Of Dogs and Deliveries

Cassy watched as Daniel strode purposely toward the man. She could not hear what was being said, but she saw Daniel get right in the weird little man's face, speaking calmly but forcefully to him. The weird little man ventured out to the sidewalk and faced Cassy.

"I'm sorry, young lady. I took out my frustrations with the delivery driver on you. My quarrel is with him, not you," the shriveled man said in a wavering voice and then shot a look over his shoulder back at Daniel who gestured to the little troll that his task was not quite finished. "I was wrong to have involved you. Please accept my apology."

"Apology accepted." Cassy said without a trace of emotion. She just stood and stared at the handsome delivery man who stood firmly in place with his burly arms folded across his chest, his eyes boring holes through the weird little man's forehead. The man signed for his delivery and disappeared inside the house.

"You know," Cassy said, "I could have taken care of him myself. But somehow I don't think I would have gotten so eloquent an apology. In fact I might have just kicked his sorry ass right on his front porch. I think I like your result better, Dandy Dan."

Daniel sauntered slowly toward the beautiful woman who had come to occupy so many of his thoughts lately. "Please, call me Daniel. Dan D is the guy I bought the business from when he retired. I was just lucky that my name, Daniel Dinsmore, fit."

He extended a hand and asked, "And what might your name be? I am always happy to defend the honor of a lady, but I like it a whole lot better when I know her name."

Cassy instinctively returned the handshake, Daniel taking her hand with a gentle firmness. She almost went weak in the knees at his touch, but managed to remain vertical with a deep breath.

"Cassy Walker. From Walker's Walkers... Um ... I'm afraid that I didn't buy that name, I, uh, came up with it myself. ... We walk dogs."

Embarrassment flushed over her face at her uncharacteristic lack of poise.

"Well, Miss Walker, I am very happy to make your acquaintance. I do hope we can become good friends. Lord knows I need all I can get!"

"We all need as many friends as we can get, right? Listen, I've got to get Bailey and Digger here their exercise, so, um ... I think I'd better get going."

"Mind if I tag along? I'm partial to German Shepherds and my deliveries are done for today. Besides, I could use a little exercise myself."

Cassy thought for a moment. "Why not?" she said. "You park your truck and I'll meet you at the park."

When Daniel pulled up to the street that bordered the park he could see Cassy already at work with the two dogs, running and playing fetch. He took a moment just to appreciate her sexy body as she ran and tumbled playfully with her companions. Dang! He could tell from the swelling in his shorts that it had really been way too long since he'd been in a relationship.

Daniel's hand fell to his lap, thinking it best to try to adjust himself in such a way as to hide his arousal.

At that very moment a gorgeous blonde stepped up to the passenger side window, staring directly at him. He scrambled to grab his clipboard and drop it over his lap. He waved feebly, hoping to mask his activity.

The blonde gave no reaction to him, but took out her lipstick and began applying it. Daniel suddenly realized that she had not seen him at all, the late day sun had turned his semi-tinted windows into mirrors from the outside. The blonde strutted down the street none the wiser.

Taking advantage of his newfound privacy Daniel furtively unzipped his fly and reached into his boxers, pulling out his thick cock, allowing it to jut out fully before him. Catching sight of Cassy's cute little tush as she ran after the two dogs he gripped himself tightly and stroked himself rhythmically, thinking to just take the edge off of the sexual tension.

His breath caught at his own touch combined with the sight of the sexy woman rambunctiously wrestling with a German Shepherd that was, pound for pound, about the same size as she. Her perfect breasts bounced just enough and turned him on all the more.

Daniel's cock swelled more and more with each slow, sure stroke. He glanced down and saw that the veins along his shaft standing up, pulsing toward the deep purple head. Yes indeed, it had been waaaaay too long since he'd been with a woman. He didn't even last a minute longer as thick white jets of cum leapt from the swollen tip of his cock, making a terrible mess on the console.

"Oh, man!" he exclaimed, manners ever intact. Daniel wasn't a man to ever use profanity.

He reached to the glove box to retrieve the roll of paper towels he kept there for unexpected spills, though they were usually engine fluids, not bodily ones.

He quickly cleaned up as best he could under the circumstances, took several deep breaths and tried to clear his mind so as to be able to come out of the truck without tipping off what had just occurred.

As he trotted onto the field where Cassy was he noticed that another man had arrived who wore mirrored shades in a manner that suggested they were more to protect a secret superhero identity than to shield from the sun's rays. He made an elaborate show of peeling off his tank top to show off his workout regimen. What a tool, Daniel thought.

"Yo, Cassy! Good to see you lookin' so fiiiiine today," said the tool in the shades. "I like the way that outfit shows off your bahama mamas."

"Hi, Kevin," Cassy managed to mutter with a modicum of friendliness. She always tried to maintain an air of professionalism whenever she was at work, particularly when her company logo was visible. "What are you doing here today? I thought that Wednesday was your usual day here with Bruiser."

"Yeah, well, I knew that you'd be here today, so I thought I'd do you a favor and let you drool over my pecs."

He lifted his hands above his head and flexed, truly not realizing that even though he was well-sculpted, he just came off as looking ridiculous.

As he admired his own biceps he leaned in closer to Cassy, assuming she felt the same way.

"I thought we'd grab some chow and then go back to my place. Then I can show ya how great my glutes look." He winked lasciviously and flashed an oily grin.

Daniel had been standing politely by, but this was becoming too much. He cleared his throat, managing to take command of the situation without being even the least bit uncivil.

"Oh, hi, Honey! I was wondering when you'd get here!" Cassy chirped, perhaps a little too eagerly. "Have you met Kevin? He hangs around here at the dog park all the time."

Cassy eyes pleaded for help to get away from the talking bronze statue that now stood between them.

"Howdy, Kevin, I'm Daniel Dinsmore. Really glad to meet you."

Daniel made very direct eye contact and shook Kevin's hand quite briskly. Kevin's façade cracked slightly as he winced from the handshake. He shot Daniel a menacing look as he tried to regain his composure, still trying to impress Cassy, but Daniel was having none of it.

"I'm awfully glad to know that when I'm not around Cassy's got someone who will look after her and not let any Bozos try to put the moves on her," said Daniel. "I sometimes get tired of tossing guys out on their can for messing with my girlfriend." He draped a long arm across Cassy's shoulder in a casual embrace.

Cassy was so relieved that Daniel had not only taken the hint, but had kept everything pleasant without leaving anything in doubt as to Kevin's advances. But alas, Kevin was not quite smart enough to back off.

"Girlfriend huh? Naaaaah, I don't believe Cassy would settle for a beanpole when she could have T-bone steak."

Kevin turned his attention back to Cassy. "Let's lose the skyscraper here and get that dinner I was talkin' about."

Cassy took her cue from how Daniel operated. Firmly without ever losing his most affable charm.

"Oh, Kevin, thanks so much for the offer, but Daniel and I already have plans for later." She leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "In fact, don't tell anyone, but you just might hear wedding bells chiming before long!" And with that she twirled about, caught Daniel by the arm and walked away with Digger trotting along behind them and Bailey pausing to growl for a moment at the stunned Adonis.

Cassy and Daniel spent the next half hour playing and racing with the two dogs until they were all quite spent.

Daniel huffed mightily, fighting to pull a stick from Bailey's powerful jaws. He suddenly noticed that this entire time Kevin had not budged from where they'd left him, fuming on a bench at the park's edge. "Uh, oh, look who's still glowering at us from the sidelines."

"Geez. This guy just won't take a hint!" said Cassy. She thought for a moment then continued. "Come here, I've got an idea."

Daniel strolled up to face Cassy and she immediately wrapped her arms around his waist. She would have preferred his shoulders but it was the best she could do. Daniel wrapped his arms behind her, clasping her close to him. Cassy buried her face in Daniel's chest.

"Is it working?" she asked, her voice muffled by his shirt. "What's he doing now?"

Daniel stole a glance over her shoulder. Kevin was kicking at the dirt, startling his own dog, Bruiser. He began storming off, and though he couldn't tell for sure, it looked like Kevin was letting loose with a rather impressive string of expletives as he went.

"I think he's ... leaving now. Yes, ma'am, he's on his way out the gate." Daniel stepped back and shook her hand. "Mission accomplished, my dear!"

Unfortunately for Daniel, hugging Cassy's body close to his had caused another erection to occur. He quickly turned away, hoping that she hadn't noticed and tried to change the subject quickly. Now that the girl he'd developed an obsession over was on friendly terms with him, he didn't want to jeopardize it by looking like he only had sex on his mind.

"Say, now," he said. "Why don't we celebrate our little victory? Let me buy you dinner tomorrow night. Would you like that? I mean, I still don't feel like I've properly apologized for nearly running you down that first time we met."

Cassy considered for a moment. She was never one to turn down a free dinner.

"Oooooh, I know a great little sushi place downtown ..."

Daniel's face twisted slightly.

"You don't like sushi, do you?"

"Well, ma'am, where I come from we still call sushi 'bait'. I'm afraid I just don't care for it."

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

Daniel told her about his favorite steak house, and his enthusiasm proved to be irresistible. She agreed to meet him the following evening at seven o'clock.

Cassy began to think that this cracker barrel guy might be OK to have around... for a friend or maybe even an employee. He was really great with the dogs and she figured that he could use some extra income. After all, how much money could he possibly be making driving a delivery truck? She smiled at her own benevolence. She decided to offer him a position at dinner.

Daniel waited nervously at the bar for Cassy to arrive. He glanced at his watch. She was only five minutes late but he began to wonder if she would keep her promise to meet him.

He needn't have worried as she suddenly appeared beside him, dropping her keys onto the bar in exasperation. She was dressed in a neat navy blue business suit with her hair pulled into a stylish up-do. She carried a black leather attache case with gold hardware gleaming in the half-light of the restaurant.

"Well, look at you," he said, feeling a bit under-dressed all of a sudden. "Looking mighty gussied up for a casual dinner, don't you think? I guess you can tell I came here straight after work."

He stood up as if to model his now-familiar uniform of dark blue shorts that came just above his knee. Just perfect for showing off those amazing calves, thought Cassy. And that pale blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, perfectly accentuating his biceps? Yeah, that's OK too. He really is the living cliché of the sexy delivery man.

She shook off her libido and sighed heavily. "I just came from an important business meeting. It took longer than I thought and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. I need to make some changes for my business to grow, but if I do it wrong we'll go under instead. I just need to sort through everything."

She knew that Daniel wouldn't be able to understand any of the issues she was facing so she tried to forget about the meeting and soon they were seated in a small booth and had ordered drinks. Cassy was making every effort to be polite and upbeat, but clearly she was distracted.

"Cassy, why don't you tell me what's going on? Maybe I could help you out somehow. I mean, I own my own business too and I might have some ideas about what to do."

Cassy looked at his sweet face. His sweet, uneducated southern face, full of good looks but empty of useful knowledge.

"That's sweet of you to offer," she said, "but running my kind of business is more complex than you would know."

"Cassy, I don't mean to be rude, but just what do you mean by that? How can you possibly know what expertise I do or do not have?"

"I just assumed that, well ... since you're from the south and you're driving a delivery truck, that you ... well, don't have much scope for much more than that." Cassy wilted at the sound of her own words but Daniel just smiled broadly.

"Really now? That's what you think? You honestly believe that just because I talk with a twang and I drive a truck and toss boxes around all day that I must be ... what's the phrase? So dumb that I could throw myself on the ground and miss?

"Well, let me tell you something Miss Cassy Walker. Would it surprise you to know that I am actually a graduate of the Harvard Law School? Would it surprise you to learn that my area of practice happens to be business law? Would it surprise you to know that up until six months ago I was a full partner at Dinsmore, Peck & Gimble?"

Slowly Cassy's jaw dropped of its own volition. Surely he must be joking, right? she thought. This rube from the country was ... a lawyer? From Harvard? With the renowned firm of D, P & G?

"How ... but ... how ...?"

Daniel could sense her embarrassment, but did not wish to exploit it. He just aimed for a simple, "folksy" explanation to put her at ease.

"Well, first I got really good grades in high school. Then I went to college. Eventually I ended up at Harvard and I studied really hard and I applied myself and all that kind of thing. Then I got my law degree. Two of my friends from school wanted to come out here to sunny California to start our own firm and so we did.

"But let me tell you something. After four years I came to realize that although I was really busy and making lots of money, I wasn't living a life for me. Nobody smiles in that line of work. I was a cog in a machine of my own making, and one day I just decided that I wasn't going to do that anymore. So I went to Ben and Henry and asked them to buy me out. And they did, bless their hearts and they even kept my name on the business. I guess they didn't want to spend the money for new stationery."

He winked slyly at his own joke.

"I still consult for them occasionally, and see them for a game of golf or tennis every now and again, but I don't miss being part of the law practice."

He continued to tell his story but by this time Cassy eyes were filling with tears, and Daniel was pretty sure he knew why. Without even being aware of it, she had been harboring a strong prejudice in her heart. She'd been a victim of a societal conditioning that immediately equated a southern accent with a dim brain. A complete inability to function at any career higher than that of gas station attendant.

As the waves of realization washed over her, they carried a flood of shame with them. Daniel stopped his tale, observing the profound transformation taking place before him. He reached across the table offering Cassy his crisp white handkerchief.

"My papa always told me that if a lady is crying it's my job to bring it to a stop. So I need you to hear what I'm about to say really clearly, OK?"

Cassy nodded, still stifling tiny little sobs of regret.

"I've spent my entire life being looked down on whenever I went anywhere outside of my home state. It's nothing new to be treated like the village idiot just because of the way I talk. But from a really young age I realized that that kind of thinking couldn't define who I really am. Sure, I've known lots of idiots who embody the stereotype to a tee, but I also knew that if I studied hard and paid attention I could be anyone I wanted to be.

"And I'm right proud to be the man I am today because I know the importance of respect, both to give and to get. So while I've been hoping that you'd grow to see that there's more to me than driving a big blue truck and tossing boxes around all day, I've never let it bother me, and I don't want it to bother you, OK?

"So now, let's dry those tears, eat a little dinner, then we'll go to my office and I'll show you how you can restructure your business so that it comes under a different tax classification which will free up the operating capital you need to grow it the way you want it to. Sound good to you?"

Cassy nodded in relief. She was starting to realize that this guy embodied so much that she had been looking for, but she'd had no idea just how much because she'd blinded herself with assumptions and prejudice. But Daniel had swept it all aside in a single gesture, and she knew from this moment on it would be as if it had never occurred.

She managed to collect herself and enjoy their meal, after which Daniel made good on his promise to sort through her business files. She was ashamed at how easy he made it all look. Documents that she had labored over for months were checked, revised and resorted in a matter of a half an hour. Daniel collected them all into a presentation packet which had been neatly prepared.

"I'll just send these over to Ben & Henry in the morning and you should have your revised status by the end of next week. How's that sound to you?"

Cassy gulped. As she had watched him work, she never would have dreamed that she would be salivating over white-collar work. Sure, the rippling muscles as he moved heavy boxes around were an obvious tonic for her libido, but who knew keyboard strokes, paper shuffling and signatures could have become such a turn on?

"I'll never be able to repay you, Daniel. If this works, Walker's Walkers will be able to triple our business within a year or so!"

"Think nothing of it. Really it was easy as pie, and I got the perk of having a cute little lady sitting around my office for the evening."

Cassy uncharacteristically blushed at this remark. She was a modern woman. She had always stood on her own two feet. She had built a successful business out of her great love for dogs. She had never been a damsel in distress. She had never needed rescuing.

Daniel had shown her something new. He had stood up for her when the weird little man had called her a bimbo. He had put Kevin in his place at the dog park. He had lent his expertise to bolster her business. But never once had he done any of these things because he thought her incapable. Nor had he ever even hinted that he wanted anything in return, other than friendship. There was a genuine quality to Daniel Dinsmore that defied any kind of stereotype.

She was only sorry that she had not been able to see it before. He did all of these things simply as an extension of his authentic character. He completely believed that a lady should be treated like a lady, not because she can't look out for herself, but because he thought enough of her to do whatever he might to make her life better.