She hadn't wanted to at first. Marti was more than a little surprised when Jasper, her husband of five years, had suggested that they add a third person to their relationship. She wasn't sure where the suggestion had come from. He seemed fairly satisfied with things as they stood.
So to try something out, Jasper had suggested a night out. They'd booked a room in the hotel adjacent to the local casino. They'd dressed up and found the nicest restaurant in the hotel. After that, Jasper had suggested some time at the casino, trying their luck. "Who knows? We might get lucky," he'd said with his usual humor.
So Marti had found herself at the slot machine, sitting there, wondering what exactly Jasper had in mind. He'd been very specific about his desires, but Marti hadn't been at all clear on the terminology he'd used. He'd talked about a "bull" and a "cuckold," but other than Shakespeare, Marti wasn't really sure she knew what the term meant. She had found the old-fashioned pull lever machines. On the few times that they'd visited the casino, she'd found that the push buttons lacked the build-up and the excitement of what might come.
Her mind wandered back to her husband's proposition. She did know that Jasper wasn't interested in men. Marti had stealthily checked his web browser history for the past few weeks, wondering what if wanted the chance to interact with a male. Yet all of the sites were standard women erotica. She'd felt somewhat relieved by that fact.
She was barely paying attention when the bells at her machine went off. She focused on the machine to see that three bars had come up. She caught the paper voucher as it came out of the machine.
Jasper was nowhere to be seen. She sighed and went back to the machine. She didn't know what he was up to at the moment, but she was nervous about the entire experiment. Marti wondered if his taste in men for the evening would match hers. She couldn't imagine a bigger embarrassment than rejecting a man that Jasper had selected for them for the evening. Of course, she would manage to speak up, because the alternative was far worse.
She was down to her last two dollars in quarters when a man sat down next to her. She barely noticed him at first. She was more focused on the machine. She slipped in a single quarter and pulled the lever. Nothing remotely resembling a win came up.
The man at the next machine was playing all the possible combinations. He was putting in quarter after quarter before pulling the lever. She watched him as he got two cherries. He was attractive in a way that she was not used to seeing. He was tall, well-built with short red hair and a smattering of freckles across his nose. He had thick arms that flexed when he pulled the lever. He had a confidence about him, a feeling that he was going to win with the next play.
Marti put in her last quarter and tugged the lever again. A cherry and a lemon appeared, indicating that nothing was possible with this play. She started to get up, but the man next to her turned. He held out a handful of quarters. "I think you'll bring good luck if you sit here. I hate being all alone with the machines. Nothing good ever happens."
He gave her a big smile, and Marti liked the white, even teeth. He was a good looking man, to be sure. She took the coins and nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
Marti started her routine again, putting the quarters in one at a time and then waiting for the results. The man next to her pulled again, and the machine lit up. "See," he said with a smile, "you were good luck."
He took the voucher and slid it into his pocket. The waitress came by, and the man ordered two glasses of champagne. Marti was sure that one of them was for her, but she felt awkward accepting a drink from a man when her husband was trying to find her an acceptable bedmate.
The waitress came back with the drinks, and he tentatively held out one to her. Marti decided to accept it. If nothing else, she could flirt with the man. Wasn't that part of what Jasper was wanting from this evening?
"Thanks," she said, tipping her glass towards him.
"My pleasure," he said. "My name is Reed." He held out a hand that was covered with a fine silk of reddish hair.
Marti took his hand and smiled at him. She took a sip of the champagne and watched him over the top of her glass as he looked her over. He was appraising her, and Marti flushed at the thought. She knew that men found her dark hair and athletic build attractive, but she was not used to the type of look that Reed was giving her now.
She turned back to her machine and played a few more quarters. Jasper showed up, looking glum. "No luck, sorry," he said as he approached. His shoulders were slumped forward slightly.
Marti shrugged. "On the bright side, I had some luck." She pulled out the voucher and handed it to him. "Not a total waste of an evening."
Jasper looked at the receipt and raised an eyebrow. "That definitely covers dinner and the hotel. I'll go cash that in."
After Jasper had left, Reed cleared his throat. "Sorry, I didn't know that you were taken. I just assumed – well, you know..." He let the words trail off.
Marti flushed. "Well, it's not exactly like it looks. We were, uh, looking for..." She too let the words drift off in the hopes of an understood meaning.
