by Bridy McAvoy
He pulled out, pulling away, and she stood straight, her legs trembling with the strain from having held that position for so long. For the first time in minutes she glanced out of the window. At the bottom of their garden, on the other side of the fence, one of their neighbors was cutting his lawn. Glancing down, she could see the red finger marks on her breasts, her naked breasts, her blouse pulled to the sides, baring them. She squealed and ducked down below the line of the counter.
Max laughed. “Stop panicking. He couldn’t see you.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“Because at this time of day the sun is on the back of the house, right?”
She glared up at him from where she was crouched on the floor, naked except for the opened blouse she’d pulled tightly around her chest. “Yes, so?”
“So, the sunlight hits the window and reflects back off the film on the inside of the glazing that is there to stop the house overheating. Ergo, from his angle it looks like a mirror. So, no, he couldn’t see you.”
She frowned at him and slowly rose to her feet, still clutching the blouse closed in front of her chest to provide some semblance of modesty. Other than the blouse and her shoes, she was naked, although that fact would be well hidden behind the counter and sink. She looked out again. Their neighbor was calmly going about his business.
Julia glared at her husband who just smiled back.
“Now, with that out of the way, where would you like to go for dinner?”
She smiled back, then leaned across and kissed the tip of his nose. ”Honestly? The Bathroom.”
“Huh? The bathroom?”
She nodded. “After sex like that, I want a really good soak—at least an hour—and by the time I’ve done that, sorted out my hair, put my war paint on and got dressed in something I can decently wear without a bra, it’d be too late. So I’d rather have the bath while you order a pizza, and then you can feed it to me slice by slice as I wallow in the tub.”
Max leaned in and kissed her on the lips this time. “Fine by me. What do you want?”
“Keep it sweet—Hawaiian.”
“Not Mexican?”
“No, Hawaiian. I’m in the mood to feed you some pineapple.”
“Feed me the pineapple? Why?”
She kissed him back again, each kiss getting longer and she had to force herself to break it. She’d let go of the blouse and she realized it had swung out to the sides again, baring her breasts to his appreciative eyes.
“Because, darling, they always say a man who eats pineapple or drinks pineapple juice has sweeter tasting cum.”
“Minx!”
He made to grab her, but she dodged around the island, heading for the doorway through to the family room.
“Honey?”
She stopped and turned her head.
“The sun might make the back windows act like mirrors, but not the front, and you…”
She glanced down at herself and squealed again as she sprinted for the stairs.
* * * *
Tuesday and Wednesday nights hadn’t been exact repeats but Julia had found Max’s level of sexual playfulness definitely boosted. She did, however, allow him to take her out on the Wednesday night, but just for a quick steak, before coming home for more lovemaking.
Thursday, though, kicked off badly. Four-thirty in the morning the insistent ringing of his cell phone woke them both from a deep slumber. As Max groggily answered the call, Julia tried to clear the sands of sleep from her eyes. Her vision seemed clouded, her eyes sore, while her body craved sleep in the early morning darkness. They’d made it to bed in good time, only they hadn’t gone straight to sleep. When they had finally drifted off, they’d done so in what she now found was a tangle of sweat-streaked bedding and their own arms and legs. She rolled over, pulling her leg out from between his, making sure not to lift her leg too high, then rolled over to the edge of the bed and padded through to the en-suite to relieve her bladder.
She was sitting there when the door opened and a tousled and very naked husband walked in. As always, Max seemed to wake up quicker and cleaner than she did. He headed straight for the shower.
“Shower? At this time?”
“Yep. Big problem down in Texas again. The rig has died, so I’ve got to catch the first flight out.”
“You are kidding me!”
“Sorry, hon, no. Shower, then find a flight. Two days at least. Hopefully, I’ll be back Saturday. No guarantees, though.”
“Can’t one of the others?”
“Nah. It’s the Nielson unit that’s blown—it’s my baby after last year in South America. Top brass want the best man on the job, and that’s me.”
Julia pouted. “I want the best man on the job. Don’t I get a say? After all, I am your wife, and I have needs.”
“Not at four-thirty in the morning, you don’t. Well, not usually.” He started the shower running then stepped underneath it.
“Tell you what, if you get the coffee on, and I can’t get a flight ʾtil later, we’ll have an hour or so.” He chuckled. “I can always have another shower.”
Julia picked up a towel off the pile and threw it at him. Of course, it hit the glass partition and bounced back her side. Grabbing her robe off the hook, she headed downstairs and put the coffee machine on.
Max kept a ready bag with three or four days’ clothes already packed in his wardrobe. When he appeared twenty minutes later, at the foot of the stairs, carrying both it and his laptop bag, her heart sank.
“Sorry, honey. Got a six forty-five flight. The cab will be here in ten.”
She pouted. “Not even time for a quickie, then?”
“’Fraid not. Sorry, honey. I had big plans for tonight as well.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. You know how if the Bulls had won, I’d have had to do the housework in just a pair of speedos?”
She smiled. That would have been nice to see. Then she pouted again. He’d just reminded her she’d lost the bet.
“Well, tonight I was going to be waiting for you when you came through the door. I’d have been wearing those speedos, and I intended to break my four minute forty second record for eating you to a climax.”
She shivered. That memory, despite being months earlier, was still fresh in her mind. The idea of him being virtually naked with his erect cock sticking out of the top of his speedos made her breath catch.
“We’ve got ten minutes…”
At that moment, they both heard a car pull up and she knew without looking that would be his cab. Nobody else would be pulling up just after five in the morning. Sighing at the missed opportunity, and knowing it was too late to go back to bed herself, she belted the robe more securely and followed him to the door A long, lingering kiss probably got the cab driver impatient, but she didn’t care.
“I’ll ring. Let you know what time my flight’s in.”
“Okay, stay safe. I love you.”
“I love you too, and no cheating. No bra ʾtil next Monday.”
“Next Monday?”
“Sure, a week is a week, starting Monday this week and all through the weekend. No cheating.”
“Okay, okay. Now scoot. It’s way too early in the morning to be standing on the front porch discussing my underwear.”
He chuckled. “It’s never the wrong time of day to be discussing your lack of underwear.”
“Go!”
“I’m gone.”
As the cab pulled away she waved, then sighed and walked back inside. Her day was already shot to hell.
It got a lot worse very quickly.
Max had been so attentive to her for the last three nights she hadn’t had any chance to get any laundry done. As a result, her three thickest blouses were all still unwashed, let alone dried and ironed so, as a result, unwearable. The next best one wasn’t anywhere near as thick. Since July was ‘no jackets’ month’, there was nothing she could wear over the white garment. It wasn’t that thin that it was see-through, or even remotely so, b
ut it was thinner than she’d choose to wear for work without underwear.
She threw her other blouses in the wash and debated wearing a camisole under the blouse, then gave up on that idea too. It felt like cheating, and one thing she’d insisted on very early in their relationship, was that she and Max never welshed or cheated on a bet. He’d never know, but she would.
At least tomorrow she’d be able to make sure she had a thicker blouse available.
She was dressed ready for work an hour or more before she had to leave. She wanted to get in early. They were still working on the car park resurfacing, but this was far too early.
Taking the washing out of the machine, she stuffed it in the dryer, but didn’t switch it on, then put another load in the washer so that too would be done when she got home. Then she cleaned down and wiped up everything in the kitchen, simply to use up time. She ended up drinking a third cup of coffee before grabbing her purse and keys and heading for the garage.
Ten minutes of fruitlessly turning the key, and she had to admit the car wouldn’t start.
“Having trouble?”
She jumped a little then turned to see her neighbor, Ryan, peering around the edge of the garage door.
“Damn thing won’t start and Max caught an early flight out to Texas.”
“What’s happening?” He came closer and motioned for her to pop the hood.
She could see he was wearing his suit, so warned him first.
“Don’t get that suit dirty.”
“No problem.” He slipped off his jacket and draped it over the hood of Max’s car. She gave herself a mental face palm. Why hadn’t she just swapped cars? She preferred her own to his great big lump, but it would have started first time.
He lifted the hood and fixed the strut in place.
“Turn it over again, please.”
She did as he asked and the engine coughed, spluttered and died.
“And again.”
Same result.
“Ahhah!”
“Spotted it?”
“Yep. Just a minute.”
She couldn’t see what he was doing, but she could feel the car move as he shifted his weight.
“Try it now.”
As soon as she turned the key the engine roared into life.
She climbed out and stood there, feeling like a bit of a spare part, as Ryan dropped the strut then closed the hood.
“What was it?”
“Just a loose lead on the distributor. Re-attached it and there you go.”
“Thank you. You’re a life saver.”
“No worries. That’s what neighbors are for. I’m sure Max would have done the same for Samantha if the need arose.”
She looked down at his hands. “Do you need a clean-up?”
“No. You go. I’ll nip back inside. In any case, Samantha will be wondering why I haven’t left yet.”
“Thank you.”
His eyes weren’t on her face. He was looking a little lower. As he walked back over to retrieve his jacket, she risked a glance down, confirming her nipples had hardened under his scrutiny and were showing as two points indenting the front of her blouse. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as she blushed, but smiled as he walked away.
She’d set out to be a few minutes early, now she was running late. Pulling out of the garage, she paused, letting the garage door close fully, before waving to Ryan and setting off down the road. As she approached the circular road at the edge of the estate, she could see the traffic was already heavier than usual. Ten minutes later made a big difference, as she’d found out before. She could see the wind had picked up too, the tops of the trees whipping about more than ever. That might even make it cooler in town, or at least she hoped so.
The heavier traffic seemed to have a multiplier effect and she was almost twenty minutes late as she turned into the street where they had their offices. It had been too much to hope for, and it was. The nearest parking space was three hundred yards past the turning to her office building. She drove around the block, hoping for something she’d missed as she drove past the first time, or someone pulling out, but no such luck.
Sighing, she parked and climbed from the car just as something passed across the sun. Looking up, she could see the gathering storm cloud almost directly overhead.
It never rains here in July! Of course, that wasn’t true, but it felt that way. She opened the rear passenger door and went to grab her umbrella, only it wasn’t there. A few seconds of frantic searching confirmed it was missing from her car. She swore under her breath and straightened just as a large spot of rain landed right between her shoulder blades. The shock of the cold water hitting her and instantly soaking through the back of her blouse made her gasp. Another drop hit her and she swung the car door shut and quickly triggered the remote locking.
Her gaze took in the length of the street all the way down to her office. There was no cover to be found until she reached the building.
She took a step away from the car and then another. The drops were starting to fall faster now. She cast a worried glance up at the sky, then started to walk faster. Several more droplets hit her before she’d gone ten yards. She kept going, the rain starting to fall harder and harder.
Julia made it about halfway to her office block when the heavens just opened. From large drops coming down singly, some hitting her, most not, within a couple of seconds becoming a total downpour.
Her hair plastered down against her head in seconds, and the blouse was sticking to her skin before she’d taken another dozen steps. The rain was cold too and she was quickly shivering.
“In here!”
A man was standing in a shop doorway, holding the door open and gesturing for her to come in. With no other shelter in sight, her office still a couple of hundred yards away, her car a couple of hundred yards the other way, and the rain getting harder by the second, she turned and dived past him into the interior of the shop.
He shut the door and turned toward her, just as a squall of rain rattled against the window. “Not the weather to be caught in outside.”
“Indeed, no.”
She looked around the shop, a little curious. When they walked out from the office at lunchtime they always turned and headed downtown. She’d never even realized this little shop was here. Now she was inside, she could see it was actually a dry-cleaning store.
“By the way, thank you.”
“No problem.” As he grinned at her she could see he was quite a lot younger than she’d thought, younger than she was, but not by much.
“You run this? I didn’t even know it was here.”
“No, it’s my parents’ place. I just cover for them on Thursdays. For some reason, the dry-cleaning business is slow on Thursdays, so I sit in the work room and get some studying done. I just came through to check the weather and put the ‘closed’ sign up and I saw you struggling past out there. Shouldn’t you have an umbrella?”
The storm chose that moment to throw another squall of rain directly at the window.
“I somehow don’t think an umbrella would last long out there. I usually keep one in my car, but it’s not there today.”
“Not a good day for you then, now. Come through to the back. You need a good rub down.”
“Sorry?”
“I meant with a towel, get rid of some of that water soaking into your hair, and your clothes.”
“Oh, right.”
He chuckled. “Did you think I meant something else?”
“Er, no. A towel sounds great.”
She put her hand up as if to bounce her curls, but they were not there anymore, her hair hanging down, bedraggled, and still dripping water onto her blouse. That made her think about water and cotton and she looked down. She squealed in horror, although it came out more as a squeak. Her blouse was soaking wet, as for that matter was her skirt. Unlike her skirt, the blouse had gone transparent. Her nipples had responded to the chill from the water and every single detail was visible, i
ncluding the goose bumps on her areolas. The blouse might as well not have been there. She crossed her arms over her chest, realizing ruefully that she’d been showing him everything from the moment she’d arrived in the shop.
He chuckled. “Can’t blame a guy for looking, but we really do need to get you sorted out. If nothing else, you’re dripping a river on the floor.”
He was right. She could see the puddle forming underneath her.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a mop handy just in case any of the machines leak or spill.”
“Oh.”
He stepped away from the door and she could see the sign read Open, and guessed that meant the sign on the other side, facing the torrential rain and any prospective customer stupid enough to be out in it, said Closed.
At least that meant nobody else would walk in and see her exposed like this.
“Come on, through here.” He walked past her, making sure not to touch her in the narrow confines of the area in front of the counter. Whether that was to keep himself dry or out of consideration for her feelings, she didn’t know.
The flap in the counter was open so she followed him back toward the door behind it, and when he opened that she stepped through into another brightly lit room. At least it was private. She didn’t have to worry about someone peeping in the window and seeing her.
“I’m sorry, you didn’t give me your name…”
“Julia.”
He was rummaging around on a table and came up with a big fluffy towel. It looked like heaven as he held it. “I’m Ike, by the way. Pleased to meet you, but I guess something dryer would have been preferable.”
“Indeed.”
He offered her the towel and, reaching out with both hands, she brought it up over her head and started rubbing to get the excess water out of her hair. She looked over at Ike and smiled a thank you then realized where he was looking. She’d forgotten all about the transparent quality of her blouse and lifting her hands up had exposed her breasts. Even worse, her vigorous rubbing of her hair was making them shake around and wobble too.
She licked her lips, slowing her movements, just patting her hair while she worked out what to do. She didn’t want to just screech and cover up, that would embarrass him too. It took him a minute to realize she was watching him watching her tits.