A Question of Love

It had been an entire month since his ski trip. Most of the firemen in the station could see the difference, but no amount of prodding or cajoling would break his silence about the trip. The smile of years before had returned, his easy going, happy manner had surfaced many times after being absent for the last three years. To the firemen, there had to be an explanation, and it had to be a woman. The only problem was, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't catch him calling, texting, e-mail or dating anyone! It was almost as if the woman that had so quickly brightened his life back up was made of smoke and vapor.

Eddie, as the crew called her, knew all too well the look on his face. She'd seen it on men all her life and knew that when he was tipped back in his chair, just daydreaming, that he was dreaming of a woman. Hell, the bulge in his uniform pants made that plain as day, even though the rest of the guys wouldn't admit to having seen it. Yeah, as far as Eddie was concerned, he had met a woman and was probably in love, even though he denies having done anything but take a few tumbles down the ski slopes.

******

Eddie was washing a truck with Roger and Vlad when the UPS driver showed up. It wasn't a large package. For that matter, getting packages at the station wasn't all that unusual. To Eddie, it was the combination of return address and addressee that made it unusual.

"Okay Gene. Quit holding out on us!" Eddie demanded with a grin as she walked into her station chief's office with the package.

"What are you grousing about Eddie?" I asked, annoyed at being interrupted from the report I was working on.

"You got a package boss," she said with a smile. "And it's from a lingerie company, and not a low end one either. You still wanna tell me that you don't have a female friend?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, furrowing my brow in confusion as I took the box from her hand. I looked at the label and sure enough it was addressed to me. I hadn't ever heard of the company it was from though.

"Okay. Don't tell me you don't know what Caress Me is!?" Eddie asked almost laughing out loud. "It's like Victoria's Secret, only hotter," Eddie said shaking her head.

"I didn't order any lingerie. Hell, who would I buy it for?" I asked in confusion.

"How bout the woman that put the smile back on your face?"

"What woman?"

"Well, maybe someone stole your identity and bought you sexy underwear by mistake then?" she asked with a laugh.

"Not likely," I answered gruffly with a frown as Vlad and Roger stepped into the office to see what I'd had gotten. "What is this, a side show? Don't you three have work to do?"

"Yeah. We got plenty boss. Just as soon as you open this up," Eddie said with a grin. "Come on Gene. You gotta admit you're curious!"

"Fine. But I'm telling you it's a mistake. I didn't order anything," I answered, ripping the end of the box open. I reached into the box and pulled out a pink tissue paper wrapped package with an envelope tied to it with a pink ribbon. I opened the pink wrappings and a very, very, very tiny speedo swimsuit fell out onto the desk.

"WOOOOOO!" Eddie said, snatching the swimsuit from the desktop and holding it up. "Now this is a swimsuit!"

"Give me that!" I snapped, grabbing the suit from her hand feeling my cheeks warm as I blushed. I was certainly NOT used to getting presents from women who weren't my wife and even then I'd never gotten anything like THIS!

"Well. How about this?" Eddie asked, pulling the envelope from the desk. "Damn, sealed with a kiss too. Still wanna tell me you don't have a lady friend?" Eddie chided, waving the envelope in the air.

I grabbed the envelope and growled at the three to get their butts back to work, looking down at the envelope as they left the office. Only after they had gone did I open the small envelope and withdraw a single slip of pink paper with a flowery hand writing I'd seen once before.

Saw you on TV the other night talking about the high-rise fire. So strong and confident. Here's a little something to keep around so you aren't without a suit at the wrong time. L

"

I sighed. How had she seen me on tv? For that matter, where was she? New York was a damn long way from St Louis. I still didn't know any more about her than I had, except that now I knew she bought from a very swanky lingerie shop that had men's speedos. I felt like she knew volumes more about me than I did her. What I knew about her would fill a thimble.

*****

I got tired of being kidded by the guys long before things finally settled down. I kept her note in my drawer and had it practically worn out from the couple weeks of pulling it out and reading it. It had smelled of her perfume when I got it, but that had long since faded away. It was almost quitting time when Eddie walked in with a huge vase of flowers, red, white and yellow roses along with assorted other flowers to round out the massive bouquet and set it on the corner of my desk.

"Hey boss. Delivery for you," she said, standing there with a shit eating grin on her face. "You still wanna tell me you don't know a woman? Men don't send men flowers!" she said as she poked at a few blooms and sniffed one of the roses.

"What's this? You playing games again Eddie?" I asked, looking at the vase of flowers.

"Not in the least. These came for you. The flower shop just dropped 'em off."

"Not for me."

"Uh, yeah! See. Gene Coleman. That's you. With love... L Who's L?"

"No one," I snapped quickly, blushing a little at the thought of getting roses from Linda.

"Uh huh. Yeah. Well, we know one thing. She's got the hots for you in more ways than one," Eddie kidded.

"That's enough. She doesn't have the hots for me in any way," I practically snapped.

"Well, now we know for sure there really is a she. I think I'll exit stage left now, before I get my head bit off!" she said with a grin.

I stared at the bouquet and then at the little card on the plastic stick poking up in the middle of the colorful bouquet. That was all it said.

With love L.

Clearly Linda hadn't forgotten me. I smiled as I thought about that one night together, wondering if this meant she still wanted more. I wished I could ask her, but then this was turning into a very one-sided discussion.

*******

I was frustrated. That's the best way to put it. I was actually more than a little frustrated that I had been completely unable to find anything out about my mystery woman. She knew more about me than I knew of her. The flowers turned out to be a dead end, purchased by a tall thin man in a well-tailored suit. The card was provided by the same man, apparently already written out.

I was torn between the frustration of trying to find her and the guilt at what I felt was emotionally cheating on Grace. Eddie had been far more perceptive than I expected and more than once argued that I was actually doing what Grace would have wanted, what she had asked me to do with her last breath. Eddie didn't know who it was that had tugged my heartstrings, but being a woman, she figured out pretty quickly that someone had, and she wasn't about to let go of that.

It was still difficult for me, after being devoted to Grace for so many years, to suddenly throw it all out and start over. I had to admit I was fascinated by Linda and how it had felt being with her. It felt almost as good as when I'd first met Grace. I felt comfortable with her. I didn't have to pretend, or be something I wasn't. I'd long since decided I wanted to see her again and hold her again. I knew that, I just didn't know if I could allow it to be more than that, if my mind would allow me to set Grace aside enough to have it be more than a one night event like the last time. I guessed that was why she had left the way she did. Somehow she had known that I wasn't ready for it to be more than that and she didn't want to put me in a position where I had to do more than I was ready for. At least that's how it felt when I thought about it, which was more frequently of late.

I sat and stared at the package on the corner of my desk. The package that was the cause of the sudden pot of emotions dragging all this uncertainty to the surface.

"So, you going to open it?" Eddie coaxed.

"I don't know. Last time it was a swimsuit I wouldn't be caught dead in."

"I don't know about that. I think that the person that sent it thought you'd look pretty good in it. I think you'd probably look pretty good in it too."

"Hell Eddie! You're married for God's sake. You shouldn't be even thinking such things!"

"What? I can't look? It's not like I'm trying stuff on, I'm just window shopping!" she said with a giggle. "Damn you're blushing boss!"

"Knock it off or I'll make you go wash hose or something."

"Yeah, right. So, you going to open it?"

"No," I replied flatly.

"Then I will," she said as she reached for the box on the corner of my desk.

"NO!" I answered more sharply than I intended.

"Soooo. Open it already," Eddie prompted again.

"Fine," I answered with a sigh. I slit the tape on the end of the long flat box and pulled out a pink tissue paper wrapped item and an envelope. Unwrapping the package I held up a VERY revealing bra that I was quite sure would fit Linda perfectly, after having seen her bare body. The bra was made of a red sheer material for the cups, held in place by a matrix of straps that would circle around her breasts and cross behind the wearer's back. Each of the three small parallel straps that would go over her shoulders were thin fire engine red satin straps, the cups held together by a tiny front clasp. The panties were similarly shaped with multiple straps that would arch over the wearer's hips before joining and slipping between creamy cheeks. The triangle of see-through red mesh would surely not quite cover the wearer's pussy.

"DAMN! That's one hot piece of lingerie!" Eddie said with a low whistle. "My husband would kill to get me to come home in something like that!"

"What am I going to do with this?" I asked her and the room in confusion. I understood the speedo, but this?

"So open the note!"

I set the bra and panties down and opened the small pink envelope.

With you on my mind so often I thought that I would design something that I could wear that would remind me of you. Fire engine red, strong enough to hold me securely while still tenderly supporting my most sensitive parts. Yes this is definitely you, and each time I wear one of these I will think of you with your arms around me, holding me, making me feel safe. L."

I looked curiously at the bra and panties again, setting the note down on top of them.

Eddie snatched the note and quickly moved it out of my reach as she read the flowery penned writing. "Damn boss. This girl's got it BAD for you! I hope you're not letting her get away!"

"Nothing to not get away. I don't have her. Hell, I don't even know who she is... exactly," I answered with a frown.

"What do you mean you don't know who she is? Hell, you spent the night together, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So? So? That's so not you boss. Sleeping with someone and not even knowing her name?"

"I know her name!" I said defensively. "Well, her first name anyway."

"Well, that's a start," she said putting the card down. "But she's got it soooo bad for you. You need to call her or something."

"I can't. I don't know how to get ahold of her. Hell, look at that return address! Nothing I can even try and trace back!" I answered her, poking the box with my finger. I sighed heavily. "She said I wasn't ready and she hoped that some day I would be. Maybe she knows something about me I don't know myself."

"You're not ready boss," Eddie said softly. "Being a woman, I can tell things that guys can't. You're still stuck on your wife. Until you're brave enough to take that ring off, you won't be ready to do more than have a little fling, and I think this woman wants it to be so much more than that."

"How would she know? I mean one night?"

"Damn boss. You are so thick sometimes. They don't grow guys like you on trees," she said just before the alarm claxon in the engine bay sounded. "Well, back to work," she said as she bolted from the chair and dashed out of the office. I sat back and listened to the report before pushing myself up and walking out of the office to my car. I was seated and belted in before the truck had cleared the pad and followed behind, letting the massive truck force its way through traffic, sticking close on its bumper to take advantage of the wake it left behind on the way to the structure fire downtown.

*******

I was almost irritated at the interruption. For a few moments I considered not even answering the doorbell, but ultimately I put the computer aside and pushed myself from my recliner and walked to the front door. More than likely it was a salesman, or worse the Jehovah Witnesses again. Anyone that knew me always came to the back door. I opened the door and stood staring at the vision before me. She stood in a tight fitting red dress, the slick looking material forming to all her curves and her ample chest. Her long slender legs stuck out the bottom of the very short hem and ended in bright red high heels that were at least four inches or higher. Her legs and the halo of fluffy blonde hair glistened in the Spring sunshine as she stood expectantly on my front porch.

"May I come in?" Linda asked quietly after several long seconds of me standing silently with my jaw hanging open.

"Uh. Yeah, sure," I answered, stepping back from the door and letting her in.

"Nice place," she said quietly as she stepped into the house and looked around. "It was surprisingly hard to find. I'm used to big cities, not way out in the country like this. Fortunately the driver was able to decipher the address and find it."

"How did you know where I live?" I asked in confusion, closing the door behind her and closing out the still chilly May breeze.

"Oh. That was easy. There aren't too many Gene Coleman's who are firemen," she said with a giggle. "I had a few hours in town and when I got done with business I thought that maybe I'd come invite you out for lunch."

"Oh. I'm really not dressed to go out," I answered, motioning to my sweat pants and t-shirt.

"That can be fixed. I presume you have something besides uniforms to wear," she said with a crooked grin.

"Yeah. I do," I answered, rolling my eyes and shaking my head.

"Then take me to your bedroom and let's see what we can find," she said, reaching out for my hand.

"You sure you want to go to my room?" I asked, not moving.

"Unless you plan on changing your clothes right here," she said with a grin. "I mean it's not like I'm offering to have sex with you or anything. Just get a change of clothes so we can go have something to eat."

I finally moved after she tugged my hand again, walking across the living room and down the hallway towards the master bedroom. Not that I was at all averse to being in a bedroom with her, or that I didn't trust myself to not ravage her at the first opportunity, but to be quite honest, I hadn't done much since that day. The dressers were still full of Grace's clothes, as was the closet, and even her perfume and such was still sitting on the dresser top, albeit a bit dusty now.

I walked into the bedroom with Linda in tow, expecting a less than positive reaction. Instead she just looked around and nodded before releasing my hand and walking to the closet. She opened the closet, ignored my wife's clothes and quickly picked a pair of slacks and sport shirt that were hanging. "Here. These will do," she said with a smile as she turned to face me, holding the hangers out to me.

"Sure. If you think," I answered, taking the hangers and moving to the end of the bed. She slowly walked around the room, surveying the top of the dressers, mine and Grace's before turning back to face me as I pulled my sweats off, standing in just my boxer briefs. I pulled the pants off the hanger and was about to step into them when she stopped me.

"Uh uh," she said shaking her head. "Lose those briefs. I have something better for you," she said with a grin, reaching into the handbag hanging on her arm and pulling out a pair of red spandex underwear. Well, I call them that, though it was pretty clear that the tiny bikini brief underwear would only contain me IF she wasn't wearing anything sexy, which at the moment she was.

"You sure?" I asked with trepidation.

"I've seen you naked before. You're not going to make me leave, are you?"

"No. I won't do that," I answered with a frown as I pushed my boxer briefs down and stepped out of them, my hard cock swinging freely. I could see her smile slightly as she watched me step into the tiny bikini briefs.

"You know. If you're worried about showing too much, I'm wearing these," she said as she reached down and pulled the hem of her red dress up to her waist, exposing the red see-through panties she had on that were an exact match for the pair she had sent me. Her shaved mound and full round pussy lips were quite visible through the sheer red material, making my cock twitch and grow harder as if signaling where it wanted to be planted.

"And that was supposed to help?" I asked with a chuckle as I pulled the briefs up as far as they would go, half of my cock still sticking up over the top of the very low waistband.

"Uh uh. It was supposed to make sure that you looked just exactly like you do now," she said with a grin, pulling the hem back down and smoothing the material of the dress.

"Women," I said shaking my head and stepping into the slacks she had taken out for me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, stepping toward me. "Do we make you uncomfortable?"

"Sometimes," I answered as she stepped even closer, her red dress covered breasts practically touching my chest as she tilted her head and pressed her lips against mine. We stood there, my pants in my hands, holding them up so they didn't slide back down my legs while her mouth eagerly sucked on mine, her hand slipping down my stomach to my half exposed cock. I felt the warmth of her hand as she gently stroked the part of me sticking out of the tiny underwear.

"Like now?" she breathed, her lips still brushing mine as she held my cock in her hands.

"Yeah," I answered, having trouble keeping my breathing even.

"You know. I'd like nothing better than to stand here and see if you can find a way to put this deep inside me, but we only have so much time and I haven't eaten since five this morning," she whispered.

"Sure. No problem," I answered, feeling slightly disappointed that I was this close to her again and not able to feel her bare skin against mine.

She smiled halfheartedly, showing me that she too was disappointed and stepped back to allow me to finish dressing. I sat on the end of the bed to pull on a pair of shoes, bent over to tie them. I felt her hands on my head, gently stroking my short hair, my face so close to her body that I could smell the musky scent of her excited pussy. I finished tying my shoe and reached out, sliding my hand up her leg, letting my fingers trail up the inside of her calf and then thigh. I heard her suck in her breath, standing stock still as my fingers stroked up higher, disappearing under the hem of the slinky red dress and finally touching the wet crotch of her see-through panties.

"I think someone is excited," I whispered as I stroked her lips through the thin fabric.

"Oh God Gene. You keep doing that and I'm going to have to throw your ass on that bed and fuck your brains out. I haven't had sex since you and I were together at the ski slope," she moaned softly.

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her. "Seriously? Why"

"Because I didn't want to. I didn't want sex, I wanted to feel you making love to me," she panted. I stood up and wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her to me and pressing our bodies together, pressing my lips to hers. I felt her hand on my back, stroking and caressing me as we stood and kissed for long minutes. "If we're going to go eat, we better," she whispered.