I apologize for the delay in updating. I just hit a major writer's block and I'm super busy with my job. Writing just takes a backseat sometimes. Anyway, here it is the first date chapter. It's corny and gushy and I hope you like it. Thanks for all of the reviews!

A Hole in One

The next afternoon, Skye found herself riding along in the passenger seat of rental car watching the scenery passing her by through the window. Glancing over, she smiled at Joe who concentrated on the road, trying to make sure that they didn't miss their exit.

"So," she spoke up. "I don't even get one little hint?"

A smile tugged at his lips and he said, "I already gave you a hint."

She snorted, "You told me to wear flats because we'd be standing for most of the time, but that doesn't exactly qualify as a hint! It's more of a heads-up. I mean come on give me at least something better than that."

He chuckled, "You don't do well with surprises do you," he asked, amused.

Crossing her arms, she frowned playfully, "I'm more of an upfront type, I guess. I don't like the unexpected unless it's in the ring."

Shaking his head, he reached over and unwound her arms, so that he could grab her hand. Lacing their fingers, he rested their joined hands onto the middle console. "It'll be fun," he told her. "Is that good enough for you?"

"You seem awfully confident in yourself," she remarked in amusement.

"Well, you said that you were a simple girl," he stated with a shrug. "So, where we're going should be entertaining..." His voice trailed off and he glanced at her in uncertainty. "It's nothing fancy. I hope that's okay for our first date."

Her hand squeezed his. "I don't like fancy," she answered matter-of-factly. "I'm sure whatever you have planned will be exciting and very enjoyable."

This seemed to relax him and he nodded, "We should be there shortly."

She nodded and glanced back out the window. She remarked pointedly, "Still haven't given me a decent enough hint."

"I think you can manage the suspense for a few more minutes," he assured, flashing a grin at her.

"Fine," she sighed, dramatically for effect.

Within five minutes, they were off the interstate and heading down a busy street to their destination. When Joe finally pulled the vehicle into the parking lot, she let out a chuckle.

"Miniature golf," she questioned, glancing out the windshield.

"Yeah," he answered unsurely. "Is that okay?"

"Of course it is," she said immediately easing his doubts. "You just would pick something that I'm incredibly terrible at. I mean how many times have I told you how freaking awesome I am at bowling."

As he pulled into an available parking spot, he shook his head, "You must have told me a million times how much you rock at bowling, but perhaps I wanted to have the upper hand on this date."

"In other words, you didn't want to get beat by a woman," she clarified with a smirk.

He pondered her claim for a moment then nodded, "Basically."

She snorted.

Minutes later, they were walking toward the first hole with their clubs, golf balls, and small score sheet and miniature pencil in hand.

He motioned her forward, "Ladies first."

Glaring playfully at him, she walked over and crouched slightly to place her ball down. Straightening, she readied herself by tightly gripping her club and taking aim. Swinging the club back, she brought it forward and let it connect with the ball.

"Shit," she let out as she sent the ball flying rather than rolling up the turf and nearly taking out another player at another hole. "Sorry," she called out as Joe chuckled then went to retrieve the ball.

When he returned, he advised, "A little less force. This isn't the PGA."

"I hate you," she muttered, swiping the ball from him and trying again. She was able to at least keep the ball at their hole, but took nearly eight attempts to finally knock it into the hole.

She watched in annoyance as it only took Joe two putts to get his ball into the hole.

He offered to help her at the next hole, but she refused and it wasn't till they were at Hole #4 and she had sent her ball into the small make-shift pond before she finally turned to him, pouting.

"Okay, oh-wise-one, please help me," she requested when he returned after fishing out her ball with a net.

Laughing, he placed her ball down on the small black mat and motioned her over. "You're overthinking it. Do you do this in the ring?"

"Never," she answered simply. "I'm very sure of myself in the ring, thank you very much."

He smirked, "I bet you are." He placed a hand on her hip, turning her so that he was standing behind her.

She sucked in a breath as she felt his body move behind her. His arms wrapped around and proceeded to correct her grip on the putter.

"You're grip is too tight," he pointed out then instructed. "Try loosening your hands."

"Okay," she said, releasing her breath and trying to concentrate on anything, but the feeling of his large presence standing so closely.

Next, she felt his hands on her hips and he turned her slightly then tapped her outer thigh. "Open your stance a bit." When her feet were apart more, he commented, "Good." He slid his hand to her back. "Now bend your back slightly." She does so. "Okay, you have the stance. I'm going to help you with your swing."

He closed the distance behind her and reached around to place his hands over hers. His chin rested on her left shoulder and his warm breath ticked her ear.

"I want you to concentrate on hitting that bumper to the left of that plant in the middle. Do you see where I'm talking about," he asked her.

It was a simple task. All she had to do was find the place he was talking about, but she found it rather hard to focus on anything but his muscular arms wrapped her and his hot breath against her face. Her knees were starting to grow weak.

"Skye," he questioned when she doesn't respond.

She cleared her throat, "Uh yeah. I see it." God, could my voice shake anymore?

"Am I making you nervous," he asked, lowly.

"Nope, I'm completely focused," she argued, not daring to give him the satisfaction of knowing what his body being this close to hers was doing to her. "My eyes are zeroed in, so what's next?"

"Well if you hit that spot just right, your ball will bounce off and hit that corner sending it toward the hole."

"In theory," she muttered with a soft snort. "In actuality it's probably going to get slowed by that small incline and roll back into that sand pit on the right."

"That's not going to happen because we're going to hit the ball just right and it's going to do what I said it's going to do," he clarified, placing a kiss to her cheekbone then added, "I promise."

"So, you're some kind of miniature golf guru?"

"Call me anything you want, baby girl, but I bet you that I can get you past those obstacles with no problem whatsoever," he threw back at her good-naturedly.

"Hmm, your confidence is very sexy," she commented as she leaned back into his arms, enjoying their warmth.

"Does it make certain thing happen to a certain article of clothing," he inquired wickedly then chuckled when she elbowed him.

"You promised to never bring that up again," she huffed. In her mind that confidence of his certainly did make a certain article of clothing to seemingly melt. She refused to give him that satisfaction though.

"My apologies," he replied lowly as her cheeks tingled. "Now back at the task at hand – keep your eyes on that spot. You got it?" With a sigh, she nodded. "Okay, now glance down at your ball and we're going to bring back your putter..." He guided her putter back slightly then helped her swing it forward, connecting with her ball.

Her eyes watched as it rolled forward, hitting the spot he had indicated then bounced toward the corner bumper. The ball headed for the hole, but then slowly came to a stop just a few inches from its target.

She bounced up and down, excitedly turning to face him. "Did you see that? That's the closest I have ever been!"

He grinned, "See? It's not so difficult. You just need to know where to hit it and how hard."

She skipped over to the hole to lightly putt her ball into the hole then she pointed her putter at him in challenge, "Game on now, Anoa'i."

"You do realize that I'm kicking your ass already, right," he pointed out as he pulled out the score card and waving at her pointedly before marking down her score.

"I'm making my comeback," she assured him, confidently.

"I'm sure in your little world that's going to be possible," he teased, shaking his head.

"Hey, this is just the fourth hole," she threw back. "Fourteen more to go, Joe, and you've just gave me the extra boost and desire to beat that ass." When she returned to his side, she smiled charmingly at him. "No pressure."

"Here I thought that we were just going to have a friendly game of putt-putt," he commented, shaking his head. "I don't know if I like this side of you."

"It is part of the package, big guy," she stated with a short shrug, but gave him a teasing look. "Now, take your shot so I can study my opponent's form." Or in other words check out your fine ass. With a smirk, she motioned for him to step up and ready his shot.

"Game on, Brooks," Joe declared. "I was going to go easy on you, but you've asked for it."

"Ooh," she mocked. "I'm so scared."

When he walked over to place his ball down, she cocked her head to the side to admire his backside. "Stop checking out my ass," he spoke up, startling her. He straightened and flashed a huge grin her way.

She gave him an innocent look, "I wasn't doing anything of the sort. I would never do anything so..."

He interrupted her, "I've glanced at yours on more than one occasion – if that makes you feel better."

"You're a guy. It's kind of what you do," she pointed out with a soft chuckle.

He snorted, "Oh, so...women don't check out guy's asses?"

"Hmm," she stated, pondering. "Maybe...if said guy has an ass worthy of checking out."

Joe found himself grinning wider at that if it were even possible to do so. "Interesting," he said simply.

"Can we get back to our game," she asked, suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed for openly checking him out. "I think we've already established how hot you are, so can we please?"

Instead of doing as she asked, he took a few steps toward her and cupped her face, leaning down slightly to press his lips against hers. When he pulled back she couldn't help but stare at him in a daze as he whispered, "I like it when you check me out. I like it even more when you get all flustered about it."

"This really isn't a conversation I thought I would be having on our first date," she replied honestly.

"In our situation," he began. "This probably wouldn't be our first date. We know more about each other than most would even have time to know on a first date."

She smiled, "When you put it that way...then yes I was checking out your ass. You have a very nice one."

He blinked and felt himself glancing downward, his cheeks reddening.

She giggled, "Now who is getting all flustered? The color red looks good on you, Joe."

Shaking his head, he walked back over make his shot, "If this is your way of getting into my head so my game will be altered – nice try."

"I wasn't, but if by chance if it was working than I wouldn't say that it wasn't a good game tactic," she commented, smiling brightly at him. "By all means, show me how you're going to beat me."

"Watch and learn, Miss Brooks," he stated strongly as he readied his shot.

When he sent his ball rolling, she watched as its momentum was slowed by the small incline and slowly rolled into the sand trap.

"Damn it," she heard him mumble.

She bit back a grin. "Too bad I wasn't able to get into your head or else you'd really show me."

He glared playfully back at her. "Hush," he ordered before walking over to finish his turn.

A half hour later, the two were heading for the very last hole. Skye had an extra bounce in her step while Joe was lagging behind staring at the score sheet.

"I can't believe this," he commented with a soft chuckle. "You are just three strokes behind me." He glanced at her in amazement. "How the hell did you pick up this game so fast?"

Spinning around, she smiled, "Pure determination." Then she shrugged, "Or dumb luck...whichever. I still haven't gotten a hole in one yet unlike you."

"Well, we still one more hole, so maybe it will happen for you."

Glancing at the spinning wind mill, the most challenging part of the hole, she frowned. "Doubtful."

Smiling encouragingly, he told her, "You've got this. Take your time and wait for the right moment."

Nodding, she walked up to the hole and placed her ball down. Her eyes took in the different obstacles – the incline, the sandpits, and the small pond to the right along with the spinning windmill were definitely going to be hard.

"Remember," Joe's voice spoke up from his place at the other end of the hole where he had just finished taking the yellow flag from the whole. "Don't over analyze it. It's all about timing."

With a sigh, she took in his words and lined up her shot. She swung her putter with just the right force and sent her ball rolling up the small incline. She watched as it bypassed the sand pits and stayed on course toward the windmill. As the blades of the mechanism spun, she held her breath hoping that her ball would not be blocked.

When the pink ball successfully passed under the windmill, she quickly walked over to the other side to join Joe as she watched it roll down toward the hole. "Come on," she softly coaxed. The ball bounced off the opposite wall from the hole then slowly headed backward circling the rim before dropping it.

She squealed, "It went in!" She jumped into his waiting arms and he hugged her body to his.

"Congrats on your very first hole-in-one," he praised.

"Thank you," she beamed. "So, in order for you to win you will need to make this shot in three shots or less."

With an amused look, he commented, "Yeah, I realize that."

"I'm not annoying you, am I," she asked as she plucked her ball from the hole.

"Surprisingly you are not," he responded, winking at her. "I like a competitive woman who can put me in my place." He walked back to the start of the whole with his ball and putter.

She watched as he got his shot ready from her place at the other end of the hole. He managed to clear the windmill on his first swing, but unlike Skye's shot, his ball stopped nearly two feet from the hole.

His next attempt was unsuccessful by inches. Now it was his third and final swing. His ball wasn't too far from the hole and she knew he would easily be able to make shot.

Even though she knew that, she was still very happy with how the date was going so far. This had been a really fun afternoon, so losing to the large Samoan wasn't that hard to endure.

"You got this, Anoa'i," she cheered.

His head lifted and glanced her way, "You're rooting for me to win?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Sure, why not? I'm having fun, so it's okay if I don't win."

That made him smile, seeing that she was having fun.

"So, if I make this shot you won't be upset," he questioned curiously.

"Nope," she answered convincingly. "I'm not a sore loser, Joe, I promise."

Nodding, he returned his attention to his golf ball. He slowly brought back his putter and then swung it forward to lightly tap against the ball sending it toward its target. However, he had used a bit too much force which caused the ball to bypass the hole and bounce against the wall and stop several inches away.

Her jaw dropped. That was an easy shot and one that he could have made in with no problems whatsoever which only meant one thing.

Joe swiped up his golf ball from the green turf and approached her, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess that means you win."

"No," she corrected. "That means you let me win. You missed on purpose!"

He furrowed his brow. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you want to make sure that I'm having a good time and I already said that I was, so you didn't have to do that."

"It's done," he said dismissively. "Now, as the winner, I think you should decide what we do next."

"Pity-winner, you mean," she laughed, shoving him playfully. "I demand a rematch in the future."

He grinned, "Sure thing. Now, what do you want to do next?"

Glancing toward the building that they entered through and paid for mini-golf game, she remembered passing by an arcade. Smiling, she turned back to him, "How about we go and play some arcade games? I bet I get own you at game of air hockey." When she realized that her competitive side was showing again, she added sheepishly, "A friendly game of course."

He let out a laugh, "Let's do it."

After spending nearly an hour playing nearly every game in the arcade, Joe turned to Skye after beating her at a game of basketball. "You getting hungry," he asked her.

"Starving," she responded, reaching for the small stuffed turtle that he had won for her that she had placed on a nearby table.

"What do you feel like?"

"Why don't we just eat something here," she suggested, motioning at the at the small concession stand nearby. "They have chili dogs. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a chili dog?"

"Are you sure," he questioned, digging his hands in front pockets of his shorts. "I can take you some place nicer."

"Absolutely," she assured, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the place in question. "After we eat, I challenge you to a game of laser tag because I'm going to need to burn off all the calories that I'm about to ingest."

"Sounds fun," he remarked.

After Joe pretty much owned her at laser tag, the two left the establishment and headed for a nearby frozen yogurt place to enjoy a frozen treat before their date had to come to an unfortunate end when her flight time drew closer.

At the airport, he watched as she checked in her bag and glance back at him with a sad smile. He returned it, trying to keep his from bumming her out more. After getting the directions to her gate, she walked back over to him with her carryon draped over shoulder.

"So," she spoke up. "We have a bit of time to kill till my flight is called. How about I buy us some coffees and we find a place quiet to sit?"

"Sounds good," he responded, draping an arm around her neck and leading her toward the same Starbucks that they had stopped at just days before.

As they sat at a tall table just outside the small coffee place, neither spoke until he finally sighed. "So, this sucks."

She chuckled lightly. "Yeah it really does." Her eyes met his. "I kind of didn't want all this to end so quickly."

He nodded, "I hear you."

"Are we fooling ourselves," she asked, frowning. When he raised a questioning brow, she sighed. "I mean we had to schedule our first date. In a normal relationship, we probably would have already established whether or not we would consider ourselves a couple."

"We can make it work," he assured her.

"Long distance relationships rarely work out," she pointed out then groaned when she realized that she had stated that they were in a relationship. Neither had even discussed that yet. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah I do," he answered, nodding. "Look, it's not ideal nor is it something that I really want, but it's reality. We are both living our dreams. However, those dreams require us to be away from important people in our lives..." He swallowed, realizing he wasn't just speaking about Skye when he said this. Clearing his throat, he went on. "It sucks and it's going to be hard, but one thing that I am very certain of is the fact that I know that this," he motioned to each of them before continuing, "is worth it."

"You might find that I'm not worth it," she pointed out, quietly.

"Why is that," he asked, studying her with his eyes.

"Because I never am," she replied, shrugging. "I know we haven't talked much about our past relationships, but needless to say guys usually get bored with me and find companionship with other women – and yes I meant women." Swirling her straw around in her frozen coffee, she sighed. "Look, I'm not looking for pity. I've put myself out there a lot only to find myself heartbroken in the end. I mean it all starts off the same – too good to be true then the ball drops and I'm left wondering why the hell I even bother sometimes."

"Because you deserve to be happy," he pointed out, reaching over and taking the hand which was resting on the table into his own. "I've had my fair share of failed relationships, the most recent one being the toughest, but I'm not going to give up on happiness. You shouldn't either. No matter what those bastards did to make you feel this way. Yeah, we may not get to see each other every day or do the normal couple thing, but all I know is that I can't stop thinking about you nor do I want let this whole distance thing stop something I know is making me happier than I've been in a long time."

He managed to get a small smile out of her with that statement. "I'm whining," she replied pitifully. "I don't whine."

He traced the back of her hand with his thumb as he smiled, "You're concerned. I am too. I will promise you something though – I am not like those guys. I've been cheated on. I will never betray you like that."

She nodded in response, pondering something. "So, what are we," she questioned, coyly. "Am I your girl?" She tilted her head at him, batting her eyes causing him to chuckle.

"I think it's safe to say that you are most definitely my girl."

Biting her bottom lip, she tried not to let her excitement show too much. However, she was sure that he could hear the thumping of her heart in her chest. "Do you really want to take this on?"

"Damn right I do," he assured, firmly. "No more doubts about us, okay? We won't let this long distance thing beat us."

Glancing down at her watch, she sighed, "It's that time."

Nodding, he disposed of their drinks while she grabbed her purse and carryon. He pulled her to his side and she wrapped her arms around his waist as they headed for the terminal.

When her flight was called, she released her hold on him and went around to stand in front of him.

"Have a good flight," he told her, placing a kiss to her forehead.

With a smile, she leaned up to press her lips against his and they shared a deep kiss before she pulled back. "It's really going to be hard leaving you knowing that I'm going to miss doing that."

"I understand the feeling," he remarked, dipping his head back down for another kiss. His arms wrapped around her, pressing her more into him as this kiss was more intoxicating.

When the broke apart again, she pulled out of his hold, "No more or I'll miss my flight."

He chuckled, "Okay. Before you go," he began as he reached into his pocket to pull something out. "I figured that you'd want something to remember our first date."

"I doubt I'd ever forget it," she pointed out, smiling. Her eyes focused on his closed hand. "But what do you have for me?" When he opened his hand, she gasped seeing a pink neon golf ball that had the logo of the putt-putt place they had played at. "You stole my golf ball? You rebel you," she teased.

He laughed, "Yeah, I'm living on the wild side. I wanted you to have your first golf ball from your first hole-in-one. I even dated the other side." He rotated the ball to show her the bolded written 11-12-11 on the back.

Touched by the simple gesture, she took the ball from him and stared up at him. "I love it. I'll cherish it always." Realizing that she really needed to board her plane, she quickly kissed him again, "I will call you once I land."

He nodded, "I had fun."

"Me too," she agreed. "Let's plan for our next visit, okay?" He nodded. "Bye."

"Bye," he replied, watching her turn and walk to the ticket lady and hand her ticket.

When she walked through the door and disappeared, he sighed and turned to walk away. Along his way to the exit, his phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it, glancing at the screen seeing the name of the other girl in his life. Smiling, he put the phone to his ear, "Hey, baby." He nodded. "Yeah, I miss you, too."