Chapter 1

Las Vegas, Nevada
Friday April 11, 2003
10:00 AM

The faint scent of burnt jet fuel was in the air as Tom Boyer walked down the jetway to board Southwest flight 428 to Denver. Tom couldn't get the smile off his face as he thought back on the events of the past week. Tom and his team from NewTech Design had spent the week at the Electronic Consumer Products Convention in Las Vegas. The NTD team worked hard all week but the payoff was worth it. They made several new contacts and had held private meetings with six companies with whom they had not done any previous business. In spite of all the hard work the team had somehow managed to find something fun to do in Las Vegas but Tom had not shared the evening entertainment with his team. He had been otherwise occupied.

The one thing that had really made the week for Tom was that he had personally negotiated a contract with a large manufacturer of small hand-held electronic devices, which would bring in ten million dollars to NTD over the next five years. Tom had met Carl Koonce, the Vice-President of purchasing for Hampton Electronics the first night of the convention and over the next four days had managed to convince him that NTD would be the best choice for their package design needs.

As Tom slipped into the window seat on the Boeing 737, Brad Thompson, Tom oldest friend, sat down in the seat next to him. Brad and Tom had gone to the University of Colorado together and both started working at NTD the same year.

Brad fastened his seat belt and then gave Tom a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"Old man Morgan is going to love you for this," Brad said. "You just made your bonus for the whole fucking year and it's only April."

Old man Morgan was Zack Morgan, The owner and president of NTD. Tom was Vice-President of Sales but also had responsibility for all conferences and conventions in which NTD participated. Normally marketing events were left to the marketing department headed by Vice-President of Marketing David Ransom but Zack Morgan had given Tom responsibility for the conferences and conventions because Tom always seemed to be able to turn them in to sales events.

It was Tom's responsibility to put the teams together that would work the conferences. Brad was a design engineer and was a permanent member of Tom's team for the business shows. Tom's objective at these shows was to find ways to generate new business. Brad's job was to give technical presentations and provide technical expertise at the NTD booth at the shows. The teams for the shows usually consisted of two sales people in addition to Tom and three technical people including Brad. Tom picked the two sales people for the team and Brad would bring two design technicians with him.

"He better do more than give me a pat on the back and offer me a cup of coffee for this one," Tom joked. "By the way, have you seen your buddy Bill Werner this morning? I didn't see him before they started to board the plane. I hope he didn't miss the flight."

Bill Werner was a new design engineer at NTD that Brad had brought along for the show. Bill had only been with NTD for a few months but had already showed that he had the skills necessary to be successful in his job. This conference was the first time Tom had met Bill and his first impression of him was that he was an ambitious techno geek but he was impressed by Bill's ability to explain NTD's design technology to visitors to their booth at the show.

"Bill stayed over for the weekend," Brad said. "Treasure Island let him keep the suite we used for our meetings for the conference rate. Apparently he has some chippie on the line."

Tom laughed and said, "I thought he was just another one of your techno geeks. I wouldn't have thought that he would even know how to talk to a woman let alone get one to spend the weekend with him. "

Brad laughed and said, "That surprised me too. He told me he met someone Wednesday night and this morning he called me and said that he was going to stay till Sunday. By the way where the hell did you spend your nights? Other than our little party after we set up the booth on Sunday I didn't see you in the evenings. As much as you like to play craps I expected to see you at the tables at least once."

"I spent the evenings in my room reading," Tom said. "I'm trying to improve my mind. You should try it some time."

"You spent the nights in your room? Bull shit," Brad said while laughing. "If that's your story it's fine with me but don't expect me to believe it."

Tom smiled to himself as he thought about how he had spent his evenings and then took a magazine out of the seat back and turned to Brad.

"Hey man, haven't you heard? Reading is fundamental."

Both men laughed and then Tom opened the magazine and started reading an article about Nicole Kidman.

Denver, Colorado 1:30 PM

Lisa Boyer was nearly finished with the final review of February's monthly business statement. She had just begun her perusal of the last page of the monthly when her phone rang.

"Accounting, Lisa Boyer speaking."

"Hey, hot momma, whatcha doing?"

"Hi, honey," Lisa said recognizing Tom's voice immediately.

"I just got off the plane," Tom said. "I'm going to pick up my bag and grab a cab home. What time will you get home tonight?"

"I am just finishing the monthly for February," Lisa said, "So I might be able to slip out a little early today. I should be home by five."

"Great. We have something to celebrate tonight," Tom said.

"What's up?"

"Can't tell you now. You'll just have to wait till tonight," he said. "Love you, got to go."

"I love you too," Lisa said.

Lisa and Tom had met shortly after Lisa came to work at NTD in 1993. On Friday evenings it was a common occurrence for some of the NTD employees to gather at O'Neil's Pub for drinks, as O'Neil's was only two blocks from NTD's building. One Friday, as he walked into O'Neil's, Tom spotted Brad sitting in a booth with an attractive brunette. Brad and the girl were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't look up when Tom approached the table.

While Brad occupied the girl's attention, Tom looked her over slowly. She was, in Tom's opinion, very attractive. She had shoulder length dark brown hair large brown eyes and appeared to have a very nicely proportioned body. She was tastefully dressed; unlike most of the other girls Brad had dated. In spite of her attractive appearance Tom's initial opinion of her was negative. Tom knew that Brad's girlfriends were always a little trampy. Brad like them that way because he didn't want to have to date a girl more than once before he got her into bed. Tom assumed that this girl was just another of Brad's bimbos and that was the reason for Tom's less than positive opinion of her.

Tom was about to walk away from the table when Brad finally noticed him.

"Hey, Tom, have a seat."

Tom looked at the girl again.

"I'm going over to the bar and have a drink," Tom said. "I'll check back with you later."

As Tom walked away, Lisa looked at him and then back at Brad.

"He isn't very friendly, is he?" Lisa said.

"Who? Tom? Tom's my best friend and he is usually very friendly. You'll like him when you get to know him," Brad said.

"I doubt it," Lisa said.

Lisa felt that Tom had snubbed her. He had come over to their table, looked directly at her and then walked away without even acknowledging that she was there. Lisa thought to herself, "Too bad he's an ass because he was kind of cute."

Tom went back over to Brad and Lisa's table about an hour later and Brad asked him to sit. Tom sat down across the table from Lisa and didn't look at her as he began to ask Brad what he was going to do over the weekend.

"Tom, I would like you to meet Lisa Gilbert," Brad said. "Lisa just started at NTD in accounting."

Getting a closer look at Lisa and learning that she worked for NTD made Tom reconsider his first impression. She might not be one of Brad's usual girlfriends after all.

Tom smiled at Lisa and said, "Glad to meet you."

Lisa nodded her head at Tom but didn't say anything nor did she offer her hand.

Tom quickly got the impression that Lisa either didn't like him or she wanted him to leave so she could be alone with Brad. This made Tom somewhat uncomfortable so he decided that he would head back over to the bar.

Later Brad joined Tom at the bar.

"What happened?" Tom asked. "You scare Lisa away already?"

"No, you did," Brad said.

"Yeah, right. Where did she go?" Tom asked.

"Why do you want to know? She didn't like you either," Brad said. "She's over there sitting with some of the other girls from accounting."

"She didn't like me? Why?" Tom asked.

"She didn't think you were very friendly when you stopped by the table and didn't even say hello to her, "Brad said.

"How do you know her?" Tom asked.

"I just met her tonight. I was going to ask her out but she didn't seem all that interested and I am supposed to meet Cindy later. Her husband is out of town this weekend," Brad said.

"One of these days someone's husband is going to catch you and remove your nuts," Tom said.

"Hey, be nice," Brad said. "Got to go. Call me in the morning and we'll go play golf."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then," Tom replied.

Tom stayed at O'Neil's for another half hour and then headed out to the parking lot where he found Lisa and Shandra Williams. Shandra worked with Lisa in accounting. They were standing behind a car and Shandra was losing everything she had eaten that day, the sight of which made Tom's stomach turn but he went over to them to see if he could help anyway.

"Are you all right?" Tom asked.

Lisa looked at him like he was crazy.

"Of course she is not all right. She's sick," Lisa said.

"You're right. That is quite obvious and that was a stupid question," Tom said. "What I really meant to ask was, is there anything I can do to help?"

"I think I'll be all right now," Shandra said. "I think I am done throwing up."

"She's not going to be able to drive in this condition," Lisa said, "and I am riding with her."

"Why don't I give both of you a ride home," Tom suggested, "and then Shandra can come back for her car tomorrow."

"We can call a cab," Lisa said. "Wouldn't want to put you out."

Tom said, "It wouldn't put me out at all. I'd be glad to drive you home."

Lisa said, "I don't think..."

Shandra cut her off. "Come on, girl. I don't want to wait for a cab and I'm pretty sure Tom doesn't bite. Let's just go with him," Shandra said.

The two girls followed Tom to his car and got in without speaking. Tom drove Shandra home first. On the way to Lisa's apartment Tom tried to fix the damage he had done earlier in the evening.

"I think I may have given you a bad first impression of me so let me start over," Tom said. "I am Tom Boyer."

Lisa looked at him for a minute and then smiled.

"I am Lisa Gilbert."

"I am very glad to meet you," Tom said. "Brad said you work in accounting at NTD?"

"Yes. I started three weeks ago," she said.

Slowly the ice began to break as they talked about work and then movies and books. When they finally reached Lisa's apartment, she thanked him for the ride but didn't get out of the car immediately. Lisa turned to face Tom.

"When you first came over to the table when I was talking to Brad, why did you snub me," Lisa asked?

Tom said, "I didn't snub you."

"Yes, you did," said Lisa. You acted like you couldn't be bothered to even acknowledge that I was there."

Tom knew she was right.

"I am sorry about that. I didn't mean to insult you," Tom said.

"Then why did you do that?" Lisa asked.

"I can't explain it," Tom said.

"You could if you wanted to," Lisa said.

"If you really want to know I'll tell you," Tom said, "but there is a condition."

"What's the condition?"

"You have to have dinner with me next week," Tom said.

"Why do I have to have dinner with you?" Lisa asked.

"When I tell you why I acted the way I did you will probably get pissed at me," he said. "So I figured that if I buy you a nice dinner you might forgive me."

Lisa looked at Tom for a few seconds before speaking again.

"When?"

"How about Wednesday night?" Tom asked.

"Okay, Wednesday night," she said, "but you had better tell me the truth."

On that Wednesday night Tom told Lisa that when he saw her with Bard he thought she was just another of Bard's girlfriends.

"Brad's tastes runs toward women who, like Brad, are quick to jump into bed," Tom said. "I knew as soon as he introduced me to you that I was wrong and I am sorry."

Lisa was a little upset that Tom would have jumped to that conclusion so quickly, but she was already beginning to like him so she forgave him for his mistake. After that night Tom and Lisa dated steadily for the next two years and then they got married and after eight years of marriage it was obvious to everyone that they were still very much in love.

Saturday April 11, 2003

5:10 PM

Tom was just stepping out of the shower when he heard the garage door opening. He quickly dried himself and put on his jockey shorts and pulled on a pair of jeans. He managed to get downstairs just as Lisa came into the house.

Lisa gave Tom a hug and kiss and they held each other for a full minute. Tom always loved the way Lisa felt in his arms and her natural scent was an intoxicant to Tom and made him reluctant to let go of her.

For Lisa, having Tom wrap his arms around her and hold her just made her feel like everything was right with the world. It was an especially wonderful feeling when Tom came back from a trip. She always worried about him when he was away so the hug he gave her when he came home that day was very comforting.

Tom fixed them both a drink. They took their drinks into the living room and sat next to each other on the sofa. Tom didn't speak as he sat looking at Lisa.

"You are going to make me ask, aren't you"? Lisa said. "Okay, what are we celebrating tonight?"

Tom told Lisa about his meetings with the Vice-President of purchasing for Hampton Electronics and the ten million dollar contract they negotiated.

Lisa was very excited and threw her arms around Tom's neck and kissed him several times.

"That's wonderful, Tom. Zack better give you a nice bonus for this one," Lisa said. "Does he know about it yet?"

Tom said, "No. I want to personally hand him the signed contract Monday morning, I want to see his face when he gets to the bottom line."

Lisa kissed Tom again.

"I love you," she said. "I am so proud of you. This is really great."

She kissed him several more times

7:00 PM

It was nearly seven o'clock when Lisa came downstairs ready to go out to dinner. She had showered and put on a black lace bra and panty set and a pair of black thigh high stockings. Over that she was wearing a black spaghetti strap cocktail dress. Lisa knew that when they returned home after dinner Tom would want to help her out of her clothes so she dressed to make it exciting for both of them. For Tom's part he had changed out of his jeans and was now wearing gray flannel slacks, a blue button down shirt and his navy blue blazer.

When Lisa walked into the kitchen where Tom was waiting for her, he let out a whistle.

"Wow. You look good enough to eat," Tom said.

Lisa smiled and said, "Wait till later. Where are we going to have dinner?"

"I was thinking Mexican. Is that all right with you?" Tom asked.

Lisa said, "Mexican? Refried beans? Are you sure about that? I don't want to eat anything that might cause me a little embarrassment later and ruin your appetite for the dessert I was going to serve you when we get home."

"Good point," Tom said as he laughed. "How about seafood?"

"Sounds good to me," Lisa said.

9:10 PM Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bill Werner returned to his room at the Treasure Island hotel. His pants were tented in the front from an erection he developed during the ride up the elevator when the beautiful blond with him pushed her tongue down his throat. At that point Bill's first priority was to get this sexy woman into bed but he managed to keep his overall objective in mind. Werner opened the door to the suite and followed Brandi into the room and then as Bill watched the woman slip out of her dress he thought that the weekend was going to be a lot more fun than he had first expected.

10:14 PM Denver Colorado

Tom and Lisa returned from the restaurant and Lisa took Tom by the hand and led him to the sofa. Tom sat down and Lisa stood in front of him.

"Guess what I have on under my dress?" She asked as she slowly began to raise the hem of the dress exposing more and more of her shapely legs.

"I don't know but I do know what I hope you're wearing," Tom responded.

The tops of Lisa's stockings came into view followed by the pink flesh of her exposed thigh. Just when Tom began to see a little bit of the lace from Lisa's black panties she let the hem of her dress fall back into place. "If you want to see more, you will have to earn it," she said.