Jess knew Sam from work. Every Wednesday he would be there to have a meeting with the MD and she would always be on reception to greet him. They had known each other in this manner for 2 years now. They'd always gotten on well and seemed to have plenty in common. Jess was engaged to Michael, a simple man with simple tastes. He liked football, cricket and beer – but he was kind and generous. Jess and Michaels 12 year relationship, which started at university, was a comfortable one. It wasn't exciting or sexy but it was stable. Lately Jess, who was now in her mid 30s, was starting to wonder if there was more to life than the 9-5 job and a curry on Fridays.
Wednesdays were Jess' favourite day; she wore matching lace underwear and always wore her best perfume. At first it was a subconscious effort but later it was a necessity, she had to do it, she did it for Sam. Sam was in a relationship with Sarah who had no distinguishing features or personality traits but adored Sam and would do anything for him. He had always associated this with the sort of love he'd always wanted but maybe there was something more exciting in life, something more carefree. On Wednesdays he would kiss Sarah goodbye and drive with a little too much skip in his step to 100 South Street, where Jess, sexy Jess would be working on reception.
Jess had caught his eye the first day he'd landed the contract at Winston Brothers, she had the prettiest smile he'd ever seen and was always so friendly. He could tell she was self conscious though based on the clothes she wore, she clearly had a really hot body but covered it up and he couldn't understand why.
--
One day, after his morning meeting with the boss, Sam asked Jess out to lunch.
"How about I take you to the Turkish place down the road and we can try it out for the sake of comparison." Was his offer. Previously they would have had heated debates about the best Turkish restaurant or the best type of food or the best band. Their often intense but friendly debates were how they had gotten to know each other. Today was the first time they would be socialising outside of the office.
They arrived at the cafe and took a table in the corner. The table was tiny and they had to squeeze around various other people in suits on their fast business lunches. The smell coming from the kitchen was delicious but to Jess' surprise her stomach was doing flips. She couldn't understand it, it was just lunch, why was it exciting to her?
They sat down and ordered a mix grill to share with two beers. The beers were cold and clean tasting, Jess almost finished hers before the food arrived. Up until then she was trying to keep her ankles respectfully under her chair but she was getting uncomfortable so she put her feet out in front of her. Instead of giving her room Sam just put his legs either side of hers and let them rest on her. To the outside world it would've looked perfectly natural but to her it was an exceptionally intimate act. He squeezed her legs gently with his for a moment and her pulse raced as she feebly tried to eat the food in front of her.
The conversation was easy going and natural and they spoke constantly; of work at first then of topical subjects and music, theatre and of course food.
"Not hungry?" He asked as he had noticed her playing with the food on the plate.
"Um, I'm full actually, I think the beer filled me up, all those bubbles!" She replied, in truth her stomach wouldn't let her eat. She felt 15 again with new hormones raging through her body. He had noticed her become a little flustered when he had put his legs around hers and was taking some pleasure in watching her trying to hide it. He enjoyed the feeling of touching her, even if it was in this small way. He didn't have any agenda asking her out for lunch, not at first anyway; he enjoyed her company and thought it would be nice to get to know her better but sitting here opposite her, watching her play with her hair and hearing that amazing laugh, he had been getting strangely turned on. At one point she had smoothed her skirt over her knees and had lightly touched his leg. He pretended not to notice but enjoyed the feeling immensely. Was he imagining it or did she intend on touching him? She gave him a look with a sideward smile. They finished their food and paid at the till, splitting the bill.
Outside the café she started to automatically walk in the direction of the office.
"Actually," Sam said, "My car is this way and I'm going to another meeting this afternoon."
She turned back.
"Oh, ok then, lunch was really nice, thanks." Jess replied, smiling.
"Yes, it was." He said returning the grin, "Listen, can I have your mobile number? Just in case a work thing comes up or something." He had already been getting his mobile from his pocket. She was thrilled by this and knew there was no work thing that meant he would need to contact her so it was obviously a personal request. They exchanged numbers and just before they went their separate ways, he leaned in and kissed her on her cheek with one hand on her waist. She smelt his aftershave and her stomach did another little flip. He lingered there a second longer then was necessary and at that moment they both felt a spark.
He walked towards town and she turned and walked towards the office, looking back once to catch a glimpse of that fine behind of his.
By the time she had arrived back to the office she'd received a text from him,
'I really did enjoy lunch, we should go out again sometime. S'
A thrill rippled through her as she read the text back. Then she told herself to stop these silly thoughts. It was just lunch, with a friend, that's it!
"Oh boy, I'm in trouble!" Sam said to himself as he sat in his car. The smell of her sweet perfume still lingered and his semi erect cock was resting like an anvil on his leg. The guilt kicked in now, and he thought of Sarah at home. "It was just lunch, with a friend." He told himself, "Who I'd really like to fuck." Oh, boy was he in trouble!
--
As they walked, they were intimately aware of each other, feeling the heat from the other without actually touching. Today was different to all the other days they had walked together from work, Sam to go to his car, Jess to get the bus home. Since their first lunch they had started to spend more time outside of the office together; mostly drinks with their colleagues but often just the two of them walking to their respective transport. Jess gestured to the cash point with a nervous grin and Sam stood a couple of feet back while she took her money out. Her mind was reeling; she desperately wanted to kiss him, to feel his mouth on hers and to have him do all those things to her that she had fantasised about in the shower.
Jess knew it was wrong, all of this; the sexually charged text conversations they had been divulging in recently and of course that stolen kiss at the Christmas party. She needed to make some distance between them, for all their sakes. That text exchange over the weekend had been playing on her mind, she couldn't stop thinking about Sam, and couldn't wait to see him on Wednesday for their walk from work. She felt an ounce of disgust in herself as she had remembered sitting next to Michael on the sofa while re-reading the texts from Sam and becoming increasingly turned on from it. She knew nothing more would happen between them, they'd both said that, but she still felt a twinge between her legs when he arrived that morning.