Day 2 Well, I did it! I actually asked Robert Romano out on a date! He actually said yes! I couldn’t believe my ears! I’ve got to face facts here…. Robert turns me on. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but he does! My marriage to Chuck is over, although we parted as "friends with benefits." He just doesn’t get it for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we parted as friends, but I married him drunk as a skunk! He was just as drunk! We had nothing in common, other than our voracious sexual appetites! That’s all! Which reminds me, during one of my breaks, Chuck and I went to the park for a little bit of, what I like to call, "sexual healing!" It was good too, even though it went way too quick, it was still good, and I came back to the hospital all revived and happy! Robert caught me in the hall with this HUGE smile on my face, all he did was wink and grin at me, as if he KNEW what had happened! All he said was that I was glowing…. But going back to Robert… Some women might not find him as appealing as I do. Believe me, I never expected it either. We had been hurling insults at each other for weeks, hell; he even hit me over the head with Kerrie’s cane, for God’s sake! And had the nerve to laugh and whistle all the way down the hall after doing so! Even though it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, somehow, and don’t ask me how, but it turned me on! All of his misdirected hatred towards everyone, including myself, it just turns me on that a man, such as himself, can be so passionate about thating all of these people! I see through his façade… I know he doesn’t really hate ME, he hates his situation. He’s a brilliant surgeon, who had life smack him in the face by amputating his arm by a fucking helicopter blade! I know that *I’d* be just as pissed! Some people choose to take his anger and hate him for it. Other people, like me, take his anger, see through it, and realize that he needs some serious T.L.C. and I want to be the one to give it to him. I don’t know what’s going on with me; Abby thinks I’m taking drugs. ME! Taking drugs! Just because I find Romano attractive! I guess it’s easy for her to say that, after all, Carter is an very attractive man, hell, I should know, I had the biggest crush on him for such a long time. So what if Romano is bald, so what if he’s got one good arm, and the other one looks like hamburger, I still find him sexy! Maybe it’s my age, statistically, I’m just coming into my prime, sexually…. I just seem to want it so much lately; I think Chuck is getting sick of me calling him for a "booty call." I just can’t help myself…. I don’t know how old Robert is, and I don’t care. I’m going into this date with an open mind. Anything goes, I’m throwing caution to the wind, and if I happen to blurt out my feelings for him on our first date, so be it! Life is short, but life is for the living, and I’m definitely living! I told Robert I’d be wearing my sexy, little Black number: He looked VERY interested in that prospect and said that he bet I’d look great in it. Just wait until he sees me OUT of it! I’ve been working out, hard, and I’m going to make sure that Robert gets to see ALL the benefits of my labor… Night 2/Day 3 Well, I had my date with Rocket last night. Yes, I said Rocket; I’ll tell you about that, later! First I want to tell you just how far out on a limb I went to get ready. I really wanted to get a huge reaction from him. I told him I’d be wearing my little black dress, well, it was a little black, halter top, tie in the back number, cut pretty low in the front, but I wouldn’t call it slutty. I wore my strappy black heels, and had my hair up with just a small clip. I didn’t pile on the makeup, but my eyes looked smokier than I would wear at work, and I wore my matte-red lipstick. I thought I looked rather nice, classy, and to top it off a few sprays of my favorite perfume, Victoria Secret, Angels. As I entered the living room, Chloe looked up at me and said, "Whoa! Who are you going out with tonight, the president of the United States or something?" With a giant laugh. I just said "Yeah Chloe, George and I have a date tonight, oh and don’t wait up." Slamming the door behind me. I hailed a cab and was on my way…. I arrived at the restaurant "fashionably late" and for some reason, I saw Rocket first. He was looking around, drinking his martini, and when he saw me in the doorway, he simply looked stunned, astounded. He put his drink down, and came to meet me at the door. He didn’t have to say a word; I could see it in his eyes, as he gave me the once over, from head to toe. We walked over to the table he had for us, back in a dark corner, lit only by candlelight. Yes, my champagne cocktail was right there waiting for me, and it was still cold, as if he knew I’d be late. He pulled out my chair, and I sat down. I quickly took a sip of my drink, he simply said, "You look more delicious than I ever imagined." I smiled and looked him over. I had never seen Rocket like this. His eyes looked so different tonight. The eyes I was so used to being so cold suddenly looked so gentle, so humble, so charming… This man I was so used to seeing yell at everyone, hurling insults with the most evil, ugly face, suddenly looked so sweet, so caring, so happy to be in the company of a woman who cared to be there with him. He had on a bow tie, I thought that was really sweet, he had a tux on, with tails, might I add, he had his jacket on, and his sling which I was used to seeing blue at work, was just white tonight. As if he just wanted it to blend in with his shirt, which it did. I almost forgot his arm was injured. At first we just sad there, we were both uncertain as to what we should talk about. We started with ER talk, obviously, at this point that’s all we had in common. I ordered a martini next, as did Rocket. Soon, the work talk became personal talk. We talked about his family, his "daughter" Gretyl, my family, my mother and father, and I talked about Chloe and Suzy, mostly Suzy. Every time I spoke of Suzy he would smile.. I had never seen Rocket smile like that before. It was obvious; he loved kids, as he would ask me what kind of toy that Suzy liked to play with. As I spoke of Chloe, he could see how pissed off I would get, and I would go on and on, he simply reached across the table, and put his finger over my lips, and silently, but respectfully said, "Zip it, I just want to look at you right now, no talking, just let me look at you." As he looked at me, I looked at him. I noticed his blue eyes, the way they twinkled in the candlelight. The dimples, as he grinned at me sheepishly from across the table. Suddenly, "The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra came on; he reached across the table, took my hand and led me to the dance floor. Dancing with Rocket was awkward at best, simply because of his arm… I hated that. And due to my heels, I stood a considerable 2 inches over him. But we carried on anyway, he took my hand in his, and we just danced. He smelled so good, it was nice to be "wined and dined for a change, I thought. Chuck and I never did that, neither did Dax and I, this was nice. As we danced, there was a point where I thought about what tomorrow would bring Rocket. The surgery… the amputation and I was overcome with sadness and concern. I said, "Robert, about tomorrow, I.." Again, he put his finger to my lips, it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it, and suddenly he pulled me closer and began to sing, every word of the song, into my ear. I could feel my face turn red, I could feel his warm breath, and I got Goosebumps! I didn’t know what to do, so I just danced and let him sing the whole song to me. At the end of the song, he actually dipped me! His one arm was so strong, it surprised me so much, and I was in awe. We went back to the table, continuing to drink, and ordered our dinner. By my third martini, I was getting tipsy, giggly even, so was Rocket. Over dinner we laughed, talked and ate. He wanted me to try a taste of his lobster, so I aimed my fork towards his plate, before I could do that, he already had his fork near my lips. I took the bite, slowly, savoring the sweetness of the butter, but also trying to be incredibly seductive at the same time. He seemed rather happy at that gesture! It was obvious that the restaurant was about to close, as people ushered toward the exit, and it seemed as though it was just Robert and I. As we were finishing our dinner, "I get a kick out of you" by Frankie came on, Rocket grabbed my hand again, and I said, "Wait a minute!" I took off my heels, and took his hand. Now, we were the same height! He had taken his jacket off, and his tie, and before I knew it, we were cutting the rug! Dancing, together, not touching, just dancing, laughing, he spun me around, and around until I began to fall, but he caught me! After the song ended, we just stood there, him holding me, looking into each others eyes, he leaned in, and gave me the sweetest kiss on the lips, I think I’ve ever gotten… There was no tongue involved, just a sweet kiss. It was 11:00 and the restaurant was closing. He came over, and pulled out my chair, and hand in hand we left the building. We started walking down the street, talking about our dinner, how tipsy we were and giggling like little kids. He mentioned that he had drove to the restaurant, but that he certainly couldn’t now, in his state. As we walked I spotted a bar just up the street. Mark and I had gone there often, just to drink, have fun and dance. Sure, Robert and I were way overdressed, but what the hell, I thought. "Hey, see that nightclub up ahead? Wanna go in?" He looked me over, he looked himself over, and said, "Uh Lewis, don’t you think we’re a bit over dressed? Look at some of those people going in, does that guy have a mohawk?!" I nodded, and he said, "What the hell, this is my last night lugging this dead thing around with me, (as he raised up his arm in the sling) you only live once!" We were coming up to an alley, and I don’t know what got into me, but I pulled him into the dark alley, and pushed him up against the wall, and kissed him. I didn’t push him hard against the wall, but he could tell I was in authority at that moment. It was a long, lingering kiss, as his arm didn’t hesitate for one second to slide down my back, and down further to my ass, as he started to caress… I felt butterflies like I had never felt before, as I began move my hand lower, hey he wants to feel mine, I want to feel his! Then all of a sudden he pulled away, and he said, "Look Susan, I don’t want sympathy tonight, not from you. I could take sympathy from anyone, but not you. I don’t want you to do this because you feel sorry for me." I said, "Does this seem like sympathy to you? That’s the last thing I want to give you tonight, can’t you tell?" "I invited YOU out, not the other way around!" Now angered, and slightly ashamed of my forwardness, I started to walk away as I said, "Fine, do you want to go to the club or not?" I started away towards the club, and he grabbed my arm and pulled me back, and gave me a kiss this time, then slowly moving to my ears, then my neck, and then lower and lower…. My knees felt so weak; he was so good at this! I would have never thought! The same mouth that hurls insults at everyone, yells at everyone, snaps at everyone, including myself now tasted so sweet and felt so nice on my body. I felt tingles all over my body, from the top of my head to tip of my toes! It was obvious as I felt, Robert’s, well let’s just say, "Third Leg" that he was just as excited as I was… God knows I didn’t want to stop, but I realized where we were, and I said, "c’mon Robert, not here, are you kidding?" He just smiled, took my hand and we walked to the club. As we walked to the club, I knew what was in store for both of us later, and I couldn’t decide if I was excited, or scared, all I knew was that I couldn’t wait at the possibility. And I thought, my God, if anyone from the hospital finds out, what would the implications be? This was major; everyone knows that Romano and I don’t get along! Everyone heard about how he hit me in the head with Kerry’s cane and laughed about it. Should I tell Abby? SHE would freak out, what if she told Carter? My God, what would Elizabeth think? I’ve often wondered if she had a "thing" for Romano, or if he had a "thing" for her. Would he be thinking of her later when he is with me? If she found out, would it change the way she sees me now? Then I began to think of it from Robert’s perspective: What if something happened to him during the operation? How would he even feel like living with one arm? How does it feel to give up something you’ve worked your whole life for and suddenly lose it, your talent for being such a brilliant surgeon? I had such deep feelings for him at this point, I didn’t know if I hated him, hated to love him, loved to hate him, or was I just using him for sex. I did know that I wasn’t ready to lose him, not now. I just couldn’t even imagine how I would feel, especially after tonight. As we walked, I just looked over at him and smiled, he squeezed my hand as if he knew what I were thinking, and gave me that famous evil grin, which once made me mad enough to kill him. Now it made me just want to pull him back into the alley that we just ripped ourselves away from… So, we go into the club, the music is so loud, I’m thinking this was a bad idea. Even if we wanted to talk more, we wouldn’t be able to hear each other. "Hey, I think this is a bad idea" I whisper into Robert’s ear. "What?!" He screams. I take his hand and yank him out of the club. He said, "What did you do that for? I thought you wanted to go into this dive?" "Didn’t you think it was a little loud? You couldn’t even hear me in there!" I scream. "I thought you wanted to dance, I thought you liked to dance, isn’t that what you wanted to do, Susan?" I thought about it, he was right; I did say that I wanted to dance.. "Yeah, I wanted to dance, but not in a moshpit!" We both walk away from the club laughing, and he takes my hand again. By this time, the slight buzz we had earlier is beginning to wear off, and I’m wondering if Robert has any regrets about what happened in the alley… "So.." we both say at the same time. Again, we laugh, and continue walking. "Look, I know a place that is quiet enough so that we can talk, and there’s music so we can still dance." "Wanno go?" He asks. I glance at my watch. It’s midnight, and I’m thinking about Robert’s surgery tomorrow. "Hey, you know, really, it sounds nice, but it’s getting late, and you shouldn’t be drinking any more this late. You know, your surgery tomorrow…" I say. "Who said anything about drinking more, I just want to talk some more with you, I want to hold you in my arms and show you what a good dancer I am." He says. He looks down and pauses: "This damn arm of mine has kept me from doing so many damn things, ever since it happened. I’ll be damned if it’s going to keep me from showing you that!" "Where is this place anyway?" I ask. He hails us a cab and off we go. We share a few more kisses as we ride. "Right here" he tells the cab driver. I get out of the cab, unsure of just where I am. It doesn’t look like a club, or a restaurant, it looks like a house. Inside I hear a dog barking, "That must be Gretyl," I say. He winks and smiles and we go to the door. We enter his home, and suddenly Gretyl jumps up and starts licking Robert’s face, tail wagging enthusiastically, then she tries to jump on me. "Now Gretyl, we have a guest, that’s not the way to behave in front of a guest." "She’s not used to having visitors," he tells me. "Wait a minute, you’ve never had anyone over to your place before?" "Nope, it’s been just me and Gretyl, nobody has earned the right to come to my home…. Until you…" He says with a grin.. I pet Gretyl on the head and then she wanders off to the living room and lies on the floor. "Well, I guess I should feel privileged, eh?" I ask. "No, you don't have to feel privileged, I just want you to feel comfortable here." He says. As he strides into his kitchen, he yells out, "Want something to drink?" "Uh, sure, I'll take a martini, if you can make one." I say. "Susan, I made a very mean martini, even with one arm, come in here, you've got to see this to believe it!" I come in to the kitchen, his jacket is off, his tie is off and his shirt is unbuttoned to his chest. "Take a load off, take your shoes off, get comfy!" he says looking back at me as she continues to make the Martini. Suddenly, I notice he brings two glasses out of the cabinet, obviously one for me, and one for himself. "Um, Robert, it's really late, are you sure you should be drinking before your surgery? I mean, what about anesthesia, aren't you supposed to be fasting?" I ask. "Fasting schmasting, why should you concern yourself with that, hell, this is a celebration, getting rid of this dead damn thing. As far as the anesthesia goes, I'll make sure to mention my drinking, fair?" He says. He hands me my drink and we walk into the living room. I start looking over his CD collection and am very surprised at the wide variety of music he has: Frank Sinatra, Led Zeppelin, Puddle of Mudd, Limp Bizkit, Godsmack, Bach, U2. I pick out the U2 CD and popped it into the CD player. "Ah yes, The Joshua Tree, one of my all-time favorites." He replies. "Me too." I said. Before I could say a word, "With or without you" came on… It’s a sad song as it is, but with thoughts of Robert’s surgery and what could happen, how I would feel if I lost him, the song seemed to be so appropriate for the moment. I was looking down, feeling sad, and Robert came over to me, put his finger under my chin and lifted my face. He could see my eyes filling, as hard as I tried to hide it, a tear streamed down my face. "What’s that for?" He asked with concern.. Suddenly, I was filled with the overwhelming desire to tell Robert exactly how I felt about him, at that very moment. "We’ve had some rough times lately, both of us. You and your arm, me with Chloe and Susan, my divorce from Chuck… "Go on" he replied. "Well, the main thing that concerns me right now, is your surgery tomorrow, I’m scared that something will go wrong, and after tonight, learning so much about you, seeing you for who you are, I’m suddenly overcome with the feeling that I’m going to lose you somehow." "You think I’m going to DIE tomorrow?!" He said nervously. "Look Robert, we’re both doctors, we both know the risks involved with any surgery, aren’t you a little bit scared?" I asked. "The way I see it Susan, I have no other choice, it was tough enough for me to make this decision. Now, I feel I have no other choice – either I have the surgery, with all of the risks involved, or I keep this dead thing attached to my body and let gangrene set in and slowly, I die of sepsis. What other choice do I have?" Again, trying to hide my feelings, I look down, trying to defer my attention to Gretyl. She looks up at me, tail wagging.. So here I was, listening to "With or without you", pouring my heart out to Robert. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to say what I had already said, but it was too late. "You have feelings for me?" He asked, looking surprised. "After all of the torture I’ve been putting you through, my God, I hit you with Kerry’s cane!" He suddenly remembered. He then rushed me to the couch to take a look at my head. He took the clip out of my hair; I shook it and let it fall. "My God Susan, you are a beautiful woman," he said as he looked at me intently. The honesty in his eyes, the look of concern for what he had done, it drew me closer to him. He started stroking my hair and drew me in for a kiss. It was so gentle, yet so passionate and I was lost… I remember vaguely hearing "With or without you" playing in the distance.. He stopped kissing me only to apologize for every hurtful thing that he had ever said and done to me. We were still close and he looked down, the suddenly looked up at me, looking deeply into my eyes and said, "You know, I’ve had the biggest crush on you for the longest time." With a smile. "I kind of thought so, but here’s something you probably never would have guessed - when you hit me over the head with Kerry’s cane, I suddenly had a crush on you as well." I admitted. "What?!" "You mean that when I bonked you over the head, it made you fall desperately, hopelessly in love with me?" I felt my face getting hot; I knew my cheeks were beet red.. "Here’s something that’ll really make you blush Lewis, remember when I said I would be going into the bathroom and thinking of you?" I nodded. "Well, I really was, and this is the fantasy I was thinking of, being alone with you, just like this." Suddenly and without warning, I leaned him back on the couch, all the while kissing him as I’ve never kissed anyone before. I started to unbutton the rest of the buttons of his shirt, and he told me to wait a minute. He got up, and changed the CD. I don’t even recall what CD he put in because we were so into ourselves. Here we were, on the couch, I was on top of him, kissing him passionately, and he was so willing, as he started to untie the halter-top part of my dress. I continued to unbutton his shirt. My lips which were so intent on his lips, which now slowly started to move down, to his neck, his chest, and further, as he moaned with delight. Once he un-tied my dress, I let him do what he had wanted to do, ever since we were in the alley, I could think of nothing more that I wanted at that moment. Slowly, his tongue went down my neck, to my chest, as I cradled his head in my hand. I wanted him like I had never wanted anything or anyone in my life. Slowly, I got up off of the couch, took his hand in mine, and led him upstairs. I tied my halter-top back together, and we walked up the stairs, which seemed to last forever. He led me to the door, and opened it. It wasn’t as I expected it to look. The bed, which had a canopy over the top of it, was made, which I didn’t expect. He had a stereo in his room, as well as, a TV. There were candles, which he lit, one by one, and went to the stereo. I know there was music playing, but I didn’t hear it. All I could hear was his and my breathing, as one. While we stood next to the bed, I undid the rest of his shirt, and took it off. His chest was more muscular than I would have thought. He untied my halter-top, and I let my dress fall to the floor. I un-buttoned and unzipped his pants, as he let them fall to the floor. All I had on by this time was my thong, and my thigh-high pantyhose. All he had on was a pair of silk boxer shorts, and his sling. I rolled off my pantyhose, and stood there, with him just admiring my body. He wanted me, which was apparent. I wanted him, which wasn’t as apparent to him, as his desire was to me. He put his arm around me, and laid me down on the bed. I had my thong on, he had his boxers on, and that was all that was separating us from Heaven at that time. We made out like teenagers, moaning with delight at the thought of what was to come for the both of us. He was on top of me, kissing me, kissing my breasts, my stomach, and then further, before I knew it, I could feel it coming, and soon, my shoulders started shaking, and I was moaning with pleasure. I was embarrassed, as I had achieved an orgasm before he even had time to take my thong off. He excited me that much! He was so thorough, so precise, so knowing… He knew how to make a woman feel good, and I wanted to return the favor. He knew what he had done, and said, "You are all woman, this is only the beginning baby," he whispered. I agreed and said, "You’re right, it is only the beginning." As I rolled him over, and began kissing his lips, then his neck, his ears, his chest, his stomach , then lower. As I was on top of him I took off my thong, and he wriggled out of his boxers. "Your body is exactly the way I imagined it, beautiful, tight, and hot." he said. I said, "Your body is NOT the way I imagined It." as we both laughed. "Thanks a lot" he said. "No, that’s not what I meant, Robert." I said. "Way better, than I thought." I added. "Yeah, this sling is really sexy isn’t it?" He asked as he turned onto his side. I rolled him over, straddled him, and said, "Robert, I don’t even notice that, all I can see is a man, who is very excited at the thought of making love to me." "You’re right," he said, as he continued kissing me… once again, I kissed him, moving my way down his body, as he moaned in anticipation. "It’s been so long, Susan," he said. "Oh God, stop!" he said urgently, and rolled me over so that I was lying on the bed, as he was on top of me. "I want you Susan, I want you so bad, right now." He moaned. I didn’t even care about protection; I wanted him just as much as he wanted me. "I haven’t been with anyone since before the accident." he said. The foreplay was incredible, and then he entered me, and I gasped, as he was larger than I expected him to be. "Oooooooh God, you feel so good" he said. He tried to start a rhythm between us, but his arm got in the way, because he couldn’t use it to balance himself. He started to lose his balance, and fell on top of me, his breathing heavy, "Damn it!" he said. I kissed him and said, "Don’t worry, let me make love to you." We changed position, and I was on top again. I straddled him and took him into me, again, I gasped, as he was larger than I thought he would be. He moaned with delight, did I. I started my own rhythm, and bent down to kiss him passionately, as we both sighed with pleasure. I started going faster, up and down, on top of him. I finally took a second to listen to the music he had chosen for our lovemaking session: The song was "Control" the band, Puddle of Mudd wailed on the stereo. The lyrics caught my attention, the singer was singing, "I love the way you look at me, I love the way you smack my ass, I love the dirty things you do, when I have control of you." I started to laugh, "What’s so funny?" he asked. "This song, I mean, I like it, but do you want to listen to it NOW?" "Yeah" he said, "Let me smack your ass." "I’m not into pain, Robert, please, I don’t want it to be that way with us." I said. "Ok, just ignore the song, and keep on riding me, baby, I love the way you feel, I hope you’re close, cuz I’m about to explode!" Again, I was wondering if his nickname came into play here. I didn’t really want to admit it, but I was ready again, it wouldn’t take long, I knew that much. All I could do was moan, as I kept the rhythm going, and before I knew it, I was ready to have another orgasm. "Baby, you feel so good, I’m about ready, are you ready?" he asked. I just kept saying, "yes, yes, yes" as he just moaned and moaned and moaned, and I knew he had received the same pleasure that I had received. I collapsed to the side of him, breathing heavily, as heavily as he was. "My God Susan, It’s never felt this good with anyone else before. It’s been so long, this damn accident, nobody has even looked at me the way you have tonight, except Lizzie." he said. "Elizabeth? You’ve been thinking about Elizabeth all this time?" I almost screamed. I was ashamed, and embarrassed and felt really, really naked all of a sudden. I suddenly pulled the covers over my bare body. The silence was deafening. I lay there where I was; with my back to him, he lie there where he was. It seemed forever and then he said, "Look, I wasn’t thinking of Elizabeth just now." "Why did you have to even bring her up then?" I asked. "It’s true, the only look of empathy I’ve gotten from anyone at the hospital has been from you and from her." he stated. Suddenly, I threw the covers off of me, and I got on top of him again. "Look into my eyes Robert, this is NOT empathy that you see in my eyes, it’s lust, pure lust, does Elizabeth look at you with lust?!" I almost screamed, almost in tears. "I’ve wanted to be with you like this for weeks! Has Elizabeth ever given you the slightest idea that she wants you in this way?" I asked. Suddenly, the desire I saw in his eyes before, turned to sadness, and he looked like a scared little boy, a sad little boy, a man who knew that he wasn’t desirable because of his arm, or maybe even his temperament. ****************************************************************************************** ALTERNATE ENDING, LOVEMAKING SESSION TAKING PLACE AS WE ENTER THE CAB: As soon as we got into the cab and Robert told the driver where to go, we were all over each other. I felt as If I finally knew Robert. Just spending this small amount of time with him, he was so different. Some mysterious sensation came over me and he drove me wild. The kisses were so passionate, so slow and lingering, my hands roaming all over his body… I looked up and the cab driver just shook his head, I’m sure he’d seen this more than once! I didn’t care, as I slid my hand inside of his thigh, his hand feeling what seemed like every curve of my body. I could feel his desire grow, as my hand slightly brushed, well, you know… Maybe that’s why they called him "Rocket" I thought. We got to our destination, and I wasn’t sure where we were. For one thing, I was stupefied by the cab ride, but this was a neighborhood. I saw no dance club, no bar, no restaurant, just a huge house, with a neatly trimmed lawn, flowers and hedges. "Here we are, Lewis." I heard a dog barking from inside the house as we walked up the sidewalk to the front door. "That must be Gretyl," I said. "What I love about you Susan, is that you’re so damn smart, and so damn beautiful, and quite tasty, might I add." I could feel myself blushing – again! He had a way of doing that to me, all through the night, throwing in small, seductive compliments, so matter of factly. He put the key in the door, and told me to wait a minute, just as he opened the door, Gretyl jumped up on him, covering his face with kisses, tail wagging feverishly. "This is why I wanted you to wait a minute. She’s not used to me having visitors." He explained. She tried to jump up to me, but Robert said, "Now Gretyl, mind your manners, we don’t treat guests that way." I couldn’t help myself; I had to ask, "You mean you haven’t had anyone here before?" Nope, nobody deserved to come here before… until you." Gretyl paddled herself out to the living room, circled around a thick rug on the floor a few times and plopped herself down. "Now, which would you like first, the music, the fire, a drink, or me?" He asked coyly. "I uh,…." "Coming right up!" He said and headed to the kitchen. "Make yourself at home." He yelled from the kitchen. I took off my shoes, took down my hair, and shook it loose. I was glad that I had decided to let it grow out, especially tonight. It felt good on my bare shoulders, as I shook it. Pretty nice set-up I thought. The fireplace, the sound system, the big-screen TV, and more CD’s than I think I’ve ever seen. He had everything, and it was all categorized, Classical, Old Rock, Frank Sinatra, 80’s Rock, Punk Rock, Alternative, Opera, you name it, and Robert had it. One category I was happy to NOT see in his collection was Country. It just didn’t seem to suit his character. I felt he chose the restaurant because it was Italian, and because they seemed to only play old Sinatra songs, so I took down "Sinatra Reprise/The Very Good Years" and put it in the player. Just as I started to shimmy alone, to "Under my skin" an arm slipped around my waist from behind, then moving up to caress my breasts. He was moving to the song with me, from behind, which was such a turn on, again, I felt his excitement growing behind me…then he started nibbling on my ear, then my neck. The he spun me around, now we were face to face. "Strangers in the Night" came on next, it seemed to be so appropriate for our evening together. We embraced and just moved in time to the music. I rested my head on his shoulder, and just thought about the night we had together so far. I was really confused. How could he be so loving tonight, so gentle, yet is so harsh with everyone at work, including myself, but not to Elizabeth, I wondered. I looked up at him, and I had to ask; "I’ve had a great time tonight with you, the dinner, the dancing, all of it, It’s been wonderful." "I’ve seen behind your façade Robert, you are a gentleman, in every sense of the word." "But, I’ve got to know, why did you decide to go out with me tonight?" "I mean, I know that you have feelings for Elizabeth." As the music played, he kept the motion, but suddenly cocked his head to one side and said, "Whatever makes you think that?" I rolled my eyes at him and gave him a sigh. "It’s obvious to everyone, she’s the only one you’re actually nice to in the entire ER." I stated. "Ready for that drink yet?" as he went over to the couch and sat down with his drink. I stopped the CD and went over to sit with him. "Look, I didn’t realize you felt this way about me." "I mean, you actually care whether I do or do not, have feelings for Dr. Corday?" he asked. TO BE CONTINUED…….