When we pulled into the restaurant parking lot we spotted Michael already waiting for us near the entrance; it would be hard to miss him, a giant black guy with a shiny bald head, wearing snug jeans and a black sweater that molded to his muscular frame. There are not a lot of black people in town anyway, and there are not a lot of people of any color anywhere with his size and build.

We joined him near Chubby’s front door for a moment, debating whether to go in or wait for Derek out front since I hadn’t seen his car in the lot. We opted to go in and get a beer, telling the hostess that we were expecting a fourth. We waited at the bar until he came in a few minutes later, and she showed us to our table. I made the introductions and everyone shook hands.

I could see Derek critically eyeing both Marci and Michael, and wondered whether that was a habit of his, always on the lookout for photographic subjects, or if he just always examined people as one would a piece of meat. It was an almost uncomfortable thing, seeing the way he looked at my friends, but I was aware of my prejudice against him on all matters Alli-related so I let it pass.

We had lunch and made polite conversation. Marci was very intrigued by Derek’s photography career and asked him a lot of questions, which clearly played to his ego. It didn’t surprise me when he suggested that she pose for him sometime, whether for serious “art” shots or for something more along the lines of the simpler, “campy” glamour shots he’d taken of Alli, the ones which started this ball rolling in the first place. I saw Michael giving her a bit of a raised-eyebrow look when she agreed, saying that it might be fun.

Accordingly, it surprised me when he said, “I think you should do it, babe. It would be fun, and I’d love to have some shots of you like the ones Allison did for Dave.”

That was an opening that Derek couldn’t pass up. He turned to Michael and said, “How about you? I’d love to do some of the two of you together; I think I could get some shots you’d both love. We can go as tame as you want, just some nice portrait shots, or we could do something very sexy and intimate. That would be totally up to you.”

I sat back, the innocent bystander for a change, awaiting the inevitable. It was actually kind of nice to not have a dog in this fight. Michael merely laughed, as I’d known he would. “Oh, I don’t think so! I’ve never viewed myself as good photo-fodder, so not really a possibility. Marci is the beautiful half of this couple, so I think I’ll leave the photos up to her.”

She immediately took Derek’s side, also not a surprise to me; I figured she’d love the idea of getting some sexy shots of Michael or of the two of them together. “Oh, that would be fantastic! You’re beautiful and sexy, baby; I think we should do it. It would be so much fun, and we’d have those photos forever then. C’mon, please? Think about it, at least?”

He shook his head, but reached out and took her hand in his. I didn’t think he would be able to stand up to her pleading for long, and he again proved me right. “I’ll think about it, okay? No promises though; let’s talk about it later.” He turned to Derek. “We’ll get back to you on that, if that’s alright with you. In the meantime, since you’re the artist, think about what kinds of shots you’d like to do – and how much you’re going to charge us!”

Three of us laughed at his display of pragmatism in the face of Marci’s enthusiasm. Derek, still smiling, said, “No problem, and don’t worry too much about the cost. I’m sure we can work something out.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before he went on, “I guess you two know by now about the project that I’m trying to work out with Dave and Alli?”

When they confirmed that they did, he continued. “I’ll need to take some test shots, of course, but it’s possible I could use one or both of you as models for some of the photos for my book. If that worked out maybe we could do a little horse trading, your time and talents for mine; you model for me, and in return I’ll do the sexy glamour shots for just the two of you.”

Michael frowned. “Me, in a book that will be out there for the public to see? I don’t think so. I’m not even that crazy about the idea of Marci in something like that, but that’s entirely her call. As for me…”

Derek cut him off. “Just promise me you’ll think about it, okay? You’d be great; I can already envision some shots in my head, the way I could use either or both of you with Allison.” He paused and turned to me, saying, “That’s assuming that Dave and I can get the details worked out. How would you feel about Alli working with Marci and/or Michael, Dave? Would that cause you any problems?”

I shrugged. “As you say, assuming we get to that point, no, not really. Alli and I talked about it, and we’re already very close to them; I feel like that would be better than her working with total strangers for something like this.” I laughed, struck by the absurdity of my own statement. “Of course, I have absolutely nothing to base that on, considering I have no prior frame of reference in this arena.”

They laughed too, Michael sympathizing with my position before Derek cut in, “It’s not the insurmountable thing you’re making it out to be, Dave. People model for cameras every day, from selfies and the DMV all the way up to high-dollar commercial shots, and for anything commercial there’s always a contract.” He reached down and pulled a small sheaf of paper from a slender, leather attaché case he’d brought with him. “You’ll see when you look through this that it’s about eighty-five percent boilerplate, while the remainder applies specifically to Allison or the nature and terms of this particular project.”

He handed the papers to me; I was not disappointed to discover that it was only perhaps five or six letter-sized pages, double-spaced and single-sided. Legal real estate contracts and leases can easily run upwards of twenty pages – plus exhibits - often legal-sized and sometimes single-spaced. He had a point about the boilerplate, the parts of contracts that have become standard issue, de rigueur inclusions in every contract over the years, various statements of fact, disclaimers, legally-mandated things and even a few non-verifiable items which are assumed to always be true. Attorneys and regulating agencies have had a field day over the years with ever-expanding contracts.

With real estate contracts there was never any need for me to read the boilerplate; I knew it by heart, and a simple skim to make sure it was included and had not been tampered with was sufficient. With a modeling contract I’d have to read every word carefully, because it was totally new ground for me. I skimmed through it quickly, riffling the pages, relieved to see that it was in plain English and not buried under heavy legalese the way older contracts often are.

We’d finished eating some time ago and had been simply sitting around conversing for awhile. Marci and Michael took my skimming of the contract as their cue to leave and excused themselves, telling me that he would drop her back at the office.

I looked up at them and shook my head. “Nah, I’m leaving now too, I’ll look this over later.” I turned toward Derek. “I assume that’s okay with you? I want a chance to read through this, maybe run it past my attorney…”

He looked crestfallen. “Oh. I was hoping we could at least discuss it so that if there are any sticking points we might get them worked out. I could get my attorney working on a second draft sooner that way, if necessary.”

I considered that; I knew that Alli would be anxious to hear how it had gone, and that both of them were excited about getting started. I also knew that I could hit the obvious things quickly, the monetary aspects and anything which might be a major sticking point in terms of time, obligations, or the photos’ end use and I’d still have ample opportunity to have my attorney review it before we got to the point of Alli signing on the dotted line. Which, by the way, is actually a solid line.

Relenting, I nodded assent. “Okay, you guys go ahead and go; Marci, I should be back in maybe an hour or so, but I don’t think we have anything scheduled.”

She shook her head. “We don’t. You have a conference call on the Anderson deal at 3:30, but nothing until then.”

I grinned, looking at the other two guys. “Beautiful, sexy, and brilliant too – you might understand why I pay her so much to keep her around.”

They laughed, and Marci added. “Oh yeah, that’s the other thing! I set aside some time at 4:30 to discuss my huge new raise and company car.”

I smiled. “What have I told you about drinking too much at lunch?” I stood and shook hands with Michael before they left, and to my surprise Marci gave me a big hug.

I realized why when she took the opportunity to whisper in my ear, “Don’t blow this for Alli! She really wants to do this.” Before pulling away she reached down and gave my ass a firm squeeze, surprising me again.

After they walked away I sat back down across from Derek, who was looking at me, a bemused expression on his face. “Your secretary seems quite… friendly.”

I laughed. “Administrative assistant, but yeah, that’s one word for her. She keeps life around the office interesting.”

“They’re an interesting couple, a study in contrasts. I could do some fascinating things with the two of them.” When I merely responded by giving him a wry look, he laughed. “With a camera, Dave, with a camera! Although, now that you bring it up…”

It was my turn to laugh. “Well, don’t toss anything in front of Marci that you aren’t prepared to follow through on, because she’s as likely to take you up on it as not. Now Michael, on the other hand, that might be more of a challenge.”

He nodded, smiling, and said, “So, sort of like you and Allison then. Why are women so much more open minded, do you suppose?”

I shrugged. “Maybe if the photographer was a woman the situation might be reversed, you think?”

He looked as if that thought had never crossed his mind, and he paused to consider it. “You know, you may have something there. What you’re saying is that you – and Michael, and probably other men – might view me as a threat?”

“Well, let’s take stock, shall we? A good looking guy, talented, artistic, sensitive I assume, given your profession, spending hours around a guy’s naked wife, giving her orders, dressing her exactly how you want her, touching her. Arranging her hair and body so that it looks perfect to your eye, in a way that you find sexy and attractive, molding her into your own personal, perfect image if you can… yeah, a lot of guys might find that just a tiny bit off-putting.

He laughed again. “I can see your point, yes. You think I’m good looking?”

I snorted, astounded by his ego! “That’s what you took from that? Seriously? Let’s say I base that on this; my wife thinks you look like an older version of me, so yeah, you obviously must be pretty good looking, right?”

We both chuckled at my reverse play of egotism as he nodded. “I hope she said a slightly older version. Funny how well we can get along when we’re competing over business things and Alli isn’t in the middle, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “It is. Of course, the business we’re going to haggle over is all about her too, so the truce may be short-lived.” I picked up the contract from the table. “Tell you what, why don’t you see if you can flag down our server and order a fresh round of drinks, and I’ll look this over and see where we stand.”

“Sounds good. I hope it’s not too far off; I tried to adhere to the things we discussed and to be sensitive to your concerns, but I’m open to anything you might suggest… within reason.”

I laughed again. “You might not be surprised to know that I’ve heard that caveat before, sometimes right before a deal crumbles. Sometimes one man’s ‘within reason’ is another’s outlandish outrageousness. Let me take a look.” So saying, I pulled a red pen from an inner pocket of my blazer and buried my nose in the contract.

To his credit, much of it was exactly as he had represented things when he’d been at our house the previous week. The time frame that he expected to meet was the same at three weeks, as well as the maximum length of workday that he’d demand. For monetary terms he had the twenty thousand dollar figure he’d tossed out to Allison for the full three weeks, plus a provision to pay her fifteen hundred per day for each day that he might run over that. It was pretty generous and stayed very close to what he’d spelled out, although of course there was all the boilerplate about releases, responsibilities, and confidentiality.

I’m sure he thought that it would be a quick approval, and I smiled inwardly as I saw him sneaking glances at me as I marked it up, making changes and additions. He was messing with something on his phone, probably online, and acted as though absorbed in that to refrain from either fidgeting or commenting, but he was definitely watching.

As I was reading one clause, I looked to him for clarification. “This has language about Allison appearing with you for ‘up to, but not more than, three photography shows, exhibits, or book signings’. You hadn’t mentioned that, or not to me at least. What’s that all about?”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary, and of course it hinges on me actually getting gallery shows or book signings, which may or may not happen. She’ll be the star of the book, the number one character. For people interested in buying prints, or the book itself, it would be a real draw to have a chance to bump elbows with the beautiful, erotic star. It would enhance those events immensely for the people with the big dollars, and would add to the prestige for me at the same time.”

As I thought about that, not answering, he laughed. “Not to mention, your wife beautifies any room she walks into. The old guys that buy this kind of thing, the collectors, would love her.”

“Have you spoken to Alli about this?”

He frowned. “Yes… she didn’t mention it?”

“No. I’m a little surprised she would even consider agreeing to that. I think she’d be intensely uncomfortable meeting a bunch of people that were wandering around with a glass of champagne and some smelly but undoubtedly expensive cheese while ogling naked, erotic pictures of her.”

He laughed again. “Well, that’s one way to characterize it, I suppose. I have to give you credit, Dave; you do know your wife. That’s pretty much word-for-word what she said when I brought it up, but we talked about it and I was able to reassure her.”

“Great. Now reassure me.”

He smiled. “You two are a good match. Look, it’s just not that big a thing; for all they know she’s a professional model, and these types of people are very accustomed to artistic erotica. She’ll be dressed to the nines, designer couture and borrowed jewelry, and she’ll be stunning. They’ll meet, chat with her a little, pay her dozens of compliments, fall in love with her and buy my photos and the evening will be over without her ever feeling embarrassed. It’s very routine.”

I shook my head. “Not for Alli, and not for me. I’ll need to talk that part over with her. I still think she’d find a whole evening of that to be sheer torture.”

“She won’t, I promise you. She can have a glass of wine or two to relax, maybe lower her inhibitions just slightly, and she’ll enjoy it.” He shrugged, continuing, “She certainly has nothing to be ashamed of, does she? She’s incredibly beautiful and photographs well – and I’ll be the one creating the images, so I can assure you that she will be flawless.”

“I’m sure. Nonetheless, I’ll talk it over with her, I think, so let’s ignore that clause for now.” I handed it back to him. “Here you go. Look over my changes and we’ll go from there.” I started to rise to leave, first to see if I could get Chubby to run a copy of it for me on his color copier, but also assuming that Derek would want his attorney to see it before we moved on.

He stopped me. “Hold on, let me look it over. If the attorney needs to see it he can, and of course he will if we need a second draft, but let me see what you’ve written.”

I settled back in, willing to give him a few more minutes. As Marci had assured me, we had nothing pressing that afternoon. He ignored most of the document, flipping to where I had made notations in red. I saw his eyebrows rise as he read the first note I’d made, which was the change to the financial terms.

He looked at me, his expression incredulous. “Fifty thousand, and twenty-five hundred for any additional days? I was prepared to be a little flexible, but that’s just not doable.”

I was impressed that he’d remained so calm; I knew I’d tossed out a big number, more than double his initial offer, but it established a starting point and let him know that I recognized that he was willing to pay more. I shrugged, saying, “It’s all about how badly you want her. I’m sure you could find someone else to model for much less.”

“You know this project centers around Allison; I made that clear.”

“Yes, you did.”

He paused, and then smiled ruefully. “My first mistake, I suppose.”

I smiled back at him. “A mistake, yes, but probably not your first.”

He laughed. “Touché. You’re willing to be reasonable?”

“Again, one of those words that can mean something completely different depending upon one’s viewpoint. What do you consider ‘reasonable’?”

He thought for a moment before replying, “I can go to thirty for the shoot, seventeen-fifty for extra days.”

He’d gone up ten grand on his first counter. I took that as a good sign. “I think she’d settle for forty-five, and twenty-two fifty for each day over the three weeks.”

He leaned back, clearly exasperated. “Dave, please try to understand. This is not a commercial project, and I don’t have that kind of money to throw at it. More than anything for me it’s a lark, a personal accomplishment that I’d dearly love to be able to check off my list, but you’re making it very difficult.”

I shrugged again, prepared to walk away. I knew that Alli would be disappointed if the project fell through, but you can’t really play hardball unless you’re prepared to let the negotiation crash and burn. Sometimes it happens and in this case, from my perspective, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.

He sighed. “I can see that you’re in your comfort zone on this type of thing; I’m not, I’m a photographer, not a negotiator. There’s no way I can go to forty-five.” He thought for a moment, then sighed again. “Let’s save us both a lot of time and you just tell me your bottom dollar and we’ll see where that leaves us.”

I was impressed again. It wasn’t a bad tactic. “Forty for the shoot, two grand for each extra day. She’s worth it and you know it.” As soon as I said that I realized how awful it sounded even to my own ears; I felt like I was selling him my wife. I cringed inwardly, but hid it from him. We were trading in Allison’s time and talents so it was unavoidable that I’d feel uncomfortable with it, but that last sentence I’d uttered just seemed wrong.

He looked dejected. “I don’t know if I can do that, Dave. It may be more than I can swing.”

I thought for a moment, and a possible solution occurred to me. “Has she mentioned her animal shelter to you?”

He smiled and nodded, saying, “Yes, Second Chances Animal Shelter. It’s a beautiful thing she’s doing and obviously a labor of love; she talks about it all the time and she simply lights up when she does. Pretty impressive lady, your wife.”

I nodded. “Couldn’t agree more. You know, then, that she’s planning to use most of what she earns working with you for expenses and other needs at the shelter, improvements and such?”

He nodded again. “Yes, she’s mentioned that.”

“Okay then, how about this? You pay her a percentage of the forty grand as modeling fees or salary, or whatever you’ve talked about with her, but provide the bigger chunk – twenty-five thousand, say – as a donation directly to the shelter. It’s a 501(c)3 charity, registered and everything, so you’d have a nice tax deduction, and for her it would work out exactly the same. Better, actually, because she wouldn’t have to declare it as income and pay taxes on it either, although she usually funnels it straight through.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “That might work. I’d like to discuss it with my attorney, but it’s a creative solution. Why not just make the entire sum a donation and have her work for me as a ‘volunteer’ model?”

I shrugged. “Worth discussing with her, certainly. I just figured that after all of her hard work she might want to do something nice for herself with some of the funds too, and she’s a stickler for not mixing shelter funds and personal expenses. But yeah, that could work, or the amounts can be very flexible. I’ll leave that up to her to pin down. “

I paused for a moment and then went on, “To your benefit, she puts out a very nice newsletter to all of her members and adoptive pet parents, and it couldn’t hurt to have your name and business in there as a major donor. Some of her more philanthropic friends are quite well off; it could lead to some very wealthy clients for you.”

He laughed. “Nice sales job, Dave. Good point though, I like the way you think. Okay, I think maybe I can meet your terms on money, so let me see what else you’ve done here.” He read for a moment before again looking up at me. “You want me to add language about your right to attend any of the photo sessions at any time? I have no issue with that, as I said the day we met at your house, but I didn’t think it was necessary to enumerate it in the contract. It was understood, a gentleman’s agreement.”

I shrugged. “Maybe, but as long as we’re doing a contract anyway and this will only require a sentence or two, why not spell it out? Let’s avoid any chances for a misunderstanding. Will that fly?” I wasn’t confident enough about him being a gentleman to trust a “gentleman’s agreement” with him; I reserve that privilege to people that I know and trust.

He nodded, saying, “Sure, not a problem for me,” and went back to reading. I was watching his face and I could see when he hit the brick wall, his expression hardening. I knew what was coming next.

“I can’t give you this one, Dave. I can’t possibly allow another party to have censorship or control rights over my work. I simply won’t.”

His jaw was set, and he looked resentful of the fact that I’d even dared to ask. Alli had been accurate in her assessment of his reaction to that request; if anything she had underestimated it, and I began to doubt that even her backup plan would work. “Derek, all I’m trying to do is to ensure that nothing that can harm Allison gets out there, nothing pornographic or humiliating. Photos are forever, and I won’t allow you to do anything that will hurt her.”

He scoffed. “First, even the Supreme Court has been unable to define exactly what constitutes pornography, and in any event I’m not interested in anything that would cross that kind of line. Erotica, Dave, remember that. I don’t do porn. Second, I recognize that you’re trying to do what’s right for your wife, and I respect that – but so am I, and I’ll need you to have a degree of trust in my judgment. I like and admire Allison, and I’d never do anything to harm her.”

“That requires a giant leap of faith on my part. I’m not able to make that leap.”

He sighed. “I recognize that you and I have a rather, um, prickly relationship. I suppose that’s natural, given that I spend many hours with your wife, and that she’s fully or partially naked for much of that time.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, that is a little hard to process sometimes.”

“Of course it is; it would be for any man that loves his wife as you obviously do. It doesn’t help that she’s also often quite aroused while she’s posing for me, as you know, but that’s not something I control; she enjoys the work, and it arouses her to be naked in front of others. Surely you already knew that.”

I shook my head. “No, actually I didn’t. Not until she posed for you the first time, for those glamour photos.”

He laughed softly. “Ah! So now we know the root source of your discomfort. That was an interesting session; I don’t know who was more aroused, Allison, Jennifer, or me. We were all deeply affected by that situation, and her nervousness and arousal was contagious. That she went forward with it is a testament to how much she loves you.”

“If you say so. Look, Derek, just so you know, knowing that you’re horny when you’re working with Alli is absolutely no comfort to me. Did you imagine that it would be?”

He laughed again. “The truth is I didn’t even consider that; I apologize. All I was trying to say is that it’s a completely natural reaction. We’re programmed to respond to certain things, and some of those things are entirely outside of our ability to control. You wouldn’t fare any better in the same situation, and all it means is that we’re all human and subject to our biological urges. Nonetheless, I can’t surrender my right to exercise my best artistic judgment.” He paused, thinking, and then pitched it back to me. “Surely there must be some way we can get over this hurdle. How about if I agree to listen to your concerns on anything without promising that I’ll allow you to actually kill an image that I might consider valid?”

“No, afraid not; that’s a level of trust we’ve not yet established. Maybe we never will. How about if, rather than me, you give Allison the right to have the final say on anything controversial? I might be the one that finds it objectionable, but she can overrule me if she’s okay with it. She can also overrule you, however.”

He mulled that over for a good thirty seconds before responding. “That has potential. I’m not accustomed to surrendering final control to anyone, but I’m more comfortable with her having veto power than I am with you having it. No offense, Dave, but I’ve noticed you can be a bit of a prig about these things.”

I laughed. “No offense taken. I’ll readily admit to going into full prig mode when it comes to protecting my wife. Surely you can understand that.”

He nodded. “I do. Let me think about this issue and I’ll get back to you, but other than that one thing I don’t see any serious roadblocks remaining. Do you?”

“Nothing that springs to mind. Let me see if I can get Chubby to make a copy of this for me and we can go from there.” I did, and Chubby was more than happy to run off the pages for me. Somewhat to my surprise Derek picked up the lunch tab, and then he and I stood outside the front door of the restaurant for a moment longer, chatting, before we shook hands and went our separate ways.

Back at the office I had about forty minutes to review the Anderson file pertaining to my 3:30 conference call, so I dove into that. Once I’d refreshed my memory on the deal I had about ten minutes remaining before the call; just enough time to stretch my legs, make a trip to the john, and grab a Pepsi from the fridge, which I did.

The call went smoothly, no surprises, and afterwards I called Marci in to go over a few things. Another thing that was no surprise, Marci came in with an entirely different agenda than my own. As usual, hers came first. I’d learned to go with the flow and let her get through whatever was on her mind; it simplified matters and was inevitable in any event, so it behooved me to allow nature to take its course.

“Hey, boss, thanks for the lunch. Michael said to tell you thanks too, and that we should have bought since it was our idea.”

“You’re very welcome, Marce, but actually Derek bought. You can remember to thank him next time you see him.”

“You think I’ll be seeing him again?”

I nodded. “Sounded to me like he’s interested in you and Michael posing for him, maybe even in some of the shots with Alli, for his book, so yeah, maybe.”

She laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that! I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and very exciting, but Michael was appalled.”

I laughed too. “Michael is obviously an extremely intelligent man, and possessed of excellent judgment. As for you… what is it about you broads that you can’t wait to get naked for this guy?”

Marci smiled. “Mmm, well he is very sexy; Alli was certainly right about that!”

“Gosh, thanks Marce! I couldn’t be happier that you told me that!”

She let out a loud peal of laughter. “Oh, come on! She told you that already, didn’t she? She says he’s sexy like an older version of you. She also said he’s well-hung. How does she know he’s well-hung, Dave?”

I shook my head incredulously, chuckling. “You’re something, Marce. I believe she read about his endowment on the wall of the ladies’ room. Of course, it was in his handwriting, so I’m not sure how much stock I’d put in it…”

She laughed again. Marci and I usually did a pretty good job of keeping each other entertained, even if we accomplished little else at times. “No, seriously; how does she know that? Has she seen him naked? He doesn’t work in the nude, does he? Damn, that would be fun!”

“Settle down, girl. No, not to my knowledge on either of those things. I think she’s just extrapolating backwards from the size of his bulge; apparently he finds my naked wife quite arousing. Or he may just have a large pair of socks stuffed in his pants. That’s my take by the way, and I’m sticking to it.”

She shook her head. “Not from what Alli said. She says you can see…”

I interrupted her. “Is there any chance we’re going to talk about work rather than Derek’s junk? Any chance at all?”

She pretended to pout. “Well I suppose, if we have to. This is way more interesting though.”

“To exactly one of us, I assure you. Look, I need you to type up my revisions on this cross-easement, and then memo the Anderson’s attorney on it. Nothing fancy, she just needs to look it over.” I held it out, but then jerked it away when she reached for it. “You’re not too horny to concentrate, are you? I mean, I can leave for a few minutes if you want to lock the door and use my office for a little self-help, if that would help you focus better.”

She leaned forward and snatched it out of my hand, her generous breasts bobbing quite becomingly. “Very funny! And be careful what you offer, because I might just take you up on it. All except that part about you leaving, no need for that.”

I laughed. “Now you’re talking! Anyway, I told her we’d get that to her before the end of the day, so…”

“Nice guy! Making promises with my time.” She looked at the pages I’d handed her. “I may be a little after five with this, hope that’s okay.”

“Sure, as long as it goes today. And on that note, I’m outta here.”

She had been leaving, but turned back toward me. “It’s bad form to tell me I have to stay late and then in the next breath tell me you’re leaving early.”

“Undoubtedly. See you in the morning, Marce.”

“You’re a butt.”

“Yes, I am. You have a nice evening. I’m going to go make love to my wife.”

“Oh, I almost forgot! She called while you were on your call.”

“Oh yeah? What’s up?”

Marci shrugged. Marci, with her magnificent breasts, has the ability to turn a simple shrug into a very erotic act, and I never fail to be impressed and somewhat aroused. “Nothing, as far as I could tell. She just wanted to talk to you. I told her we had lunch with her photographer buddy.”

I was mildly disappointed, as I had been hoping to surprise her with that. “What else did you tell her?”

She shrugged again. I really should put a minimum number of daily shrugs into her job description. “Nothing. I don’t know anything else except that you stayed to talk to him. I did tell her that, I guess – and oh yeah, I told her that she was right about her guy being sexy.”

“Marci, I’m her guy.”

“Of course you are – that’s what I meant.”

“Yes, I’m sure you did. Goodnight, Marce, see you Monday morning.”

“No, you’ll see us tomorrow night. That’s the other thing Alli and I talked about; we’re getting together with you guys for dinner tomorrow, to talk about… well, you know.”

She was right; I knew. It promised to be an interesting evening. We said our goodbyes and I drove home. Ruby met me at the door, enthusiastic as ever, and we had a little one-on-one time. It’s kind of an ego boost to have someone so happy to see you that her whole body wriggles with unabashed joy!

Speaking of which, when I straightened up from petting and talking to Ruby I saw Alli standing in the doorway to the family room watching us, wearing a smile on her face… and nothing else! She was beautifully, gloriously naked, leaning on the door jamb in a seductive “come take me” pose. She was a picture of loveliness, sleek and sexy and oh-so-feminine, and I understood again why Derek so badly wanted her for his book project. I should have asked for a hundred grand.

I whistled, long and low. “Wow! If I’d have known about this I’d have been home hours ago! To what do I owe this incredibly intense, amazing, phenomenal pleasure?”

She crossed to me in a very seductive, sexy, hip-swiveling walk and seized my tie. “You’re the amazing and phenomenal one, my sweet man. I can’t believe you got me forty thousand dollars for three weeks of work!”

“Huh! How’d you know about that?” Even as I asked the question the only possible answer flashed through my mind, and she confirmed it.

“Derek called. He said you two had a productive talk. Sure sounds like it!”

“Oh.” Of course he had. I was disappointed. I’d been looking forward to dropping that bit of news on her myself. Still, being met by a naked and grateful Allison was not all bad! She reached down and cupped my package, squeezing me through my pants, and I began to respond, the hardening and thickening process starting almost at once. The sweet, feminine floral scent of her body and the warmth coming off of her helped too, no doubt; no man could resist that for long!

“Are you mad?” She gave me one more squeeze and then started tugging at my tie, loosening it, and unbuttoned my collar.

“No, not really. I just wanted to surprise you with that. I’m a little disappointed, is all.”

“Well, I was surprised! Amazed, even; that’s a lot of money, it will be incredibly helpful. Thank you, my love.”

“Oh, you’re more than welcome. Still bugs me he called you. He had to know that I’d be looking forward to telling you all about it.” It was bothering me that he’d spilled the beans, of course, but even more that he felt like he could just pick up the phone anytime and talk to her. That was petty, I knew; he had used her for a model already, and would be hiring her for a substantial sum if the book project came to fruition, so he had to have access to her. I could do the same with Marci anytime a question or problem arose, and had called her at home on a number of occasions; this situation was no different. That I was aware of my own pettiness didn’t make me feel one bit better, but Alli figured out a way to improve my outlook on it.

“Well, one advantage to him calling ahead of time is I had a chance to get ready for you when you got home.”

I smiled. “You look great, sweetheart. I can see you went all out.”

She laughed. “Yes, I wore your favorite outfit. I also did this…” she took my hand and guided it between her legs. She was silky smooth, soft and warm and utterly bare, not a hair or a trace of stubble in sight. Clearly she had just done a fresh landscaping job and her sweet pussy felt so good, soft and puffy and satiny, and when I slid a finger between those tender lips I found her slick and wet, her clit already hard and sneaking out from its fleshy wrap.

I groaned as my cock throbbed and she felt me strain against her palm, rigid and eager. She smiled that slow, sexy way she has. “I think you like that.”

“You have no idea what you do to me.” I growled low in my throat as I leaned forward to kiss and nibble her neck and throat, my free hand cupping her breast as I tweaked her erect nipple with my thumb.

She squeezed my straining cock. “On the contrary; I know exactly what I do to you. It’s pretty easy to tell, actually. The question is, what can I do for you to thank you for handling that contract for me?”

I kissed her, our tongues sliding together. “Hmm, I’m sure I’ll think of something. As a matter of fact, I have an idea.”

I guided her to the back of the sofa and gently pushed her back so that she was forced to sit on top of the back. I paused a moment to bend down and lick and suck her perfect nipples, loving the way they felt in my mouth, and then pushed her legs apart with mine and knelt between them, leaning forward to nuzzle her wet sex. She moaned, and I felt her hips rock forward, ready for more.

I lifted her legs and put one foot on the outer curve of each of my shoulders, angling her legs outward so that she was well-spread. I kissed my way up one perfect thigh to that smooth, silky pussy and parted her sweet lips with my tongue, starting at her cute little rosebud and moving upward, pushing her wet lips apart as I went. She tasted sweet and feminine, warm and earthy, and the erotic scent of her aroused sex had me leaking in my pants. I lingered for a moment on her stiff clit, flicking and teasing, and felt a shudder run through her.

I felt her hand in my hair and glanced up at her. She slid her hand lower, behind my ear and down to my neck, saying, “I’m the one that’s supposed to be doing something for you, to thank you, remember?”

I pulled back just enough to smile up at her. “Oh, trust me, you are!” She really was, allowing me this close, personal time with her aroused pussy. My cock was so hard it ached, her sexy scent and sweet taste turning the blaze of my arousal into an inferno. I returned to my pleasures and pushed my tongue into her as far as I could. She gasped softly and I felt her opening draw tight on my tongue. She was lubricating madly, and her juices coated my tongue.

I paused momentarily to swallow, although my lips and chin were already coated with a mixture of her nectar and my saliva, but her fingers tangled in my hair quickly pulled my face back to her sex. I realized why she was so insistent when, moments later, she came, her grip on my hair holding my lips firmly to hers as she bucked against me. I continued to lave her pussy with my tongue as the waves of her orgasm rolled through her, alternately thrusting it into her and lapping at her clit as her heels dug into my shoulders.

As the moment passed and her muscles relaxed, the pressure on my shoulders and the strain on my hair both eased somewhat. I heard her moan and her hand in my hair moved to my neck instead. “God, that felt so good! I really needed that.” She laughed softly and continued, “So forty grand, first approval rights, an earth-shattering orgasm… what else are you going to do for me today?”

I pulled away from enjoying her honey for a moment, licked my wet lips, and looked up at her. “He’s giving you the first approval rights for the use of the pictures?”

“You didn’t know that?”

“No. He said he’d have to think about it.” In a way I was disappointed; I’d still held out a ray of hope that the issue of having his work pre-censored might be the silver bullet that killed this whole project. Still, I knew how badly Alli wanted to do it and what the money would mean to her so I couldn’t be too upset.

“Well, apparently he thought about it, because it’s a go. You know what I’m thinking about?”

I laughed. “Probably, but go ahead and tell me.”

She smiled. “I’m thinking about how good that big, hard cock of yours would feel inside of me right now.”

“Huh! That’s exactly what I thought you were thinking. I must be psychotic.”

“You mean psychic.”

“Whatever. I explained about blood flow and brain function, right?” I was too busy unzipping my pants and freeing my cock to argue linguistics… or linguini... or anything. Besides, she was right.

She looked at my cock, which was pointing skyward, hard as a steel bar, and smiled. “I can see that you’re making excellent use of your full blood supply, so you’re forgiven. In, please?”

No need to ask me twice! I stepped forward and rubbed the already-wet and slippery tip of my cock up and down in her wet slit and then slowly pushed into her, making the six-inch journey take several seconds. She moaned and shuddered and tried to push forward to accelerate the process, but I held back and made it a long, slow glide. I held myself there for a few additional seconds, buried deeply inside of her snug heat, and she groaned and shuddered against me.

As I began to slowly fuck her she frantically tugged at my tie, yanking it off, and then went to work on the buttons of my shirt. As soon as she had it open she leaned forward and began to bite and lick my nipples. That felt shockingly good, the tingles going straight from chest to groin, and when her hand slid inside of my open zipper and cupped my balls, lifting them out into the open, it put me on the verge of losing control.

She continued to hold my balls in her hand, gently squeezing them. I groaned, “Babe, if you keep doing that I’m going to come.”

“Don’t.”

I gasped out a small laugh. “Easier said than done!”

She smiled. “Oh don’t worry, you can come, but don’t come inside of me.”

“No?”

“No. I want you to come in my mouth. I want to taste you and feel that hard cock in my mouth, and I want to feel you pump and pulse as each spurt of cum shoots out… I want to feel your cream on my tongue, the big head of your cock throbbing…”

I stopped her. “God! Between your hot little pussy and you squeezing my nuts you were already killing me, but this ‘talking dirty’ stuff is the straw that will break the camel’s steely resolve!”

She laughed. “Good, glad you like it! Cum for me, baby. I’ll suck you until you let me taste your thick, white cream; cum in my mouth and down my throat, fill me until it overflows and runs down my chin…”

That did it! I suddenly jerked out of her even as the uncontrollable rush of semen was beginning, that first hard spasm rocking through me. “Ohh, fuck! Hurry…!”

She slid off the back of the sofa and dropped to her knees in front of me… and she almost made it in time. She was leaning forward, mouth open to take me, when I shot out a long, thick stream of white that went partly in her mouth but mostly across her chin and cheek and into her hair. After that first errant blast she had me captive, and I continued to pump and spurt into her warm mouth until she’d sucked me dry.

She continued to suck and lick me even as I writhed and twitched through that intensely sensitive after-phase, and when she finally let my cock slip from her lips I was spent and drooping, nearly flaccid. She looked up at me and opened her mouth, showing me the pool of pearly white that she’d held there even as she sucked me. She rose smoothly to her feet and pressed her wet, cum-slick lips to mine. I was a little afraid that she was going to share more than I was ready for, but she didn’t spit my load back into my mouth.

Instead she pushed her cum-slathered tongue into my mouth and let me suck it clean. It was slippery and viscous and tasted vaguely salty, but otherwise had no discernible flavor. She did it again, gathering a fresh coating and dribbling just a bit of the semen–saliva mixture into my willing mouth this time. After that she pulled away and swallowed it all down, unwilling to share any more, and then kissed me again.

She smiled a beautiful, cum-coated smile. “Did you enjoy that?”

“You have to ask?”

She laughed. “No, I suppose not. If sheer volume is any indication you enjoyed it a lot!”

“I did; it was amazing. Sorry about your hair.”

“What?”

“You got cum in your hair. That first shot missed the mark just a bit. You were too slow.”

“No, you were too fast!”

I shook my head ruefully. “Yeah, not the first time that’s happened. Probably won’t be the last.”

She laughed as she pulled her hair forward, looking for the errant semen. “I hope not! That’s always so much fun when you pop like a horny teenager.” She found the slimy mass in her hair; it wasn’t as bad as I had feared, and she was able to pretty much dab it out with a tissue. “There, good as new.”

I looked. There was just a trace where her hair stuck together. “Pretty much. My bad, but you can probably brush it out when it dries some more. You hungry?”

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at me. “I just had a delicious protein shake, so not as hungry as you, probably.”

I laughed. “Funny! But yeah, I’m starving. Wasn’t even aware of it a few minutes ago, but get a guy’s rocks off and his mind immediately turns to his stomach. What’s for dinner?”

She pretended to pout. “Like being a sex goddess and giving world-class blowjobs isn’t enough for you! You expect me to cook too?”

“Not necessarily; I can live with you being a sex goddess and we can order pizza or Chinese or something.”

She smiled. “Thank you, but no. I’m taking you out to dinner, mister! Someplace nice, too. How about Leo’s?”

Leo’s Chophouse, if you’ll recall, is our ‘special occasions’ place, fancy and expensive and usually something we plan for; that she’d thrown it out as a last minute suggestion told me how much she appreciated what I’d done with her contract with Derek. As if the sexy naked lady that greeted me when I got home had not been an adequate thank you!

“Wow, sounds great to me! I’m a little rumpled and untucked and my dick is hanging out, but I’m still more appropriately dressed for Leo’s than you are… not that you don’t look incredible, because you really do.”

“I can be ready in ten minutes.”

I snorted. “Hah! Sure you can.”

“You wait and see!”

She made it in fifteen, still an amazing accomplishment, and she looked so incredibly sexy and gorgeous in her little black dress that I was not about to quibble over five minutes. We were out the door moments later, after giving Ruby a hug and a promise that we’d bring home some tasty morsels. We were about halfway to Leo’s, just making small talk, when a reminder bell dinged in my brain.

“Oh, hey, Marci tells me we’re having dinner with her and Michael tomorrow night.”

Alli gasped. “Oh yeah! Jeez, I’m glad she mentioned that to you. In the excitement about the book contract I almost forgot. I thought we needed to talk to them about, you know, playing together like they suggested. We owe them an answer, and we can’t leave them hanging forever.”

I shook my head. “No, I agree. But do we have an answer?”

“Well, I don’t know. We need to talk about it too; we’ve sort of been dodging that question.”

“Yeah, I know. The Prince of Procrastination here. I’ve been thinking about it though.” We rode in silence for a couple of minutes, both of us thinking about it, I’m sure, about sharing each other with Michael and Marci and what that type of sexual intimacy might do to us. It would be a significant change in our relationship, which had been strictly monogamous until now.

Alli reached over and took my right hand, which had been idly resting on the shifter, and guided it between her legs. “While you’re thinking about that, think about this too.”

It would have been impossible not to; she was commando, smooth and naked beneath her short dress, and she was wet, slick and hot. My fingers slid in her sweet slippery groove, parting her lips and finding the hard nubbin of her clit. She gasped when I lightly stroked it and she reached out, gripping my hard, swollen cock through my slacks.

“God, Davey, you’re as hard as I am wet! Does this maybe mean that we have our answer?”

“I don’t know, babe. Maybe. We can talk about it over dinner; fortunately Leo’s does afford us that kind of privacy. In the meantime…” I stroked her hard little button more vigorously, circling it with my fingertip, a definite goal in mind. We reached our goal just before I turned into the driveway at Leo’s, Alli gasping and shuddering through a sudden climax, her body arching against her seat back .

When the valet opened her door and she got out moments later I’m pretty sure she flashed her wet pussy at him; either that, or the slightly wild, stunned look on her flushed face or the smoky arousal still in her eyes had clued him in, because he looked a little stunned himself. I saw him reach down and surreptitiously adjust himself as he climbed into our car, and then we turned and entered the restaurant.