"What's that?"

I decided to show Ann rather than tell her, to test the point. I walked over to where she was standing and placed my hand under her chin to tilt it up so that I could kiss her. We had never exchanged this form of intimacy and Ann was not about to make it easy. She turned her head slightly so that I kissed her cheek.

I knew then that I had to say what was on my mind, actually what I had only come to realize that day. "Ann it's not enough for you to find ways to entertain me, to please me. As great as that is there needs to be more." The words were now pouring out from me, uncensored by forethought. "I care about you, I think about you, you are in all senses my partner here and you are devoted to me but I want this to be good for you too. I want to know what you want, what you think, what makes you feel good. You are not merely an object for me, I want to hug you, touch you, feel you and know you."

I was taken aback by the force of what I was saying. I reached for Ann again. This time I felt her melt against me. I sought her lips and as we kissed, as my tongue met with hers, I tasted the salt of her tears.

That night we had dinner together. Our intense lovemaking that evening bound us together in a way that our prior contacts had not. Our discussion was frank and, for the first time, intimate.

"I hadn't planned to tell you how I felt Ann, it just poured out and I am glad it did. You have to know that you have become the single most important person in my life and you had to know how I feel. And what you real ly had to know more than anything else, is that I care about you."

"That means a lot to me, Bob-more than you probably realize. I don't know how things between us will change. It's too much for me to think about now, but there are some things I do know."

"What's that?"

"When I went to work for you, it was my mission to excite you, to try and figure out what your fantasies are and to try and make them come true.