All Comments on 'The Pretend Boyfriend'

She sure played him though. I was amazed he would do anything with her being she said she was married. It is good to see he was going to walk a way from her when he caught her using him

I like it, including the ending, nice work

how on handles the outcome is puzzling, TK U MLJ LV NV

Many of your quick endings work. This one seems like you got bored and walked. The first 99% was good tho

Over many stories we've come to accept that Bob's high school 'friends' were amoral lowlifes but that sort of behavior just doesn't translate into corporate life. Constance, an intelligent ambitious woman, was willing to have the employees of the company she expected to run believe that she was cheating with a fellow employee? Not a chance in hell!

I really like the way you handled the cheating wife resolution. A simple sentence that she called a few months later asking to come home, again! In a single sentence you expressed her character flaw, her "seller's remorse" and with his response, her consequence for betrayal. All done with feeling and in a very satisfying way.

Then you do it again at the end of the story. A single sentence; "I did. And now fifteen years later, I'm glad that I did." gives us resolution with plenty of feeling expressed and again, done in a very satisfying manner. Could you have gone on for paragraphs in an epilogue? I suppose so, but after that beautifully written que de grace it would have been superfluous. A perfect finishing move for a very fun read.

As always, thank you for sharing your stories, we really enjoy them. Five stars.

Long drawn out with no meaning and just a lot of words.

No sex, no loving wife, just NON EROTIC

JPB was in a mellow mood for this un'. I admired the red herrings artfully sprinkled about. Thought Constance was trying to use narrator as a beard to cover up affair with Corporate honcho. Glad to be wrong. This seemed to be heading for dark alley rumble but artful author gave his hero the 401k upgrade along with hand and heart of corporate Mata Hari.

Bottom Line : Business and Pleasure get to gambol like twin fawns in meadow in this noir-lite charmer. I thank the author for sharing.

Not LW but a decent read

By dumping the slut to hook up with a manipulative bitch. And is willing to abandon his values to carry on what he believes is an emotional and semi sexual affair with a bitch who pops her tits out for complete strangers. Seriously, creative but brain damaged double standard.

What makes me curious is that i see these fantasy payouts from companies over some employees having sex in btb all the time. Does that have even a remote basis in reality? My understanding is those policies typically exist to keep fraternaization down, avoid harassment lawsuits and virtue signal. It sounds like a lot of horse shit in today's litigous but highly adulterous society. Fake btb device?

I liked that the story was based on a plot and not gratuitous sex.

Nuff said!

Maninconn

Thank you for an excellent and well written story. My only quibble is that the ending seemed a bit rushed. Maybe you were tired of the story and wanted to get it over with? Even so, I enjoyed it immensely. Your submissions are head and shoulders above what is usually offered.

JPB still can't finish a story.

The games people play, eh?

Bob, you wrote a very good story. I absolutely love Bob, and Constance was a smart girl. She played the hand she was dealt and came up with top cards. I'm impressed, and here's my five. Thanks for the very nice story, Randi.

I think it is hilarious that even in a story with as little sex in it as this one, Bob STILL manages to slip in some sloppy seconds, albeit briefly!!!

As strait ahead as this effort was, Bob just can't let a little squik like that go.

All the familiar high school sweethearts were here: Pauline, Bev, etc. I loved it for being classic Bob on so many levels! Thanks so much! With this story, you answer back to your detractors, and return back to true form! Great work that is much appreciated! Thanks again!

Good story. Thanks as always.

Quibble: I'm not so sure a future executive and owner of a corporation is going to flash her tits in semi public at another member of the same society she runs in.

Edit: You said he was being agonistic, I believe you mean antagonistic.

As far as I can tell they weren't officially exclusive, and he treats her desire to date other guys as a break-up?

SHE basically chases him down, then can't get past two years of marriage? What did she say? "We are supposed to be together."

Brian's her boss. Surely he's been sitting across from her many times, and THIS time there's a spark?

"Don't make it any harder than it has to be?" - Gee, sure wouldn't make it too hard for her to break his heart!

@anonymous Re: "So he switched things up" - Yes, I'm with you! I'm far from a legal expert, but my understanding is that those morals clauses are to make it easier to fire a superior who is having a relationship with a subordinate, NOT to expose the company to lawsuits! Even if it were, you'd have to prove that the company knew about and/or facilitated the relationship.

She may be able to keep her job, but her career there is over, and you can bet that she'll be at the top of the list if they ever need to layoff people.

LOL, it's "gobbledygook", not "gobaldy gook!"

Why would she want people to think her date has the hots for her? Don't they know she's married? Wouldn't she want to project an innocent image, that he's just an escort?

"She gave me a look I couldn't decipher as the tune ended" - I haven't finished yet, but I'll bet that Stacy knows that Connie ISN'T married. Ah, she probably knows that Connie has a real interest in Bob.

"She isn't your lady" - She may not be his "lady," but she's his date, and that means something in this context. She can certainly choose who she "plays" with!

"He knew the Misses part was bullshit" - I think you mean "Mrs.," unless you were thinking of "Missus."

Not only does Jim know that Bob ISN'T cheating with Constance, now we know why Janice the gossip was keeping her big trap shut!

Yes, it was rushed. However, at that point the story was OVER. Anything after that would be filler. JPB left the steamy reconciliation to our imagination. That works for me. My only problem with this story is that I didn't want it to end yet. It's that good. Thanks, Bob. 5 stars. JPR

Enjoyed from the start to the end.

connie was a manipulative bitch!

and i do love a manipulative bitch as long as she's a faithfull manipulative bitch.

You really are a gifted writer and I just love reading your stories. The twists and turn are like ready a mystery. You are now on my favorite list. So thanks Bob for sharing your talent with us.

Where was his horse? Great story again Bob, and pleased to see that Pauline French made yet another cameo appearance. Where would you be without her? Was she an old girlfriend in real life, I wonder?

Women, beautiful women, really do this in real life. It can be fun right up until she leaves with someone else and makes you a chump. Then you get to see how little a woman thinks of you and how you feel. Beauty is often skin deep!

You know it could have been 5. There is no shame in holding a story until you can think of an ending. This was just rushed.

@britease... Pauline French? How about Pauline being JPB's older woman who taught him everything he knows? Perhaps his mother? I mean, you have read lots of JPB's stuff, yes?

I did like the switchblade scene - I suppose JPB and I both like meet twisted. And, I also like strong female characters - and showing someone your tits while preparing to knife them shows... a Mary Tyler Moore kinda spunk. Or something. And turning the dude with the large tool into a large tool also was appreciated.

Good fun - wouldn't mind at all seeing more.

Green-something

Thanks JPB for another great story. As with other comments, I enjoy hearing about Pauline French. I wish I had met her when I was in school.

Somewhere in the far distant past a lawyer/reader posted a wonderful commentary about this subject. His comment was to the effect of this; These policies are in place to allow a corporation to fire an employee that acts at variance to the policy. They have no standing in law to hold a corporation responsible for the behavior of its employees.

And if you think about it, it would be ridiculously stupid for a corporation to create a policy that would allow someone to sue them for actions taken by errant employees. No corporation on the planet would do this.

That being said, it IS a trope for many, many loving wife stories, in the same way that romance novel sex so often has the woman in orgasmic bliss from the first thrust of the man's penis, or the trope of the cheating wife's lover having a gigantic penis or the trope of proof of cheating having some kind of effect on the settlement of a divorce or...well you get the picture. The rules in the loving wives universe (or romances, etc.) are not always the same as in our world.

Heck in our world most divorces are sad affairs with very little drama outside the heads of the participants involved. Heartbreaking for them, but rarely involving skulduggery, complicated set ups, miniature spying devices and special forces units detached to bring death and hell-fire down on the unjust, not to mention the whole cuckolding thing!

It used to bug me a bit, but then I thought of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a show I used to watch for laughs and I thought of those immortal words from the show's theme; "If you're wondering how they eat and breathe, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself that this is just a show and I should really just relax!" Then I started to laugh and it stopped bothering me (lol).

I liked this story, great read. But as is almost always the case with your stories, I am left wanting more of an ending. There needs to be more to the resolution portion of the story. The reader is left with little satisfaction by that last line. The cliche, "show, don't tell" comes to mind. The reader wants to know what happened. Did they have kids, etc. We can assume they got married, but we don't know for sure. You spend a great deal of time in the exposition, it would be nice to see equal attention given to the ending.

This has many of the elements of a classic JPB story. This one is different, though. It's more in a romance mode, and I loved it.

The ending was just fine. I hope I have enough imagination to fill in the gap. I don't need to hear the details until they died of old age at eighty. You pointed out the direction, and that was what it needed. Great story.

She is good looking, has a body to die for and is rich, if she owned a pub as well she would be perfect. Good entertaining story, thank you.

And they lived happily ever after .you never seem to add children to your endings?

didnt know you started writing harlequin type stories....boring

She should get an award for entertaining so many guys.

Long story with unbelievable situation, weak plot line, no real purpose or value. A total waste of time.

Why are you complainers reading stories here? Buy a fucking book if you want professionally written stories.

Go see a counsellor, your vision of yourself as this wonderful wronged man is delusional, stop dreaming and get a life. Or a hooker, in the words of the orange racist, so sad.

Ending was too short for full marks though.

Really liked your spiced up formula!

Great story enjoyed it immensely 5+

I always look forward to a good read from JPB. For my money, this was a very good read. What, no "Landing Strip"? Did they go out of business?

This is @Just Plain Bob on his best...And when that happens we can´t stop reading it till the end...4*

An ending?

That wasn't prescient, was it?

The webs JPB spins are always pleasant to read. Without any doubt one of the best and most prolific authors in Literotica. Thanks a lot for your many interesting and entertaining stories.

won't end well. He told the truth from the beginning. She never voluntarily stopped lying. He was a fool for sticking with her.

I really like your writing. You have more talent than just writing these short stories. I would like to know who you really are and what you really do for a living. My guess is that you work on a TV script team, and just enjoy seeing your writing in print. Keep it up.

JPB is this a new tactic/style to end a story in one sentence that covers 15yrs? It is different but in the manner you did is it took a 5* down to a 4* and almost 3*.

Way to many writers seem to rush to end their stories but usually the rush is in 2-3 paragraphs not one sentence.

Really enjoy your writing.

5* s

This was one of your better stories. Enough plot twists to keep it interesting, no adults acting out like children, and a happy ending for dessert.

Thank you for your well-reasoned analysis of "morality clauses" and supporting my "real world" objections to the trope.

You are correct, of course, that this is LW, and any relation to reality is purely coincidental! I guess it's case of we all have our standards for suspension of disbelief, and this is one that stretches mine near and sometimes over the limit!

I've liked many of your stories, but this one is your best. Extremely well written and I really couldn't see where it was headed until the end. Anybody can write a stroke story. Stimulating the imagination is a much greater challenge and you've done it well.

Not the typical LW story. I really enjoyed reading this story. I gave it a 5 plus. Excellent!

You can't please everyone. If you cut it short, people will complain; if you write "too" much after the climax, people will complain about padding.

People complained about the ending of "The Sopranos." I always thought, we dropped into their lives, except for flashbacks we never knew what came before, then we dropped out of their lives. Should it have continued until Tony was on his death-bed?

My personal beef is TOO much back story. Not here, where I felt it was germaine to the story, but too many stories feel the need to describe every date they had in high school, even when it has nothing to do with the story!

A lit of story for a truncated ending. Not JBP's best.

Enjoyed the story and the way it was written. The lead character in a JPB story is often a reliable role model and one that most men can relate to. No complicated ethics, straight talking and authentically flawed. Sometimes the females don't have that chalk and cheese realism and Constance was too logical to be feminine. Nevertheless another good story. Thanks JPB.

Pauline French really getsaround lol.

Great tale. He figured things out and she had to come clean. And they lived happily ever after. At least in fiction.

Five Stars

carry your latest stories out but I would love to have a chapter 2 I am a sucker for a good love story

Classic JPB. Always entertaining and a pleasure to read. Got to say I agree with previous comment. You have 2 stories in 1 involving the main character that draws the reader into what could turn into a romance novel. Could have lots of twist and turns as Constance becomes the boss. Always a pleasure reading this authors work. ⛥⛥⛥⛥⛥

Great story.Didn't know how this was going to end. Keep them coming.

Should have been a 2 page story. At 4 pages it dragged on too long.

....The ending, while predictable, was a bit abrupt. It felt like you just ended it to meet a deadline or something. It would have been nice, for example, to know how many kids he and the CEO have after fifteen years....

Still a delightful read, thanks very much for sending us this gift!

Let's give it up for "Dawson! Dawson! Dawson!" -- who is smart enough to carry the ball as far as he can, then hand it off to the Wharton MBA! ;-)

For the read. Your stories of late seems a little flat compared to some of the older one had that JPB edge. They are still entertaining. Thanks for sharing.

While I know that you like to leave your stories at a certain point and leave it to the reader to fill in the blanks, this ending left me feeling like the coyote in a roadrunner cartoon that ran off a cliff! I'm left dangling over a cavern wondering what the hell just happened. For shame, Bob. Lol!

Situation, Conflict, Resolution.

He wants a chick, there is a conflicted mystery, the mystery is resolved.

What more do you want?

Excuse me...I forgot. Bob also wrote that big FUCK YOU of a story where he did NOT resolve the conflict like a bitch.

Carry on with the slings and arrows.

Great story - enjoyable read - what more can be said ?

KEEP ON WRITING !

This is a bit different from most JPB stories. Boy ditches cheating first wife, boy eventually gets an upgrade. That part is the same, but the whole latter scenario is interesting and atypical. After such an odd start, how can they build an honest relationship? I guess (because JPB tells us) they do, but it seems like an ominous start. I could nitpick about some details (like why would a woman actually want her coworkers to see her in the back seat with her legs in the air? Pretty extreme way to tell others, "Hey, I'm taken. Now move along!"), but the tale is a fun read as usual.

This is more like the classic Bob that I love- a mix of originality, cliches, red herrings and plot twists with moments of emotional prose. I enjoyed reading it the first time and felt a bit let down at the direction the denouement went. The next day, it all came to mind and I re-read it to re-experience certain moments and turns of phrase- a hallmark of good storytelling and of Bob's better stories.

Keep it up!

What a wonderful story, actually much too good for the "Loving Wives" genre. This is a romance, but who cares. If JPB had put it there I would never have known.

Thanks Bob. You're really good.

Jedd Clampett

She was OK dating a prospective husband who was fucking at least 3 different women? A guy who was so besotted and lacking self-respect that he would become her guard dog, and take whatever bones she threw him on occasion? It was a cute romance, but not very convincing. She lied to him at first because she didn't trust him, then manipulated him to go through her qualification testing. And when she tried to communicate with him he just deleted all her efforts without even bother to hear what she had to say?

If they are still a couple 15 years later, then this story ends the way it started, totally contrived and unrealistic.

But thanks for trying. It was a fun read anyway.

There is only one thing that keeps this from being the perfect Loving Wives story. While Bob does mention Pauline French, he fails to mention the Landing Strip.

Jedd Clampett

This story did NOT live up to your usual standards. Everything seemed to be lining up for one of your brilliant endings, when suddenly the story was over, and I was left wondering WHY?

It just came flying to a fast end.

Readers are commenting about how this abrupt ending doesn't match up to Bob's usual high standard? Have you read his stuff?

The end seemed a bit forced/incomplete.

This is your very best submission! Really enjoyed it!

Flashing news! JPB learnt to write a full story! I truly enjoyed it. I hope this one sets the bar of your next ones.

Jeez Louise, 81 comments in only 6 days! And most of them quite positive.

I agree with others, didn't like the abrupt ending, and a complete lack of actual sex!

So only 4 stars from me. But you're still one of my faves.

Clever, but a guy who claims to not want to do to some other guy what was done to him, and then agrees to engage in behavior that would never pass the husband test, it a bit contradictory.

Enjoyed it, I didn't expect a happy ending a nice surprise.

Pillage first, then burn.

You crafted this story with plenty of details, going so far as to list a complete sexual history of the main character and then you end it with been happy for 15 years. It just doesn't flow. By looking at you profile you have certainly imassed a substantial library of work but but this story has made me skeptical about looking into your other works. 3 stars the parts that were good where great but the ending was lazy.

Three star story that could have been five.

The end should have the the middle of the story, needs another four pages.

I think the ending was good as is. I don't need another four pages of him waxing on about how great their life was from that point out. Unless you wanted him to build in another climactic event and resolution. The reality, I think.... you just didn't want the story to end because you liked it. That definitely deserves more than three stars.

He's clearly a rising star at that company, and with Constance's apprenticeship still at the secretary level he'll have a reputation in his field that will enable him to safely jump ship by the time she's actually his boss. He would be wise to make sure he has his golden parachute in writing before she rises very far on the org chart, though.

and well-told. However the childishness of not answering phone calls or messages rates a penalty of at least one star.

Pretty interesting story. I don’t agree that it needed another four pages but one more page might have been nice, just to give a little info on how their “real” relationship progressed. I mean, Jeez, the ending provided was about as abrupt as driving into a tree at 50 miles an hour. NOT comfortable.

The ending was quick, but it fit the story well. I've been reading (and mostly enjoying) your stories for quite awhile now, so I appreciate ANY ending. Thanks again, I look forward to your next story.

NFW would I of been her, "Go to Boy", no matter how much I wanted her. She was just someone who knew how to manipulate him to get what she wanted. I do believe I would of handed in my resignation letter (effective immediately) when I met with my boss. Then I would of closed out my bank accounts, changed cell phone number, packed all my things up and moved as far away as possible. Life is hard enough without some controlling, emotionally screwed up woman trying to run (ruin) my life.

Which seemed to move really quickly. Once he figures out who she is and what she's doing I think most smart men start to hand out their resume's. He was right. If he pisses her off, he's out of a job. If he gets married to her she can use sex AND his job as a club. And who in their right mind wants to be married to someone they have to see all day and all night long? So find a new job and move along. This woman is too good at yanking his chain, lying to him and manipulating him. All that she puts him thru at the start of their relationship should have told him all he needed to know about her being unsuitable as a wife. Horrible ending.

Is the fact that Bob told Constance that while he was playing the boyfriend role he would still be having a sex life on the side. She didn’t say anything about her sex life, so Bob doesn’t know if she has/had a lover on the side. Either way, she’s now at the point where she wants to start something with Bob knowing that. Personally, I’d like to delete that last line and have JPB or another writer take a stab at it. There’s some interesting things to work on here.

1. Their coworkers already think they are an item so that won’t be an issue really unless there’s others like that mr eleven in prick out there who knew what her deal really is. So that’s a possibility.

2. Bob still has the friends with benefits. Now I see him dropping them for her, but what if one of them wants more from Bob? Or if one of them is somehow used to discredit this relationship? ( out of spite, or for some form of revenge, or leverage I. Some kind of hostile takeover)

3. Now if Bob had the same effect on Constance that she had on him, what did she do to relieve her urges? Did she have something on the side that could be a problem down the road? In all honesty, I don’t think she would based on her explained reasons. But does she have any jealousy issues knowing that Bob, at least, was getting some on the side? Even though it was set up in the beginning, doesn’t mean she won’t be jealous, especially now that she has feelings for him.

4. The relationship dynamics are probably going to be an issue. Like Bob said in the story. She will probably have to work for him for a time before she eventually takes over the company and then he works for her. In my experience, that does effect the personal relationship. What would they do in their home life? The one in charge at work is the one in charge at home too? Or the opposite? Something else?

5. Just how does Bob he past the mind fuck she laid on him? So she explains her reasons for doing it, so what?! It doesn’t change the damage done. So what does Bob need to do or have Constance do to help him get by that?

6. As they move up in the company, they are going to have to take business trips without the other. JPB is a master of writing this kind of cheating. There’s no way that temptation is not going to be thrown on them. Not to mention that there’s still a whole cast of characters who knew her when she went to school who could be brought in to inflict drama of one sir or another. They know she won’t fall for some things, so why not try to set up Bob? Again, this is right up JPB’s alley.

I’m sure that others can find things to add. I hope that JPB will take another look at this and add another chapter, but the f not, I hope he will let anyone else take a shot at it.

For me, this is one of Bob's more palatable efforts. I like this one.

And it had an ending of sorts. Maybe a little rushed at the end but I would have liked to hear more about their non-fake relationship simply because I was enjoying their relationship. Of course the cranky, BTB side of me wanted him to blow her up and find a new job. But that would have been just plain mean.

Yay!

Well written, as usual. Interesting twist. 5-stars

woman, not women

Yet another story where the author is too lazy to finish it, instead brushing of the reader with a single line.

A bit of a shame, I did like it until that abrupt stop.

Overall enjoyed

Problem with timing he told her problem she had money time to verify quickly

Time to figure out her own feelings and then?

Too much time

But still good

It started as a five star story, but turned into an unbelievable, Pollyannic, rainbows and unicorns story. Life is dark and you’ve done much better. It is OK for the hero to come out on top. But I draw the line at scoring the winning touchdown for Notre Dame. Please continue to write. Panther fan.

YOUR ENDINGS SUCK BIG TIME!

The title says it all.