Mary's hesitation in answering the question made Daniel tighten his embrace and whisper in her ear, "You don't have to decide now. I know I may be rushing things and I don't want you to feel pressured into anything."
"I don't feel pressured," said Mary immediately, not wanting him to misunderstand her silence as indecision. "You may want to rescind your offer after I tell you what happened day."
"Why? What did you do? Did you commit a felony?"
Laughing, she said, "No."
"Did you commit a misdemeanor?"
"No." Mary swatted his hands folded across her stomach. "Stop asking questions and I'll tell you."
Daniel rested his lips on her neck, and said, "I'm all ears."
"Doesn't feel like it." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before continuing, "After we talked this morning, I was too excited about my generous salary, thank you very much, to stay home and putter around the house. I felt like I should get to work on the portrait."
Mary proceeded to tell him about the contractors' L.E.D. lighting argument and how she resolved it.
"Sounds like a wise decision," said Daniel, as his hands began to wander.
"After they left I was going to lock the door, but I saw Jennifer coming, and she was crying."
This got Daniel's attention. The wandering hands stopped in place.
Continuing on, Mary summarized the couple's argument over the nonexistent website. Daniel sighed and rolled onto his back.
She turned over to see his face. "You knew it was faked, didn't you?"
Daniel stared at the ceiling. "I did. I told Bruce it was a bad idea, but he insisted she wouldn't find out."
He shook his head sadly, and said, "I didn't expect him to be the one foolish enough to tell her."
"Why would you do that? It sounds like a terrible idea."
"Because I felt responsible for bringing them together. They are so opposite, I never thought for a minute they'd fall for each other. I was surprised when Bruce came out of his prudish shell, or maybe it's more accurate to say Jenifer yanked him out. Then I was shocked when she accepted his marriage proposal. He doesn't want to be in the porn business, but Jenifer wants to hold on to her independence, and the only way she knows how to survive is by exploiting her body. Bruce's plan was to eventually get her involved with something less risqué. It had some merit, and I thought we could control it long enough for her to stop on her own."
"You mean control her. Really bad idea."
Daniel sat up. "I should call him."
"Wait, I'm not done telling you what happened," said Mary, pausing to gather her thoughts. "Jenifer wanted to leave when she found out you weren't here. I thought she was too upset to drive, so I convinced her to stay, and we went back to my studio so I could paint."
Because Mary couldn't continue while looking at Daniel, she lay on her back and closed her eyes. "To make a long story short, while I was painting, Jenifer came on to me... and I... I liked it. But then Bruce showed up and interrupted. He figured out what was about to happen and they started arguing again, but they seemed to kiss and make up. So I kissed them both and they left the studio. I heard the front door bell ring and thought they'd left. But..." She swallowed hard to clear the lump in her throat, "only Bruce left."
Mary stopped there, knowing Daniel could fill in the climax of the story. The silence that followed caused her heart to pound. She opened her eyes to witness his reaction. His expression was an unreadable mask as he stared at the wall.
Putting her hand on his arm, she said, "Tell me what you're thinking."
"I'm feeling a little foolish for asking you to be monogamous."
Sitting up, she threw her arms around him and hugged. "No, don't! I want to. I want to pursue a relationship with you."
He gave her a weak smile. "Did you enjoy it?"
Mary rested her forehead on his shoulder, as her face warmed. "To be honest, I did."
Twisting in her embrace, Daniel lowered her to the bed and lay on top. While combing his fingers through her hair, he said, "I've never been monogamous. But I offered it because I thought that's what you wanted to hear. If you want to have an open relationship I'd be fine with it as long as we agree on certain boundaries."
Wrinkling her brow, she said, "Really? You wouldn't be jealous? I don't think I could be so indifferent about sharing your affection."
"Well, let me ask you this, after your dalliance with Jenifer do you feel differently about having relations with me?"
"No... I guess I see your point. Physical pleasure doesn't always equal romantic involvement, is that it?"
Daniel kissed her and smiled. "It can work as long as we don't keep secrets. Trust is the key. If either one of us is uncomfortable we need to be honest about it."
"That's probably why Bruce was so upset that Jenifer didn't get his consent to be with me. She broke that rule."
Daniel nodded his head, "Yes, I'm sure that's true, among other things."
"He really wants a family, but Jenifer doesn't want kids."
Turning on his side, Daniel said, "When you consider her childhood, I understand her reluctance. I think she's afraid of being a bad mother more than anything." Supporting his head on his forearm, he casually circled Mary's nipple with his finger. "I wonder if part of her attraction to you is because you were such a good mother. You would be a great role model for her."
Mary rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, great role models always have sex with their protégée."
"Don't you see? Now you're someone she can relate to. You don't condemn her for her past. Part of seducing you may have been her subconscious way of getting your approval and making you equals."
She laughed, "Okay, Dr. Freud."
Daniel bent down and kissed the enlivened breast. "I'm no shrink, but I know human nature, and this beautiful bit of nature is asking for more."
Cradling her untouched breast, Mary asked, "What is this one saying?"
Daniel grinned, and said, "Don't forget about me," and he didn't.
***
Earlier that day Bruce reluctantly left the art gallery, walked to his pickup truck, and drove home with a heavy heart. Sure, he'd given his consent for Jenifer to have sex with Mary, but he wasn't happy about it. The problem was, he couldn't say no after lying to her about the website.
Sex, and everything about human sexuality, had been a forbidden mystery to Bruce before he met Jenifer. But even after her thorough, hands-on education, it only felt acceptable to enjoy other people's sex acts voyeuristically, and immoral to participate. After their morning argument, the hope that Jenifer would change her ways now seemed obviously unrealistic. Try as he might to please Jenifer, he just felt uncomfortable with the idea of having sex with someone else. Initially he was drawn to his wife's free spirit like a thirsty man to an oasis, but now he was drowning in a flood of debauchery, unable to find solid ground. He wondered if she really loved him, or was he just another virginal notch on her bedpost, someone she could depend on to be boringly the same, her vanilla lover, her fallback missionary position when life got hard.
Opening the truck windows, Bruce inhaled the crisp autumn air, feeling the stress drain away the farther the city fell behind. The red and gold autumn foliage drew him back to nature. Pulling into the driveway of their old farmhouse, he paused to scan the rustic surroundings. He bought the property three years ago hoping someday to have a family. Not raising children in such a wonderful environment would be a tragedy. They could ride horses; they could plant a garden, cross-country ski in the winter, build a treehouse, swim in the pond, and jump in piled leaves in the fall. These were the ideas that kept the future exciting for him. Making babies with his beautiful wife would be the cherry on top of the perfect country life. The unwelcome thought of Jenifer and Mary together, right now, made him shake his head in dismay.
At first, when they started taking erotic pictures for a website, the sex was exciting because it was all a fantasy. Bruce justified it in his head as a fun, kinky thing to do. Daniel knew them both, knew Jenifer intimately before they married, so he felt somewhat comfortable with him behind the camera. When Mary became involved in their play acting it was okay, because it was all make believe. But today, it wasn't pretend. They weren't just acting out roles in a scene anymore. It became real and personal.
Bruce decided he needed to do something to keep his mind occupied for the next few hours. Grabbing his tool box from behind the driver's seat, he went to the barn and measured the rotted stall dimensions for new lumber. The Salvation Army drop box was on the way to the lumber yard, so he went to their bedroom and collected all the old clothes he hadn't wore in years to make more room for Jenifer's growing wardrobe. Grabbing the nearby duffle bag, he hastily stuffed them in. Since it was almost lunch time, he grabbed his laptop to do some work on the local diner's free Wi-Fi.
Time slipped away. Three hours later, Bruce pulled back into their driveway and parked next to Jenifer's car. Stepping inside the quiet house, he felt unsure of what to say to her. She'd probably want to tell him every juicy detail. He was surprised when Jenifer wasn't waiting for him with bated breath. Instead, what sounded like muffled sobs came from their bedroom.
"Jen?"
She sprang up from the bed and turned toward the door to face him, her face streaked with tears.
"What's the matter, Sweetie."
"Nothing," she said, pulling her knees into her chest, and wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand.
"I've never seen you cry like this, so it must be something," he said, sitting on the bedside.
She rested her forehead on her knees, refusing to meet his intense stare.
Her legs pulled up the tee-shirt. He couldn't help observing she wasn't wearing any panties. Her long hair was wet, like she'd just showered.
Jenifer mumbled, "Where were you?"
"Just running some errands." He reached out and touched her foot. "Miss me?"
"Why didn't you answer your phone? I called you a bunch of times."
He pulled out his phone and looked. "The battery died. I didn't notice."
"You took clothes out of the closet and your duffle bag was gone. Your laptop was gone."
Suddenly he realized what she implied. "Did you think I left you?"
She nodded her head against her knees, seeming unable to speak, and then a sob escaped.
"Aw, Babe... No way. I love you." Quickly he moved beside her and pulled her close.
Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face against his neck. "Are you sure? I'm not the wholesome girl next door. Isn't that what you want? I know I'm a disappointment."
"Shush," he rubbed his cheek against her damp hair. "You're not a disappointment. We just need to work things out, like any dysfunctional married couple."
'Dysfunctional' made her laugh. She lifted her head and kissed him. "I love you."
Then her head turned suddenly.
He followed her line of sight to the bedside table. A full glass of water sat next to a brown prescription bottle. "What's that?"
"Nothing," she said, putting a hand on his cheek to turn his head away, while the arm on his back pulled him tight.
