Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Was I going to freak out and get jealous seeing Neil with another woman? What if he liked her, but I didn’t like Ian? Or the reverse?
On top of that, I didn’t really know what “swinging” was. I had an idea, though. “Swinging is like the thing where you switch partners?”
“It can be,” Neil said with a nod that hesitated in the down position as he spoke. “Some swingers do partner swap, but some don’t. Sometimes, it’s a group activity. We wouldn’t know until we set the parameters. But we needn’t do that on a first date, unless things went in that direction.”
“Group?” I tried to imagine kissing Gena and touching her. I couldn’t quite see it. Holli and I had gotten drunk and made out once, but that had been weird because she was my best friend. Would it be weird with a woman under different circumstances?
I kind of wanted to find out.
CHAPTER SIX
As it so happened, Ian and Gena were free the next Friday night. Neil invited them out to the house, and I left work early so I could get ready.
“Do you think dinner will be done on time?” I called over my shoulder as I fastened my pearl earring.
“Yes, stop worrying about it. That’s quite Mad Men of you, isn’t it?” Neil asked with an amused slant to his mouth. I’d gone a little June Cleaver in a vintage white cocktail dress with a black lace overlay. I’d even put on crinolines under my skirt and donned a string of pearls.
“Vintage bra even!” I gestured to my super pointy chest and jumped up and down in my kitten heels. “No jiggle!”
“What brought all this on?” he asked, straightening the collar of his jacket. He wore white and black as well, a black jacket over a white button down. Instead of suit trousers, he wore dark indigo jeans. “It’s very sexy.”
“Hmm, who would I want to be sexy for?” I tapped one poppy-red oval fingernail on my matching red lips.
“Well, remember, tonight we’re just on a date. Sex is no guarantee.” He held out his arms. “How do I look?”
I stepped up and put my arms around his neck to smile up at his face. “Mmm, like a man who’s getting laid tonight, no matter what happens.”
“Well, that takes the pressure off, then.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek, rather than smudge my lipstick.
Neil had offered to cook dinner, but I’d asked our housekeeper, Julia, to do it. Neil had known Ian since college and maintained a casual friendship with him for years. If things went badly, it had the potential to get really awkward, and I didn’t want to put any added stress on him.
When the doorbell rang, we hurried to the foyer. Julia had already gone home, and the smell of the dinner she’d left in the warmer was competing with my nerves for control over my very confused stomach.
“Neil Elwood, you bastard!” Ian said with a broad grin as he held the door for Gena. “’Come by the house.’ This place isn’t a house, it’s a fucking row of condos.”
I loved Ian’s Glaswegian accent. Combined with his easy charm, it made him seem impossibly friendly.
“Hi.” Gena laughed as she stepped inside. Neil only had to lean down a little to give her cheek a kiss; the woman was a ginger Amazon. A very elegant Amazon, in a teal scoop-neck sheath dress and shiny black pumps that matched the thin belt around her waist. I had the weirdest thought that I could lose a set of car keys in her cleavage.
Ian shook Neil’s hand effusively as Gena slipped her coat off. She met my eyes with a smile, shifted her shoulders, and put on a coquettish parody of her own voice. “Well, my my, Sophie. Is this for us?”
I blushed to the roots of my hair. She was so friendly and familiar, like we’d known each other a long time, though we’d only met once, and briefly.
“Sophie, my dear,” Ian said, taking my hands and kissing my cheek. “You look incredible.”
His hands were so goddamn beautiful, and I had to consciously remind myself that holding them too long would be trés creepy. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Yeah?” He said, raising his eyebrows. “Well, my wife is good at redecorating. She’s flipping husbands instead of houses now.”
“Stop,” Gena said with a chuckle and a shake of her head. “Thank you for having us, your home is lovely.”
“Why don’t you show us around?” Ian prompted.
“Good idea. Neil, why don’t you take them? I need to get dinner out—” I tried to explain, but Gena eagerly chimed in with, “Oh, Sophie, let me help you with that.”
“Excellent, I’ll give Ian a look around, and you and Sophie can get acquainted.” Neil gestured down the hallway. “Ian, would you like a tour, or the bar?”