I knew better, but she wouldn’t listen. My wife Mandy wanted to be home and she wasn’t waiting, regardless of the weather. I get it; I really do. She’d accompanied me on this alleged two-day work trip, and it had turned into a week long marathon of meetings for me and lonely hotel time for her. She was sick and tired of the boredom and the weather. Snowstorms had pretty much closed the city, and she couldn’t even take a walk to alleviate her boredom. We were due to take off that evening on a regional jet, and it looked like we had a window of opportunity between bouts of bad weather. Like I said, I knew better.

I didn’t push it, though. Mandy is normally an upbeat person. She lives every minute of life with joy and enthusiasm. She must have felt like she was in prison this week, and she wanted out. The odds were long, but they were worth it for her.

I’d often been in this neck of the woods during the winter, and I knew the weather report couldn’t be trusted. The weather around here changed on a moment-by-moment basis, making forecasts farther out than an hour practically useless. Nevertheless, after a struggle through barely passable streets, our ride dropped us off at the airport. It wasn’t a large airport, far from it. There was one terminal building with one gate.

We went inside ponderously and slowly. I had no other speed at that point since I was dragging two suitcases through more than two feet of fresh snow. That two feet of snow had fallen on ice and compacted snow from earlier in the week. The lunar landscape I struggled to cross was anything but smooth. I was sweating under my coat by the time I set the bags on the scale at the check-in counter. There wasn’t a soul to be seen, and I glanced down the hallway before noticing the doorbell button with the little sign below it, right in front of my face. No wonder I didn’t see it right away.

I pushed the button and waited. I have a pet peeve about doorbells. You often can’t hear them ring, so you’re left wondering if the button worked. You don’t want to press it again if it worked the first time because it would be rude to do so. Then you’re left wondering if it worked, and if it did, did anyone hear it? After a sixty-second wait that feels like five minutes, you press the button again, invariably as the person you’re trying to get a hold of opens the door. Doorbells are the epitome of awkward introductions.

The young woman who came through the swinging door didn’t look like she had good news. “Well folks, I can go ahead and check your bags, so you’ll be ready, but the flight has been canceled due to the snowstorm. The next weather window isn’t until tomorrow, and the plane is still sitting in Chicago.”

I could see the disappointment on Mandy’s face, along with growing anger. If she was getting angry, she was truly nearing the end of her rope. I decided to nip that in the bud. “We’ll grab a cab back to town and return in the morning. One more night in a hotel won’t kill us.”

The airline rep looked at us with sympathy. “I’m really sorry, but the governor has declared a state of emergency. There isn’t anyone who can give you a ride, and honestly, the conditions are too dangerous to drive anyway. I’m afraid you’re stuck here until your flight leaves or the roads open. Neither of those things is going to happen before morning.”

Well, Shit! Mandy is going to lose her mind. “What are we supposed to do until then?”

She shot us a little smile, and I couldn’t help but notice how cute she was. “Well, sir, we’re closed for all intents, so we’re all going to meet in the bar, have a few drinks, and figure it out from there. You’re both welcome to join us.”

I thought that getting a drink or two down Mandy’s throat would go a long way toward changing her mood. “Absolutely. At this point, we could both use a drink.”

She held out her hand to shake. “I’m Darby.”

I let Mandy shake her hand first. “This is my wife, Mandy, and I’m Chase.”

Darby came around the counter and walked with us down the hallway. The bar wasn’t difficult to find. There was one hallway with three doors and gate security. One of the doors was near the gate and had limited access. The other two doors were on the opposite wall. One fed into the restaurant, and the other had direct access to the bar. Once inside the bar, I could see a short hallway that connected with the restaurant.

Two guys in business suites sat at the bar, and I assumed that the attractive woman serving them was the bartender. I was kind of correct. She was also the maître de, waitress, and busboy. A little later, I found out that the cook in the kitchen was the only other person in the airport outside of the bar.

The businessmen had their backs to me, so I walked around where they could see me. “Hey guys, it looks like we’re stuck for the night. I’m Chase, by the way.”

The older of the two men looked to be in his early forties and also looked like he just finished modeling for GQ. He had the salt and pepper thing going with his hair and blue eyes. I noticed the blue eyes because Mandy thinks blue eyes are sexy. “Nice to meet you, Chase. I’m Hal, and this young man is my protégé, Tim. Tim looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had brown eyes instead of blue but made up for that by looking like a fitness model.

I saw both men’s eyebrows go up when they saw Mandy. She had walked over and now stood next to me, studying both men closely. I could tell by her facial expression that she found them both attractive. She thinks that if she wears a bland face, no one will figure out what she’s really thinking. She’s funny that way. Since there are only two reasons she wears a face like that, and one is when I’m mansplaining something, I knew this time it was the second. Over the years, I’ve seen her bland face on many occasions when she found someone, or something, arousing. She was looking at them, not me and her attraction was obvious in her body language.

I didn’t mind at all. I get that she finds other men attractive, and I don’t mind if she looks or even flirts a bit. I’m far more interested in keeping her in my arms forever than chastising her for finding someone attractive. I’ve never been too concerned about her straying. She has a very healthy sex drive, and I know other guys flirting with her has turned her on, but she would never cheat on me. She’s not built that way. Now, if I gave her permission, encouraged her? Not for the first time, I wondered what might happen if I told her to go have fun, that it would be fine if she fucked somebody. It’s a great fantasy, but it probably ends awfully in the real world.

That didn’t stop me from thinking about it, though. Just for a second, I assume that Melody has her own fantasy about another man (men?). She’s had a rough week, and she craves some excitement. What if I got her laid? How would she react to that? How would I react to that?

I pondered the idea while sipping the nice single malt the perky red-headed bartender gave me. Her name was Amy, and she was distracting, to say the least. Apparently, my wife wasn’t the only one appreciating the hot people in the room. I decided to return to my original thought before my new focus on the hot redhead got me busted.

I took a quick glance at my lovely wife, talking with Hal and Tim. Hal, being the alpha male big shot, was fully engaged in talking with my wife in a flirtatious manner. I left it to her to decide what the boundaries were while I discreetly watched. Darby and Amy did a wonderful job of distracting me with conversation, and as the drinks went down, mild flirtation. I didn’t think anything of it, figuring that they were having a bit of fun at the married guy’s expense.

I glanced over at Mandy just in time to see Hal gently gliding his hand up and down her arm as he talked quietly with her. He wasn’t all that quiet, and I could clearly hear him using his seductive voice on my wife. I had just decided to step in when Mandy abruptly pulled her arm back and turned to me, “Honey, I’m hungry. Can we get something to eat?”

I was glad that she realized what Hal was up to and that she stopped things before I had to; I nodded, “Sure, babe. Let’s go.”

Amy heard the exchange, “Come with me. I’m also your waitress.”

She escorted us down a short hallway to the dining room, grabbing a couple of menus along the way. It wasn’t a high-end restaurant by any stretch, but the burgers we had were excellent and took the edge off our hunger. While I had some privacy with Mandy, I wanted to cover some bases. “I see that Hal and Tim are a couple of hunks, and they are definitely interested in you. Hal was giving you his best seduction efforts, and it looked like Tim was more than ready to join in.”

Mandy blushed deeply. “Yeh, I know. That’s why I decided we needed to eat. Hal didn’t seem to care that my husband was sitting right next to me.”

I looked into my wife’s eyes. “Yes, I picked right up on that. I also picked up on the fact that both guys are very attractive and that you noticed that as well.”

She looked down at the table. “Well, maybe a little.”

I laughed. “A little? Honey, I know you well, and I know that look you get when you’re attracted to someone, or in this case, someones. It’s okay. I’m not angry or upset. After the week you’ve had, I don’t have a problem with you having a bit of fun. Just make sure that you talk to me before things get out of hand. Okay?”

She looked up at me, puzzled. “What are you saying, Chase?”

I smiled gently at her. “What I’m saying is that I love you, and I’m sorry you were in hell all week. If you are enjoying those guy’s company, then I don’t have a problem with you having a bit of fun. How much fun you have is open for discussion.”

She shook her head in confusion. “Wait a minute. Are you saying you don’t have a problem with me flirting with those guys?”

“I’m saying I don’t have a problem with more than that if that is what you want.”

Her mouth fell open in surprise. “I… I don’t know what to say to that. Are you trying to get rid of me?”

I quickly got off my chair and moved around the table. I pulled her to her feet and kissed her with all the love I could express. “Never, my love. Never..”

I paused for a breath and continued, “I love you with all my heart, but I also owe you for this week, for this life, for this love. If you want to have a little adventure, I’m okay with that, with conditions. First and most important, you are mine, and you stay mine. I am taking a chance here, and I don’t want to lose you to a couple of hunky horndogs. Second, we touch base and get each other’s approval before anything happens. I may chicken out if I get too jealous. Third, no secrets. You have to tell me everything. Fourth, you don’t agree to anything without checking with me first.”

Mandy stood there hugging me tightly for the longest time before she finally spoke. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if you’ve just given me a wonderful gift or a curse. Things could go so wrong, and I don’t want to risk what we have together.”

I pulled back a little so that I could look into her eyes. “But you’re interested, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “What woman wouldn’t be? In a perfect world, I could have a dalliance with them; our plane would leave in the morning, and we would never see them again. What if it isn’t that simple? What if something goes wrong, and you end up hating me? I couldn’t stand that.”

I kissed her lips and held he close. “As long as you follow the rules, we won’t have a problem. After all, I’m the one who brought it up in the first place. Why don’t we just go with the flow and see what happens?”

She kissed me, and I could tell she was practically shaking in excitement. She stepped back. “I admit that the idea turns me on something fierce, and that means I need you to keep me straight. I’m afraid the fantasy aspect of this is making me so horny that I’ll make a bad decision.”

“So bad a decision that you forget about me?”

She shook her head. “Of course not. I could never forget you.”

“Then, I don’t think we have a problem. You’re in charge here. You decide how much, or how far, you want to go. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to.”

She was silent for a moment. “Why are you doing this, Chase? Does it do something for you to think about me with another man?”

I pulled her tight against me. “No, sweetheart. That’s not it at all. What I want is for you to be happy. This week has been pure torture for you, and you need to have some over-the-top fun. If having sex with a couple of strange men one time in your life gives you that, then I want you to have it.”

She sat back down on her chair and picked through her French fries. “What will you be doing while I’m doing whatever the hell it is I’m doing?”

“I’ll be nearby watching over you to make sure you’re safe. I won’t watch if you don’t want me to, but I will make sure that I can hear you at a minimum.”

She nodded to herself. “OK, here’s the deal. Anything I do, you have to do. If you won’t do it, then I won’t do it. I won’t fool around and leave you by yourself. That’s disrespectful to you, and I won’t have that.”

I chuckled. “What on earth makes you think Darby or Amy are even remotely interested in me? Cause I’m certainly not interested in Hal or Tim. You’ve put a roadblock in your way, and if that is what you want, then fine. I’m not asking you to do this; I’m giving you a pass to do it if you want. The thing is that those guys have made it clear that they are very interested in you. I don’t see the need for you to wait in the hope that I can seduce someone.”

It was her turn to chuckle. “You really didn’t see it, did you? Baby, if you’d pulled out your cock in front of those two, they would have fought each other to get at you. I promise you that they both find you very attractive, as do I, by the way, and you don’t have to seduce the willing.”

I thought that she was exaggerating my seductive abilities by a lot. “Sure thing, Babe. Anyway, let’s just see how things go and take it from there. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but you are free to do what you want within the rules.

As we walked back to the bar, I pondered the wonderful dichotomy that was us. Mandy stood nearly six feet tall but she wasn’t long and stringy. Oh no, never stringy. She had a runway model’s figure if that runway model had a few more pounds in muscle and tits. Big green eyes that glittered with mirth at life itself, and long wavy brown hair. She was a smoke show, in my opinion, and I was constantly amazed that she let me into her life, let alone loved me.

Then, there’s me. I’m far from tall at five and a half feet, nearly six inches shorter than my amazing wife. I weigh in at one-ninety-five, and my body mass index is as close to zero as you can get without being stupid about it. I’ve trained my body since I was very young, constantly trying to improve on the gift that god gave me. Was I obsessive about it? For many years the answer to that was ‘Yes’ without a doubt. I was a shrimp kid with a ton of attitude and got picked on a lot. I fought back every fucking time, no matter the size of the kid or kids. Something in me wouldn’t tolerate a bully and I wasn’t about to go down easy. Over time, the bullying dwindled until, by high school, it had stopped.

No, the kids with bullying tendencies didn’t suddenly become mature adults. I gave them some incentive to mend their evil ways when I learned how to fight. I mowed lawns and did chores to pay my way into a boxing gym. From there it was Ju Jitsu because that was the only martial arts gym open in my little town. By high school, I had a regular after-school job and that allowed me to join a Tae Kwando school in a nearby city. It’s been various martial arts and dojos throughout the years since then, plus a stint in the Army.

During my scholastic career, I always worked to be the best. Not because I needed the kudos but because I had a vision for my life, and being uneducated wasn’t part of that vision. I glommed onto the fact that a good education was part of the entry fee into a good life as I entered high school and doubled down on my studies. I wasn’t valedictorian, and I may share my reasons for that some other time, but I graduated next to the top of my class. I reaped the reward of a scholarship and focused my attention on the three most important things in my life to that point: perfecting my body, preparing for my future, and as much sex as is humanly possible.

Sex. Yeah, that’s the other thing I became obsessed with. My dating life didn’t start until high school. Before I got good at defending myself, I was the midget joke, and no self-respecting girl would be caught dead near me. I was resting uncomfortably at the bottom of the high school social ladder.

Things began changing during my Junior year. I had my first date, then another, then more. I wasn’t having sex with them. I was being with them, fully in the moment, and fascinated by them. One date told another girl how much fun I was, and the next thing I knew, the other girl was hinting at a date. I graduated high school with more than a few lifelong friends who just so happen to be women. I never pressured them or groped them. I kissed them as much and as often as possible.

I couldn’t help but become close friends with the girls I dated. Once I got to know each one as a person, it became way more important to me to keep their friendship and not mess it up by pushing for something that they weren’t ready for. I had the libido of a typical young man but none of the impatience that went with it. I approached dating like I approached my life, focused on the future and not on the demands of the moment.

I lost my cherry three days after my eighteenth birthday. It’s funny when I think about it. I didn’t regret the wait. I don’t want a world where I get my rocks off at the expense of the woman. I want her to remember our coupling with fondness, not regret. I didn’t have some religious calling that made me want to save it for marriage, but I did want it to be right, memorable, and better for her than it was for me.

I lucked out. One of the yards I mowed belonged to a young widow. In the eyes of guys my age, Tess was ancient at twenty-nine. To my eyes, she was magnificent. Her husband had been killed in an industrial accident two years prior. I had mowed their lawn for three years and I’d seen them together, and her quiet sadness every time after that. She was beautiful, sexy, sad, and far beyond anything I could ever hope to attain. I wanted to make her smile again.

I had no delusions about a romantic interaction with Tess. I knew I could never have her, but I thought I could at least make her smile. Spring had sprung, and the grass was growing fast. It wasn’t unreasonable to mow twice a week. I made sure I showed up like clockwork on Saturday and Wednesday. I was nearing the end of my senior year, and this would be my last summer mowing her lawn.

I have mentioned my focus on perfecting my body, and that might be a bit misleading. I’m not in love with my body. It’s a tool I use to live my life, and like any tool, I want to keep it working at peak efficiency. I don’t think about how I look in a particular shirt, or what my reflection looks like, or if anyone even notices. I just live. When I showed up at Tess’s house to mow, I was wearing a pair of workout shorts and shoes. I was working on my tan and hadn’t given a thought to what Tess might think when she saw me. She eventually told me that she first offered me a cold drink so that she could look at me close up without staring.

I always worked up a good sweat mowing and stopped by the back patio door for a cool drink of water when I finished. Eventually, the drink on the back patio turned into sitting in the kitchen and talking. Soon, the little talks after mowing began taking more time than the mowing. I loved every second of it. She came alive before my eyes. She smiled again, laughed again, and then, one day, she kissed me.

I’ll never forget it. We’d been talking about how estranged we both were from normal people. How neither of us had a romantic interest in our lives and how each of us had so much to give. I could have sworn that she was leaning toward me when our lips touched, but I was the one pulling her up from her chair and into my arms. The kiss was magical for me, but not close to as magical as our future would be. She led me to her bedroom for the first time of many. Each and every time was wonderful.

I have tears in my eyes as I write this. She taught me everything, and I loved her completely. She cared for me so much that she wouldn’t allow me to delay or derail my plan. I came home to her from college as often as I could, but she insisted that I date college girls. She wanted me to experience life, and she gave me an ultimatum. Either live life or forget her. She loved me too much to take away my future.

When Mandy and I fell in love, I told her about Tess and even took Mandy to meet her. The three of us had a lot of fun together over the years. Mandy was by my side at Tess’s grave site two years ago while I cried like a baby. Those that shine the brightest are taken from us too soon.

I learned my lessons well from Tess. She was a free spirit in the bedroom and was not only willing to try almost anything but often was the instigator of it. We spent hours together as I searched for and found her erogenous zones. She guided me through the best ways to touch each of them, how often to touch them, and the best time to touch them. We would edge each other for hours before bringing each other to epic orgasms. She was a wonderful lover and a wonderful woman. I loved her dearly.

I carried her loving spirit with me as new women entered my life. I cared for all of them, but I wasn’t in love with any of them until Mandy. Mandy and I met at a party, then ran into each other again, then went on a date. We grew to know and like each other to the point that we expressed our love for each other before we were ever intimate. When we finally did have sex, we couldn’t believe we’d missed our chance to do it sooner. Our sex life was more than either of us could have ever dreamed.

Back to the matter at hand, it’s hard for me to find off-the-rack clothes that fit me. My stature is short, my shoulders very wide, and my chest, arms, and legs are heavily muscled. My clothing needs to be short and wide. Because of that and a not unlimited tailoring budget, my clothes tend to fit loosely. I buy 3X stuff and have it hemmed, tucked, etc., depending on the status of the clothes. A suit gets the full treatment, casual clothes not so much. On this particular day I had changed into travel clothes. Jeans with a stretch gusset to allow my legs to flex for (you never know) a nice roundhouse kick and a pair of Rocky hiking shoes. The WVU sweatshirt fit my shoulders and arms well but bagged out quite a bit at my waist.

Picture it, if you will. A handsome, confident, well-to-do man sitting with his protégé and just chomping at the bit to impress the young man sees Mandy and I walk back into the bar. There Mandy is in all her sexy glory, and walking slightly behind her is this short guy wearing an oversized sweatshirt to obviously cover his huge gut. Hal smelled blood in the water, and the look he gave my wife after a dismissing one at me nearly ended his day. I understood the picture he was seeing, but that didn’t justify his disrespect.

I looked him dead in the eye and smiled. I knew something he didn’t. He was never going to possess Mandy. She wasn’t an object that he could steal away from me. On the greatest day of his life, she might decide to share her body with him, but that was all he would ever get. I left it to Mandy to sort it out as she saw fit. I trusted her completely. You can’t go down a path like this if you don’t have trust in where you’ll be the day after. I wondered what his wife would think about that, assuming he had one.

I’ll admit I was a bit torn about the situation. On one hand, I wanted Mandy to have fun, but on the other, I didn’t appreciate Hal's disrespect for our marriage. He had made up his mind about me and had decided that I wasn’t worth a second thought. I knew Mandy well enough to know that she would deal with his attitude in her own time and in her own way. I’m one for the direct approach, while Mandy is much more devious in her punishments. I suspected that before this night was over, good old Hal was going to wish I had just kicked his ass and got it over with.

Our re-entrance to the bar didn’t go unnoticed by Darby and Tess. Mandy and I sat back down at the bar between the women and the men. Mandy sat to my right, next to Hal and Tim, and immediately picked up their conversation where they had left off. I turned to my left and began talking to Darby and Tess while apparently paying no attention to my wife or the guys chomping at the bit to seduce her. I could barely contain my chuckles. Hal thought he was large and in charge. He hadn’t read Mandy right at all, and I was looking forward to him being taken down a notch.

I gave the man some time to get his game on before ordering shots for all of us. The group toast soon turned into a group conversation, which I could tell pissed Hal off to no end. Mandy played right along. She gave him just enough attention that he felt like he was still in control while holding back enough to make him a bit desperate for her attention. She played him like a fiddle. My only concern at this point was that if we continued this game to a conclusion, Mandy wouldn’t get laid.

To my pleasant surprise, young Tim hadn’t been indoctrinated into his boss’s attitude. He was pleasant and respectful to us, and I decided I liked the guy. Meanwhile, good old Hal was doing his level best to cut my wife out of the herd. His casual touches became a bit more aggressive and insistent, which is the last thing he should have done if he expected to impress my wife.

A few more shots later, Darby reached out and grabbed my bicep while she laughed at one of my lame jokes. A look of surprise crossed her face. “Amy, I think Chase is hiding something from us. Feel his arm.”

Amy had a curious look on her face as she reached out and tentatively squeezed my other bicep. Her eyebrows rose, and she grinned at Darby. “OK, I’ve got to see this. Off with that sweatshirt, buddy. Let’s see what’s under that thing.”

Mandy had caught the whole thing and paused her conversation with Tim. She grinned at Darby and Amy. “Go ahead, honey. I can’t wait to see this.”

I pulled the sweatshirt off and tossed it on the bar. The gasps from Darby and Amy weren’t nearly as surprising as the one from Hal. At that point he should have realized that there was more going on than he understood. I guess his ego got the best of him because instead of backing off and rethinking his strategy, he doubled down on his seduction attempt. I suspect that he had decided he was going to win the alpha male competition. His money and sophistication would trump my physique, and he would take my wife.

At this point, I had my back to Hal and Tim while Darby and Amy took in the view. Amy was the first to touch me. She was looking at my chest and abs, and I don’t think she even realized that her hands were touching me, caressing my muscles, until she’d been at it for a while. Darby took her action as an invitation and her hands were soon joining Amy’s. My wife’s chuckle got my attention, and I turned to look at her, giving Hal and Tim their first look at her alleged fat husband. The look of shock on Hal’s face was priceless. Tim was shocked as well but handled it differently. “Holy shit, man! I’ve never seen someone so ripped. Are you some kind of professional athlete?”

Mandy patted his hand. “No, my hubby isn’t a pro, although he competes quite a bit.”

Tim looked at her, puzzled. “Competes in what?”

Her grin was infectious. “Mixed martial arts. He’s really good.”

Of course, good old Hal couldn’t take this lying down. “Yes, I compete a bit myself. I’m a second degree black belt in Karate.”

I gave him a nod of respect while trying not to laugh at his transparent antics. This was turning out to be a fun evening, after all. I was really looking forward to Mandy’s creative way of dealing with his ego. She set out immediately to get things rolling. Tim’s obvious respect for both of us wasn’t lost on her, and she began to give him most of her attention while including Hal, just enough to keep him interested and pissed at being second place in her affections. He’d asked for it.

I turned back to Darby and Amy, and their hands soon returned to my chest and stomach. Their hands wandered lower, and my cock started growing in anticipation of their approaching hands. Amy’s hand was the first to give me a squeeze. Her reaction was to grab Darby’s hand and place it on my bulge. Both women giggled nervously, and their hands quickly moved to my belt. They got in each other’s way, trying to open my pants, and I gently grabbed their hands. “I’m very flattered that you are curious, but there is no need to get in a hurry. Let’s hang out and have some fun before we move on to other things.”

I could see that neither woman wanted to wait, but they took my comment with good grace. Darby got a mischievous look on her face. “Let’s play a game. Amy, is there a deck of cards behind the bar we could use?”

Amy went behind the bar and dug through a drawer under the cash register, quickly finding the cards. While she was back there, she poured shots for everyone and lined them up, “Grab 'em, folks! Let’s drink to fun and games!”

We downed the shots, and I got Amy’s attention. “I appreciate the drink, but I think I should be paying our way here. You’re going to have to explain where all the liquor went eventually, and it wouldn’t be right to let you take the hit for that.”

I took my wallet out and pulled out five one-hundred-dollar bills. “Here, let me know when this runs out.”

Amy raised her hands in protest. “There is no way we’re drinking that much, even if it is an airport with airport pricing.”

Hal saw his opening and took it, which did not surprise me at all. “Put your money away, Chase. I got this.”

He produced his own wallet with a flourish. It was a nice wallet, befitting his status, and he made sure that we could all see the bundle of bills it contained. He pulled out seven hundred and laid it on the bar. “This should cover everything. Keep the rest as a tip.”

I could see Mandy struggling not to laugh her ass off. She knew I’d played him by using his own arrogance against him. Amy gave me a knowing look. She’d figured it out as well and didn’t have a problem letting Hal’s inflated ego get the best of him. Darby was a genuinely kind person and it took her a little bit to figure it out. I could see her face light up when it dawned on her that Mr. I’m Important just got played. It was pretty obvious that neither Darby nor Amy had much use for the man. They’d seen through him and weren’t impressed.

Through all of this I was taking glances at Tim to get a gauge on his mood. Hal was turned toward us and couldn’t see the rueful shake of the young man’s head. Tim had very little attention to give to his boss because his eyes were glued to Mandy. It couldn’t have been more obvious that the young man was entranced by her. Mandy must have noticed as well because she subtly moved to the bar stool on Tim’s right, leaving Tim between her and Hal. She soon had Tim’s undivided attention as they talked softly.

Hal was so busy strutting that it took him a while before he noticed Mandy and Tim in a quiet conversation that most definitely didn’t include him. I could see the wheels spinning as he thought through strategies for taking control of the situation. He was so used to being king shit that it never entered his mind that the rest of the room was miles ahead of him. It was kind of humorous for now, but I suspected that when he finally figured out we were fucking with him, he wouldn’t take it well.

Amy served up another round of shots and we pounded them down, then relocated to a nearby round table. Amy set the deck of cards and a box of toothpicks on the table. “We’ll split these up and use them as chips. Ante is a toothpick. We’ll cut for the deal. The poker game will be the dealer’s choice.”

It went as she had said, and Mandy won the deal. I could tell by the gleam in her eyes that she was really starting to enjoy herself. One of Mandy’s quirky hobbies is card manipulation. She loves card tricks. She grabbed the deck, shuffled, and offered the cut to Tim, who, by some miracle, ended up sitting next to her. Who could have predicted that? Tim cut the cards, and Mandy called the game. “Five card draw, deuces wild.”

Hal shook his head at this bastardization of the game he considered himself to be an expert at. I loved it. Mandy was ramping up the pressure as she continued to yank his chain. She knew damn well that Hal would be one of two things. He either had no interest in poker at all or considered himself some sort of purist. She’d banked on him being a purist and hit paydirt. The man was practically squirming in his seat.

The four-of-a-kind I won with contained a pair of deuces and two aces. The look of disgust on Hal’s face as I beat his natural three kings was icing on the cake. I decided to back off on the guy for a while and give him a chance to learn some humility. I realized that I was being a prick by fucking with the guy and gave Mandy a discrete hand sign to tone it down a bit. She smirked at me and reluctantly signed her agreement.

Mandy and I had been forced into attending many business functions over the years of our marriage. We learned early that verbal communication wasn’t ideal with so many eavesdroppers around, so we developed our own signals based on what I’d picked up in Army Special Forces. There aren’t that many of us around, and the odds of one of my peers being at the party were pretty slim. Even if, by some slim chance, a former colleague was there, they’d never say shit without talking to me first. The two of us had become quite good at it and had a lot of fun carrying on side conversations under the radar of those around us.

Our private signals just added to the fun. We began feeding each other information on our cards. Darby was sitting on my right. I had the added benefit of Darby holding her cards loosely, and it wasn’t difficult to see what she was holding. Amy was sitting on my left. Her right hand was gently squeezing my thigh, and that distracted her enough that I could see her cards as well. That still left two hands unknown, but it did give us an advantage. We set out to deplete Hal’s toothpicks by doing everything we could to ensure that the weakest player won as much as possible. Darby was acting barely competent, and it was great fun to watch her slide the pot, with Hal’s toothpick raise, from the middle of the table. She began building little log cabins with them while waiting for her next turn, seemingly totally oblivious to the steam rising from Hal’s ears. He must have said something that really pissed her off before we came onto the scene because she wasn’t letting up.

Mandy and I spread the winning around a little so that Hal wouldn’t get too suspicious. We even let him win a hand every once in a while. We’d been playing for well over an hour and were all starting to get a bit drunk when Hall threw his cards in disgust at another loss. Amy stood and gathered the cards, “Let’s take a break and get some munchies from the kitchen.”

That was a popular suggestion. I put my sweatshirt back on, and we all took the short trip down the hall to the dining room. Mandy and I walked back to the kitchen with Amy and walked through the swinging door behind her. I made sure that I watched her tight little ass closely just in case something happened to it. I managed to pull my eyes away from sentry duty long enough to catch the look on my wife’s face. The bland look made me instantly turn toward the cook. Amy walked over to him. “This is Bill. Bill, this is Mandy and Chase.”

Bill shook my hand, then turned toward my wife. I almost laughed at the stunned look on his face when he saw her. He quickly recovered and did the whole corny kiss on the back of the hand thing. Mandy’s bland look told me that she didn’t think it was corny at all. In all honesty, the guy didn’t look like a short-order cook. He was a fit young man who seemed to me to be the kind of guy that women sigh over. He was lanky but not skinny and stood a few inches taller than Mandy.

I looked around the kitchen, then at Bill. “Hey, how about we clean while you cook? Maybe I can help you out with some of the prep? We can get everyone fed, and you can be done for the day.”

Bill hesitated, “I’m not supposed to let anyone without a health card work in the kitchen.”

Amy waved a hand at him. “Think about it, Bill. What are the odds that the health department is going to be paying you a visit anytime soon?”

I chimed in, “Mandy and I take cooking classes all the time, and we know our way around a kitchen. We’ll make sure we keep the place clean.”

Bill shrugged, then smiled, “Well, I’d be stupid if I didn’t want the help, especially if it gets me out of here early.”

Amy frowned. “Uhm… About that Bill. Everything is shut down because of the weather. We’re stuck here until they open the roads again. We’re all hanging out and having fun.”

Mandy reached out and gently touched his shoulder. “We’ll help you finish up, and you can come hang out with us.”

Bill looked down at the hand on his shoulder, and his eyes followed her arm upward to her face. His pupils dilated, and his nostrils flared. His desire for Mandy was as obvious as it was primal. Hell, even his hands were trembling. She’d pushed all of his buttons with the touch of her hand. It was pretty fucking awesome!

Amy grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll go hang out with the others while you guys surprise us with something yummy.”

The three of us began talking while we took inventory of what we had to work with. We worked up the meal with a few suggestions from Mandy and me that surprised Bill. We got busy getting things started. I worked up a starter salad, then focused my attention on washing dishes, prepping dinnerware, and general cleaning. By the time the impromptu meal was ready, there wasn’t much left to clean.

Mandy worked next to Bill like they’d shared a kitchen forever. I kept getting distracted watching them dance around each other in a cooking ballet. What distracted me more was Mandy’s blatant flirting, which soon turned into little touches before morphing into some pretty serious caresses and squeezes. I was hard as a rock watching her make Bill crazy with desire. I was amazed that he didn’t burn everything he touched, but he did a great job. As they were plating up the meal, Mandy squeezed between Bill and the counter, ‘accidentally’ rubbing her ass against his obvious erection. I think she let up on him just in time. A few seconds more, and he would have cum in his pants.

Amy returned with perfect timing, and the four of us carried the plates out to the table. The meal ended up being a huge success. Hal was effusive in his praise of the meal and Bill’s skill. He was surprised when Bill told him that the three of us were responsible, and again, he surprised me with his honest praise. It was a pleasant change in his demeanor, and I hoped that it would continue.

I began gathering plates when we finished eating, and Amy stood to help me. Mandy stood as well. “Why don’t you all relax at the bar while Chase and I help Bill clean up the kitchen?”

Bill started to protest, but I caught his eye and shook my head. Bill could have easily finished up himself in no time and certainly didn’t need the help. He sat back and didn’t say a word. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but the more time he could spend with Mandy, the better.

I pulled Mandy aside for a quick moment. “Here’s your chance, babe. If you want, you have my permission.”

She looked at me speculatively. “Permission for what, dear?”

“For anything you want to do with Bill. He wants you, and you know it. I think you want him too. If you’re interested, then have fun. I’m fine with whatever you decide.”

Continued in Part 2