Free Yearning for Love by Toye Lawson Brown

arms remained circled her waist, and his deep voice rumbled through her like an earthquake suffering magnitude 3 aftershocks. “Thank you again,” she said in a low voice tugging his hands from around her waist.  She moved to stand by the bed.
    He smiled. “The pleasure is mine.  Nicole, since I won’t be at the wedding, will you go out with me later, after the wedding?  We can meet for a drink or a late dinner.”
    Nicole slipped off the robe covering the sheer red negligee, laying it across the end of the bed.  She saw Walker’s Adam’s apple rise and fall as he ogled her in the sexy nightgown that she damn near broke her neck stumbling over.  “Won’t it be a little late to go out?”
    “I see it as the perfect hour for a date. You can relax and deprogram after spending a long day with a bunch of high-society strangers.”
    She nodded.  His motions were cat-like as he was standing in front of her and she hadn’t realized he’d moved. “I really like Patty but I am not looking forward to tomorrow.  I don’t do well in large crowds at all.”
    “Our party will be an intimate gathering for two.  So, do we have a date?”
    His voice was gentle, kind. Nicole felt it cover her like a warm blanket. Looking into his deep blue eyes, she couldn't understand why it was so difficult to say yes since there was an obvious attraction between them.  She was taking the steps necessary to change her life.  She was aware the possibility of being asked out by men would happen, but not so soon.  Attending a big wedding and putting her anxiety on the line to mingle with hundreds of people she did not know, was the beginning step.  The dating and getting physical with men was more difficult for her and she had not sought those details through yet.
    “This is always the hardest part, not knowing what to say,” she said. “I’m going to accept your date, Walker. The logical way to get over my hang-ups is to go for it.  Whether I sink or swim is up to me, right?”
    “That depends. What hang-ups do a beautiful woman such as you, need to get over?”
    She rubbed her hands together. “I’m not a very social person.  I don’t date or go to clubs.”
    “By choice?” He asked with a lace of skepticism in his voice.
    “Yes, by choice,” she said giving him a mordant look.
    “What do you do for fun?”
    “I create on my drawing board or write.  I keep myself busy, so I don’t miss that sort of entertainment.”
    “Good God, woman.  How do you keep the men off you? I mean look at you,” he said creating an outline of her curvy figure with his hands.
    “Keep that up and I’ll cancel our date.”
    “I’m fooling around but curious how a woman like you doesn’t have a trail of men sniffing after her.”
    “It’s hard to be noticed when you’re practically invisible.”
    “I noticed you right away.  That smile is impossible to hide.”
    His flirting was stirring her insides.  It was something about Walker that held her attention.  He was unlike the one male friend she had years ago who would fit in with the cast of that nerd show, if they had a black character or handsome character.  Walker was raw yet refined in a social way she wasn’t.
    She cleared her throat. “I have to get to bed.  Patty will kill me if I have dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep.”
    “All right, I’ll see you in the morning.  Hey,” he called after her.
    Nicole pulled the bedspread up to cover her chest. “Yes.”
    “I’m looking forward to our date.”
    She switched off the light so he couldn’t see her blushing. “Me too.”
    *****
    Nicole checked the time on her cell phone.  Walker was running late for their date. She’d agreed to meet him in the hotel bar for drinks instead of waiting for him in the room.  He found her sitting at the bar nursing a glass of wine.  “Nicole, I’m sorry I’m late.  I got held up at the shop,” he said taking a seat on the stool next to her.
    Fiddling with the