The call from Lena was unexpected. Colin hadn't spoken in a while and she made it sound as casual as she could when she asked if he would have lunch with her and help evaluate a job opportunity. As casually as he could, Colin accepted, they settled on the following day and he suggested an up market sports bar that was close to the midpoint between their offices. When he put the phone down Colin took a deep breath and sighed. There could never be anything casual about meeting up with Lena.
Next day Colin left the office early and drove the few miles to where they would meet. It wasn't surprising that Lena was late, that just seemed normal and Colin paced around the outside of the bar in the harsh summer heat; waiting for her and remembering how many times before he'd waited for her. When she arrived, she bounced up to him carrying a folder and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Good to see you." Colin smiled, it was good to see her, always was.
They caught up a little over ordering drinks and burgers for lunch. Colin was sure her page boy haircut was a little shorter than when he'd last seen her but the lively girl with the sexy giggle he'd fallen for all those years ago was just the same as always – hot.
They had been lovers for almost ten years, off and on. Meeting in college, they had been inseparable for five years until Lena moved away for work. She got engaged after a while but that fell apart when her fiancé discovered she was still seeing Colin whenever they could arrange it. A few years later Colin got married and a year after that his marriage was nearly wrecked when Lena moved back to town and he started spending nights with. Since then they'd stayed away from each other, trying to be safe but knowing they were holding a time bomb.
Colin learned that she was seeing someone and getting quite serious. He was happy about that as it meant they had a better chance of not wrecking each other's lives again, but deep inside he knew the insatiable draw between them was still there, probably as strong as ever.
There had always been something primitive between them that was hard, if not impossible, to deny. Something about the sexual chemistry between them boiled over when they were together, something neither of them understood nor could fight with any resolve but when they were naked together the world was a different place, a place they strived to belong to. It wasn't the same with other people. Colin knew he could resist other ex-girlfriends and the occasional willing girl who'd popped up in his life, but Lena was different. With her he was powerless, and he truly believed she was powerless with him.
It was all the stranger that they had tried on several occasions to live together and found that they just could not make that situation work. They nagged on each other, argued and seldom saw things the same way when it came to keeping a household. Sharing a bed, however, was easy, and dangerous.
They were seated in a booth and while they waited for their food Lena took out several sheets of paper from her folder and asked him a few questions about a company she knew used to be a client of his. Lena fished a pair of glasses out of her purse and put them on. Colin hadn't seen her with glasses on before and thought they were a good look for Lena, but then, what wasn't a good look for her? When she pulled out an organization chart Colin shuffled around the booth to sit next to her. It was an innocent move, but once he was there he immediately started thinking about how close he was to her.
As a precautionary move, Colin moved away from Lena a little when their food arrived. It just wouldn't be good if his thigh brushed up against hers. He remembered countless times in similar situations when she'd sat next to him and her hand had found its way to his crotch. That was not what he wanted today, even though he could think of nothing better at that moment.
Colin wondered if she was going through the same emotional cauldron as he was. She seemed pretty calm about their meeting but he thought he was playing things cool also. He looked closer at her face as she chomped on a lettuce leaf and figured that she was looking happy and content, too content to be twisted up inside with emotional conflict. Anyway, they were just friends these days. Still he had the urge to feel between her legs to find out if she was as wet as he was hard. That urge never went far from his consciousness.
He was just wondering if she remembered the time they'd made love on the beach while a 4th of July fireworks display was going on when she casually asked, "Can you believe it's been what, two years since we saw each other?"
"At least," Colin answered between bites. "Closer to three I think. You're looking well though. I thought that straight away."
Lena laughed and shook her head lightheartedly. "I've put on almost ten pounds. I need to get back to the gym."
"Doesn't look like it to me." He meant it.
"Things good at home?"
"Things are fine." Colin wondered how much she really wanted to know. "We're thinking about buying a new house."
Lena smirked and gave him a playful sideways look. "Thinking about a family?"
Colin shook his head. "Not likely. Thinking about a dog more likely."
"Ah, a dog." Lena's voice was filled with sarcasm now. "This is why most people move house."
He jabbed at her thigh playfully. They both went quiet. He had touched her thigh.
When the check for lunch came Colin paid without protest from Lena. He stood to follow her out of the booth but she was slower to move. "You okay?" He asked.
"Yes, fine." Her voice was wistful now. "I was just thinking how nice it would be to just take the afternoon off, find a room and have sex."
Her words took him by surprise as there had been no indication that she was feeling anything like her words suggested. "We could..." He was about to say that he had no issue with that idea.
She interrupted immediately, "But we're more sensible now, aren't we?" Lena looked at him, smiling, grown up.
"We are." He thought about the erection in his pants and how sensible that was.
On their way out of the bar he discovered that Lena was parked in the same lot as he was and he walked her to her car. She was parked a floor higher than him and as they walked up to her little BMW he made an approving comment while she flipped the doors open. When she turned around he walked into her arms for a goodbye hug.
She felt so good in his arms. Her smell hadn't changed and her arms felt wonderfully comfortable. He gently kissed the nape of her neck, more through instinct than anything else. When they broke the hug Lena's arms remained around him, slipping down closer to his waist. Her face was irresistible and he kissed her.
She returned the kiss immediately, her familiar tongue exploring him urgently and her arms pulling him closer. He bought his hand up to her face and felt the tension of the last hour drain from him as they continued the passionate embrace. When she pulled out of the kiss her face was soft with emotion but her words were hard. "I should go, this isn't clever." She slipped out of his arms and into the driver's seat of her car.
