Chapter 31

"I would love that AJ. What time do you want me to arrive? And is there something I can bring?"

"You shouldn't have to cook after the week you've had. Why don't we wait until next time for you to bring something?"

"I really don't mind, I love to cook. Let me bring something."

"Okay, what would you like to bring?"

"I don't know, what are you planning to make?"

"I was thinking about grilling steaks and potatoes unless you'd rather have something else?" he offered.

"No that sounds good, would you rather I bring a vegetable, salad, or desert?"

"I have ingredients for a salad so either of the others would be great."

"Okay, I'll think of something and now I'd better go or I'll fall asleep in this chair. Good night AJ."

"Good night Samantha. I'll see you tomorrow. Is 1800 alright with you?"

"Perfect, I'll see you then."

Both hung up but visions of the other plagued them until they were both able to go to sleep.

The next evening Sam arrived thirty minutes early. AJ had just gotten out of the shower and dressed. He was a bit surprised unless she thought his directions would be hard to understand. Going to the door he was nonetheless very glad to see her. He even wondered why she had a container in both hands.

"Hey," she said as she climbed the stairs to his porch. "I hope you don't mind that I'm a few minutes early I had something to add to the food on the grill."

"No, I don't mind, I was just about to tell you that I hadn't started cooking yet so I can easily put whatever you brought on with the rest."

"Good that is what I was hoping for."

"And your other package?"

"Well you left it to me whether to bring veggies or desert so I brought bacon wrapped asparagus and a chocolate chip cheesecake."

"You didn't need to bring both!" he protested.

"I know," she answered with a smile, "but I couldn't decide what to make so I had to bring both. Remember I like to cook and you'll be grilling the asparagus anyway."

"Good point. Please come in and we can put the cheesecake in the fridge and get everything else started."

"You have a lovely home," she told him as they walked through the house to the kitchen.

"Thank you. I'll remove the food for the grill and then you should have plenty of room for the cheesecake."

"Okay I'll take care of that if you'll take this to the grill with you and then I'll follow you."

"See you out there," he replied and took meat and potatoes out of the fridge.

Sam quickly did what she needed to do and followed AJ onto the back patio where the grill was going. "You have a beautiful garden, will you give me a tour after dinner?"

"I'd be happy to."

The dinner was fantastic and cooked to perfection. They had decided to eat outside because the evening was so nice. Before they had desert AJ gave her a tour of his garden. The only trouble with the idea of giving their dinner time to settle and develop more room for the cheesecake was that at every bush or tree they stopped at AJ offered her a sample. She had to laugh because she was more full after the tour.

So they decided to watch a movie without popcorn! They laughed as they both thought of it at the same time. This time AJ told Samantha it was her turn to choose a movie from his collection. She found that they were both John Wayne fans. Sam loved 'Hellfighters', 'McClintock', 'Green Berets', and then she saw the one that would be perfect for the evening. She pulled out 'The Quiet Man' off the shelf and asked AJ if that would be okay.

With a tender smile he said, "That's perfect. Let me put it in and we can settle on the couch."

The movie was so romantic and they were cuddled very close on the couch. It was hard not to steal a few kisses throughout the show. By the end of the movie they couldn't wait to be in each other's arms. After several heated kisses AJ pulled back and suggested that maybe they should take a break to have some cheesecake.

To be continued…