Hey Cashier!

"He would never see it!" she thought to herself, "He would never see it!" Not that repeating herself helped convince her that the current object of her crush would ever check a Missed Connections ad, but it made her feel more daring and willing to press the "Submit" button and be done with it.

"He won't see it." And with that, she sent the ad on its way into cyberspace for all those lurking on Craigslist to see.

W4M - Checking you out while you were checking me out --

You are the cashier with the rockabilly hairdo, all sleek and no grease. I am the shorthaired rocker chic always checking you out, while you're checking me out. Except today. Today you were super busy and I got in another line, but I still checked you out as you helped other customers. I really dig your piercings and wonder if you have others I can't see? Reply with what you have tattooed on the back of your neck in the subject so I know it's you.... I want to meet up.

"He won't even know who this is!" she thought. She stood up from her computer desk and looked at herself in the mirror. Her short black hair was in artful disarray, one chunk of it hanging low over her right eye, skimming along the top of her lips. Her dark burgundy lipstick made her lips look bigger than she knew they were, but she loved the illusion of it. Her left eye, the only one visible, showed a clear brown eye outlined with more black eyeliner, shadow, and mascara than was really necessary with such a dark lip color, but she always liked looking over done. She eyed her willowy neck and then shoulders, following the slope of her breasts and the indention of her waist to the expanse of her hips. The short-sleeved black baby doll shirt showed grayer from wear, mismatching the faded black Levi's she wore. Her Chucks were equally as worn and faded as the rest of her outfit. "Nope, he will never think I'm the one who wrote that message, if he even sees it, which, he will never see it!" she said to her reflection before turning away.

**

A week later she was back in the store. His back was to her as she sauntered up the aisle he usually worked. She let her basket bump against his hip as an excuse to talk.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I am so freaking clumsy." She looked up at him with innocent eyes.

"Hey, no worries. Can I help you find anything?" He smiled down at her rather absently. He didn't show any spark of recognition or suspicion that she'd been making up fantasies about him and posting missed connections for him.

"Nah, I'm just here to get a few staples," she said, a little disappointed and unable to hide it.

"Cool, well if you need anything, let me know!" His chipper dismissal as he turned back to stocking the shelf deflated her sails.

"So STUPID for you to get your hopes up, thinking he would know it was you or that he'd even SEE the stupid thing!" she grumbled to herself. She grabbed the few items she'd used as an excuse to come in the store and made her way to a cash register. With a quick glance, she saw he wasn't working any of them, so she just chose one at random.

The girl behind the counter smiled brightly at her, red lips slightly smeared around the edges. "Hey! How's it going?" she asked.

"Alright, you?"

"Not too shabby, thanks for asking. Did you find everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, always do!" she said, thinking to herself that the only thing she didn't find was a way to tell her crush that she wanted him.

As she was paying, crush boy showed up at the end of the register and began bagging her few items. 'Oh!" she smiled, well, this is certainly unexpected, she hummed to herself.

"Need any help out?" he asked her.

"Uhm... for one bag? You guys do that kind of service?" she tossed back, hoping against hope that he would play along and not just shrug her off.

"We aim to please," he quipped.

"Well, sure. I guess so," making an exaggerated glance at his nametag, she said, "Elliot. If you could carry that excruciatingly heavy bag to my POS, that would be amazing!"

He laughed as he motioned for her to lead the way. Knowing that the object of her crush was right behind her, she threw a little extra sway in her step. It wasn't easy fronting like she was wearing heels when actually wearing Chucks, but she did her best to make the sway look nice and natural as her hips swung back and forth. She hoped it was having a nice mesmerizing effect on Elliot, if he was even looking at her ass at all.

She glanced behind her, seeing that he was in fact looking, and motioned over toward her car, "We're heading over there." He stepped up beside her.

"Wow... I thought you were kidding when you said POS!" He laughed as they reached her little Datsun 2.01 Its once bright orange paint was now a burnt and faded echo of itself and peeling in places. The seats, visible through dirty windows, were torn and ragged in places, but while it looked like shit, it actually ran pretty well.

"A family heirloom," she smirked, not at all offended by his joke. She opened the hatchback and he leaned in to place the bag down. She leaned a little too close and he bumped her as he straightened back up. "Oh! Sorry about that... again, that whole clumsy thing." She giggled and shifted back a foot, giving him room to stand and close the hatch.

"Oh yeah, clumsy." He sighed, "So, what's your name? You don't have a handy name tag I can read it from."

"Ashlar."

"Ashlar?"

"Yup, Ashlar."

"Cool. So, Ashlar, would you wanna, uh, grab a drink with me later? I'm off work at 9 tonight..." He looked down at his feet and then up at her through his eyelashes. It wasn't a move she was used to seeing men make, but on him, it was making her heart beat a little faster and mouth run dry.

"Yeah!" She inwardly cringed at herself for sounding so eager, "I mean, sure. I don't have much going on today. That would be cool."

"Cool. You know the Mercury Pub around the corner?"

"Mhmm, I could totally meet you there. What time?" She wished she could tie her tongue in a knot. She sounded like a freaking over-eager idiot.

"I'm off at nine, so I can be there by like 9:20-9:30, if that's cool." his hands fidgeted with his shirt hem.

"Totally! I'll see you there ... Elliot."

"Sweet! See you." and with that he turned on his heel and headed back into the store.

Holy shit! She screamed to herself, I'm going to meet up with him!!

** Ashlar blew her hair out of her eye for the fifth time in the last minute, trying to keep herself from being super fidgety while she waited. She'd gotten to the Mercury by 9:10, wanting to be a little bit early so she could down a shot and order a beer while she waited for Elliot to show up. She'd raced home and hurried up to wait for it to be time to get to the bar, and now that the moment was almost here that they would be hanging out and she would be seeing him outside of his work, she was nervous and anxious and couldn't believe it was really happening.

She chugged the last quarter of her beer and was just putting the glass down when Elliot sauntered up behind her and tapped her on the right shoulder. She turned to her right, but he had moved to her left, psyching her out.

"Haha! I haven't had anyone do that to me since high school!" she laughed.

He smiled at her, "Were you here long? You need another drink?" indicating her now empty glass.

"Sure! I'd love another drink," She said, thinking to herself, I am so gonna get drunk. Get drunk and throw myself at him. No, just get drunk. She shook her head to stop herself from talking to herself more. "What are you drinking?" she asked him.

"Whatever Pilsner they have on tap tonight. I need something a little light," he said, 'You?"

"Uh, I'll have the same."

As they waited for the bartender to pour their drinks, Ashlar eyed Elliot. He looked good out of his work clothes. He still had on the same work cargo pants, but his shirt was now blue and not uniform. The blue offset the hazel of his eyes, as well as showed off the breadth of his shoulders. He glanced over at her and caught her checking him out. He gave her a crooked smile and began checking her out, too. She spun her seat so that she was facing him more and not glancing over her shoulder at him. His glance traveled from her face down to her chest, then wandered lower before traveling back up.

"You wear a lot of black, huh?" he nodded his head at her outfit.

"Yeah... I guess I do. I like black."

"Wanna go sit in one of the booths in back" He got up from his stool, beer in hand, and began walking toward the back of the bar before hearing her answer. She hopped off her stool, grabbed her glass and followed. He made his way to one of the farthest round booths, scooting all the way to the back of the booth, spreading his arms along the back of the seats. She slid in on his right side; close enough that his right hand could touch her shoulder, but not so close that she was under his arm.

"Why don't you scoot closer?" He asked, wiggling the fingers of his right hand. She scooted a couple inches closer. "Closer?" he asked, placing his hand on the nape of her neck and gently pushing her closer into his body. She scooted in more, facing him, until her left knee was overlapping his right thigh.

"Close enough?" she breathed quietly.

"Hmmm... maybe." He raised his glass with his left hand and took a sip of his beer. His right hand was still on the nape of her neck and his fingers began to play softly with the short, wispy hair there. She tried to keep herself relaxed, but there was a slight thrumming through her body, like where he touched her on the back of her neck were strings on a standing bass and her body was vibrating in response. He put his glass back down and turned toward her more.

Without warning, he leaned in and kissed her. Before she could pull back, his left hand was touching cupping the right side of her face and his tongue was pushing at her lips. She opened them slightly, feeling his tongue slide between them, beginning to explore her mouth, feeling her teeth, and entreating her tongue to play. His fingers at the back of her neck kept up their lazy strumming, while his right hand slid further up her check and into her hair. Ashlar leaned into him more, opening her mouth wider, tangling her tongue with his. She searched his mouth, feeling the edges of his teeth with the tip of her tongue, before sliding it fully against the length of his. Her hands touched his chest, feeling the soft texture of the blue shirt, and then sliding up his shoulders. She wound her left arm over his and behind his head, beginning to mimic the motions of his fingers in her hair.

He pulled back, breaking the kiss. Shifting back, he rested his back along the seat back and reached again for his glass.

"Mmmm," he sighed, "I like the taste of Pilsner on your tongue." He glanced at her over the rim of his glass, again, looking at her through his eyelashes. She felt the heat pooling at the base of her belly, relishing the newness and excitement of the kiss still.

"Yeah, I like the way it tastes on yours, too." She took a long drink of her beer, using it as an opportunity to remind herself how to breathe. Her blood was singing in her ears and she felt high from his unexpected kiss.

He slammed down the rest of his beer in two big gulps. "You wanna get out of here? I live just around the corner, too." His eyes sparkled with mischief and what looked like hope, and Ashlar was sucked in. She nodded slowly, and Elliot slid from the booth to go take care of the tab. She grabbed her glass, finishing it as she walked to the bar to settle her tab, as well. He glanced up as she joined him, showing her that he'd gotten both her shot and beer from before he was there and they were ready to roll out. She thanked him and followed; surprised he'd paid for her other drinks, too.

Once outside, he waited for her to catch up. "I literally live around the corner. You can leave your car here and walk with me, if you want. No one will bother it."

She shrugged. "Sure. I guess that's cool. Just promise you'll walk back with me." He nodded his agreement, grabbed her hand, and practically dragged her down the sidewalk. She pulled up even with him, winding her fingers around his. Just as she was catching the rhythm of his steps, he took a sharp left turn and began walking up the sidewalk to a house with large wrap-around porch.

"You live HERE?" Ashlar asked, eyes agog, as she looked the house over.

"Yup. Family home, been in the family for generations." He smiled over his shoulder at her as he jingled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door without letting go of her hand. He held open the door, guiding her over the threshold. She looked around at the darkened room, not really able to make out much of it. Closing the door behind them, Elliot threw the deadbolt and hung his keys up on the rack behind the door. "C'mon," he pulled her toward the only room with a light on, "Let's grab a drink and head upstairs." Ashlar craned her neck around to look at the stairs she hadn't previously noticed off to the side of the room.

They walked into the kitchen and she took in the long room with its modern appliances set into an old fashioned space. Walking toward the stainless steel fridge, Elliott grabbed a bottle opener from the counter. He pulled open the refrigerator door, grabbed two bottles and immediately popped off the tops. He retraced his steps back to where Ashlar stood at the island, walked behind her, sliding his arm around her as he passed her a beer. She took it from his hands, and he immediately pulled her closer to him. Angling her head back to look up at him, she smiled at the look on his face. His eyes were hooded and there was a sense of predatory eagerness around the corners of his lips. He bent down and kissed her, hard.

She grabbed onto his waist with her free hand, returning the kiss. His hand tangled in her hair and she reached up to run her fingers through his. He broke the kiss first, grabbing her hand from the back of his head and turning her around to face the island. He placed his bottle down and removed hers from her hand. He moved both toward the center of the island, and then wound his fingers around her hips. He felt her hipbones through her jeans. The touch so low on her body made her nipples tighten and harden. He leaned his chest against her back, pushing her forward a little bit so that her ass stuck out toward his groin. He ground himself against her and she could feel his dick getting hard and long in his cargo pants.

"We should take this upstairs," He breathed into her ear as he began kissing his way down the side of her neck. His hands slid up her sides until the hovered just at the sides of her breasts. He didn't make a move to cup them completely, only lingered on the edges, gently feeling their roundness along the side of her ribs.

"You keep mentioning 'upstairs' and I've yet to see it. I'm liking this kitchen, though..." she murmured back as she turned her face to try to plant a kiss on his cheek. He turned his head at that moment and caught her mouth in a rough kiss. She tried to turn in his arms, but he pushed his pelvis harder to her ass, keeping her pinned against the island. A rough sigh slipped from between her lips when he pulled back from the kiss. He ground against her one more time before spinning her around and looking deeply into her eyes. His hazel eyes had grown dark with desire and she wondered how kiss swollen her lips were.

He pressed his lips to hers, slipping his tongue softly against her mouth. Before she could respond, he pulled back and grabbed her hand, "Grab your beer," he said and pulled her behind him. She reached back for her beer as he wound his way around the island, turned left past the refrigerator, and stopped just short of the stairs. "You ready?" There was a glimmer of mischief in his eyes again, and then he was racing up the stairs. Half way up he stopped, took the two steps down to where she had stopped, pressed her against he wall and kissed her fiercely. "Let's go!" and he was gone again.

Taking a right at the top of the stairs, he stopped short at the door. "Ashlar..." he whispered, "don't take this the wrong way, but as soon as we get through that door, I'm going to take your clothes off and fuck the shit out of you. If you have a problem with that, say it now." He looked at her so earnestly that her breath caught in her throat. She was pretty sure no one had ever been so honest with her about his intentions.

"Uhm... that's pretty much what I was hoping you'd say Elliott. I have been ..." she looked down, suddenly aware that she was just about to tell him that she'd been fantasizing about that very thing.

"Daydreaming about it?" He smirked, "Yeah, John showed me the craigslist ad. That was you, wasn't it?" His lips quirked up at the corner as he watched the shock and furious blush rise on her cheeks.

"Uh.... Yes?" she squeaked.

"Thought so." He pushed the door open, flipped one of the switches inside the door, and spun Ashlar in front of him. He set his beer on the side table and took hers from her hand to do the same with it. She looked around the room, taking in the large bed just to her right. Behind her, where Elliott stood, was a night table. On the far side of the bed was another night table. Directly across from the bed was a dresser with two doors on either side. The door furthest from her appeared to lead to a bathroom, as the door was open and she could see light reflecting off a shower curtain. The other door was closed, but she guessed it was probably a closet. There were wall sconces softly illuminated just above the bed, toward either end of the headboard. There was a fan overhead, spinning quietly.

Elliott pressed himself against Ashlar's back, kissing the back of her neck softly. His hands slid up her waist and under her shirt. He dragged his hands up her body, pulling her shirt along. She raised her arms, allowing him to pull it over her head and off of her. His fingers fell to her bra snap, making quick work of getting it off. His fingers brushed along her arms as he slipped the straps of her bra off, letting it fall to the floor at her feet. His hand came around to cup her breasts, gently kneading them. He pulled at her nipples with his work-hardened hands, and she sighed deeply, resting her head back on his right shoulder. With each inhale she took, Elliott's fingers tugged harder at her nipples. The ebb and flow of pressure on her sensitive buds was speeding her breath.

With deft fingers, Ashlar reached behind her body and began working loose Elliott's belt. With the buckle undone, she unbuttoned his jeans, pulled down the zipper, and shoved his jeans down. The fell at his feet with a thump as his belt buckle hit the floor. Slipping her fingers in the waist of his boxers, she pushed those down, too. Before she could slip her fingers around his hard cock, he pressed himself harder against her lower body. She could feel him growing hard now that he was free of all the constriction of the clothing. Realizing that she was topless and he was pant less, she spun in his arms. Grabbing the hem of his shirt, she tugged up on it, indicating she wanted to take it off. Before letting her lift it over his head, Elliott stopped her with a kiss, holding her face in place with his hands.

Releasing her lips, Elliott grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it swiftly off. Reaching for her pants, he quickly undid the fly and pushed them to her feet. They both stepped out of their shoes, slipped off their socks, and when Ashlar made move to slip off her panties, Elliott stayed her hands. "No, leave them on," he murmured huskily. Glancing down, she was relieved to see that she'd worn the black mesh bikinis rather than one of her torn and holey lace thongs. Elliott's eyes were fastened on the shadowy area at the apex of her thighs.