.

Paul couldn't help grinning as he looked down at the woman nestled into his shoulder. A lock of her hair was tickling her nose, making it twitch as she slept.

"Erica..." Nothing. "Ericaaaa..."

"Hmmmph." Her eyes batted as the cobwebs started to clear. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, she realized how she'd fallen asleep. She lifted her head with a start, and turned to look at the man sitting next to her on her couch.

"Oh. Paul, I'm so sorry. That was rude." She glanced over at the television in time to see the last of the closing credits scrolling by. "It's over?" She turned to look at him.

"You didn't really miss much. Costner made some real stinkers."

"Well that makes me feel a lot better. Not only do I pick a lousy movie, I promptly fall asleep and let you suffer through it alone." She bowed her head in mock-penance. "Go ahead. You can level with me. This is the worst date you've ever been on, right?" She lifted her head enough for him to see her crooked grin.

Paul reached up and started tapping on his cheek. "Hmm, let me see. Best pot roast I've ever had and for dessert... more than an hour snuggled up with a great woman."

His flattery was drowned out by the realization of how long she'd been sleeping. "I've been out of it for more than an hour?"

"Almost two." He looked up at the ceiling . "You know what, it's a pretty tight race, but I can say that I have had a date worse than this one."

She smiled as she pulled a pillow from behind herself and took a lazy swing at him. "Ok wise guy, let's hear about this worse date."

"Well, there was this one time when I took a girl out to dinner at Jackson's."

"Woo hoo, big spender."

"You'd be amazed at how much loose change a guy can pull out of his sofa."

"Wow, all that work. She must have been special. Anyone I might know?"

"Not sure. Name of Holly Lawless."

"Get out! You just made that name up!"

"I swear to god, her name was Holly Lawless. Try saying that three times fast."

"I think I'll pass." Erica moved back and sat up to hear the story. "Alright, then. What was so awful about dinner at Jackson's with Miss Lawless?"

"Nothing. The food was good; conversation was lively... I thought we were really hitting it off."

Erica's eyebrows climbed her forehead. "Ok then, why was it a bad date?"

"Well, just after we ordered desert, she excused herself and went to the washroom."

"And..."

"...and, after I sat staring at her desert for twenty minutes, I called the waiter over and asked if someone could see if she was Ok in the washroom. He came back and told me she'd left."

"Eww. That sounds embarrassing."

"It was humiliating."

Erica looked sympathetic. "Wow, I guess that does qualify as a bad date. Was she upset about something?"

"Not that I could tell."

"She just walked out without a word."

"Uh huh. But that wasn't the worst part."

"How could it possibly get worse?"

"After I paid the check, I asked the valet to bring up my car." Paul looked down at the floor. "He said my date had already driven away in it half an hour ago."

"Oh my god! Where did you meet this woman?"

"On line dating service."

"Oh Paul..."

"When the cop was taking the report and I told him her name was Holly Lawless, he burst out laughing."

"Well really, can you blame him?"

Paul looked pensive as he shook his head. "No, I suppose not. But there was an upside to the night."

"They caught her?"

"Nope."

"They found your car?"

"Never did."

"Ok then, what was the upside?"

"She didn't fall asleep and drool all over my favorite shirt for almost two hours."

Erica's eyes went wide as she took a not-so-lazy swing with the pillow. "Oh come on. Was any of that true?"

It was a struggle, but he kept a straight face. "Not a word of it."

"What...?!"

"Made up the whole thing as I went along."

"It was all B.S.?"

"Yup."

"What brought that on?"

"You looked a little embarrassed about falling asleep. Just thought I'd lighten the mood a bit."

Erica tilted her head as she looked at him, then came to a decision. She got up on her knees and put her arms around his neck. Eyes wide open, she slowly moved in until their lips came together. After a quick peck, she moved a few inches back and said, "I should have done that weeks ago."

Paul moved forward until their foreheads touched. "No, your timing is just right... slow is good." He leaned back and then kissed her nose. "Over the years, I've found the things that start fast are usually over fast. And I don't want this to be over fast. Ok?"

A deep, honest smile washed across Erica's face. "You're a pretty special guy, Paul Burton. Where have you been all my life?"

Paul mirrored her smile. "Learning how to do things right."

.

.

Great Britain. It was obvious once you realized it. That cloud was the exact same shape as Great Britain. You could even see the Shetland Islands floating along above it. "Lucky thing the rest of Europe isn't up there" she thought... "didn't bring an umbrella to work today."

"I think it's stirred."

Erica tore her gaze away from the window and vacantly looked over at her co-worker.

"Hmm?"

"Your coffee. You've been stirring it for a couple of minutes now."

She abruptly stopped and sheepishly looked down at the spoon in her hand. "Oh, uh, sorry. I was just..."

"You was just a million miles away." Elaine smiled. "Another date last night?"

"Yeah, you got me. Guilty as charged."

"What number was that?"

"Well, if you count lunch last Tuesday, it would have been the seventh. But lunch isn't really a date, is it?" Erica gave her a please-agree-with-me look.

"Honey, it is whatever you say it is. It's your rule; bend it any way you like."

"I know, I know... Tell them by the sixth date, or don't make a seventh."

"Like I said, it's your rule."

"Well it's worked pretty good for me so far."

Elaine tilted her head down and looked at Erica through her brows. "Really? Ok. In the last four years, exactly how many seventh dates have you had, hmm? Five...? Ten...?"

"Alright... None."

"So the mighty seventh date rule has left you sitting home alone for how long? Four years? And you say it's working for you?" Elaine gave her head a little shake and smiled. "Honey, is it really so important to hold yourself to that?"

"I just knew from the start that if I didn't set myself a hard-and-fast deadline, I'd just keep putting it off until it was too awkward to tell."

"Ok. So telling a guy has never bothered you before. What's different this time?"

Erica drew in a deep breath. "I guess I actually care if this one runs away screaming. Paul shows all the signs of being a real keeper."

"For instance..."

"Ok. For instance... last night, I cooked him dinner at my place, then we sat down to watch a movie. I actually fell asleep on his shoulder. I don't mean just nodding off, either. I was right out of it for at least half the movie."

"Ok. Point for Paul... You're comfortable around him."

"Yeah, but it wasn't just that. When I woke up, he wasn't pissed. In fact, I think he was happy that I felt so safe with him."

"Alright, safe and considerate. But c'mon girl, if you think about it, you could be describing your brother."

Erica started shaking her head. "No, it's a lot more than that. When I kiss him, I get this giddy feeling. Sort of like the air I'm breathing's been chilled." She broke out in a wide smile as a little spasm ran up and down her back. She held up her arm. "Look, I'm getting goose bumps just talking about him."

Elaine glanced at her arm. "You're not kidding... So what are you going to do?"

Erica sipped her coffee, then set it down. "I guess I'm going to have to tell him and hope for the best." She let out a quiet sigh as she turned to look back out the window. "Oh great... Europe."

.

.

She didn't have time to be nervous as she hurried over to Paul's car. It was pretty obvious that the sky was about to open up. As she slid into the front seat, he leaned over for a kiss.

Erica sat straight, leaving him hanging. "Paul, we need to talk about something."

He moved back in his seat. "Sounds ominous." He moved to put the car in gear.

"It might be... can we just wait here for a minute?"

"Ok." He shut off the car, then turned to face her. "When you called, I thought you were worried about the weather."

"Sorry. I just used that. The truth is..." She hesitated for just a second. "I think something good might be happening with us..." She looked up from her hands and turned to face him. "...and I think you feel it too."

"I can't argue with that." Paul was calm, his voice steady.

"So here's the thing. I have a six date rule."

Paul grinned. "A rule with a title. Sounds official."

"It is official... for me, anyway. It works like this. I have a little thing in my past that can be awkward to talk about, so I make myself talk about it by the sixth date. Or I don't make a seventh."

"I think your math is off. We've already had seven dates."

"Only if you count lunch last Tuesday..."

In unison, they chorused, "...but lunch isn't really a date." A nervous little laugh burst out of Erica, then Paul continued. "Let me make this easy for you, Ok? I already know about your awkward little thing. And I don't care."

That caught Erica off guard. "What...? How...?"

"You grew up in Boston, right? Don't worry about it, it's no big deal."

"What... Wait... That's not...."

Paul rolled his eyes. "I know, I know... I'm a Yankees fan, you're a Red Sox fan... But it's not the end of the world. We'll work through it somehow..."

"Paul, stop, please." She looked back down at the purse in her lap. "I need to be serious here, Ok?"

"Ok, serious. The truth is I already know. You weren't born a girl."

Erica's head spun up to face him. Her lips were moving, forming soundless words.

Paul reached up and put his fingers under her chin. "So, are we on for that seventh date?"

Erica reached up and took his hand. "Someone told you?"

Paul shook his head. "No."

"Dammit."

"Why dammit?"

"Because I've worked really hard at this for a long time. I thought I was all girl now."

"Honey, you are."

"Then what gave me away?"

"You told me."

The confusion on Erica's face was almost comical. "What... when?"

"Last night. During the movie."

"I think I'd remember a conversation like that."

"No, you wouldn't. You slept right through it." Paul couldn't help himself. A snicker escaped from his throat before he could catch it. "I'm sorry, but the look on your face is just too funny."

As Erica's confusion began to evolve into frustration, Paul let it out. "Last night, during the movie... you started talking in your sleep."

"Oh no."

"It's okay. You weren't saying anything important. In fact, most of it was actually nonsense."

"So how did you know then?"

"About the born-a-boy thing?"

"Yeah."

"It wasn't what you were saying. It was how you were saying it." Paul turned and looked through the windshield. "Your voice changed. It sounded like a cross between Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy."

Erica hitched in a breath. "I had no idea." She slowly started shaking her head. "...no idea." She turned to look back at him as a thought flashed into her head.

"You knew. You already knew and you still came to pick me up."

Paul turned and looked into her eyes. "Yup."

"You're really Ok with it?"

"Well there is one little thing." His demeanor turned serious. "I refuse to sit beside a girl in a Red Sox jersey at a Yankees game. Ok?"

Erica's eyes lit up. "I think we can work around that."

"Good. Now how about that seventh date?"

.

.
Hi folks. Lora here.
When I first came up with the idea for this story, I was planning on the title "Sleep Talking". As I wrote it though, I realized that that title would give the ending away, ruining the surprise. It's too bad... I really liked that title. Oh well, them's the breaks ;-)