04. Date Night

She felt like a teenager experiencing her first wave of butterflies when her husband showed up at her office for their date night. He had a bouquet of red roses in his hand and she suddenly felt the urge to steady her feet so they didn't wobble when she stood. It sometimes left her breathless knowing that he could still make her heart skip a beat with one boyish look like that... and he always did.

"You're early," she said playfully, accepting the flowers with heartfelt appreciation.

"When I have a beautiful woman waiting for me, I figured I'd better be prompt," he responded.

She smiled once more, this time with more fire in her eyes. "Where are you taking me handsome?"

"That's a surprise gorgeous. Now do you have more work to do or can we start our weekend already?"

"You're so cute when your impatient. I'll be right back. I just have to change."

He didn't have a chance to respond...she was already disappearing around the corner with her bag. He found himself feeling like a teenager waiting for the girl he liked to come to the door for their first date. It amazed him that no matter how many years he had been with her, he still felt like it was the first time. She came out of the bathroom wearing a sexy red dress that left very little to the imagination...a sparking shawl draped around her shoulders.

"You just get more beautiful every time I see you...You'll have every man in the room wanting to take you home."

"That's just too damn bad...there's only one man I'm going home with...and he'll be making all the single ladies wish he was single."

"Too damn bad. I am very taken by my amazing wife."

She giggled as she hooked her arm though his and kissed him gently on the lips, letting him know that he had said what she wanted to hear.

++++

He took her to a beachside cafe that was hosted on a yacht. Their table was somewhere off in the privacy of the back room. He reached for her hand when they sat down and she could feel her heart catch in her throat when she looked at him.

"Why do you still make me feel so nervous? We've been married for all these years and yet..."

"You still feel like that teenager who's going out to dinner with the boy she's been eying the whole semester...and when she's finally alone with him, her heart starts beating so fast she thinks her heart will fall out of her chest."

"How do you still know me so well?"

"Because it's exactly how I feel about you."

She paused momentarily as she looked into those baby blue eyes she always got lost in...She had something to tell him but it could wait. Right now she just wanted to dance with him and feel his heartbeat against her. She stood up from her chair and held out her hand. "Dance with me cowboy. I just want to dance with you."

"Your wish is my command," he said, and she slipped off her shoes. He lead her to the middle of the room and she stepped onto his toes with her bare feet. He would take the lead tonight. His wife was tired. "I love you so much," he whispered, as she laid her head against the familiar place on his shoulder. His arms held her tight and she whispered "I love you too," as they started to dance to nothing but the beat of their own hearts.

The crowd looked at them with genuine envy. It was nice to see an older couple who still went on dates and acted like they were madly in love. Love like that just didn't come along every day...and it certainly didn't last. Bo and Nora proved to be the exception. They were clearly more in love then they ever had been.