On the Line Read Free Page A

well, it was smooth,” I said, a bit surprised to see him.
    â€œThat’s great. I know your car’s here, but I wanted to surprise you and pick you up. I thought maybe we could have an early dinner, and who knows…” James smiled seductively.
    I was a little perplexed by this. I mean, he never picked me up from the airport and this “who knows” thing. Well, what did that mean? We hadn’t had sex in almost a year…at least not in the traditional way. A funny thought came to my mind. I remembered when former President Clinton was going through his Monica Lewinsky scandal. He held fast to his excuse that he did not have sexual relations with her. I thought with a Southern twang, I have not had sexual relations with this man. How crazy. Everyone knew oral sex was also sex.
    As long as I had known him, James had had high blood pressure, but within months of going on the medication, he had become impotent. With the occasional creative ways we had developed for him to please me, ours was pretty much a nice companionship. I love James and there is nothing he wouldn’t do or buy for me, but as an older, retired, impotent man, there is very little he could do for me physically anymore.
    â€œWell, what about my car?”
    â€œYou’re flying back out in another two days, just leave it here.”
    â€œThat’s such a waste of money.”
    â€œAmaya, since when has wasting money concerned you? You know we can afford it.”
    I hated surprises like this. I did not like not being in control of things. But I supposed this dear man had to exert his manhood in some way. While we waited to retrieve my luggage I wondered what James was up to.
    â€œSo, to what do I owe the honor of this surprise pickup?”
    â€œWell, I have a surprise for you, dear.”
    â€œAnother one? I’m not sure how much more of this I can take,” I joked. “Will it do me any good to ask what the surprise is?” I asked, getting a little irritated.
    â€œNot one bit. You’ll just have to wait and see,” James responded, grinning from ear to ear. He pulled up to Rio Sabor Brazil, a Brazilian-style steak house and a meat-lover’s paradise.
    â€œWow, I’ve wanted to try this place for the longest time. Okay, now I’m really suspicious,” I remarked, studying James as he held the door open for me to enter the restaurant. The Southwestern decor was impressive with the Sunset over Tuscany and Wall of Ages mural from Provence, France. There was a rustic, romantic feel about the place and the many candles added to the intimacy of the surroundings. After a few glasses of wine, we feasted on a prime rib special, prepared with roasted vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes.
    â€œThat was delicious,” I said, still savoring the memory of the meal as we drove down the highway.
    â€œYou’re right. It looks like we’ll have a new favorite place,” James replied as he turned on the blinker to signal he was exiting the freeway. I noticed it was a different exit from the one we usually took to get home and figured it was another part of this ongoing series of surprises he had in store, so I said nothing. The drive had become quite relaxing, accompanied by the two glasses of wine I’d had during our meal.
    After another five minutes of driving, James turned right onto a street leading to the airport, which was where we had originally come from. Perhaps he was taking me back to my car, I thought. But he turned right instead of left and headed toward the hotels. Within minutes, we pulled up in front of the Embassy Suites Hotel. Before I could ask James why we were there, he was out of the car, the valet was in and my door was being opened. This was getting just a little weird.
    â€œJames, what is going on?” I demanded.
    â€œJust bear with me a few more minutes, baby!” James replied. “I promise it’ll be worth it.”
    We walked briskly