Flirting with Fire: A Summer Camp Swingers novel

Chapter 6

Allie entered the guest bedroom and then waited as I closed the door. I moved behind her, and she exhaled softly as I put my hand on her right shoulder. Her skin was soft and smooth, covered with freckles almost too faint to see.

I fingered the strap of her swimsuit and then slid it down to reveal the pale skin underneath. She sighed again as I kissed her bare shoulder. The air between us crackled with anticipation.

After a moment she leaned back against me, and I nuzzled her neck. At the same time I slid the strap from her left shoulder. Allie pulled her arms free and pushed the swimsuit down to her waist. I cupped her bare breasts from behind. They were soft and full, and her breathing picked up when I caressed her nipples.

“I was thinking about them yesterday,” I told her. “Last night, too. And this morning.”

“Oh, God.”

“Mmm. The real ones are even better.”

She spun in my arms and kissed me full on the mouth. Her breasts flattened against my bare chest, and her arms circled me. Her tongue found mine, and our breathing grew heavy as our kisses heated up.

I guided her toward the bed with my body and then stepped back to admire her. Her breasts sagged predictably, but they were big enough to hold their round shape. Bikini-shaped triangles framed large, pale pink nipples.

She held her breath and waited for my reaction.

“You know my policy.”

“Yes,” she sighed, “but go ahead.” She sounded relieved more than annoyed.

I grinned. “Big or small, round or flat, saggy or perky…”

“You only care if you can touch ’em,” she finished.

“Yep.”

Allie rolled her eyes at my teenage boy expression, although she pursed her lips with amusement. Then she put her hands on her hips and stuck out her chest.

“Go ahead.” Her eyes flashed when I moved in like a groper, although she relaxed when I simply slid them around her waist.

“Yeah, okay,” I admitted, “maybe I’m not a teenage boy after all. Although…” I tugged the end of my towel loose and let it fall to the floor. My erection sprang up between us. “I guess I am. In one way, at least.”

Allie glanced between us and unconsciously moistened her lips.

“Oh, no, not yet,” I chuckled. “I wanna see the rest of you first. Time to get you naked. And I mean it this time.”

I tugged her towel loose, and it fell on top of my own. Then I gently pushed her backward, until her legs hit the bed.

She sat down and lay back automatically, and I realized she was holding her breath. Her stomach wasn’t tight and smooth like a teenager’s, but she wasn’t fat. Far from it, actually. And her breasts flattened against her chest instead of floating majestically, but I didn’t care about that, either.

She was a beautiful woman and deserved to feel like it, so I met her eyes and smiled. She returned it with genuine relief and reached for me.

“Uh-uh. First things first.”

The top half of her swimsuit was bunched around her hips. I gripped it, and she raised them. I slid the stretchy material under her butt, lifted her legs, and pulled the stretchy material toward her knees.

I caught my first glimpse of her pussy and breathed a silent sigh of relief. She was completely smooth, her skin much lighter where her bottoms normally covered.

“For me?”

She rolled her eyes with a look that hadn’t changed in a thousand years: Men!

I slid the swimsuit over her ankles and tossed it aside. Then I sank to one knee, spread her legs, and pushed them toward her chest.

Her pussy parted easily and glistened with moisture. Her outer labia were smooth and thin, a rosy pink that faded to pale flesh. Her inner lips were the same pink, slightly darker. They formed a crease at the top and flared at her opening.

She flinched when I ran my palms up her thighs, although she relaxed again quickly. My touch was intimate and insistent, but she was still in control, could still say no. She didn’t, so I gently probed her opening. She squirmed with growing desire as I lubricated the tips of two fingers.

After a moment I teased her clit. It was hidden under the fold at the top of her inner lips, but it grew firmer as I rubbed in small circles. Then I slid my index and middle fingers into her warm, smooth pussy. Her breasts rose and fell as her breathing grew heavier.

Part of me wanted to fuck her now, but I held back. We weren’t ready for that. Besides, I didn’t want to take the time to fetch a condom. Instead, I fingered her gently and rubbed her clit with my thumb. Her moans grew louder as her pleasure built.

“Move up,” I said at last. “I wanna taste you.”

She scooted toward the headboard, and I climbed onto the bed after her. Then I rolled to my back and guided her toward me. She gripped my erection and rubbed it over her face. I gave her a moment before I gently urged her to swing her leg over my head. She did, and the scent of her washed over me, strong and feminine.

I raised my head and buried my face in her pussy. She gasped and used my hard-on as a handgrip. I wrapped an arm around her middle and held her in place. Then I gave her hooded clit another lick. She groaned softly, and her juices began to flow for real. Moisture soon coated my nose and cheeks.

She eventually started sucking me, and the little head demanded even more oxygen. My vision actually dimmed, and I saw spots. I ignored them and concentrated on Allie instead.

We kept going until I felt her breathing change. She stopped sucking and simply held my dick against her face, so I focused on her clit. It was still hidden under its hood, but I could feel it under my tongue.

Allie began rocking her hips. Then she gasped and held on to my cock for dear life. Her breath came in bursts that washed over my abdomen, and her thighs began to tremble. All of a sudden she tensed up and held her breath. Pleasure surged through her in waves, until she finally cried out.

She relaxed slowly and then sagged forward, drained and panting. She also relaxed her death grip on my shaft, although she didn’t let go completely.

She eventually caught her breath and stirred. Then she shook with a silent laugh. I started to ask, but the little head overrode me. Allie rubbed him over her face and coated her lips with saliva and pre-come. I thrust my hips toward her, and she took the hint.

She’d been sucking for a couple of minutes before I started to feel guilty about ignoring her. I wasn’t sure how sensitive she was, so I gave her clit an experimental nudge. She gasped and practically ground her pussy into my face.

I grinned at the discovery, raised my head, and began licking again. Allie groaned around my cock and sent jolts of pleasure racing up my spine. Then she started bobbing in earnest, so I concentrated on getting her off before she did the same to me.

She raised her hips after a couple of minutes, and I had to crane my neck to follow her. Then she took me as deep as she could, about halfway. She squeezed my thighs at the same time, and I got the message—she wanted to take care of me first.

I patted her flank, and she gradually lowered her hips. Then I played with her pussy without trying to make her come, while she did the opposite to me. She sucked with long, slow strokes, and swirled her tongue around the head. The pressure built in my balls until I couldn’t hold back any longer.

Allie held my hips as I unloaded in her mouth. Then she pulled back and swallowed. She panted to catch her breath before she recaptured me and sucked gently.

I started to lick her pussy again but stopped when she shook her head. She wasn’t ready to come again, and I was fine with that. I kissed her inner thighs instead, and she relaxed as her juices slowly dried on my cheeks.

She eventually returned her attention to my slowly deflating cock. She kissed it a couple of times and then rested her cheek on my hip. Her breathing settled into a rhythm, and we lay together in companionable silence until she stirred.

“That was nice,” I said.

“Mmm.” She swung her left leg over my head and climbed off to the right. I beckoned her closer and patted the bed next to my hip. I was used to Christy on my left, but I wasn’t about to complain. Allie turned and started to get settled before she stopped.

“Do we have time? I don’t want to get caught,” she worried aloud.

“We have time.” I checked my watch anyway. “At least an hour.”

She nodded and settled beside me. I wrapped my arm around her, and she relaxed into the comfort of my body.

* * *

We dozed for a while, but neither of us slept. I was a creature of habit more than I realized, and having Allie along my right side felt weird. Also, I didn’t want the girls to catch us in bed together. The older ones would figure out what we’d been up to, and the younger ones would ask awkward questions. Still, we managed to relax and enjoy the quiet for a while. Then Allie heaved a sigh of contentment.

“God, I’ve missed this.”

Our bodies were warm where they touched. Hers was curvy and feminine, soft where mine was hard. I could’ve lain there a while longer, but she had other ideas.

She rolled away from me and stretched like a cat, completely unconcerned about her body for a change. Then she cocked an elbow and rested her head on her hand. She gazed at me with a playful look, more of the cat. After a moment she circled my nipple with a finger. I didn’t react, so she did it again, with the same lack of results. She took it as a challenge instead of being put off.

I tensed when she moved again, although I relaxed when she only brushed her fingertips over my stomach. Then she traced the contour of my soft penis. My breathing quickened when she spread a bead of moisture around the tip. She raised her finger to her lips, and her eyelids drooped as she tasted it.

“Mmm, I’ve missed that more. It’s been so long since I had a dick in my mouth.” She studied me with feline amusement again. Then without warning she tickled my foot with her big toe. I jerked reflexively. She did it again, so I moved my foot away and glared. “Sorry,” she laughed. “I’ll behave.”

I wasn’t so sure.

“I will. I promise.”

Her expression settled into friendly amusement, and I sensed a longer conversation. I rolled to face her and propped my head on my fist. I let my eyes explore the lines of her body. She knew she was attractive, but she hadn’t been reminded lately.

She blushed and lowered her eyes. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

After a moment she effectively changed the subject and turned her attention to the room itself.

My plans for the house had always included a guest bedroom and bath on the ground floor, although my first designs had them near the kitchen. The kids’ bedrooms were all upstairs on that side of the house, so it made sense to put guests there too.

Then Christy had looked at my sketches and asked a couple of innocent-sounding questions, like she always did. At that point the room over the garage had become the main guest suite, the formal dining room had taken over downstairs, and the bedroom had moved to the other side of the house.

These days, guests reached it through a nondescript door at the end of the colonnaded hallway that spanned the living room. A short passage under the main stairs led to a perpendicular hallway that connected the guest bedroom at the front of the house with the master suite at the rear.

The hallway served another purpose, a sound barrier between the living room and the bedrooms, along with the cavernous room we called the grotto. It also gave us the privacy to move around without anyone noticing. That was what Christy had wanted all along, although she gave me credit for thinking of it.

Allie finished her survey and drew me back to the present.

“So, this is the famous swinger suite?” She quirked her lips in a grin. “Come here often?”

I’d made the same pun a dozen times, but it didn’t get any better when someone else said it.

“As often as I can,” I said, completely without irony.

“Mmm, I noticed. Since we’re on the subject… can we sneak into the grotto, through there?” She pointed toward my feet and the door beyond.

“No. It’s just a regular bathroom. The grotto is down the hall, through a separate door.”

“Ah, okay. I thought— I mean…” She searched her memory. “I guess you’re right. It’s been a while since you gave me a tour. Like, when you first moved in. Oh, wow! Has it really been four years?”

“Just about.”

“I guess I don’t remember as well as I thought. Though I could’ve sworn… I mean… Christy’s always talking about…”

“We have an entrance through our bathroom.”

“Ah, right!”

“We use this room for normal guests, too, ones who aren’t swingers.” Like my in-laws. “We don’t want them to wander into the grotto unannounced. Besides, it might raise questions if we had two bedrooms connected by a hallway and a pass-through from the spa.”

“Makes sense,” Allie agreed. “And since I’ve never been asked to spend the night, much less to the grotto…” She was teasing, although she had the good grace to admit it with a wry smile. “Yeah, I know… my fault.”

“Mmm.”

She looked around the room again. “It’s nice.”

“You’re welcome to stay.”

“Tonight? I’d love to, but… How would that work? I mean… what about… you know, your wife?” She frowned at the evasion. “Sorry. What about Christy?”

“What about her? You know about our relationship.”

“Yeah, I know. But… for real, how does this sharing thing work? Do I need to ask first? Do you? Don’t ask, don’t tell? I don’t wanna overstep any boundaries…”

“You aren’t. We have a list.”

“Of playmates?” She grinned, so it was another pun.

“Ha! Yes. Unfortunately, you aren’t a small-p playmate—not officially, at least—but you sort of are. Sorry, I know it sounds like I’m making this up as I go along…” I was pretty sure that Ken had muddied those waters as well.

“No, it’s okay,” Allie said. “I know Christy’s MO. She’s all about hints and suggestions… doublespeak.” She shrugged. “She has to be. She’s a woman.” She sounded annoyed more than condescending.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said.

“What? Sexism? The patriarchy?” She dismissed it with a shrug. “You aren’t the problem. If anything, you’re trying to make a difference.”

I have three daughters.

“Anyway, about this list,” Allie continued. “I’m on it, sort of, but not?” She thought about the situation and laughed to herself. “Christy doesn’t do anything simple, does she?”

“Nope. Not if she can help it. She works behind the scenes, pulling the strings.”

“She sure pulled mine,” Allie muttered, although she didn’t sound resentful.

“Mine too.”

“Yours? How?”

“Well, she was probably hoping this would happen. That’s part of the reason she decided to go with Laurie to North Carolina.”

“For real?”

“Yeah. She had other reasons—”

“Like being a good mom.”

“—but she knew I’d see you at Maddy’s party.”

“Do you think she sabotaged my air conditioner?”

I gave it some serious thought.

“Oh my God,” Allie laughed, “for real? Do you actually think she’d do that?”

“No, but only because she doesn’t know how. I mean, she’s pretty determined when she wants something.”

“No kidding.” Allie fell silent and then nodded. “She has been dropping more hints lately. For the past couple of months, I guess. She also mentioned you’d be alone this week. You know,” she added wryly, “in case I wanted to ‘drop by.’”

I grinned. “To suck me off?”

“Or sixty-nine in the swinger suite.”

“We’re two for two.”

“Mmm.” She moistened her lips and then gave me a speculative look. “Are we going to make it three for three? Not now,” she added quickly, “but tonight?”

“More like five for five—”

“Ha!”

“—but yeah,” I finished. “I just need to talk to Christy first. We were talking about it last night—”

“Wait. You were talking about us? This? You and me?”

I nodded.

“For real? What did she say? Never mind, I can probably guess. Wait, on second thought, tell me.”

“I told her what you said, about just being friends—”

Allie grimaced, more apology than remorse.

“—but she said you were serious. About sex, at least.”

“I was. I am. I mean… yeah. Here we are.”

“Here we are,” I echoed.

“Sagging and stretch marks and everything,” she muttered.

I grabbed my abdomen and searched. “What! Where?”

“No!” she laughed. “I meant me.”

“I know,” I said, serious again. “But you know I think you’re sexy. I’ll prove it if you want.” I reached for her breast. She batted my hand away, but not with any real conviction.

“No, I believe you. And thank you, by the way.”

I decided to play dumb. “For what?”

“You know. For making—” She cleared her throat and scowled into the past.

Fucking Ken, I muttered to myself.

“For making me feel… you know… desirable.”

“You are. Very.”

“I’m not so sure. At least… I wasn’t.”

“I can’t fake a hard-on. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

“No,” she agreed quietly.

“And speaking of hard-ons…” I had a thought and started to laugh before I caught myself. “Sorry,” I said quickly. “It’s just… I mean… I’m turning into Christy.”

“What? How?” She gestured. “Not with a dick like that. I mean, it’s kinda obvious. And your chest is totally bigger than hers. Your arms, too. Goodness gracious, yes!”

“I’m serious,” I protested, but only mildly. “I’m turning into her. She has a knack for manipulating a conversation.”

“‘Knack’ might be an understatement. She’s really good at it.”

“And I just did it.”

Allie furrowed her brow. “How?”

“I said, ‘I can’t fake a hard-on.’”

“Ah, right. Now I get it. ‘Can’t fake a hard-on.’ It’s a good segue to talk about tonight.” She fell silent and considered it. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, I think it was just a good transition. So… let’s talk about it.”

I grinned. She was as eager as I was, especially now that she’d overcome her initial objections.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

“Yeah, I know,” she said, semi-ruefully, “I’m such a needy slut.”

“That’s a good thing. You know what you want.”

“And I’m willing to sleep with my friend’s husband to get it?”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“You’re definitely good for my self-esteem,” she laughed.

“I’m good for the rest of you, too.”

“I wish I had your confidence.”

“You do. You just need a refill. And I’m happy to oblige. Several times, as a matter of fact.”

She snorted a laugh.

“Seriously, though… let’s talk about tonight. The logistics, I mean. I need to call Christy first. Duh. She won’t have a problem with it, but she needs to know that you’re officially on the list.”

Allie nodded comically, and it was my turn to laugh.

“Now you know how I feel!”

“I know how you taste, too. Mmm.”

“Hold that thought. I still need to tell Christy.” I had a thought and winced for effect. “She’ll probably tell Wren. Are you okay with that?”

“I guess,” Allie said after a moment. “She tells her everything anyway. I mean, we all do. Tell each other. Christy knew all about Ken and me. And I know more about you than anyone but her.” She read my polite doubt. “Yeah, okay, maybe not Leah.”

“No, sorry.”

“That’s okay. You’ve known her since you were Maddy’s age. But I still know more about you than anyone else, including Wren.”

“You think so?” I taunted.

“Yeah. I mean, I know everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

“You’re gonna have to prove it,” I said.

“And you’re gonna have to wait.” She grinned, rolled to her feet, and disappeared into the bathroom.

* * *

The bathroom door opened, and I realized that my feet were vulnerable. I was lying on my back with my head on the pillow and my fingers laced behind my head. I resisted the urge to squirm, but Allie wasn’t in the mood for mischief.

“Oh, my,” she drawled, “aren’t you a sight.”

I chuckled at her delivery but then smiled, almost a leer. “You aren’t so bad yourself.”

“I’m not usually the jealous type, but… mmm-mmm!”

“I know what you mean.”

“You’re jealous of Christy too?”

“Ha! No, I was always jealous of Ken.”

Allie snorted in derision. Then she moved out of the shadow of the doorway and into the light from the window. She paused to look through the blinds, but it was really an excuse to let me admire her.

She must have done some modeling in the past, because she knew to keep her chin up and shoulders back, which made her chest stand out. She even managed to look seductive when she crawled onto the bed, although her expression dissolved into a grimace.

“How am I supposed to sit? Never mind. You’ve seen everything anyway, and you’re still here, so…” She sat cross-legged but frowned again.

“What? I can’t really see anything. Not unless…”

I raised my head to see over her crossed legs. Her outer labia parted enough to show her thin inner lips, but nothing more. They were still slightly pink, although it looked like her natural color instead of arousal. The rest of her bikini area was so pale that the difference was more obvious.

“No, not that,” she said. “I don’t care about being modest. I meant they never show this part in books. After the afterglow, sitting awkwardly, wondering what to talk about.” She paused. “Wondering if we made a mistake.”

I rolled to face her and propped my head on my fist. “I don’t think we did. Do you?”

“No,” she said quickly. “But… I thought you might’ve. Especially now that…” She sighed. “Okay, maybe I am worried about the way I look.”

“I think you look great.”

“Even if my ass is too wide and tits aren’t where they’re supposed to be?”

I knew what she meant, but I played dumb anyway.

“You mean… in bed with me?” I reached out and caressed her nipple. She didn’t bat me away, so I pinched gently. She replied with a low sigh of pleasure. “See? Everything’s right where it’s s’posed to be.”

“Thank you.”

Time to change the subject, the little head said. He was fairly perceptive when he wasn’t horny.

Allie read my distraction but not its source. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just that you have bigger things to worry about.”

“Bigger? Like what?”

“You made some pretty outrageous claims before you ran away—”

“‘Ran away’? I didn’t run away! I had to pee!”

“Yeah, whatever,” I teased.

“I did! What? You want me to prove it? How much I know? Okay, how’s this…? You like getting your dick sucked.”

“That’s easy!” I laughed.

“You like women who swallow.”

Duh. Who doesn’t?

“You like things smooth, down below, no matter how much it hurts.”

“At least I’m not a chauvinist about it. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

I’d switched from shaving to waxing several years earlier. Christy liked the results better, and Leah agreed, so my wishes didn’t really matter. Happy wife, happy life, right? (I don’t have a snappy saying for “Happy lover who’s practically a second wife.” I’ll work on that. But later, hmm?)

“Besides,” I added to Allie, “it gets easier the more you do it. Well, less painful.”

“I hope so. At least I can do something about the situation down there. I can’t do anything about these… poor things. Unless I get surgery.”

I shivered theatrically and shook my head. “They’re perfect. I mean, I can touch ’em.” I suited action to words, and Allie suffered my groping with a half-tolerant, half-amused smile.

“Well, you’re a breast man,” she said. “Obviously.”

“I like women. The whole package.”

“Maybe, but only a certain type.”

“Oh?”

“Bisexual.”

I raised my eyebrow, but she ignored the question.

“You like them submissive, too. Maybe not damsels in distress, but not bossy types.”

“I don’t mind bossy women, but—”

“Not in bed.”

“Guilty as charged, I suppose.”

“You like piercings, obviously, but not tattoos.”

“I like yours,” I said quickly. She had a heart-shaped ink bottle and a fountain pen on her left ankle.

“Thank you.” She paused and thought back with a frown.

“What’s the matter?”

“I learned most of that from you. Christy added details, but most are things you told me. Well, ‘told’ is the wrong word, but I learned them from flirting with you.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m sure you—”

“You like bondage.”

My eyebrows shot up. I normally didn’t flirt about that.

“But only because Christy does,” she confirmed. “She likes discipline, and she likes being choked.”

My stunned silence was a confirmation of sorts, and Allie warmed to her revelations.

“She doesn’t like anal, which is a little surprising when you think about it.” Her lips compressed in a wry smile. She had me hooked, and she knew it. “Because she likes pain, even though you don’t. Well, not really, but you do it because she does. It’s okay, you can admit it. I told you, we talk about everything.”

“Evidently.”

“She doesn’t sleep with other people, but that’s her code word for ‘having sex.’”

“Penis in vagina,” I confirmed, and Allie nodded.

“You do, though.” She glanced around at the room, down at the bed, and then at me. “Obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Let’s see,” she mused in a singsong, “what else do I know? You don’t mind a friendly blowjob, but you don’t sleep around, and you won’t sleep with anyone you work with.”

“No.”

“You sound so firm when you say it, so… determined.” Her eyes crinkled with amusement. “But you’re willing to bend the rules. Oh, I know all about it. Or should I say her.”

I cocked my head with feigned curiosity. “Her?”

“The intern?”

“Which one? We have—”

“Tiffanie.”

I sighed. I didn’t see any reason to keep up the evasions, especially when she knew her name, but I wanted to set the record straight.

“Former intern.”

“But current girlfriend.”

“Friend-friend,” I countered.

“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you? Still?”

We’d hired Tiffanie the year before as one of the company’s first summer interns. She’d been a fourth-year at Tech, cute and kind of geeky, with a cheerleader’s personality more than an artist’s.

At first I thought she was style over substance, but the rest of the interview changed my mind. She had the spark, all right, and she was our top choice, along with a third-year from UGA. They worked for us for ten weeks, and Tiffanie impressed everyone, from CAD operators to department heads.

I enjoyed working with her, but our relationship had been strictly professional, even when she started flirting when we were alone. Her outfits changed too, tighter tops and shorter skirts. She didn’t do anything so obvious that Shari or the other women would notice, but she always found a way to remind me that she had a nice body. She even started dropping hints about “personal mentoring,” after hours, of course.

I’d been tempted, but I’d used my judgment instead. Tiffanie’s internship had ended without drama, and she’d gone back to school in the fall. We’d kept in touch afterward in emails and the occasional phone call. Then she’d stopped by the office, late on a Friday afternoon in early December.

She chatted with Shari and Trip and several others as she made her way back to my office. I was happy to see her, of course, and didn’t think twice about the reason for her visit, much less the timing.

We talked for more than an hour, about school, projects, and life as an architect in the real world. Then Trip stuck his head into my office.

“I’m headed out. I think y’all’re the last ones here. ’Tis the season.”

“We should probably head out too,” I said.

“Sure thing. Anyway, it was great to see you again, Tiffanie.”

“Thanks. You too.”

“You graduate in May, right? Send us your résumé. Paul isn’t the only one who’d love to have you back.” It was genuine praise instead of a come-on. “I don’t know if we’ll have a position available, but we’ll do our best.”

“Thanks! I really appreciate it.”

“All right. Well, I’d better go. Wren’s out Christmas shopping. She found a new restaurant she wants to try. It’s a tough life,” he laughed. “Anyway, y’all have a good night.”

“You too,” I said.

“I’ll lock up behind me, just in case.” He waved and disappeared from the doorway. He began whistling a Christmas tune that faded as he jogged down the main staircase.

Tiffanie asked to use my bathroom to freshen up and change clothes. I didn’t even think twice about it, or that we were alone in the building. She reappeared a few minutes later wearing only a smile and a pair of panties with mistletoe on the front. Then she dropped her real bombshell.

“I know you’re a swinger. So… do you need to check with your wife first? Or can we get down to business?”

I returned to the present, and Allie gave me an expectant smirk.

“We’re friends with benefits,” I said.

“I know. She sounds nice. In fact, she reminds me of me. What I’ve heard about her, that is. My parents weren’t swingers, but I had a fling with my boss when I was her age.”

“The doctor you worked for?”

Allie flinched in surprise, although she recovered quickly and then laughed. “Yeah, I guess Christy tells you things too.”

“Mmm. You were younger, though, still in high school.”

“I was old enough,” she countered, “eighteen.”

“But you never—?”

“Oh, no,” she laughed, “we’re talking about you. And speaking of… I know about the others, too.”

“What others?”

“The other women. Before Tiffanie.”

“None that I worked with. Besides,” I demurred, “there really aren’t that many.”

She decided to call my bluff. “The heiress? What was her name?”

Alexa. My smile tightened. And she hates being called an heiress.

“Fred’s assistant, at the gallery?”

Margie.

“Oh, and the teacher at the girls’ school—”

Genevieve.

“—Miss Li. Too bad she moved. I liked her.”

“Mmm.”

Allie cocked her head and pantomimed thought.

“Okay, I get it,” I said abruptly. “You know all about me.”

She sobered just as quickly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease you.”

“No. Besides, you’re talking about people, not characters in one of your books.” I still cared about the women, even though they were in my past.

“You’re right,” Allie said with genuine contrition. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve been so flippant about it— about them.”

“Mmm. Especially when you might be one of them.”

“I— I… hadn’t thought about it like that. And you’re right, I did think of them as characters. Still, that’s no excuse. It’s just— I mean… I guess I was sort of living vicariously. I liked hearing about your girlfriends. Still do, I guess.”

“That’s fine. As long as you understand they’re real people, with real emotions.”

Her expression softened, and she snorted a laugh. She’d heard my speech before. We fell silent as the friction between us gradually faded.

“I guess I should be grateful,” she said at last. “I mean, I’m not as young as your usual… um… friend with benefits. And I’m definitely not in the same league, looks-wise—”

“I don’t care about looks. Well, I do,” I admitted, “but not as much as you think. And I definitely don’t care about age—sagging or stretch marks or anything else. You should know that by now. Besides, I’ve met twenty-year-olds who weren’t half as exciting as you.” I paused to let that sink in. “I care about people, not bodies.”

“Yeah, I know. But… I guess…” She sighed.

“Listen,” I said softly, “quit obsessing about your looks. None of us are perfect. The only thing that matters is, ‘Are we perfect for each other?’ Right now, the answer is yes. At least, I hope it is.”

She nodded and sighed again, admission instead of defeat.

All of a sudden the door chime sounded from the direction of the security panel in the master bedroom. Allie’s head came up, and I checked my watch.

“Too early,” I said. “It’s probably Emily.”

“Time for a snack?”

“I think so.”

Seconds stretched into hours, until the chime sounded again.

“Oh, thank God,” Allie breathed.

“Nah, we weren’t in any danger.” I shot her a grin that was more relief than anything. “Although… we should probably get cleaned up.” I checked my watch again. “We still have time to shower together, if you’re interested.” She was. “And then we need to talk to the girls.”

“About spending the night? I’m sure they’ll be okay with it.”

“Probably. Then I can call Christy, while you run home and grab what you need.”

“Wait, I have a better idea. Why don’t we all go out to dinner?”

“Sure, family night.”

“Or family date night.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you can buy us dinner, and I’ll pay you back.” She made a sweeping gesture at her nude body. “All night… with this.”