Chapter 5A

When they returned home after their "honeymoon," some of the intense excitement Ashley felt that evening stayed with her and their sex life improved enormously. She clearly had enjoyed the flirting... and even more... the chance to get it out in the open.

Brad enjoyed the better sex, but he knew the reason for the passion... and he was afraid of it. While he loved her newfound zeal for sex in all positions and at all times of the day, he knew she was feeding off the excitement of flirting with other men. There was something of the exhibitionist in his wife. He was sure there was an element of that in the thrill she felt.

He was certain she had no intention of cheating on him; the thought of going any further with those men probably hadn't entered her mind. But he couldn't help but feel the tables full of guys from the nightclub were phantom visitors in their bedroom now, there to boost her arousal and give her orgasms more powerful than she could get otherwise.

He tested his theory. Six weeks after their return, he suggested getting a babysitter and going out for a night on the town. She agreed eagerly. When she found out he was willing to wear one of the other pair of pants and a shirt she'd bought him, she ecstatically decided on another dress he'd selected for her in the store. This one was a mini dress, tighter and more form fitting than the halter dress... and it was slit a few inches up each side. She selected a pair of high stiletto heels but left her legs bare. The black thong she wore barely covered the essentials.

She jumped him minutes after he returned from driving the babysitter home. They paused only to lock their bedroom door for fear the kids would wake up and hear them. Brad didn't think he could deal with them asking what he and mommy were doing when she screamed so loud. Even though they had to keep comparatively quiet, Ashley's heated response to the evening's flirting was unmistakable. She loved having another opportunity to flirt with attractive men... and watch as Brad made tentative gestures toward doing the same with a couple of pretty girls.

Two months later, the sex cooled again. Ashley didn't bring anything up, but one Saturday night, she surprised Brad with a fully arranged date night for his birthday. She wore another sexy dress and had him wear the garb she liked seeing him in. She teased him, saying he was her very own dress up doll and she liked showing him off.

When they got home, she almost tore her dress off and did tear his shirt she was so impatient to get it off him. Had the girls not been spending the night with Ashley's mom, they surely would have been frightened at the loud, energetic coupling going on in their Mom's bedroom.

Brad wondered how long it would take until Ashley hinted they needed another night on the town. It had been two months the last time...

Only a few weeks later, the sex got hotter again, but without a night out to spark it. They'd been together all day, so Brad didn't really wonder if his wife might be seeing someone else... someone who excited her and got her motor running. There'd been no opportunity... he hoped.

He'd been out in the yard most of the day though, and she'd been inside. He wondered... he couldn't help it. He searched for information... afraid of what he would find, but obsessed with finding out what was happening.

A week later, he decided she wasn't cheating. He didn't see where she had the time to be having an affair. Going over things in his mind, there simply weren't any red flags. She was never late coming home, never anywhere Brad didn't know she would be, there were no phone calls from strange men... and no hang ups when he answered. If she had a secret email account, Brad couldn't find it... and he was far more skilled with computers than Ashley was. The keylogger he installed on their computer didn't show any suspicious activity.

When he stopped by her desk for impromptu lunches, she never refused and all her coworkers smiled, wishing them well. Brad knew some of the old biddies in there well enough that if Ashley had strange visitors, they'd let him know with disapproving looks. There was just nothing that struck a nerve. He put away all the spying devices he'd bought.

A month later, the sex heated up again and the level stayed high for a week and more. This time, he saw something... something that shouldn't have been there.

"Honey? Who's Glenna Hartford?" Brad asked his wife casually. He was very carefully not watching Ashley--he was sorting through the mail she'd brought in a few minutes ago when she got home from work. On the other hand, Brad could see as well with his peripheral vision as most people could staring straight ahead.

When every muscle in Ashley's body appeared to spasm, he knew he'd found what he'd been looking for... what he'd been afraid he'd find. Ashley almost dropped the glass of water she was drinking at the sink. She had to double clutch and grab the tumbler just before it slipped from her fingers.

"She works at the bank the trust company uses," Ashley said finally. If Brad hadn't been looking for it, he'd never have seen the furtiveness in her eyes when she turned around.

"Why?" Ashley asked. There was almost no tremor in her voice.

"Oh..." Brad said, pointing into the living room, "there's a message from her on the answering machine... she wants you to call her." He pretended he didn't see Ashley's eyes dart to the doorway. He ignored the fact she was clearly restraining herself from trotting into the living to call this woman back. Brad's mind was dark. The empty pit in his stomach began to ache. It was a common tactic for men having an affair to have another woman friend call the married wife. Brad had read about it. He knew it happened.

"Glenna and her husband, Dean, are old friends of mine too... from back before I met you," Ashley offered, surprising Brad. He hadn't believed his wife would explain anything. She shouldn't have. Ashley had a tendency to babble when she was nervous or caught out and she was on the verge of having that happen to her right now. She might say too much without realizing it.

"Oh, yeah?" Brad said, hoping he appeared to be disinterested. "I don't think I've met them, have I?" he asked carelessly.

"No... I don't think so," Ashley said hurriedly. "Actually, I haven't heard from either of them for a long time myself," she added. "I'll get that message and give her a call sometime," Ashley said casually.

She'd lied to him. The message had been for Ashley to call this "Glenna" at home and gave a phone number. Brad routinely monitored his and Ashley's online billing for their cell phones. The day after the message was left, Ashley made a call to another number, one whose prefix showed it was a cell phone, and one Brad didn't recognize.

On a hunch, he called that cell phone number from a pay phone, pretending to look for a "Glenda Hartmann." He told the woman who answered directory service had given him this number but the woman insisted her name was Glenna, not, Glenda... and her last name wasn't Hartmann either. Brad thanked her profusely and asked her to please excuse the interruption in her afternoon.

With that confirmed, Brad went over the printouts of all his and Ashley's cell phone calls and found his wife and this Glenna Hartford had been exchanging calls and text messages for about four months. He wondered if this Glenna was a woman calling Ashley for a man who wanted to talk to Ashley but was afraid he'd get Brad if he called Ashley directly. Reluctantly, he reinstalled a keylogger on the computer and pulled his amateur surveillance gear down from the attic.