Hotwife: A Novel Read online

  These were the kinds of dreams that Lisa had. She loved dogs.

  I watched her step out of the shower and into a towel and tried not to ogle as I stepped past her into the tub. Once I was tucked safely behind the curtain I stood under the stream of hot water, glancing at her as she dried herself, wiped the mirror with a hand towel and started to put on her makeup.

  My daydream from the night before surfaced, making me think, once again, about what it would be like seeing Lisa with another man. My cock lurched between my legs.

  "Oh stop it, you pervert," she said, smiling at my reflection in the mirror.

  "What?!?" I squawked.

  "I know you're watching me." A tiny smile twisted at one corner of her mouth. "Pervert," she teased.

  It was true. I was watching her. Whether that made me a pervert or not, I don't know, but she was beautiful and it was a chore keeping my eyes off of her. That and the gnawing memory of what I'd thought about eating her snatch the night before.

  Lisa Farmer. My wife. What would it be like seeing her with another man?

  "I just think you're beautiful," I said, turning and tilting my head to get my hair wet.

  She was silent for a while. "Well, I'm glad you think so." She sounded sad when she said it. Despondent, almost.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  Sigh. "Nothing."

  Which meant that surely something was wrong.

  "Come on."

  She shook her head and took her attention off her mascara, looking down to stare at the sink. "It's stupid."

  Oh good.

  This was usually how arguments started.

  "Come on," I said, forcing myself to turn off the hot water, sweep the shower curtain open and step out. "What is it?"

  She shook her head again and went back to putting on her makeup.

  But I knew her better than that. Something was up. I stepped forward and, still naked, put my arms around her. Her towel fell down revealing her shapely frame.

  "Hey! I don't have time for that right now!" she squealed, bending over and pulling the towel back up.

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She could be such a prude sometimes. "I was just trying to give you a hug. It seems like something's up," I said, putting my hands on her shoulders.

  She pursed her lips, like she might start crying soon.

  "Hey, hey, what's up with you?" I asked.

  A tear rolled down Lisa's cheek and she turned away from me and put a hand up to her eyes. When I touched her arm to turn her around, she pushed me away and shook her head.

  "Lisa, come on, what is it?"

  It took her a minute to breath through whatever she was going through. When she turned back towards me she wasn't crying anymore, but her eyes were red and her lip still had a bit of a quiver.

  "Lisa," I said quietly, "whatever it is, you can tell me.

  "I don't want you to think I'm being spoiled," she said. Her voice sounded tight.

  "You're not being spoiled. What are you talking about? Why would you be spoiled?"

  She sighed. "Because of this. Because of this stupid job."

  "What? What do you mean 'stupid job?'" I asked.

  "This stupid secretary job!" she snapped. "I don't want this stupid job! I don't want to sit at a desk answering phones and being friendly to people! I hate that! I hate that I have to do this but I know I do. I just...if I'd worked harder I could have an agent by now and maybe even a publisher and I wouldn't have to...I wouldn't have to be a stupid secretary!" She turned away from me again, pouting at her own indignation.

  Yeah. She could be a little spoiled.

  "Lisa," I said, gently putting a hand on her arm and turning her around again. "Listen. I told you this is temporary. I know things are going to change for me at the agency, I can feel it. James had me in for that meeting last week, remember? He said good things. He said very good things, I told you that. I told you he couldn't tell me exactly what was coming but that it was something good. I just need to keep my head down and go this final stretch but it means I can't take any freelance work anymore. I've got to keep it clean. If they found out I was moonlighting it might, you know, it wouldn't look so good."

  She nodded her head. Even though we'd been through all this it seemed like it was small consolation, what I was saying.

  "Listen. Listen to me." I made her look up at me before going on. "I promise you this is going to be a month, two months tops! As soon as I make partner you can walk out of there and get back to your book. I'm just...we're not making enough right now to get by on my salary."

  "I know, I know!" she moaned. "I know all that! Don't tell me stuff I already know!"

  I sighed this time. "Okay. That's fine. I just really want you to know that..."

  "It's temporary. I got it. I know!"

  And that was that. She spun around and this time I realized there was no getting her back. She just needed to push through and work through it herself. There was nothing else I could say or do. Resigning myself to that, I turned around and stepped into the shower.

  Lisa didn't say goodbye before she left. Man that woman went from hot to cold in no time flat.

  Chapter 2

  Lisa wasn't really spoiled. She was the only child of great parents who'd done their best and given her every advantage. She'd gone to one of the top MFA programs in the country and graduated with honours. She'd had success being published in some literary magazines and after we got married we both decided she should take the time to write the book she had outlined.

  This was all wonderful and exciting but Lisa had never really had to compromise in any way. Her parents had gone into debt to pay her way in college. After we got married and she started writing the book, I told her I would take care of the financial side of things until it was done and she'd found a publisher. But as bills started to pile up and she had trouble even getting an agent, we both knew something had to give. Something had to change.

  It was Lisa who'd first suggested getting a job. I'd been against it. I started working more, taking freelance advertising clients at night to shore things up. I even got in touch with some of my old contacts in IT who'd sent some database administration work my way. But I always knew I couldn't keep it up forever. I desperately needed a vacation but more than that, I needed to take a break from working twelve hours a day, six days a week.

  It didn't take a lot of convincing before I relented and told her she was right. She'd been cheerful about it at first, in her usual optimistic way. She'd applied to jobs that were way above her level of qualification. As the job search went on, Lisa got more and more disheartened. It turned out the real world was even less rosy than the bubble she'd been living in.

  When a buddy of mine from an old ad client mentioned they were looking for a secretary, I told Lisa about it right away.

  You should have seen the look in her eyes at the thought of being a receptionist. I mean, I get it. It's not the kind of thing everyone would want to do. But it really wasn't that bad.

  It was an engineering firm. She would be one of two receptionists. From what my contact had said, she would have lots of spare time because they mostly just wanted someone to do occasional filing and be there as a backup if the other girl was sick. She could still spend time writing query letters. They even said they didn't mind.

  Now I haven't had many dirty jobs in my life (there was a summer of roofing that I pray I'll never have to go back to), but I've had plenty of jobs I hated that looked like they had no end. I hated them at the time but those jobs kicked my ass to move on, find something else, dig inside for what I really wanted out of life.

  Lisa had never had that. She'd always followed her dreams. She'd always been able to do exactly what she wanted. So having to take a job that she thought was "beneath" her, was sort of a sobering, almost depressing, thought.

  I thought it might kind of help her, in a way.

  But that's why Lisa cried that day in the bathroom.

  And that's why, because I jus
t can't help myself when it comes to her being sad, I decided that I would spend my lunch hour driving across town with a spicy burrito (Lisa loves Tex-Mex) to try and cheer her up.

  The building Lisa worked in was one of those shoe box shaped glass and steel monstrosities, set in the middle of a large commercial park with nothing but parking lots and a few small trees. It was a cloudy day and as I pulled in to a parking space I saw Lisa seated behind the reception desk. She had headset on and looked very different in her business casual black blazer than she normally did wearing a hoodie and jeans.

  She was sitting up straight, staring at her computer screen. She looked poised, professional and very put-together.

  I couldn't help but sit there and watch her for a while. She didn't seem at all upset now. The moodiness I'd seen that morning had seemingly evaporated and every once in a while she would turn to the woman sitting next to her, smile and exchange a laugh.

  The woman next to her was obviously the other receptionist. She was much younger than Lisa, probably in her early twenties. She wore her blonde hair tied back in a tight pony tail. She had a nice smile, high cheek bones and a cute button nose. She was also wearing a fairly low cut top that gave an ample view of her large breasts. A little too low cut, if you asked me but hey, it was none of my business.

  I was just about to get out of the car when a man, I assume one of the engineers that worked in the office, stepped up to the desk. I watched him sit on the edge, to the side of where Lisa and the other woman were seated. Almost immediately both of them looked over at him and smiled. He exchanged some pleasantry with the Lisa's large-breasted colleague, then turned his attention to Lisa.

  That was the moment I first felt it. It was confusing feeling at first, one I'd never felt before.

  The way Lisa smiled at him, the way her posture changed, the way she tilted her head as he talked. Then the way she burst into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth with a finger at something he'd said. From where I was sitting it looked like the guy was...flirting with her.

  And that's what caused the feeling. It started as a tension in my throat. A tendril of jealousy crawled down my spine as I watched her smiling at him. It was obviously harmless. People talked and flirted all the time with Lisa, I knew that. But I'd never seen her react to anyone in quite this way. That, coupled with the fact that she looked fantastic in her outfit, made that finger of jealousy creep down into my guts, then further still.

  As I gawked at the two of them making small talk, I felt my cock move.

  I shook my head at the strange reaction. I'd had the fantasy before, the one where I imagined Lisa with another man but I kept that buried deep inside of me. I'd never thought about it or let it affect me "out in the wild." Now, as I watched her smiling and chatting with this guy, all sorts of possibilities began to present themselves.

  He was a handsome guy. He had a big chest and big arms that were almost too big for the shirt he was wearing. He was clean-shaven and had his hair cut short on top and buzzed at the sides. When I looked down at his hands, I saw the stainless steel ring on the small finger of his right hand.

  I looked up again to see Lisa smiling and nodding at something he'd said. Gone was the mopey pout. There were no tears in her eyes or even sadness. She was pert, attentive and very engaged.

  I wondered what they could be talking about that had her so interested. Then the thought occurred to me that maybe Lisa had no interest in what he was saying at all. Maybe Lisa was actually attracted to the guy and responding the way girls do when they meet a guy they like.

  That dark, forbidden fantasy came rolling up from my insides that had started churning with jealousy and lust. Was this guy actually hitting on her? Was I watching some buff dude try and seduce my wife?

  I knew I should probably get out of the car, walk over there and assert myself. Maybe he hadn't seen her ring? Maybe he didn't care? Maybe if he met her husband he'd back off. Then again, maybe he wouldn't. Some guys were like that.

  But I felt like I couldn't move. Or maybe I just didn't want to. I stared and watched him obviously handling her as deftly as I might. I could tell when he cracked a joke by the way she laughed. I could tell when he said something more serious by the way she nodded her head. It was when I saw the large-breasted lady roll her eyes and shake her head that my guts really started to boil.

  It was clear then that the guy was making a pass.

  And then there was Lisa. The thought crept into my mind slowly at first. As I watched her in all her different poses, all the ways in which she was paying attention to the guy, I started to wonder, shouldn't she be acting a little less enthusiastic about his attention? Had she forgotten she was married? Of course she hadn't, but come on! I'd never seen her react this way when someone talked to her like that! Or had I just not been around? Or not paying attention?

  After a few more minutes, I saw the large-breasted lady roll her eyes again, then shoo the guy away with a hand.

  The guy let his leg slide off the desk. He stood up. He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a business card and put it on the desk. Before he left, he slide it over towards Lisa with a finger. Then he smiled, turned around and walked away.

  I was gobsmacked. I sat there, my stomach feeling like it had twisted into a thousand tiny knots, watching that card on the desk like a hawk.

  I glanced at Lisa. She was talking to her big-breasted friend. The woman seemed to be explaining something to her. She was gesticulating wildly, shaking her head and every once in a while would laugh.

  My imagination ran away with what she might be saying. Was she explaining that this guy did that to all the girls? Was she telling Lisa to stay away? Did she know Lisa was married?

  Or was she telling her that she'd slept with the guy? Was she telling her about what a good lay he was and how big his dick was and that Lisa should go for it?

  I looked down at my hands to see why they hurt so much. The knuckles were white from still gripping the steering wheel. I'd been sitting there watching all this go down and holding onto the steering wheel as if for dear life. I yanked my hands away and reached across the seat for the burrito.

  It was barely warm anymore but I didn't care. I scrambled across the car and fast-walked across the parking lot towards the building. I opened the heavy glass door and stepped inside, breathing heavily.

  Lisa's eyes widened as she recognized me. A split-second later I saw them dart down towards the desk, toward the business card. She only glanced at it, as if realizing that looking at it any longer would give something away. When she looked back up at me she was smiling but a little too widely for just being surprised to see me there.

  It was a very guilty smile. A caught-with-your-hand-in-the-cookie-jar kind of smile.

  "Jack!" she said, her voice high and excited.

  I stole a glance at big-breasts. She was smiling, too, but doing her best to look down at her screen.

  "Hey," I said, trying to sound casual despite my lack of breath. "I thought I'd bring you lunch."

  "Oh...oh! That's so...sweet!" It was almost like she had to force herself to use that word. She looked over at big-breasts. "Jack, this is Amanda. Amanda, this is my...husband. Jack." She looked straight at me as she said my name.

  I held her gaze for a moment then looked at Amanda. "Pleasure to meet you," I said. I stretched out a hand over the desk. She smiled and shook it, then went back to her screen.

  "Spicy burrito," I said, handing Lisa the package. "Sorry, it got a little cold."

  "That's okay. That's okay!" she said, her smile faltering as she sat back down. Suddenly she looked very flustered.

  Or was it just me? Was I just being crazy? Had I imagined what I'd seen? Had it been something else entirely? My heart was pounding in my chest and I could feel the blood pumping through my veins. Had I just caught my wife actually flirting with another man?

  In a moment of lunacy, I glanced at her hand. Seeing the ring still on her finger calmed me down. Okay. So she hadn't taken
it off. So the guy had known she was married. Maybe she'd even told him?

  "Well," I muttered, turning toward the door. "I should go."

  "Oh...really? Don't you want to eat with me?"

  I looked at my watch. I'd already been gone from work for more than an hour. "I...I need to get back. I'll see you at home tonight." I waved a hand and walked out the door. I didn't look back. I only glanced up to see Lisa watching me as I pulled away in the car.

  It was going to be a long rest of the day.

  Chapter 3

  "Jack?"

  I froze on the spot. Hayden's deep, booming voice was unmistakable. I'd taken the stairs back up to my office in the hopes that no one would see me coming back late from lunch. Of course Hayden, that athletic fuck always took the stairs, too.

  "Hey," I muttered, unable to meet his gaze.

  "Are you...are you just getting back from lunch now?" he asked.

  I looked up to see him checking his Tissot. "I...I had a doctor's appointment and it was...he was...he was running late," I lied. I regretted the words as soon as they'd left my mouth.

  Fuck.

  Hayden furrowed his brow.

  Fuckitty, fuck, fuck!

  "You made a doctor's appointment over lunch?"

  I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. "I...it was just a...it was some blood test results. I..."

  Shut the fuck up, Jack.

  He gave me a solemn nod. He looked to one side, then the other, like he was going to divulge some secret he didn't want anyone else to hear. "You know, in the future, you should probably do that on your own time."

  Fuck.

  "Yes...of course. I'm sorry, I just..."

  He held up a hand. "No need to explain. Just, you know. In the future..." he trailed off.

  I nodded and forced a smile.

  Hayden smiled back. A dazzling, toothy winner's smile. "Alright. I'll see you around."

  "Yeah," I said. "See you around."