Dorsai - Taxi

I accepted it, and thanked her before telling her "I wasn't overjoyed about it, myself… I'm glad I had somebody as nice as you to make it as pleasurable as it could have been", earning myself a pleased smile from her. I started to turn away when she asked me "Jim? I'll be giving both of my presentations tomorrow, but won't be flying home until the next day; would you be interested in showing me a little bit of the nightlife around here tomorrow night?"

"I'd be delighted to", I assured her. "I know a place that serves some real good beef, if you're interested in a nice supper first."

She looked delighted, and agreed – but only if she could pay for dinner, as a way of thanking me for making sure she didn't lose her room. The place I had in mind was pretty reasonably priced, so I agreed. It took only a few moments for us to agree that I'd be there to collect her at 7:30. That settled, made my exit so I could finish what was left of my shift.

With the prospect of a pleasant evening out in the company of a smart and pretty girl the next night, the rest of the afternoon passed easily enough.

I got an early start the next morning so that I'd be sure and have time to get home and get ready for my "date" with Peggy. Seven thirty found me softly knocking on the door to her room; it took a few seconds before it opened to reveal that she was ready to go – in more ways than what I'd expected. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and revealed her soft and slender shoulders had only the thin straps of her dress to interrupt their loveliness; I wasn't about to try and guess whether or not she had any makeup on, and really didn't care. When my eyes dropped a little lower, I could see that she was showing a nice amount of cleavage while still staying classy. The dress was a simple design, very tasteful, and moulded to her shape very nicely. It ended about mid-thigh, leaving a delightful expanse of nicely-turned legs showing. The pumps on her feet made her only a little bit taller, bringing the top of her head up to about eye level on me. I released a soft whistle to let her know that I appreciated the way she looked, and she graced me with a smile that let me know she was pleased with my reaction. After she'd closed the door behind her, she took my arm and the two of us went down to my car.

She was delighted by the small steaks we had for supper, and almost giddy by the time she'd finished the Key Lime pie I'd suggested for dessert. From there, we were off on a night of visiting some of the better (and lesser-known) places that I knew of that offered live music. We chatted, we drank (a little), we danced, and generally had a pretty damn good time with each other for the next several hours. Along the way, we started holding hands like a couple of kids; and she even blessed me with a few happy kisses on the cheek. It was coming up on midnight when we left the last place, and she was holding my arm while we walked to where my car was parked. When we got close to it, she released her hold on me and said "As much as I'd like to stay out with you like this all night, I still have to get home tomorrow – so even though it's the last thing I want to do, I suppose it's time I got back to the hotel."

I just smiled and answered "Of course" in a way that told her I was disappointed, too.

I'd kept her company back to the door to her room, and we chatted for a few moments before I slowly leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips so that she'd know I was glad to have spent the evening with her. When she returned it in kind, and let it continue, I gently put my hand on her hip and held it there so she'd know I wasn't trying to make any advances. Several seconds passed before I felt her start to pull her head back, and I didn't try to draw the kiss out any more that she was comfortable with. After she'd pulled back far enough, she considered what she saw in my face for a bit before seeming to come to a decision.

"I had a real good time tonight, Jim. Better than I can remember having for a long time, in fact. I told you that I don't have a regular boyfriend. The truth of the matter is that I don't have any boyfriend; the last one I had broke up with me after I had to go on a two week sales trip – and that was six months ago. I've been out with guys, and had a nice enough time, but there hasn't been anything even close to what we had tonight. I know I'm pretty… I mean, I can see the way a lot of guys look at me. Don't get me wrong: it's nice, knowing that. But it seems like almost all the guys I meet only see how pretty I am, and don't get past that. From the way I've seen you looking at me, I know you like how I look, too; but you're one of the few guys that has actually taken the time or trouble or whatever to actually talk to me and try to get to know me. And you've even done that more than the others, too."

Taking a deep breath, she went on "I like sex; I like it a lot. But only when it's with someone that I have some kind of… connection with: someone that I like, and that likes ME for what's inside me as much as what I look like. I mean, if all I wanted was to just get fucked, I wouldn't have any problem with finding a guy willing to hump me for as long as he could get it up. But like I said, I want it to mean more than that. So what happens is that I have a couple of toys at home that I can use when the physical part of it gets too bad, but getting someone that I actually want to be with is a big problem. Now that I've had a chance to talk to you, and get to know you better, I figure that you're not the kind of guy that just jumps into the sack with girls – that you're kind of picky, even. I never liked the kind of pretend coy bullshit that most girls are into, and we don't have the time to hint around at it and be polite. So I'm just going to ask you straight out: would you be willing to help me get laid like I want, and maybe even spend the night so I have someone I actually like next to me when I wake up in the morning?"

As she'd talked, it had become pretty obvious what she was getting at; the only thing that surprised me even a little bit was how direct she was about asking. The thing was that I did like her, and understood what she'd said. So not only was I perfectly willing to accede to her request, but looking forward to the chance to wake up next to HER. That she was interested in the two of us getting belly-to-belly only made it better.

"I'd like that…", I told her, "not just getting you laid, but waking up next to you."

Hearing that, she moved closer and put her arms around me. I happily took her into my arms, and when she tilted her head back to look at me, I didn't hesitate to kiss her again – trying to tell her through my lips how much I thought of her, and how happy I was to be there with her.

I can only figure that I succeeded, since she began to kiss me back the same way. Only when our lips parted by mutual accord did she tell me "I think I'm going to be glad I had the guts to just come out and ask you to stay…" before gently pushing me back so she could turn around and get the door to her room open. After taking me by the hand, she led the way in before turning to close and lock the door. Facing me again, she simply told me "I don't have to be at the airport until a little before noon, so there isn't too much of a hurry; I just want us to be together as soon as we can…"

With that, she simply moved past me. I followed her the rest of the way into her room, and got my first look at what the place was like. As I'd known, the hotel catered to the low-cost business crowd, and didn't offer much in the way of amenities and services – and it showed in the room, too. Not that the place was dumpy or wasn't clean or anything, just that it was pretty minimalist: she had a bed, a small table and couple of chairs, dresser, TV, phone, a cheap generic painting on one wall, a heavily curtained window, and that was about it. If she'd had a way of getting around, she likely could have gotten the equivalent at one of the discount motel chains strung along the freeway for a bit less. But what really mattered to me was that the room had her in it. After setting her small handbag on the dresser and slipping her shoes off, she turned to face me again. I thought I could see a trace of nervousness on her face, and didn't delay in going over to where she was standing and taking her into my arms again. The next kiss that the two of us shared was appreciably more friendly, and began to take on the undertones of the desire that we felt for each other.