"That was a new experience for me," Katrina said after a quick hug hello at the FBO's arrival area. "Now I can see why people make a big deal about it. I never want to fly normal airlines again."

"So the flights were O.K.?" I asked, amused.

"Yeah, they were acceptable," Katrina replied, waving her hand in the classic 'so-so' move. "So, what's first on the agenda?"

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"There was food on the plane, but I skipped it so we could have dinner together," Katrina said, giving me a smile. Just then the luggage cart showed up, and when Katrina pointed out her suitcase I grabbed it for her.

"How do you feel about Japanese?"

"Um, like sushi?" Katrina asked.

"No, I was thinking yakitori. There's a really good place not too far from the airport," I replied as we walked to the car.

"I'm not sure I know what that is," Katrina said.

"Here we are," I said, guiding her to the convertible. I used the fob to pop the trunk, setting her suitcase in next to my much smaller one in the Z8's surprisingly roomy (well, for a convertible sports car, anyway) trunk.

"This is a cool car!" Katrina said, running her fingers on the side of the car.

I opened the passenger door for her, and closed it after she sat down and pulled her legs in. "Thank you," she said, giving me a smile over the top of the side window.

Starting up the car, I said, "Let me know if you get too cold. This is the switch for the heated seats," I said, indicating the rocker on the dash. "If you get too cold for that, we can put the top up."

It wasn't far to the place that I'd taken Ashley to, but it was long enough for Katrina to turn on the seat heater and dial her climate control all the way up, so it was clear that we were going to have to put the ragtop up after all.

"This is the place," I said, pointing out the decidedly uninspiring restaurant frontage and that sad little strip mall.

"Way to show a girl a good time!" Katrina teased, unimpressed.

"Trust me- the food is great," I assured her.

As it turned out, the food was great. Katrina, like Ashley before her, took a little while to understand the slow process of dinner at a place like that, but it gave us plenty of time to talk and share some Honkaku Shochu, which was also new to her. We didn't talk about anything meaningful, but kept it to light topics like what it was like flying executive, and how much colder it was in the Bay Area than it had been in Miami.

"I'm always cold on planes," Katrina admitted, tugging at her oversized U of M hoodie. "I'm glad I had this on. I thought California was supposed to be sunny?"

"Yeah, not the peninsula. Mark Twain once said that the coldest winter he ever experienced was a summer in San Francisco. I mean, it doesn't actually get cold, like below freezing or anything, but with the cool, damp air it can feel plenty cold."

"And so a convertible makes sense?"

"Maybe not so much here in town, but when we get up in the wine country it'll be like eighty degrees, maybe more, and dry. It'll make sense then," I told her.

"Well, it's a cool car anyhow," Katrina said. "I don't think I've ever seen one like it before."

"No, you might not," I agreed. "They aren't common."

Dinner took hours, the way they always do at yakitori places, so by the time we finished Katrina was running out of steam. It had been a long day for her, after all.

Handing the key fob to the hotel's valet, I said, "Could you have our luggage brought in?" and slipped the guy a twenty.

"You aren't going to wait for our suitcases?" Katrina asked.

"No, they'll bring them up to our room," I said with a little shrug.

While I checked us in, Katrina took in the grand old hotel's ornate lobby and grand staircase. "This place is amazing!" she said. "God, just look at that ceiling!"

Amused, I handed her one of the key cards. "You want to go straight up to the room, or do you want to get a drink or two at the bar?" I asked, gesturing towards the elevators.

"I could go for a drink," Katrina said, "But I feel kinda underdressed for a place like this."

"We could go up to the room to change, but I don't think anyone is going to care one way or another. This is California. We're not all that big on dress codes around here," I assured her. "Besides, you look adorable. Seriously, everybody is going to check us out and wonder how I wound up with such a hottie."

Katrina smiled, so I took it as a point for me. I took her hand to guide her to the elevators, but she resisted. "What about our stuff?"

"They'll take it to our room," I assured her.

The hotel had two bars, one by the lobby that looked like a Victorian-era sitting room, and the other on the twenty-eighth floor. Figuring the one we peeked into looked too stuffy, we took the elevators up to the top floor bar and restaurant. Unfortunately the heavy marine layer meant there really was no great view to speak of. Still, there was a nice casual feel to the place, so we found a place to sit that had a small sort of coffee table centered between a couple of love seats. I sat down, and Katrina looked uncertain for a moment, dithering over which seat to take, but in the end she chose to sit next to me.

Of course the place had their own take on an Old Fashioned- nobody seems to be able to leave the classics alone- so I went for that, but Katrina chose white wine.

"Dinner was awesome," Katrina said. "I really liked the slow pace, once I sort of understood what was going on," she added. "I mean, sometimes you just need to slow down, right?"

"Yeah, it's far from fast food," I agreed. "When we're up in Napa we'll have dinner at The French Laundry. You remember you asked about Michelin stars at the hotel restaurant there in Cartagena, and I told you it would probably be three stars, if Michelin even knew it existed? Well, this place has the three star rating. It's a tasting menu restaurant, like the one in Cartagena, so it also takes a long time."

"Is that… like, taking really long dinners- is that a rich person thing?" Katrina asked.

"Yeah, it sorta is," I confirmed, thinking about it. "The fancier the restaurant, the longer it takes. That yakitori place wasn't fancy, so it really isn't an indicator of anything besides yakitori restaurants, but generally, the more expensive the meal, the longer it takes to eat."

"Why do you suppose that is?" she mused, sipping her wine.

"Because reasons," I replied with a smirk.

We talked about Katrina's childhood, which seemed like upper middle class, and mine, which definitely wasn't upper anything. We talked about her frustration with school, and how her shot at a slightly more than four year finish time had been blown out of the water. We talked about how cold it was in July there in San Francisco, and whether a visit to Alcatraz was worth it. We talked about Madison's racing, and how she finished on the podium in only her fourth professional race. I'm sure we talked about other things, too, but it was all just sort of 'get to know each other' conversation and nothing else.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Katrina did snuggle up next to me after a while, and when I wrapped an arm around her shoulders she drew in a little bit closer. I used the opportunity to kiss her hair, inhaling the tropical fruit scent of her shampoo. It smelled right on her somehow.

After we finished our second round, it was clear that Katrina was dragging. It had been a very long day for her, so we headed to our room.

"This is really nice, Leah," Katrina said, taking in the suite I'd booked. I was pleased that it was as nice as it was, since I'd never stayed at that hotel before, and only ever seen a few small photos of the rooms on their web site.

When Katrina sat on the king-sized bed, looking around awkwardly, I told her that I was in the habit of bathing before bed, so I was going to take a shower. I hoped she would offer to join me, but no such offer came. Mentally shrugging, I stripped down and made my way to the suite's large bathroom for a nice, hot shower. The water flow was good and the hotel's shampoo and conditioner smelled nice, making for a pleasant way to wash off the day.

I was toweling my hair dry when I walked into the suite's bathroom, only to find Katrina in more or less the same spot I'd left her, but now she was wearing a soft, old T shirt and what looked like men's boxer shorts underwear. She still had that sort of deer-in-the-headlights expression on her pretty face, though.

"Um, Leah," she said, almost stammering. "I know this whole week was about, um, you know…"

"Kat," I said, hanging my towel on a chair back and kneeling down in front of her. "If you're nervous about the sex, don't be. We don't have to do anything you're not ready for."

"I thought I was…" she said, looking miserable.

"Baby," I said, cupping her face in my hands. "This week is about us getting to know each other, figuring out if this is something we both want. Both. Let's just go to sleep tonight, and in the morning we can go out and do some of the stuff we talked about."

"Thanks," she said, relieved.

I hung my towel in the bathroom, then turned out the lights while she slid between the sheets. I joined her in the luxurious king-sized bed, wondering how sleep was going to even happen.

"Can we- can we cuddle?" Katrina asked in the darkness.

"I'd like that," I replied, and soon she was snuggled up into my big spoon, my arm wrapped around her middle. She took my hand in hers and held it, giving me a little goodnight kiss on my knuckles.

"Thanks," she said. "For…"

I kissed the back of her neck and replied, "Thank you for coming to spend this week with me."

After a couple of minutes she asked, "Do you usually sleep naked, or was it because, um…"

"I usually sleep naked," I confirmed. "But if it makes you uncomfortable…" I replied.

"No, it's O.K.," she said. Then, after a moment, she added, "I'm not used to feeling boobs pressing against my back."

"Can I tell you something?" I asked as I moved to press up against her a little bit closer.

"What?"

"Boobs are awesome," I said as I cupped one of hers in my hand. "One of the top ten things in the whole world."

I could feel her quiet laugh more than hear it, and I was pleased to note that Katrina made no effort to remove my hand from her breast.

"I'm sorry I wasn't ready."

"Don't apologize for how you feel," I reassured her.

"It's just, there you were, naked and huge and strong-looking and ready for some hot girl sex and all I could think about was how you took down those three guys in Cartagena. Leah, your thighs look like they could squash my head without any problem at all!"

"I'm going to take from that that you're thinking about putting your face between my legs," I said. "I take that as a very positive sign."

Katrina laughed again and wiggled her butt up against my thighs. She didn't say anything, but cupped her hand against the back of my hand, which was busy cupping her breast.

When I woke in the morning, we'd shifted during the night. I was sleeping on my back and Katrina was on her side, tucked up under my arm, using my shoulder as a pillow.

"Are you awake?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Why are you up?" I asked in return.

"East Coast time, I guess," she said. "I just couldn't sleep any more."

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did," she replied. "I had a big, rock hard Teddy Bear to snuggle."

"One of my best friends is named Teddy Bear," I said with a chuckle.

"I bet he's not as good to snuggle," Katrina replied.

"I wouldn't know. I've never snuggled him. He does look pretty good naked, though- for a guy."

"You've seen him naked?" Katrina asked. "There has to be a story there."

"Not much of a story," I replied. "I had a business trip to Japan and he asked if he could come along, since he likes Japan. My business partners wound up putting us up in one of those old-school hot springs hotels, and we wound up bathing in the hot springs nearly every night we were there."

"Naked? Together?"

"Well, yeah, it was co-ed, and no bathing suits," I said. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

"I don't know if I could do that- be naked in front of a bunch of strangers," Katrina said, thinking about it.

"If everybody is nude, nobody is naked," I said, enjoying the feeling of Katrina's hand on my belly.

"Maybe," Katrina said doubtfully. Changing the subject, she said, "So are we going to Alcatraz today?"

"I figured I'd check to see if we can get tickets for the secret tour, and what times are available. Other than that, is there anything else you want to see?"

"Um, Fisherman's Wharf, and that row of houses you see in all the pictures. Maybe check out the Golden Gate Bridge? And how about that really zigzaggy street?"

"Well, we'll cross the bridge on our way out of town tomorrow," I said. "Lombard Street takes five minutes. The houses you're talking about are at Alamo Square. Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf are touristy, but hey- we're here to be tourists, right?"

"Sounds like you have it all planned out," Katrina laughed.

"Not a bit," I said.

Sitting up, Katrina inadvertently pulled the covers off my naked upper body. To my relief, she didn't react badly- in fact, she took a long moment to stare.

"Like I said, boobs are good." I teased, taking her hand and placing it on my breast.

Katrina looked thoughtful as she caressed and held my tit, running her thumb across and then around my nipple.

"Yours are nicer than mine," I admitted.

"Mine wouldn't look right on you," she replied. "Anyway, I gotta take a shower."

"Need some help?" I offered.

"I don't think so, not yet," Katrina replied, her voice maybe a little bit sorrowful.

"Can I at least watch?" I asked, making my voice hopeful. This got the laugh I was hoping for.

"You've seen me naked plenty," Katrina said as she stood up, echoing what she'd said at my house in Cartagena.

"Never enough," was the obvious reply.

As much as I would have enjoyed watching Katrina shower in the suite's glass-enclosed stall, I relented and stayed in bed while she showered and brushed her teeth. She returned to the suite's bedroom wrapped in one of the hotel's big, fluffy towels to grab some clothes from her suitcase. I watched her, enjoying the way the towel rode up a little bit when she leaned over to grab what she needed from her luggage. Yes, I'd seen her completely naked, so I knew well what was under that towel, but the tantalizing hint of a the bottom curves of her butt still gave me a bit of a lady boner.

When Katrina reemerged from the bathroom fully dressed, I threw off the covers and crossed the room right in front of her to get what I needed from my carryon bag. Of course, I was completely nude. I wanted Katrina to see me naked, and she definitely got an eyeful.

After brushing my teeth, I came back to the bedroom to get dressed.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Katrina asked drily, watching me parade around the room in the buff.

"Honestly, I'm hoping you're enjoying it, too."

Once I was dressed we went downstairs to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. I tried to not read too much into it that Katrina chose to sit next to me rather than across the small table, but it did give me a little comfort. I'd been a little worried that I was coming on too strong and scaring her off, but maybe I was overthinking it.

"So what's the plan for today?" Katrina asked once the waitress brought our food.

"Well, I got us Alcatraz tickets for ten o'clock, which really means we need to be at the dock by nine-thirty or so. We can walk there- it's about forty-five minutes at an easy stroll- which takes us through Chinatown, but not much will be open at eight-thirty in the morning, so it's kind of a waste. On the other hand, we can get a ride there, and walk back after seeing Alcatraz, but we might be tired of walking by that point, so…" I said. "It would be good to stop and get lunch in Chinatown- there's a place I've been to on Sacramento Street that has an amazing Hunan-style cashew chicken, and their hot and sour soup is amazing."

Katrina smiled at my enthusiasm. "I like that idea," she said.

Katrina snuggled up against me while we waited for the ferry to Alcatraz to board. I opened my jacket and wrapped her up inside it with me as best I could, enjoying the closeness while she benefitted from the extra body heat.

"Why is it so cold?" she demanded. "It's freaking July!"

"That's San Francisco for you. Tomorrow might be beautiful and sunny, but it still won't be hot."

With a 'humph,' Katrina rested her head against my shoulder, so I took the opportunity to give her forehead a kiss. She looked up and smiled, so I leaned down to give her a kiss on the lips, which she returned. It wasn't any sort of deep, passionate toe-curling kiss, but it was real. When our lips parted, she smiled at me again.

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

"I still need more practice," I replied and leaned in. Katrina lifted her lips to mine and we kissed again, this time with a little bit more heat, and just a hint of tongue.

Not wanting to push things too fast, I rested my cheek against her hair and just held her close, which was very nice in its own way.

We stayed snuggled up on the ferry, and then when we disembarked Katrina took and held my hand as we made our way to the meeting place for the 'Behind The Scenes' tour I'd booked. The usual tour was a sort of self-guided thing where you listen to an audio recording on a headset that tells you about whatever it is you're looking at, but the one I'd booked for us had an actual, real human being as a tour guide. In this case, a wiry old guy who said that his family came to San Francisco from China originally during the Gold Rush, making him fifth-generation American.

"More American than most," he joked.

"More American than me," Katrina replied. "I'm first-generation."

"Well, there you go," he replied with a smile. "But in the end, we're all the descendants of immigrants here- well, everywhere except maybe the Great Rift Valley in Africa," he added.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.