They grabbed some burgers from In and Out Burgers then headed to the Walk. He pulled his hat down lower and slid his glasses on. She put some sun screen on her face and arms then slid her own sun glasses on and her small purse across her body. She popped out of the SUV and met him at the front, her hands in her pockets as she bounced on her feet. Her smile was back in place as though their conversation from earlier hadn’t even happened.

"Where do you want to start?" she asked him and plucked a map from the display.

"You pick."

"Can we start on Hollywood and Vine with the older stars?"

"Sure. We need to go this way then," he stated as he started to the left. "We got a good parking spot if that’s where we are starting."

"Have you done this before?"

"Nope."

"I know it’s very tourist-y and we don’t have to stay very long." She suddenly seemed antsy and less excited. "An hour then we can go."

"Ken, what’s going on?"

"You just don’t seem to be excited about this."

"I’m sorry. I am," he said as he stopped and faced her. "I….."

"What?"

"It’s stupid….."

"You made me tell you earlier so you have to tell me now," she demanded with her hands on her hips and a very determined face on. "Spit it out."

"I…..I just realized that if we are out here, walking around, I can’t touch you like I want. I’ve learned that cameras are everywhere and it only takes one picture for the world to imply that I’ve got a new woman in my life. I like things the way they are…..without everyone else’s opinions and questions."

"Oh…..I see."

He shrugged and turned her around so they were headed in the right direction. She seemed to ponder his comment and he could see her brain working overtime. Finally he laughed out loud and gave her a side arm hug.

"We’ll be OK, love. I think I can hold off for a little while."

"I….I know you are super private but you can hold my hand if you want," she offered, a genuine smile on her face. "Not the entire walk but on occasion…….if you want."

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her as they walked. She was so excited to see names of people who influenced so many folks. She took her time and asked him random questions like what was his favorite Audrey Hepburn film and had he ever seen Casablanca. He answered and enjoyed seeing the experience through her eyes. They walked for several blocks then turned randomly and soon found Walt Disney’s star. She laughed and made him squat down so she could take his pic. He did and even smiled because her joy was so infectious.

"That’s an awesome pic," she smiled and looked up at him. "Can I send it to Marilyn?"

"Sure but I think you need to take a picture too."

"Ooh! Elvis. I’ll do Elvis."

"You will?" he teased. "Won’t that be kinda hard since he’s been gone a while?"

"You know what I mean, punk. Just take the picture."

He took her phone and snapped the picture. She looked so happy and he sent it to himself as well as Marilyn. As soon as he pressed send, a call came in and he laughed before answering.

"Hello, gorgeous! How is that Texas heat?"

"Hey, JC," Marilyn laughed. "The heat is unforgiving. How are you enjoying Ken?"

"We are on the Walk of Fame right now as you can see from the pics. I have a surprise for her later and she’s antsy to find out some details but I’m not giving in."

"Good man. Keep her guessing. That keeps her on her toes."

"Yes, ma’am. I plan to. I suppose you want to talk with her?"

"No, I just wanted to see if she’d take a pic of Elvis’ star for me," Marilyn laughed. "I just loved his music."

"We did and I just sent it to you as you were calling."

"Awesome! Well, I won’t keep you. Treat my friend right, OK? She’s been hurt a lot before so be honest with her."

"I am and I will be," he whispered and turned from Kennelly’s prying eyes. "I really like her and I’m so glad she’s here."

"Alrighty then. Hugs to both of you. Bye!"

"What did she want?" Ken asked as he handed over her phone.

"She wanted you to take a pic with Elvis and chat with me."

"What did she say? Should I be embarrassed?"

"No," he laughed and hooked his arm around her neck. "Let’s get a cold drink before we continue."

They popped into a smoothie shop and enjoyed something cool to drink as they walked a little more. Kennelly seemed to have had her fill of the experience and the foot traffic was starting to pick up so he led them closer to the car. Once inside, he blasted the air conditioning to cool them off and pulled out into traffic.

"Where are we going now?"

"We are heading to our surprise," he announced and took her hand, setting it on his thigh and covering it with his own. "It’ll take us about an hour to get there with traffic."

"I supposed you still won’t give me a hint, right?"

"Right."

"Punk," she pouted then squeezed his thigh. "I know it’ll be fun because I’m with you."

"That’s sweet. Thank you. I know we’ll have fun. Do you want to pick some music?"

"I don’t care what we listen to. This is fine."

They were listening to some random radio station and it seemed to play all kinds of stuff. It went from Madonna’s latest hit to Aerosmith from the 90’s then on to Tupac. She hummed along and mumbled some of the words then Ain’t Too Proud To Beg by TLC came on. Her face lit up and she sang along word for word, making JC laugh at her swagger.

"You are crazy, Ken."

"I love this song," she laughed and the track changed to some slow ballad. "Ooh! Toni Braxton. You’re Making Me High. I used to crank this in my first car and SING!"

"What was your first car?"

"A 1988 Plymouth Horizon…..She was baby blue and her name was Lucy after my Great Grandma Lucille."

He grinned and listened to her sing, enjoying the words coming from her mouth. He merged onto the 605 and glanced over at her. Her head was back against the headrest and she was looking out the window, taking everything in.

"Are you having a good time, love?"

"I’m having a great time," she smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for being a tourist with me today."

"I enjoyed myself."

"Are there other tourist things you haven’t done but want to?"

"Hmm….I haven’t thought about it," he answered then changed lanes and placed his hand back over hers on his thigh. "I’ll have to think about that."

"I’ll go with you if you want."

"Thanks, Ken."

She squeezed his thigh and went back to looking out the window. Traffic wasn’t moving much and the music was random. JC relaxed and allowed the music to invade his brain. Creed’s With Arms Wide Open came on and he sang along. Suddenly he realized she wasn’t singing and he glanced over at her. She was grinning from ear to ear, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.

"What?"

"You have an amazing voice," she complimented then rubbed his thigh again. "You should REALLY do that professionally. I bet you’d have a lot of fans."

He busted out a loud laugh and kissed her hand. She laughed and turned her hand over so she could intertwine their fingers. He held her hand against his heart and sang the last chorus.

"You are so good for my ego."

"I speak the truth, love. You have an amazing voice and rock my world when we are intimate," she shrugged. "I’m right and you know it."

He laughed again as traffic came to a halt. They didn’t move for the next twenty minutes and he expected Kennelly to get aggravated but she kept her cool. She sang along to the radio and checked her phone for messages. She read Marilyn’s text and he laughed with her.

"So……"

"So?" He looked over at her, the fingers of his left hand drumming along the steering wheel. "We only have three more exits then we get off."

"I was thinking…..since we are at a stand still, do you think I could get a smooch?"

"Hell yeah. Come over here."

She eagerly leaned into the console and connected their lips. Her left hand was still in his right and he felt her right hand sneak up into his hair. She pulled slightly and adjusted his mouth to her liking, sliding her tongue in as soon as he opened for her. She sighed at the taste of him and he buried his left hand in her curls. They continued kissing for several minutes until she finally pulled away, both of them panting and grinning.

"Hi."

"Hi, handsome. I like the way you kiss."

He blushed and checked the traffic, easing his foot off of the brake and moving forward. He kissed the back of her hand then put it back in his lap, unable to resist rubbing it against his emerging hard on.

"My friend seems to enjoy our kissing as well," she teased and squeezed his hand. "I slid two condoms into my purse this morning…..just in case."

"Fuck, Ken!

"I just want to be prepared."

"That’s hot," he panted and squirmed in his seat. "I don’t know that we’ll have the opportunity before class but it’s good to know the option is there."

"Class? What kind of class?"

"Shit! You are distracting me. That’s not fair."

"Don’t pout, punk," she teased and bit is bicep. "What kind of class?"

"You’ll see when we get there."

"Boo! You’re mean."

He laughed and turned up the radio, hoping to stop her questions. It seemed to work and she went back to singing along to the radio. He sang some but mostly listened to her.

"Gary is right. You do know most of the lyrics to every song. That’s amazing, Ken."

"I enjoy music and the lyrics just seem to stick," she shrugged. "I am also pretty good at random trivia. My head is full of useless knowledge."

"Oooh! I have a trivia game on the Wii. We’ll have to play."

"OK but you’ve been warned."

Traffic creeped along until they finally got to their exit. The SUV clock showed 645 and JC smiled at his planning.

"Are we late?" Ken asked as he found a parking spot on the side of a non-descript brick building.

"No, the class starts at 7. I wanted to make sure we left downtown in time to get here."

JC climbed out of the SUV and opened the back door, pulling out a small cloth grocery bag. He met her on her side of the vehicle and took her hand. Her eyes were taking in everything about the industrial neighborhood and he kissed her forehead, enjoying how she took everything in.

"I…." he started to say three little words the stopped himself, suddenly unsure how she’d react. "I really like how you take it all in."

"New experiences are cool and I want to enjoy all of it."

He opened the glass door that read ‘New Skills’ and ushered her in. He watched as she tried to figure out what they were doing from the nearly empty front room. A small woman with grey hair stepped through the curtain and greeted them.

"Oh, you came back!" she smiled when JC pulled off his sun glasses. "How are you doing with breakfast?"

"Pretty good. I even made omelets this morning."

"Fabulous!"

"Ken, this is RoseMary," he introduced and the women shook hand. "She’s our instructor."

"Tonight we are going around the world. We will be making Chinese dumplings for an appetizer, chicken enchiladas with corn salsa, and a Southern apple crisp with an oatmeal crumble. I hope you are hungry."

"We are doing a cooking class?" Ken asked and her face lit up. "This is awesome, baby. I think it’ll be fun. Are we working together as a team? Or separate?"

"This is a couple’s cooking class," RoseMary added and led them through the curtain. "Pick your station. Others will be arriving soon."

JC led her to the far right station and pulled two aprons from his bag as well as a note pad and pencil. He tied his apron then exchanged the sun glasses on top of his head for his reading glasses. He washed his hands then turned to a fresh page in the notebook and looked at Ken.

"What?"

"You are amazing," she sighed and kissed him. "How many classes have you taken?"

"I’ve taken the breakfast course three times but I think I finally got the hang of it."

"You do because breakfast was so delicious."

"Thanks," he whispered bashfully then got serious. "Sometimes RoseMary goes kinda fast but she doesn’t mind questions or repeating herself. She’ll explain the recipe once she’s handed it out then we’ll work on it. I assume we’ll work on the chicken enchiladas because I assume they will take the longest then we’ll move onto something else. Maybe the dessert will cook as we eat the appetizers and main course. I’m just guessing though."

"Are you nervous?"

"A little."

"I’m sure we’ll do well. We are a good team," she smiled and winked at him. "Will you tie my apron?"

Three other couples came in and RoseMary headed to the front of the room. She introduced herself then explained what they would be making. She took her time explaining what pans they would be needing and instructed them to cut their vegetables and chicken first.

"Do you want veggies or chicken?" Kennelly asked.

"I’ll do the chicken."

She nodded and got to work on her onion, green pepper and garlic. He watched her as he used kitchen scissors on the chicken breasts, keeping the pieces to similar size. It didn’t take them long then she placed the large skillet on the burner and added a touch of oil, moving to the side as he added the chicken. He kept moving the chicken around then started turning it over to make sure both sides were getting done.

"Can you pass me a knife, Ken?" he asked as he isolated a larger piece of chicken. "I think we might be close."

He cut the piece open and it was completely white inside so he checked the recipe. He added the veggies she’d cut then helped her measure out the dry ingredients: oregano, black pepper, and parsley. Then he added the sour cream and chili powder. Once the sauce started to come together, he added the tomato sauce and stirred it thoroughly.

"That smells so good."

"Would you get the tortillas ready, love?" JC asked as he stirred the mixture again. "This is going to be so good."

She opened the package of tortillas and sat them near his elbow then she moved to the left. She started on the corn salsa. It seemed pretty straight forward and didn’t take her too long to put together. She slid the bowl into the fridge as JC finished rolling the last tortilla and loaded it into the casserole dish. She opened the oven for him and he put the covered dish inside.

"Looks like everyone is ready to start dessert. We need to start by peeling and coring the five apples you’ll find at your station," RoseMary called out from the other side of the room. "Try to keep the pieces about the same size. Try to be consistent."

JC was a whiz at peeling the apples. He allowed very little apple to come off with the peel and Ken complimented him on it several times. Finally, she gave up peeling and began chopping the slices as he continued. They continued to work well together and once they finished adding the cinnamon, sugar, butter and oatmeal, they were slightly ahead of everyone else.

"I need to write a few notes down," he admitted and went to work. "I’ll be right there to help with the dishes."

"I got this, babe."

He leaned over and kissed her, sweet but kind of long. He watched her eyes flutter back open and felt her sigh. He grinned, patted her ass then headed to make his notes. He added spray to pans and stir often next to the chicken mixture. He re-read the recipe and checked the timer but all was good. He sighed happily then stepped over to help Ken with the few dishes as the other couples finished their dessert dish.

"OK, looks like everyone is done with dessert. Let’s put together the appetizer then we’ll sit down and eat," RoseMary called the class back to order. "This is more assembly then actual making."

She explained how to assemble the dumplings and left them to pinch them together. She made her way around the room to check on each couple’s progress.

"I can’t do this."

"C, baby, you have it," Ken encouraged and rubbed his back. "Take your time on the pinching. I think you’re going to fast and it’s not sticking."

JC took a deep breath then tried again. Her tip was right and he had the new technique down minutes later. He grinned and did another one as Kennelly started the oil in the skillet. Together they followed the recipe and their dumplings looked amazing when they plated them. She high fived him then he kissed her, surprising her again.

"Great job, class. Please bring your dumplings to the table and choose a wine. Your enchiladas should be out in about ten minutes then we’ll start your desserts."

"I don’t know much about wine," Ken admitted as she picked up their plate of dumplings. "Would you pick ours?"

"Definitely."

He walked over to the small selection and chose a Pinot Gris. He opened the bottle then carried it to the table, pouring a sample for both of them. He handed Kennelly hers then tapped his glass against her before enjoying the dry wine. It was delicious and he realized how hungry he was as the other couples came over. Once everyone was seated, they started eating and chatting. Both Ken and JC made polite conversation and JC was super excited that RoseMary sat next to him and tried their dumplings. She complimented them then sent the men to get the enchiladas and place the dessert in the oven.

"This is hot," JC grimaced as he sat the dish on the table between them. "Yikes."

"It smells amazing."

They enjoyed dinner and received more compliments from RoseMary before Ken pulled the dessert out. It was definitely the best of the evening. The sugar, cinnamon and butter had formed a glaze while the oatmeal gave it a fuller flavor. The entire group was stuffed and they lazed around the table as they finished their wine then finally they all rose to pack leftovers and clean up their space.

"I am so stuffed," JC announced as they exited the building and he took her hand. "We have lunch tomorrow, too."

"I liked those recipes and that you can make a smaller amount. Thank you for bringing me."

"You’re welcome."

He stopped at the passenger door and opened it for her. Once she was up in the passenger seat, he leaned in and kissed her heatedly. She kissed him back with as much passion as he gave her then panted when they broke apart.

"Let’s go home and get naked," she whispered and winked at him.

"So you don’t want to see LA night life tonight then?" he teased and she shook her head no. "OK. Home it is then."