The crane and scaffolding outside cast long shadows across her office. Saw horses, tools, and wires littered the floor. The builldin’s windows were being replaced with much newer, stronger one-way glass. Nancy sent the crews to an early lunch so she could make some calls.

  Maurice took advantage of the renovation to do some fall cleaning and spent all morning ferrying things to storage. The elevator dinged, and he rolled back into her office. Pitching a stack of old binders onto his cart, he looked around for anything else he could get rid of. A shopping bag against the side of her bookshelf caught his eye.

  “Hello! Whats this?” Puling out a black lace garter belt and stockings, he turned to Nancy with an enormous smile and one eyebrow up.

  “You’re welcome to them,” she said after hanging up the phone.

  “Too tall and not my style,” he said as he laid them out on her table before retrieving and placing the underwear to complete the set. He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “This is where that one odd bra came from. I’m so glad you’re following my advice.”

  “What advice was that?” she asked, only half paying attention as she drafted an email.

  He sat in a chair and spun around with that silly grin he got when he knew he was right. “That you should get laid. I mean, if this doesn’t scream ‘fuck me silly’, I don’t know what does.”

  “Did you ever think I got that for a self-esteem boost? Perhaps I like to feel sexy for myself sometimes,” she said, still not looking at him.

  He put his finger to his chin and spun the chair in the opposite direction, looking up at the ceiling. “Possibly,” he said, stopping the chair so he could point at her. “But I doubt it. You haven’t yelled or kicked me out yet. And you’ve been far more laid back than you’ve been in, well, a long time. So someone’s been getting some.”

  Maurice grinned, put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. Nancy exhaled, shaking her head, and continued to ignore him as she typed her email.

  “Oh, come on, you know all about my love life,” he said as he walked himself forward in the chair to rest his chin on her desk.

  “I do,” she said, proofreading her email. “Though I must admit, your situation is impressive. A relationship with one person is frustrating enough. I don’t know how you make it work with two.”

  “It’s difficult,” Maurice said, his head falling to her desk with a thunk. “Imagine having two amazing people you love and both of them getting on your nerves at the same time.”

  “How does conflict resolution work in a situation like that?” Nancy asked, still very focused on her computer.

  “Umm, it depends on who’s pissed off who- Hey!” Maurice sat up and pointed at her. “Don’t try to distract me. We were talking about you,” he said with a squint. The tiniest hint of a smile at the corner of Nancy’s mouth proved his accusation right. “Oh, come on, just a hint. Has Jared gotten his shit together?”

  He leaned in and turned his ear for her to whisper. She smacked him with a folder, making him sit back in the chair and cross his arms like a spoiled child. This stand off continued for several minutes; her ignoring him while she worked and him trying to will her into telling him.

  His eyes grew large and that silly grin spread across his face as he sat forward and put both hands on her desk. “It’s not Jared, is it?”

  She sighed. “Don’t you have something better to do?”

  “I would qualify this as much better.” Nancy shot him one of her serious glares until he gave up. “Ugh! Fine! You’re no fun.”

  Maurice made several more trips downstairs until his phone rang. After answering, he poked his head in. “Jared’s on line three. He’s calling to schedule sexy times for tonight.” He ducked back out quickly to evade the look she gave him before picking up the line.

  “Yes.”

  “Hey, I’m gonna be home late tonight. A last minute meeting popped up.” Jared was oddly chipper.

  Her lip curled. “You sound happy to have a last minute meeting.”

  “Heh! I guess I have to laugh about it, otherwise I’ll cry.”

  She took a deep breath. “Very well. Tell your son, so he knows he has to cook for himself.”

  “You’re staying late too?”

  “Yes.” She looked around. “The window renovation is interrupting everything.”

  “Ah, okay. Well, see you when you get in if I’m still up,” he said.

  She hung up and regretted her decision to send Elias home. The past couple weeks had left her wanting. Jared’s little friend lived here so he could do what ever he wanted, when ever he wanted. She had relegated herself to visitations every three months. Though, if she were honest, she needed the time to recharge from Elias’s personality.

  Nancy sat back, contemplating her options. She could get herself off in the shower again, but that was getting boring. She didn’t want to corrupt Sean with a proposition. There were others who were discrete, but none of them were as attractive as Elias or Sean.

  “What did you want for lunch?” Maurice asked as he loudly rolled back into the office, derailing her thought train.

  “Nothing heavy,” she said, trying to decide between the best of mediocre options.

  “Sushi or tapas?”

  “Your pick. I’m fine with either."

  “Oh, hey! What ever happened to my to-go order from your Thai chef?”

  Nancy shook her head. “Not going to happen. He kis- “ She froze as Ikher kissing her jumped to the front of her brain. She had written him off, but he was a near perfect candidate for her current dilemma.

  Ikher was obviously attracted to her. He was handsome with a nice physique. He was very young, but that could be a good thing. His biggest selling point was that no one knew her in the suburbs. So there was no way anyone could find out.

  Maurice waved his hand at her. “Helllooo?”

  She blinked and turned to him. “Hmmm?”

  “You were saying no Thai food and then trailed off.”

  “Oh, yes. He’s... busy. That’s why I haven’t gone.” Her mind wandered back to planning. How to make this work since she had walked out on him in a huff the last time.

  Maurice shrugged. “Ah well, tapas for lunch then?”

  “Sure,” Nancy said with a hand wave as she walked to the window and crossed her arms. That was the second time she had walked out on Ikher. He hadn’t angry towards her the first time, despite her biting his head off.

  This last time it was his fault. She could use that. Running scenarios in her head, she walked over, sat on her desk, and picked up her phone to call him. The lingerie, still on the table, caught her eye. She smiled, laying her phone down as the pieces of the plan fell together in her head.

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  Ikher was washing the pans after his less than successful Pad Kra Pao attempt. His mother had some secret that made it zing. It had to be the chilies or basil. She always used fresh ingredients, so he made a mental note to swing by the farmers market this weekend.

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  He turned at what he thought was a knock. Leaning to look out the kitchen window, he saw Nancy smile and give him a wave. Dropping the pot in the sink, he wiped his hands and tripped over his feet.

  Ripping the door open, he said, “Nancy, I’m so sorry about last time.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry.” She crossed her hands in front of her, holding her clutch. She wore a long grey coat, over stockings and heels. “May I come in?”

  “Oh! Yeah! I’m sorry. Please,” he said as he stepped back. He closed the door and turned to her, his shoulders dropping. “I feel terrible. I should have asked before I kissed you or just, not done it at all.” He rubbed the back of his head and looked at the floor.

  Nancy sighed and shook her head at him. “Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t do anything bad. You just... you caught me off guard. I’m sorry for running off like that.”

  Ikher shrugged. “Well, you were right to be upset.”

  “I wasn’t upset, just surprised.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” Ikher said. “I feel like an asshole for crossing a line I shouldn’t have.”

  She brushed a stand of hair out of her face, took a step toward him, and put her hand on his chest. “You didn’t cross any lines.”

  He looked up into her eyes. “So... we’re good?”

  She smiled and tilted her head a bit. “We are.”

  His entire body relaxed as he exhaled. He had beaten himself up so much for ruining their friendship. “Oh man, that’s good,” he said as he walked around her to the sink. “So how have you been? Busy as usual?”

  He didn’t see it, but Nancy’s smiled dropped and she shook her head at him as he walked away. “Yes... it never stops.”

  He smiled over his shoulder. “That’s your thing though, you’d be bored with nothing to do.”

  She nodded after a moment and said, “That’s true.” Nancy walked over to rest on the counter next to him. “You know, I thought of something that might help me wind down from work.”

  “What’s that?” he asked, glancing at her while he dried a pot.

  Nancy put her clutch on the counter and walked around him. Ikher stopped drying the pot when her fingers caressed his shoulders and the back of his neck. He straightened when she leaned in close, pressing herself against him.

  “I was thinking about that night you kissed me,” she breathed in his ear. There was an intense look in her eyes he hadn’t seen before. Her fingers traced the curve of his ear, sending chills down his neck.

  “Uhh.... r-really?”

  “Mmhmm,” she purred before she left him and walked to the space between the kitchen and living room. Nancy glanced over her shoulder and shot him a smile as her hands worked at something. When her jacket slid off onto the floor, Ikher dropped the towel in his hand. His jaw and eyebrows went in opposite directions.

  “Oh... wow...”

  Was this actually happening? His brain stuttered as his eyes relayed more of Nancy than he ever thought he would see. Long legs wrapped in sheer stockings that stopped mid-thigh and held by one of those suspender belt things. His eyes lingered on her shapely calves then moved up to her tight little rear in the black lace underwear and the dimples in the small of her back.

  Nancy turned with a sly smile and put her hands on her hips. The matching lace bra she wore had difficulty keeping her in. Ikher looked down to the bit of muscle in her thighs that added some shape to her thin legs.

  She strode over and stopped a step away from him, her chest in his face forced his gaze from her legs. “I was wondering if we might revisit that kiss?” she said.

  Ikher blinked, trying to pull his eyes from the sea of cleavage. He wanted to answer but could only manage, “Uhh ...”

  Nancy put her finger under his chin and lifted his eyes up to hers. “Is that a yes?”

  Her touch shocked his brain into gear. He looked up at her smile and blinked. “Umm... what about your husband?”

  Nancy’s eyes narrowed. She took his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly. Her lips were soft, and she smelled like vanilla and strawberries. She pulled away just enough to speak. “He doesn’t deserve this,” she whispered before kissing him again.

  Any hesitation Ikher had washed away. His hands came up and held her elbows. She let go of his face and moved his hands to her hips. He squeezed and pulled away from their kiss to look her over again.

  “I’m going to pick you up now,” he said as his hands moved down behind her thighs. Nancy wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he lifted her. She kissed his neck and bit his earlobe as he carried her down the hall.

  Ikher laid her gently onto the bed then kissed her collar bone, her neck, and finally her lips. Her fingers traced up his arms, feeling his triceps and shoulders. When he squeezed her breast, she moaned in their kiss. Her hands left his arms and moved down to undo his jeans.

  When she unzipped him and reached in to squeeze, he pulled back. “So... just to be clear, we’re doing more than just kissing?”

  She giggled and squinted at him. “Do you often carry women in lingerie to your bed just to kiss?”

  “No, but I wanted to be sure.”

  Ikher pushed himself to sit and lifted one of her legs. His hands ran up from her thigh to her ankle where he unbuckled her shoe, Taking it off, he set it on the floor at the corner of the bed. He did the same with her other shoe, then hooked his fingers in the strings of her underwear. Nancy lifted her other leg, putting them together so he could pull them off.

  With them off, Ikher kissed her ankle, then her calf. He worked his way down the inside of her leg. Each new kiss making her breath quicken as he got closer and closer until she gasped as he put his mouth on her.

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  Nancy released the death grip she had on his hair and let her arms fall onto the bed as she took ragged breaths. She opened her eyes to see Ikher sitting back and wiping his mouth.

  “You okay?” he asked, a very self-satisfied smile on his face.

  “Yeah,” Nancy said after a deep breath. She decided that even if Ikher turned out to be horrible at regular sex, she would keep him around for that. She pushed up on her elbows to squint at him. “How are you so good at that?"

  He burst out laughing and shrugged. “I dunno. I just tried to pay attention to what you seemed to like.” He ran his fingers over the tops of her thigh, which made her shiver. His eyes followed the contours of her body before gazing into her eyes. “You’re really beautiful.”

  Even flush as she was, Nancy felt her ears and cheeks get hot. She blinked and shook her head before she sat up and pulled at his shirt. “And you, have too many clothes on.”

  He lifted his arms, letting her pull his shirt off. She remembered him being shirtless mowing one day but Ikher was more impressive this close: chiseled shoulders and arms, lean but strong chest, and very well defined set of abs. He was hairless aside from his underarms. He didn’t even have the little trail some men had from their belly button.

Ikher fell back and pulled off his jeans and boxers. Admiring his well muscled thighs, she realized it made sense how he lifted her with ease. Even his cute butt flexed with muscle as he rolled over to rummage through his nightstand. It seems there was a lot to be said for finding a youthful partner.

  “Ha! Knew I still had some,” he said, pulling a condom out and tearing it open.

  “Wait,” Nancy said with a hand on his strong thigh. “I can’t use those.” He turned to her with a confused look. “I’m allergic to latex.” Ikher squinted for a moment before his eyes grew huge and he pitched the condom across the room.

  He waited until she stopped laughing to hold his hands out. “Sooo...”

  She pointed to his front room. “Get my clutch.” When he returned with it, she pulled out a small strip of condoms and handed them to him. His head tilted to the side as he examined the packaging.

  “These don’t bother you?” he asked, separating one from the others.

  “No, those are fine,” she said, watching him sway in front of her. He wasn’t small but wasn’t large either. He lacked Jared’s girth and wasn’t curved like Elias. Ikher was decidedly average.

  “Can you get these in a regular store?” he asked, tearing the package open.

  “Mmmhmmm,” she nodded, laying back on her elbows as she watched him put it on. Perhaps he was a little more than average.

  “Good to know,” he said with that confidence in his eyes as he climbed on top of her.

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  The tingling shock waves started to recede, leaving Nancy light headed and warm. She opened her eyes. Ikher’s arms framed her head. He smiled down at her, breathing hard, his hair almost touching her face. Unlocking her legs from around his waist, she let them slide to the bed.

  Ikher sat back and pushed the hair out of his face. Nancy decided she liked him better with his hair down. He leaned forward and kissed her stomach.

  “Be right back.”

  He slid off the bed and walked out into the bathroom. Nancy let out a long sigh as she remembered something her grandmother used to say. ‘The lord gives and takes to make balance in us all.’ That made sense now. His skill at manual labor, the dancing, and everything he had just done to her. Ikher wasn’t a scientist or a philosopher, but he was incredibly kinesthetic. He returned and sat next to her on the bed with a glass of water.

  “Oh, yes please,” she said, sitting up when he offered it.

  “You hungry?” he asked, his fingers tracing her arm.

  She nodded as she swallowed, then said. “Would it be all right if I used your shower? You’ve made quite the mess of me.”

  He chuckled. “Use what ever you need.”

  Nancy slid to the edge of the bed and stood. She stretched, her arms over her head. “Could you get the gym bag out of my car?”

  Ikher smiled as he got up and grabbed his jeans. “Sure thing.”

  By the time she showered and changed, the food was nearly done warming. He waved her over and handed her a wooden spoon with a reddish orange sauce in it.

  “Spicy enough?” he asked as she sipped. Savory flavor singed its way through her mouth, igniting her taste buds.

  “Yes, it’s excellent!”

  “Awesome. Have a seat,” he said, stirring the soup.

  Ikher cleaned while Nancy ate. As he dried the skillet, he looked over his shoulder.

  “Does this mean we’ll be resuming our meals?”

  Nancy swallowed the last bit and smiled up to him. “I’d like that.”

  Ikher put the skillet away and came over to massage her shoulders. He leaned down, whispering in her ear. “Will we be doing, more of ‘that’ as well?”

  Nancy put her hands on his and turned to look at him. “I’d like that as well.”

  Ikher kissed her as one hand moved under her arm to cup her breast. His lips left hers and moved to her neck.

  “I really should go,” she exhaled.

  Ikher nibbled her ear lobe before he said, “Stop me when you’re ready to leave.”

  “You’re incorrigible,” she said as he unzipped and put his hand inside her track suit.

  “You haven’t said stop yet,” he whispered as he squeezed her breast and kissed the corner of her jaw. She took a deep breath and turned in the chair to face him.

  “How about we meet in the middle? You make it quick and then I’ll go.”

  Ikher squinted one eye at her, thinking for a moment before he nodded. “Deal.” He picked her up and carried her down the hall again.