Dinner, Conversation, and an Evil Cowgirl Laugh

What says, "I just want to be friends but hey, I still want you to think I'm sexy"?

As you can tell I wasn't really sure what to wear to dinner last night. I briefly considered the above outfit but decided the hat would be a bit too much ;) Finally I settled on a simple white blouse, casual black skirt, stockings, and black heels. Since I was curious about statements he'd made in the past (and because he's at least a foot taller than me), I thought by wearing 4" stilettos I could simultaneously assess him for signs of a foot fetish and keep us from looking like Mutt and Jeff.

He was prompt - a good sign, I thought. When I opened the door he smiled and looked only at my face. Interesting, I thought. Usually even when men just want to be friends, they'll do a quick survey of what a woman is wearing.

His manners were as impeccable as I would have expected from a 50-something Southern gentleman. He held onto my arm at the elbow as we walked down the steps and crossed the driveway to the car. I whispered a quick prayer of thanks for that since I've been known to trip when walking in flats let alone heels. He opened the car for me and then once inside the car himself asked where I'd like to have dinner. I mentioned a couple of types of food I favored and asked him to make the choice.

When we arrived at the restaurant, he again opened my car door. It was when I was stepping out of the car that I looked up and caught his eyes surveying my calves and heels. He glanced at my face in time to note my amusement and flashed a bit of a grin in return while at the same time sporting slightly flushed cheeks. Friend or not, it's always good to make a man blush ;)

Dinner was nice, but the conversation was far more enjoyable. He was knowledgeable about a wide variety of things without being obnoxious and seemed quite interested in my thoughts regarding everything we discussed. It wasn't until I noticed the waiter hovering that I realized a couple of hours had passed.

Once he'd caught my eye, the waiter approached the table with the check and moved to hand it to David. I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped when he quietly asked, "May I? I'd really like to." I agreed, wondering what he would have done if I had said "no".

On the way home, I thanked him again, then asked, "What would you have done if I had insisted on paying?"

"I would have said thank you."

"As simple as that?"

"As simple as that. I preferred to pay, but if it seemed important to you, I would have done as you asked."

"Do you usually give in fairly easily to a lady's requests?" (I should have said "surrender", don't you think?)

"It depends on the lady and on the request," he smiled.

I decided a few years back not to flaunt the fact that I was dominant when I met new people but also not to attempt to hide it either. We'd been pleasantly dancing around the issue a little since we first met, so I thought - why not? It seemed like the right time.

"You might say I'm pretty used to getting what I want, David." To my ears that came out far more egotistical sounding than I intended.

"I suspected that the first day we met. By the end of our phone conversation today I knew it."

"Do I come across as that bossy and demanding?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I wanted to know.

"Not at all. It's difficult to explain but I got the impression it wasn't that you expected people to do what you wanted but instead that you were simply used to it happening."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It depends."

That was certainly an honest answer. "On what?"

"It's a bad thing if people are selfish and unreasonable about what they want from others. You're not like that."

"That didn't sound like a question."

"It wasn't. It's obvious you're a kind, gentle woman. It's - let's just say it's appealing and leave it at that for now."

He changed the subject and we talked of trivial things til we pulled up into the driveway and he walked me to the door.

"I'd like to see you again. I know you don't want to date so as I said earlier I am happy to be friends. Call me if you would like to do something. You're the boss."

I had to laugh then and I know it was that evil cowgirl laugh. I couldn't help myself.

He smiled, handed me a business card with his contact information, and walked down the steps. At the bottom, he paused and added, "By the way - spectacular heels."

I'm pretty sure I could hear him chuckling softly as he walked away - I suspect in response to the surprised look on my face.

---

This is probably going to be my last entry on this topic for awhile. I think if I'm going to blog about him, it's only fair that I tell him and I'm not quite ready to do that yet.

Also, I tend to be a storyteller. The above is an accurate account of what happened with the possible exception that the quotes aren't necessarily verbatim. I tried as closely as possible to record the interaction.