Kenny got home from the market a little later he anticipated because of the wealth of feminine products on the market. He got home about ninety minutes after the evening broke. Max was on his sofa changed for the evening and reading the paper.

"Long line?" she asked without looking up.

"No, but I…"

Max cut off with a gasp of surprise, "Kenny what did you buy?"

"Well, I bought milk, eggs, ice cream, while bread and rye bread, and about twenty different kinds of tampons," he announced dumping the carry all bag on the table.

Max's jaw dropped, "Why did you buy that much stuff?"

"Because it's ridiculous how many different kind of feminine products there are. I didn't know if you were light flow, heavy flow, medium flow, combination flow…if you preferred long and thin, short and wide, self-adjusting or contouring, if you wanted biodegradeable applicators, plastic applicators, no applicators, or um, pads," Kenny finished with a blush.

When Kenny finished up his rant he saw that Max was hysterical laughing, "Why is this funny? This is not funny at all."

Max didn't stop laughing but she reached up and hugged him, "That's so cute, Kenny," she smiled, "But for the record I use plastic applicator self contouring medium flow," Max informed him.

"Which on of these is that?" Kenny asked.

"None of them," she told him trying to keep her face straight at his frustrated expression.

"That's it, max, that is the last time I go shopping for you…" Kenny began, but she quieted him with another hug.

"Come on," she said, "I'll fix it in the morning. Let's go to the Bucket, relax, unwind," Max pulled on his hand, "Forget this."

Kenny complied with that and followed Max out to his truck. They drove in silent to the Suds Bucket each lost in their own thoughts. Max was contemplating how truly adorable Kenny was buying all of tampons just so she had the kind she preferred. It was an incredibly sweet gesture, something only Kenny would do. She could never imagine Jeremy doing that.

Kenny was musing on Max's beauty. Even in simple jeans and a black sweater she was ravishing. Jimmy was right; he had to tell her how he felt. If he didn't he'd lose her to Jeremy for sure. If he did tell her though, and she didn't feel the same way, he could lose the best friend he'd ever know.

"Kenny," Max's voice broke into his thoughts, "We're here."

Kenny held Maxine's hand as the entered the crowed roadhouse and held her chair for her while she sat.

"This was a great idea," Kenny complemented, "you know I love this place."

"Yep, a rib joint with sawdust on the floor is your idea of a good time," Max laughed.

They placed their orders and made small talk until their meals came. The band was country that evening and Max and Kenny danced to a few two steps and toush pushes in between.

"You know," Maxine said once, "I'm having a really nice time tonight."

Kenny reached across the table for her hand and caressed its back with his thumb.

At a diner down on Broadway they make small talk
When she brings his eggs and fills his coffee cup
He jokes about his love life
And tells her he's 'bout ready to give up
That's when she says,"I've been there before
But keep on lookin' 'cause maybe who you're lookin' for is..."

Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the morning train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody

When the music started, Kenny pulled harder on Max's hand. She rose without struggle and followed him to the dance floor and swayed in time with the music and his body. She listened to the song, the chorus, "Somewhere out there, is somebody." It was so true, and she had met him.

Across town in a crowded elevator
He can't forget the things that waitress said
He usually reads the paper
But today he reads a strangers face instead
It's that blue-eyed girl from two floors up
Maybe she's the one maybe he could fall in love with

Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the morning train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody

Kenny held his blue eyed girl close to him. He knew she was the one, the only one for him, if only she believed that. If only she looked at him and really saw him, he knew she'd realize it.

Now they laugh about the moment that it happened
A moment they'd both missed until that day
When he saw his future in her eyes
Instead of just another friendly face
And he wonders why he searched so long
When she was always there at that diner waiting on

Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the morning train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there
Oh somewhere out there is somebody

As the song ended Kenny held tight to Max, tucking her head under his chin. He wrapped his arm, around her and placed a kiss on her head.

"Max," he whispered, "let's get out of here. I have to talk to you at home."

"Why, Kenny?' she asked, a bit concerned, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Nothing is wrong, but it is important that we talk," Kenny told her. "Come on, let's get the check and get out of here."

Kenny refused to let Max pay for their meal even though they agreed and he drove quickly back to the apartment not saying a word about his sudden need for an urgent heart to heart. Max asked endless questions the whole way home, but the only answer Kenny gave her was, "Wait until we get home."

They got in the door, and Kenny tossed his jacket on the chair a habit which usually annoyed Max to no end, but today she let it go. She stood in front of him, crossed her arms said pointedly, "What is this about Kenny? What is going on?"

"This is hard to explain," Kenny began, "and I know you are going to think this is totally stupid and maybe it is but…Maxine, back there in that roadhouse, I realized something, I mean I knew if for awhile, but I really realized something tonight…Max…"

Kenny couldn't find the words to finish what he started to say, there was only one thing to do, show her. Slowly, Kenny crossed over to Max and leaned down to kiss her. He caught her gasp in his mouth as he took her lips. It was a slow wondering kiss, a gentle touch that sought, but did not pursue, a delicate tasting of her lips that lacked the aggressiveness of masculine need. She quivered in his arms, her hands automatically moving to his shoulders to shove him away if he pressed beyond the guarded borders of intimacy she could accept from him without talking, without knowing what was in his heart. Kenny didn't try to deepen the kiss. He raised his mouth and touched his nose to hers, lolling his head side to side in a soft, brushing movement.

After a long moment, he drew back slightly and let his gaze roam over her face with a certain curiosity. Maxine couldn't look away from his eyes, watching his irises expand until they had almost become black. What was he thinking? What was on his mind that caused the sudden flash of desperation in those brilliant eyes, the shadow that crossed his face? His eyes lingered on the soft, trembling fullness of her lips, and then slowly lifted to meet her gaze. They stared at each other, so close that she could see her reflection in them and knew he could see himself in hers.

"You're eyes are like sapphires," he whispered, "Bright and soft, like precious stones. A man could get lost in them."

Maxine swallowed; her heart seemed to be rising to her throat. Her hands were still on his shoulders; beneath the warmth of his flesh she could feel the quivering in his muscles as he held her tight to him as if he were trying to pull her into him. She could feel the pressure of his manhood against her belly. It warmed her almost as much as his next words did.

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he murmured, "And so private. What are you thinking, what's going on behind those sapphire eyes?"

Kenny started walking taking Maxine with him. She stared at him speechless as he backed her into their sofa, gently lowering her onto the soft cushions.

"Max?" Kenny asked so many questions in that gentle word.

She could not answer; instead, she shook her head blindly as fresh tears made her eyes glitter. He sucked in his breath and kissed her again. This time he was more aggressive, parting her lips and slowly penetrating her mouth with his tongue, giving her the time to decide if she would accept his caress. She was trembling in his arms, afraid to let herself be tempted by the gently touch, yet she was tempted, very much so. Her tongue moved hesitantly and touched his, withdrew, returned for another shy taste, and finally lingered. He tasted marvelous. He deepened the kiss, exploring the ridges of her teeth, the soft sweetness of her mouth. Maxine lay beneath him, aware of the growing force of his passion, yet she was still shocked when his mouth turned hard and demanding asking for more than she was ready to give.

"Maxine, what you do to me is almost criminal," he groaned in a shaky voice.

An odd tightening in her chest in her breasts made her close her eyes, "We have to stop. I should go," she murmured, not pushing him away, but no longer responding to his intentions.

"No, don't go," he pleaded, "Let me touch you…my God, I've go to touch you!"

Maxine caught her breath on a sob as she felt his fingertips trace lightly over her breast and squeezed her eyes shut even more tightly than before. For a moment, she was frightened at the unfamiliarity of a man's touch on her breast. Kenny's voice spoke to soothe her, "Maxine, honey, open you eyes. Look at me; look at how I'm shaking. Touching you makes me dizzy," he whispered fiercely. "Look at me love; know it's me that's touching you."

Maxine's eye fluttered open and she found that he'd moved closer, until his face was filling her vision, so she could not pretend he was anyone but who he was. It was Kenny's face, not Jeremy's, and his brown eyes were filled with undeniable emotion, love and hunger. His trembling fingers were still moving only lightly over her breasts, though the heat of his hand burned her even through her nightgown.

"That…that's enough," she said, her voice thin, wavering out of control, "This isn't right."

"It's perfect," he cajoled, "I need you, Maxine. It's been so long…can't you tell how much I need you? Please. Let me touch you. Really, touch you. Let me unbutton this top and see you."

Even as the words were tumbling from his lips, his fingers were busy slipping the tiny buttons free from the buttonholes. The buttons ran down to her waist and he worked until he'd undone every one of them while she lay helplessly transfixes at the force of his need. Slowly, he opened the shirt and pushed it off her creamy white shoulders dropping the cloth down her arms and bearing her to the waist.

"I've dreamed of this," he whispered hoarsely, "You take my breath away." Gently he cupped her breast in his palm, curving her fingers over its ripe curve.

Maxine began to tremble again, she didn't know what to do, how to handle this. She had no real experience with men, only one other besides Jeremy, and he had been a rough almost animalistic lover, not gentle and sweet like Kenny was turning out to be. He would hurt her when they had had sex, and she was expecting pain this time as well.

Now both of Kenny's hands were on her, holding her breasts together. His head bent, and she sucked in a convulsive breath, staring down at the smooth skin of his scalp with terrified fascination. His tongue darted out and bathed a tiny pink nipple, then blew his warmth breath across it watching with delight as it thrust out at him, "They're beautiful," he breathed and tasted the other one.

At last, she could move and her fingers played with his hair at the base of his neck. She thought dimly that she'd pull his head away, but instead she pressed into his warm skull and held him to her, relishing in the feel of his attentions.

He released her nipple from his mouth and lay back, his hands sliding along her body drawing her with him so that she lay half across him. He began kissing her with short, gentle kisses that stung her lips. "I need you," he panted, "I want you so much. Please let me make love to you."

Maxine moaned, a keening sound that reflected both the tumult he stirred in her and her fear of going any further, "I can't" she cried, tears stinging her eyes, "You don't know what you're asking of me."

"Yes, I do," he whispered, moving his mouth down to the line of her jaw, nipping at her with his teeth. "I'm asking you to let me love you. I want you so much that I'm aching all over. I can't sleep for dreaming about you. Let me be a man with you; let me bury myself in you and forget about the past years, all the pretending all the others that were not the right one, you are the right one, Max, please," he pleaded.

She'd spent too long nurturing this man, agonized over him too much, felt his pain, celebrated his triumphs just as he had for her, how could she deny him now, when she never had before. Ever.

She nodded her head, silently letting him know that she'd let him love her. He looked into her eyes and saw her fear. He gently brushed a hair back from her face and whispered, "It's all right. You know I won't hurt you. I would never hurt you. Let's get you out of this."

Slowly he slid her jeans down over her hips bearing her the rest of the way down her body and with her assistance shed his own clothing. Her eyes were still wide opened, drawing his gaze, letting him know that she was giving herself to him, that she was doing this for him. She was afraid of this intimacy, but she trusted him and believed he'd not hurt her. Even with that assurance, when he pushed her thighs open to settle between them, she stiffened and closed her legs.

"No, honey, don't. I'm going to make love to you. I'm going to make it beautiful," he whispered as she relaxed and he slowly and gently slipped his finger inside her tight, wet opening.

"You're ready," he whispered, "So tight and wet. You feel so good."

Maxine moaned as she felt him slip a second finger inside her and then a third. Finally, she was writhing and moaning beneath him, begging him to fill her.

Kenny was happy to oblige and levering himself on his elbows he settled between her legs. She could feel the pounding of his heart against her breast as he slowly and gently thrust into her, raising her passion to completion.

She cried out at the feel of his hot, silky flesh spreading apart her femininity. Tears came to her eyes as the relief of long suppressed desire overcame her. She let out a small sob and as soon as Kenny heard it, he froze.

"Maxine, did I hurt you. I'm so sorry baby."

"No, Kenny, it's wonderful. I've never felt anything so wonderful. Make love to me, Kenny."

As encouragement, she lifted her hips delicately and joined him a lover's rhythm of slow gentle thrusts.

When they lay spent, and drifting off to sleep, Kenny heard Maxine whisper tearfully, "I'm sorry, Jeremy. So damned sorry."