Baumgartner Generations: Janie

CHAPTER FOUR

“Janie? Is that you?” TJ’s voice broke into my reverie as I stood under the hot, pounding water of their shower. I couldn’t stop thinking about Josh, who had left another message while I slept, telling me he’d pick me up at seven and he couldn’t wait to see what I’d be wearing. I’d been trying to decide since.

“It’s me,” I affirmed. There was a shower downstairs, but it didn’t have the double showerhead-or the delicious shower massager—so I often snuck up here instead.

“Just taking a shower.”

“Can I join you?” He peeked around the curtain, giving me a winning TJ grin, making the cleft in his chin even more prominent. I found it hard to resist him, even from the beginning. It was no different now.

“Where’s Ronnie?” I wiped water out of my eyes.

“Shopping.” He was already sliding his PJ bottoms off. “For baby clothes,” he added, stepping into the shower fully nude. He was tall, tanned and gorgeous, filling up all the available space and blocking the water spray. Not that I really minded.

Sometimes I liked having him all to myself.

“Beth isn’t home yet?” I’d woken up on my own-no Bethie jumping up and down on my bed-and slipped up here, feeling incredibly dirty, in so many ways, from last night’s romp.

“She’s going with Isabelle and her mom to the zoo.” He grabbed the soap and began to wash.

I slipped past him to the front, back under the warmth of the water. “Well that’s more fun than the Picasso exhibit.”

He snorted laughter. “You didn’t enjoy our day of art appreciation?”

“Oh, I didn’t mind. But I think Beth will like sea lions and polar bears more.”

“Probably true.” He moved on to washing his hair and I admired him while his eyes were closed.

“Just think, next year we’ll have two of them to take to the Met.” I was still trying to get used to the idea. “Think a baby will appreciate Picasso?”

“The Picasso exhibit will be gone by then…” TJ rubbed water out of his eyes and looked at me. His expression had changed. I could tell he was really worried.

“I heard you talking this morning.”

“What did you hear?” His frown deepened, and the look in his eyes-he wasn’t just worried, he was downright frightened-made me put my arms around him. It was a look I didn’t think I’d ever seen on his face before, unless you counted the time Beth accidentally inhaled an M amp;M and I was the one closest, the one who grabbed her and lifted and squeezed her little chest and made her spit it out. It was that same blind look of panic I saw in his eyes now.

“Why are you so scared?” I kissed his chest, beaded with water.

His arms went around me, tightening, holding me so close it was hard to breathe.

“I nearly lost them both, Janie.”

“How?”

He stroked my back. “Pregnancy just doesn’t agree with Ronnie.”

“What do you mean?”

“She had pre-term labor with Beth,” he explained. “You know, when you have contractions way before the baby’s ready to live on the outside?”

I nodded. I had a few girlfriends back home who had kids already, and had heard enough on Facebook about their pregnancies-from morning sickness to hemorrhoids-to last me a lifetime.

“Everything was restricted.” His arms enveloped me, his hands sliding downward. “She had to stay in bed for half the pregnancy. We couldn’t even have sex.”

“Is that what this is about?” I exclaimed, my eyes widening as I slapped his hands away from my behind.

“No.” He smiled sadly. “If it was just that, we’d have ten kids.”

“What, then?”

“She developed preeclampsia,” he told me. “Do you know what that is?”

I shook my head. Maybe I knew less about pregnancy than I thought I did, I realized.

“It’s when the mother’s blood pressure goes way too high. If it goes on, it can cause seizures and even death. For both mother and baby,” he explained.

“Can’t they fix it?”

He shrugged. “The solution is to get the baby out. But they don’t want to do that until the baby is old enough to survive.”

I tried to imagine how scared Ronnie had been, how scared TJ must have been.

“So what happened?”

“They finally decided it was too bad and they had to induce labor,” he went on.

“They tried that… but Ronnie had a seizure during labor.”

“Oh no.” Seizures I knew about. My uncle had been epileptic and I’d seen one once. It had scared the pants off me.

“I thought she was dying.” TJ blinked fast and I thought there might be tears in his eyes, but it was hard to tell with all the water. “All these doctors and nurses were going crazy, pushing me out of the way, putting stuff in her mouth to keep her from biting down on her tongue. They wheeled her out of there and down to the operating room and I was just…left…standing there…”

“But they did the c-section,” I urged, knowing the end of this story at least had a happy ending. “It turned out okay.”

“Yes.” He stared at the tiles as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. “That time, it did.” He looked at me then and I’d never seen such a deep expression of sad and scared like that before. It made my heart clench. “But what about this time?”

“Can it happen again?”

“Yes.”

“But it might not,” I argued, swallowing hard.

“That’s true.”

“But you’re still scared.” My arms went around his neck.

“Yes,” he whispered, his voice sounding choked and I knew there were tears in it.

“Now I’m scared.” I shivered in spite of the heat of the water.

“Ah, Janie girl, I’m sorry…” He kissed the top of my head, stroking my wet skin. “I didn’t mean to scare you, too.”

“I don’t want to lose her.” Even saying the words felt like a dream. It couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.

“I don’t either.” He kissed my cheek, my mouth. “I don’t want to lose either of you.”

“She’ll be okay,” I insisted, kissing him back. His tongue was warm, probing, his hands moving on my ass again. This time I didn’t push them away.

“God, I love your body,” he said against my ear, nibbling there, his thigh sliding between mine.

“Easy…” I groaned as his fingers probed between my legs.

“Are you really that sore?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“Uh huh.”

“Well I’ll be gentle…” He grinned, sinking to his knees and pressing me back against the tiles. “How about I kiss it and make it all better?”

“Oooohh.” I moaned softly as he carefully spread my lips. They were already swollen, and not just from the night before. I’d been thinking about Josh, lazily rubbing myself, when TJ interrupted me. Now his tongue pressed flat against my clit, moving back and forth, making me rock my hips in response.

“Oh yes,” I murmured, my hands in his hair. It was cut short and there wasn’t much to grab onto-not like Josh’s dark curls. And I had to admit, I was imagining it right then, thinking about shoving Josh’s face against my wet pussy. I couldn’t help it.

“Oooo, god, no,” I protested when his fingers probed between my lips, sliding up inside me. I was so sore from the fucking Catherine had given me from the strap-on I could barely stand it. “Not inside, please…”

“You poor baby.” He slid his fingers out and used them to spread my lips wider. I put one foot up on the edge of the tub, giving his mouth better access. “How about I just fuck you with my tongue?”

“Oh!” I rolled my pelvis forward when he made his tongue hard, like a tiny cock snaking its way into my cunt, his nose rubbing against my clit. I looked down to see him, water dripping over my breasts and belly, his eyes turned upward to mine. “Oh god, baby, that’s good! TJ, yes!”

“Mmmm!” was his only successful response.

I grabbed the back of his neck, grinding my hips, my clit throbbing, my pussy already wet from the shower, but slicker from my juices as he thrust his tongue in deep.

I mauled my breast in my other hand, pinching my nipple, sending delicious shockwaves down through my belly. All the sensation was centered between my thighs as I tottered against him, rubbing my clit into the hard press of his nose.

“TJ!” I moaned when he slid a finger past my pussy, probing further back, pressing against the tight pucker of my ass. “Oh! God!”

“Did she fuck you here?” He broke away to ask me the question and I whimpered, not wanting him to stop.

“No,” I panted, propelling him back toward my pussy.

“So I can do this?” His finger, wet and soapy from the dispenser on the wall, slid easily past my sphincter. I clenched, but it was no use.

“TJ,” I begged, shaking my head but quivering anyway, my body responding even though my head told me not to. In the year or so we’d been together, I still hadn’t

let him fuck my ass. Ronnie had encouraged me, and I’d watched him do her that way, but I just…couldn’t.

“Just my fingers,” he assured me, sliding another one in, making me cry out.

“Ohhhhh god,” I whispered, feeling him begin to fuck me, slow, not deep, just easing his way in to the knuckles and then back out again.

“You like that?” He leaned in to kiss my clit like it was my mouth, exploring with his tongue.

“No,” I lied, mewing, careening. “No, please… don’t…”

Then TJ stood, not moving his fingers, and I tried to wiggle away, but he forced the fullness of weight against me, kissing me breathless against the wet tiles.

“Let’s try this.” He reached over his head and took one of the shower heads down. He flicked the side of it with his thumb, turning the shower massager on. “Nice and easy.”

“Nooo,” I whispered as he slid it down between my legs, focusing the pulsing spray on the already sweltering nub of my clit. He knew I couldn’t resist the shower massager, and he was right. It felt too fucking good. It demanded my hips grind, looking for more, forcing his fingers deeper into my ass.

“That’s a girl.” He watched me, his cock like a hot steel poker against my thigh.

“You like it in your ass. I know you do.”

I gritted my teeth and shook my head, seeing him only through slits, but I thrust against his hand, the pounding wet heat of the shower massager driving me crazy. I held onto him, my knees weak, and nearly screamed as his fingers moved in deep, as deep as they could go, really fucking me now.

“Ohhhh TJ!” I moaned, struggling in his arms. His body was hard and lean, flattening me against the tiles. I bit his shoulder, raking my teeth there, licking an apology with my tongue afterward, lost in sensation.

“Oh yeah, that’s it,” he encouraged me. “Fuck me back. Do it. Faster, baby. Take it in your ass!”

I closed my eyes fully against his words, but I couldn’t stop the feeling, his fingers spreading me wide while the water flooded my clit with pleasure, taking me right to the edge of ecstasy.

“Tell me!” TJ’ s fingers moved like lightning, and god, yes, I found myself transported into fantasy, imagining a cock inside me now, fucking that tight hole. “Tell me, Janie.”

“Noooo,” I wailed, biting my lip, still wanting to deny it even as I was envisioning it.

“Yes!” He pressed the shower head fully against my pussy, rubbing it there, grinding. Oh my fucking god. That was too much. “Yes, yes, tell me yes!”

“Ahhhhh!” My nails dug into his back as I gave into it, gave into him. “Yes! Oh fuck yes, TJ, yes! Yes! Fuck my ass! I love it! Oh god yes!”

I screamed the last, my climax catching up with me as TJ shoved the shower head against my cunt and drove his fingers deep into my ass. I let him have it all, my pussy throbbing with delicious spasms, even my tight little asshole clenching, rewarding his plunging fingers. He held me up as I came, my knees going out almost completely, my whole body vibrating with my final release. Then I crumpled in his arms, against the lean, wet, hard warmth of his body as the sensation overtook me.

“Jesus.” He put the shower head back, the water flooding us both with pulsing heat, still holding me tight. “That was so fucking hot.”

“Mmmm.” I was floating, lost.

TJ took my limp weight in his arms, kissing me, my mouth, my chin, my neck, my breasts.

“Don’t get any ideas,” I said when I started to come around, glimpsing the light in his eyes. “I am still not letting you fuck my ass.”

“No?” He pouted, but he was smiling, kidding me. “Then I’ll just have to fuck a different hole…one that isn’t sore… let me see…” I shied away when his hand reached for my pussy. “Hmmm, not here…” His slippery fingers probed my navel and I laughed.

“Can’t fit in here, I’m afraid.”

Grabbing the fat, wet bulge of his cock and squeezing, I said, “Hardly,” making him groan.

“How about here?” His fingers reached my lips, smearing over them. He kissed me, his tongue probing, making my limbs feel weak again. “Will you let me fuck your mouth?”

Nodding, I let my legs do what they wanted to anyway and sank to kneeling in the tub. His cock was rigid and I tugged on its wet length, using the water flowing down his body as natural lubrication. He turned so he was leaning back against the tiles now, letting me play.

“So hard.” I rubbed the head of his dick against my lips. “You really liked fingering my asshole didn’t you?”

His eyes brightened when he looked down at me. “You have no idea.”

“What do you think it would feel like to put your cock in there?” I teased, licking his precum off with my tongue. I couldn’t see it-everything was too wet-but I could taste it.

He groaned. “Fucking fantastic.” Grabbing my hair, he slid his cock between my lips, not patient anymore. “A lot like this,” he panted, ignoring my pleas as he began to fuck my mouth. He knew I loved it. “Only tighter.” I gagged a little as he thrust deep and I grabbed the base of his cock to keep from taking too much. “And hotter.”

Just the pace he set made me crazy and my pussy responded, aching for more. I wanted him in my mouth, in my cunt, in my ass, everything all at once. I couldn’t get enough of him. He moaned when my fingernails grazed his balls, and then I cupped them gently, feeling their weight. I let him slip out of my mouth so I could tease his balls with my tongue.

“Oh god, Janie,” he breathed, his hand in my hair. I guided his other hand to his cock as I sucked one of his balls into my mouth, rolling it around with my tongue. “You want me to stroke it for you?”

I nodded eagerly and he took it in his fist, pumping slowly as he watched me suck and lick his balls. The water dripped over his hard, flat belly and down into my mouth as I tongued him. I loved seeing him jerk off, the way his head went back, how the muscles in his stomach clenched and rolled.

I couldn’t help myself-I reached down to touch my pussy, rubbing gently around my clit, avoiding the aching throb of my hole. Damn, Catherine had really gone to town on me last night. Still, I shivered with the memory, watching TJ stroke himself for me as he watched me touch myself, too. His eyes were full of lust when he looked at me, the water slicking my hair back, beading on my breasts and belly, dripping down between my legs.

“You really want to fuck something that isn’t sore?” I bit my lip as I met his gaze.

His eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

Instead of responding, I grinned, reaching up and squeezing soap out of the dispenser. His anticipation turned to amusement when I started spreading it over my tits, making them incredibly soapy.

“Tease,” he admonished, but his hand moved faster in response to seeing the soapy water make its way over my breasts and down my belly. “Push them together.”

I did as he asked, kneeling up so he could get a better angle. His eyes followed my movements as I rubbed my nipples, the soap slick on my hands, pressing my breasts up and together for him. He slapped his cock against my tits and I arched, watching him bend his knees so he could slide it up from the bottom, pressing between my flesh, the head of his cock appearing at the top of my cleavage.

“God, you've got incredible tits.” His praise made me blush as he began to thrust, his hips working. I moaned softly, enjoying the exquisite sight of his cock appearing and disappearing again, the shower water from above flooding the crevice, making the soap turn into frothy suds as he fucked my tits, faster, faster. He growled and grabbed my breasts in his big hands, just using my flesh now to get off.

I had to get myself off, too. My pussy was sopping and I used the heel of my hand, rolling my hips and riding it out. It wasn’t going to take long, the way TJ was thrusting and bucking and moaning all sorts of dirty things to me.

“Take that cock, you little slut,” he groaned. “You like it between your tits? You’re such a little cockwhore.”

Oh, god. It was so true. I rubbed myself off faster, eager for my orgasm and for his. I wanted his cum all over me.

“Oh fuck! Janieeee!” He called my name as he came, mashing the softness of my breasts around his throbbing cock. I felt every fiery explosion of cum, the first blast hard enough to bathe my neck in alabaster devotion, the next coming in a bold gush from the head of his dick and then dripping like hot seed pearls over the rise of my breasts. I cried out, convulsing as I came too, just from watching the brilliant display of his climax, the heel of my hand riding hard against my cunt as I shuddered and threw my head back and howled.

“Oh god,” he whispered, bending to scoop me into his arms and shower me with kisses. I put my arms around his neck, letting him hold me like a baby as he sank to the tub floor with me in his arms, resting my cheek against the rise and fall of his chest. “I love you so much, Janie girl. So very much.”

I nodded, closing my eyes. I loved him, too, I did. I loved them both. I loved them so much I didn’t know what I would do without them in my life.

The water had gone from hot to warm, and I knew it was going to run to cold soon and force us out, but for that moment, we were content, holding onto each other and rocking together.

“Wow.” Josh’s eyes lit up and he gave a low wolf-whistle when I stepped out onto the porch. I couldn’t help the rush of blood to my face-and to other parts of my body-

when I saw his rapacious look. “Is red the new black?”

“Everything is the new black.” I rolled my eyes, but I glanced down at my dress-

it was a short, sexy red number with a sweetheart neckline and wide shoulder straps.

The best part was the fully ruched torso that fit me like a second skin. I pulled my wrap up across my shoulders, now that he’d had the full effect. It was a warm night, almost summer-like, but my shoulders were bare and it would grow cool later in the evening.

“Who would have thought more material would be sexier?” he mused as I followed him to the car. No limo-this was a brand new Mustang GT, sleek and black, riding low to the ground. “So how you feeling, Just-Janie?”

I smiled as he opened the passenger door for me. “No longer hungover, thankfully.”

“Well, let’s see if we can fix that.” He winked as he shut the my door, trotting around the front of the car to get into the driver’s side.

“I am definitely not getting drunk tonight,” I informed him as the car purred to life and I put on my seat belt. “Apparently, I do stupid things when I’m drunk.”

He chuckled, buckling up too. “Well we can’t have that.”

I watched as he shifted-it was a stick-and the vehicle responded immediately.

“Nice car.”

“She’s a sweet ride.” He shifted again as he neared the stop sign at the end of our street.

“Why do men always talk about cars as if they’re women?” I wondered aloud.

“Because they are.” He turned left.

“How can you tell?” I snorted, opening my purse and finding a box of Altoids. “Did you turn it over and look?”

“Did you see this beauty?” Josh asked, incredulous, glancing over as I opened the tin and dug out a breath mint. “The lines, the curves… she’s a looker, this one. Stunning.”

“Really?” I sucked on the breath mint, wincing at the intensity. They were, indeed, ‘curiously strong.’ “Are we still talking about a car?”

He grinned. “She’s fast and reliable, but she can be high maintenance.” He shifted to slow down at a light, the engine going from low roar to easy rumble.

“Sometimes you have to sweet-talk her to get her to go where you want her to…”

“Well, jeez, does she put out too?”

He grinned. “That depends on your definition.”

“Well if a car is a woman…” I offered him an Altoid. He shook his head, watching me plunk the tin back into my purse. “One good thing… no PMS.”

He laughed. “True enough.”

I turned to look at his profile as he drove, heading out onto the highway now. I couldn’t decide if I liked him better cleaned up and dressed in a suit or in his pajamas with his hair all mussed. Both had their appeal.

“So Josh…” I hesitated, knowing what I wanted to ask, but not sure I should.

“So Janie…” he countered, weaving effortlessly through traffic.

“Does Catherine know you’re seeing me tonight?” I asked the question quickly, like pulling off a Band-Aid.

He shifted and the car sped up, thundering in response. We were in the fast lane, now.

“No,” he answered finally.

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “She doesn’t tell me about her dates.”

“Tit for tat?” I grinned when he gave me a sly look. “Just an expression. So… have you ever been on a date before, then?”

He gave me another look and I laughed. “I mean, while you've been married to her?”

“No.”

I nodded. Just as Catherine had suspected. “So I’m the first?”

“You are,” he agreed. Traffic was getting more congested the closer we got to the city. I glanced at the clock on the dash, but we had plenty of time to get to dinner.

“How come?” I asked finally. “I mean… a guy like you… I’m sure you've had plenty of other opportunities.”

“You think?” A small smile played on his lips.

“Well, if I was a guy whose wife said go ahead, fuck anyone you want, I think I’d be like a kid in a candy store…”

“Would you?” He smiled fully then, glancing over at me, eyes dancing. “You’re an adventurer, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s me, an adventurer.” I waggled my eyebrows. “Just call me Pirate-Janie. Argh.”

“I think I like Just-Janie better.” He winked. “But I wouldn’t object to a pirate outfit.

Maybe an eye patch, a ruffled shirt, a little skirt…”

“Of course.” I shook my head, smiling. “But really…why haven’t you?”

“I guess I’m not like that.”

I snorted. “All guys are like that.”

“I hope you don’t convey that stereotype in your fiction,” he remarked, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

“Oh come on, Mr. Cars-Are-Like-Women…” I rolled my eyes. “You can’t tell me you haven’t been tempted?”

“Tempted?” he asked. “Sure. But it’s a long way between tempted and… well… this.”

I nodded. “So what makes you take that huge leap between tempted and… this.”

“I think my profession has made me… particular,” he said finally.

“In what way?

“In spite of what you or Jim Carrey may think about agents.” He gave me a sideways glance. “We have to be very discerning. We know what we like when we see it.”

“So what are you saying…?” I cocked my head, looking over at him as he pulled off onto the freeway exit ramp. “That in the entire city of New York, you haven’t found a woman you wanted to go to bed with?”

“Yes.” The car growled lowly as we idled in New York traffic. “Until now, anyway.”

Our eyes met and I thought I might melt through the floor. The way he looked at me made my whole body fill with heat. It was like something had sparked at our first

meeting that had quickly kindled into wildfire. It was burning out of control. Someone honked behind us and Josh shifted his attention back to the road.

“Have you ever been to Masa?” he asked as we pulled up to the Time Warner building.

“No.” I didn’t know anyone who had ever been to Masa-at least, not to Masa proper. A few of TJ’s friends talked about going to Bar Masa, which was like the upper-middle-class version. To go to Masa, you didn’t just have to have money, you had to be practically made of it.

“Well, I hope you like sushi.” Josh braked, shifted and opened his door. “Josh Wickham,” he told the valet, handing over his keys as my door was opened by another valet, who extended his hand. I took it, letting him help me out.

The Time-Warner center was colossal, and it was both surreal and I suppose fitting to have to pass through what was essentially a high-end mall, mounting an escalator lined with advertising to get to the most exclusive, expensive restaurant in New York.

“Josh,” I whispered as we stood side by side, riding up the moving stairway like we were ascending to heaven. “I've never had sushi.”

“Now you tell me?” He smiled and took my hand. It was big and warm and practically swallowed mine. “Well, a pirate girl like you should take right to it. Adventure and fish-isn’t that the life of a pirate?”

“Argh,” I agreed, blinking as Josh gave his name again at the door and it was swung wide for us by a man with a shaved head wearing an oriental robe and clogs.

“Maybe I should have worn a kimono. Or my peg leg and eye patch?”

“Nah.” Josh squeezed my hand as he gave his name again and we were led through the restaurant. It was small but full, the Shinto-like decor sparse but lovely, including burbling water and bamboo shades. “Have I mentioned how much I like the dress?”

“Well, I had to find something impressive.” I smiled. “Most men haven’t already seen me out of one before our first date.”

“Good to know.” Josh grinned as he held out a chair for me. I sat, surprised we had passed up all of the tables to sit at the bar, which was lit from above and glowed, luminous, like a stage. There were men, all with shaved heads, working behind the bar, some pouring drinks but most preparing sushi and other entrees with knives so sharp they could have been samurai swords. I watched these sushi-monks, fascinated, as Josh ordered sake.

The bar itself was made of the softest wood I’d ever felt and just putting my hands on it was a sensual experience. I leaned over to whisper to Josh, “I've never had sake, either.”

“Well, good,” he said as it was put before us in a clear green bottle in a bowl on a bed of crushed ice. “Let’s make this a night of firsts, shall we?”

After one sake, I was flying. “This is strong stuff,” I gulped as Josh poured me more.

“Lightweight,” he teased, downing another and nodding to one of the sushi-monks as he placed a small plate of food in front of each of us.

“What is it?” I asked, watching Josh bite into one of the delicately decorated squares.

“An adventure in my mouth.” He swallowed. “Try it.”

I picked it up, taking a tentative bite, my eyes widening in surprise. “That’s good!”

He watched me finish it all, even dabbing my fingers on the plate to get the last little bits of snow crab touched with vinegar. “That was raw tuna,” he informed me as one of the monks took away our empty plates. “Nobu-style with caviar.”

“Mmm.” I drank the rest of my second sake, feeling like I was floating. “Never had caviar either. That was spectacular.”

“Do we have a sushi virgin over here?” I looked up to see a pleasant-looking, round-faced man leaning over the bar, watching us.

Josh held out his hand and the man shook it. “Masa! Good to see you.”

He nodded in agreement. “And who is your friend?”

“Janie,” I replied, holding my hand out, surprised Josh knew the owner, but now I knew how he must have managed to get a spot tonight at a restaurant that required reservations weeks in advance. “Nice to meet you.”

“You never had sushi before, Janie?” Masa bowed over my hand, squeezing it between two of his.

“No, never.” I nodded toward where his sushi-monks were working. “But I like it!

And they’re all so talented!”

Masa chuckled, turning to Josh. “You brought her to impress, hm?” Josh just smiled, pouring more sake. Masa nodded and winked at me. “I bring you something special.”

“So, are you impressed?” Josh asked when Masa turned and went to talk to one of his chefs.

“Who wouldn’t be?” I took another drink of sake, shivering at the taste and the effect. “I guess being J.K. Rowling’s agent is lucrative?”

“Ah.” Josh raised his eyebrows. “Did you Google me?”

I shook my head. “My employer knew who you were.”

“To tell you the truth, what I make is a drop in the bucket next to Catherine’s money.”

“Really?” I looked at him, surprised. “She told me she was a model?”

“She is.” Josh nodded at one of the monks as he put two plates in front of us.

“But just for the hell of it. Catherine is old money.”

“What’s this?” I inquired, already digging in.

“Aji mackerel sashimi tossed in shiso blossoms,” Masa informed us, watching me devour it.

“Yummy.” I looked up at him, smiling my approval. “And this?”

“Uni risotto,” Masa told me. “With sea urchin and truffles.”

“Ooo truffles.” The stuff was like sex on a plate. “Never had those, either.”

“Try the truffle butter.” Josh fed me something from his plate and I moaned softly as the stuff melted on my tongue.

“Ah, and this is our Kobe-beef sukiyaki.” Masa stood aside as the chefs took our empty plates and served us again. “And shabu-shabu.”

“Is this lobster?” I dipped a spoon into the beautiful little pot and tasted the delicate stuff.

Masa smiled, nodding. “And foie gras.”

I swallowed, making a happy noise and looking at Josh. “That’s heaven.”

“Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better?” He took a bit of the meat from my pot and dipped it in a sauce. As he fed it to me, I groaned.

Eagerly, I began to dip and eat more, Josh’s gaze on me the whole while. When the meat and vegetables were gone, Josh took the rest of my dipping sauce and poured it into the gorgeous bowl of broth, adding the leftover risotto.

Masa nodded, smiling. “ Now try.”

I dipped a spoon into the mixture. It was like a tangy, delicious soup. “You make transformer meals!”

“Ha! Yes!” Masa laughed, slapping the bar. “Transformer meals!”

He went away, still chuckling, leaving us with another course.

“Now, this is really sushi,” Josh explained as each plate was presented to us like works of art. The sushi-monks moved like silent, fluid jellyfish behind the illuminated bar, so many plates coming and going I could have sworn they had tentacles.

I couldn’t keep track of the names-thinks like o-toro, tai, saba and kohada.

Masa said one of them was flown in that day from Spain. The ika, which Josh told me was squid, was particularly good, and there were these delectable shrimp-aba ebi-I couldn’t get enough of.

By the time the meal was over, I was stuffed, and the sweet, icy melon they served us at the end was perfection. I was also incredibly high on sake and couldn’t believe we’d spent three hours in the restaurant.

“You come back again any time, Janie.” Masa smiled as he shook my hand.

“Bring Josh if you want to.”

I laughed as Josh put my wrap around my shoulders and we left. The descent back into the real world was more surreal than the whole dinner experience itself.

“I don’t want to go home,” I confessed, swinging Josh’s hand as we got off the escalator.

“We could look around.” Josh waved at the stores, but he looked doubtful.

I shook my head. “Let’s do something…adventurous.”

“Argh.” He grinned. “All right, Just-Janie. Can you walk in those shoes?”

I looked down at the red strappy heels I was wearing. “Sure.”

That was how we ended up walking through Central Park at ten at night, Josh’s arm around my waist, the night air cool but inviting. It was the last refuge of nature in the middle of a city of steel and glass. I loved smelling the trees and the freshly cut grass as we walked and yet looking up to see the paradox of buildings lit up and towering over us.

“Did you like Masa?”

“If I wasn’t so stuffed, I’d make you take me back for more,” I teased.

He chuckled. “You’re so greedy.”

“It’s true.” I stopped and he turned to look at me, sliding his other arm around my waist. “I can’t help it. I want what I want…” I wondered if he was thinking what I was-

that I had been with his wife just a day or so ago, and here I was, now in his arms.

“Would it be wrong to tell you how much I want to kiss you?” His eyes were silver in the moonlight, his breath full of sake.

“No,” I whispered, putting my arms around his neck. “It would be really wrong not to do it, though.”

“You think?” His lips met mine before I could think of a response, before I could think at all. He tasted like sake, too, but so did I. I wasn’t sure it was the sake, though, that was sending the fire flowing through my veins as we kissed. I slipped a hand through his hair, all those dark curls, as his mouth slanted across mine and our tongues began to explore. I forgot where we were, I forgot everything but the feel of his body against mine, my breasts pressed against his chest as he pulled me in closer.

“Janie, I want you,” he whispered, kissing my neck, enveloping me in his arms. I could feel that-his cock hard through his trousers, pressed against my belly. “Would it be wrong to take you home with me tonight?”

I shivered as he lavished kisses over my neck and shoulders, his breath hot, coming almost as fast as mine. I wanted to answer him, to tell him yes, but I was too afraid. What would happen then, I wondered? What would it be like, waking up with Josh but having to face Catherine in the morning? How was this going to work?

“Josh,” I murmured as his hands moved down my back, cupping my ass, squeezing gently as his tongue made little circles over my collarbone. God, if he kept that up, I was going to be inviting him back to my place, and I didn’t even want to think about the consequences of that, what Ronnie and TJ would say.

“You feel so good,” he groaned, and before I knew it, we were kissing on a park bench, Josh pulling me into his lap.

My dress was too tight to allow me to straddle him properly, so he pushed it up and grabbed my hips, crushing the red silk of my panties directly against the heat of his erection. I could feel it through his trousers, riding up and down as we rocked together.

“Oh god,” I moaned softly when he broke off to stroke my breasts through my dress, kissing the swell of my cleavage. I could see the hunger in his eyes when he looked up at me in the glow of a street light. “Please, Josh…”

He slipped a hand behind my neck, pulling my mouth down to his, kissing me breathless. When I slid my hand between us to feel the length of his cock through the thin material, he groaned against my mouth, arching up. I couldn’t stand it. If we kept on like this, we’d end up fucking right there on the park bench.

“Josh, wait,” I begged, burying my face against his neck, breathing hard. “Not here. Not like this.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, attempting to catch his breath, too. “My place?” I shook my head sadly, sliding off his lap and pulling my dress back down. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Your place?” he asked hopefully.

“I live with my employers, remember?” I took his hand and sighed. I didn’t want to have to explain Ronnie and TJ. Not now. “They probably wouldn’t care, but…” I shrugged.

“I understand.” He gave my hand a squeeze and we sat there, listening to the crickets and watching dark clouds play tag with the moon.

“Come on,” he said finally, standing and tugging on my hand. “Let’s get you home before you turn into a pumpkin.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized as we walked.

“Don’t.” He stopped, pulling me into his arms and kissing me softly. “Don’t tempt me. I am two seconds away from getting us a room at the Plaza.”

“Why not?” I breathed, just the press of his body against mine making me light-headed.

“Let’s save something for the second date.” He smiled and took my hand again as we began to walk.

Second date. Oh god, what was I getting myself into?

When he dropped me off at home, he gave me the softest, sweetest kiss ever and told me he’d call. And I believed him.

That was the problem.