Oh, what a weekend!

I went to May Crown. It was windy. It was sunny. It was hot and cold.

It was fantastic.

~

"I'd like to introduce you to G," Wilma said, dragging me along by the arm. In an undertone she adds, "He's delicious. Get some of that if you can."

The man she's introducing me to is about six foot, slender, dazzling smile, the only black guy on site.

I've never seen him around before. Apparently from Washington, just in town for the event.

We chat. We get along. He pulls up a chair for me.

He is attentive to the point that I start to question his motivations.

No one is that attentive right off the bat.

"All right, all right," Wilma says, catching me by the arm and dragging me off.

"Goodbye!" I call over my shoulder, and he looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Good...goodbye!" he says, startled. Wilma drags me off down the road.

"Darling," says Wilma when we're out of earshot, "I had to save you. You don't want to use up all your conversation right off, not with a man like that."

~

It's in the wee hours.

I don't remember how it happened, but G and I end up laying in the middle of the eric, watching the clouds slowly obscure the stars.

We just talked about what ever, feet getting colder and colder. I asked him what he did.

It was something to do with airplanes. I made him explain it in detail, because I hate when people just say something like 'I'm in law' and don't actually tell me what they do.

For all that I made him explain it in detail, I really have no idea what it is he does. He was obviously struggling trying to find the correct words that weren't industry lingo.

~

There was a pause in the conversation and he rolled up onto his elbow, looking down at me.

He was a darker shadow in a dark sky. His teeth gleamed, a crescent of wicked promise in an already wicked night.

He kissed softly at first. I think he was trying to be hesitant, but that man was so confident I bet he pooped confidence.

So I kissed back, enthusiastically.

That seemed to surprise him.

"You're a good kisser," he said.

I refrained from accusing him of telling all the girls that. I knew this man had to get around, especially with a face like that.

"Well," I said, shrugging as well as I was able while flat on my back, "I just kiss like how I like to be kissed. I figure if I do that, I'll eventually find someone I'm compatible with."

For the next time minutes or so, I noticed he was mirroring my moves.

I thought about laughing, but then I would have to stop kissing, so I didn't.

~

He pushed hair away from my face again.

He seemed fascinated with the dark waves, sinking his fingers into it, pressing his cheek to the top of my head, combing loose strands away from my face.

"What are you self conscious about?" he asked, rather out of the blue.

I thought for a moment.

"My feet," I said. "My upper arms, though I couldn't tell you why."

I skimmed a hand over his head, but his hair was shorn so short it was almost non-existent.

"What are you self-conscious about?" I asked.

He thought about it for a second, then tapped his forehead.

"Your brain?" I asked, a little confused.

"Yes," he said.

Afterward, I realized we are self-conscious about completely opposite things. I am not self-conscious about my brain at all.

It made me laugh.

~

He came through the path at the back of my tent, to say goodbye.

"I'd like to see you again," he said after he kissed me.

I laughed. "I think that might be difficult," I teased. "You know, the whole 'living in Washington' thing."

"Mmm," he said, kissing me again. "There is that." He pulled back, a twinkle in his eye. "Tell you what. You come out to the Summits, and I'll make sure you get another Award of Arms." (I was telling him about my growing collection of AoA's. I just need a Summits AoA to complete my kingdom set.)

He kissed me yet again, even though I was laughing. He really was a fantastic kisser.

"So...it's Rosie...what? How do I find you on Facebook?"

I told him.

He repeated my name to himself.

I did not ask how to get a hold of him, and I have resisted looking for him.

~

In the end, it was fun, but he was too perfect.

He could read me like a book. I don't know how, but he said all the right things, completely without effort.

I let myself get lost in the moment(s), reveling in the idea of a perfect match, a romance novel romance.

And yet, I have been there, and I have been burned so hard. I know it's not true love. It is just a man with a charming face who knows how to read women to get what he wants.

And oh, he got it, and it was fun. I do not regret a second of it.

The trick is to keep my head on straight. The trick is to remember the women doing the double-take as he walked by. The trick is to remember the slavering young girl who followed him around for the whole event, who reminded me too much of myself at that age.

I am older and wiser now.

Older and wiser, yes, but admittedly it was beautiful to, just for one weekend, encounter a man who was as passionate about life as I am.

*le sigh*

.

Rosie.

Before&After