XxXx Jaded Bewilderment: Part 3 xXxX

FRIDAY NIGHT

Jared jerked at the collar of his white polo shirt as he stepped up to Rea's
door. The hand that held the bouquet of red carnations was sweating. He
brought the other hand up and rang the doorbell. He heard rustling around
and the mechanical sounds of a door being unlocked and opened.

Rea opened the door and let Jared take a look at her. She wore a long black
hippie-style skirt with a red, off the shoulder, three-quarter sleeved top.
Her hair was pulled back with sparkling clips and her lips were painted
with a deep red. Her fingernails sparkled in the light. She'd painted them
with a clear polish with sparkles in it. Her wrists were covered with silver
bracelets and she wore the same necklace around her neck as always. She
smelled wonderful.

"Hi," she said. Jared looked cute, in his regular baggy jeans, the plaid
boxers peeking out, and a conservative white polo shirt. She smiled at him
and stepped out of the house.

In the past four days, they'd hung out both alone and with Jared's friends.
She worked on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. When she didn't work,
they hung out with Andy, Gary and Greg. When she did work, they hung out
at his house after seven o'clock. In those four days, they'd gotten to know
each other quite well, and the band loved her.

"I... I got these for you," he held the flowers out to her. She took them,
held them to her nose and inhaled.

"Thank you. They're beautiful," she turned and walked back into her small
house to put them in water.

The two of them got into Jared's station wagon and drove toward the center
of town, where there were three restaurants. Jared had decided to take Rea
to Armand's, a fancy-casual restaurant that he ate at every so often when
his relatives came to town.

A candle-lit dinner was the perfect way to woo Rea. They were seated and
as they waited for the waiter to come, Jared simply looked into Rea's eyes.

"I had a great time, Jared. Thank you," she said. Jared's palms began sweating
again. The two of them tentatively leaned into each other for their first
kiss. Their lips touched and Jared's knees turned to jelly.

The kiss became hungrier and deeper and Jared pulled Rea close to him. Rea
reached back and opened her door. She grabbed onto the collar of Jared's
shirt and pulled him in, never breaking the kiss. Jared lifted his leg and
kicked the door closed and gently caressed Rea's breast. She moaned into
his mouth and her tongue ran along his lower lip.

Jared and Rea walked slowly, lips locked, until Rea was backed up against a
wall. She needed to feel more of him. She lifted a leg and wrapped it around
his hips. He lifted her up and she wrapped both legs tightly around him. She
could feel him hard against her and she felt his hands slowly creeping up her
shirt. His fingertips traced over her flat, trembling belly as he made his way
to her bra. Rea's stomach churned as she became more nervous. She broke the
kiss.

"Wait," she said breathlessly.

"Is there something wrong?," he asked. They were both breathing
heavily, their bodies aching for closer contact, for fulfillment.

"I can't do this," she breathed. She was shaking from the raw passion she'd
just experienced, and from the fear of his impending anger.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone so fast for you," he murmured. He kissed
her forehead and let her down. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable.
I'm sorry."

"That's okay," she whispered. She greatly appreciated his sincerity and gave
him a huge hug. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. And we'll go to the show and
have a great time."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled, squeezed her hand, turned and left.
Jared got into his car, started it and drove slowly away, trying not to think
about his raging hard-on. He couldn't believe what had happened between he and
Rea. It was a dream come true. He felt something between them that was strong,
rare and amazing. He'd never felt it with anyone ever before.

When he got home, he sat down at his desk and began writing the music for the
songs he'd written for Rea.

SATURDAY MORNING

"How'd the date go?," Gary asked, tuning his guitar. Jared smiled at Gary and
pulled out several pieces of music and lyrics.

"How does it look like it went?," he asked, handing the papers to his friends.
They looked it over, their heads nodding with approval. Andy looked up at Jared,
a smile on his face.

"This is really great. A woman does a body good," he chuckled. "Keep her around,
she's doing wonders for your creativity."

"She's so amazing. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I love her. I just met
her a week ago and I love her. I mean, she's perfect. She speaks fluent Spanish
and French, she's completely beautiful, she's smart and talented and funny
and just... perfect. I want to know everything about her. I want to know how
she feels every second of the day," he mused. His heartbeat quickened at the
thought of her.

"Get your head out of the clouds and let's practice. We have a show in ten
hours," Greg said. Jared looked up.

"There's one other song. And I want to play it for her," he handed the last
sheet of music to Andy, who nodded in agreement.

"Last song for the night," he murmured, smiling at Jared's work.

"That's what I was thinking," Jared stood and pulled his guitar strap over his
shoulders. "Let's practice."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note: I know, very short chapter but I just wanted to put it up so
I could get on with the story. REVIEW!!