Chapter 7

“Mmm, God,” Daisy murmured as another gentle warm breeze swirled around the chaise lounge.

On her back, in a tiny black string bikini, she scanned the apartment complex’s pool. Its blue water glittered under the bright sunshine. As mid-afternoon heat sent dribbles of coconut-scented sweat down her ribs, a lengthy exhale slipped from her lips.

Her fingers played at her hips. One more slow tug on the knots pulled the sodden bottoms taut. Clenched jaw quivering, she hissed into the humid air.

At last, the aches in her frame from a long morning of intense spinning class, rumba and hot yoga were easing. A lot of work was required to keep what mom’s amazing genes had provided. However, no grueling exercise helped with the ache deeper inside. Loneliness, and...

“Mmm, fuck,” she mumbled, as, behind sunglasses, her gaze swept a trio of college guys on the far side of the pool.

They were adorable. The way they kept sending sidelong glances at her while trying to carry on a conversation about music. Pulse racing, she pulled the strings tighter. At the slick bikini sinking into her much slicker folds, a more forceful breath escaped her shaking lips. After catching her sudden squirm, their glances were no longer circumspect. No, they lingered.

“Where’s ... D-Dan?” she whispered. “Hmm, where are you, babe?” After a shaky sigh, she halted her fingers. Their glossy nails trembled against her skin. “Oh, mmm. Damn it. He should be watching. It’s ... Hmm, not the same.”

Again, she had called. Not Dan. Not that first call. Couldn’t take another endless ringtone. No, she’d stared at Mr. Sexy Café Guy’s card for a full ten minutes before lifting the phone. At last, her shaky nails had tapped. It had rung.

But she’d hung up.

Only then had she called her husband, and once more, left a pleading message. Because, of course, he hadn’t answered.

At the memories of her pleas, she again yanked the strings, pulling the sleek black material tight to her aching clit. With a groan, she arched her twisting pelvis under the scorching sun.

Eyes wide, the young men across the pool shifted in their seats. Hands also shifted, not hiding the need to adjust their trunks. Gazes locked on her; they had fallen silent.

Memories flashed through her mind. From the speeding truck’s open window, Skink’s warm yet teasing smile. His wave. The gestures. Directing. Commanding. Strip for him while she sat in the car beside her husband. And, despite beginning for Dan...

She gulped. Right then, under another gorgeous blue sunlit sky, life had gone horribly wrong. Oh, in such a wonderful way for a while. Only to become bad.

“Then even worse,” she mumbled, sawing the tight swimsuit over her aching nib.

Yet, although electric shocks wandered her sweat-coated frame, she exhaled. Neck pulsing, she pulled the bikini bottoms from her squelching lips and straightened the material. Because without Dan there...

“No point,” she murmured.

With a curt sigh, she removed the sunglasses and closed her eyes. After clasping the lounger’s sides with her shaking hands, she unleashed a much longer breath. Like at The Hoot, let the guys fantasize about the rest.

Despite trying to nap, she couldn’t shake the earlier call to her husband. Her pleading words tumbled. Through body-wracking sobs, she’d not held back. In her trembling hand, the phone was her one lifeline to him. Would he answer? Save her?

“Please, Dan! Please pick up. I need you so much. I miss you, and I can’t ... Like you said, I need more. It’s getting bad. Worse. I want you with me. I’m sorry I misunderstood.” A sob had forced her to stop, and shaky fingers snatched a tissue into which she blew her nose. “I’m sorry for the way I am. And I’m so sorry I scared you. I-I scare me, now. P-Please call me back. I don’t want to ... I can’t live this way. Not without you.” After a heavy sigh, she’d glanced at the gilded business card on the counter. “Without somebody in my life.”

Nothing but silence: her husband’s usual response.

At a shiver racing through her, she gave up sleeping. Right as a dribble of sweat slithered down her ribs, she rolled her head. Within her, that hungry drive roared. Out there under the sun. Exposed. Again, in front of an audience. Could they see the wet spot? With a low hiss, she eased her legs wider.

At the indistinct murmuring from across the pool, she gulped. Her tongue flicked around her lips. No question they’d noticed. Tightening, her nipples became twin throbbing aches under the tiny black triangles.

Sweaty fingers clutching the sides of the lounger, she slit her eyelids. Was that Dan? By the water fountain. From the shade, watching. His loving eyes, wide and glistening. She blinked. No, it was another guy. Beside him, his plump wife turned away to slip an orange swim vest onto a little boy. But his eyes were wide and watching.

“One quick show,” she whispered before gulping. “Dan...”

After sitting with a groan, she shook out her hair. As she stood and marched to the edge of the shimmering blue water, her college-age audience fell silent.

Not subtle, they inspected her. Also not subtle, she grinned while sliding nails under the edges to adjust the bikini. One quick step and she plummeted into the icy pool. As its chill sank deep, but not deep enough, the bubble-filled liquid muffled her moaning. After a bounce from the rough bottom, she shot upwards.

Once surfaced with hair plastered to her shoulders and back, Daisy faced the pool’s wall. The young men were behind her, and the family man’s attention had moved to his talking wife and giggling child.

“But the show’s not over,” she whispered.

After glancing at her lounge chair, she shifted her gaze to the empty one beside it. While gnawing her lower lip, she eased a hand downward. Right as it slid beneath the taut triangle, her legs widened.

“Mmm, Dan.” The husband-less seat, along with the entire world, blurred when her fingers sank further. “Oh, God. Oh, mmm, do I ever miss you, my love.”

Eyelashes fluttering in the bright sunlight, she swallowed a moan as fingertips found her stiffened clit. While staring at the empty chair, and ghost-Dan, they rubbed. Then rubbed faster.