinking garlic breath too. It will be perfect,” I added. “Sorry, you already agreed to this garlic kiss. It’s too late to back out now.”

When the waiter brought our food to us, we both went straight for the French fries. I watched intently as she put the fries in her mouth, and my body flooded with blood as I thought about her lips wrapping around me. She let out a sweet little moan with the first bite, and a primal urge to have her in my bed overcame any other thoughts in my mind. I needed Jenna again. I had to have her.

“Isn’t your house around here?” she said after chewing her first bite of fries.

“Yes, it’s just up the street.”

“Hmm.”

“What?” I asked a little confused.

She didn’t respond and instead continued to eat lunch as I joined her in eating the fries. We were fairly quiet throughout our eating, mostly because we were both starving, and the food was just that good. I also was having a hard time concentrating on eating and watching her delicious lips as they wrapped around the food. It was an orgasmic experience watching her eat.

“Yes, I think we should go there,” Jenna finally said while sipping on her ice water.

“To my house?”

“Yep.”

“You’re not going to jump over any more fences are you?” I asked as playfully as I could. “I’ll give you the code so you can just open the gate when you want to leave.”

“You’ll give me the code to your gate?” she asked with a look of shock.

“Sure, I don’t think you’ll be stealing from me, right?”

“No, but still. That’s a big deal. Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t need the code. You can just walk me out when it’s time to leave. Plus, I’m not agreeing to stay all night long. I would just like to see your house in the light of day.”

“It’s four-seven-three-eight,” I blurted out. “Now you can come in or out of the gate whenever you’d like.”

“Let’s go,” she said as she stood up and pulled me with her toward the door. “I want to practice using the code to get into your house.”

Jenna winked at me playfully as we strolled out the door and down the street toward my house. I wanted to get us a cab or order a car, but I was enjoying walking hand-in-hand with her much too much.

As we made our way around the corner, I pulled her into a little alcove and leaned up against the brick. The way she looked at me, it made my heart feel like it was two sizes bigger. Her eyes longed for me and drove me wild with desire.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

Without hesitation, I let our garlic lips collide. She tasted utterly delicious. The perfect mix of burgers and garlic fries. The gentle touch of my hands pulled her closer and closer to me as we hid away in the alley lost in each other’s embrace.