Chapter 15

Harry Junior was nearest the front door when the chimes rang, so he went over and answered it. Seeing a guest he hadn’t expected, he smiled and opened the door wide. “Cassie, you’re as lovely as ever,” he said throwing his arms open.

Cassie snickered and laughed. “Flattery will get you everywhere. Here, make yourself useful.” She handed him the pair of pies and stepped inside.

“Cassie, I didn’t know you were coming!” said Taylor, coming to the foyer to see what the commotion was.

The rest of the household joined the others in the foyer as Harry Junior took the pies to the kitchen and Cassie began to shrug off her coat. Frank helped her and hung the coat up, looking curiously at his sister-in-law. Sue introduced her, saying that Cassie was her best friend, and her son and his family had switched off for Christmas this year, leaving her alone in her home, and she had invited Cassie over for Christmas dinner. At this Ronnie raised an eyebrow but gave a silent shrug to Frank. Whatever games her sister was playing, they would keep quiet and play along.

Jim missed the by-play and welcomed Cassie into the living room, pouring her a glass of wine that he had retrieved from his house the other day. Frank and Harry Junior had driven him over to pick up the presents he had previously ordered, helping the older man wrap them first, something he had been too depressed to do on his own. Then, with the presents, some wine, and another suitcase of odds and ends, they had brought him back home. Jim had groused good-naturedly about his ‘prison guards’, but understood that they were just that, and they were not going to leave him alone until Sue gave the word.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, before and after dinner, Cassie could feel Jim’s eyes upon her. The thin wool of the skirt and sweater did little to hide her statuesque figure, and on more than one occasion she would glance over to see him turning his eyes away from her legs or bust. She had met Jim on several occasions and had commented to Sue that she thought that her father-in-law was a fine-looking specimen. Jim Mallory was tall, six-two or so, and stocky and barrel-chested in the 225-pound range, with a thick shock of near white hair and a matching walrus mustache. Sue had often laughed at the description coming from her friend, but after Millie had died, began to consider getting the pair together.

As the group relaxed after dinner, letting the heavy meal settle before starting on the pumpkin pie, Cassie found herself across from Jim in the living room. She settled on the couch while he sat opposite her in an armchair. Idly contemplating Sue’s plan, she glanced over at him, to see his eyes glued to her legs. Casting her eyes downward, Cassie noticed that he was looking straight up her tight skirt and could probably see to the tops of her thigh top stockings. She shifted slightly, allowing her skirt to rise a touch, and casually shifted her legs apart. She was pleased to see his stare intensify. Finally, Taylor moving to the kitchen distracted Jim’s attention. Looking up, he saw Cassie give him a ghostly smile and shift in her seat, crossing her legs demurely. Blushing, he looked away.

Finally, as the evening wore down, Cassie made her good-byes and went to the foyer to leave. Jim followed her and helped her into her coat. He opened the door to let her out, but Cassie stopped in the doorway. Turning to face him, she said, “Jim, would you like to escape jail? I’m busy tomorrow, but the night after, would you like to take me to dinner? My treat? You look like you need to get out.”

He stared briefly. “You mean, a date?” he gurgled incoherently.

“No, just a dinner between two friends. I think you need a friend now.”

When Jim nodded his head in confusion, Cassie slipped a piece of notepaper into his hand with her address and phone number on it. Then she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, then left. Jim inhaled deeply Cassie’s lingering perfume and stood in the doorway long after her car had gone out of sight.

Later that night, Jim had his first erection since his wife had died.

The night of the 27th Jim pulled up to Cassie’s apartment building and parked. It was in a stylish high-rise that she had moved into after her divorce, when her son had moved out to college. He found the button on the intercom and buzzed it.

“Hello?”

“It’s Jim, Jim Mallory.”

“Be right down.” Through the glass doors Jim watched as a few minutes later, Cassie walked out of the elevator and marched through the empty lobby. He was relieved that she knew this wasn’t a date; she was wearing a pant suit under her trench coat rather than the provocative dress he had been worried about.

They drove quietly to the nearby restaurant. After they left their coats in the cloak room, Cassie smiled. “I’m so glad you’re so tall, I can wear my highest heels without looking like a freak of nature.”

“That would be impossible,” he replied.

“Yeah, well I’m five-eight in my stocking feet. Put me in any kind of heel, and I’m taller than a lot of men. It scares some guys off.”

Jim shrugged and shook his head. “They’re fools then. You’re a very attractive woman, Cassie. Hell, Millie wasn’t all that much smaller than you.” He looked her over surreptitiously. The pant suit was actually more along the lines of satin pajamas. Black, it consisted of an ankle length jacket which buttoned at the waist. Underneath was a loose and flowing black jumpsuit, with black lace inserts running up both legs and at the bodice. More lace lined the jacket. She was indeed wearing high heels, black open-toed pumps with a three-inch heel. “You’re very lovely tonight, Cassie,” he commented. He felt very odd as his body’s natural reaction took over, inflating his cock in his pants. He was very relieved when they were led to their table, and he could sit down. He adjusted himself under the table and was mildly perturbed when this only enabled his cock to come to full erection.

“Thank you, Jim. You’re very handsome yourself. I think it was a good idea to get you out of the house before you went stir crazy.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he admitted. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Sue and the kids, and her sister and her husband are nice people, too, but it just doesn’t feel right staying there for the holidays. This is the first time I haven’t been at home with Millie at Christmas since our wedding.”

Cassie nodded sympathetically. “Sue said you were married a long time. High school sweethearts?”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “We met in high school. Jesus, but it seems like forever.”

“You get married after you graduated?”

“Sort of. I was a couple of years ahead of her, so we had to wait. In the meantime, I decided that anything would be better than working in the coal mines, so I did a hitch in the Army and married her as soon as I got out, right after she graduated.”

“I didn’t know you were in the Army,” said a surprised Cassie.