Room Share

Kate and I walked across the car park to the hotel reception trundling our bags behind us. We were booked on to a fortnight long, mandatory company training course to meet a new government policy on IT security. We weren't looking forward to it - the subject matter was dull, and only marginally relevant to our jobs, and we were away from our homes. On the plus side, we were in Dorset and near the coast during a spell of hot summer weather, and the hotel was a good one with a decent restaurant - all paid for - and a swimming pool. It was over our usual permitted budget because the late organisation of the course meant there was nothing else available anywhere near.

I liked Kate because she was good at her job, assertive and organised; and also because she was a work-friend, one of those people you get on well with and would class as a friend, though you probably wouldn't see outside work-related social events. Full of life, naturally friendly, confident and straight-talking, she was about 40 to my late fifties, attractive, fit and in good shape. She had long dark-brown hair, a ready smile and a direct blue-eyed gaze. I'd always had a bit of a crush on her, genuinely affectionate rather than pervy, though not without an eye to her body.

The receptionist took my name and tapped her keyboard.

"All this week and next, twin room for two with dinner and breakfast?"

"Err, no," I replied, "for one, and another booking for my colleague."

She looked at Kate. "Ah, sorry, could I take your name, please?" Kate told her and she tapped again, then frowned, tapped a bit more, and eventually shook her head slowly.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't have a separate booking in that name. But that is the name I have for the second person in the room that's booked. You definitely booked two rooms?"

Kate and I pulled out our phones and found the booking emails we'd each received, and showed them to the receptionist.

"That's odd, they have the same reference." She showed us. "Can you bear with me? I'll just check with my manager."

She went into the office behind the desk, and I looked at Kate, who looked back, I think with the same slightly puzzled expression.

"We might have to get another room ourselves and claim it back," she said. "How's your bank account?"

I laughed. We could hear a conversation in the office, and more keyboard tapping. After a couple of minutes a chair scraped, and a second woman came out, followed by the receptionist.

"I'm really sorry - there's been a mistake when we took the bookings. It's our error. We've put you in the same room. Worse than that, we don't have any other rooms, we're fully booked until next month. Would it be OK if I started calling around some other hotels?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I answered, "but that's a real pain for our travel every day, and the evenings. Could you ask if they have two rooms? You know..."

The manager cut in. "Yes, of course, you'd want to stay together, and it's our mistake. I'll do that. Erm, would you like to wait in the restaurant with a cup of tea and a cake, on us, while I sort it out?"

We accepted, and the receptionist sat us at a table and went through to the kitchen to arrange for the drinks. We were pretty disgruntled, concerned that we'd now lost some of the redeeming features of our enforced stay. Twenty minutes or so later the manager came in, looking anxious.

"We've tried every decent hotel for a long way around, and I'm afraid there's just nothing," she announced flatly. "It's the time of year and the weather. I don't know what to suggest. I'm so sorry."

I looked at Kate. "We'd better have the room, and maybe something will turn up. I could sleep in my car. Or would you be able to find a corner I could sleep in? A storage room or something, with a mattress...?"

Kate interrupted. "You can't do that! It would be horrible, for...."

The manager broke in, "We wouldn't be able to anyway, no, it wouldn't meet our safety standards. No alarms, all sorts of reasons."

"OK..." I said, and trailed off, out of ideas, and there was a pause while we all looked at each other blankly.

"Well, could we just share the room?" suggested Kate.

I looked at her and grimaced. "That wouldn't be right. We'd have no privacy. HR would definitely not approve! I'd be invading your space, it would be unavoidable."

Kate put her head on one side. "Well hang on, that's for me to worry about. I mean, it might be awkward, but we could be careful, it could work. And anyway, I'd be invading your space too - it's not all about you!"

"I think I'd trust you, Kate!" I replied, ironically.

"Well I'd trust you, too," she smiled. "That's my point." That seemed to settle it.

The manager gave a wan smile. "Umm, OK... But we'll give you first option on any room which becomes vacant, and we'll keep trying other hotels. And we can pay for your dinners as some kind of apology."

"Ah, that's great," I said, "but they're on expenses anyway!"

"Oh... your drinks, then? Are those covered on your expenses? We could pick them up, so long as you don't drink us dry every night."

"That sounds good!" Kate exclaimed. And the deal was sealed.

**********************

The room was large and airy, with two double beds and expensive-looking fittings. The windows came almost to floor level and looked over a neat lawn and trees at the back of the hotel.

Kate lifted her bag on to the bed nearest the window. "OK if I take this one?"

"Sure, yeah," I said, putting mine down beside the other bed. Kate threw open a window, and I put my head round the door of the bathroom. "Wow, this is pretty tasty!" I called out. Kate scurried across and peered in with me. Rich chrome taps, lighting round the mirror, walk in shower with one of those wide heads directly above and thick glass panels, and a deep oval bath.

"Oh, swish! No expense spared!" said Kate, impressed.

We unpacked, laughing as we arrived at the wardrobe at the same time with clothes for hanging. It was strange attending to my personal stuff with someone else in the room, and to see Kate attending to hers. Just by chance I glanced up to see her pull a couple of bras out of her bag, and my breath caught in my throat as an image came to my mind unbidden, of Kate in a bra. I turned away just before Kate glanced up, and then looked back. Our eyes met, and Kate blushed as she stowed the bras in a drawer.

As much as the prospect of more little thrills appealed to me, I was genuinely concerned for Kate's dignity, and our friendship. "Are we going to be OK here? I mean, that was tricky enough, and you were just moving underwear from A to B. Imagine the mornings."

Kate turned back to me, serious. "It'll be fine. That just caught me by surprise. We'll need to get used to things like that... I'll need to. We're on a different level, aren't we? I mean, you wouldn't normally see me with a handful of bras, but we'll be in each other's space, like you said."

"I'm worried I'll... see something... look at you... step over the line without meaning to," I answered. "And mess things up. We get on well..."

"Paul, it'll be OK. It will be a bit more... personal... But I don't think you'll be taking advantage. I wouldn't be sharing a room with most of the people we work with." She shivered. "Ugh, imagine, Pete Roberts!"

"Jesus!" I clutched my chest in mock horror. "I wouldn't even want to be in the room next door to him."

Kate laughed. "Anyway, it might be the other way round. I might see your pants!"

"Never! You'd become hysterical."

We laughed together, and turned back to our unpacking.

**********************

We ate a good dinner, and sat out afterwards on the terrace with the rest of the bottle of white the hotel had provided, talking about work, colleagues, politics and all kinds of things. Around 10.30 we wandered back up to the room to go to bed. It was still warm in there, and Kate opened one of the windows wider, and left a gap in the curtains when she closed them.

"How are we doing this?" she asked. "Can I go in the bathroom first?"

"Yep, fine," I agreed, and sat on my bed to wait. I set an alarm for the morning on my phone, and browsed for a few minutes, hearing the muffled sounds of taps over the gentle hum of the extractor. After a few minutes the light clicked and the door swung open, and Kate stepped back into the room. But a version of Kate I'd never thought I'd see, even since the last few hours. She was wearing only a pair of plain white knickers and a tight, pale green vest top with thin shoulder straps, which covered her navel but left a strip of bare skin from waist to hips. She clutched her folded jeans and shirt under one arm, and the strap of her bra swung below. She'd let down her long, dark brown hair, and it fell over her shoulders.

She looked stunning, and I was stunned. I knew she had a good body, but I hadn't expected to see so much of it. Her toned thighs, the knickers clinging to her hips and around her groin, the inward curve of pale flesh from hips to waist, and her breasts pressing against the thin material, disclosing their soft roundness, and the shape of her nipples protruding gently through the cloth.

In the space of a second I was fired by her beauty and her sensuality. It wasn't lust, more a fevered appreciation of her form. I already thought she was beautiful, but this... Seeing her physique, the shape of her, and her skin, the presence of her breasts and nipples, the smooth curve of her vagina beneath her knickers, made her somehow more real, more alive, glowing, and sexual.

"Ah, is this a bit much?" Kate smiled sheepishly, and I realised I was staring and my mouth was open. She carried on walking to her bed. "I thought you'd have to see me like this at some point, so I might as well get on with it." She dropped her clothes on the floor and faced me, and I manfully retained eye contact. "This is how I'm going to sleep," she announced, matter-of-factly, "so I'll probably be around the room like this a fair bit. Is it OK, or should I cover up more?"

I realised I'd have to arrange my scrambled thoughts into sensible words, and managed to marshal something coherent. "Sorry, yes... I wasn't expecting it - like you said, we're on a different level. Sorry if I was staring. I'll try not to. Just the surprise."

"I forgive you," she smiled. "You going in the bathroom?"

As I brushed my teeth, I pondered my own options for nightwear. I normally slept naked, so I didn't possess pyjamas, but that was obviously out of the question. Pants, then. But would I undress here and walk out as she had, or do it sitting on my bed with my back to her, as she may not want to see a middle-aged bloke strutting about in his underwear? I didn't want to push it, but from the conversations we'd had I was inclined to think she'd be OK with the former, it would be part of our new normal.

I stripped off and examined my reflection in the well-lit mirror. It was heated so it wouldn't mist up when the hot water got going. You didn't get those in Premier Inns. I was in good physical condition as I ate sensibly, ran a couple of times a week, and practised yoga. I was six feet tall, with a healthy BMI, a waist that still went inwards a bit at the sides, a flat belly and muscular thighs and arms. My chest wasn't as defined as I'd have liked, but I was good for my age.

I took a deep breath and went out into the bedroom, holding my clothes as Kate had. She was sitting up on her bed across the room, bare legs stretched out, and I watched for her reaction as she looked up. It was positive: she grinned and her eyes flicked quickly down and back up to my face. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, eh?"

I smiled back, and mirrored her earlier actions by dropping my clothes on the floor and standing facing her at the foot of the two beds. I was consciously showing my body, though casually, without putting on pressure. Nevertheless, I was aware of the shape of my penis showing through my underwear. I held my arms out sideways. "Am I OK like this?"

Kate looked me up and down again. "Yeah, you're fine," she said, smiling. It may have been my imagination, but I sensed she was enjoying seeing me stripped off. She'd certainly checked me over a couple of times, when she might have turned away if she wasn't happy.

I moved up to my bed and sat down with my legs stretched out, like Kate. "So I guess we're even," I said, "This makes sense to me. It's practical for us to be in our underwear. I'm comfortable with it, and I'm guessing you are...?" I trailed off, looking across at her.

"Yeah, it's OK, actually. I don't think you're going to keep gawping at me like when I came out of the bathroom," she teased. I held my hands up apologetically, and looked down, embarrassed. "But it's all right, I think it's OK to look a bit, it's natural. I looked at you just now."

"I noticed," I said, pointedly but not serious, and it was Kate's turn to look embarrassed. After a moment I added, "I don't mind, though - you looking at me. Like you say, it's natural."

"I guess we're both in good shape, so it's not unpleasant for the other one," Kate offered. "Or, it's better than that, isn't it? It's nice to see someone's body when they look good."

"Yeah," I agreed. "And having some confidence about your own body makes it easier to be around the other person's... I mean being confident about my body makes it easier to admire yours, cos it's a two-way thing. Does that make sense? Am I allowed to say that?"

"Yes," answered Kate, "I think that's what I'm thinking too." She looked across at me, and I looked back, and we smiled and kept eye contact for a few moments, before I let my eyes drift across her chest, and down her belly to her thighs. When I looked back she was still smiling, and returned the compliment by directing her gaze to my own exposed body. Watching her eyes as she looked at my body was sexy.

"Probably better get some sleep," she said, sensibly, and we settled down for the night. My mind was racing, and I realised that my earlier fevered appreciation was now supplemented by plain sexual desire. As I replayed the recent scenes in my mind, trying to fix the images of Kate's shape, her tits, her nipples, the mound inside her knickers, my cock grew hard. The room wasn't dark, with the curtain partially open, and I looked across to where she lay, her back to me, the covers pulled only to her waist. I reached down and lightly stroked my prick, but I couldn't masturbate: for one thing it would have been obvious to Kate, but also I didn't really feel it was the right response. The position we were in was based on a strong level of trust and mutual respect, and sneaking a quick wank wasn't part of it. I didnt sleep for a long time, though.

**********************

I fumbled for my phone and swiped up to silence the alarm. Seven o'clock. Daylight poured in through the gap in the curtains, bright sunshine. The air was mercifully cool. Birds sang outside, a blackbird asserting its territorial rights over a rival. Kate pushed herself up at the same time as me, and we swung our legs to the floor almost in unison.

"Morning!" she smiled, chirpily.

"Good morning. Sleep OK?" I enquired. I took in her thighs without looking directly, stood up, and stepped over to the long desk to flick on the kettle. I'd moved my near-naked body across her line of vision nonchalantly, and didn't know how she'd reacted.

"Yeah, not bad. It was hot, though, wasnt it?" I concurred. "Didn't cool down 'til morning."

I spotted now the effect of the cooler air on her nipples, which strained proudly through her thin vest, even the shape of her areolae discernible. My eyes lingered only for a second, but Kate of course noticed and looked down.

"Oh!" she exclaimed gently, and raised her hands to cover her chest, lifting her eyes to mine and stifling a grin. "Oops! It is a bit cooler, isn't it?!"

I laughed and turned to the mugs and tea bags. "Cup of tea?"

"Oh, yes please!" There was even a mini-fridge and fresh milk. "Is it OK if I go in the bathroom first... again?"

"Yeah, no worries. Go in now, and your tea should be ready to drink when you get out."

She stood up, her arms back by her sides, and walked past me to the bathroom. As she got there she turned to me. I could see her nipples again but she'd either forgotten or didn't care. Her face was serious. "Or you could bring it in to me."

My mouth fell open.

"Hah! You wish!" she laughed, and I regained my composure and rolled my eyes.

"You bugger!" I grinned, and she shut the door behind her.

As I waited to go in the bathroom, and put my clothes on the bed, I thought about her joke and what it might mean. She'd clearly worked out that I was enjoying seeing her - I'd pretty much told her the previous night - and she was confident enough to joke about it, and not to hide. But I thought there was maybe a signal that I shouldn't be seeing much more of her, this would be as far as it went. Or was I reading too much into it? And the hotel might come up with a second room at any point. Still pretty good though, I reflected. Jesus, Kate's nipples!

She came out wrapped in a towel, wet hair draped over her bare shoulders, holding her vest and knickers. I headed into the bathroom and shut the door, looking around and imagining Kate showering just a few minutes ago, right there. I brushed my teeth, shaved and showered, wrapped myself in my own towel, and opened the door.

Kate was standing with her back to me drying her hair, looking out of the open window into the grounds, wearing knickers but nothing else. She hadn't heard me because of the hair dryer. Her figure looked great from this angle, and the skin of her long back was smooth. There was the slightest view of the side of her right breast as she moved her arms. All this I saw in a few seconds before I acted as I knew I should, and called her name loudly while turning right round to look at the door to the corridor. I could have watched, waited for her to finish and face me, and seen her breasts for a moment before she covered them, and I might even have been able to pass that off as accidental. That thought had rapidly crossed my mind. But I didn't want to do that. Kate was a friend, I had respect for her, and more to the point she trusted me, and was trusting me greatly in the way we were sharing the room.

The hair dryer went quiet and clattered on the desk. "Oh my God!" Kate exclaimed, and a few seconds later, "You can turn round now."

I did, and saw her again with her back to me, reaching back to fasten her bra. She faced me. "I just forgot where I was!"

"I guessed so," I answered.

"I wasn't trying to flash at you... Thank you for turning round," she added.

"It's fine," I smiled. "I'm not looking for a cheap thrill. This is a delicate arrangement, you're trusting me."

"Well, you've passed the trust test, thank you," she smiled back.

Only now did I absorb that she was standing before me in just white knickers and bra. The bra fitted well around her breasts, and was slightly lacy at the top of the cups. Yet again she looked fantastic, and it would have been impossible to resist looking her very briefly up and down. She must have seen my eyes move, but she didn't react, and only after I'd re-established eye contact did we both go back to getting ready. I sat on my bed facing away to put my pants on, naked for a moment when I undid the towel, but showing only the smallest glimpse of buttock from Kate's viewpoint, if she was even looking.

**********************

We breakfasted, and drove the 20 minutes to the training centre. On the journey I thought it was a good time to check our arrangement.

"So," I began. "Review. How's this sharing thing going?"

Kate thought for a few moments before responding. "I think it's working. Couple of dodgy moments from me, but no harm done. You've been very honourable!"