Chapter Eighteen

R is for Romance

Even after his divorce, Leonard considered himself to be a romantic. He just hoped his girlfriend appreciated the effort he had gone to tonight, he thought as he waited for her to arrive at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho. After the club, he'd booked them to stay the night at a nearby hotel. Stephanie was taking her own sweet time, he realized with a glance at his watch. Once he saw his girlfriend park her car, he walked over and opened up the driver's door.

"Good evening, Leonard. You're looking quite handsome tonight," Stephanie said as she got out of the car and locked the door. He was glad that Stephanie liked his grey suit and blue tie with matching dress shoes. In truth, he'd rented the outfit because he only had one other suit, which he hadn't worn since his father's funeral. He had no desire to think about that day tonight, he told himself. Once they were inside the club, he confirmed their reservation. The hostess led them to a small corner table. He stepped behind Stephanie and removed her thick woolen ankle length coat and matching scarf. As he placed them on the back of the chair, he inhaled sharply at what his girlfriend wore underneath. Her black dress was sleeveless and only came to her knees. With her high heeled boots she was almost as tall as he was. Discreet makeup and a silver necklace completed her ensemble.

"You look as pretty as a peach," he complimented her as they sat down.

"Thank you. I have an overnight bag in the boot of my car. But why did you go to all of these expense? This club and the hotel for the night would have been expensive."

"Tonight is the first anniversary of when we met. I know we didn't start dating until about a month later, but I didn't want to remind you of the traffic accident or your time in hospital afterwards." She smiled and placed a hand on top of his.

"That was thoughtful."

Someone cleared their throat beside them. Leonard turned his head to see a waitress standing beside their table.

"Do you two need some more time to decide on your order?" she asked. Leonard nodded and reached for the menu. When the waitress returned to their table, they were both ready to order. The meal went very well as they talked about various things. The food was excellent and so were the musicians on stage. He only had one drink of alcohol as did Stephanie. Alcohol had been a comfort to him after the divorce, but it had taken some time for him to replace that vice with something more healthy. He had no intention of going down that dark road again, he thought. After he'd paid, they both drove the short distance to the hotel.

"Good evening. How can I help you?" asked the front desk clerk in the lobby of the hotel when they entered a short time later.

"I have a reservation for tonight under McCoy," Leonard told him.

"Ah yes, the romance package. Everything is as you requested. I hope you enjoy your stay with us," he replied as he moved away from the computer and handed Leonard a room card.

"Leonard, which room did you book?" asked Stephanie in the elevator.

"I got us a deluxe suite with a king sized bed and a jacuzzi," he told her.

"That sounds wonderful," she stated. It didn't take them long to enter the room and place their bags down on the floor. The bed dominated the bedroom while the tub in the restroom looked massive, he thought as they explored the spacious suite.

"That jacuzzi tub looks big enough for both of us. Would you care to join me?" Stephanie suggested.

He eagerly nodded and closed the restroom door behind him. As Stephanie began to run the hot water, he glanced at the two small bottles of bath bubbles on the rim of the tub.

"Would you prefer lavender or mint?" he asked.

"Use the mint, but only put in one capful. I don't want to get bubbles everywhere," she decided. Leonard quickly poured the requested amount into the rapidly filling tub.

Once the tub had filled about three quarters of the way, they both undressed and tossed their clothes to the floor. Stephanie stepped into the tub first with Leonard following behind her as they both sank down into the hot water. After they had thoroughly washed each other's bodies and hair, he kissed her. As she returned the kiss, Stephanie pulled him tightly against her. Leonard decided to let his body say what he wanted to instead of using words. Once they had finished using the tub, a great deal of the water and bubbles were on the floor. 'Well, I'm sure housekeeping has seen worse,' Leonard thought as he carried Stephanie to the bed.

"Oh, can we have some sparkling wine and chocolate strawberries before we go to sleep?" Stephanie requested as she saw the items on the nightstand on the right side of the bed. They eat all of the strawberries and had one glass of wine each before Leonard lay back and pulled up the thick blankets around their bodies. They both fell asleep quickly.

In the morning, Leonard was the first one to wake up. Stephanie's back was against his chest. He gently moved her hair away from her face and gazed at her nude body. He smiled at the enticing sight. She was still sleeping after he had used the restroom and walked back to bed. Leonard slowly lay back down in the bed and placed a hand on her hip. He began to kiss down her back slowly, beginning with her neck. She murmured but didn't move until his mouth reached the small of her back. At that touch she gasped and turned over to face him. She moved her body closer until her top leg was draped over his hip. The sensation of her wetness pressed between his hips drove him to slide deeply inside her. Their sex was slow and gentle, even as they reached their mutual satisfaction with groans and gasps.

After they dressed, Leonard led Stephanie down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The buffet selection was extensive. He choose eggs, toast, turkey sausage, a fruit cup, and a large cup of coffee. He didn't normally eat this much for breakfast but he'd worked up quite the appetite, he thought. Stephanie had eggs, fruit, yogurt, pancakes, and orange juice. As Stephanie drizzled maple syrup over her pancakes, he was suddenly reminded of the time when they'd spread whipping cream on each other's bodies and then carefully licked it off. 'Stop it, man. Don't think about that here. A hotel restaurant is hardly the place for you to recall lewd memories,' he thought. He took another sip of his coffee only to discover his cup was empty.

"I'm getting a refill," he declared and got up. He really didn't need more caffeine but he did need to focus on something other then sex. He wasn't a fumbling young man in bed with a woman for the first time. But somehow his higher brain functions had been swept away for baser desires since this date had started. From their first time together, the sex between them had been great. 'But that's not all I want from my girlfriend,' he thought. Stephanie was a great conversationalist too. He knew she took her work and their relationship seriously, but she was often light heated about everything else. That complimented his opposite tendency to brood, complain, and take everything seriously. 'It's strange to care for a woman because of how much she can make me laugh, but my life is better for it,' he thought as he sat back down. Once they had finished eating, they returned to their suite.

"So when do we have to check out?" asked Stephanie.

"We have a late check out, so we don't have to leave the hotel until one o'clock," he told her.

"In that case, there's enough time for me to show you something," she said as she walked over to her bag.

"Oh?"

"I'll just be a minute," she declared as she walked away to the restroom with a black bag. Soon she re-appeared in the room wearing a purple babydoll. The material clung tightly to the curves of her body before the garment ended in the middle of her thighs.

"Do you like it?" she wondered.

As he embraced Stephanie, Leonard hoped his enthusiastic kiss was answer enough. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him until her back was against the wall. She started to unbutton his shirt while his mouth went to her collarbone and his hands grasped her hips. As he moved a hand between her thighs and her hands caressed his torso, he was pleased to discover she wasn't wearing underwear. Stephanie dug her hands into his back as his mouth moved down to her breasts. She remained still until she came hard around his fingers. While she was still panting, he pushed his pants and underwear down to his ankles. Leonard stepped closer and swiftly joined their bodies together. He was a damned lucky man, he reflected once he could think coherently again.

"You gonna let me go?" Stephanie asked. Upon hearing her question, Leonard became aware that he was still holding tightly onto her legs as she clutched his back firmly.

"Not anytime soon," he declared with a smile. She returned his smile. He knew that wasn't what she had meant, but he didn't clarify his words. Instead he pulled away from Stephanie and helped her stand back up. He redressed himself quickly.

"So I take it you wouldn't mind a repeat viewing?" she said.

"Not if we're alone," he said as he took one more glance at her from her head to her feet.

"I'll keep that in mind. Speaking of clothes, I should get dressed into something else." He nodded. As much as he'd enjoyed seeing Stephanie wearing lingerie, he didn't want any other man to see that, Leonard thought. He'd never considered himself possessive, but he knew he didn't like to be second place.