********

I wondered to myself if it would be appropriate to rock up to my date in my jeans and Ugg boots but I had a feeling that the maitre d' probably would frown on ripped Levis and a Barbie Tshirt. This was the thing I hated about dates. They made you analyse the things you hate about yourself in a bid to hide them so that someone would love you. Irritating really.

I huffed a sigh and plonked myself down on my vanity stool. I say vanity stool but mean upturned box in the hallway facing the mirror. Two years moved in and still not completely unpacked. My overanalytical mother would have said that this was because I had commitment issues and she'd be right. However, I realised that this mode of thinking was a means of distraction and I still had to find something to wear for this date that my sister had arranged for me. Huffing another deep sigh of regret, I pulled out my strapless black dress, which had never failed me in the past - although I wasn't sure of what it was to succeed at in this case - and made my way to the bathroom in a bid to make myself beautiful, or at least passable.

Having been on blind dates arranged by my sister before, I had learnt not to hold out much hope, and this time I really wasn't holding out any hope. The guys that I had always preferred to date had been manual workers or at least good with their hands. I loved a bad boy, someone who wasn't quite sure where he was going in life because it meant that I didn't have to worry about that conversation about where we were going and what this relationship meant and more than anything, man was I a sucker for calloused hands that could rip stockings in a fit of passion and soulful temperaments who really weren't all that bothered about money and status.

My sister had always despaired of this as it went against every quality that she looked for in a man and she had tested those qualities extensively with her potential boyfriends before finding Michael who she fell in love with and who luckily happened to be successful and wealthy. So because all of Roni's dreams had come true, and she was living the life of Reilly or some such person, she felt it was her responsibility to provide such dream fulfilment to her little sister.

What she failed to notice however was that her little sister was significantly different from her. I found it difficult to put into words what I wanted, but a carbon copy of my brother in law wasn't it. I loved Mike in the "Hey doofus, how's it going" kind of way - not in the " God I find you so sexy Michael Collins, won't you come and fuck me" kind of a way and so my worry for this prospective date was that this man, this Greg that my sister had set me up with, was the same age as Mike, did the same job as Mike, and was probably in all actuality a Mike mark II. God I was dreading this.
*************

Greg was kicking himself, nerves having got the better of him. He was pacing in his office and had been doing so for the past hour. He had rules - his life was run by rules and the no blind date rule had been in the top ten. He had always resolved to himself that he would stick to those rules; don't go on them - they're always a fuck up, and yet here he was, breaking his rule so that his friend could continue to get laid by his wife. Frankly it was ridiculous; although if Greg were honest with himself, if he had a wife that looked like Veronica Collins, he'd do everything to ensure he kept her happy too!

He continued pacing and was interrupted by the sound of his office door opening and an exasperated tone,

"Jeez Greg, what's the matter with you? Your constant pacing is giving me motion sickness."

Greg stopped mid pace to look at Tamara, his secretary, or as his colleagues had named her (although never to her face or within ten miles of her earshot), Terror the guard dog. He smiled sheepishly,

"Sorry Tams, was just thinking about something."

"Yes Gregory, I could see you were thinking about something, but what could be so bad that it would cause you to pace the floor like a caged lion?"

He shrugged and started to pace again,

"Greg! Stop! Me and the baby don't like it."

Greg stopped immediately and Tamara congratulated herself. She had been working for Greg for over five years and if there was one thing that she knew, it was that he knew nothing about what was and wasn't normal and acceptable in pregnancy. She was about three quarters of the way through her pregnancy and had had a great deal of fun and had gotten away with murder since she had revealed her condition to her very kind boss.

Greg sank down on his sofa and watched Tamara try and get comfortable in his big leather chair waiting for him to unload his problem. She watched him flick a glance at her and lean his elbows onto his knees sinking the heel of each palm into each eye. Tamara watched him rub his eyes and then look up at her, his cerulean gaze fixed on her.

Blimey, this must be bad, she thought to herself. Greg took a deep breath and started to speak,

"Mike has set me up on a blind date with his sister in law."

"Mike who?"

"Mike Collins"

"Oh! And?"

"What do you mean 'And?' Isn't that enough?"

"Well it's been a while since you dipped your wick - let's be honest - so it's about time you went out on a date, but Mike Collins? Isn't his wife kind of, well, high maintenance?"

Greg exhaled a deep breath,

"Yep"

Tamara rolled her eyes, irritated by the short sharp response,

"Is that the kind of woman you want?"

"No, not at all, but I have less than an hour and had already agreed to it and I think it's too late to cancel."

He looked at her while she was deep in thought and jumped as started to speak,

"Well, why don't you go and meet her and we'll do that thing that girls do, you know, I'll call you on your mobile and there'll be an emergency at the office or something and you can excuse yourself honourably having kept your promise to Mike and then everyone wins."

Greg's face lit up and he grinned up at the little woman with the massive bump swinging her legs in his leather chair,

"Thanks Tams, I don't know what I would do without you"

He really should grin more often, Tamara mused to herself as she hefted herself out of her chair and winked at her boss,

"Hey, just remember, come christening time, Junior here" she rubbed her belly to demonstrate, "Junior will only accept gifts from Tiffany."

*****************

I had promised Greg a carnation and a newspaper and that's what I was going to give him. I had curled my black chin length bob into barrel curls and had slipped a silk red carnation behind my ear. I was delighted my dress still fit given my current penchant for creamy pasta dishes and checked myself out in the window of the newsagents as I bought the newspaper that would display my identity. Being five foot four was normally something I hated until I was able to slide my feet into my killer heels and this evening's pair were particularly beautiful, patent red to match my carnation and shiny with a thin and very high heel. I scrubbed up well even if I did say so myself. I was so wrapped up in congratulating myself for making it out of the house that I didn't notice the newsagent offering my change until I heard him call,

"Miss?"

Embarrassed at being caught with my vanity, I held out my hand for my change and he winked at me,

"He's a lucky man lovely"

Giving me the bolster that I needed, I smiled flirtatiously and blew the old man a kiss and skipped to the restaurant, newspaper in hand.

******************

Greg was early, but then Greg was always early - he didn't like to keep people waiting. As he sat at the table, he toyed with the cutlery wondering if he could use the dinner knife to slit his wrists and wondering what the management of this esteemed establishment would do if this was to happen. He was no longer impressed by these types of places as he had to frequent them so often, but working under the assumption that Victoria was similar to her sister then only the best would do and he did want to make a good first impression.

He checked his phone for the fiftieth time to ensure that it was switched on and the ringer was on full volume so there would be no doubt when Tamara called, and it was at this point that he heard the maitre d' announce that his guest had arrived.

Startled by the sudden arrival at his table, Greg looked up and felt his mouth go dry. Standing in front of him was a curvy petite woman who reached to about his shoulder but a quick glance showed him that without those sexy shoes she would probably reach his elbow.

She was wearing a black strapless dress that reached just above her knees and her skin was the colour of milk chocolate and looked as though it was glowing. Greg could feel his hand lifting in a bid to touch it to see if it felt as soft as it looked but caught himself in time. As he looked at her he saw that her dress skimmed over generous breasts and led down to a waist so small that he was almost certain he could probably fit both of his hands around her waist and that led him to imagine how that would feel and then he wondered how it would feel without the dress in his way.

Somewhere in the recess of his mind he realised that his perusal of probably the most attractive woman he had ever met was actually quite rude and this was confirmed as he heard her clear her throat,

"I hope you're Greg and not just some man staring at me for no reason otherwise I'm going to have to charge you,"

Greg's head snapped up and his blue eyes met large brown ones which seemed amused by his inability to form a sentence. His eyes travelled her face and he found high cheekbones, a button nose and full lips that were coated in some kind of thing that made them shiny and God did he he just want to lick them.

"Well Gregory, you and I can stand here and stare at one another for the evening or we can sit at the table and have dinner."

Greg's cock jumped at the use of his full name and he resolved that for her, he would always be Gregory. He smiled up at her and stood up to his full height holding out his hand,

"Um, yeah, sorry. Excuse my manners; Hi Victoria, I'm Greg."

************************

Oh my goodness, I didn't know tax lawyers could look like this. He stood up to shake my hand and towered above me, and then he smiled at me as he introduced himself and something happened in my underwear. He's beautiful in a manly massive kind of a way. I don't normally like big men as a rule but goodness me! Greg was about six foot three and wearing a dark navy pin stripe suit with a light blue shirt and no tie. His hair was dark and cropped close to his head and he was all angles - sharp cheekbones, strong jaw, broad shoulders, narrow waist - nothing at all like anything I had ever noticed before but although my brain was trying to deny it, my body was welcoming him like a lost puppy returning to its owner.

I think he was nervous because he couldn't hold eye contact with me for too long. To be honest, I was quite grateful for this because if he did maintain the eye contact, he probably would have seen the lust dripping from mine as I appraised him.

I took his hand and shook it answering him, "Hi Greg, I'm late and feel a little foolish - there was no need for my newspaper and carnation."

He smiled at me, "I like the carnation and you can always read the newspaper on the way home"

"Ah, an enterprising thought - and please, the only person that calls me Victoria is my sister, and that's because she has issues so Vic is fine or Tori but please, never Victoria."

I liked the feel of his hand, or rather paw - it was so big, in mine. I liked feeling him touch me. The hair on the back of my neck raised as his thumb stroked my hand as he spoke to me.

We stared at one another, I was lost in the blue of his eyes. He really didn't look like a tax lawyer.

The maitre d' cleared his throat,

"Would Sir and Madam like to take a seat?"

I was startled out of my reverie and into embarrassment, having forgotten the maitre d', and I think Greg was too, so we let go of one another's hand and made a move to sit down at the table.

As I accepted the menu from the maitre d' I could feel Greg looking me over. I could feel my skin getting hotter and wondered if it was sluttish that I really wanted him to lay me down on the table and have his wicked way with me. He was speaking to me; God I really had to concentrate.

"You look nothing like your sister,"

My heart sank a little at this. I was aware of how beautiful Roni was but had thought that if she was setting me up with someone, it would be someone who hadn't poured heaps of praise on her. Obviously I was wrong on this occasion. I smiled in what I hoped was a 'I'm not irritated by your observation you hunk of burning love' kind of a way,

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Roni has always been the swan in the family who missed out on the ugly duckling phase. The rest of us in the family are mere mortals."

I studied the menu kicking myself for thinking this could be something other than what it was. A blind date with a tax lawyer - eye on the prize Victoria.

"I've upset you, I didn't mean to. Your sister is very beautiful but I meant that I thought that you were prettier than her. I'm sorry if that's rude."

The sun had come out again. I smiled at him,

"Well it is rude, but I'm delighted by rudeness so we can be friends. I don't normally come to these types of places so let's have a lovely bottle of wine and get to know one another eh?"

******************

For Greg, the next couple of hours were revelatory, Victoria, or Tori, was fun. She was indiscreet and had a very loud laugh which was something he normally balked at. Greg's dates were always ladies who went to the right schools had great jobs and excellent prospects. Tori was nothing like any of these and yet she had made him laugh so much he had spurted wine out of his nose. Among the many titbits she had shared, she had told him about losing her virginity to her best friend's brother and how he continued, even after all this time, to cower in fear if she mentioned anything about Terminator 2 in front of his sister, as this had been the movie playing when the deed had taken place.

For all of her petiteness, she packed away the food and was happy to finish what he couldn't eat and have dessert and not apologising for it. When he quizzed her about how she managed to stay so small, she simply said,

"I have to workout in order to eat everything I want. I don't like working out but I do love eating!"

But it was at dessert that the point of no return was reached. Tori ordered a chocolate fondant while Greg opted only for coffee. He was relaxed and happy and was enjoying watching her enjoy herself.

When the waiter placed the fondant in front of her, Greg watched her reaction. He watched her gasp and smile in delight, he wanted to do that to her; and then he watched her cut into the sponge and coo gently as she watched the chocolate seep it's way onto the white plate; he wanted to make her make that sound. But the final straw was the way she slid the spoon into her mouth and sucked the contents of the spoon gently over her tongue. She closed her eyes and savoured the taste and groaned and made Greg harder than he had ever been in his life. He watched her, biting his lip as she experienced the taste, and then got harder when those big brown eyes popped open and caught his lust filled gaze.

"Greg?"

He cleared his throat, embarrassed at being caught, but willing himself to maintain eye contact,

"Yes?"

"You see how much I liked that?"

"Yes"

"You should see how much I love breakfast."

Tori held his gaze and winked with a smile. Greg frowned to himself and hoping that he had read the signals correctly signalled for the waiter for the bill and a taxi. When the waiter asked for the address and how many stops, Greg sank back in his chair, logic and lust fighting within him. Tori answered for him,

"Just one thank you."

And, ignoring his stunned and delighted gaze, continued back to eating her fondant.

*************************