Where Trouble Lurks

"That's why I don't think it would be a good idea for us to be together much Lynn. I love you too much to hurt you. I'm afraid that if Dawn and I get back together, you'll be hurt. I can't stomach the thought of my doing something that would hurt you like that."

"So what...we avoid each other until things are either fixed or not? We pretend that we don't care for each other? We pretend that our love for each other is just...nothing? I can't do that. I care for you and I know you're hurting. I know you've been terribly hurt by Dawn."

"I'm still married. I still love her...damn. DAMN -- IT!"

I was getting mad and my outburst was unexpected by Lynn. She shook as my shout came out. I was immediately sorry, but what was done was done.

"I'm sorry Lynn. I'm about to explode and I need to do something to work it out of my system before I do. Tell you what, how about we have dinner at that restaurant day after tomorrow. Sound good?"

I wanted her to know it wasn't her I was angry at. I also wanted to still be her friend and I did want to talk with her about Dawn. Of everyone we knew, Lynn knew Dawn the best. Even though I knew that Lynn was in love with me, I also knew that she'd be honest to me in spite of her feelings for me.

"Promise you'll call if you get down too much?"

"Yeah. I promise."

"Okay, I'll stop by and you can take me out day after tomorrow."

"Sounds like a...plan."

I'd almost said 'date' even though that's what it was I wasn't ready to admit that yet. In the state of mind I was in, it was important to me to keep thinking positive and that Dawn and I would fix things between us.

Sleep never came to me that night. I finally got up and sat in my dark office and just stewed over life. I hoped that Dawn was having as rough a time sleeping as I was too. It would serve her right.

Around four in the morning I dressed out for a run. Running seemed to help me put some things back in my mind and after a few miles I was feeling a bit better. Not totally well, but better. After six miles I got back home and then went straight into my gym and worked out.

I over did it. I worked out for three hours, sweating enough to float a battleship. As my jell-o like arms finally got the weights back on the rack I knew some things about myself. I knew what direction I wanted to go in and I knew that Dawn was going to have a hard time holding onto me now. I'd still try, but there would be no more Mr. Nice Guy.

Spending the rest of the day in the yard doing some odd jobs helped me to put a plan together. The mailman delivered a package that afternoon, and it was the whole report from the detectives I'd hired in Boston.

After reading and viewing what they had, I was surprised at how I felt. My anger, that had almost caused me to need to kill a person, had died down to irritation that Dawn had been so stupid. Her lover Steve was a guy that had several women on a string, and Dawn was just another conquest in a line of conquests.

He targeted...if that is what one would call it, married women. The detectives had investigated him before in two other instances, and they'd mentioned them without details, but in a character review kind of thing. When Dawn wasn't there the detectives felt that he had two other women on the hook to fill up the time gap. I hoped that Dawn hadn't gotten some kind of STD or AIDS from this creep.

Things that a faithful person never thinks about until faced with a cheater. Love, and giving it to another. Sexually transmitted disease. Looks. 'Size' issues. Quality issues. Style issues. What did they give to their lover that they never gave to me? And the most troubling one, for me anyway, was WHY?

The more I thought the more came to light. Of course, the more I hated what Dawn had done to us now to. She'd really opened up a huge can of worms. I had a battle to fight whether or not we remained married now. Dawn had really cut the feet out from under me and I felt inadequate, old, boring, and unloved. Insecurities abounded where there'd never even been an inkling of doubt before.

Dawn on the other hand had a huge battle to fight to overcome all these questions I had, and to regain my trust, if it could be regained that was. I knew that her career was going to be an issue, and I wasn't sure if I placed high enough in her view to be worth keeping over her career. I knew that I'd be finding out soon though.

That night I slept for a while, but still not restful. In the morning I woke to a door being opened.

"Dave? You up and about?"

"Yeah. I'm still in bed Lynn. Just a second I'll be out..."

I had jumped out of bed, naked. I sleep in the nude as it's more comfortable for me. Reaching for my pants I heard the bedroom door open. Looking over my shoulder I saw Lynn staring at me.

"Oh my. You do have a cute butt. Very, very nice. Your equipment is pretty impressive too."

"Lynn, I'm naked here. I'll be out in a moment."

I was blushing. Seeing her stare at my nakedness un-nerved me deeply. I could see her nipples hardening as she gawked at me, and those swelling nipples were causing a swelling on me that I couldn't hide naked as I was.

"Oh...wow. It really gets big when you get excited too. I can just..."

"LYNN...PLEASE. OUTSIDE...right now young lady."

She stood there, staring at me. My cock was getting harder, and since it was already mostly hard from the usual morning piss hard-on, it didn't take much to get hard. I turned my back to Lynn and began to pull on my pants.

Lynn meanwhile, slipped up behind me and as I struggled with my jeans, her hands found my shaft.

"It's so hot. So...hard. Dave, you have to share this with me. It's the biggest one I've ever seen in person. I never knew you were so...large. Damn."

I pulled away, causing her to swear at losing contact with my cock. Yanking my jeans up the last bit and getting them buttoned took only a few seconds as I franticly worked at keeping out of Lynn's reach.

"Lynn, we've talked about this. I can't do anything. I'm still married and I am planning on staying faithful until the bitter end. You know this, and you know we can't...go there."

"Yeah. I know. But damn...you're making it hard on a girl, you know Dave? First you have a great body...all hard, defined, and frankly, hot. Now I see the size of cock you have too. If I didn't know better I'd say you were teasing me on purpose."

"I'm not teasing you and you know it. You might be teasing me, but I'm not teasing you."

"Me? Tease you? Why how you talk Dave. You'd think that by the way you're talking that I've intentionally stripped naked and offered you something."

Her eyes were full of mischievous deviltry. She kept staring at my crotch, and licking her lips. Then I noticed she was undoing her blouse buttons.

"NO. Lynn, no. Stop that. You need to get into work and I have some things I need to do. LYNN...stop that. Quit undoing those..."

She paid no attention to me. Her fingers were inside her half unbuttoned blouse, playing with her nipples through her very shear bra. Licking her lips she glanced into my eyes.

"You really shouldn't tease a girl like this Dave. I think you need to take those pants off and lay on the bed. I have some needs that you have to take care of now."

"NO. I won't."

"Oh Dave...come on. It's not like you don't deserve it...you do. You've been great so far, but now it's time to get a little back. I'm willing to be the one to help you do that too. It'll be fun. For both of us...I promise."

Softly, and gently I spoke.

"Not like this. Not right now. Lynn, I want you, and you are very aware of that fact. I'm also still married and you are also aware of that too. I can't, and I won't. Even if it's the dumbest thing I ever do in my life, I have to hold to my vows. You know that. You understand why. Don't tease me...please?"

Pouting, she pulled her hands out of her blouse.

"Okay. You're right Dave. I know better. But damn..."

"Afterwards...if we get divorced...then we'll see. I promise I'll give you first shot at me Lynn. If that's what you want that is."

"Oh baby, I won't let you down either. I do want first shot. First and last. Once you've become free I'll do whatever it takes to catch you and keep you. THAT'S a PROMISE."

You know what? I believed her.

That afternoon Dawn called me wanting to set up a date to talk to each other about everything. I agreed and told her that she could come over right away and we'd talk for a bit. I warned her that I might be angry and yell. She accepted and told me she deserved that at the very least.

She showed up dressed very conservatively. Once I saw her dressed as she was I had an unreasoned anger towards her. She'd been dressing far more sexily for her lover than she ever had for me, and now she shows up dressed like a nun almost. She could dress sexy for him but not for me?

I know it's unreasonable of me, but still it hurt. To know she'd dress plain Jane for me like this when she'd been way more wild with him dug at me. To be fair, I knew that she dressed 'normal' for me. She was probably not sure how I'd react to a sexy Dawn, or perhaps, she didn't want to start a fire where it wasn't necessary. Still, it burned my ass that she dressed like that.

"Cup of coffee?"

"Yeah. Please."

We were in the kitchen. Dawn had sat where she'd usually sat for the last years. I poured her coffee and then sat down across from her.

"First of all, I'm so sorry Dave. I am truly sorry. I know that isn't much and it probably sounds hollow, but I never meant to hurt you. I never meant for you to ever have known either. It was over on this trip, before I even went. Steve and I...it was just sex. That's all."

"That's all? Oh my, that's such a relief to me. I know that you probably wouldn't want to bother me with offering yourself to me like you did him. Dressing sexy for him and not for me so I couldn't be embarrassed by you. I'm so glad that you thought well enough of me to not bother me with extra or great sex over the last year. That you don't feel you have to dress special for me either."

"Don't be that way."

"You started it. You sit there and say that you love me and that you're sorry. I have no way of knowing that you're being honest or not. You say that it was over when you went there...if it was, why did you feel a need to do him each day all two weeks? If you knew it was over when you left home to go there, you should have stopped it right then and right there right away. But you didn't. You also gave him things...did things for him you refused to do with me too. You never meant to hurt me but you did by omitting things you did for him that you won't, didn't and never have done with me."

"I know you're angry with me for..."

"ANGRY?! ANGRY?!...You're Goddamned right I'm angry. I have very good reasons to be this angry. You cheated on me. You gave yourself to another person...he's not a man either he's a gigolo at best. You gave him things you never gave me. You 'enjoyed what he did for you' and I quote that from your diary. Yeah, you have guilt for cheating on me, but that guilt wasn't enough to force you to stop once you'd started."

She sat there, barely holding her tears at bay. I could see them swimming in her eyes, almost ready to fall.

"What will it take to keep you Dave? What do I need to do to save us?"

"I've thought long and hard about this Dawn, just so you know. I have a few things that I'm going to require of you...and those things are not negotiable. Are you sure you want to hear what I am going to demand of you?"

"Yes. I'll do anything to make it right with you Dave. Anything in the universe. Anything you want I'll do."

"Don't make promises you may not want to keep Dawn."

"I'm not making promises I won't keep nor am I making promises I won't want to keep either."

"Okay then...here goes. These first one's, as I said, are non-negotiable. These are the one's you have to do to stay together. Number one...you need to quit your job. I'll expect..."

Dawn's shocked look told me that this was something she'd never dreamed I'd tell her.

"QUIT MY JOB! I won't quit my job. I have too many years invested in doing it. I'm a partner for Christ's Sakes...I can't quit my job."

I remained calm in the force of the storm that emitted from her. I'd thought this all out and so far she'd reacted pretty much exactly as I'd figured she would.

"Then our talk is over. Quitting your job is the one thing I WILL demand of you. This is a do or die Dawn. If you want me, you'll have to quit your job. Period. End of discussion. Now...since you won't quit, I'll just call my lawyer and have them start proceeding with the divorce. I knew you wouldn't quite realize how serious I am here, but I had hoped you'd at least admit that your job is part of the reason you cheated on me in the first place. Since you refuse...there is nothing more to talk about."

"Wait. You just hit me with quitting like that and it's unfair. I've worked so hard over the years. Getting that partnership was one of the hardest things I've ever done. You know that. Why do I have to quit my firm?"

"It's how you were able to be in the situation where you cheated on me to begin with. I trusted you. I trusted you and you walked all over that trust. You had a 'bible' for crying out loud. You consciously and knowingly cheated on me, and you also worked hard at being the same for everyone you knew so that nobody would suspect. Your job gave you the opportunity and the time to have the affair. Your job aided and abetted you in cheating me out of a loving and faithful wife. Your job is gone or I'm gone."

"Just like that?"

"Exactly like that."

"You can't negotiate something with me about my job then?"

"Absolutely not. I need you to be home for a while. I can't trust you to be anywhere you will be in contact with men. You will have to be somewhere that I can check up on you. Not always, but for a long time into the foreseeable future. I can't trust you Dawn. You've nothing to bargain with on this. You blew that trust out the window, and you have to deal with it now."

"Quit my job. Oh my God. What have I done?"

"You know what you've done Dawn. Now you have to pay the piper. I can't trust you. I hate your job because you were able to use it to cheat on me. I can't accept you working away from home or me now. You brought this on by the way, not me. Remember that."

"Quit my job."

She shrank before my eyes. I know that her job is very important to her. I know that she has always looked for that certain respect she has there. She is an important part of the firm and she knows I know that. This is the biggie. The other things she may balk at, but this was the one thing I figured she'd not allow.

"Oh Dave I've really messed things up haven't I?"

"Yeah To put it mildly, you certainly have."

"Quit my job. I'll have to think about that one."

"Nothing to think about Dawn. You quit and we might have a chance of making it through this. You don't quit...we're done right away. I know that this is a surprise to you, so I'll tell you what. You go to your place and I'll give you a few days to 'think'. We'll get back together on Saturday, and if you are willing, we'll discuss the rest of it. Just know this...your job is gone if you want to keep me. That is a requirement. No negotiation on this one."

"I really hurt you. You've changed. I can't believe you'd want me to quit...but then I can see why you would too. I'll let you know Saturday. I'll call before I come over."

"Good idea. If you won't quit your job there is nothing more to discuss. The lawyers will handle the details. By the way, I have a pretty good firm representing me."

Handing her the card my lawyer gave me caused her to jump. When she read the name on the card she looked pale.

"Why them?"

"They don't have any connections with your firm. They are also your biggest competitors. I feel I can trust them...far more than I can trust my own wife now it seems."

"When you pick, you pick well. I only wish..."

Dawn left it unsaid. I could see from the look she gave me that un spoken thought was probably along the lines of 'I only wish you'd never had to go there' or something like that. Of course, I could be wrong too. After all, she had a second life I knew nothing about for the last year.

"Oh Dawn, so you know. I had detectives follow you in Boston and they've sent me their report, my lawyers have a copy of it all. I'll send you what I have too, to be fair."

"Detectives. You really hired detectives?"

"Yeah. You left me no choice."

"I'm so sorry."

"I know."

That night Lynn showed up and we went to dinner. She wore a nice little dress that showed more than it covered. Short as it was, I could see almost her whole leg as she walked. It was only when she was getting out of the car, and I was holding her hand as she got up, that I saw she wasn't wearing panties. She was bare. She'd also shaved all her hair off down there too. Before she'd had a little strip, now, there was nothing but soft pale skin.

Seeing her like that caused my cock to swell and get hard. Holding her hand as we walked into the restaurant, I hoped that nobody would notice my erection.

We were seated at our reserved table and the waiter had Lynn sitting across from me in the booth. Once we settled in, she slid around until she was right next to me. Her body was rubbing against mine and she read from my menu for her selection.

Waiting for our meal, we talked. Dawn wasn't mentioned, nor was work. We were talking about things about each other. Kind of a 'getting to know you' thing, even though I thought I knew Lynn pretty well. I soon found out that I hardly knew anything about her.

"So...you like rock and roll?"

My question was just to see what kind of rock Lynn liked.

"Oh yeah. Classic rock actually. Like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, some Ozzy, and then there's the Eagles, BTO, and Bon Jovi. Those are just some."

"I'd have figured you for either Country or hip-hop."

"I can listen to it all, but I prefer Classic Rock and Hard Rock. 60's and 70's stuff mostly."

As we talked Lynn was touching my arm or hand often. We had some drinks, and hers had a maraschino cherry that she kept toying around with in her mouth. I soon discovered that she was teasing me with it.

"Are you going to eat that cherry or what?"

"What. Like what you see? Did you know that I can tie a knot in the stem with my tongue?"

"Yeah? Well, I've been known to tie and then untie a knot in a cherry stem."

"Wow. So you have skill with your tongue then?"

I could see where this was leading and I changed the subject.

"How are your parents doing?"

"They're doing well. Mom has been involved in Habitat for Humanity a lot, building houses in New Orleans with a church group. Dad's been fishing."

"Your mom's building houses?"

"Yeah. All the women in our family are good at working with their hands. Mom knows her way around a skill saw, that's for sure."

"That's amazing."

"Oh not at all. You should see what I can do with my hands Dave."

As she said that, her hand fell to my leg. I could feel her fingers working the muscles on my thigh, kneading and massaging me firmly. Suddenly her massage became more of a caress. Laying her head on my shoulder, she continued to caress my leg, working higher and higher up, until I knew that I'd have to stop her.

Just as I moved to prevent her from going too far, she slipped her hand back up on top of the table.

"You don't have to stop me Dave. I know that you don't want me that way."

"It's not that I don't want you Lynn. It's that it wouldn't be right...right now."

"I hear you...but I can't see you."

"What?"

"I know that you want to remain faithful...but I can't understand why. I know you want me. You know I want you. Can't we just...try it out once? No strings?"