C'mon, baby
C'mon darling
Let me steal this moment
From you now
C'mon, angel
C'mon, c'mon, darling
Let's exchange the experience…
-Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill”
Although she was feeling the effects of quite a few 
glasses of champagne, Taryn turned the key in the lock of the townhouse door without much trouble.
Isaac followed her inside into the darkness, and waited while she flipped the lights on.
The lights illuminated the foyer, now a familiar setting for Isaac. He was happy for the fact that he was in comfortable surroundings. He wandered into the living room, absently dropping his overnight bag beside the couch.
“I’m going to get a glass of wine,” Taryn said. “Do you want anything?”
“Soda would be fine,” Isaac replied. He was nervous. He knew what all this was leading up to, and as much as he wanted it, he couldn’t help feeling scared.
Taryn brought out the drinks, and she sat down on the overstuffed white linen couch. She patted the space beside her, and Isaac drew in his breath and sat down next to her. Taryn handed him his soda.
“I think we need to talk about what we’re doing here,” Taryn said.
Isaac looked at her with his soft brown eyes full of gratitude. He had wanted to talk about since they left the party, but he was waiting for her to bring it up.
“Can I start?” he asked.
Taryn nodded, never taking her black-brown eyes off Isaac.
“I realize that we have demanding schedules,” he began. “I also realize that you are 10 years older than me and that people may not understand or approve of our relationship.
“But the fact of the matter is, Taryn, that in the past few weeks I have fallen in love with you. I know that you may think I don’t know the difference between love and a crush, but I do. I love you.”
Taryn took a long drink of lambrusco and looked solidly at Isaac. “OK, I call your bluff,” she challenged. “I love you, too.”
Isaac put his glass on the coffee table and moved closer to Taryn. He tentatively took her face in his hands, and when she didn’t resist, he decided to go further.
He slowly brushed her lips with his. For a moment afterward, he sat with his eyes closed, his face still mere inches from Taryn’s, trying to burn the memory of their first kiss into his mind by savoring everything: the taste, the smell, the feeling. When he was convinced he had done that, he moved back in, this time kissing her more intensely, parting her lips with his tongue and softly exploring her mouth. He moved his hands down her body, thinking how much he liked the feeling of velvet.
Taryn absently tried to put her wineglass on the end table next to the couch. Her eyes were closed and she was concentrating on Isaac, so she didn’t even notice when the glass missed the table and went tumbling to the floor.
Before either of them knew what was happening, they had thrown off all the inhibitions of the past few weeks: the families, the age difference, and the career considerations. Taryn was lying back on the couch and Isaac was pressed up against her, kissing her insistently and daring her to go further and further. Before long, Isaac had shed his jacket and tie, and they both knew where the evening was going to end up.
“Isaac,” she said breathlessly. “We’ve got to slow down.”
“No,” Isaac said firmly. “No more slowing down.”
Even though the champagne was fogging her brain a little, Taryn knew that this was not where or how she wanted this to happen. She wanted Isaac’s first time to be perfect.
“Not here,” she whispered. “I don’t want your first time to be some wild grope on a couch.”
Isaac looked into Taryn’s eyes. “Where are we going?”
“First door down the hall on the right. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
Isaac nodded. “Okay.”
He watched Taryn walk down the hall, enter the bathroom and softly close the door.
Oh my God, he thought. I’m going to have sex in a matter of minutes.
He found himself nauseous and wishing he could call Taylor.
Isaac picked up his overnight bag and walked slowly down the hall to the room Taryn had told him to wait in.
Isaac pushed the door open and stood there for a moment, taking stock of his surroundings.
Taryn’s bedroom was a whole world unto itself. The walls were painted burgundy, and a wallpaper border of burgundy, navy and hunter green flowers lined the top of them.
The huge featherbed had a white iron head board and foot board, and was covered with a patchwork quilt in shades of navy and burgundy. Chenille throw pillows in those colors were mixed in with bed pillows covered in antique lace pillowcases at the head of the bed.
An antique princess phone was on the white nightstand, and next to that was a picture of Iris. Isaac absently turned the picture face down as he sat on the edge of Taryn’s bed.
As he sat, Isaac caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror perched above Taryn’s white metal vanity table. He smiled at the reflection.
Isaac quickly removed his tux, and put on a t-shirt and a pair of boxers from his bag. He decided that he liked the feeling of the plush, navy blue carpet in Taryn’s room on his bare feet.
He turned down the bed, and eased onto the soft mattress, carefully committing the fabric-softener smell of the flannel sheets and the faint scent of Taryn’s perfume the room held to memory.
At that moment, Taryn appeared in the doorway. Isaac caught his breath. She was in a white silk robe. God, she was beautiful.
Taryn clicked on her stereo and turned the sound down low. Isaac could barely make out the strains of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” but he caught a familiar note and tucked the song away with the other memories of the evening he was planning on keeping.
Taryn lit a scented candle on the nightstand, and Isaac decided it was bayberry. Then she switched off the lamp.
In the candlelight, Isaac watched in awe as she let the robe slip from her shoulders to reveal a floor-length white lace nightgown with spaghetti straps.
Taryn slid into bed next to Isaac. Without a word, he began to stroke her reddish-brown hair as he looked into her eyes. He slowly brought his lips to hers, and kissed her softly. She kissed back, and Isaac found himself getting aroused quickly.
“Isaac,” Taryn said. “Let’s get the birth control thing taken care of first.”
Isaac nodded. “Kind of ruins the spontaneity, huh?”
He reached for the package he had put on the nightstand.
“Not as much as babies,” Taryn said matter-of-factly.
Isaac produced a condom from the box.
“I guess I don’t have to tell you that I’m not sure how to use this.”
“I’ll help you.”
When the protective measures had been taken, Isaac resumed kissing Taryn. He let his hands travel up and down her curvaceous body. She felt so warm, so soft and so real. He buried his head in her hair, which she had brushed out. It still smelled of the salon products Gregor had used to do her hair earlier, and Isaac put that tidbit in his mental memory box.
He began kissing Taryn’s neck. He felt her shudder, and he knew he was doing something right. She was stroking his hair, and he noticed in the candlelight that she rarely opened her eyes.
Isaac thought about how he could just go on this way all night. It felt so intimate to him. But he knew he wanted to go further.
Isaac sighed heavily and looked into Taryn’s eyes. “God, I want this,” he said. “But I’m not sure what to do. Can you help me?”
Taryn smiled. She gently guided him to the proper place. It felt very natural. “Move back and forth,” Taryn whispered. “As fast or as slow as feels right for you.”
“What about you?” Isaac asked. “What do you like?”
“I like you.”
Isaac smiled. He closed his eyes, and let the feelings of love he had for this woman wash over him. He pulled back slightly when he felt something happening.
Oh, God, no! He thought to himself. What’s the old rule? Think about baseball, Isaac. Um, okay … Tommy Sosa and Mark McGuire battling for home run record … Oh, God, it’s not working … Harry Caray died last year … C’mon, Ike, don’t blow this … damn!
Isaac collapsed on top of Taryn.
“I am so sorry,” he half-wailed.
“For what?” she asked gently, stroking his hair.
“Ruining this by getting all ahead of myself.”
“Isaac, you didn’t ruin anything,” Taryn insisted. “It happens to everyone. And as luck would have it, we have all night to work on your technique.”
Isaac smiled at Taryn, and propped his head up on his hand. “I love you,” he said simply.
Taryn smiled. “I love you, too.”
Isaac moved up to kiss Taryn again, and he felt himself rising to the occasion shortly thereafter. It was going to be okay.
