Carol fought to keep her hands steady as she carefully walked from the kitchen through the living room en route to the porch. The thought of accidentally tripping and spilling the tray holding two glasses of ice cold lemonade and the plate of her homemade banana bread made her cringe. It would no doubt be the second most humiliating moment of her life; the first being the day she'd so stupidly assumed that Jeff was taking her out on a real date.

Funny, because she hadn't thought about that disastrous event in years. And yet in the last hour or so it had completely consumed her mind. Strangely, Jeff didn't seem to remember. Or if he did, he made no mention of it.

As slowly as possible, she sat the tray on a nearby table and opened the door. "Sorry it took me so long. I was just-."

"Here, let me get that for you." He said, moving past her to grab the tray. "Wow, you didn't have to go to all this trouble!"

"Oh, no trouble at all." She said, unable to hide the nervousness in her voice.

"It must have taken you all day to make this... what is this? Banana bread? It sure smells good. How did you know that this was my favorite?"

Her cheeks flushed and she wondered if he really meant what he said or if he was just being nice. And then she realized that she didn't care.

"Oh, lucky guess... I guess."

"Well, you certainly didn't need to go to all of this trouble for me. I'm hardly worth it."

"Are you kidding? You're more than worth it!"

It was only when he smiled at her that she realized she'd spoken out loud, thus creating a new humiliating moment. "Oh God... I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I was just-."

"I'm not embarrassed." He said, taking a bite of banana bread. "Wow, this is wonderful Carol. You're an excellent baker, not to mention quick! I've never known anyone to bake an entire loaf of banana bread in just a matter of minutes. Must be something new they teach at Yale."

Again, Carol laughed, harder than she should. "Oh Jeff, you have the most wonderful sense of humor! A-actually I baked this a few days ago. I brought it with me when I came to visit my-."

For a few moments, neither of them spoke and instead sat quietly eating their banana bread and sipping their lemonade.

"It's such a beautiful night." Carol sighed as she stared into the heavens. "The stars are out, the moon is full. It's so romantic."

"Yeah, it really is. But... you're not into that sort of thing, are you?"

She swallowed hard, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "I-I..."

"Yeah, I didn't think so." He said sighing deeply. "And that's really too bad because there's something I've wanted to do for a long, long time."

"Y-you have? But you're a successful lawyer and you've been around the world so I can't imagine what else you could possibly-."

Like a dream come true, she found herself swept up in his kiss. His arm went around her shoulders, drawing her close until there was nothing left to do but give into her emotions. And she did so willingly. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been kissed this way or when she'd ever felt so loved.

Even if it wasn't true love-or love at all, she felt something and she knew that he felt it too. And at that moment, it was nearly impossible to pull away. But when it became difficult to breathe, she drew back with great reluctance.

"Wow... That was..."

"Unexpected." She finished, running her hand through her hair. "Jeff, I..."

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"Oh, you didn't. I was just... Did you mean what you said? You've been wanting to kiss me for a long, long time?"

"You have no idea."

"Um... H-how long, exactly?"

"Well, I believe I was twenty three and you were fourteen."

Carol couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Y-you wanted to kiss me back then?"

"Yes. But I'm glad I didn't because this was so worth the wait."