Unknown - Sally_s Secret Lover

«Shame on you …» she wriggled again as his hand began to move slowly along her upper leg with insinuating pressure, «I'm here to fetch you. Sally phoned and suggested, since I'm coming to dinner at your place anyway, that I give you a ride and save her the trouble of picking you up.»

«God, is it actually that late?» he consulted his watch. «Funny, how the time goes these days … I always used to be watching the clock, when …» he paused, leaving the statement unfinished, but they both knew he meant to say when I was working for John. They avoided reference to Lauralee's late husband, not out of regret but merely because the subject was still distasteful. It was now six months since the day he had collapsed in the bedroom of the Denham's apartment over the drugstore and died a few hours later in the hospital, of a massive heart attack. From conversations with their family doctor, Lauralee learned that her husband had tricked her right up to the last. Doc had not been expecting John to have a heart attack … he was, in fact, surprised, and attributed it to the unusual stress of the occasion. None of those present that day had revealed that Lauralee had threatened her husband with a gun; by mutual agreement all of the sordid facts had been concealed. Lee Quigg of course was glad to keep silent … as was Tully Fairchild, as he was promised a permanent job as manager of Lauralee's farm … and Eula knew that her husband's job at the sawmill was his as long as he wanted it.

The story given out was that there had been an argument of the pending sale of the drugstore, and John Blodgett had become too excited. After his death Lauralee abandoned all thought of the Florida apartment, she'd never wanted to go to Florida anyway and had only agreed because she thought it would be beneficial to her husband's health. Nor did she sell the drugstore. A partnership agreement was drawn up between Ray Denham and-Lauralee, with Ray receiving very favorable terms and a loan from the Quigg personal funds to finance the purchase of his share.

Lauralee had at last found something to occupy her time in straightening out the tangled business affairs of her late husband. She began to take an active interest in the various things, especially the store, and her drinking problem improved almost immediately. Now it could be said that it was no longer a problem at all – apparently she had not reached the point of real addiction to alcohol, as she was able to take a couple of drinks and then voluntarily call a halt.

«Yes, it is that late,» she swung her small foot, observing with hardly concealed pleasure the effect that the motion of her shapely leg had on Ray. «How soon can you be ready?»

«Oh, Jack and Miss Minnie can close up. I'll be right with you.» He pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching wide. Ray had gained some needed weight and had lost the harried, worried look he had worn in his earlier months in Quiggville.

Sally had given him a set of golf clubs for Christmas, shortly after they joined the country club, and as often as the mild Tennessee winter permitted he had been on the course, taking lessons from the club pro.

In a few minutes the owners of the drugstore were getting into the station wagon, where Duke ecstatically greeted Ray with barks and thumping wags of his tail. Lauralee piloted the car expertly around the square and through the outskirts of Quiggville and in five minutes they were turning in at Hickory Acres.

«What did you think of the housewarming party?» Ray inquired, his eyes going proudly to the brand new pink brick colonial ranch type house into which he and Sally had moved the previous week. Lauralee shrugged.

«I reckon it was a great success … everybody was there. But personally, I do prefer more intimate parties … with just you and Sally and a few of our special friends …» her prettily curved lips parted in a cat-like little smile.

«So do I, darling,» Ray assured her, «but for the occasion, with, as you said, everyone there, we had to be careful not to shock some of our more … uh, sedate citizens. Not everybody in Quiggville swings, as I'm sure you've noticed.»

«Thank God, some people do,» Lauralee giggled wickedly, «and thank God you and Sally joined our 'inner circle.'»

«Well, there'll just be the three of us tonight,» he said as she braked the car in his driveway, «but we'll have to see if we can give the new place a real housewarming!»

Sally appeared at the side door as they climbed out of the car and Duke, released at last, bounded right up to her, barking joyously. She ruffled his fur affectionately, smiling a welcome to Lauralee and her own darling Ray. Sally still couldn't get over the way things had worked out for them, and just when the future had appeared so bleak. She had found, after that nasty John Blodgett was out of the picture, that Lauralee was really not stuck-up at all and the two women had become close friends. Lauralee had seen to it that the Denhams were welcomed into the very private little group of more modern Quiggville couples who had adopted a 20th century attitude toward sex and particularly group sex. At the time it all happened, Ray had deplored the terrible experiences Sally had been put through, but he now wondered if it had not been for the best in the long run. At least she had been initiatated – however drastically – into the pleasure of the male-female relationship.

Sally led them into the living room, one arm around Ray's waist and the other encircling Lauralee's slimness. «I'm a lousy bartender,» she confided, «but I put all the fixings out … build us some drinks, Ray?»

He complied with the request and then they all seated themselves around the long living room which was not as yet completely furnished but had all the essentials.

«How was your day?» Sally asked her husband warmly, her gray eyes lingering on his long body with a gleam of … could it be desire?

«Good. Thursday's getting to be almost as big a day as Friday or Saturday.»

«Yes, that's what Lee was saying,» Lauralee remarked. «By the way, Sally, Lee and his wife really had a good time at your open house. I don't think I've ever seen that prig he's married to unbend quite so much. Why, one of these days we might even recruit them for some fun and games.»

«Oh, I'm sure we could recruit Lee right now,» Sally laughed knowingly, «but that wife of his is something else. She reminds me of … of me, the way I used to be.»

«Yeah,» her husband nodded, «the way you used to be … B.S.»

«Why, Ray Denham, hush your mouth!» his wife giggled.

«I wasn't referring to the common expression 'bull shit,'» he said loftily. «I meant 'before sex.'»

«What were you planning for dinner?» Lauralee changed the subject, «I hope you didn't go to a lot of trouble.»

«No, not at all. The salad's in the refrigerator and the baked potatoes are finished and in the warming oven. It's just a matter of putting the steaks on the grill.»

«Hmmmmm,» Ray looked from one woman to the other. The drink had relaxed him and was having a pleasantly languorous effect … except on his penis, which was stirring down there in his pants as he contemplated the girls he referred to as his two partners. «Then why not postpone dinner for a little while. Did I show you the new master bedroom the other night, Lauralee? There's one feature that's very handy … the king size bed. I think it would hold all of us without any crowding … right, Sally?»

His wife smiled as a tingling excitement commenced to make itself felt in her loins as she grasped his meaning. «Lovely idea. Will you give us a guided tour?»

«Just follow me!» He set down his empty glass and all three stood up eagerly and trooped toward the bedroom, Duke following, nosing his way through the door after them.