I made the quick phone call, and settled back down. She was running on about the drugs and bit me on the shoulder, then settled her head there, looking me closely in the eye.

"So do you descirbe all your good friends foxy and desirable? Or just the ones your not going to make beg?"

That one knocked me back, unsure as to how to answer. I tried to remember the place she had been for years, the kind of treatment she had received, the lies she had been told, the drugs she had been subjected to.

I decided on the obvious. "I describe only the one I know before me as being foxy and desirable. That's you." Hoping against hope she didn't take it as being a line, or just sexy bullshit. I really DID feel that this woman and I could be close, maybe even in love some day.

Figuring the best defense was a good offense, I leaned my head forward and kissed her on the lips; not long, just enough to let her know what it was. More than a grandmother kiss, less than a 'cinema' kiss good night.

Her reaction surprised me, to say the least.