Claire Morgan was fifty-two years old and still a virgin.S
He wasn’t ashamed of it. But that didn’t mean I had never wanted a man.S
There were nights when she would go to bed alone wondering what would happen if she finally stopped holding back. If, even just once, she allowed a man to hug her, kiss her, and let her enjoy feeling desired without immediately worrying about the next morning.
Claire had desires too.
Sometimes very intense.S
But when he was young a promise had been made:
Her first time would never be with a man who wanted her body more than her.
Claire had never considered her face to be especially beautiful, but her body always attracted attention. Even with discreet clothes, it was difficult to hide her chest and curves.
At twenty years old, men’s looks made her feel attractive.
Over time she learned that being desired and being loved were two completely different things.
A man pretended to be seriously interested in her for two months and then became angry when Claire refused to sleep with him.
—How long am I supposed to wait? —demanded.
Another said to him:
—With a body like yours, why do you make everything so complicated?
Experiences like this made Claire hold on even tighter to her promise.
I didn’t want to just lose my virginity.
I wanted to choose the man who would be first.
But at fifty-two, even Claire was starting to get tired of waiting.
Her closest friends —Vanessa, Laura and Michelle— never missed an opportunity to joke with her.
—A fifty-two year old virgin? That is almost historic.
—If I had your body, I would have forgotten what the word “virgin” means years ago.
Claire laughed with them.
Then he would come home and wonder if maybe they were right.
That’s when Adam showed up.
He was fifty-five years old, quiet, divorced, and completely different from the men Claire had met before.
I listened to her.
He never rushed her.
After their first date, he didn’t even ask her to come into his house.
And the first time he kissed her, he stopped and asked in a low voice:
—Do you want me to continue?
Claire couldn’t sleep that night.
Because for the first time, a man’s kiss hadn’t made her feel pressured.
It had made him want more.
Over the next few weeks, that desire grew.
