E-Beth Ch. 02

*Put a little purple in your eyeshadow. It'll go well with your dress.*

*Remember to put the panties on OVER the garter. You'll want him to have easier access when you get back.*

I quivered, feeling the little jolt of electricity shooting up my spine at that last thought. I hadn't gotten laid with anyone but little Davie since returning back from David's and Amber's wedding. And despite the blackouts of the night, I still remembered that Teddy had been quite good to me in bed.

I wondered if he knew he was going to get laid tonight. I'd like to think that he was hoping so. Then again, he could still be in his "we're just friends" mode and I might have to do some convincing. Ever the gentleman, he might even start spouting nonsense about how he doesn't want to rush me or doesn't want to make any presumptions.

'Presume away,' I wish I could tell him. 'I'm young. I'm horny. And I've chosen you to take care of it for me. Got it?' I smirked and arched my eyebrows in the mirror, admiring the way I looked. Yeah, I wished my nose were a little bit cuter. And I had a little more padding in my cheeks than I might want. But all dolled up like this, I was pretty confident I could persuade the boy to do my bidding.

With my hair and makeup done, I tossed away the bathrobe and started getting dressed. A black lace bra went on first. Like most of my bras designed for seduction and not support, it had a front-clasp. I then slipped on the garter belt and pulled up my sheer black stockings, clipping them into place. And before putting on the matching, see-thru lace black panties, I stood up and turned around in the mirror, bending over slightly to imagine the view Teddy would have of me as I got into position for him to take me from behind. My bubble butt was nicely rounded, certainly thicker than some girls' bony asses, but I'd never had any complaints. I spread my cheeks to make sure I was clean and unstained all the way down to my pudenda. And still admiring my ass, I raised my legs one at a time to pull my panties up and into place.

I stepped into my violet cocktail dress, one of my best weapons for seduction. It was made of a sheer mesh, tantalizingly translucent with a darker purple dress beneath. The sweetheart neckline flattered my bosom and made men believe they could see my naked tits, which were actually covered by the lower layer. The A-line skirt hid my thighs and the black sash across the middle nicely obscured my waist. Again, I paused to admire myself while simultaneously critiquing my arms, reminding myself that I had to put in more time at the gym to tone up any excess flab.

Hey, sex is a pretty good aerobic exercise, right?

I accessorized myself with dangling earrings, a demure necklace with pendant to draw attention to my boobs, and a silver watch/bracelet. Last but certainly not least were black, strappy 4-inch heels to boost me up to 5'10". I'd probably be the same height as Teddy in these shoes. And then I stepped over the full-length mirror to inspect myself from head to toe. I still had twenty minutes before Teddy would arrive, but I'd need every second to tweak and adjust myself until I was absolutely certain I looked perfect.

Gawd, sometimes I hated it when a boyfriend could just throw on a shirt, spritz some cologne on, and walk out the door in less than two minutes.

But it was all worth it. See, it had started raining that evening. Teddy arrived right on time and stood just outside my door, mostly covered from the rain by the awning but still holding up a black umbrella to shield himself. When I opened the door, he didn't say a single word.

No, Teddy's jaw just dropped to the ground. His eyes went wide and yo-yoed down my entire body. As his whole posture went slack, so did his wrist. And the umbrella tilted off to the side like an agonizingly slow pendulum, eventually dropping to the floor as Teddy stared at me rapturously, completely oblivious to the little droplets of rain now pelting him in the head and along his back.

I smiled happily at the compliment. And then just for good measure, I reminded him, "Teddy, my eyes are up here."

He blushed sheepishly. "Sorry, E-Beth."

****

Geek Teddy was back. I didn't mind really. Now that I knew what a calm, confident guy he could be, having the power to turn the man into a semi-lucid, blushing, staring little boy was kind of a turn-on. I'd actually had to reach out and right the umbrella for him before he realized he was getting rained on.

It took him a while to find his tongue after that. He dutifully escorted me through the rain to his truck, tensing up just a bit and then goofily grinning like it was Christmas morning when I wrapped myself around his body to get further away from the raindrops. We then sat in the car for all of thirty seconds while he made suggestions on where to go for dinner. Being a *very* impromptu date, I know he hadn't enough time to make plans or reservations. And to his credit, I only had to tell him once, "I don't care. You pick the restaurant."

We showed up at Primavera's about ten minutes later. It wasn't overly fancy, but it was still a nice Spanish restaurant where my dress wouldn't be out of place. Teddy himself was in simple black slacks and a button-down dress shirt. Being a Wednesday, the place wasn't too packed, and we were seated in less than five minutes. But even with all that time, it was only after our waiters brought us our drinks, a sangria for me and an iced tea for him, that Teddy breached the subject we both knew was on his mind.

"I must admit, I'm quite surprised you asked me out," he said while gingerly setting down his glass after a sip to calm his nerves. "I'd been fairly certain that we'd only ever be friends."

"Not so certain," I teased. "You didn't turn me down."

He smiled bashfully and then looked at me quite seriously. "Never. I could never turn you down."

There was a scratchiness in his voice, and he choked up a bit at the end of that before looking away in mild embarrassment. I remembered how I felt, crushing on him for a few days and feeling all torn up inside emotionally. Actually, I remembered crushing on a lot of boys that way, and the way each time made me feel. From the pain in Teddy's eyes, he'd been carrying a crush like that for me a lot longer than just a few days; and I found myself amazed he'd been able to be so calm and collected around me ever since that fateful December night.

"Well," he started, still collecting himself. "I'd, ah, resigned myself to believing we would never have anything more than a platonic friendship."

I raised my eyebrows and looked at him appraisingly. "More than platonic? Are you assuming I'm going to put out for you again?"

Teddy's eyes popped wide open. "No! No! Of course not! I would never assume that..." his voice trailed off as he watched my face go from inquisitive to playfully amused. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

I couldn't help but giggle and nod. "Yep. I'm sorry. It's just too easy with you."

He blushed again, but again, I didn't mind. It was totally fine with me for the guy to be all bashful and easy for me to manipulate, as long as I believed he could become the man I wanted when I needed him. And a few seconds later, I could actually *see* Teddy transform, as his sense of confidence reasserted itself into his limbs and he sat up straighter. Looking right at me, he cleared his throat and stated firmly, "Okay, let's get the obvious out of the way: I like you. You know I like you. And I know that you know. Okay?"

I smiled again, "Okay."

"But what we don't know is if you like *me*." He studied my face while waiting for my response.

I took a quick breath and pursed my lips. "Well, *I* asked *you* out, didn't I?"

"That doesn't necessarily mean you're into me. Curious, perhaps..." He started studying me again.

I blinked, not sure how to respond just yet. Teddy's blue-gray eyes had locked onto me with a piercing intensity, and as he continued to stare at me I felt that little feeling of control I had melting away. The self-assured vamp inside me that had declared he would be the one to satisfy my carnal urges wasn't here right now, and the little girl scared of being hurt again was afraid to answer. "Curious," I admitted, going with the prompted reply.

"What's different?" He asked, softening his expression. "In December, you told me to just forget anything ever happened between us. Did you change your mind about that?"

I blinked a couple of times, mulling that over. At the time, I'd believed Teddy was less of a man than I wanted him to be, and that sleeping together had been a mistake. I didn't think those things anymore. And reaching my hand forward to cover his on top of the table, I looked him seriously in the eye and said, "Yes, I changed my mind."

He smiled then, a big, bright smile, perhaps the biggest I'd ever seen him make. And then taking a deep breath, he exhaled very slowly before giving me a wry grin. "Good. Because just between you and me: I never actually forgot."

I giggled and squeezed his hand.

Teddy looked thoughtful. "Okay then. So we both know that I'm into you, and you're at least... curious... about me. I no longer have to pretend like the night of the Holiday Party never happened. So what now?"

I squeezed his hand one more time. "Now we start over. You're interested in me. I'm interested in you. And this is our first date. Let's get to know each other."

****

I'd been on first dates where the guy just wanted to talk and talk and talk, almost always about himself. It's a curse of charming bad boys. I'd been on first dates where the guy only gave me one word answers while staring at my tits and drooling. Teddy... well Teddy asked a lot of questions.

It was only fair, because *I* asked a lot of questions. I felt a very strong attraction to the young man, but a lot of aspects of his life I still didn't know or understand. And my one drunken night aside, a girl needs to reach a certain comfort level with a guy before spreading her legs.

So instead of the two of us fighting for opportunities to talk about ourselves, we ended up having a little struggle to find opportunities to ask questions about the other.

I'll admit that at the forefront of my mind was Teddy's career path. I know that "The Future" is a taboo subject for a first date. After all, no guy wants to think the girl is already thinking of long-term commitment and marriage and kids and all that. But I still had to know if my potential boyfriend was going to be a stockroom clerk all his life.

Unfortunately, by the time Teddy was done with his explanation, I was just as mystified as before. Apparently, he HAD been accepted to several graduate programs, as it was typical for Chemistry majors to get at least a Master's if not a Ph. D. before entering the workforce. But because of family pressures, he didn't go and had to come back to town to get a job.

"Believe me," he said, sounding a little embarrassed. "Stockroom was NOT my first choice. But my old man thought it would build character and he's holding the money I would need for tuition. I'm kinda stuck doing what he says."

"Well, you don't necessarily need a graduate degree to succeed," I said while gesturing to myself. "As long as you have ambitions and work hard you'll..." I frowned and rolled my eyes. "Gawd, I'm sounding like an old woman."

Teddy chuckled. "Not at all."

"I'm three years older than you. You're the same age as my little *brother*."

He frowned. "Only two years, for now at least. My 23rd birthday was a few weeks ago."

"I know." I nodded before thinking about it.

"You know?" Teddy raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

I blinked and stuttered. "Uh, well..." Teddy just started smiling at me. So shrugging, I admitted, "MySpace."

Teddy shrugged too. "S'ok. I know your birthday is April 24."

Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

He shrugged again, this time with a smirk. "MySpace."

For some reason, I suspected that Teddy had looked up my MySpace account far earlier than I'd looked up his. Anyway, he noted that I didn't have a birth year listed. I told him it's never polite to ask a woman her age, even though I'd already commented about being three years older than him. At the very least, I didn't want my age to be public later on, but Teddy poked a hole in that logic by pointing out that I still had my graduation years from college and high school displayed.

That led into a little discussion of where I came from. I talked about my parents and growing up with modest means. My parents had worked hard, enough so that we were never poor, but never really caught the breaks to let them do WELL. I'd studied extra hard as motivation to rise above our status. And even though we hadn't been able to afford a top private school like Harvard, I'd very much enjoyed the time I spent with my friends at Uni. And once I'd gotten my job at Argen, the first thing I did was buy my parents a new car with my signing bonus.

My little brother did his part two years ago as well. Despite our parents' wish that he finish his education and get his degree, Eric came out a year early, declared for the NFL draft, and went in the first round. His signing bonus made mine look like pocket change. Then he one-upped me by buying our parents a new *house*. And our parents just HAD to bring us both to their new home, park the car in front of the garage, and take a picture of the four of us so that they could show off to all their friends how their children had grown up and made successes of themselves.

I was laughing by this point, and Teddy looked really pleased. But this tangent led me to asking about his family, at which point Teddy promptly shut up.

"What's wrong?" I asked, feeling the pleasant mood evaporate.

"Nothing, really," Teddy shrugged. "My parents and I get along okay, but I've never felt them really be *proud* of me. 'Ooh, lookit my boy. He's a *stockroom* clerk!'"

I frowned. "If you're not happy, why don't you get a new job? I'm sure with your degree there're a LOT of other things you could be doing."

Teddy sighed, "It's complicated."

We both went a little quiet at that. I knew better than to press him, so I let it pass. And a moment later, it was his turn. "So tell me about these college friends of yours. You say your ex-boyfriend and your roommate just got married?"

I grinned. "They're pregnant now, too."

****

The rain had stopped by the time we left the restaurant. Teddy had been a perfect gentleman throughout, even coming around to open my door and hold my hand as I dropped down out of his big truck. And that goofy grin was back when I didn't let go of his hand all the way up to my front door.

He stood beside me as I put the key into the lock, opening up my door a few inches. I'd meant to open it all the way and lead us inside, but Teddy distracted me when his hand slid around my waist, causing me to turn and face him in mild surprise.

Teddy's blue-gray eyes glistened in the porch light. His irises were big and luminous, that conduit to his soul as he stared at me with rapt intensity. And then his face was moving toward mine and tilting slightly to the side.

His kiss took my breath away. I was suddenly filled with the scent of his body, slightly musky and yet quite alluring to me. I felt the forceful pressure of his lips against mine as he strove to communicate everything he felt for me through the tactile meeting of our mouths. And when his tongue snaked out and ran along the edges of my teeth, I found myself arching backwards like in the movies as I surrendered myself to the utter and complete bliss of being... *taken*... by a man's kiss.

It was over too soon.

Teddy's strong arms supported me as he stood me upright. And when he pulled away, his lips lingered for just an extra half-beat. But then he was standing before me, his fingers still on my cheek as he stared at me in absolute adoration. "Thank you, E-Beth," he said soulfully. I didn't know if he meant for the date or for the kiss.

He then stepped back, dropping his hand off my cheek as he turned to head back to his truck. But before he moved away, I caught his hand with my own and tugged him back. And standing up straighter, he looked at me and arched his eyebrows in confusion.

"Don't you want to come in?" I asked coyly, canting my head, rolling my shoulders, and posing myself for maximum sex appeal.

Stammering, blushing Teddy was back. "I, uh... well, of *course* I'd like to... But it's just our first date and I didn't want to presume that-"

I shut him up with another kiss. This time, I was in charge, with my hand on his jaw with my fingers wrapped behind his ear. It was nice having these heels to bring me up to the same level as my date. And when I eventually pulled away, I saw a fresh glow of adoration in his eyes. "This isn't really a first date," I stated calmly. "For one thing, we've already done this. I'm not forgetting about it anymore. And more to the point, you wondered whether or not I was 'into' you. Well yes, Teddy, I'm into you. And *I* don't want to wait three dates, okay?"

When he woke up this morning, Teddy believed I would never want to be anything more than friends. But only hours later, all his preconceptions were falling apart. The only reaction he could manage was to blink rapidly and nodded in agreement.

"Teddy," I stated firmly. "Please come inside."

He grinned, this time full of confidence and with none of the bashfulness. "It would be my pleasure."

I popped my eyebrows and flashed him a teasing smile. "And it had better be mine, too."

****

It was rather fun messing with Teddy's head. Some of the handsome but shallow guys I'd dated, like Chad and Grant, got me so excited just looking at them that I was overly eager to rip my clothes off and get to the fucking. I didn't feel completely in control of my own lust, and as such I was never really in charge of those initial seductions.

Teddy still turned me on. He was very cute in his own way, and I already knew he had a good body and a niiice cock. But I didn't feel the wanton desperation I'd had before. My blood was hot, but not boiling. And my panties were damp, but not soaked. I was aroused, but still in control. And that feeling of control gave me power.

I took my time. I opened a bottle of wine and brought us two glasses. I had Teddy do the honors while I slipped my heels off. I pulled my legs beneath me while we sat on the couch. I turned sideways, accepted the glass of wine, and propped my right arm against the backrest while dreamily looking over at my date.

We chatted for a bit. Safely ensconced in the privacy of my home, I started asking slightly more personal questions. I wanted to know when Teddy first started getting "into" me; and when he told me it was the first time we met, I felt a tingle of pleasure run up my spine.

Teddy admitted that like all new guys, he started sizing up all the pretty girls in the company. I challenged him to tell me his observations of some of the other girls, especially my girlfriends, and he hemmed and hawed about respecting the other girls and not wanting to compare. But I kept up the pressure and he eventually told me some of his "male" thoughts.

Like most guys, Teddy thought Stella was the young, blonde, perky cheerleader-type. There aren't many men on the planet that wouldn't be attracted to someone like that. He saw that Audrey had an exotic, graceful beauty, although he also noticed her wedding ring right away. And he admitted to having a few naughty thoughts about buxom, bottle-blonde Paula.

"But my heart stopped when I first saw you," Teddy told me with absolute sincerity. "It was last June, not long after I got hired. You came to the stockroom to pick up some supplies, and you absolutely took my breath away."