How it all began...
As sappy as it sounded, Heather was in love. Utterly, helplessly, joyously in love...with her husband.
She knew most couples went through a honeymoon phase, where married life was all wonderful and perfect, until reality began to kill the fairytale romance. So far, the fairytale was still going strong for Heather. Nine years after meeting Jake, she still loved her husband as much as she had the day he'd proposed, and she often wondered how she'd gotten so lucky to find something so rare.
She thought back on everything they'd been through and knew it hadn't all been candy and roses. They'd fought their battles and won, and this once-shy, awkward young woman had blossomed like a butterfly around her adoring husband. After Heather had shown interest a few years ago in changing her appearance, something she'd wanted to do to please her husband more than herself, he'd seemed reluctant for her to do so; still, he and his sisters had helped advise her how to dress, what kind of makeup to wear, and given her tips on how to act around large crowds. And best of all, he'd taught her how to make love with the skill of a practiced courtesan. She was so eager to please him, she did whatever he asked of her. The sleek, attractive brunette she was today often turned men's heads, but she only had eyes for one man - Jake - and she trusted him completely to feel the same about her. She had had no desire or need to ever be unfaithful to him.
After Jake left, Heather got dressed and went to work, eager to get through the day's meetings with clients so she could clear up some paperwork before heading home. Somewhere between breakfast and her shower, she'd made a decision she wanted to talk to Jake about. They'd been considering having a baby soon, and she knew in her heart it was time. Even so, she had several meetings on her schedule, mostly new clients wanting to set up an account with the company, and Heather had been assigned the task of getting everything prepared for them. It would be a long day before she could talk to Jake, so she forced herself to focus on work.
Heather was going through the file of her next client when she suddenly stilled in surprise. Tyson Johnson was the man's name. She knew, of course, that it wasn't the same Ty Johnson she remembered from college. But the coincidence of having a client with the same name brought back a flood of memories, not all of them unpleasant either.
Before Jake, only one man had ever shown an interest in her at all, but he had been black, and Heather simply couldn't bring herself to even imagine dating a black man. Her strict, Southern family would kill her for one thing. For another, she'd never found black men all that attractive. But Ty had been so nice to her, and she'd always felt so flattered by him, that she might have given in and gone on a date with him if she hadn't met Jake instead.
Every now and then, she wondered what had happened to Ty, and figured he had probably gone on to be a successful athlete somewhere. Heather didn't keep up with professional sports, but Ty had been on the basketball team when she'd sat next to him in English class, and from what she'd overheard, he'd been a star player, primed for the big leagues.
Shaking herself of the thought, she prepared some notes as she waited for this Ty Johnson to arrive. When he did, she could hardly believe her eyes. It really was him!
"Heather?" he asked, just as surprised as she was. "I don't believe it! You look...god, you look gorgeous!"
Blushing beneath his blatant appraisal, she almost returned the compliment. Ty was older, and a lot more handsome than she remembered him. His shaved head and chiseled features were softened by a set of strikingly pale blue eyes. His athletic body was dressed in an expensive-looking suit, proving he had done quite well for himself. Heather was glad for him. "Thank you," she said, and offered him the seat in front of her desk. "I recognized your name but figured it couldn't be you. I figured you'd be out West somewhere, living the life of a celebrity athlete."
"Not anymore," he admitted. "I went pro and did pretty well, but then I injured my knee and got dropped from the roster."
"Well, it looks as though you're still doing well for yourself," she commented, trying to make polite conversation.
"I was able to find another job that kept me in the kind of money I'd gotten used to," he admitted, then decided, what the hell? "Actually, I'm a dancer now."
Her eyebrows raised, and he could tell she was fighting back a laugh. "A dancer?" She cleared her throat and added, "I would have never figured you for the type. What type of dance do you do? Hip hop? Jazz?" she guessed.
He smiled, then laughed. "I'm not that kind of dancer, Heather. I've been a stripper at a ladies club in Atlanta for the past three years. Now me and some buddies want to open a chain of gyms, do something a little more legitimate, and we thought this area would be a good place to branch out. I'm hoping you can help us keep control of our money."
She was a little shocked by the image that popped into her mind at his admission of being a stripper. Well, he certainly seemed to have the body for it, she silently admitted, then decided to ignore that train of thought. She could already feel her face getting red. "We'll certainly try," she said with a polite smile as she began once again to look over his portfolio.
As she studied his accounts, Ty studied her. He could hardly believe it! Back in college, he'd suspected Heather was a hot babe just waiting to come out of her shell. He'd seen it the many times she'd agreed to tutor him after class, sometimes when she'd taken off her baggy sweater to get more comfortable and he'd glimpsed the promise of that voluptuous bod beneath the tight shirt she'd worn underneath. Still, he probably wouldn't have fucked around with her, but some of his teammates had pointed out that it was always the mousy ones who were the easiest lays, and then they'd started betting on how long it would take him to get Heather's panties as a trophy. He'd been working out a seduction plan when she'd suddenly started going out with some football jock and been too busy to give Ty the time of day.
Now, almost nine years later, she was simply stunning. Her long, dark hair was styled in a flattering look, and she wore makeup to its best advantage. She wore a prim, but still sexy business suit with a skirt...red, he noticed. Definitely a color only a passionate woman would wear. Damn, but he felt himself getting hard just sitting here, looking at her and wondering what she looked like out of that sleek suit. He'd noticed the ring, of course, and knew she had found a man to appreciate her for the woman she was, but hell, he'd never let that stop him before.
He wanted this woman, and this time, he planned to have her.
For the next half hour, Heather discussed the possible accounts he could set up, and Ty made sure to insert a special memory they shared every now and then. She would smile before censoring herself and steering him back to the matter at hand.
As they finished up, Ty made a special point of giving her his cell number. "So we can catch up on old times," he told her. "Maybe you and your husband can be my guests at dinner one night."