What Was I Thining?

I'd never looked this good. At least, I thought I looked good. And from the appreciative look Charles gave me when I came out of the bathroom in my royal blue silk dress, he thought so too.

"I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you tonight," Charles said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Every man in the place will want you. You look so sexy, Kelly." He nuzzled my neck. "If we didn't have to leave soon, I'd rip that dress right off you."

"You wouldn't have to."

"What do you have on underneath?" he asked suggestively.

"Find out."

Charles lifted the skirt of my dress and flicked his finger against my bare pussy. "Mmm, my favorite. We're going to have a lot of fun with this tonight."

"Yeah, when we get back from the party."

"Oh, you mean you aren't going to let me touch you at all at the party?" He pretended to pout.

"Well, maybe a little." The thought of Charles groping me in public turned me on, especially since he'd done so at the house party we'd gone to on our first date. But tonight's party was at a bar, and was intended as just a friendly get-together with other people who belonged to the adult chat site through which Charles and I had met. Groping wasn't quite as acceptable there as at a house party, though it certainly happened.

"Woohoo!" Charles said. "I get to go to the party with the sexiest woman there and grope her!"

"We'll see about the groping. You look nice." He wore a black button-down shirt and black pants, the same outfit he'd worn on our first date. As a trucker, Charles didn't have much reason to dress up, so didn't own much other than pullovers and jeans.

"Thank you. You look absolutely lovely, in addition to incredibly sexy."

I blushed. "You give great compliments."

"You deserve them."

"Thank you."

Charles put his arms around me and kissed me, his tongue finding its way between our lips to mine. His hands slid down the silky back of my dress to my ass and cupped my cheeks. "Be careful," I said. "If you make me wet, I don't have any panties to keep in the moisture."

"Well, then, I guess I'd have to lick it up."

"You would, huh?"

"Yep." He knelt beside me and pushed my skirt up above my waist. He put one of my legs up on his shoulder and licked my clit. "Just like that. Delicious!"

"Don't do that again, or we won't get out of here for the party," I said. "I bet the others are almost ready by now."

Charles checked his watch. "We still have time. We aren't riding over with them, are we?"

"No, but if we're going in my car, you're driving. I have no idea how to get to the bar from here."

"You stayed here for the Halloween party, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but Derek and I rode over with friends of his, and the guy you saw me with there drove me back."

"Ah, he gave you a ride, huh?"

I looked away, my face warm. Charles didn't seem to have a problem with the idea that I'd been with other guys; of course, we'd met on a sex site, as others were fond of reminding me. But I was embarrassed to talk to him about the guy I'd picked up at the Halloween party, a guy I'd dated once or twice before but who was several years younger than I. I'd left the Halloween party with him because the month prior to it had been rough and I'd wanted some stress relief. Since I'd already known the guy, he'd fit my rule against random sex. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," I muttered.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed," Charles said. "There's nothing wrong with it. You had fun with him, right?"

"Yeah."

"Just because you ignored me in favor of him..." He winked to show he was joking.

"I didn't ignore you. I didn't even know you."

"Derek introduced us, but he was encouraging you to go after the kid. Kelly, I'm just teasing you. As long as you enjoyed yourself that night, it's good. And as long as you leave the party with me tonight."

I kissed him. "Of course I'm leaving with you tonight. Who else would I leave with?"

"Well, you might find some other handsome young man and decide to bring him home instead."

Laughing, I swatted him on the arm. "You are handsome. And you're not that old."

"I'm not that old, huh?" He tickled me. "So I am old?"

"No!" I tried to dodge his fingers. "You're not old!"

Charles caught me around the waist and pulled me tightly against him. "Good answer. Because I don't think this feels old, does it?" He ground his crotch against me; I could feel his hard cock through his pants.

"Doesn't feel old at all." I pulled away. "But it feels like something that's going to have to wait, because it's almost time to leave for the party."

"You're no fun."

"Nope, none at all. But I'll be plenty of fun when we get back."

"Oh, okay. Why don't we go see if the others are ready to leave, then, before I attack you right here."

"Well..." I glanced at the clock beside the bed. "We have time for you to attack me if you want, but it might wrinkle my dress."

"And I want to get to the party early anyway, to see if there's anything I can do to help set up. I'll attack you later." He pressed his lips to mine in a sweet, long kiss. "You do look beautiful tonight. I'm the luckiest guy going to that party."

"I think I'm pretty lucky too."

"Nah, I'm nothing special." He took his keys and the room key card off the bureau and put them in his pocket. "Okay, let's go."

Our first stop was the room next door, where my friend Derek was staying, along with two or three other women who'd wanted to come to the party but hadn't been able to get a room. Derek often offered people a place to stay when they needed it; I'd stayed with him myself several times, and nothing had ever happened between us. Derek just wasn't like that.

He opened the door, still wearing shorts and a T-shirt. "You look nice, darlin'," he said to me. "Heading over already?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd see if I could help set up," Charles replied. "You aren't going yet?"

"I probably won't show up there till nine or later," Derek said. "I don't go early to those things. Most people don't show up till later. But if you're going, have a good time. I'll see you there later."

I gave him a hug. "See you later. Have fun getting ready."

He laughed. "Yeah, right. That's if the bathroom's ever free for me to take a shower. There are too many women here."

"I heard that!" a female voice called from inside the room.

"Then let me into my own goddamn bathroom!" Derek called back.

"Which of them is your date?" Charles asked.

"None of them. I'll end up coming back here and just sleeping. A lot of times I come back alone after a party. It's all good."

"If you want a turn in the bathroom, better take it now," the same female voice called.

"Okay." Derek smiled at me. "Have a good time. See you in a little while."

He closed the door. As Charles and I walked to the elevator, he took my hand. "He's a nice guy to let those women stay with him and not expect anything," Charles said.

"That's how Derek is," I replied. "The first time I ever met him face to face, after a month or two of talking online and on the phone, was during that bad heat wave last summer. My kids and I were going nuts at home; we didn't have an air conditioner, and it was just plain too hot to do anything. Derek found out and invited us down to the hotel in Andover where he stays a lot. We got to spend the night in air conditioning, and swim in the indoor pool. Derek even paid for a separate room for the girls and me."

"That was really nice of him," Charles said.

"Derek's an awesome person."

"Well, I owe him one for introducing us at the Halloween party, even if he was telling you to go after that young guy at the same time."

"You see how that turned out. I'm here with you, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are."

The elevator finally came and we got on. As soon as the doors shut, Charles grabbed me. He kissed me hard and cupped one of my breasts in his hand. For the few seconds it took the elevator to descend, we embraced. He let me go just as the doors slid open again. "We should have stayed on a higher floor," he said.

"We're on the top floor," I pointed out.

"Then I should have pressed the button to stop the elevator. Now I'll have to wait till we get back from the party to finish what I was doing."

"You'll live."

Since Charles had driven his tractor trailer to the hotel, we got into my car for the ride to the party. Charles was behind the wheel. "Are you sure you know how to get there from here?" I asked.

"I'm a truck driver. I know how to get pretty much anywhere, especially in this area. Don't worry; we'll be there in no time."

I didn't say much as we drove to the bar where the party was being held. Before chat room parties, I was always nervous and usually didn't want to go. Since I was determined not to let my nerves get the better of me, I always went anyway. I'd had anxiety attacks at most of them, caused by difficulty coping with crowds, and the last thing I wanted was to have an attack in front of Charles.

On the other hand, this was the first time I'd gone to a party with someone else. Maybe having Charles with me would help me stay calm and relaxed. I was always fine after the first fifteen minutes or so at a party, but it would be nice to walk into one and not have to go hide in the bathroom within moments of arriving.

"You're being awfully quiet," Charles said. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just psyching myself up," I replied.

"I thought maybe you were worried about your kids."

"That too."

"Anissa said they were all right, didn't she?"

"Yeah. I just can't help worrying. Their dad doesn't exactly take care of them when he has them. And that woman he's with has said at least once that she hates Rosa because she can't figure out how to 'handle' her. Rosa's like any other kid; you just have to be more literal with her."

"Your kids are great, and it's their father's loss if he can't see it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He glanced at the dashboard clock. "You have about five more minutes to worry, and then you need to relax and have fun at the party. You've got your phone, right?"

"Right."

"So if there are any problems, your kids can call you. But you need time to have fun and let your hair down a little. You're a mom, but you're a human being too. You can't put your entire life on hold for your kids. Just let their father do his job, or at least try to. You'll have the girls back tomorrow, safe and sound."

"Yeah, they'll be fine." My instincts told me they would be. My opinion of my ex-husband told me different. Hopefully my instincts would prove correct.

When we arrived at the bar, only a handful of people were there, including Melinda, the woman who had set Charles and me up on our first date. She and a few other people were bustling around, putting up the mistletoe Melinda had bought when she and I'd gone shopping earlier and other decorations, and arranging food on long tables that had been set up at one side of the dance area. Two women were moving another table. Charles went over to them and said, "Can I help?"

"Sure." One of the women let go of the table. "Thanks. I'm Jenna, by the way." She gave her chat room handle.

"Charles," Charles replied. He shook her hand, then picked up the table. "Where do you want this?"

"Over by the others," Jenna said. "We ran out of room for the food. More people brought stuff than we expected."

"Oh, we didn't bring anything!" I said. I'd meant to stop and pick up some chips and dip, which was my usual contribution to these parties. I traveled too far to bring anything I'd cooked, even if I was capable of cooking.

"That's okay; we'll still let you eat." Jenna winked. "That's if you can find anything you can eat, Kelly."

"Yeah, I'm sure there are some things here without meat or dairy," I said.

"We won't let you starve," Charles said. He set the table where Jenna had instructed. "If I have to, I'll run out and get you something."

"No need to do that," I said. "There's plenty here." I looked at the selection of food that had arrived so far. Most of it did have meat, but there was a vegetable platter, a selection of fruit, and some rice and beans, all of which I could have.

"Are you sure?" Charles said. "I could go get something for us to contribute to the party and something just for you."

"Don't worry about contributing to the party." Melinda came over to us and gave each of us a hug. "We have too much as it is."

"It doesn't look like much so far," Charles said. "I mean, there's enough here, but to hear you and Jenna talk, you're overwhelmed with food."

"Not everyone's here yet," Melinda pointed out. "We have at least a dozen more people coming who are planning to bring stuff."

"All right, if you're sure." Charles took off his jacket and turned to me. "May I take your coat, madame?"

I smiled. "Thank you, kind sir." I unbuttoned the coat Charles had bought me a couple weeks earlier and let him help me slip it off my arms. He found an out of the way chair and laid the coats carefully over the back of it.

"Kelly?"

I turned toward the voice and saw Ryan, one of my closest friends, wearing his trademark Stetson. "Ryan!" I squealed. Though we talked frequently online, I hadn't seen him since the Halloween party.

I ran over to him and he grabbed me in a hug that lifted me off my feet, not difficult for him since he was a good six inches taller than I was. "You look great!" he said.

"Thanks, so do you." I flicked the brim of his hat, as I did every time I saw him. "Where's Gail?"

"She's around here somewhere. She's cohosting this, so she got roped into helping with decorations as soon as we walked in the door. Where's your man?"

"Over here." I led him over to Charles. "Charles, this is my good friend Ryan. Ryan, Charles."

"You're the racing fan, right?" Charles asked, shaking Ryan's hand.

"Yes. Yes, I am," Ryan replied. "You too?"

"Yep. Who's your driver?"

Ryan named his favorite driver. I rolled my eyes and walked away, leaving them to bicker cheerfully about who the best driver was. Ryan's girlfriend Gail was near the bar, talking to the bartender. I went over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Good evening."

She turned and gave me an enthusiastic hug, though not quite as enthusiastic as Ryan's. "Kelly, good to see you!" she said. "Ryan said you had a date for tonight. Where is he?"

"Debating racing with Ryan." I nodded toward where the two men stood.

"Like that's surprising." Gail studied me. "Does he treat you well?"

"Yeah, he's great," I said. "He bought me a coat; he took my kids and me out to dinner last week; he's a really good guy."

"That's good. You deserve to be treated that way. You've been through enough."

In addition to knowing all the lurid details of what I'd been through with my ex-husband, Gail and Ryan had gotten me through a messy breakup with another man I'd dated at the beginning of the fall. Because of that situation, I'd barely spoken to anyone from the chat room for almost a month; the Halloween party was the first time some people had seen or heard from me since summer. If it hadn't been for Ryan and Gail's persuasion and Derek's threat to come to my house and drag me to Massachusetts, I wouldn't have gone to the Halloween party, either.

"I've been through too much," I said. "But Charles has been wonderful. He and I still owe Melinda big time for setting up our first date."

"You went to a house party, right?"

My face got warm. "Yeah, but we didn't really do anything. We danced and talked to people, and sat in a corner and kissed. It was more like one of these parties than what I thought a house party would be like."

"As long as you were comfortable there, that's all that matters. Seems like a strange setting for a first date, though."

"Yeah, I thought so too. But it worked for us."

Charles and Ryan came over to us. "Talking about us?" Ryan asked, putting his arms around Gail from behind.

"Yes, we are," Gail said. "We're talking about how all you ever talk about is racing."

"Racing is important," Charles said.

"As important as spending time with beautiful women at a party?" I asked.

"Well, maybe not that important."

More people arrived, and I went to say hello to them. I'd been to enough of these parties that I knew almost everyone, and I was happy to see them again after a month and a half. I introduced Charles to everyone. He already knew some of the people I introduced him to, which made me feel a little foolish until he said, "It's okay, I can't always remember names. You'll have to keep refreshing my memory."

"No problem," I said. "I know most of these people."

"I've noticed that."

A tall man with curly black hair came over to us. "I know you," he said to me. He said my chat room handle. "You're the one who writes those incredible stories."

"Stories?" Charles asked.

I blushed. I hadn't told him one of my deepest secrets yet. "I write erotic short stories sometimes. Not many, though."

"You write hot, sexy, erotic short stories," the other man said. "When are you going to have more?"

"I don't know," I replied. "Soon, I hope."

"Well, keep me posted, okay? I want to read them!"

"Okay, I will."

He gave me a hug, which weirded me out a little, and walked off through the crowd. "Who was that?" Charles asked.

"I'm not completely sure," I said. "Someone who likes my stories, apparently."

"I'd like to read some of your stories. You've been holding out on me; I didn't even know you wrote stories like that. Are you going to write one about me?"

"Maybe."

"Ooh, I'm going to be famous!"

I laughed. "Yeah. Sure you are."

"Well, if you put me in one of those stories of yours..."

"Not that many people read my stories."

Several people that evening proved me wrong about that, however. I got a few compliments about my stories and questions about when I'd be writing another one. I hadn't written many, only four or five, which I'd posted on an online erotic story site. I'd told my friends in the chat room about it, and apparently they'd spread the word. I was pleased by the compliments, though a little uncomfortable that people were complimenting me in front of Charles. I wasn't sure what he'd think about me writing that type of story.

By eight thirty, the bar was packed. Usually in crowds, I felt smothered, but with Charles beside me I was fine. I stayed close to him, though I wandered away a couple of times to greet friends and acquaintances while Charles was talking to someone else. When Derek finally arrived, I went to talk to him. "Are you having a good time?" he asked.

"So far, so good," I replied. "There are too many people here, though."

"Yeah, I knew it was going to be crowded," he said. "It's December. People don't want to go out on the deck, and with everyone in here there isn't a lot of room."

"Some people are out on the deck. The smokers."

"Well, yeah, they can't smoke inside, but I bet they aren't happy about being out there. It isn't exactly warm." Derek looked around. "Where's your man?"

"Over there." I nodded toward the far end of the bar. "He's talking to someone whose name I can't remember."

"That's an interesting handle."

"Yeah, funny. I had to get away from him, though. He smells so strongly of pot he was making me sick."

"Probably some people down below the deck getting stoned. Happens every party."

"Yeah. But that smell is beyond the usual."

Charles made his way through the crowd to us and shook Derek's hand. "Glad you made it," he said. "The women finally let you into the bathroom, huh?"

"Yeah, finally," Derek said. "They're still back at the hotel getting ready, but they'll be here sooner or later. I'm going to go make the rounds and say hi to people. Talk to you later." He headed into the other section of the bar.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Charles asked.