They were seated in the dining room of a beautiful Italian restaurant right outside of town. Sam had decided to forego the movie and pull out all the stops for their date. He’d arrived bearing two dozen red roses and had taken extra care with his appearance that night. He was freshly shaven and had a new haircut. And to top things off he was wearing a suit, something Tara had never seen him in before. It was obvious that he’d gone to great lengths to make the evening memorable, and she truly appreciated it.

Just then the waiter appeared, interrupting her thoughts. “Sir, madam, are you ready to order?”

Tara quickly glanced over the menu. Everything looked delicious; she was going to have a hard time deciding.

“May I recommend the angel hair pasta with shrimp and scallops in tomato and basil pesto?”

“It sounds wonderful, I’ll have that.”

“And I’ll have the filet mignon with peppercorn sauce and rosemary potatoes,” Sam said. “And could you please have the sommelier select a bottle of your best Cabernet?”

“Of course sir. I will return shortly with your salads.”

Tara took in the view from the picture window and caught her breath. Moonlight poured down from a star-filled sky and sparkled across the surface of a small private lake. A pair of swans sailed past, while peacocks patrolled the elegantly manicured grounds. “This is amazing, Sam. Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome. I wanted our first date to be special,” he said.

She laughed. “It’s more than special; this place looks like something straight out of a fairy-tale. How’d you find it anyway? I’ve lived in this area my entire life and didn’t even know it existed.”

“One of my suppliers told me about it a while back. He said it was the ideal place to bring a special lady, but I’d never had anyone special enough to bring until now.”

She smiled. “Thanks Sam. I think you’re special, too.”

Sam smiled back and covered her hand with his own. “By the way, you look beautiful tonight.”

On Lafayette’s advice, Tara was wearing a strapless dress of dark fuchsia which perfectly complemented her mocha skin. Her handbag and shoes were of a lighter pink. “Thank you.”

He began caressing the back of her hand with his thumb, sending jolts of electricity sparking throughout her body. Tara was relieved when the waiter appeared with their salads, followed by the sommelier with the bottle of wine.  She watched as Sam took a sip and nodded his approval. After the sommelier had filled her glass and they were once again alone, Sam proposed a toast. “To the future; may we always be as happy as we are at this moment.”

Tara smiled and raised her glass, ”I’ll drink to that.” She took a sip and gave Sam another smile. “You seem to know a lot about wine.”

Sam laughed. “You mean for a good ol’ boy? I used to be a waiter at a country club in Houston. I made friends with the wine steward; he taught me a lot.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me,” he said with a teasing wink.

“Such as?”

Before he could answer, they were interrupted again by the arrival of the main course.

When they were served and they waiter had gone, Sam continued. “So what did you want to know?” he asked, cutting into his steak.

Tara took a bite of her pasta and swallowed; It tasted divine. She thought for a moment. “What were you like as a kid?” she finally asked. “Were you a good student?”

“Pretty good, I guess. I made Bs mostly. Math was my favorite subject.”

“And did you play any sports?”

“Football for a little while.”

Tara gave him an appraising look. “Let me guess, wide receiver?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, a little surprised. “You like football?”

She laughed, “Are you kidding me? In Bon Temps football is practically a religion.”

“So who’s your team?”

“The Cowboys, who else?”

“Who else,” Sam agreed, chuckling.

They continued their meal in companionable silence for a few minutes, then Sam said “Your turn.”

“My turn for what?”

“To tell me something about you.”

Tara looked surprised. “You already know just about everything; there really isn’t much to tell.”

“Come on, there’s always something new to learn,” Sam said. Suddenly he had an idea. “Tell me about the day Maya was born.”

“Oh gosh,” Tara laughed, rolling her eyes. “Sook was staying with Eric, so it was just me and Lafayette at the apartment when my labor started. He actually changed clothes five times because he wanted to look perfect when Maya saw him the first time.”

Sam chuckled, “That sounds just like Lafayette.”

“Finally I had to tell him that if he didn’t hurry up, he’d have to deliver the baby on the living room floor. That freaked him out so much I had to call a cab to take us to the birthing center. Sookie and the midwife met us there. I was in labor about five hours, and Sookie held my hand the entire time. Lafayette did good up until Maya actually started coming out, then he fainted.”

“Fainted?”

“He hit that floor like a bag of wet cement, but if you ask him about it now he’ll deny it until his dying breath.”

They both laughed aloud, then Tara noticed the wistful expression on Sam’s face.

“I’m so sorry, Sam. I should have…”

She was interrupted by Sam gently placing a finger over her lips. “Shhh. What’s done is done. The important thing is that you’re both part of my life now.”

She smiled and he squeezed her hand. “Would you like to dance?” he asked to lighten the mood.

“I’d love to,” Tara said, widening her eyes in surprise. “I didn’t know you could dance,”

“Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“You sure got that right,” Tara thought as he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

Several couples were already up and dancing to the sounds of the jazz quartet playing on stage. Sam wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to his body. As they began moving in time to the soft music, Tara felt a pleasant warmth suffusing her body and she recognized it as the beginnings of arousal. She loved being held by him this way. As she moved closer and lay her head on his shoulder, Tara recalled her promise to take things slow this time around. Well, she just might end up breaking that promise before the night was over, she thought to herself with a chuckle.

“What’s funny?” Sam asked, looking down at her.

“Just thinking about how this is almost perfect.”

“Almost?” he asked, raising a brow in amusement. “And just what would make things perfect?”

“This,” Tara placed a hand on the side of his face, and bringing it down to her own, kissed him softly on the lips.

Sam held back for one brief instant of shock before deepening the kiss. Tara felt a jolt of pure lust lance straight through her body. This time she was the one who pulled back.

“Maybe we should get out of here before we end up making a spectacle of ourselves,“ she said a little breathlessly.

“I agree. Just let me settle the check,” he said just as breathlessly, leading her back to their table.

Tara asked to have the remainder of their wine re-sealed while Sam paid for their meal. Then they waited for the valet to bring his truck around.  

“I had a wonderful time tonight Sam,” Tara said on the ride back. She squeezed his knee and allowed her hand to rest on his thigh. “I’ll show you how grateful I am when we get home.” She choked back a laugh when he stomped on the accelerator.

When they arrived at Tara’s apartment, LaWanda informed them that Maya was no trouble at all and had been asleep for hours. They both thanked her. Sam paid LaWanda and escorted her to her car while Tara went to check on the baby.

“How is she?” Sam asked from over her shoulder. He’d removed his jacket.

“Sleeping like an angel,” Tara replied. They crept out of Maya’s room and she closed the door carefully.

She went into the kitchen, feeling inexplicably awkward now that they were alone. “Want to finish off the wine?” she asked, trying to stall. She began rummaging through a cabinet in search of two glasses, but stopped when Sam gently caught her shoulder and turned her to face him.

“No. All I want is this.”

Sam closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to hers. Tara welcomed the kiss and moaned softly in protest when he drew back.

"Listen, I know we promised to take things slow," he murmured, looking her in the eye.

"Sam…"

"Well tonight I plan to take things very slow."

Tara gave a throaty chuckle, then Sam bent close and kissed her again. She parted her lips to allow his tongue entry before wrapping her arms around his neck and molding her body to his. Tara shifted her hips and heard Sam growl from deep in his throat.

They both jumped at the sound of frantic knocking from the front door.

“Tara Mae! Open the door for mama, baby!”

********