I had arranged a blind date for a friend and an acquaintance of mine. Just as the three of us were about to leave for the pub, it dawned on me that I would be 'gooseberry' to them both.
So, I spied this bloke who was part of the house share where one of the dates was and lamely asked if he would like to come to the pub to save me being gooseberry. He agreed and went and changed into his trousers from the board shorts he was wearing. He..llo I thought. Anyway, maybe that's just his way of doing things.
The daters got their drinks and sat outside the pub (it was summer) myself and 'some bloke' were inside the pub. There was something about the way he was talking i.e. making the conversation interesting that impressed me. There was a flirtatious tone to his voice or was he just being polite and was I reading to much into it because I didn't know him ? (He later admitted that to gauge whether I was interested in him, he asked if the daters were ok, at which point I sorta glanced through the pub door and made some non-committal response. He took this to mean I wasn't particularly interested in them and he had my attention.)
We all left the pub at about 9pm and walked back to the house. Me and bloke sat chatting on the sofa for an hour at which point he said, 'put your feet up here (meaning his lap) and I'll stroke them for you.' Well, no one had EVER asked me to do that. I thought, ok, in for a penny and all that.
The way he was doing it was so nice I couldn't help but think, blimey if that's what he can do to my feet what's he like with the rest of my body ?
It was time to leave, as I lived some distance away and had to take the other dater home too. Their date was an unmitigated disaster. I however, left with his phone number. Because I asked for it, just like I'd asked him to come to the pub. Alright. I admit it. It was me who started this.
My acquaintance prepared a meal for me a couple of weeks later and I asked if bloke could be there too, she said yes. We went out to a club afterwards, the three of us and we all returned home. That's the first night myself and future DH spent together.
That was back in 1992. We married 2 years later. We're happy but I get so furious with him sometimes ! Well, he wouldn't want me taking out my frustration or my temper on anyone now would he ?