Patience Pt. 05

We had been sitting on the deck chatting for about an hour when I felt my stomach start to rumble. And apparently Belle was getting hungry too because she said, "How does spaghetti sound for dinner?"

"I've got a better idea." I said suddenly food inspired for the second time that day. "Let's go out. I know a great place not too far from here called Ralph's."

Belle gave me a puzzled look before saying, "I thought I was supposed to be in charge of feeding us. And you already made me breakfast."

"We can bend the rules for one day." I said.

"Are you sure?" she asked still looking puzzled.

With an amused expression I said, "Now this is a first. A woman who isn't jumping at the chance at a nice dinner out."

"Ha ha." she said starting to giggle.

"There's the Belle I know." I said. "Now let me take you out for a nice dinner. I've been pretty hard on you just now, let me make it up to you." Then in sudden inspiration I decided to try one of her tricks. "You'll make me feel better too." I said with a grin.

I was surprised when she seemed to melt a bit giving me a shy demure look before saying, "Ok. What should I wear? Do I need to change clothes?"

"Something like you've been wearing to see Wells would be appropriate." I told her. "It's not completely casual, but not black tie either."

With that we both got up and went inside to freshen up and change. I grabbed a change of clothes and moved to the main bathroom so Belle could change and freshen up. I washed up and put on a pair of khaki pants and a grey oxford shirt and went and sat down in my usual spot on the couch to wait on Belle.

A few minutes later she appeared. Years of military training allowed me to play it cool instead of letting my jaw hit the floor. I assumed Belle would put on something similar to what she had been wearing to meet with Attorney Wells, khaki slacks, blouse, etc. Instead, she had put on a strappy black dress. Thin shoulder straps and a low neckline showed off most of her shoulders and accentuated her bustline. The dress slid down to her lower thigh perfectly showing off her nice legs. All men love women in the 'little black dress' and I was no exception.

"Can you zip me up in the back." she said as she pulled her hair over her shoulder. I grabbed the zipper and slowly pulled it up trying not to stare too much at her perfect skin or the black lace of the strapless bra she was wearing.

Once I fully zipped her up, she pulled away from me and did a full spin and asked, "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous." I said. She gave me a big smile as we walked out the door arm in arm. Then figuring a little humor might defuse some of my arousal that was starting up again I added, "I'm going to need a bat to keep all the guys away from you."

She laughed and said, "You're funny." as we locked arms and walked out the door.

***

It turned out to be the perfect night to go to Ralph's. It wasn't very busy, and we got a whole small corner of the dining room to ourselves. As we sat down at our table and ordered drinks (we both decided alcohol wasn't probably the best option after the other day), I had to force myself not to stare at Belle who somehow looked even better in the dark ambience of the restaurant.

"Robbie how long can I stay with you?" Belle asked.

"As long as you need to." I replied without hesitation. I wanted to tell her I didn't want her to leave. I knew we needed to have a conversation about exactly what we were and probably soon. I mean we were practically acting like a couple just without the sex. I knew we would have to have that conversation at some point, but tonight I just wanted us to enjoy ourselves.

"That may take some time even if the Admiral hires me. What happened with Chad in Dover has left me with practically nothing." she said.

"That's ok. We'll figure it out Love." I said as I took her hand to comfort her.

"What would I do without you Robbie?" she asked.

"We'll sit down soon and come up with a game plan for your situation." I told her as I continued to squeeze her hand.

She smiled and nodded as I said, "Let's worry about this later and just enjoy ourselves now." Again she nodded.

After that the conversation flowed more freely and relaxed as we ordered and soon after began to eat. It felt like our college days as we moved from one topic to the next and were sometimes able to finish each other's thoughts as we talked. We both ate slowly not wanting the night to end. It was about halfway through the meal that Ralph himself suddenly appeared at our secluded table. Ralph was probably in his mid to late fifties with a full grey beard and a short stout frame giving him an almost Santa Claus look.

"What's going on Rob?" Ralph asked.

"Hey Ralph, what's happening?" I replied as we shook hands.

"Same old same old, you know the life of a restaurant owner." he said jovially. Then he said, "Hey who is this beautiful young lady?"

"Oh, this is Belle, and old friend from college." I told him. "Belle this is Ralph, our illustrious host."

Ralph gave Belle his patented warm smile and said, "Now you've got a good guy here. You do right by him, and he'll do right by you."

Belle returned his smile and said, "I know. I don't know where I'd be without Robbie."

"It's nice to see you in here with someone again Rob." Ralph said returning to me. "It's been a while what about a year, year and a half right since you brought someone with you?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I replied.

"What was that girl's name? Casey? Cassy?" Ralph asked.

"Kelsey." I told him.

"Kelsey that's right, a real beauty she was." Ralph said as he remembered the details. "Well, I'll let you two carry on. I hope things continue to go good for you." During my conversation with Ralph I noticed that while 99 percent of the time Belle had her trademark smile on her face at the mention of Kelsey a brief glimpse of sadness or hurt crossed her face before she put her smile back on. Surely, she wasn't jealous about me dating someone during the time when we were apart. I put the thought aside as Ralph and I said our goodbyes.

Ralph departed and Belle and I picked up our conversation where we left off. I expected her say something or ask me something about Kelsey, but she never did. We finished eating and were talking amiably for a few minutes when the waiter appeared at our table with a giant piece of chocolate cake.

"Compliments of Ralph." he said as he set the cake down between us and cleared our dinner plates.

"Anything else I can get you?" the waiter asked.

"Some coffee if you don't mind. You want some coffee Love?" I said and Belle nodded.

Belle eyed the cake in wonder as she said, "Oh my god this looks so good."

I grinned and repeated the line I used that morning, "It's not made to be stared at Love."

"Ha ha." she said as she picked up her fork and dug into the cake. I watched for a few minutes as she ate the cake in what I can only describe the most sensual way possible. From the way she cut each piece to the way she put it in her mouth and licked the fork off was just plain sexy. The topper was the moan of pleasure as she chewed and swallowed each bite. It was the same moan she used when I massaged her. I had been mildly turned on since seeing her in that black dress before we left, and this was ratcheting it up.

"Aren't you going to have some too?" Belle asked innocently.

"Of course." I said snapping myself out of my reverie from watching her. I grabbed my fork and dug in myself.

"This is so good." Belle said as she finished another bite.

"I never would have guessed by your reaction." I said in a deadpan voice.

"Don't be cute." Belle said as the waiter re-appeared with our coffee.

We finished the cake where Belle thankfully or un-thankfully depending on how you wanted to look at it decided to eat normally and quit teasing me. I glanced at my G-shock and was surprised to see we had been at Ralph's for over 2 hours. I paid the check and Belle and I walked towards the exit arm in arm. We passed by Ralph talking with another patron on the way out. He glanced our direction and said, "You two have fun."

"Thanks Ralph you too." I replied.

As we walked into the parking lot the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping but the air was still slightly balmy creating the perfect summer evening. We walked slowly arm in arm just enjoying ourselves. As we got to the Denali Belle looked up at me and said, "I had a really good time tonight Robbie, thank you."

"You deserved it Love." I told her.

"You've made me feel valued and appreciated for the first time in a long time." she said totally stunning me.

I had been about to open the truck door for her but stopped and looked down at her and said, "You are valued and appreciated and special. And don't let anyone tell you any different."

"Thank you, Robbie." she said as I opened the truck door for her.

***

We got home and quickly changed clothes and got ready to probably find another movie to watch. I had quickly changed back into my cargo shorts and t-shirt and was flipping through the channel guide on the TV. Belle appeared a few minutes later in her pink nightshirt again. She curled up on the opposite couch as I continued to scroll through the channel guide. I tried to keep my eyes on the screen as she stretched before curling up again.

As I scrolled through the guide Belle suddenly said, "Ooh that's a good movie." She had noticed an old 70's sci-fi space movie. I turned it on, and we proceeded to laugh at the cheesy graphics and weak plot. Again, it was almost like old times.

I say almost like old times because the old times didn't include her teasing me. As we watched the movie I had to keep from staring as she periodically stretched. The snug pink nightshirt flattered her body perfectly and as she stretched the bottom would ride up her thigh and she would pull it back down. And I noticed a few times she was fidgeting with the bottom hem of the shirt drawing my attention to it and the leg it sat on.

She either had no clue what she was doing, or she knew exactly what she was doing. I just wish I knew which it was. If I knew she was teasing me on purpose, I could put an end to it but didn't want it to be awkward if she was actually being innocent. Part of me thought she was purposely teasing me but then again it was hard to say since she had never thought of me in that sense. Further complicating the issue was the fact that I actually found myself enjoying what she was doing to me whether she was doing it on purpose or not.

We watched the movie, and I continued to watch her, over the next couple of hours. At some point before the end of the move I fell asleep and woke up to Belle rubbing the side of my cheek like she had the other day.

"Come to bed Robbie." she said sweetly. I opened my eyes to first see her sweet smile and then right after her nipples pressing against the snug fitting shirt. My nether region responded to this view by giving a throb. I sat up as she grabbed my hand and led me to the bedroom.

As we got into bed, she snuggled up beside me.

"Comfy?" I asked.

"Mm very comfy." she replied as she moved her head into the grove between my shoulder and upper body.

"Robbie." she said

"Yeah."

"Thanks for tonight." she said

"Any time Love." I said as I pulled her close.