Barry

"Thanks. I'm running a bit la...Barry?"

It was Melissa. It turned out that she worked for the insurance company. By the time I got off the elevator we had a date to have a drink after work. We met in the lobby at five and left her car in the parking lot and I drove us to the closest bar. We ordered drinks and then sat and talked for almost two hours. She got my life's story up to the present and I got hers. Our stories were remarkably similar. She graduated, found a job in Michigan, and met her ex-husband where she worked, got married and then caught him cheating on her. She divorced him and then the company she worked for offered her a promotion if she was willing to relocate to Denver. It turned out that she also lived in Castle Rock in the Founders Village area.

When we called it a night I drove her back to her car and on the way I asked her for a date. She had something already planned for Wednesday so I asked if Thursday would work for her and she said yes. I told her about Buckskins and she told me that she had been there, but never on Thursdays when they gave the lessons.

When I picked her up at six on Thursday she was dressed in jeans, a brush popper shirt, cowboy boots and her belt had large oval shaped western style belt buckle. She looked like one of those rodeo queens you see pictures of in the ads for the rodeo. As I looked her over she asked:

"You like?"

"All that's missing is the cowboy hat."

"I've got that too. Want me to go get it?"

"No, not this time. Wait until I get a hat of my own."

She cocked her head at that and gave me a look I couldn't decipher. I hoped that she took what I'd just said to mean that I expected to go out with her again.

We had a good time at Buckskins. Mel already knew most of the dances that Marla had covered that night and she made me look like the beginner I was. Once, when I went up to the bar to get us fresh drinks Jessica asked:

"Am I being replaced by the little cowgirl?"

Jessica was five eleven to Mel's five three so she could get away with calling Mel little. I grinned at her and said:

"You can't call my dating her as replacing you because you have never ever given me a tumble when I've asked you out."

She grinned and said "Maybe you gave up too soon."

I just shook my head and went back to Mel. I got a kiss on the cheek when I took her home and an:

"I had a good time; let's do it again."

So I made a date with her for Saturday night and told her we would go back to Buckskins and dance to a live band instead of the recorded music Marla used in her lessons. I told her I would have a hat by then so she could wear hers that night.

After work on Friday I went over to Shepler's Western Wear and looked at cowboy hats. I couldn't believe the prices they had on them and I wasn't aware that there were so many different styles. I'd always thought cowboy hats were all the same. They all looked the same in all the western movies I'd seen. The only difference I'd noticed was that some were black and some were white.

I found one I liked and on a whim I also bought two western style shirts. I already had jeans and boots, although the boots we Wellingtons and not cowboy boots, but they had leather soles and that was all that counted as far as I was concerned.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On Saturday I picked Mel up at six and we had dinner at Guadalajara before heading for Buckskins. We got there early enough to get a table just off the dance floor. We sat, sipped our drinks and talked until the band got set up. Once they started to play we spent most of the night on the dance floor.

When I took Mel home I received a passionate kiss and another "Let's do it again." Mel and I dated at last twice a week for the next month and at the end of the dates the kisses lasted longer and increased in passion and there were several make-out sessions in the car. Then came the night that the make-out sessions moved into the house.

Mel was an absolute tiger in bed. She got five times out of me before I couldn't rise to the occasion anymore. After the last time I got up and started to get dressed and Mel grabbed my arm and asked:

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"The hell you are. We haven't done the cuddle and snuggle part yet" and she pulled me back down on the bed. I have to point out that I offered no resistance when she did it.

From that night on Melissa and I were a steady couple. Mel was only renting the house she was in and she let the people know that when her lease was up she would not be renewing it. Two months later Mel moved in with me and a month after that I asked her to marry me. She told me she'd rather not get married for a while.

"Let's just have a live in friends with benefits relationship until we see how we are together."

It was okay with me. I had her and that is all that counted with me.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For the next year we lived together as man and wife without the paperwork making it legal. Life was good. The job was going great. I had a good woman and then suddenly I didn't.

We had just finished dinner and Mel said "I've found me a place I can afford and I'll be moving out."

That caught me totally by surprise.

"What did I do? I thought we had something good going."

"You didn't do anything. It is all on me. I decided that I'm not ready to settle down."

Suddenly I understood.

"Who is he?"

"You don't know him. He just transferred into our office. He asked me out. There is an attraction there, but I couldn't say yes to him if I'm living here."

"Must be a pretty strong attraction if you are willing to put out the money you need for a place of your own just so you can say yes to a date."

I stood up and started clearing the table. As I was putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher I said:

"I'll take the couch tonight, but since it isn't all that comfortable I would appreciate it if you would expedite your departure."

I grabbed my coat and Melissa asked me where I was going.

"To the Hideaway. I suddenly feel the need for a drink. Or three."

Once out the door I changed my mind. Better Buckskins than the Hideaway. At Buckskins I could at least look at Jessica while I got blotto.

When I sat down at the bar Jessica came up to me and set a drink down in front of me. She knew what my poison of choice was so she didn't even have to ask me what I wanted. As she set it down in front of me she asked:

"Where is the little cowgirl tonight?"

"In the wind Jess; in the wind."

"Here to drown your sorrows?"

"Pretty much."

"Ain't gonna work bubba. You aren't going to get blind stinking drunk here. I'm going to limit you to three drinks. Four if you eat something."

"I just finished dinner so I'm not going to order food."

"Okay; three it is."

"I didn't know you cared."

"Not going to let a big tipper like you wrap himself around a tree or telephone pole because of a broken heart. When you leave here you will be sober enough to drive and that's the name of that tune. Got it?"

I nodded a yes, picked up my drink and went to work on it.

The house was dark when I got home and I figured that Mel would be in bed. I quietly let myself in and found her awake and sitting on the couch in the dark. I ignored her and went and got a blanket and a pillow. When I got back to the living room I told her to move because I needed to go to bed.

"This is your house. You get the bed and I get the couch."

I wasn't going to argue with her over it so I dropped the blanket and pillow on the couch next to her and went to the bedroom, undressed and went to bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up in the morning Melissa was snuggled up next to me. She woke up as I started to get up.'

"Sorry, but I couldn't fall asleep on the couch."

She grabbed my arm and pulled me down. Her hand went to my dick and it responded to her touch. "Please?" she asked. I said nothing and she swung herself over me, eased down on me and started screwing me. I let her ride me until I reached the point where I had to cum and then I rolled us over to put her on her back and then I fucked her as hard as I could to get my nut. She'd gotten off twice while riding me and a third time while I was driving to get mine. When I was soft and pulled out I looked down at her and asked:

"Why?"

"Go get your shower while I put on the coffee and then we'll talk."

When I got to the kitchen she was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand. I poured myself a cup and then sat down across from her and again asked "Why?"

"There is no new man at the office and I haven't found another place to live; at least not yet. I said what I said last night to see how you would react."

I started to say something, but she put up a hand to stop me and said:

"Let me get it all out and then you can talk. I told you about my failed marriage, but I never said anything about my other relationships. There were three and they all ended badly. The bottom line is that I needed to know if you were as into me as I was into you. I didn't want to fully commit until I was sure. When I talked to you last night you didn't try and talk me out of it. You didn't beg or plead with me with me not to leave. You just accepted what I said, got up and went out for drinks. That told me you didn't care all that much for me. I was just a fuck buddy for you."

"If that is what you thought then why this morning?"

"Because I really do love you and I wanted one last time."

"Well thank you for that, but let's get something straight before you pack your bags. I cared enough about you to ask you to marry me. You said no. To me that meant that you didn't care for me as much as I cared for you. To me that meant that all you saw in me was a long term fuck buddy. In the year since I asked you to marry me you have not given me any indication that your attitude changed so I never pushed it.

"I never pushed it because I was afraid that if I did you would feel pressured and leave and I didn't want that. I wanted you and if the only way I could have you and keep you was to stay in an FWB relationship then that is what I would do.

"When you hit me with your bailing out on me last night it wasn't a complete surprise to me because since you wouldn't commit to me I've been expecting it to happen sooner or later. I got up and left because I didn't want to humiliate myself in front of you by breaking down and crying."

I stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I still have to make a living and I'm expected to be at a meeting this morning."

"But we need to talk."

"You already know where I stand" I said as I took my car keys off the hook by the door. "You need to figure out where you want to go from here" and I left the house and went to work.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Once I got my meeting out of the way the rest of the day seemed to drag by. I spent a lot of the time thinking about the situation with Melissa. I had, in effect, told Melissa it was time for her to shit or get off the pot and I wondered what I would find when I got back home.

Melissa's car was there when I got home. I don't know if she went to work or not, but I did notice when I walked past it that the back seat wasn't covered with her possessions. When I opened the door and went inside Melissa was sitting on the couch. She stood up to greet me. She was wearing a filmy black peignoir and black strappy CFMs.

"Yes" she said.

"Yes what?"

"Yes I will marry you. The question now is dinner first or dessert first?"

I smiled and said "Silly girl" as I took my tie off and started to unbutton my shirt.