The Jogger Ch. 04

Roger pulled her arm towards his body and gently planted a kiss on her lips.

The kiss lasted only second, and couldn't be described as anything more than an excited peck on the lips. Lindsey was obviously shocked by the advance. She blankly stared at Roger who now had now begun to panic. For the first time spending time together, there was absolute silence.

"I'm sorr-," Roger blurted, as he stared at Lindsey's shocked stare.

"No," Lindsey interrupted, finally processing what had just happened, "it's okay, really. Uhh, I really need to get home."

Lindsey turned and was quickly out the door. As the door shut, Roger's panic turned to anger.

"Why would you do something that stupid," Roger yelled at himself, "You found a woman who was fun to be around and you went and ruined it by kissing her. She is thirty years younger than you and is your best friend's daughter! Why would you ever think that kissing her was okay?"

Roger flopped onto the couch and began to take out his frustrations on a decorative pillow. He began to punch the pillow so hard, that it was likely to turn black and blue by morning.

Roger struggled to sleep that night. It had seemed obvious in his eyes that Lindsey had no interest. She hadn't reciprocated his affection. The best case scenario that played in Roger's head was that she just wouldn't tell her parents what he had done. There was no way that she would be coming around anymore. Roger would have been surprised if she even kept running through his neighborhood.

The following morning, Roger was awoken from his three hours of sleep by a text message from Tim.

"Kim is gone today. Play 36?" the message read.

It seemed as if Lindsey hadn't told her father about their kiss, at least not yet. As tired as Roger was, he hoped that some time on the golf course would take his mind off of the previous night.

Roger's plan worked. He quickly forgot about his anger from the previous night, as it was replaced with the anger of firing shot after shot into the woods.

"How many balls did you lose?" Tim asked, as the guys took a break in the clubhouse for a beer.

"I lost count after 10. I'm going to need to buy a new pack before we head out."

"You've been in a funk here lately. What's going on? I feel like you haven't been telling me something."

Roger had no idea how to approach the conversation that Tim was suggesting they have. He knew that it would feel good to talk this situation out; but the only real friend he had, would kill him if he knew what was really going on.

"Nothing," Roger muttered, staring down at his beer bottle.

"No, something is wrong. I haven't seen you this down in years. What's going on?"

"Fine," Roger said, taking a deep breath, "remember when I told you about that woman that was going to come over to my house last weekend to watch a movie? Well, she came over every night this past week to hang out. Last night as she was about to leave, I kissed her, and the reaction was not a good one."

"Look at you," Tim smiled, obviously missing the bad part of the story, "Hanging out with some sexy woman every night and trying to keep it from me. Good for you man!"

"No, you are missing the bad part. I kissed her and she doesn't like me. She rushed out of the house like I had morphed into some sort of monster."

"Dude, there is no way this chick doesn't like you. I know that you have been out of the game for a while, but women don't just come to hang out alone with a guy if they don't have some sort of feelings for him. I know you have a cool home theater, but it isn't cool enough to want to hang out every night."

"You don't understand. She is way younger than me and is way out of my league. There is no way that she would ever like me."

"Don't sell yourself short!" Tim said, trying to cheer up his buddy, "You are a very successful man who is fun to be around. Sure, you may not be as good looking as me, but you clean up well. Like I've said before, younger women love older guys. Look at George Clooney; women are still in love with him. You may just be this lady's Clooney."

The conversation hadn't changed Roger's mind. Tim had no idea what he was talking about, because he didn't fully understand the situation. If he had seen Lindsey's face after the kiss, he would have known that there was no doubt about her feelings, or lack thereof.

Roger's second round of golf went a little better than the first, but he still didn't play well. Lacking sleep and frustrated at his play, he skipped on the post-golf beer and went back home. He flopped onto the couch, laying his keys and phone on the coffee table and quickly fell asleep.

"Bing-bing"

Roger was roused by the noise of a new text on his phone. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision. Roger figured it was probably a text from Tim poking fun at his poor golf play, or someone from work texting about something that needed his signature. Tim and the office were really the only people who ever texted Roger, so he figured this time wouldn't be any different.

To his surprise, the message was from Lindsey. Based on the previous night, Roger never expected to see or hear from Lindsey ever again, let alone the evening after. He swipped his phone and pulled up her text.

"Hey! Do you have some free time tonight? I think we need to talk."

The message gave no tell about Lindsey's feelings. Roger tried to read into every word and punctuation mark, but couldn't figure out any hidden feelings. He definitely wanted to see Lindsey again. It would allow him an opportunity to try to salvage the friendship; or if nothing else, convince her to not tell her dad what happened.

"Sure. Come over whenever you have time," Roger responded.

A few seconds later, a reply appeared. "I will be with the soccer team for dinner but plan on leaving early. Is 9 too late?"

"Nine is fine," Roger responded.

Roger set down the phone and began to worry again. This was the most stress Roger had been in since a year after his divorce. He tried some breathing exercises his doctor had taught him to cope with stress.

Suddenly, Roger's phone went off again. He picked up the phone and read the text from Lindsey.

"You are a poet, and didn't even know it ;)"

The text put a smile on Roger's face. This type of fun nature was what Roger was hoping not to lose. Her corny text had relieved more stress than any breathing exercise could. Even though worry tightened the muscles in his neck, he couldn't help but smile.

A shower and some quick cleaning of the house were in order. Even though Roger was sure Lindsey would be delivering bad news tonight, he wanted her to still have a good impression of him. He sat nervously around the house. Each minute that passed seemed to take an hour. Roger's stomach felt sick, as he feared the worst.

Finally, the doorbell rang. Roger had nervously been awaiting the doorbell to ring, but now he was even more anxious. He rushed to answer the door. As he swung open the door, beautiful Lindsey came into view. Her gorgeous smile shone through the dimly lit doorway. The sight of Lindsey finally helped Roger feel slightly more at ease.

"Hey, come on in," Roger offered.

Lindsey made her way inside and headed straight for the couch in the living room. Roger shut the front door and followed Lindsey over to the couch.

Lindsey looked beautiful as she always did. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with a small braid lying tight against the right side of her head. She wore a green V-neck shirt, which exposed a small amount of cleavage. Her jean shorts were longer than most of the shorts Roger had seen her in.

"We might as well good ahead and acknowledge the elephant in the room," Lindsey said, with the smile slipping from her face, "Last night, I was very caught off guard by what happened as we said goodnight."

"Let me interject," Roger said, "I need to apologize for making that type of advance toward you. I know that it was highly inappropriate on my part. I know that you have no interest in me in that way, but I let my emotions get the better of me. You are an incredibly beautiful and smart young lady. I allowed inappropriate feelings come into what I had considered a very strong friendship with you. I deeply apologize for my actions the other night, and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Roger, there is no need to apologize. You have been through some tough times over the last few years. I can understand how something like this could happen. It is just a weird situation for me to be in. You are my dad's best friend. I'm not sure how I could have a romantic relationship with one of my dad's friends. Maybe if the situation was different. You understand, right?"

"Yeah, I get it. There is a lot that I have been dealing with emotionally over the last five years, and I still am continuing to try to handle it. It is just something tha-...wait. Did you say, 'Maybe if the situation was different'?" Roger inquired, finally processing the entirety of Lindsey's statement.

"You know what I mean. Look, you are an incredibly handsome man. I noticed that from the first time I ran past your house. Of all the men that I saw on my run, you were the only good looking guy. Granted, most of the other men were in their 60s or 70s, but you were actually someone I enjoyed seeing on my run. I had actually thought about stopping to flirt with you, until I found out you were my dad's friend."

"Wait, so you like me?"

Lindsey smiled, "Maybe, we shouldn't go down this rabbit hole. It may only make it tougher to deal with this situation."

"I understand that thought, but it would really put me at ease if you answered the question."

"I think it is pretty obvious that I do," Lindsey confessed, "Like I said, you are a handsome man and you are fun to hang out with. Did you think I was just coming over here because I really liked movies?"

"Well...yeah."

Lindsey laughed, "If I just wanted to watch movies here, I would have left after we got done watching them. Roger, I enjoy the conversations that we have had over the last week and I do find you a very attractive man. I was shocked at what you did the other night and afraid of what would come of it, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it."

Roger sat with a blank stare on his face. He had never, not even for a second, thought that Lindsey might be attracted to him. Tim had surprisingly been right when he said that Roger's mystery woman liked him.

Finally, Roger realized that he and Lindsey had been sitting in silence for quite some time. He finally was able to think enough to say something, "I'm sorry. I'm just having difficulty processing all of this. Okay, wow! Umm, well where do we go from here?"

"That is one of the reasons I wanted to come over and talk with you. We need to decide how to handle this, now that we both have acknowledged how we feel. Can we really put those feelings aside and just remain friends? Or do we need to cut all ties and move on?"

"I really don't want to lose the friendship we have formed over the last couple of weeks. The past week is the happiest I have been in a long time, and I'd hate to lose that."

"Do you really think you can suppress the attraction you have to me?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah...well, maybe not. I'm really not sure. All I know is that it would be a shame to throw away what we have. Gosh, why is this so complicated?"

"That is what I've been asking myself all day. I want nothing more than to remain friends, but I'm not sure we will ever be able to just stay friends knowing what we know now."

"Well, hear me out on this. Why couldn't we be more than friends?"

"Because my father would kill you and ground me for life."

"Lindsey, you are an adult. At some point in life you are going to be with a guy, so why couldn't it be with me. Sure, I'm 30 years older, but I think we have proven that the age difference hasn't kept us from becoming really close friends. If the attraction is there, why not explore it," Roger argued.

"Again, my father is the problem. Yeah, the age gap is a little strange, but it doesn't really bother me. The issue is that you are my father's best friend and he would not approve of you dating me. I'm sure my mom would be mad too."

"Yes, but your parents may never like anyone you date. Who is to say things would work out between us anyway? We could always keep it a secret, and only let them know if things get more serious. I don't think either of us is thinking about marriage any time soon. You have plenty of college left, and I am in no hurry to get remarried. We could really do this!"

"No we can't! Roger, I am more attracted to you than any guy I've ever been around. You are smart, funny, good looking and sweet. But, you know as well as I do that we would eventually get caught and it would end up poorly."

"Lindsey, I've done a lot of things in my life that I regret. I've failed my sons and my ex-wife more times than I can count. I had love and lost it. I know how great it can feel to be with the right person. The feelings I get with you are even stronger than the ones I had when I was dating my wife. I would rather explore the opportunities of being together with you, than worry about what might happen if we get caught."

Lindsey sat silently, weighing the choices in her head. The decision was a battle between her head and her heart. In her mind, she knew that they would only be able to keep a relationship hidden for so long. In her mind, she knew that it was weird for her to be as attracted to someone who was old enough to be her father. But, her heart was telling her something very different. Her heart knew that Roger was right about regretting not exploring the opportunity. Her heart had become so attracted to Roger over the last week.

After a long silence Roger asked, "Well, what do you think?"

Lindsey didn't know what to think. She had always been someone very level headed and analytic, but there was no cut and dry answer to this question.

"I really don't know what to think," Lindsey finally replied, "I've been weighing all of this in my mind since our kiss last night, and it becomes less and less clear the more I think about it. The only thing that I know is that my heart and my mind are fighting each other. My mind keeps telling me to walk out that door and never come back, but my heart is telling me to never leave."

"You don't have to decide now. I know it is a hard decision."

"But, I know what I want. All I need to do is let myself say yes."

Lindsey and Roger stared at each other from opposite ends of the couch. Everything was out in the open now. Roger wanted Lindsey, and Lindsey wanted Roger. They both knew there were a lot of reasons not to be together, but it couldn't compare to the attraction they were feeling. Lindsey finally allowed her heart to win, as she leaned across the couch and kissed Roger softly on the lips.

The kiss didn't begin as anything more than a light peck, but the emotions on each side of their lips were as passionate as could be. Lindsey slowly pulled away from the kiss, her breath a little uneasy after finally giving in to her feelings. Roger and Lindsey stared into each other's blue eyes. Not a word was said, not a word needed to be said.

Roger leaned back in and kissed Lindsey, as they fell laying back onto the couch. Their lips locked, finally able to release the feelings that had been pent up inside. Roger rubbed his hand along the outside of Lindsey's thigh as they kissed. Roger had dreamt about how soft her tan legs must feel, but even his dreams couldn't do them justice. Lindsey's young tongue began to brush against Roger's. Roger's heart began to pound as he was experiencing an excitement that he hadn't experienced in years. He was making out with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Lindsey had set her phone on the coffee table as she walked in. It had remained silent through their entire conversation, but now chose the worst moment to interrupt. Roger pulled himself away from Lindsey's face.

"Do you need to answer that?" Roger asked.

It was a question Roger would kick himself the rest of the night for asking. In hindsight, he should have just continued the moment of passion, but Lindsey checked the caller id and noticed it was her mother calling.

"I do need to answer this," Lindsey said, grabbing the phone and answering it.

Roger quietly sat, still partially lying on top of Lindsey as she talked. He could make out a few of the words Kim was saying, but mainly was only getting one side of the conversation.

"Okay, I'll be home in just a few minutes then," Lindsey said before hanging up the phone.

"You have to go?" Roger asked, after Lindsey had ended the call.

"Yeah, my mom needs my help at home. It is probably for the best, we don't need to rush this. We have the rest of the summer to ourselves."

The rest of the summer sounded nice to Roger, but the boner and puddle of precum in his pants would have preferred to rush things. Roger tried to not seem too upset, walking Lindsey to the door and giving her one final kiss.

"How about we have our first official date tomorrow night?" Roger asked.

"That would be perfect," Lindsey smiled.

Roger watched as Lindsey walked out and towards her car. It was the same sight he had seen the night before, but his feelings were far different this time around. It still had failed to register with Roger what had just happened. In many ways, it felt like a dream. Roger went straight to his bedroom and lie down in bed.

Roger had remained calm throughout the night, getting some of the best sleep he had gotten in years. He still didn't seem to comprehend what had happened the night before. Roger got out of bed and began to make himself some breakfast. He had a spring in his step as he walked to get the morning paper. The clacking of shoe tread could be heard in the distance, and Roger was met with the sight of Lindsey when he got to the foot of the driveway.

Lindsey began to slow, smile beaming from her sweat beaded face.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said, "What time do you want me to come by tonight for our date?"

"How about six?" Roger replied.

Lindsey smiled, nodded and began to continue on her run.

Roger wasn't sure if it was seeing her smile again, or the reminder of their date; but Roger finally began to panic a little about what had transpired the night before. Roger was actually going to be dating a beautiful eighteen year old girl. Not only was she more than half his age, but she was his best friend's daughter.

What would he do for their first official date? He wanted to impress her, but what would be something he could do.

When Roger got back in the house, he didn't even bother opening the paper. He had far too much planning ahead of him. Roger sat down at his computer and began to search for date ideas and began placing some phone calls.

Golf with Tim lasted far longer than usual. For once, it wasn't because of Roger's poor play, as Tim seemed to be having issues of some sort. When the round was over, Tim owed Roger a drink.

"You know what; I think I'll take a rain check on the beer. I really need to get back home?" Roger said, as they began walking back toward the clubhouse.

"Another hot date?" Tim asked with a snicker.

"Something like that."

"Well, more beer for me. I'm gonna get wasted after a round like that."

Roger was happy to have snuck off with such little resistance from Tim. He knew that he couldn't divulge too much information to him; so the less questions from Tim, the better.

Roger rushed back home to get ready. He had a big night planned ahead. Roger was excited to treat Lindsey to their first date. In the back of his mind, he knew that tonight was going to be a big night for many reasons; but he tried to prevent himself from getting overly excited.