Indecent Proposal

Several years ago, we had a remarkable experience with another couple who had been our friends for many years. For my wife, Joan, it turned out to be a very revealing evening, both figuratively and literally.

We had invited our friends, Dennis and Ann to join us for dinner at our home. Before they arrived, we went outside to set the patio table and get the grill ready. It was a hot, humid summer evening so my wife, Joan decided to get more comfortable and cooler. She went back inside to change from jeans and a tee-shirt into a thin little tank top and shorts.

She always complains about women who wear tops with little straps and having ugly bra straps showing beneath. She considers it most unattractive and it's a real pet peeve of hers. She feels strongly those little tops call for either a strapless bra or none at all. So, when she returned, it was not surprising to see her abiding by her own dress code. Even with the warm temperature, the outlines of her nipples, lacking a bra were plainly noticeable. Her pride in her appearance definitely won out over any modesty she may have had.

In the past we used to play several different card games with Dennis and Ann whenever we got together, but since we hadn't played in quite some time, we decided to pass on cards again this evening. I like to play board games and so do our guests, though Joan is less fond of them. We brought out our "Scruples" game that poses all kinds of moral or ethical dilemmas for players to wrestle with. I thought Joan would be happier with it since it doesn't have a lot of complicated rules and doesn't have to last for hours (her principal objections).

Many of the game's questions involve clear-cut ethical situations like receiving too much change from a store clerk, mistakes in your favor on bills or bank statements, cheating on tests, and stuff like that. Then there are some less clear or maybe tempting situations like buying a house or car from an elderly person who obviously doesn't know their true market value or finding money in a rental car. Finally, players are presented some moral dilemmas like having a one-time affair when you were absolutely sure your spouse would never find out, and similar lesser offenses.

That Saturday night we had dinner on our patio, then moved inside to continue to drink wine and play "Scruples." I was confident that everyone would be extremely ethical on the issues of finding lost things and financial dealings, and we were. Some of the moral issues around recreational drug use and sexuality found us all more liberal in our interpretation of what was OK and not so OK. This was especially true for situations that seemed truly victimless. As time went on and the more wine we drank, the more honest I think we became in our answers. About that time Joan drew a card that asked, "Would you pose for nude photos for $5,000?" Per the game rules she had to declare "yes, no, or depends."

She first looked at me, grinned, poked me in the arm, and said, "You've been getting a hell of a bargain, buddy." Then she said to the group, "No, for anyone else I wouldn't consider it for $5,000," then after a slight pause, she chuckled and added, "but maybe for ten."

Dennis instantly questioned whether she really hadn't meant to answer depends instead of no? He focused on her making her moral judgement depending on the price offered vs. the nature of the deed and he pursued it a little more aggressively than she expected. He gave here some more "hypotheticals" including what price it would take for her to have sex with another man.

We quickly got to the million-dollar question from the movie "Indecent Proposal" about having sex with another man for a million dollars. When we all looked at Joan, she immediately chuckled and replied, "For a million bucks, and if the guy looked like Robert Redford, you bet!"

After discussing these scenarios among the four of us, two common denominators became clear: 1) A really "big" amount of money will get people to do just about anything; and 2) It's easy to say "no" and look morally pure when it's not a real and immediate offer. I think Dennis was seriously contemplating those conclusions when he looked at Joan and smiled deviously. Then, he pulled out his billfold, found his secret compartment and removed a $100 bill, laid it on the table and asked her, "Would you show me your breasts (I think he really said tits) for $100? This is a serious offer; think about it." Given the top she was wearing and her obvious lack of a bra, I didn't think Dennis's proposition was a purely random idea.

Remembering the movie script, the first thing Joan said was that she didn't think I'd be very happy with her if she accepted his proposition. So I assured her it was her decision and I'd be fine with whatever she did. In fact, I told her the whole thing was a kind of a turn-on to me. I think I really made her decision a lot harder since it would have been easy to say "no," blame me for it and keep her own real feelings to herself. Dennis has always really liked Joan, and like with most men, liking a woman a lot can bring along a certain degree of sexual interest too. I'm pretty sure she has picked up on those vibes and was in some ways both flattered and enticed by his offer. And she does have nice tits.

I kept expecting Ann to weigh-in with her thoughts about why Dennis's would invest $100 to see Joan's breasts. I figured that Ann would think, if not outright tell Dennis that she had a very nice rack that he could see for free anytime. But women almost always underestimate their men's fascination in seeing another woman's tits. Whatever her actual feelings, she chose not to voice them.

Joan was obviously tempted by the prospect of an easy $100, but it wasn't so much money that it would make her go against any strongly felt moral, ethical, or personal objection. She just kept saying "it's tempting..." but she couldn't quite pull the trigger.

After a long pause in the conversation Dennis said, "OK, how about for $200?" as he went into his billfold again.

That was enough money for Joan to give it a serious second thought, and she took time to reconsider Dennis' offer from all angles.

I wondered if she was still afraid I'd have some problem with her exposing herself to another man, so I assured her again that if she did it I certainly wouldn't think even the slightest bit less of her.

It became clear to me that she really wanted to accept the deal when she began asking about just how she would be expected to "perform" her end of the bargain. This was the nitty-gritty stuff like, "Can I just pull my top up, or do I have to take it off?" And "For how long?"

Dennis was obviously wanting to see Joan's tits, whether she took her top off or at least let him get a good look at what was underneath, but he wanted to have some fun with her too. So, he proposed that, "For $100, I'd settle for a 30 second flash; but I think for $200, you ought to take your top all the way off for at least a full minute. Think about it, $200 a minute is like $12,000 an hour!"

That made his proposition very real and very personal too. While I think she was ready to take the offer in theory, now she was dealing with the reality of her pulling up or removing her top and having her bare breasts exposed for a what would probably seem like lots longer than 30 seconds or a minute.

Really wanting to see this offer play out, I had a brainstorm and asked Ann if she'd take the same offer from me if put $200 on the table. I thought that no doubt it would make it easier for Joan if she had company and, in that way, every one of us four would be participating. Then no one could claim the moral high ground above the others. Before Ann could answer I went to my stash and got two new "Big Bens" and put them across from the two already on the table. My offer was obviously genuine too.

That really stopped the conversation while each of us looked at one another waiting for someone to say something. Finally, after the two women traded body language and facial contortions, Joan completely shocked me by saying rather gruffly, "Take your money back, there's already an offer on the table. It was made just to me, so let me decide what I want to do with that first."

The way she looked at me I knew she was serious, so I picked up my two hundred, and again told her to do it if she wanted to, it was 100% her choice.

"I wasn't looking for your permission," she snapped, then smiled to take the edge off her remark.

I couldn't tell for sure if Ann was relieved or disappointed, but she sure didn't protest being let off the hook. Joan continued to grumble on about "why am I even considering this," and the second thoughts were obvious. But, with the way her nipples were now poking through her top, I knew she was going to do it, and for more reasons than just the money.

Finally, she reached for the money still the table, put it in her pocket and said, "OK, Dennis, it's your lucky day." With that she looked at me and Dennis, nodded, sighed audibly, and pulled her top up over her head and took it off to display her shapely bare breasts. Dennis and me staring at her tits was causing Joan some serious arousal. Those captivating nipples confirmed she was getting more out of this than just financial gain. No one spoke for the longest time, way more than a minute, then she put her top back on and asked, "There, was that worth $200?"

"Absolutely," Dennis replied honestly and without hesitation, "every penny's worth." Ann didn't seem too happy with Dennis and was pretty quiet the rest of the evening.

I really wanted talk more among the four of us about what really convinced Joan to do this, how doing it just by herself seemed to matter a lot, what motivated Dennis to make his proposal, and what did Ann think of all of this, but I somehow knew better. For whatever reason, we just got treated to a wonderfully sensual moment that Joan probably could not explain right now even to herself.

After our company left and we were in bed I did ask Joan, "I know you struggled with Dennis' offer, so what was it that finally convinced you to show him your tits?"

She thought about it for a while and said, "We've all been good friends for a long time, and I've seen him look at me with some sexual interest, though never crossing any lines. So, when he upped his offer to $200, I knew how much he really wanted to see me at least half naked. Geez, in my skimpy camisole he'd already seen a good part of my 'good parts' for free, so getting paid for taking it off seemed like a pretty good bargain."

"I can understand exactly what Dennis feels about you. I didn't offer Ann the same $200 just to make it easier for you. There is something almost mystical about imagining a woman friend you have known, admired, and found attractive for years being naked for you to see."

"To be perfectly honest, there's something kind of magical about a guy a woman's known, liked and found attractive wanting to see her naked too," Joan confessed. "It wasn't like we'd have had to eat 'Friskies' without that $200."

"Speaking of the $200, why didn't you want Ann to join you when I made her the same offer Dennis proposed.?"

I really expected her to say something about her not wanting me to see another woman's breasts. She kind of hemmed and hawed a bit so I knew there was something else going on that motivated her. I even asked specifically if the reason was that she didn't want me seeing Ann's breasts. She offered that this wouldn't have been a problem, and in fact it would probably have made it a lot easier for her.

So I pressed further again, since I wasn't getting a straight answer. Finally, tired of my badgering, she really shocked me by saying, "Look, if you had given Ann $200, it would have been like I'd shown Dennis my tits for free."

"But, Joan, you just said the money wasn't all that important to you," I asked cautiously not wanting to sound confrontational.

"It wasn't, but it gave me a good reason for doing what some people would see as a bad thing."

It just amazes me how much the money thing factored in her decision-making. It sure wasn't the money alone, if at all, but it certainly gave her "cover" to push her sexual limits a little further than she, or certainly I would have expected.