bad-date

Bob leaned back and straightened his red paisley power tie. His smile was a bit lopsided and more than a bit suggestive. __n my experience, older women have very definite ideas about what they want__deas that don__ include wheezing, potbellied, middle-aged guys with receding hairlines._ He chuckled and smoothed his flaxen tresses once more.She drummed her fingernails on the white tablecloth and looked for the waitress. That made six times so far this insolent pup had used the term __lder women.__e gave her the once-over. __owadays, older women are so___od help him if he says...___ell preserved.__ina briefly closed her eyes. It was going to be a long evening.

She closed the distance between them and gave him a tentative hug. He was liberally cologned, with a scent that incited bewildering memories. She circled him, not knowing why. She had only met him a few weeks back, yet tonight, something about him triggered old memories, of a time, a person. Maybe not. What she did know, he lacked that special ingredient that moved her. Dull as ditch water. He was sufficiently polite, but that was about all she could say. __ichael Benzehabe, from the novel Unassimilated