"Eddie, I'm going to be really bold here. This isn't my usual style, believe me; but I've really enjoyed this lunchtime with you, and would like to do this again. I don't have Raymond any more, so suddenly I'm alone at home, and I don't fancy living my life like a recluse; I still need you to do the yard work, but next week, I'm back to work, so I'll be at work all day. It'll just be like it usually is - you showing up when I'm not there, pottering around in the garden for three hours, then leaving a note under the door that you came and what you did, then I pay you at the end of the week. I would like to see you more often than just Friday afternoon when I give you the cash. I'll have most nights free now, so it would be fun to spend more time with you then. Would you like that, you know, if you're free?"

Eddie looked at me steadily, and his look told me that he knew exactly what I wanted. After a long pause, he held my arm and said, quietly, "Sure." His face broke into a smile. "I would love that." He looked at me directly, and I felt like his gaze was boring its way straight into my soul. He looked down at my lips, then back up to lock eyes with me once more.

I half-closed my eyes as he leaned forward slowly. I could feel my heart beating as I parted my lips, slowly inhaling as his full lips closed the gap between us. Suddenly, our lips made contact, and a tingling frisson of excitement made itself felt as I surrendered to his kiss. He stayed there, motionless except for his lips, which pressed my lower lip. My hands found his waist under the table and I drew him in, our kiss intensifying as I felt his passion increasing. The more I acquiesced, the more my desire for him grew, until a long-dormant horniness inside me began to smolder.

I brought my hands to his shoulders to break the kiss. "Let's take this somewhere more private," I whispered.