Thy Neighbor's Wife (18 page)

sunlight that woke her felt like a lance slicing across her eyelid and

she winced painfully, bringing her hand up as a shield.

For a split second, she was startled by movement near her legs.

She soon realized it was only Kinsey and she smiled with affection.

“Hey, handsome,” she whispered as he gingerly walked up her

torso, making sure to step on all her most sensitive spots along the

way, causing her to grunt comically. He set to work bathing her face

with his soft, pink tongue. It was something that Jennifer would

have normally found slightly unpleasant, but he was so gentle and

careful around her eye that she didn’t have the heart to stop him.

He was like a mother caring for her pup and she was touched by his

kindness.

She turned her head to the left, wondering what time it was.

When she squinted to see the clock, her gaze fell upon Alex.

Alex was sound asleep in the overstuffed chair directly across

from her and her heart warmed as she realized that Alex had chosen

that spot so she could keep an eye on her during the night. Jennifer

watched in fascination as Alex’s chest rose and fell in the relaxed

cadence of slumber. Her right arm cradled her head, her fingers

curled into her tousled, dark hair. The afghan covered her midsec-

tion, but her bare feet and legs were exposed, tangled on the otto-

man. Jennifer followed the visible length of them, starting at her

painted burgundy toenails and moving slowly upwards. As her eyes

caressed Alex’s skin, she remembered how Alex’s hands had

caressed her skin the night before. While her gaze slid over Alex’s

smooth-looking, well-defined calves, her mind replayed the sensa-

tion of Alex’s strong, sure fingers pressing expertly into her flesh.

She vividly recalled her own inability to keep from squirming and

the sudden, unexpected dampness of her underwear as Alex mas-

saged her feet and legs.

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Jennifer wet her suddenly dry lips as her eyes continued their

ardent journey, then stopped abruptly at the hem of a pair of black

shorts, the fabric lying across Alex’s thigh as effectively as a brick

wall. She turned her gaze to the ceiling and blew out a long, frus-

trated breath.

“Shit,” she whispered, simultaneously frightened and aroused

by the erotic reaction of her body, caused simply by looking at

Alex’s. “This is not good. Not. Good.”

Air. I need air. She needed to clear her head, which—in addi-

tion to the dull, throbbing ache—was a whirlwind of too many

thoughts.

Noticing Kinsey’s leash on the floor by the door, she managed

to get both herself and the dog up and out without waking Alex.

She slipped her bare feet into Alex’s Nikes, which were two sizes

too big for her, to protect her from the morning dew, and she and

Kinsey headed out into the inviting sunshine.

“So much for the phase theory,” she muttered as she and Kin-

sey strolled through the wet grass. She felt like she’d been smacked

with a two-by-four, in more ways than one. Suddenly, there was

nothing else to do but admit to herself the true nature of her attrac-

tion to Alex. It wasn’t admiration, as she’d originally suspected—

and hoped. It wasn’t the hero worship of somebody who was doing

exactly what she wanted in life. It wasn’t even simple friendship. It

was true that Jennifer was envious of Alex’s confidence and that she

enjoyed being her friend, but those seemed absolutely miniscule

when overshadowed by the real truth. She turned her face to the

sky, letting the warm sun beat down on her as she absorbed it.

The real truth was that she didn’t really want to be Alex’s

friend. She wanted much, much more than that. She wanted to

touch her skin, to measure the smoothness and the temperature of it

with her fingertips. She wanted to taste Alex’s lips with her own.

She wanted to glide her tongue into Alex’s mouth and over every

inch of her body and she wanted to hear Alex say her name, begging

her not to stop…

Jennifer sat down heavily at the end of the dock as her own

reality finally started to sink in. She blinked at the water, not really

seeing it, and let out a long, slow breath of defeat. As if sensing her

state, Kinsey sat quietly next to her, patiently waiting for her next

move.

This hasn’t happened since Sarah. Jennifer had almost con-

vinced herself that Sarah had actually been a phase, a college exper-

iment. Sure, she still looked at women, still thought they were

attractive and sexy. She’d even occasionally wondered what it might

be like to sleep with a woman again, but for the most part, it had

just been a fleeting thing, a passing fancy, an erotic daydream. No

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 97

woman had ever hit her with the fiery intensity of Sarah. Not in

years.

Not until Alex.

“What the hell am I going to do, Kinsey?”

He looked expectantly at her, his ears pricking up as he lis-

tened, but he offered no solutions.

She thought about telling Eric. He had known about Sarah, at

least after the fact. He’d taken it surprisingly well, finding an

acceptable place between his jealousy and his arousal. It helped

that she hadn’t gone into great emotional detail. He had no idea

she’d been totally in love with the woman; Jennifer hadn’t told him

that. He, like her mother, had assumed she was just experimenting

and she’d never corrected him. He’d never felt as threatened as he

probably should have.

Back then, she’d told him out of respect, not wanting to taint

their friendship or start their marriage off with a lie. Things were

different now. Now, she was thinking of telling him out of spite, to

cause him pain in retaliation for what he was doing to her. Telling

Alex her suspicions the night before had been the first time she’d

ever given voice to her husband’s infidelity, the first time she’d actu-

ally said something out loud. And now, she was angry. No, their

marriage wasn’t perfect; they both knew that. But there was a line

that Jennifer always assumed neither of them would cross. As far as

she was concerned, he’d crossed it.

Resentment burning hotly through her, she reverted to a child-

ish eye-for-an-eye attitude. He’d crossed the line, why couldn’t she?

What if she decided what’s good for the goose is good for the gan-

der and she began to consciously look for somebody? Somebody not

Eric. What if I marched right back into that house, took Alex by the

hand, led her upstairs to the bedroom, and fucked her brains out? It

would only be fair, wouldn’t it?

Kinsey’s timing couldn’t have been better. He pawed gently at

her, derailing her train of thought. She shook her head, disgusted

with the turn her feelings had taken. She’d never thought of herself

as the kind of person who would cheat on her spouse. She’d always

been absolutely against such a betrayal, but at that moment, she

started to understand that maybe there were actually reasons why

people did such a thing. Maybe, when something was missing from

a relationship, it only made sense that one half might go looking

elsewhere. She wasn’t particularly thrilled with that way of think-

ing, but she had to concede to the logic.

She got to her feet, took another deep lung full of fresh lake air,

and then led Kinsey back toward the house. Just as they reached the

top step of the deck, the door slid open and they were greeted by a

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sleepy looking Alex. Her dark hair hung loosely around her shoul-

ders, sleep-tousled and adorable. Jennifer smiled.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” she said, trying to avert her eyes as

Alex reached above her head and stretched slowly with a yawn. The

sleekness of her body proved too big a draw, however, and Jennifer

was grateful that Alex had closed her eyes while she flexed, assur-

ing that she wouldn’t see Jennifer’s as they raked over her.

Alex rubbed her eyes, then focused on her friend. “Have you

been up long?”

“Maybe a half hour.”

She stepped into Jennifer’s space and before Jennifer had any

time to react, her warm fingertips gently probed around the injured

eye. Jennifer managed to wince only once, instead finding herself

reveling in the touch.

“It looks good,” Alex finally announced. “A bit black and blue,

but the swelling is pretty much gone.”

“Is it? I was afraid to look.”

“Your face looks as good as it always does, but with a hint

of…indigo.”

“A splash of color?”

“Exactly.”

They laughed for a minute. When they stopped, their eyes met

and suddenly, it was as if they were the only two people in the

world. Jennifer couldn’t have pulled her gaze away if she’d wanted

to, which she didn’t. She felt so safe in the chocolate brown of

Alex’s eyes. All sound from the outside world faded; there was only

the rushing of blood in her ears. It wasn’t until Alex’s lips began

moving that Jennifer realized she had refocused her gaze on Alex’s

full mouth. Jennifer blinked several times, swallowing hard.

“I’m sorry. What?” She sincerely hoped her voice didn’t sound

quite as squeaky as she thought it did.

“The phone. Your phone’s ringing.”

As if by magic, the shrill, electronic sound beeped through the

air. “Oh. I guess I’d better get it.”

“Yeah.”

She handed Kinsey’s leash to Alex and they followed Jennifer

inside. She grabbed the phone off the coffee table, catching Alex’s

grin as she noticed her own shoes on Jennifer’s feet.

“Hello?” She smiled sheepishly and stepped out of the sneak-

ers.

“Hi, babe. How’re you doing?”

She felt the scowl cross her face at the sound of her husband’s

voice. “I’d be doing better if you had come to the game last night like I thought you were going to.”

As she looked up to meet Alex’s gaze, she watched in surprise

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 99

as the playfulness slid away from her face and it made Jennifer

faintly nauseous. Alex reached for her shoes and sat to put them on.

Jennifer looked at the sofa cushions.

“I know, honey. I’m sorry. I got stuck. Saunders screwed up his

deposition from the other day and we had to get it in this morning.

I had no choice. You know how that works.” His voice was sincere,

heavily laden with an apologetic flavor. “I would have much rather

been there with you. You know that.” Against her will, Jennifer felt

her anger melt like a snowflake in the sun, though she tried hard to

hang onto it.

“I know. I just really wanted you to be there. You said you

would.”

“I said I’d try to be there. I’m sorry, babe. Did you win? How’d

you play?”

Jennifer looked up to see Alex backing out the door, Kinsey in

tow. Much to her surprise, she panicked. “No, stay. Please?”

“What?” Eric asked, confused.

“I’ve really got to get home,” Alex said, not stopping her

departure.

“But I didn’t get to thank you,” Jennifer whined, then winced

at the sound of her own voice.

“Who are you talking to?” Eric asked in bewilderment.

“It was nothing. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Alex seemed in

such a hurry to leave and Jennifer didn’t know how to stop her,

short of throwing herself around the woman’s ankles. “I’ll catch you

later, okay?” With that, she snapped the door shut. Jennifer

watched her skip down the steps of the deck and head across the

yard. She felt an acute sense of loss.

“Jen? Are you there?”

She sighed into the phone. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Alex.”

“She’s over this early?”

“She stayed the night.”

“Excuse me?” His tone was playful enough, but the implication

was there. Jennifer toyed with the idea of not telling him anything,

of letting him think whatever the hell he wanted. Then she decided

to be an adult again and sat down to relay the story of the Volley-

ball Spike from Hell.

* * *

Eric swallowed hard as he set the phone back in its cradle. The

worry that had settled in the pit of his stomach threatened to expel

the breakfast he’d ordered from room service half an hour before.

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He sat heavily on the king size hotel bed and sighed, leaving the

ends of his tie dangling from his neck. He leaned his forearms on

his knees and hung his head.

Poetic justice? Is that what this was? The fact that he woke up

alone didn’t take away from the actuality that he’d spent yet another

night with a woman not his wife. In turn, she’d spent the night with

a lesbian. No, not in the biblical sense—not like him—but spent the

night just the same.

Of course, he only knew that because of Dawn. She’d taken

great pleasure in warning him about their new neighbor. He shook

his head, reproaching himself for ever telling his sister about Jenni-

fer and Sarah in the first place. She’d made it her duty to look out

for him by watching his wife like a hawk and he found that she

enjoyed it a little too much.

Hadn’t it been a phase? Hadn’t Sarah simply been an experi-