We walked hand in hand along the sandy shore. The nearly full moon glimmered on the water. It was unseasonably warm, so even the breeze off the water wasn't too chilly. I was pleasantly tipsy and happier than I ever remembered being in my entire life.
I was in my own world with Devin and barely took notice of the couple walking towards us, until the man spoke. I would have recognized his voice immediately, even if he hadn't called me by the nickname he had used the entire time that we were married, despite the fact that I didn't care for it.
"Surprise." He drew the word out. "Working your magic on a new fellow, I see."
Devin smiled and introduced himself, extending his arm to shake hands.
I almost felt sorry for Tiffany when Richard introduced himself as my husband. "Ex-husband," she and I interjected simultaneously.
"Right, of course, we all knew that. What good fortune, to run into you on our little weekend getaway." I had to force myself to refrain from rolling my eyes at his broad interpretation of the words 'good fortune.'
"Well, as you can see," Richard said loudly and with a big smile as he patted Tiffany's slightly protruding belly, "I've been busy since the divorce. My Little Love Muffin and I are going to be the proud parents of Richard Jr. in a few months."
I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Not because I still cared about Richard, but because this pregnancy proved that I was barren. Throughout our marriage, I had longed for a child. I wanted to be a mother more than anything. Richard had been agreeable from the start, and we had never used birth control. As one year rolled into two, it became apparent that something was wrong.
I had always believed, deep down, that he was the one with the fertility issue. Whenever I broached the subject with him to be tested, he became irate and insisted that I was the one whose equipment didn't work, so I was probably the one who couldn't conceive.
I had never gone for the testing because I wanted to hold on to the hope that I could conceive a child. The baby bump protruding from Tiffany's too tight, leopard print mini-dress was proof that I had been the reason we couldn't get pregnant. Not only did my lady parts not know how to have fun, they didn't even know how to do what they were made to do. I felt broken and sad, and I wanted to get away from these two.
I didn't even know what had been said as I stood there reeling, and I didn't care. "Okay, take care. Buh-bye." I grabbed Devin's arm and stalked off, wondering how Richard was still able to ruin things for me.
Devin waited until we were a safe distance away before saying, "You still care about him, huh?"
"Richard? Ick, no! I just was caught off-guard with the whole baby thing." I was determined not to let Richard and Tiffany ruin my wonderful date with Devin. I would think about the dire implications of Richard being able to impregnate Tiffany later. Tonight was about Devin, and I wasn't ready for it to end. I wanted to forget all about Richard and his baby momma and thoroughly enjoy my time with Devin.
In what was likely the boldest statement of my life, I turned to him and said, "How about showing me your place?"
Devin was clearly surprised, but he smiled. "It's not much, but I do have big plans for it someday."
"I'm sure it's great," I said as I locked arms with him and marched him back up the gravel path to the parking lot of Biggie's.
He showed me to a dark green Jeep Wrangler with no doors and helped me climb in. As we drove, I cleared my mind as the wind whipped through my hair. It was a clear night and there seemed to be a million stars twinkling above us.
I was surprised when he turned down a wooded lane that angled towards the lake. Devin seemed almost nervous as he parked the Jeep. "I told you it wasn't anything special."
I don't know what I had expected, but it wasn't the Airstream trailer that sat before me. "Oh," I gulped. "It's nice." It came out almost like a question, even though I hadn't meant for it to.
Once the surprise wore off, and I began to look around, I realized that this was the perfect spot for Devin. The lot was full of trees and had a beautiful view of the lake. At the edge of his land was a huge pole barn where Devin built his boats. It was an ideal place for Buddy to roam "I noted", as he came over to greet me with a sniff before taking off to chase a leaf.
Devin had built an amazing cedar deck on the front of the trailer, so we sat down to relax and talk in his rocking chairs. I looked out over the water and said, "Okay, this is really nice," with more conviction this time.
"The trailer is temporary. I just fell in love with the location, so I'm going to build here one day," he told me.
"Will you build it yourself?" I asked. "Do you already have plans? How exciting to be able to make it exactly how you want."
"No plans yet." He became quiet, and I wondered if he was going to elaborate. He looked right at me with those gorgeous green eyes and said, "I've been waiting for the right woman to come along, so we can decide on our dream house together."
I almost melted on the spot. What wouldn't I give to be his 'Ms. Right.' He was absolutely ideal, and I didn't feel worthy of being with him, but I decided to enjoy every moment I had with him, even if it meant I was his 'Ms. Right' for now.
I blurted out, "Want to take this party inside?" I wondered where this newfound boldness was coming from."Oh, uh." He ran his fingers through his hair.He doesn't want me. He's just being nice. My inner voice panicked."I'm not exactly prepared." At my perplexed look, he elaborated. "I didn't think we'd be in this situation tonight, so I don't have any condoms.""Oh." Relief flooded over me. Since I hadn't had sex until I was married, I had never had to worry about condoms. In fact, I'd never seen one other than during the banana demonstration that every teen suffers through. "Okay, we don't have to." I paused before adding, "But I know I don't have any diseases because I got tested after I found out Richard had been with that whore we saw tonight." Whore?!? My mental critic screeched. How classy.He looked down at me and smiled. "I know I am disease-free because I always wear a condom, but I don't want to get you pregnant on our first official date.""Apparently, I can't get pregnan
I awoke to the delectable smell of sizzling bacon. "Could you be any more perfect?" I asked as I devoured the sight of him working in the kitchen. I watched the muscles in his bare back flex as he turned the bacon. Clad only in perfect fitting jeans, he looked completely at ease in the kitchen.When he turned to hand me a mug of English Breakfast tea, he asked, "Cream and sugar, right?"I could see by the color of it that he had already added the ingredients, and I was beyond touched that he had remembered. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed a shirt," I said, indicating the long, navy blue tee shirt that I was wearing."Looks way better on you than it ever did on me." He smiled. "Mind buttering that toast? Then we can head outside to eat. It's a beautiful morning."He was right, the sun was glistening on the water and the air was fresh and clear. We ate in companionable silence, and I kept finding myself gazing at him. He was so handsome it almost hurt my eyes. When he tossed his last
I could not stop smiling. Last night had been the best of my existence. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders, knowing that my body was capable of experiencing so much pleasure. Now I could see what all of the fuss was about. The only mar on our perfect night was seeing Richard and learning that I was the reason he and I had never conceived a child. I had wanted a baby for as long as I could remember, and I would not give up on that dream. Perhaps I would just need to explore other options, like adoption. I decided to put off thinking about it for now. It's not like I had to be in a big hurry. I wanted my life to be more settled before I made a plan for my child. Settled with Devin? The possibility popped into my head. I attempted to nudge it down, realizing that I might be skipping ahead way too quickly. I ran up the stairs two at a time towards my bedroom. As I rounded my doorway, Tobi, Kim's bitchy cat, skittered out of the room as if I had just kicked her.
We decided on an elegant, black, form-fitting cocktail dress. When paired with the super-high, shiny, black stilettos that Kim had loaned me, the look was classic and stunning. I just hoped I didn't fall down, especially considering what I was wearing underneath my ensemble.The thigh-highs, garter and racy thong were not my traditional type of undergarments. It made me feel sexy, though, to know how scantily I was clad underneath my demure outfit. I shivered in anticipation as I imagined how Devin's eyes would sparkle when he discovered my naughty secret.As I climbed the steps to the museum, I wished again that Devin had picked me up instead of asking me to meet him here. I had waited until fifteen minutes after the event started, hoping that there would be plenty of people here, so I could slip in unnoticed. I despised walking into parties by myself. The great room of the museum had been transformed into a sparkling fairy forest and the effect was magical. Six-foot tall mushrooms p
"Identical twin"? My mind reeled. How could Devin have failed to mention that? And what have I just done? Thank goodness it hadn't gone any farther, but I would never be able to face Devon again.And what about him? I wondered disdainfully. Was he just going to screw a stranger in the bathroom? Well, he is a guy, my mind retorted. And I was totally coming on to him out there. It's not like a man to turn down easy sex.I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My boobs were hanging out and my dress was askew. I quickly went over and snapped the lock into place before someone walked in on me in this state of complete disarray.I splashed cool water on my face and patted my chest with a damp paper towel in an attempt to calm down. Never in my whole life had I been that excited, or this humiliated. What a difference a few seconds can make.As I attempted to fix my appearance, I thought about Devon. He really was identical to Devin physically, but he was darker, more dangerous. The bath
He had the audacity to grin. Then he continued. "I don't generally share my brother's taste in women, but with you he did okay." "Okay?!?" I spluttered. Then I lifted my chin, deciding not to let him push my buttons. "You know, instead of rating me, you might think about how hurt Devin would be if he knew about us." "Us?" he asked. "So, now we're an 'us'? I didn't know you cared so much." "You know what I meant." I glared at him. This man was exasperating. He leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "When I'm fondling my date's fake tits tonight, I'm going to be thinking about your real ones." That did it. My mouth fell open, appalled. My eyes felt like they might pop out of my head. I whirled away from him and headed for the bar. I needed a glass of wine. Pronto. "Your brother is a pig!" I said loudly when Hailey hopped up on the bar stool next to me. "I'll take it you've met Devon," Hailey chuckled. "Yes, he can be a bit of a pig. But he can also be generous, and kind, and hilario
I looked in my rear view mirror to make sure Devin's Jeep pulled out of the museum lot behind me. We had decided to go to my house, and I was suddenly nervous about having him in my space.Kim had worked the dinner shift tonight, so she wouldn't be there when we arrived, but she would be coming in later. I wasn't sure how to let her know not to disturb us. I wondered if I should tie a 'we are screwing our brains out' scarf to the doorknob, but decided that was a little crass. She would just have to draw her own conclusions when she saw Devin's vehicle parked in our driveway.I was hornier than I ever remember being. In fact, I briefly considered pulling over and having my way with Devin in his Jeep on the side of the road. I pictured myself climbing through the door-less driver's side and mounting him in one smooth move. I could have him inside me, easing this aching desire within seconds. I tapped the brakes, but at the last minute decided that we would have more room to fool around
"Well, I'm glad he was there to save you, or I wouldn't be able to do this." I leaned over to give Devin a sweet, slow kiss. I was trying to think of a way to say that I had almost fucked Devon in a public bathroom, but my mind couldn't focus on anything but Devin when his tongue began swirling around mine.Devin pulled back and asked, "Do I get to see your bedroom?" I ran for the stairs and giggled as he playfully grabbed my rear end, following close behind me.We slammed my bedroom door shut and grabbed each other, groping to remove clothes as we fell into my bed. I didn't give Devon another thought. I spent the entire night rolling around naked with Devin's glorious body in a tangled mess of sheets.I awoke alone and immediately missed the feeling of Devin's warm, bare skin against me. I turned to find a lavender Post-It note on the pillow beside me. It had a giant heart drawn on it and was signed simply, "D,"He had obviously been in my bathroom and seen my circle of encouraging r