Page 40 of Just Past Two

She raised an eyebrow and gave him a tentative smile, nervous but laced with wickedness, letting the hem of the long black dress drop down to the floor. “Me, going back out to this party and talking to all these hot guys with your come still wet on my thighs?”

Sam’s soft cock gave a hard twitch at that, mirroring the stab of arousal her words evoked. “Christ, Abby.”

“You said you liked this side of me. So.” Abby picked her panties up off the floor and carefully folded them into a tiny square. They were mostly lace, anyway. She tucked them into his shirt pocket, where they barely made a bump. “Can you smell me?”

So he had to crush her against the wall again, kissing her hard, one hand tangling up in those thick red curls. “You’re killing me. If I could, I would fuck you all over again.”

She returned his kiss, then gently pushed him away with her palms on his chest. “You really want this? You’re really okay with me being attracted to other guys?”

“I really am.” He tried to brush her mussed curls back into place. “Now, we need to get back before someone figures out where we’ve gone.”

He shut the light off and opened the door a crack to peek out. The hall was clear, everyone in the main lobby and not, thank goodness, lingering around this hallway. Probably someone would be here if they’d been overheard. He cracked open the door and ushered Abby out, then followed a moment later.

“I’m going to head to the bathroom and freshen up,” she said, smoothing her dress down. “Get me a drink, will you?”

No one was watching as Sam headed back into the main room. As soon as he’d reentered the main space, a somewhat familiar voice came from behind him. “Well, hi there.”

Jo, Stephan’s wife, was leaning against the wall right around the corner from where they’d been hiding, sipping some kind of cocktail. She was in the main room, but damn, she had been close by. Had she heard anything? Jo was unreadable, a perpetually playful expression on her face, and now she was as damn unreadable as ever.

“Nice to see you back. Stephan was wondering where you’d run off to.” She took another sip from her glass, looking overly casual. “I told him you’d be back in a few minutes.”

He must have looked stricken. His face went cold, then hot, the color probably draining from it and then rising in a terrible blush. Abby was still gone, down the hallway near the bathroom.

“Oh, relax.” She chuckled. “You think Stephan and I never snuck around somewhere we weren’t supposed to? You have to do things like that. Keeps the marriage young.”

“Right. I, uh…” Was he supposed to admit it? Deny it? He didn’t know Jo that well, only through her husband. And, oh, damn, he and Abby had started off talking explicitly about Stephan. How much had she heard?

She didn’t seem bothered. In fact, she seemed relaxed, casual, confident. Was this a woman who was about to ruin his life? What could she do, blackmail him? Was this something people blackmailed someone over? Threaten to tell Stephan that Sam wanted him to fuck his wife?

He was getting ahead of himself, and Jo’s expression softened. “Look at you. Relax, relax.” She looked around to make sure no one was listening. “You’re way too worked up for somebody who just got fucked in a closet at a party.”

Damn, he needed a drink. “This isn’t something I normally do. Abby and I have just been trying a few things. Trying to spice up our marriage.”

“Right.” Jo nodded. She seemed to be measuring him up. “I don’t know you that well, Sam. But Stephan says you’re one of the best people he’s ever worked with. I know he appreciates your friendship.”

That was a weird turn of the conversation. “Uh, thanks. Likewise, about him. I like him a lot.”

“Yeah. Listen.” She stepped in and opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, like she thought better of it. “We’re always looking for more friends outside of work. Especially friends who aren’t as uptight as some of the old-school people in Mapleton.” She smiled, and that smile could mean a lot of things. “Maybe we should all get together sometime? Go out to dinner?”

This conversation had gone in a strange direction. “Sure. Yeah. That would be good. I’d like that.” Abby was coming back down the hallway, looking as prim and proper as ever, and no one would know that her panties lay tucked away in his breast pocket.

Jo looked back to see Abby approaching, and gave a little wave before turning back to Sam. “Great. I’ll drop you a message.” She patted his arm, and then stepped away, headed over toward where Stephan was deep in conversation with someone else.

Abby wore a puzzled expression as she returned. “What did Jo want?”

“Oh, she just… She said they’d love to get together with us sometime. Because Stephan and I are such good work friends and all.”

Abby’s brow furrowed. “Sam Burke, what did you do?”

“Nothing!” Should he even tell her about Jo overhearing them? Abby was into that, but she might be too embarrassed, and there was something strange about Jo’s invitation. He didn’t want to read too much into it, but overhearing someone have sex and then inviting them out to dinner was…well, he could draw some conclusions if he wanted to. Being wrong would be disastrous, though. “We were just talking,” he added. “She’d been looking for us. She ran into me.”

“Okay.” Abby didn’t look that convinced.

“Come on.” Sam held out his arm for her and smiled, trying to make it look natural. “Let’s go schmooze a little more, yeah? The night is young.”

Chapter Eight

The social media message popping up on Sam’s feed the next evening should not, actually, have been a surprise. He should have expected it from the conversation with Jo at the party. Still, seeing her name show up as a message request sent him reeling back to the night before.