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"Me neither," I said.

"Oh. Who's there?"

"Stuart," I said, glancing at him. He smiled at me. "Good for you. Star and Jade there, too?"

"O0000h," she said. "Back in the kitchen?" she teased.

"Did you hear what I said about this morning?" I snapped at her. "What I told you was true."

"I forgot what you said this morning. I can't think very well right now anyway. I'm a little occupied," she added. "My mother is out again, which works fine for me."

Frustrated, I decided to give up on telling her any more at the moment.

"We're having a meeting late in the morning tomorrow," I said. "Jade wanted me to tell you:'

"Okay. I'll see you then. Be careful," she added, this time with a more serious tone. "You don't want you know who to know anything about you know whom."

"Right," I said.

"I don't know what gave me the idea Chris was shy," she concluded, laughed, and hung up.

"Everything all right?" Stuart asked

immediately.

"Yes. That...was Misty. She's falling in love," I said dryly.

Stuart laughed.

"It's in the air," he said, waving the sponge around his head. I laughed, too. It worked like a detergent, washing away all the anxiety.

When we finished cleaning up, we went to the living room to watch television, but neither of us could find anything we really cared to see. We talked continually over the sound. I complimented him again on the dinner and then, right in the middle of a sentence, he suddenly leaned toward me and kissed me softly on my lips. My unspoken words fell into the pond of warmth that overtook my body. We kissed again, and then he kept his lips close and twirled a strand of my hair around his finger for a moment.

"Sometimes," he said softly, "when I look at you, I think you're just like a little girl. There's something so innocent and fresh about you, and then I listen to you speak or see the depth of understanding in your eyes and I think you're so much older than you look."

"Really?" I asked with concern.

He smiled.

"It's not something that turns me off, Cathy. It's something that turns me on. You're full of mystery and surprise. You're interesting?'

"I am?"

"Yes, you are, very much so. Even your kisses are intriguing," he said. "For example," he said, kissing me and then sitting back and thinking. "That time your kiss was full of wonder. I can almost feel your indecision."

"Indecision?"

"Should you kiss me back as hard and as long, or not? You seem to want to, but you're the first to stop, and then ..." He kissed me again, softer and then harder and longer, and I felt my whole body warm and open like a blossom in the sun. "Then," he continued, whispering, "you manage to touch me deeply. Who are you?" he asked, his eyes so close and so fixed on mine, I could barely think. "I want to really know you, Cathy," he continued, "deeply, fully. I hope you feel the same about me. Do you?"

"Yes," I said quickly.

"Good." He kissed me again, this time his lips moving off mine and over my chin, down to my neck. I leaned back on the sofa.

His hand moved up the sides of my body and over my breasts. I felt him undo the top buttons of my blouse and quickly bring his lips to the exposed top of my bosom.

"Good touching," I heard my father whisper in my ear. I couldn't help but stiffen beneath Stuart's kisses.

"It's all right, Cathy," Stuart said. "I really like you a lot."