It was a few days later, and Louisa was busy getting ready for an evening out. Looking at her watch, she knew Martin would be there any minute, and hurriedly finished applying her makeup.

Over the last few days they'd exchanged a number of emails, coming to a truce after the little outburst following their kiss. Tonight would be the first time she'd seen him since that afternoon, and she was determined that they would have a good night.

She had spent the last few nights after school coming up with a game plan in her head for how the evening would go, and was determined not to let her frustration with Martin get the better of her. She was equally as determined to continue her guidance of him, on how to be in a relationship.

Outside, she could hear the sound of his Lexus pulling up to her door, and grabbed her purse and went to meet him.

Opening the front door, Martin was just getting out of the car and looked startled by her presence before him. He thought she looked stunning. She was wearing a simple black dress that hugged her in all the right places, before flaring out into a flowing skirt.

"Louisa!"

"Hello Martin, you're looking nice tonight. Is that a new suit?"

Before he could respond, Louisa took a step forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh… I… Um… yes…"

Concealing a smirk at his stunned reaction, Louisa walked to the passenger side and with the help of Martin, got in the car.

The drive to the Art Gallery was torture for Martin. Louisa had been nattering away about school and Martin had desperately been trying to summon the courage to tell her how beautiful she looked. In one of her emails, she had told him that she liked getting compliments from him, and he thought she looked stunning tonight. The problem was, he couldn't get the words to come out.

They pulled up at the gallery entrance and the valet quickly appeared and opened the door so Martin could get out. Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he made his way around to the passenger side door, and held his hand out to help Louisa from the car.

As she stood up beside him Martin got a faint whiff of Kenzo Flower, and leaning down closer to her ear, murmured "You look very beautiful tonight Louisa."

Looking up at him in surprise, she could see in his eyes he was nervous. Smiling brilliantly at him, she squeezed his arm in encouragement. "Thank you Martin."

The exhibition itself was exactly as Martin predicted, crowds of people fawning over artwork. But he had to admit the art was good. It was an exhibit by a renowned nature photographer, who, for this exhibition had photographed rare and exotic butterflies from around the world.

Martin looked down at Louisa next to him. Since his compliment earlier, she had been uncharacteristically quiet… But she'd also looped her arm through his as they'd entered, which Martin had taken as a sign that things were going well. In his experience, when he'd upset her in the past, she usually wanted to get away from him, not get closer, so he thought this was a promising sign.

Feeling his gaze upon her, Louisa looked up at Martin and smiled. "You enjoying the exhibit Martin?"

His eyes briefly flickered to the piece of art in front of them, and then back to her. "Yes...um… the artist has captured some very rare butterflies."

"Yeah. I didn't realise there were so many different types to be honest."

"Yes… there are approximately 17,500 different species of butterflies around the world. This one here is a Fabriciana Adippe, or more commonly known as the High Brown Fritillary. It's generally considered to be the rarest butterfly in the UK. Since the 1950s it's undergone a dramatic decline, mainly due to climate change, habit loss, changes in woodland management and agricultural intensification."

Louisa smiled at him. "I never knew you were so knowledgeable about butterflies, Martin."

"Yes... I've always found them fascinating. For my seventh birthday my Grandfather bought me a butterfly net and book on Lepidopterology, which is the study of butterflies and moths. When I would visit Auntie Joan I'd spend hours looking for butterflies in her garden…"

"Oh Martin that's really sweet."

Seeing an opening in front of a new picture, Louisa led Martin through the crowd. Looking around, Louisa commented, "There's certainly a big crowd here tonight. How was it that you got invited?"

At this, Martin looked sheepish. "Oh...I… ah... know the artist. He was a patient of mine in London, and knowing of my interest in Lepidopterology he asked if I'd like to attend. I've been to several of his gallery exhibits up in London, so I knew the work would be good. Do you like it? We can go if you're not enjoying it?"

Chuckling, Louisa brought her free hand up to rest on his arm. "No it's great, I'm really enjoying myself. I just had no idea that you were so well connected to the art community. You're full of surprises Martin!"

XxxxxxxX

As Martin pulled the Lexis up in front of Louisa's cottage, he could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. The night had gone surprisingly well in Martin's opinion. He had managed to avoid irritating her with medical talk, and she'd seemed pleased when he'd opened up about his love of butterflies.

Now was the tricky bit where he usually came unstuck. Intellectually, he knew that after a date a couple would usually share a goodbye kiss. And Martin was desperate to kiss her. But, this was usually where things unraveled for him... He'd let his guard down, and without thinking he'd say something to offend her. So much so that last time they'd kissed Louisa had told him not to talk at all afterwards! Taking a deep breath, Martin got out of the car, and came around to hold the door open for Louisa and walk her to the front door.

He couldn't look at her. They stood there for what felt like, to Martin, an eternity. This is ridiculous. Just lean in and kiss her. You've kissed before. Just don't ruin it. Martin glanced up to find Louisa looking at him with an encouraging smile on her face. Don't ruin it. Ok, here goes nothing... Just don't say anything to ruin it. He slowly lowered his head to meet hers in a soft kiss. He pulled back to gauge her reaction and could see her eyes were closed and a small smile graced her lips. Without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her again, harder this time, bringing his hands up to cup her face.

Louisa was in heaven. She's had a lovely night with the man she loved, and was currently standing outside her house enjoying one of the best kisses she'd ever had. Lord, this man knows how to kiss, that for certain. Pulling back from the kiss, Louisa looked up at him. "Martin"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you want to… you know… stay the night?" She held her breath, waiting for him to respond.

His eyes went wide in surprise.

"I...ah… well… I... are you sure?"

Smiling up at him and nodding, she grabbed his hand in hers and led him into the cottage.