Chapter One
Laura ignored the look of surprise, that quickly turned to lust, from the stranger she pushed past to make her way through the crowded bar. She was late, and she didn’t have the time or inclination to take him up on his very obvious offer. Seeing April and Tina waving her to them, she was relieved to see they had gotten a table and they weren’t going to suffer the crush at the bar. She smiled to see a drink already waiting for her. Her friends were so great.
With a sigh that turned into a groan of relief to be off her feet, she sat down. “I am so sorry I’m late. I thought I was going to throw a stapler at Arthur. The bastard made me redo a report three times, purely out of spite. I am telling you guys, I am done, so done with him. Four years is far too long to work for that bastard. When I get home tonight, my résumé is going live and I am sending that sucker out.”
Tina cackled from across the table. “Girl, I have been telling you for years to quit that fat bastard. He doesn’t deserve someone half as good as you. I will drink to that!”
After a laughing clink of their glasses, a cosmo for Tina, a gin and tonic for April, and a margarita on ice minus the salt for Laura, they let out a collective sigh of happiness. Until Tina started up on a recurring argument. “Now that you are finding a new job, it is on to finding a new man, girlfriend. This dry spell of yours is turning into the Sahara.”
April nodded sadly in agreement, a first for her. It caught Laura off guard. “Don’t look at me like that, Laura. It’s been almost two years since Jeff was the bastard of all bastards. I know finding him with that slut only a week before your wedding hurt. That was a low blow. I get it. I’m not saying you need to find the love of your life, but you have got to get back out there again.”
“If for no other reason then to give that overworked vibrator of yours a break.” Tina laughed as Laura turned red. “Don’t even try to deny it. You know the walls are too damn thin in our building.”
Laura cursed the thin walls, even though it was what had led them to becoming friends. After a few months of hellos and goodbyes in the hall, Laura had been surprised to have Tina knock on her door one night. Tina’s boyfriend had accidentally broken their cable box, and Tina knew Laura watched the same popular show that was on that night and was hoping to watch it with her. Tina knew she watched it too because she could hear it through the wall. After a night of talking, they had become fast friends.
“So what, I just hang out at the bar and go home with the first guy who asks?” asked Laura.
Tina cackled again. “You wouldn’t have to wait five minutes to get ten offers for a hookup. That’s when you’re in a bad mood; put a smile on your face and you’ll have them begging for it. You are a natural blonde with green eyes, a natural size-D rack, and only a size-four body. You are smoking hot. If you weren’t my friend, I would kick your ass for looking so much hotter than me.”
Always the voice of reason, April chimed in. “Just get your feet wet again so you can see yourself being with someone again long term. Maybe just the sexual relationship Tina is talking about wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I know you’re too picky for just anyone. Try some dating websites. I have a couple of guys I would be happy to set you up with.”
“Come on, you are in the hot town of Chicago, with all these gorgeous, loaded men roaming the streets,” Tina said. “Find one and have your way with him. Twenty-seven is too young to put the pussy on lockdown.”
***
Later that night, as she prepared for bed, Laura thought about Tina and April’s advice. She knew they were right, and the truth was it had taken her a shockingly short time to get over Jeff. What really stayed with her were the ugly things he had said during their breakup. How she was stiff and boring in bed, and he was tired of having to beg for sex that wasn’t even that good.
She had been so hurt. She’d only had one other lover besides Jeff—her high school boyfriend. Laura had known she could have often been more enthusiastic, but sex with Jeff had only ever been ho-hum. While Jeff was extremely well endowed, a solid nine inches, he had assumed that size was all a woman wanted, and gave little else. His idea of foreplay had been to stroke her clit a few times and then stick his dick in, pump for no more than two minutes, and he was done. Laura had wanted to yell at him that he had never made her come, not once. But she didn’t want to give him any more ammunition. The only time she’d had an orgasm in the three years of their relationship was when she was alone. She had told herself it wasn’t important. She wanted Jeff, and sex was secondary.
Jumping back into the dating pool with both feet wasn’t something she was looking forward to. She didn’t mention it to April and Tina, but she’d had already had a few tentative dates—just a coffee here and there, nothing as serious as dinner or even lunch. The few tries had been painfully brief, because both men had failed to take their eyes off her breasts for longer than two minutes at a time. One of them had even managed to grope her ass. She hated to complain to her friends, but she hated that, because of her looks and body, many men only saw her as a blow-up doll. Her features were delicate: an oval face, with a gently rounded chin, and her small nose was offset by a wide smile. Men didn’t seem to care about what she had to say or what she thought. Men seemed to assume that, as she was a pretty blonde, she didn’t have any thoughts. Was it so difficult to believe she was more than just a blonde with great tits?
Then again, maybe something based only on sex wouldn’t be the worst thing. Maybe it was time for the blow-up doll to get off and walk away when she had gotten her fill. Maybe it was her turn to get what she wanted. In her only two relationships, she had been so concerned with being a good girl. The very idea of doing anything that would be considered dirty had her backing away from the bed. Two years after Jeff, and with the purchase of a vibrator and dozens of those steamy books on her e-reader, she was ready to try something new and s
infully delicious.
***
Two days later, as she walked along Van Buren on her lunch break, she wondered about the person, Kelly, she was going to meet. April had set up the meeting. Kelly Fletcher was leaving her position to get married, and wanted to find the perfect replacement. April had trilled that it was the perfect job for Laura. Yet she had a feeling there was much more to it then just a job. As she entered the quiet, dark, very exclusive restaurant, the feeling deepened. She gave her name to the maître d’ and followed him to an area in the back. The woman, already at the table, smiled as Laura approached. Kelly was very pretty in a natural way, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. Even features were set off by a wide, soft mouth. As they shook hands and Laura settled into her seat, she noticed the large diamond on Kelly’s left hand. It was at least ten carats.
Kelly laughed, a light, tinkling sound. “I know it’s almost too big and moving into tacky. But I love it. My fiancé is much too generous, but I’ll never tell him that.” They both laughed. “Thankfully, he doesn’t ask for a whole lot from me. A few blowjobs every now and then sex at least three times a week, for the furs and the house I have no problem delivering. Ahh, did you just blush? You are too cute. April told me a little bit about you and your dry spell. Oh, don’t get mad at her. I have been looking for a replacement for a little while and been asking everyone I know of people who might fit the role, even just might.”
She broke off as the waiter brought them menus. After he left, Kelly drew the conversation to Laura’s work experience, asking how long she had been an assistant to Arthur and what she had done before that. More questions about knowledge of various office applications and what her workday looked like. Finally, as the meal drew to an end, Kelly smiled and seemed satisfied.
With a glance around, Kelly leaned back and said, “I think you would be a great fit. But I have a question: how would you feel about giving your extremely gorgeous boss permission to fuck you whenever, wherever, and however he wants to?
“I can see from your expression there is some shock, but let me tell you, it is the best part of the job. The man is amazing. Just thinking about sex with him has my nipples hard and my pussy wet. He has a great cock—nice, fat, and a long eight inches, and he knows what to do with it. But it’s not just his cock. When he goes down on me I gush like a fire hydrant. The man is gifted and not greedy or stingy. I do things with him I never thought I would do with a guy, and I like it. I don’t just like it, I can’t get enough. He is such a great fuck that I actually have no real desire to quit my job. I have been his assistant for five years, and although this only started up in the last three, almost four years, I would have happily done another five.
“I just feel guilty that I’ve continued to fuck him even though I have been with my fiancé for three years. When I get married, I don’t want to fuck around on my husband. My husband is giving me the cars, the house, and the lifestyle I have always wanted, so I figure the least I can do is give him my fidelity.
“Paul is a great guy. His worst quality is that he’s a workaholic. He built his business from just him out of his condo to become one of the largest and most prolific commercial real estate companies in Chicago. He’s only thirty-four and a multimillionaire. He came out of a bad marriage a while ago—he was blinded by a gold digger—and has no desire to do anything but have fun. He is also a great boss, never too demanding. He won’t let you slack off, but at the same time he isn’t a slave driver. He might be a workaholic but he doesn’t demand that of you. He has always been good about me taking time off, and the pay is more than you make now. Just meet with him, see what you think.”
Laura was shocked. But she couldn’t ignore the expression of euphoria on the woman’s face as she talked about her boss. Laura was also surprised that hearing Kelly talk about him had made her wet. She remembered all the bland sex with Jeff, and knew she had never once looked forward to sex with him the way this woman did with her boss. It seemed like fate was laying out exactly what she had been thinking about only two days before. Now it was about taking the chance.
***
The phone call that came from April as she entered her apartment later that night was far from unexpected.
“Hey, so how did it go?” April was tentative, overly light.
“Good. I’m interviewing with him tomorrow.”
“Really?” April almost yelped.
“Well, wasn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t sure you would go for it. Actually, it was Tina that pushed me to tell you about it. Tina was afraid you wouldn’t do it if she put it out there. I have to admit to being surprised, but I think it’s a great idea. I’ve had a chance to meet Paul, and he is absolutely gorgeous. He can help you satisfy your needs and reintroduce you to the world of sex and men. So when the time comes to really put yourself out there, you won’t be so tentative. When Kelly first went to work for Paul, she was mousy, scared of her own shadow. Now she’s confident, ballsy, and I really do think Paul had a lot to do with that, in a very good way.”
“Really?” Laura was surprised to hear that about the happy, confident woman she had met that afternoon.
“Yep, no lie, she was a timid little thing—nose to the grindstone, no looking up. Who knows what you might turn into when he’s done with you? Being a sexually satisfied woman can lead to all kinds of interesting things.”
Chapter Two