In Paul’s opinion, the current scene being played out with Charlette coulda come from some romance novel, or a porno flick.<br/><br/><i>I like the second one, Old Man.  The first one would put me to sleep.</i><br/><br/>Although he was concentrating on pleasing Charlette and taking his time (that hike was turning out to be a wash, after all), thoughts still managed to penetrate his mind.  Namely, Jemma.  Since Paul didn’t possess any suicidal tendencies, he wasn’t about to juggle two women at the same time.  That would not end well for him.<br/><br/>Paul knew he didn’t owe Jemma anything, though ever since she brought it up, he wondered how truly serious she was about giving them another go.  And did he really want to try?  After all, he couldn’t help but think of that age-old adage of “Fool me once. . . .”<br/><br/>Besides, he was under the distinct impression that Charlette already had her claws sunk into him.  While he had, er, something else sunk into her.<br/><br/><i>You’re a dirty old man, y’know that, Old Man?</i><br/><br/>He just wasn’t all that clear yet about Charlette.  Was she a fling, the occasional roll in the hay?  Or something more than either of those put together?  The gap in their ages still bothered him, though not as much as before.  The more she jumped his bones, the less those nine years seemed to matter.  At other times, however, when he was with her, it felt like he was cherry picking.  Paul was still of the opinion that she’d be better off with guys closer to her age, but the hot tamale was having none of it, reminding him numerous times of her preference.<br/><br/><i>Never mind all that crap, Old Man.  The real question is, how do you feel about her?  Or more specifically, do you have feelings for her?</i><br/><br/>Geez, a pair of loaded questions, he thought.  Ironically, he was getting close to unloading something else entirely.  Feelings for Charlette.  Now that was a Pandora’s Box in and of itself.<br/><br/>The rain continued to steadily fall.