A Second Chance at Love - Epilogue

*Note to readers: My apologies for not finishing this story months ago. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy writing erotic stories and I was easily distracted. I've had quite a few people email me and ask me to finish it. I hope it's better late than never.

*****

"I've had a wonderful time tonight, Rick. Thank you," Lauren told him as they arrived at his place.

"Me too, Lauren. And it was my pleasure. You're pretty amazing," he told her. He leaned over to kiss her and whispered, "And amazingly pretty." As his lips met hers, he heard her moan softly. "Would you like to come inside?" he asked as they ended their first kiss.

"That sounds nice," she said softly.

He opened her door, took her hand, and led her into his very large, very tastefully-decorated home. He took her coat and hung it in the closet by the door. "Shall we?" he suggested indicating she lead them into the living room. "Would like something to drink, Lauren? Some white wine perhaps?"

"That would be perfect, Rick. Thank you," she said smiling. She'd gotten up and was looking around at all of the pretty things she'd love to have in a home of her own one day. Among them was a picture of a beautiful woman about Rick's age holding a baby. "Who's this?" she asked holding up the frame.

"Oh, that's my ex-wife and my son, Chad. He's two now."

"Oh, I didn't know you were divorced," she said as he handed her a glass of chardonnay.

"Yeah, it just wasn't meant to be, I guess." He took the picture from her and said, "I'd rather talk about...us," he told her as he led her back to the couch. "What is it you're looking for in a relationship, Lauren?"

She took a sip of her wine and said, "Love, I guess. Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"I suppose so," he replied. "You can't possibly be thinking about anything too serious though, right? I mean, you want to have some fun and live a little first, don't you?" He reached out and brushed back her hair and smiled at her.

Suddenly, the handsome young dentist wasn't as appealing as he'd seemed. Lauren didn't have a lot of experience with boys and none with men, but she knew when a guy only wanted one thing. Yes, at her age, that's what she should want, too. Wasn't the fun part about being young? You date, you experiment, you try new things, and then later on—much later on—like maybe 30 or 35—you finally settled down and raised a family. Perhaps it was due to never been thought of as pretty before, but Lauren craved the kind of love she'd never had. Sex was pleasant. Hell, it was even great. But it was just sex. What she wanted was a man to really love her; to make her feel safe and secure. Someone who cared about her more than anything else on earth. Rick was divorced with a child. He wasn't going to be looking to get married again anytime soon and Lauren got that. But she had no interest in just being another notch on his belt. She had no moral issue with hooking up, but that wasn't what she wanted and it definitely wasn't what she needed.

Rick leaned over to kiss her again but Lauren didn't kiss back. He pulled her closer and kissed her harder, but she didn't respond. "What's wrong?" he asked her. "Am I moving too fast?"

"No," she told him. Then she said, "Yes." Then, "I don't really know. Maybe."

"It's okay," he assured her. "We've got all night. No need to rush things. Go ahead. Finish your wine. We'll talk and then see how it goes, okay?"

Lauren realized his version of 'taking it slow' was nothing like hers. His meant holding off having sex for another hour. Two if she really wanted to wait. Hers meant dating and falling in love and being with the right guy. Rick was cute. In fact, he was gorgeous. And he was obviously well off. Lauren would love a place like this and a handsome husband, too. But she wasn't interested in a quick fuck and a promise to call her.

"Rick? I think I'd like to go home," she told him.

"Seriously? You want to go home? Okay, you gotta help me out here, Lauren. What just happened? I thought we were connecting? I agreed to give you some time and..."

"I don't know," she said cutting him off. "I just know this...whatever this is...isn't what I want."

"I get it. You want to take it slow. That's fine. We can watch a movie, have another glass of wine, and then..."

"No. No, that's not it. I'm not sure I can even explain it, Rick. You're this really great guy. You're smart, you're funny, you're very handsome, and...and...well, I don't know what else. I just know this doesn't work for me." She could tell by his reaction he wasn't happy at all.

"Sure. No problem. I'll get your coat." As he walked away, she was almost certain she heard him mutter, "Another prick tease."

______________________________________________________________________

As they ate, Clint was more than a little surprised when Lorraine ordered a fourth glass of wine. "You might want to slow down a little," he suggested politely.

"Oh, relax! This is just Zinfandel. It's like drinking water, for heaven's sake. You've barely touched your first glass. Come on, Clint! Let's have some fun!" She drained what was left of her third glass then said much too loudly, "Before you take me home and have even more fun, right?"

Clint didn't judge other people for the way they lived their lives, but he found women who drank too much a huge turn off. He liked women who were smart and in control. Women who got high on life rather than from a bottle or a pill. Lorraine was still a very attractive woman physically, but this side of her was making her very unattractive very quickly.

"No, thanks," he said firmly but still politely. "I'm a one-drink kind of guy."

Her fourth glass arrived and she took another large sip and said, "I never took you for a buzz kill, Clint. You look like you're so much fun!" She leaned toward and said, "I like having fun, Clint. You know what I mean?"

Someone from an adjacent table turned to look and see who it was talking that way (and that loudly) in an upscale restaurant like The New Rustic.

"Why don't we get you a cup of coffee and maybe some dessert?" he suggested.

"Coffee? Who drinks coffee this late at night? I don't want no stinking coffee!" she said trying to pull of an imitation from the Bogart movie, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

"Lorraine? Could you maybe keep your voice down just a touch?" he asked as others turned to look, as well.

"What? I'm not talking loud!" she said. She saw him cut his eyes toward another table. She turned to look at those looking at her and told them, "Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer!" She turned back around and said, "What the hell are they staring at anyway?"

Clint put his napkin on the table and said, "Let's get you home." He made eye contact with their server and mouthed the words, "Check, please."

Lorraine made quite a scene on the way out and apologized all the way back to her place. Clint walked her to her door to make sure she got in okay. Lorraine fumbled with the keys and finally managed to open it then invited Clint inside.

"I know you're upset with me, Clint. But come in and let me make it up to you," she said. She tried to kiss him, but the smell of booze was too much.

He gently kept her away from him and said, "You need to get some sleep, Lorraine."

"No, no! I don't need sleep," she said trying to push her way into him. "You have what I need," she said as she groped for his crotch.

"Lorraine! You're drunk. Go inside and sleep this off."

"Clint, you can't be serious. You're turning me down because I had a little wine with dinner?" she said with genuine incredulity.

"Drinking an entire bottle isn't 'a little wine', Lorraine. That's a problem. You're a nice woman, but you have a problem and you need some help." He gently moved her inside then told her goodnight as he closed the door and headed home.

When he got there, Lauren was still in her little black dress just sitting on the couch. There was one dim light on in the entire house and he could barely see her.

"You okay?" he asked. "You're home awfully early."

"Looks like I'm not the only one," she said trying to be cheerful.

"People my age usually don't stay up even this late. We try to be in bed by 8 o'clock so we can wake up at 4am bright eyed and bushy tailed." His silly remark made Lauren laugh.

"That's the first time I've laughed all evening," she told him.

"Yeah, after my date, I felt like crying all evening," he said in reply. "May I?" he asked pointing to the seat next to her.

"Please," she said sliding over to give him some room. "Was your date as bad as mine?" she asked once he sat down.

"Worse," he told her.

"How do you know that?" she said. "You have no idea how bad mine was."

"Doesn't matter," he said very seriously as he looked at her. "There's no way your date got falling-down drunk and caused a scene in one of the nicest restaurants in town."

"Oh, wow. Okay, you win. Mine just wanted to..." She paused and said, "Let's just say the good doctor has a one-track mind."

"I'm really sorry, Lauren. I thought he was a gentleman. Guess you never can tell, huh?"

It was very dark but he thought he saw her eyes glistening. "Hey, you okay?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she said as a tear fell to her cheek.

"Hey, come here," he said. He held out an arm and Lauren scooched over and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and asked, "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," she said. Clint pulled out a linen handkerchief he carried with him and handed it to her. "Thank you," she said as she dabbed her eyes.

"You know what's funny?" she finally said.

"Uh-uh," was all he said back.

"The whole time I was sitting there with Rick all I could think of was how I wished I was there with you." She handed the kerchief back to him and said, "Weird, huh?"

"Not really," Clint told her. "I found myself thinking the same thing about you."

"Seriously?" she asked. Lauren looked up to see if he was just kidding.

He looked down and said, "Nope. Not kidding." She laid her head back on his shoulder and he ran his hand gently up and down her other shoulder and upper arm. "You know what? I realized I've had more fun just hanging out with you even when we're not really doing anything than I have with anyone else since..." Lauren didn't need him to say her name. She understood exactly what he meant.

"I feel safe when I'm with you," she told him. She snuggled closer and put her hand on his chest. "Did you know that?" she asked him.

"No," told her truthfully. "But I'm glad. I want you to feel safe. And...I want you to be happy too, Lauren." He kissed the top of her head and said, "Do you know how special you are?"

"Me?" she said with surprise.

"Yes, you," he assured her. "You're very special...to me."

He heard her sniff again before she said, "No one's ever told me that before. Ever."

He softly stroked her hair and said, "Well, it's true. You are special, Lauren. And I'm very glad you're here with me."

"Me, too," she said as she curled her feet up on the couch then laid her head in his lap. "Clint?" she said.

He continued to gently stroke her hair as he replied, "Yes?"

"I like being with you. A lot."

Half an hour later, she'd fallen asleep. Clint gently lifted her up and carried to her room where he laid set her on the bed and pulled a comforter over her. He kissed her on the forehead and as he did, she stuck her hand out from underneath it and waited for him to take hers. "Good night, Clint," she said sleepily.

"Good night, Lauren," he said back. "See you in the morning, okay?"

"K," she whispered as she drifted back off to sleep.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." She handed him a cup and he thanked her. "It's been a long time since I had a woman do anything like that for me." He realized how that sounded and looked away and took a first sip.

"I'm in the mood for an omelet. You want one?" she asked.

"Wow. Coffee and breakfast? Sure. Sounds great."

As they were finishing their eggs and toast, Lauren looked over at him and said, "Were you serious last night?"

"About?" he asked raising an eyebrow to indicate he needed more information.

"About wishing you were with me instead of...you know, Lorraine." She looked down at her plate as she finished her sentence.

"Yeah. Of course I did. Why?"

"Well...I was just wondering. Since both us had really bad first dates with other people last night, I was just thinking we could, you know..." Lauren stopped mid-sentence and said, "No, wait! I didn't mean it like that. Not like we'd go on a date date or anything. Just a..."

Clint smiled and laughed politely. "I get it. I know exactly what you mean and that sounds nice. Yeah, we should do that."

"Really? Oh, Clint! That would be so much fun! You know, like best friends having a nice time going out for dinner or whatever. Let's do that, okay?" she said excitedly.

He loved seeing her happy even if she was right about them just being friends. He knew these feelings he was having were normal. He still felt 25 most days at least until he looked into the mirror. Intellectually, he knew this was anything but normal, but that didn't make the feelings any less real. He understood that as long as he didn't do something as foolish as try and act on them, he could feel anyway he wanted. He just had to make sure not to get too close to her so that when she left—and she would leave one day—it wouldn't hurt too much.

"Okay! Let's do it. You pick the time and place and just let me know."

"I already know exactly what I want to do!" she said bubbling with enthusiasm. "I want to go the IMAX theater at the Seattle Science Center. I want to stand inside there and look around at the big screen while the movie plays and take in all the sounds! I want to watch Deadpool with you. Can we?"

"Of course. Anything you want," he told her.

"Really? I can't wait! I'm so excited!" She jumped up, picked up her plate, went around the table and said, "Are you finished?" When he nodded and leaned back, she bent down and kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you! I've always wanted to go there. This is gonna be so much fun!"

She scraped their plates and rinsed them in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher. "It's supposed to be cold tonight again, huh?" she asked.

"It's always cold here at night except during the summer," he reminded her.

"Right. I think I want to wear that pretty new grey sweater with the jeans you bought me. Is that okay?"

"You can wear anything you like, Lauren. You look great in everything." He glanced her way and she looked so happy. He tried not to stare, but that just wasn't possible. Even early in the morning was just beautiful and he loved having her near him.

He'd bought tickets on line so they didn't need to wait in line. As they went inside, Lauren grabbed his hand and started gushing. "This place is so amazing! You don't even sit down and you can see the movie all around you and the sound is like you're right there and..."

"Looks like were just in time," he told her. "It's 7:44 and the movie starts in one minute."

"Oh, they just show previews for 15 minutes so we'll be fine. It's this exciting?" she bubbled.

Clint wasn't sure how he felt about standing up for the next 2 1/2—3 hours but as long as he was with Lauren, it wouldn't be that bad. Or so he hoped.

As they walked in, the sound thundered at them. Lauren almost squealed with excitement as Clint winced. "This is amazing!" she said as the previews flashed all around them.

They found a 'row' which meant standing between railings and took their place where Lauren stopped them. As his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, he could see it was nearly full. Necks were craning and heads were turning as they looked up and all around them at the action going on. It was truly an evolution in sensory overload.

Throughout the movie, Lauren chattered in his ear about whatever caught her attention. She was in front of him and would frequently tilt her head back to speak. Several times, she'd been startled and thrown her hands back around him after shrieking loudly as had many other girls.

Toward the end of the movie, Deadpool finally confronts Vanessa and apologizes for abandoning her. She removes his mask to see his face, but he is wearing a cut-out of Hugh Jackman's face. She sees his real face and says she will eventually get used to it. They kiss, and Deadpool signs off as the movie ends.

As they kissed, Lauren reached back for his arms and pulled them tight around her. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded then leaned back and said, "I'm just such a hopeless romantic." As the movie ended she turned around and put her arms under his and put her head on his chest. She was trying to cry. Hugh Jackman surprised everyone as he came back on stage in the movie and says that the studio is trying to get Cable to be in a sequel. People stopped moving when they saw him 'come back' but Lauren didn't turn around.

"Will you kiss me like that?" she asked him, her eyes wide with hope.

"Lauren, I..." he began to protest.

She raised her eyebrows and said, "Please? Just this one time? Please?"

It was momentarily dark again and holding her this close drained all of his willpower. He lowered his head and kissed her exactly as Deadpool had kissed Vanessa. As they lights came back up, he went to break their kiss, but Lauren held him close for another second kissing him. When she was satisfied, she let him go. "Thank you," she said sweetly.

She took his hand and put her head on his arm as they made their way out through the crowd of people. As they walked out into the cold night air, Lauren shivered and said, "Burrr. It's so cold."

Clint put his arm around her until they got to the car. He opened her door, helped her in, then went around and started it up. "Okay. Let's get some heat in here!" he said rubbing his hands together.

"Clint?" she said looking over at him. "Thank you."

He looked back at her and saw those big, round eyes and that sweet look on her face. "You're welcome," he told her.

He went to put it in gear but she put her hand on top of his and said, "No, wait."

He put it back in 'Park' and just sat there. "Clint?" she asked again.

"Yes?"

"Did you like kissing me?" She ran her thumb over the back of his hand without looking at him.

"Yes," he said quietly almost ashamed to admit he had.

"Clint?"

"Yes?"

"Would you kiss me again?" Her hand was tiny sitting on his. And she was so young and he...wasn't.

"Lauren, you're caught up in the moment. The movie, the kiss. You don't want me to..."

"Clint?" She didn't wait for him to reply this time. "I know how how old you are and I don't care. I don't care because I also know how kind you are. I know how caring you are. And...I know how you look at me." She looked over at him and saw he was looking at the steering wheel.

"Lauren. It's just that you're..."

"Clint?" She pulled at his hand indicating she wanted him to look at her. When he did, she turned toward and picked up his hand. "I know I'm young. I know you probably want someone more your own age who knows all of the things you know." She looked down and then back at him. "But I don't want someone my age. Or even...someone else...because..." He could see her eyes welling up again. "If you laugh at me, I'll die," she continued. "Promise me you won't laugh."

"I promise," he told her.

"I can't imagine ever feeling this way about anyone else. Safe. Secure. Happy. And...loved. That's how you make me feel. That's how I want to feel. Every day. I don't care about how old you are or how much more you know about life than me. I just know I...I just know I...love you. I love you, Clint." She blinked tears away as she sat there waiting for him to say something.