Like Fine Wine

"I can see that," she replied. "You look like the outdoors type."

He smiled back and said, "So what is it you do, Janice for now?"

She laughed when she remembered his sense of humor. "Well, until recently, I did the weather for a local TV station, but I was let go in favor of a newer, cuter replacement."

"Wow. That's...harsh," he said. "Any idea what you might want to do next?" he asked as they drove up to the front gate of the base. He showed his ID card and her drivers license and they young airman saluted and waved them through.

"None," she said. "I did manage to update my resume and send it out, but I don't really see that being very fruitful."

He pulled into a parking spot, shut off the ignition, then bounded around the car to open her door. "Thank you!" she said pleasantly. "It's nice to see there's at least one gentlemen left in this world."

He smiled again and said, "Well, I am an officer and a gentleman, by act of congress anyway, so I guess there's some truth to that."

He led her inside, signed them both in and took her over to one of the half dozen courts in what was a very large, first-class facility. "Wow, this is...amazing," she said as she looked around at the rows and rows of treadmills, stationary bikes, stair step machines, and dozens and dozens of other machines used by people who didn't like using free weights. There was also a huge area with racks full of dumbbells and barbells and benches. "Very impressive."

"The Air Force has all the money," he said. "You wouldn't find anything close to this nice on a Marine Corps base, but money isn't everything for a guy like me."

They stretched out for a few minutes then went in to hit a few balls before playing. "So are you going to take it easy on me again today?" she asked as she hit the first ball off the front wall.

He didn't kill the shot but hit right back at her and said, "For a while." She returned his shot as he said, "But only until you get back up speed. Then it's game on."

"Oh, okay. I kind of thought this would be a one-time thing." She put a little more on the next shot and he killed it just to let her know he noticed. "Show off," she quipped.

"I guess that's up to you," he told her. "It could be just today or it could be...." He hit the next one solidly but didn't smoke it. "Whatever you'd like it to be." She hit a pretty good shot back which made him have to reach for a tough backhand return. "I kinda like hanging out with you so if you want to play again after this or...whatever...just let me know."

She served first and although he let her score several points, he still beat her 15-6. They played a second game and she could tell he was really let up on her when it ended 12-7. "Okay, I'm gonna pull out all the stops on this one," she warned him.

She was only down 5-4 when he hit a Z-shot that made her change directions twice in a split second. On the second change, her ankle gave out and she went down fast and hard.

Luke dropped his racket and was immediately right next to her kneeling down. "You okay?" he asked.

"It's my ankle. I think it might be broken," she told him as she grimaced in pain.

"May I?" he asked as he moved in front of her and went to lift up her foot.

"Just go easy, okay?" she said clenching her teeth as he gently moved it up and down, back and forth.

"I think it's a sprain, but it looks pretty bad. We need to get this looked at ASAP," he told her saying the abbreviation like an actual word rather than using the individual letters. "They won't treat you on base so we'll need to go an ER somewhere out in town."

He told her to sit tight as he threw all of their stuff in one bag then came back inside for her. "You ready? Can you walk?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. He put her arm around his neck then he essentially lifted her off the ground until she could gingerly see how much weight she could bear. The slightest amount made her wince.

"That's it," he said. He scooped her up and told her, "I'm carrying you and that's that. Can you grab our stuff on the way out, please?"

She picked up the two bags and her sweater as he carried her out to the car. His rental had keyless entry so he was able to open it without setting her down. He grabbed the door handle swung it open with his leg then gently set her in the seat. For the briefest of moments, his face was no more than an inch from hers as he set her down. "Comfortable?" he asked as they were eye to eye.

Her ankle was killing her but she said, "Yes. This is...very nice." He smiled and closed her door and got in his side and started the engine.

"You know the city so if you don't mind navigating...."

She told him when and where to turn and within fifteen minutes they were at Douglas County Hospital where he carried her inside to the ER. He looked around and spotted an empty wheelchair to put her in and carefully set her in it. "Okay, let's get you checked in," he told her as he wheeled her toward the window.

It took three hours to see a doctor, but she was relieved to learn it was indeed only a sprain. It was a pretty bad sprain, but nothing was broken. He put her in a very tight wrap and told her ice it regularly off and on for the next 48 hours. He gave her a pair of crutches and two days worth of pain medication and asked to see her again on Monday.

"Okay, let's get you inside," he said as he pulled into her driveway.

He came around to pick her up and carry her when she told him, "I can do this. I'm not an invalid or anything."

He stood there watching as she tried repeatedly to find a way to stand up without putting her other foot on the ground. She finally extended her hand to him and said, "Not one word from you!" as he helped her up. She reached in for her crutches and nearly fell as the driveway was icy and slick.

"May I?" he asked again as he reached around her and grabbed the crutches.

"Let me have those," she said.

"No, you're not walking on this ice." He didn't even wait for her to reply before he handed her the crutches and scooped her up again.

She unlocked the door while he held her then carried her in and set her on the couch. "Luke, thank you so much. You've really been a big help."

"I've been a big help? Seriously? No, sorry, I'm the reason your ankle is banged up. That makes me responsible for you until you can get around on your own so I'm staying."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's Saturday and this is the last place you'll want to be. Besides, I can take care of myself," she told him.

"Oh, really? Well, since you haven't taken a shower yet, if you can walk up those stairs by yourself, I'll leave."

He pointed to the very long flight of stairs and once she looked at it she said, "Okay, fine. You can help me upstairs, but after that I'll be...."

"Stuck. That's where you'll be. Stuck upstairs. At some point, you're going to need to eat and I don't want you going up or down these stairs alone." She started to object but he said, "Uh-uh. No arguing. I'm carrying you upstairs. You can shower, get dressed, then call me and I'll bring you back down. Then I'll run back to my room and shower myself then get us something for lunch and come back."

"Okay, that makes no sense to drive all the way across town to take a shower then drive all the way back out here. When I'm done, you can shower here then we'll figure out lunch. Deal?"

He looked at her and saw that she had a point and said, "Okay, deal."

He helped her upstairs, then asked her what she wanted to wear so he could set everything on the bed for her. "I beg your pardon?" she said. "Sorry, but you're not going through my underwear. My bras and panties are off limits."

Luke laughed and said, "Damn. And I look so good in them!"

She laughed and said, "I didn't anticipate that response. Okay, I guess you can help me out." She told him what she'd like and he set everything neatly on the end of the bed for her.

"Just holler down when you're ready, okay? Oh, you're gonna need a plastic bag and some rubber bands for that wrap, too. Where can I find them?" She told him where everything was and he was back upstairs in less than two minutes. He handed them to her then went and sat on a wooden chair in her kitchen and waited. He wasn't sweating any longer, but he did smell pretty bad.

He heard the blow dryer about 30 minutes later and several minutes after that she called out for him. "Okay, all done! Can you send the elevator up for me?"

He bounded up the stairs without looking and stepped into the bedroom. "The elevator is..." He looked at her and said, "Oh...wow. You look...really...nice." He hadn't seen her in anything but gym clothes with her hair in a ponytail. Her long, dark hair was soft and silky and was parted on one side with just the slightest hint of bangs in the front. She was wearing a pair of jeans that weren't so tight she couldn't get her bandaged foot through the leg and a very pretty, light-blue cashmere sweater and a pair of silver earrings with a matching necklace.

"Oh, thank you. I don't often have company these days, so any excuse is a good excuse."

He picked her up and he couldn't help but notice the smell of her shampoo mingled with her perfume. He was only wearing a tee shirt and a pair of shorts and he was very aware of what was going on down below and he didn't want her to see the effect she was having on him. He sat her down on the couch and quickly spun around.

"I guess I'll take a shower now, if that's okay," he said without looking at her.

"I think that would be better than smelling bad the rest of the day," she teased.

"Um, yeah. I guess you noticed that," he said.

"Actually, it was kind of nice having the uh, scent of a man around," she said playfully. Then she said, "Sorry, this oxy stuff they gave me is very...effective."

"No problem," he said. "I've taken it a time or too myself and it can be pretty wonderful. Be right back, okay?"

Ten minutes later he came down the stairs with just a towel around his waist. "Uh, yeah, I didn't think about not having anything to wear. Any ideas?" he asked.

He was standing in front of her and he looked so...good. Janice knew the oxycodone was making her feel some of that, but his body was every bit as sexy as his face.

"Janice? Did you hear me?" he said still holding the towel.

"Oh, right. Clothes. I'm sure there's something of my husband's still in the bedroom. He's smaller than you, but there has to be a sweatshirt or something you can wear. I was gonna throw it all out but never got around to it."

"Okay, I'll check it out," he said.

When he turned around, she gasped. His entire back looked like it had been lashed with a whip.

"Oh, my God, Luke! What happened to you? How did that happen?" she said. She was horrified by the sight and had her hands over her mouth.

He spun back around and quietly said, "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about it. I didn't mean for you to see that."

"It's okay. Can you tell me about it?" she asked her voice choked with sadness for him.

He saw the tears in her eyes so he sat down on the ottoman in front of her. "No tears, okay? I'm the lucky one. Two of my Marines died in the explosion and my driver lost his right leg. I literally walked away with a few scratches so please—don't feel sorry for me."

"My God, I am so sorry! For them...and for you," she said. They weren't 'scratches' by any means. They were deep and wide and all over his lower back and some extended up to his shoulder blades.

"You okay?" he asked with genuine concern.

"Who, me? Are you kidding? My ankle got twisted. That's all. It's nothing compared to what you went through. My God, Luke." She looked horrified and he understood why. To anyone who hadn't seen the horrors of war this kind of thing was something you only heard of but never saw and that was a good thing as far as he was concerned.

He smiled and tried to cheer her up. "Hey, look. If your ankle's broken it doesn't feel any better just because they wheel someone in with two broken legs. That's a nasty sprain and you're gonna have to be very careful with it."

She couldn't take her eyes off the dozen or so scars on his back as he walked up the stairs. On one level, she wanted to know more about what happened to him, and yet on another she never wanted to even think about it again let alone know the details.

He found a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants to wear but they were too tight and too short making him look ridiculous. As he came back downstairs he called out, "Don't you dare laugh. This is the best I could do."

In spite of the warning, she couldn't help it and burst out laughing. "Oh, my goodness. Where's my camera?" she said again covering her mouth. "Oh, and where's the flood? You are quite the spectacle!"

"Well, at least one of us looks good," he said ignoring her teasing.

"From my perspective, someone else looks pretty good, too." She couldn't keep herself from looking him up and down and in spite of the terrible fitting clothes she adding, "Make that...very good."

"So what would you like for lunch?" he asked her deflecting her compliment.

Once they'd eaten, he told her she needed to try and get some rest and that he'd be back to make dinner for her. She tried to protest but he said, "This isn't a debate, Janice. I'm taking care of you the rest of the weekend and I'll be taking you to the doctor on Monday."

"But you have work. You know, you have coffee to fetch and other important stuff." Her eyes sparkled as she teased him about his 'high-level government job.'

"True, but since it's in the afternoon, I'm pretty confident the colonels can get by without their coffee bitch for a couple of hours."

Janice laughed again and told him, "I know it's the medicine but I can't help but want...." She stopped talking in mid-sentence.

"Can't help but want what?" he asked.

She somehow found the strength not to finish her sentence and just told him, "To lay down for awhile." She avoided saying something really foolish and then said, "You know, you're going to make some young girl very happy one day. I mean, if that's something you want."

He sat back down in front of her once she was on the couch again and said, "I've been a very happy, very confirmed bachelor who never once thought of settling down with someone until...." he started to say when she cut him off.

"Sorry, that was none of my business. A guy like you can date pretty much anyone he wants so it only makes sense you wouldn't be interested in, as you say, settling down." She looked away from him as she finished her sentence.

"You didn't let me finish," he said.

"I didn't know you had more to say," she said as she looked back up at him.

"I meant to say I hadn't ever thought of settling down because I'd never met anyone that made me think about it before."

"Before?" she said with a quizzical look on her face.

He stood up and said, "Do you want me to carry you back upstairs or would you like me to just bring down your pillow and a blanket so you can rest here?"

"I don't want to be a bother so here is fine," she said.

He came over and stood directly in front of her in those high-water sweats and said, "It's not a bother, Janice." He picked her up and she put her arms around his neck as he said, "I like doing things for you, so please, just ask me, okay?"

She felt like she couldn't speak. Her mouth was dry and her throat was tight and her eyes were open wide. "Okay," she managed to croak.

He laid her on the bed, fluffed up her pillow, and told her he'd be back around 6 o'clock to take care of dinner. "But you text me—or I guess you can even call me—if you need anything, okay?" He set her phone right next to her then pulled the comforter on top of her.

As he did, his hand brushed hers and she instinctively took hold of it for the briefest of seconds then quickly let it go. "Sorry, I'm just really loopy," she said as she stared into his gorgeous eyes.

"It's okay. It was actually kind of nice." He not only smiled but bent down and kissed her on the forehead and Janice felt a warmth spread across her body that felt wonderful but which made her ache. She ached for...something more.

"See you soon?" she said.

He nodded and told her she would.

Janice couldn't remember the last time she'd...touched herself...but she knew it was sometime just before Tom told her about the affair. Since then, she'd been so desperately sad and so lonely and so hurt she'd had no interest in that or much of anything else for that matter.

Once Luke was out of the house, she felt an overpowering need to feel...something. To feel...wanted. To feel...needed. To feel...loved again. She knew this whole fantasy of hers was just that, but right then, all she wanted was to believe it was true. It took some time to get her pants and her panties down, but once she had access to her mound, she was unable to keep her fingers from delivering the kind of pleasure she hadn't known for so many weeks.

She was already very wet. She knew she'd been that way since he carried her back up the stairs. He'd looked into her eyes the entire way and she'd felt her heart beating faster as he laid her down. She'd desperately wanted to pull him down, too, and beg him to make love to her, but somehow, she overcame the urge which she knew was fueled by the opioid medication. He was gone now, but his scent and his memory were fresh in her mind as her middle finger found her swollen clit. She gasped as she gently ran the tip of her finger around it over and over as she dreamed of him telling her he felt the same way about her as he kissed her for the first time. She was thoroughly surprised when she felt her entire body tense and shudder so quickly. She kept up the pressure on her love button as she came as hard as she could ever remember. She removed her hand, took several very deep breaths, then fell asleep.

"Janice? You awake? Janice?" He reached out to touch her but stopped. She looked like some kind of beautiful angel and he couldn't bring himself to disturb her. He sat in a big, upholstered chair a few away and just watched her. At about 7:45, he saw her open her eyes which didn't initially focus or register when she first saw him. She blinked twice then yelped. "Jesus, Luke! How long have you been there?" she said loudly after having been so surprised by his presence.

She couldn't believe he'd sat there watching her since six o'clock. Suddenly, she was aware she'd never pulled her jeans back up and she was momentarily deathly afraid the comforter wasn't covering her. As she looked down, she was overwhelmed with relief to see that it was indeed still laying on top of her.

"Ready for dinner yet?" he asked.

"Oh, sure. Um...can you just give me a minute alone before we go downstairs?"

He looked at her in a way that said he didn't understand why but rather than say anything he just stood up and stepped outside the door.

"Okay!" she called out once she was all buttoned up again.

Luke ordered them some Chinese food which arrived in less than half an hour. As they ate, they talked about her time at the radio station, her marriage to Tom, the business, and...the affair. Luke told her how sorry he was and how unfair the thought it was for her be let go and for her husband to do that to her.

"I can tell you that if I had a beautiful wife like you, I would never so much as look at another woman again."

Janice was so moved by what he said that she once again felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Where were you 20 years ago when I was making the biggest mistake of my life?" she asked him rhetorically.

He saw how emotional she was so he decided to lighten the mood by saying, "In Kindergarten, I believe."

Janice laughed and said, "Ah! I feel SO old right now!"

Luke reached out and touched her hand and said, "I can't change how you feel, but I can assure you most definitely do NOT look old." He paused then told her, "You look...beautiful...and shame on your husband for ever forgetting that."