Traci looked at the suitcase full of bikinis and shook her head.
What was she doing? St. Martin, with a man sort of , maybe, old enough to be her father. How had she ever let herself get into this? Why was she not having second thoughts? Why was she starting to get damp between her legs just thinking of a week alone with Scott; just the two of them, 24 hours a day. How many times could they make love in that time?
Sex brought them together. They had worked together for years, but the age difference meant that they mostly spent time together at after-work happy hours. They met again a year or so after Traci left for a new job, at a gym where they both worked out early, before the rush. They saw each other daily. They talked for hours as they ran on the treadmill.
Soon they were having lunch. Scott was fantasizing about her on a nightly basis. That was predictable: successful older man; young, attractive, intelligent woman. What else would he think about?
The wild card, the unpredictable result of their intimate friendship, was that Traci was fantasizing about Scott, too.
He was separated from his wife of 20 years; Traci had sworn off men after Paul, her last boyfriend, left while she was away for a weekend, leaving her with a rent payment she couldn't afford on her salary alone.
Traci told Scott when Paul bailed. Of course she did, she told him everything. He offered her some money; he said it was a bonus check, that he wouldn't miss it. She took it. And kept her apartment. A year passed and Scott never mentioned the money.
Scott was over at her apartment on a Saturday night. They had gone for a run along the river, and Traci had invited Scott up for some water. When she saw him looking at the Citizen Kane DVD on her coffee table, she asked him to stay and watch it with her. He initially declined, saying he had to take a shower, then let her talk him into taking one there. He had some clean running clothes in his car he could change into.
Traci showered first. She lathered the liquid soap between her hands and ran them slowly over her body. They slipped over her breasts; the sensitive nipples pressed against her palms. She slid her right hand down her smooth belly and between her legs. She cleaned herself very, very thoroughly, allowing her fingers to explore her most intimate spots. Traci brought her hand to her face and smelled the scent of her arousal mixed with the light smell of vanilla from her bath wash.
She put on her robe, and stepped into the hall, drying her shoulder length hair as she walked. Scott was sitting on the floor, drinking some bottled water and watching basketball. His tank top was still soaked with sweat from their long run in the July heat.
"Your turn," Traci said.