Chapter 1

"Absence doesn't make the heart grown fonder," Sandy thought morosely as she sat alone at the bar, "all it does is make memories weak and temptation strong, turns lovers into strangers and gives strangers the opportunity to become lovers."

Reaching out one slightly unsteady hand she lifted the remnants of her drink to her lips and downed it in one, nodding to the barman for another, tonight, it seemed like she might need it.

It had been almost a month since she had last seen Rob, and, although they talked most days via text she'd noticed something was missing.

She thought back to when they'd first met, when her heart seemed to skip a beat each time she saw a message from him on her phone. Remembering how she'd wait impatiently for his replies, the sick feeling when he didn't reply immediately, the euphoria that spread through her when he did.

She wondered when that had changed...

It had come as a shock to her to realise that she now talked to him out of habit, talking for the sake of talking rather than from any desire to speak to him. She found herself having to work hard at maintaining conversations, forcing herself to think up new topics and interesting anecdotes even though she had nothing really to say. Knowing that one day soon she would have to accept the inevitable and acknowledge that, despite her best efforts, he no longer held her interest any more.

For some reason this thought made her unaccountably sad. She wanted to go back a few months and experience that excitement again, the thrill of when he was new to her, before the shine began to wear off around the edges and boredom set in.

Lost in thought, Sandy didn't notice the man standing against the far wall, watching as her drink arrived and she drank down half again in one go. She didn't notice him walking up behind her and motioning the barman over. The first she knew of him was when a drink she hadn't ordered was thrust unceremoniously into her hand and the stranger plopped down on the stool next to her saying

"Cheers!"

With a small smile, Sandy lifted her drink to his and clinked the glasses together, thanking him, before turning back to stare into nothingness, her index finger absent mindedly wiping over the condensation on the outside of the glass as she lost herself in thought again.

The stranger took the rejection well, using the opportunity to study her, cataloguing her features, the wide green eyes, long lashed and somehow innocent looking; her nose, small and upturned; the full, pouting lips. He smirked, imagining her on her knees, those pouting lips wrapped around his cock as her innocent eyes gazed up into his, low moans forming in her throat and vibrating up his shaft as she sucked, God he was hard! And she was oblivious. Life truly sucked sometimes.

He cleared his throat, uncomfortably aware of the growing bulge in his trousers as she looked up, her gaze locking on his before sliding down his body, taking in the source of his discomfort as her eyes widened slightly and she looked rapidly away again, the knowledge that she had witnessed his arousal making him even harder.

Taking a risk he cleared his throat again.

"So, umm ... come here often?" he ventured with a grin.

At first it seemed like she would ignore him and he prepared himself for rejection as she tipped her glass to catch the last drops before she placed it carefully back on the bar and, without looking at him, replied quietly,

"No. Never"

Picking up her purse from the bar she stood, a little unsteadily, and made as if to go. Catching her by the elbow he pulled her close before whispering in her ear,

"Well, would you like to?"

That caught her attention, making her head jerk up to look at him before she slowly sat back down, looking at him with an inscrutable gaze as the seconds ticked by.

Sitting on the stool Sandy was a little shocked to find herself seriously considering the proposition, if that's what it was. Silently she studied him, her eyes drawn again to the juncture of his thighs and his obvious arousal pressing against the fabric of his cargo pants. If he was anything like he was advertising then she really, really wanted to get her hands on him. Would it really be so bad to say "Yes"?

With alcohol fuelled courage she slowly crossed one leg over the other, her short skirt riding up to reveal the top of one stocking, watching him as his eyes roamed greedily up her legs before sliding caressingly over her breasts, her nipples hardening under his gaze as she leant forward to rest one hand on his knee, her lips brushing the sensitive skin of his neck, her voice low as she spoke.

"Yes! I think I'd like that a lot."