Blind Squirrel Finds Nut

Josh smiled and said, "Now we're gettin' somewhere!"

"Mom? Are you going on another date?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, Joshua. Are you?" his mother asked.

"It looks that way," he answered her without taking his eyes off Aspen.

"It looks we're going to get to spend some more time together Miss Jennifer," Alma told her. "What should we do this week?"

"Can we watch DVDs again?"

"I believe we can. In fact, I just picked up a new movie yesterday I think you'll like. We'll pop some popcorn and watch it together. How does that sound?"

Jenny was thrilled to learn it was the newest Disney movie and Josh said, "Looks like we have four happy people here!" His comment drew laughter and smiles from everyone including a smile smile from his mother.

Aspen had to use the bathroom in the house to get ready again and when she came out wearing the new dress, Josh was speechless.

She saw him staring at her and said, "Do you like it?"

"Man, oh, man," he said. "I thought you looked beautiful in jeans and a sweater." He shook his head and said, "Man, oh, man."

"Is that a 'yes'?" she asked knowing the answer but wanting to hear it.

"Oh, yeah. That's a yes, for sure. Wow! Man, oh, man!"

"You look very nice, too," she told him. She'd never seen him in anything but jeans, either. Tonight he was wearing a very dark gray suit with a light blue tie and matching pocket square and no hat. Aspen put her arms around his neck and said, "Make that...incredibly handsome."

She kissed him knowing it would ruin her lipstick but neither of them cared. "You are smokin', girl. And I mean...smokin'...HOT!"

Before they left, Jenny wanted to get pictures of them and then of her with her mom. Aspen could tell she wanted to say something else and encouraged her to do so.

"Can I please have a picture with Josh?" she asked almost embarrassed to ask.

"Of course you can!" he said answering for her mom. "Come on over here, pretty lady." He put his arm around her shoulder and bent down to be more her size. "Say cheese!"

She thanked him then threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. Josh said, "No, thank you, beautiful. You're gonna break a lot of hearts some day."

Alma wished them a good time then said to Jenny, "Okay, let's get some popcorn going and we'll start our movie."

As they backed out, Aspen said, "Your mom is so good with Jenny. Don't take this the wrong way, but she seems to try and come across all hard and tough, but she's really just a big softy, isn't she?"

Josh smiled and told her, "Bingo. My dad had a drinking problem, too. And he used to hit her. One day she just got fed up and told him to get out. That nearly killed her. She really loved my dad, but..."

"I understand. Completely. So...does she ever go out?"

"Never. Not once in all these years. This ranch...and me...are her life. I've given up trying to get her to date again. I spent years trying, but she told me she'd never love again. Ever."

"I'd never say that," Aspen said quietly as she sat next to Josh. He took her hand in his and she again laid her head on his shoulder. "I can't imagine a life without someone I love. Besides Jenny, of course. That would so lonely, you know?"

"I do," Josh told her. "But it's her choice." He kissed the top of her head then said, "I'm glad you don't feel the same way she does."

She hooked her arm inside of his then put her other hand on top of his arm. "How could I?" she said as she looked up at him. "With you around me every day, how could I possibly not want to fall in love again?"

He laughed then changed the subject. "I guess I should have asked first but...do you eat red meat?"

"Now and then," she replied.

"Whew," Josh said. "We're going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Have you heard of it?"

"No, I haven't," she told him. "Tell me about it."

"Well, they bring your steak out on an extremely hot plate after broiling it on each side. There's a nice pat of butter melted into the meat and all I can say is it's delicious. The asparagus and sweet potato casserole are amazing, too."

"Sounds wonderful," she told him. "Why don't you order for me tonight?"

"If you trust me that much, sure."

She took his hand back in hers and said, "I trust you with everything Josh."

"Even your heart?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. Especially with my heart," she told him as she ran her fingers through his.

Everything he'd told her was true. The steak was so tender and moist it nearly melted in her mouth. The asparagus was fresh and crisp and done perfectly, and the casserole tasted like a kind of deliciously sweet pumpkin pie. A glass of very smooth merlot was the perfect compliment to a perfect meal.

As they got ready to leave, Aspen said, "This has been so wonderful, Josh. I wish we didn't have to go back so soon."

"We don't have to go back," he said as he took her hand in his. He looked directly into her eyes and said, "You get to decide how much space you need and when. Remember?"

"Tonight I...I don't want space. I don't want any space...between us."

"None?" he asked wanting to be sure he understood.

"None," she replied quietly.

"Okay," was all he said.

Aspen said, "I don't want you to spend a lot of many. Nothing expensive, okay? Just clean and safe."

Ruth's Chris was located in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, one of the top ten hotels in Jacksonville.

"Come on," he said after paying the bill.

Rather than heading outside, Josh led her toward the lobby. "Oh, no. Not this place. Josh, this hotel is expensive. We can find..."

He stopped and turned to face her. "Will you let me worry about how to spend my money?" He was smiling but Aspen knew he was serious.

"I just don't want you to think I need you to impress me with...things. All I want is..."

"Thank you for being considerate and caring about that kind of thing. But there's no way—no chance on earth—I'm taking you to some dumpy motel room." He put his hands on her face and told her, "That just ain't happening. So it's either here or we head home."

Her eyes were locked on his and neither of them were aware of the many people who passed them going both ways.

"When you put it like that..." she said as she put her hands on his hips. "Can you let your mom know we'll be...a little late getting back?"

"I'll text her when we get upstairs," he told her before kissing her softly.

"Mmmm. Can we hurry?" Aspen whispered as the kiss ended.

She didn't want to care when the desk clerk said, "That'll be $217 with tax, sir. How would you like to pay?" but she couldn't not notice.

"Josh, that's way too much. We can find someplace more..."

He handed over his credit card and said to the clerk while smiling at Aspen, "We're kind of in a hurry." He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

The room was amazing, but neither of them really noticed initially. Marble halls led into a room with marble flooring and a bathroom with marble countertops. Everything was very high-end including the king size bed with the gorgeous comforter on top.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom, okay?" she said letting go of his hand. "Why don't you get ready while I'm getting ready?" Her smile was beautiful and seductive and Josh was already feeling the effects.

As the door to the bathroom closed, he walked over and removed the comforter, letting if fall at the foot of the bed in a soft pile. He pulled the sheets down and fluffed the pillows, then began getting undressed. He was down to his underwear when he heard the bathroom door open.

"Oh, my..." he said when he saw her.

The dress was gone leaving Aspen in a black, lacy bra and a pair of matching black panties, barely-black stockings, and black heels. She was wearing the black cardigan sweater and had it pulled closed with her hands.

"I'm always cold," she said waiting for him to say something more.

She was 32 years old but her face and her body looked 22. She'd had a child, but her tummy was flat and hard. Her legs were long and slender and the heels made her calves look even sexier. Her waist was tight and narrow and her soft, C-cup breasts were pushing against the lacy bra which strained to hold them in. Her arms looked so tiny and thin under the black material and Josh was close to being fully erect just looking at her.

He walked over and took her in his arms and said, "You are by far the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

As her eyes danced with his she said, "You don't have to exaggerate. I'm already yours."

"Exaggerate? No way. Aspen, you are so incredibly beautiful."

"Thank you, but I'm the lucky one," she said as she let go of the sweater exposing her bra completely to him. She put a hand on his face and said, "So handsome, so...young, so..." She melted into him and as their lips met her hand went directly for him.

Josh groaned as the tiny hand made its way inside his boxers and found what it wanted.

"You feel so good," she moaned as she ran her fingers up and down his shaft.

She was wearing a strapless bra and Josh quickly unhooked it and let it fall to the floor. As he kissed her, he cupped her breast which filled his large hand completely. He squeezed gently causing Aspen to gasp and moan with pleasure.

Without breaking their kiss, they walked slowly toward the large bed where Aspen pushed him down until he was sitting on it with his legs dangling over the side. She reached for his underwear and he raised up enough to let her remove them.

He was now very hard and Aspen smiled as she reached for him. "Mmmm. Big hands really do mean a big..." She lowered her mouth over him and slowly engulfed it with her full lips, fresh with red lipstick.

"My God, you're beautiful," he said as he pushed her hair back on one side. He watched her take him slowly and completely then just as slowly raise back up, the entire time using her soft lips and tongue to push and suck and pleasure him. She repeated the action several times, keeping her eyes on his as she worked her magic. This time, she took him to the point that her mouth was in his pubic hair and she held him that way until she could no longer do so. He heard her gag then quickly come up for air. Streams of thick saliva were everywhere.

"I've wanted you so bad all day," she confessed before deep-throating him again.

"I want you too, Aspen," he told her. He grabbed her slender shoulders and pulled her up then onto her back.

As he lay on top of her she was filled with emotions she hadn't experienced in many, many years. This handsome younger man was about to make love to her. He was beautiful and kind and caring and...she reached for his cock to remind herself just how big he was. "Please fuck me, Josh," she said almost begging him.

"Not yet, sweetheart," he said staring into her face. He brushed her hair back again and said, "I want to remember this moment forever." They kissed and stared and kissed some more before he began moving away.

"No! I need you inside me!" she cried. "I want you so bad! Joshua..."

"Soon," he said as he took her left breast in his mouth and worked his own brand of magic on her body.

Aspen gasped with pleasure. Her husband, even when the did make love, had rarely done this for her. As she felt him move even lower, she could only remember any man having done that for her two or three times. As his lips and tongue lapped her pussy and clit, she forgot about the past and immediately exploded in a massive orgasm.

He legs instinctively drew up, her knees and breasts nearly touching. Her hands were around her lover's head pulling him tight as he circled her clit with his tongue.

"Oh...my...God!!" Aspen screamed. "Oh...ssshit..." she said breathless from pleasure. "Oh...that felt so amazing!"

As her legs lowered he looked up at her and said, "We're just getting started."

"Are you even real?" she moaned as he went back in for more. Aspen sighed, gasped, and moaned repeatedly as Josh devoted all of his many skills and his full attention to her very wet pussy and swollen nub.

Aspen's heart was pounding out of her chest. She was gasping for breath and reveling in the coming explosion that was so close to happening. "I'm so close! I'm gonna cum again." She raised her head and said, "Please fuck me now. Please? I'm begging you! I need your cock inside me so bad!"

Reluctantly, he stopped, giving her body a chance to recover as he reached for his pants and found his wallet where he'd put a three-pack of condoms just in case. "Just like the Boy Scouts," he said as he rolled on one.

"Get that baseball bat inside me, Slugger," she hissed as he tossed the wrapper aside.

She reached for him and when the angle was right, she let go. "I want you, Josh. I want you so mu..."

He entered her effortlessly in spite of his size and her many months of abstinence. "Yesss!" she cried as she took the first half of him. He took it slowly from there pulling back then re-entering her until he was filling her completely.

"Fuck me hard!" she begged as he began doing just that. After pounding her for a minute or so he turned her over and Aspen quickly got on all fours and offered him a new angle.

She gasped as he re-entered her in one stroke. "God, yesss!!" she cried as he began hammering her from behind. "That feels SO good!" she moaned loudly as his balls slammed against her body over and over again.

Josh was just about to ask her to tell him when she got close and then he saw her head fly up and back as she squeezed him as hard as she could. "Oh...my...God!!" she screamed as she came again.

Josh unloaded everything he had as Aspen moaned with pleasure as her body shook again. When he was completely drained he stopped fucking her and stayed inside her still fully erect. He bent down and kissed the back of her neck as she craned it to try and kiss him.

He slowly pulled out of her then moved back as she rolled over and lay on her back. "Wow. That's a load, mate!" she said looking at the load in the tip of the condom.

"It's been a long time," he told her with a smile as he removed the spent cartridge then wrapped it in some tissue from the nightstand.

As he lay down beside her she said, "I bet it hasn't been as long for you as it has for me."

He smiled at her and said, "Can you beat four months?"

Aspen laughed and snorted. "Four months? Ha! That's nothing. Try living with an angry alcoholic. Talk about killing the mood." She realized what she'd just said and quickly apologized for ruining their mood.

"Nothing could ruin the mood where you're concerned," he told her as he stroked her pretty hair. "Nothing."

"Oh, yeah? You haven't seen me first thing in the morning, have you?" she said only partly teasing.

"I can't wait," he told her sincerely.

"I don't look like the girls I'm sure you're used to seeing. Not anymore, at least."

"You're right," he said seriously.

"Hey! You're supposed to tell some nice little white lie and make me feel better about being so much older than you."

"You didn't give me time to do that," he replied. "Then again, I already told you I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you before."

She smiled and said, "You're a very good liar, Joshua Sutherland. I almost believe you."

"Well, it's true, Aspen Crawford. You are hands down the most gorgeous woman I've ever made love to. By far."

She never once took her eyes off his and they told her a truth she needed to know. "You really mean that, don't you?" you said as she felt eyes filling with tears.

"Very much so," he assured her. "You are just SO beautiful and I love everything about you, Aspen." He kissed then said, "Everything."

"That sentence contained the 'L' word and if you remember I told you I'm very vulnerable. So...so please don't use it too casually, okay?"

"What makes you think I was being casual?" he asked as he reached over her for a fresh tissue to dab her eyes.

"I don't know," she said softly. "I guess maybe I'm just afraid you'll never feel that way about me and I'll never hear you say it. You know, for real."

"What makes you think I don't already feel that way about you?" he asked as he raised up and looked down at her.

She didn't answer because she was too afraid to hear what he might say. If he didn't, it would crush her. If he did, it would be so hard to believe.

"Do you really think I don't already love you, Aspen?" he asked his face showing nothing but sincerity.

"I...want to believe you do," she said very quietly. "Because...because..."

He took her hand and smiled before saying, "Because you love me, too?"

She hated herself for being so 'weak' but tears not only filled her eyes, she began to cry uncontrollably. "Yes," she blurted out unable to say anything more.

Josh grabbed the entire box of tissue and said in a way she'd know he was teasing, "You're a real crybaby," as he handed them to her. "Did you know that?"

That was just enough humor to produce the desired effect. She stopped crying almost instantly and pushed him off her. "Crybaby? Did you just call me a crybaby?"

"Um...I believe I did. See? Right there," he said as he wiped away several tears. "I have proof. You're a crybaby."

"Oh, I'll show you crybaby!" she said as she jumped on top of him and kissed him.

Her tongue was deep inside his mouth as their lips again pressed hungrily against the others. Josh rolled her over hard and fast causing Aspen to yelp loudly.

"I love you, crybaby," he said smiling at her.

"I love you too... I don't have a silly, comeback name for you—yet," she said smiling back. "But I do love you." She pulled him close and said, "Please make love to me again."

Alma didn't say a word when they pulled in around 6am, but she did smile when she said, "Can I get you kids some coffee?"

Nothing needed to be said. Everyone knew that everyone knew. Jenny came in around 7:30 and saw they were still in the same clothes from the night before. She wasn't old enough to put two and two together, but she saw the way her mom was smiling when she came in and that was good enough.

"Are you too big to come sit on my lap?" she asked.

"Ummm...maybe not," she said as she climbed up and rested her head in the crook of her mom's neck. She pulled back after a couple of seconds and said, "Mom? Why do you have a bruise on your neck right here?"

Aspen's tired eyes opened wide in fear when she saw Alma standing there with one raised eyebrow. She mouthed the word 'hickey' in the form of a question.

Alma nodded and Josh mouthed, "Sorry," with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Did something fall on you?" she asked innocently.

"Um, no, but Mommy did fall into something last night," she said smiling at Josh.

"Did you get hurt?" Jenny inquired.

"No, it actually felt...very nice."

"That doesn't make any sense, Mom," she told her.

Aspen smiled at Josh and said, "You can say that again."

Everyone else laughed leaving Jenny to wonder what was so funny.

Things changed rather quickly the following week. Just not so quickly as to confuse Jenny. Her mom and Josh began holding hands whenever they were together and they occasionally kissed in front of her.

The biggest change came right before the competition. Aspen was dressed in a riding uniform—again, another first in many years, and Jenny told her how beautiful she looked. "You look like a princess, Mom!"

"Thank you, honey, but I look more like a chauffeur."

"Your mom does look beautiful, Jenny," Josh said as he helped her get in the saddle.

It was time for her to move into position and without thinking, Josh said, "Good luck, honey. I love you!"

Jenny wheeled around and looked at Josh then back at her mother. "Did he just say he loves you?"

"I believe he did," her mom said as she looked down on them from Toro's saddle. "And I love him, too."

"You do?" she said excitedly. She looked quickly at her mom then at Josh and said loudly, "Cool!"