Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
L ila
My heart is racing as I stand in the lobby waiting for Max to come out. I have no idea what just happened or why it felt so good, but my body is on fire and I desperately need to talk to Zara about it. That was not about playing games. It wasn’t about me playing a role. That was all about my attraction to Max and how sexy I think he is, even his personality, which annoys the life out of me, I’m beginning to somehow find charming. I’m not sure if it’s because of the endorphins released by the exercise or because I haven't gotten any in a while, but there’s no arguing that Max is changing my body chemistry. I’m literally walking around like I’m on fire.
I’m jerked from my thoughts as Max hurries out with his bag.
"Hey," he says, his eyes searching mine as if he's nervous that I might regret what happened. He has nothing to worry about. I could never regret the greatest sexual experience of my life.
"Hey," I say, tilting my head to the side and grinning. "That was something, huh?"
"We should talk about this later," he says, and I stare up at him. His eyes are sparkling as he reaches down and rubs my shoulder. His fingers feel like Heaven and I want to push him back and kiss him. "I think we need to."
"Hey, guys! We're over here," Lucinda calls out as we step outside. She's waiting outside the smoothie place with another one of the women whose name I don't know.
"Oh, hey," I say, smiling and waving. "Sorry, we're a little slow."
"It's okay." Lucinda grins. "If I was with someone that hot, I would be taking my time getting ready as well, especially with the co-ed showers."
I blush and Max grins. "Well, you know what they say about co-ed showers?"
"No," Lucinda says, flirting. "What do they say?" I can feel the slight niggling of jealousy in the pit of my stomach, but I try not to let it show.
"You guys are engaged or what?" Lucinda asks as she stares at Max, affording me barely more than a cursory glance.
I shake my head slowly. "No. Are you married?" I ask casually, as if that's not the entire reason we're here this evening.
"I am," Lucinda says, nodding. "To a very rich man." She grins. "Kind of handsome as well."
"Oh, cool," I say, wondering what she feels about the relationship. If she knows that Jack's about to file for divorce, she's certainly hiding it.
"Yeah, he is really great and we're in a very open relationship."
"Open?" I ask as we walk into this smoothie shop.
"Yeah," she grins. "Why? Are you curious to know what that means?"
"Yes," I say enthusiastically, looking over at Max.
"Hey, darling, I'm going to get us some smoothies.” He places his palm at the small of my back and leans in to kiss my cheek, sending an unexpected tightening need through my body. “Do you know what you want?"
"Choose for me, honey. You always pick the best stuff," I say, fighting to keep my voice steady.
"Well, okay then." He gives me a little wink and I just shake my head.
"Come, let's have a seat," Lucinda says as she sips from her smoothie.
"Okay." I nod and follow her to a booth at the back that’s set apart from the other women. "Is your friend going to join us?" I ask, nodding back outside to the woman still standing there. It looks like she’s on the phone.
"Oh, yeah. She's just arguing with her husband, Billy."
"Oh?" I ask.
"They argue frequently."
"Oh, okay." That's sad.
"It's fine," she says. "I think she likes it. She always gets amazing gifts when they make up."
"Oh, cool."
"So, how long have you and Max been together?"
"A good couple of months," I say, not really wanting to lie, but knowing that I can't tell the truth.
"He's really cute."
"He is. Thank you."
"How did you meet?" she asks.
I gnaw on my lip. This is not how I'd intended the conversation to go. She was grilling me and I was supposed to be the one grilling her. "We actually met at a work event," I say, smiling. "I guess we just saw each other and we were both single and ready to mingle."
"Cute. So do you guys like to play around?"
"Play around?" I stumble over the words and lean back. "Sorry, I'm not really sure what you're talking about."
"Oh, well…" Lucinda grins. "How open are you?"
"Um, what do you mean?" She'd use that word again. Open. What does open mean?
"Are you guys experimental in the bedroom?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. We're both curious about trying stuff."
"Great," she smiles, leaning toward me. "My husband…well, he's a little bit older and sometimes he has a hard time getting it up, which is unfortunate, but he's rich, so..." She shrugs, "And I love him, of course."
"Oh, of course," I say, nodding. Though, I'm not sure how true that is.
"Anyway, we're in this kind of cool, open relationship. He likes to take me to sex clubs and watch me have sex with other men."
"He what?" I asked, my jaw dropping. And she giggles.
"I know, right?"
"You asked him for this?"
"No," she says, looking shocked. "I mean, I was actually hell-bent against it at first. I was not interested in sleeping with another man, being a married woman and all, but when the sex kind of got a little bit boring and he started struggling to get it up, he asked if I wanted a threesome to spice up our life."
"Oh," I say. "Wow."
"Yeah, I was a little bit taken aback and I assumed that it was going to be with another woman, which I was okay with. You know, I'm curious."
"Oh, of course," I say quickly, not wanting her to know that I’m not really curious at all, but not wanting her to feel judged by it. To each their own.
"So anyway, there we are at home. I'm in a bubble bath that he's drawn for me with these beautiful, fragrant rose petals, and there's a knock on the door."
"Yeah?" I prompt. I don't know much about Lucinda, but she’s an amazing storyteller.
"Anyway, there's this gorgeous man standing there."
"Your husband?"
"No, a much younger, much more…well-built man. Very young. Very, very good-looking, very well-endowed, if you know what I mean?"
"Um, sure. I do."
"Anyway, they both walk in and they pull me out of the bath, each of them holding a different hand."
"Wow…" I’m not sure if it’s overflow from my shower with Max or what, but it’s getting really hot in here.
"And then they take me to the bedroom..." My eyes widen as she continues talking. I'd wanted to get some dirt from her, I just hadn't expected to get this much dirt.
"Anyway, both of them start pleasuring me at the same time."
"What?" I’m struggling to believe that she’s divulging all this information to me. I mean, we just met.
"It was the best sex I've ever had in my life, and surprisingly, my husband was harder than he's ever been in his life."
"Oh, wow. That sounds cool."
"It was amazing. So anyway, we had that experience and he asked if I felt like I was open to trying other stuff."
"Oh," I frown slightly. "So you didn't feel like you were cheating?"
"I mean, no. He's the one that brought the other man and he was right there. We all had a lot of fun." She licks her lips.
"True. Yeah. He wouldn't really be able to say you were cheating if he was the one that brought the other man." My brain is racing and I can't wait to tell Max everything that I've heard.
"Exactly," she says. "I feel like if both people are open to new experiences and trying stuff, then what's the big deal?"
"And you said your husband suggested it, right?" I press my lips together because I nearly let his name slip, and she doesn’t know that I know exactly who her husband is.
"Yeah, he suggested it," she says, leaning forward and touching the side of my face. My eyes widen slightly as she plays with my hair. "So…are you and your boyfriend, Max, open?"
"Um…" I lick my lips nervously. I'm not really sure what to say. I want to get some more information, but I do not want to find myself in a threesome with this woman and Max when I've never even had sex with Max in the first place.
"He just looks like he would be such an amazing lover, and you are pretty hot yourself," she says, looking me up and down. I swallow hard and smile.
"Thank you." I look over to the counter to see where Max is. He needs to hurry up before my stupid mouth lands us both in a pretty awkward position.
"So what do you think?" she asks, her voice low, and I'm happy when she leans back and takes another sip of her smoothie.
"You want us to have a threesome, or…?"
"No," she says. "I mean, I'd love that, but my husband likes to be involved."
"You want a foursome?" I ask, my eyes widening even further. "Like a swap?"
"I mean more like an orgy," she says, grinning.
"Have you ever had an orgy?"
"No, I actually haven't. I mean, my husband and I, we can definitely teach the two of you, and I know he'd love you. He loves blondes with big boobs." She looks me up and down. "He would love to fuck you. I just know it."
"Oh, I'm sure…" I say, my voice trailing off. Do I tell her that he's already planning for me to replace her? Part of me wishes I could, but then I’d have to tell her that it would take a billion gazillion dollars for me to sleep with the two of them.
"Thank you for the offer, but Max and I are very monogamous. He is the love of my life and I just could not imagine sharing him."
"I get it," Lucinda says, looking disappointed. "I wouldn't want to share that hunk either, but you know what they say, you might as well shoot your shot. You just never know."
"Yeah,” I agree, looking at Max as he heads back toward us with the smoothies. There's a wide smile on his face and my heart flips as I stare at him. He really is good looking, and for a few moments, I wish that this wasn't an act. I wish that he was my boyfriend. I wish that we were having wild, crazy sex and monogamous and madly in love.
"You know," Lucinda says as she stares at me. "When I look at you and Max…"
"Yeah?" I say, my heart racing with the possibility of her calling us out for our charade.
"I just see that look that the two of you share," she says, her voice tinged slightly with envy. A wash of sadness crosses over her face and she blinks rapidly before she looks to the side.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I touch her shoulder lightly.
She nods quickly. "Yeah. I mean, when I see happy couples like you and Max, it just reminds me that a part of me would much rather be monogamous. I love my husband. I want to make him happy, but I just feel like I'm not good enough, you know? I just feel like…" She sighs and shakes her head. "I guess this is the life I have to lead for love."
"If you don't want to do it, you should tell him," I say. I feel horrible for her because she looks like she's about to cry.
"He wants me to be with other men," she says. "It's weird. I know he loves me. I know he wants me to be happy, but all I want is him. I don't want those other men. I mean, sure, I'd love to be with a man like Max for one night, but that's not the rest of my life, you know? I just want me and Jack to enjoy forever together. That's why I married him." My heart sinks for her and I nod slowly.
"Hey there, talking about me?" Max says as he plops into the seat next to mine and hands me a smoothie. "I got you strawberry kiwi. I hope that's okay."
"It's great. Thank you." I say, taking the cup from him gratefully. "You're so sweet, Max." I lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek.
"What's that for?" he asks, his eyes crinkled at the side.
"Just wanted to say that I'm appreciative of you."
"I'm appreciative of you as well." He takes a sip of his smoothie, then reaches over and grabs my hand and squeezes. "I'm ready for bed," he says, winking. He looks way too sexy for his own good and I know that I’m in trouble.
Lucinda laughs as she stares at us. "Oh, to be young and in love." She leans back and pulls her phone out of her bag. I want to tell her that I know she's about the same age as me, but I can't. I can't tell her that I know exactly who she is. I can't tell her that her husband is looking to divorce her, that he doesn't love her, that he wants to get rid of her and not even give her a penny. But I can't. I look over at Max and give him a warm, sweet smile. He might not be my man, but I know he's a good guy in the depths of my soul.
"You two go and have some fun," she says. "I think I'm going to go and see about getting something to eat before I head home. Maybe I'll surprise Jack, my husband, and see if he wants to have some fun tonight."
"Cool," I say. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Lucinda."
"It was great meeting you as well. And if you ever change your mind, know that the door is always open." She winks at me. "Even if it's just you and me. If you're ever curious, of course."
"Thanks," I say, nodding.
I squeeze Max's arm and he shrugs. "What is it?"
"I'll tell you later," I whisper. I watch as Lucinda heads to the door. "I have so much to tell you."
"Good news, I hope?"
"I mean yes and no, but you are not going to believe what she asked."
"What?" he says, a twinkle in his eyes that tells me he’s enjoying this far more than he should be.
"She wanted to have an orgy with us." His eyes light up and he nods eagerly. The motion makes me roll my eyes as I laugh. "It's not happening, stupid." I poke him in the shoulder. “Sorry, bud, but that particular dream is not coming true tonight.”
“I never say never.”