Adam

Ryan looked at Adam. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"I'm going out to dinner." He smiled quite pleased with himself.

"With Jack?" Ryan's tone revealed his confusion.

"I'm not going on a date with Jack. I'm taking Lana to dinner at a French restaurant. Her friend is the chef."

"You mean the one where she works." Ryan was eager to share his information.

"What? She has a property business." Adam was sure of his answer.

"She cleans cottages and works at the restaurant. I heard the guy begging her to work." Ryan was adamant.

"So, she's still hot."

"I thought you already had your hot jailbait to get you off."

"Who said I will screw Lana? I'm taking her to dinner. Relax, we're all single."

Adam didn't realize that Ryan was so righteous. It was rich considering Ryan had a reputation for being more of a player than Adam had ever been. Until he called Amanda, he had been having a drought. Between working way too hard and lack of opportunity, he deserved to reap the fruits offered to him.

Holy crap! She looked incredible. Her black dress showed off every curve God blessed her with. Lord, he wanted to run his hand down to feel her narrow waist curve into her amazing hips and then grab her gorgeous ass. He felt himself get hard, and he hadn't even started to think about her breasts.

"You look amazing." He hoped his voice sounded calm given his state of arousal.

Her dress was sophisticated as his mind compared her to Amanda. She didn't look like a waitress in her black dress, while Amanda's clothing left nothing to the imagination. Amanda dressed cheap, but Lana's dress looked expensive and inconsistent with Ryan's comments about her career.

Adam held the door as Lana carefully sat in his car. He watched as she gracefully maneuvered it without her short dress moving up. A flicker of disappointment ran through him. He would have liked to see more of her thighs. She had a pair of legs and with her heels; she was almost as tall as him. Jesus, he'd like to have those legs wrapped around him.

Once he slid into his own seat, she turned to him and smiled. Her mouth was irresistible. Her full lips were red with no lipstick. He thought of his dick in Amanda's mouth and decided this classy chick in her black dress would never take him like that. Amanda was fun, but she wasn't the type of girl he'd introduce to his mother. It had been years since he introduced anyone to her. Why did his relationships never go in that direction? Perhaps it was because he always chose his women with certain skills. Somehow, he didn't think Jack was thinking of what Maddie would do with her mouth when he fell for her. He should pursue a different kind of girl, but then he remembered his plan to see Amanda the next night and decided he was in no hurry.

Lana directed him as he drove towards Portland. She gave plenty of warning about lane changes and upcoming turns. It was a route she drove often.

"Oliver texted me and told me to park at his apartment if we can't find a spot on the street."

The waterfront area was busy, with pedestrians crossing the street at will. It didn't seem likely there would be an empty spot. After he parked in the driveway of a multi-unit home, he barely got around to the passenger side as she was getting out on her own.

"He lives here, but what about the beach?"

"It's just easier in the winter to not have to drive back and forth when they both work in Portland. The cottage belonged to Beth's grandmother and they rent it over the winter and occasional weeks in the summer for income. We're not all rich."

Adam felt uncomfortable. "I wasn't raised rich. I went to MIT on scholarship. Jack and I have worked hard and had some luck."

He thought of his father, who was a terrible businessman. He ran more than one business into the ground along with his marriage. Adam remembered his Bubbe, complaining about his father's failures, and she was his father's own mother. Luckily, his mother met Gavin, he might not be Jewish, but he took care of her. When he retired, they moved to The Villages, in Florida. Adam typically visited once a year, but he spoke to his mother once a week. His father passed from a heart attack five years ago.

Adam learned some important lessons from his father about business. They were the reason he and Jack were smart enough to hire someone to run the business end. It wasn't either of their jobs to bill the customers or pay the phone bill.

What he didn't learn from his father was how to be a husband or father, since his role model was shit at both of those titles. His mother remarried, but Adam had already graduated. Jack was his role model, but that made Adam fearful, having witnessed his sorrow.

"This way." They walked down a street and turned on a more crowded street.

Adam looked at Lana and felt the blood rush again. Casually, he slipped his hand into hers; she made him want to do the romantic gestures. Her hand was soft and settled nicely in his as she turned to smile at him. He was a freaking dead man!

When they arrived at Les Bistros Français, he opened the door for her and guided her in with a light touch on the back. His fingertips were hot from the connection. The sensation continued to tingle in his fingertips long after his hand dropped to his side.

The Maitre'd greeted them with a warm but reserved smile. Lana was just as reserved in return and as they entered the dining room, the hushed conversations and soft music made him feel sophisticated, still, it wasn't pretentious or uncomfortable. Lana continued to smile warmly at her coworkers while Adam noticed the heads of many male diners turn. Being with a beautiful woman who turned heads made him stand up a little taller. It made him feel like the man his financial statements said he was, instead of an imposter pretending to have all those zeros.

He held out a chair for Lana and she smiled at him with a sweet smile. There were times he had gone months without having a woman, yet it had only been three days and he still acted like a horny teenager. He reminded himself he needed to keep things casual. He wasn't the kind of guy who slept with more than one woman. Buying a woman dinner and getting to know her was not crossing a line although he wasn't about to share with her he had a date for the following evening. Was what he was doing with Amanda considered dating?

Once their wine came, they fell into an easy conversation. She told him about her summers on The Point. It was idealistic and so much better when she spoke of it than when Jack did. Then they discovered they grew up in adjacent towns in Massachusetts, their conversation took off without pause through their entrees. Her voice mesmerized him. It was slightly husky but ever so feminine.

The food was amazing, and he had eaten in the hottest restaurants in Boston. Lana had a dish called Poulet pour mon amour. She told him Oliver created the dish for Bethany when he was trying to win her heart. His duck reminded him of a dish he loved at a renowned Boston restaurant, but the one he tasted here was ten times better. When Oliver came out to see them, he told him exactly that.

Oliver smiled. "That means a lot to me since I was second in that kitchen, but they tied my hands from making the improvements I knew it needed until I had my own kitchen."

If Adam was impressed with his date and his meal, the dessert blew him away. It was practically orgasmic or was it Lana's moans as she tasted it. He watched her perfect lips close over the fork as she savored the chocolate torte. When she licked a stray crumb off her lip, he was so hard he would have to ask for a refill on his coffee to delay standing.

On the walk back to his car, he took her hand again. It felt right and as he held the car door for her, he pressed his lips against hers. He had been staring at those lips all night and couldn't fight the desire to taste them. She responded to his kiss, and it built in passion, as passionate as a kiss without tongues could be.

When they arrived back on The Point, he parked in Ryan's driveway and he offered to walk her across the street.

"It's fine. My mother's nosey."

Instead, he pulled her into him and kissed her in the shadows. When they parted, he surprised himself. "Can I take you to dinner again?"

"It's a long way from Boston." Lana answered with a nervous laugh.

"I can come back. I'm sure Ryan wouldn't mind. I'll be in touch." He kissed her cheek and hugged her feeling her feminine body against his. As soon as he released her, she smiled and walked across the street.

Score: Adam - 2 Ryan - 0