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“Yeah, well, tonight I’ll sleep on the couch because I don’t care for the smell. Our first disagreement.”
“So far, except for that and the difference in age, we’re perfect for each other,” he said, laughing. “And maybe our height.”
“I like that you’re taller than me. I’m tall for a woman, so even a six-footer is only a few inches taller than I am.”
“You’re the perfect height,” he said.
His smile and presence made me so happy. It was a new experience. Suddenly, I wanted to be upfront with him from the start about my past. I cared too much about what he thought of me and the possibility of future love to play around with our relationship.
“Will, I have to tell you something before we go to dinner. It makes me sad because I don’t know you well enough to know if it’s going to be a deal breaker for us or not, but I don’t want any secrets, and this has the potential to be a big secret.”
“Argh,” he said, grimacing, and that made me laugh. “I hate intrigue.”
“I know! Me, too. All the more reason I need to tell you. It’s something about my past.”
“I don’t care about your past,” he said, grabbing my shoulder.
I longed to be in his arms right then, and wished he’d just hug me. “You might care about this.”
“As long as you didn’t kill a former boyfriend that I remind you of, I don’t.”
It was my turn to laugh. “No, I have never had a serious boyfriend before. But I have had a lot of dates. And I took money from men for sex. It was how I supported myself through college.”
I can’t explain how he looked at me, thinking about what I had just admitted, but I felt compassion from him, and waited for him to say something.
“Wow. I’m so sorry. Being that desperate had to be so difficult.”
“Yeah, I was pretty desperate. I rationalized that my friends were giving it away free. Anyway, I’ve never had a meaningful relationship with the opposite sex, and I feel you and I might have that together. I didn’t want the past to crop up and destroy any chances for us.”
“Well, I’m grateful for your honesty. I haven’t exactly had a lily-white past myself, so it’s not an issue. I’m sure if your father had known, he’d kick himself.”
“He didn’t even know about my existence until I graduated,” I explained. “I’m still angry with my mother for the way she handled it. He tried to make it up to me.”
“I’m so sorry you went through that. To lose him so soon, too. It’s really heartbreaking.”
I could tell Will was trying to be supportive. I actually felt better. “Look, I’m not trying to make excuses, okay? And thank you for being so kind about everything. I’m ready to move on if you’re still interested.”
“I’m more than interested. Dinner! If you’re ready, let’s go!”
We left the cottage. I could feel him standing close behind me while I tried to lock the door, the rusty old lock giving me trouble. I sensed he wanted to offer his help and was trying so hard to take a hands-off approach. When it finally clicked, he made a fist pump and shouted, “Yes!”
He opened the car door for me. I felt like I was going to prom. I truly couldn’t remember the last real date I had had, and it might very well have been prom.
The car was an older Thunderbird, the interior smelling of oil, like a classic car might smell, and it was clean, too, the carpeting nice and fluffy, like he’d shampooed and vacuumed it recently.
“What year is this car?”
“Older than you,” he said. And then a shocked look passed over his face. “Older than me! Ha! 1965. I’m not sure why it’s never come up before that my car is older than me and probably in better shape.”
“You’re in great shape,” I said, just as forthright as I could be. “You have a great physique.”
“Wow. If you think so, I’m as happy as I can be.”
“My usual mode of operation is to be as opaque as possible. I don’t want people to know too much about me, obviously.”
“Why obviously? You’re great.”
“I don’t let people get too close. With you, I want you to get as close as possible.”
