Chapter 1

It took Carl a long time to save up for it, and put him in debt for the next six years, but he finally did it. He finally bought a brand new Jaguar XJ8 -- a car that was worth what he made in a year as a junior computer programmer for MegaTelco in New York City. At least, being single, he had no other major expenses.

He arrived home from work Friday night to his apartment overlooking the Hudson river, and pulled a TV dinner out of the freezer. While it was cooking, he dialed Frank and Susie. He had met them at work, and though they were married and he was single the three of them got along well together. They sometimes hung out at his place or their place and watched rented movies, or played poker for small change.

"Hey, Frank, you'll never guess what I have."

"..."

"No, a lot better than that. You know that car I was drooling over..."

"..."

"Yeah, can you believe it? I got it -- my own Jag!"

"..."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to show it off! How about if I come over after dinner and take you and Susie for a spin?"

"..."

"Sure, Eight'll be fine. See you then."

Carl arrived at Frank and Susie's place, a little row house up in the Bronx, and parked in their driveway. Susie and Frank came out of the house before he even got out of the car, so he just rolled down the window and grinned at them.

"Oooh, it's beautiful," Susie said.

"Sure, and I got it loaded too! You wouldn't believe what comes standard on it, but I also got the navigation system with DVD maps, Sirius radio, and a 320 watt sound system. I can even control the navigation and AC just by talking to it!"

"You're gonna get the babes now, old man," said Frank, jacking his eyebrows up and down as he grinned in Carl's face.

Actually, Carl had never had any luck picking up women and, as both his friends knew, was still a virgin at 25. Carl wasn't bad looking, he was tall and slim, and women had actually come on to him on occasion back in college, but he was such a klutz that he always spoiled his opportunities. Susie had even tried to set Carl up with a couple of her girlfriends, but nothing ever came of it. But now he had his dream car, and it was already giving him new confidence in himself. He was secretly hoping he could start to make up for some of those missed opportunities.

Carl asked, "Well, you guys wanna go for a ride in my car?"

"You bet," said Frank. "C'mon, Susie, let's go!" He already had his hand on the back door handle as he spoke.

"Well, OK, just a short ride," she replied, as she walked around to the passenger side and slid into the back seat there.

"Oh, wow! This is so plush," she gasped as she settled into the seat.

Carl just beamed as he backed out into the street.

A few blocks away, after turning onto a main street, he looked into the mirror and asked, "Where to? Maybe head downtown and have a few drinks to celebrate?"

Susie shook her head. "Slow down guys, why don't we just go back home, I don't feel like getting drunk tonight. And I'm sure Carl doesn't want to wrap his brand new car around a light pole!"

Carl nodded. "Sure, Susie, maybe I shouldn't have come over tonight. You're probably tired from the week's work, and just wanting to relax with Frank."

"I didn't mean to say you have to go; it's still early. I'm just not in the mood to go bar hopping, that's all," Susie explained.

"You know, I don't think Susie even likes your car," kidded Frank.

Carl could tell that Frank wasn't really putting the car down. In fact he'd been leaning up against Carl's shoulder from the moment he got into it, inspecting all the instruments, rubbing his hands over the leather, admiring the perfect fit of everything, and nearly drooling.

"Oh, I like it," Susie said quietly. "I like it too much. It's making me jealous."

"Oh, oh," Carl joked, "we can't have that. The next thing you know, she's going to want to go home with me. And you've not begun to see jealous until you see how Frank would react to that."

They all laughed.

"Okay, no bar hopping, so what say we play a bit of poker when we get home?" Frank asked.

"Fine with me," said Susie.

"Sure, I'm game," added Carl.

"But let's up the stakes for once," urged Frank.

"Oops, I smell a rat," Carl put in. "Susie, is he going to play me for a sucker and try to win my Jag?"

Frank laughed, "Not that I wouldn't like to, but let's say that's well beyond what I meant by upping the stakes."

"OK, how about this. If you win, Frank, you get to drive my Jag for a few days."

"Oh, man, Carl, don't say things like that unless you mean them. I'd give anything to drive this beauty for a few days."

"I do mean it, Frank, but of course you have to put up something equally valuable in case I win."

"Yeah, there's the rub. I don't have anything this valuable."

"I disagree, Frank, you do have. And I thought you said you'd give anything to be able to drive the Jag."

"Uh, that was a figure of speech, but, Carl, I still don't know what I have that is so valuable, other than our house, and that's out of the question."

By now they were back at that house, and Susie announced, "While you guys figure out your silly bet, I'm going to go inside."

After she was out of earshot, Carl said, calmly, "What I'm thinking is this. If you win, I loan you my car for a week. If I win, you loan me your wife for a week."

"That's crazy!" Frank sputtered. "A wife's not just like a car that you can loan to your friends! You don't loan wives. EVER! Besides, there is no way that Susie would agree to something like that."

"Don't be so sure. Let me ask you something, Frank. How long have you been married?"

"Five years. So what?"

"So, in those five years, have you ever thought about, you know, being with some other woman? Tell me the truth, now."

"Sure, what man hasn't? But that doesn't mean I've gone out and done something about it. I haven't had sex with anyone else since we were married, and I'm damn sure Susie hasn't either."

"Did I say anything about having sex? I was thinking of someone to cook and take care of my place. Of course she would be spending the nights there, and I do only have one bedroom, but naturally I wouldn't make her do anything she didn't want to. You do trust Susie, don't you?"

"Well, yes, but God, man, that's too much! Besides, it'll never happen because she wouldn't stand for it."

"So, that's what I was trying to get at a minute ago. You say you've thought about being with other women. Maybe she's thought about being with other men."

Frank started to speak but Carl put up his hand to stop him. "Look. The three of us are friends. If, by some chance, she was wondering what it would feel like to spend time with another man, this would be the perfect opportunity. Someone she knows and feels comfortable with; someone she trusts; someone that you can trust her with. So don't be so sure she wouldn't stand for it. Why don't you ask her?"

"No way! I couldn't do that. She'd think I was suspecting her of having an affair. Or worse, she might think that I was trying to tell her that I was, or was about to."

"But wait a minute," he added, suddenly suspicious. "What do you know that I don't? Are you two already having an affair?"

Carl laughed. "No, Frank, we aren't, I assure you. I'm still a virgin. And Susie and I haven't talked about anything like this. In fact, I don't think we have ever even talked to each other when you weren't there.

"But I see your point. It would be hard for you to bring the subject up without her being suspicious. So, how about this. I loan you my car right now - no bet needed - and you take it to the store to get something. Maybe you can think of something you need. I'll go in and see if I can find a way to bring up the subject. If she flat out refuses, I won't say anything further about the bet. But if she's willing to consider the idea, I'll bring the bet up again while we're playing cards. Deal?"

"That's quite a bribe," Frank grinned, "letting me take your Jag. Yeah, deal."

Carl handed over the keys, then went to the door and knocked. Susie answered, looking puzzled. "What happened to Frank?"

"Well, we couldn't come to an agreement on a bet, but I let him drive my car to the store. He said he had something he needed to pick up."

"Oh, Carl, that was so sweet! I could tell he was dying to drive it."

"Actually," he said with a crooked smile, "I wasn't totally being nice. I'm kinda cooking up a joke to play on him, and I need your help. So I figured that was a good way to get rid of him for a few minutes."

"Well, come on in and sit down. I can't wait to hear what you're cooking up."

"Well, OK, but I warn you, you're going to be sort of shocked when I tell you. I think before you went in earlier, I was saying that my bet could be that I would loan him my car for a week, and he was saying he didn't have anything that valuable to put up."

She nodded, "Yes, except for our house, and thank goodness he wasn't willing to put that up!"

"Well, after you left, I told him that he did have something more valuable than my car." Carl looked Susie straight in the eyes as he added, "I told him he had you."

"Oh, my, that was nice, ... but ... I hope, ... I mean, ... surely you weren't suggesting..."

Her face was beet red and she couldn't finish the sentence.

Carl kept his eyes locked to hers. "Ah, but I did mean. Or at least I tried to make him think that's what I meant. That's the joke I want to play on him. I want him to think that he is offering to loan you to me, for me to keep for a few days and do anything ... anything I want to do with you."

Then he broke the eye contact and gave her a boyish grin. "Of course you know, and I know, that we're just friends. Can you even imagine actually cheating on him with me? Me, a virgin?"

They both giggled a bit nervously.

"What I actually proposed was that if he won the bet I would loan my car to him for a week, and that if I won the bet he would loan you to me for a week."