He grinned right back. “I’m not worried, Gracie. Are you?”

She nodded. “Maybe a little,” she said.

“Want me to tell you how it’s going to be?”

Again she nodded.

“The first time it’s going to be very slow and safe. We’re going to kiss until we’re steamy. We’re going to touch and get so close we can feel each other’s heartbeat.” He leaned over and gently kissed her cheek and her throat and she let her head drop back and closed her eyes. “We’re going to lie down together and lose some clothes... We’ll discover each other. I’m going to touch you in all your special places and you’re going to touch me when you’re ready. We’ll ease into things slowly and carefully, but the most important thing is, you can say no or stop whenever you don’t want to go any further. Even if we’re naked and breathing hard, if you say stop, we stop.”

Her eyes were still closed and she whispered into his cheek. “I don’t use anything...”

“I do,” he said.

“When is this going to happen?” she asked.

“In a hurry, Grace?”

She shrugged. “Well, when I make a decision...”

“We’re going to enjoy a glass of wine. Then, if you’re ready, you’ll let me know.”

* * *

Troy hadn’t been prepared for this—a twenty-eight-year-old woman as beautiful and funny as Grace, a virgin. He would have expected her to have sexual history, like most women her age. Some had a lot of notches, some only a few, but he’d never encountered none before. Even his first girl, his first experience, wasn’t a virgin. She’d had a serious boyfriend before him. Of course, just because he was a flirt and liked to have girlfriends didn’t mean he’d been a sexual prodigy. He had sex for the first time at nearly the end of his first year of college. At eighteen, he was the last among his buddies, unless they were lying.

They were probably lying. Of course they were lying. At least mostly lying.

He took this very seriously, making love to Grace. It had to be a good experience for her and he was definitely eager to take on the challenge. He just hoped there wasn’t some virgin consciousness that would have her leaning toward true love and marriage because of sex. He wasn’t opposed to that in the long run, he just didn’t want it all to happen in one night. He was crazy about her, couldn’t wait to get inside her, didn’t see any red flags that would warn him to get out of this relationship—he just needed time to get more serious. This is how grown-ups court. They have dates, they discover common interests, they examine their rapport, they go to bed together, they ask, Does this have staying power?

They kissed and whispered their way through a glass of wine, then Troy took hers out of her hand and put it on the coffee table. He stood and pulled her to her feet and led her toward the bedroom, which was only about ten feet away. When they stood beside the bed, he took her gently into his arms and kissed her some more, drawing deep sighs from her. Then she turned in his arms and presented her back, pulling her hair away, and he saw the zipper for her dress.

He drew it down slowly, taking a taste of her neck in the process. He pushed the dress off her shoulders and she let it fall, leaving her in a silky black slip. She stepped out of the dress and bent to pick it up, but he took it from her and turned to drape it across the only chair in the room. He got rid of his belt and shirt and when he turned back to her, she had removed her hose and kicked them aside. She was a determined little thing; he wasn’t going to find going slowly an easy thing.

When she sat on the bed he withdrew a couple of condoms from his pocket.

“Do you have to put them out now?” she asked.

“Believe me, I do,” he said. He let the pants drop, kicked them off and they joined the clothes on the chair. He sat beside her, embraced her, pulled her down beside him and rolled a little, adjusting till their bodies were flush and tight. “There,” he said, feeling every curve of her against him. “Perfect.”

And he was ready.

“I can feel your heart,” he said. He ran his hands down her back and over her butt. She was so firm and solid. “The flower business must be good exercise,” he said, chuckling softly.

Her hands were on his chest, caressing every inch of him, kissing his chest, his neck, his mouth and all the time wiggling up against him. He still wore his boxers, but they were doing nothing to keep his secrets. He pushed himself between her legs without really meaning to—he was on automatic pilot.

“Let’s get rid of this,” he said, pulling a strap of the slip down over her shoulder.

She sat up and drew the silky garment over her head and tossed it aside, leaving her in nothing but a tiny thong. And that, he thought, wouldn’t get in his way for a second. But to level the playing field and give her a chance to get used to him, he shed his boxers. There they were. In all their basic glory. He pulled her hand, drawing it to him. She didn’t hesitate; she put both hands on him and hummed softly as she figured him out. “Easy does it,” he said.

There were so many things he wanted to do to her, but not the first time. He’d like to lick her whole body, make her come before she even knew what hit her. He’d like to lift her onto his lap and watch her ride; he’d like to take her against the shower wall. Not this time, he told himself. He had promised it would be slow and safe and he never broke a promise. He slid his hand under her thong. “Open for me, honey,” he said, giving her thighs a nudge. He slid one finger into her silkiness. Then two fingers. Wow, she wasn’t going to need much warming up. He massaged her for a few seconds and she was squirming against his hand, almost whimpering. He slid a finger inside.

“You okay?” he asked in a whisper.

“Okay,” she whispered back.

“This has to go,” he said, pulling her thong down. She kicked it away as he turned to the bedside table and retrieved a condom, quickly rolling it on. If he didn’t suit up, she was going to climb all over him. She was straining toward him, making beautiful little noises. He turned her on her back, spread her legs with a knee and placed himself in the zone. Leaning down to her lips once more, he whispered against them. “Ready to see how this works?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered back, her eyes closed.

“Look at me, Gracie.” She opened her eyes. “I want you to go limp...relax everything. It’s not going to hurt.”