"Honey, I've made reservations for a getaway tonight and already packed a suitcase for you. If you're up for it, we can leave as soon as you're ready."
That was quite a way to start off a Saturday afternoon, since lately their conversations were usually filled with the tensions left over from long-running arguments or daily friction. Although she refused to reveal any details, the thought that Diane would schedule what was obviously a vacation to rekindle their romance gave Jim a positive outlook on their marriage for the first time in weeks.
The anticipation of seeing Diane in something sheer and lacy was quite arousing. Dianne had always been good-looking, but lately she had gotten on some kind of fitness kick - probably some silly video dance exercise DVD - but she had definitely gotten a tighter, hotter body. The prospect was certainly a welcome change from his spending most nights in the guest bedroom after a stupid fight about some trivial issue.
They had been driving for about a half hour and had actually been having a decent conversation for a change. Because they were headed towards Philadelphia he was wondering whether the plans would include some cultural event, and he was trying to recall which of the pro sports teams might have home games.
She exited the highway at one of the upscale suburbs that narrowed the options to one likely suspect since it was near one of his favorite hotels. They had stayed there a few years ago for a conference, but it was extremely memorable for its fitness center.
The well-equipped glass-enclosed gym overlooked the hotel's beautiful indoor pool. What made it so memorable for Jim, however, was that he had set his two favorite personal records in that gym.
In order for patrons to lift weights without needing a spotter, the gym had a Smith machine, where the barbell rides on a pulley system that keeps it horizontal and has safety catches. It was the first time he had tried such a system, and compared to his previous best bench press of 175 pounds, he succeeded with 200!
With the adrenaline flowing through his veins, he also bettered his 95 pound bicep curl to an even one hundred. Feeling like Hercules led to a particularly energetic episode of victory sex with Diane in the hotel room afterwards. He had resolved to use the inspiration of that day to start working out regularly again, but he never quite got around to it.
Barely able to contain his excitement Jim asked, "Are we going to the hotel where I benched two hundred?"
"Yes, dear," Diane replied with a degree of resignation - having heard his retelling of the legend many times - as they pulled into the parking lot. "I did make some special arrangements, though. Would you like to hear about them now or would you like them to be a surprise as the evening progresses?"
"Now," he insisted with childlike enthusiasm.
"Okay. We have reservations for dinner in the restaurant, and then I've made arrangements with the manager to use the gym and pool after closing, so we'll have our own private fitness club from ten o'clock tonight until six o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Wow! That sounds fantastic!" he replied as visions of a sexy workout danced through his head.
For a change they actually had a very pleasant conversation over dinner, discussing other trips they'd taken, and even reminiscing about their honeymoon. Finally, by nine o'clock, he had run out of patience, so they returned to the room with the idea that they could start the aerobics portion of their workout before ten. Opening his suitcase he saw that she had packed his usual gym trunks and tee shirt, but also enclosed a new pair of interesting underwear. The red briefs had pouch support like an athletic supporter, but were styled like racing swimwear.
"This could be an interesting evening," he thought.
When they arrived at the fitness center they saw only two people in the gym and one family in the pool, so he took the opportunity to look around. His heart raced as he saw the oft-remembered location of his achievements. Laid out in the room overlooking the pool were the aerobics equipment, a mat area, professional-quality weight machines, and at the far end, sets of fixed dumbbells and barbells, and his pride and joy, the Smith machine with its set of Olympic plates on racks on the side.
They started running on the treadmills and Diane was setting a brisk pace with ease. Jim occasionally observed the other people in the gym. Both of them kept glancing at Diane in her tight shorts that highlighted her excellent buns. The woman on the elliptical seemed envious and the man using the weight machines seemed overtly lustful.
The hands on the clock finally reached ten and the other patrons left as the manager came to lock up. He handed them a special keycard to the fitness center, explained that the cleaning staff would not enter until six a.m., and assured them that he had turned off the video cameras in the gym and pool areas.
Diane smiled at Jim and gave him a big hug, compressing her delightful breasts against his chest. She explained what she had in mind for the evening. "I thought that to make it interesting, we should have a little competition, with our usual strip-poker rules -- shoes count as one item, socks count as one item, and after running out of clothes, a player has to do a 'forfeit' and grant a favor to the winner. We should simply work our way down the room at each station. The winner at the previous station should go first on the next station, since that gives the person going second the advantage of knowing what weight to beat. Finally, we should also agree that we play to the end, no matter how the game seems to be going."
Jim was more than eager to watch Diane have to remove her clothes piece by piece and was already fantasizing about the sexual requests he would make her perform at each step, so he instantly agreed to the terms.
Diane suggested they start at the mat area with sit-ups. Jim realized he might get beaten on this one since she had been working out regularly, but he was willing to give her this as a head start. He did thirty sit-ups, barely grinding out the last two. She did fifty without even slowing down. He was a bit concerned by her excellent endurance, but figured he could count on the upcoming strength-oriented events.
He took off his tee-shirt and she gave him another big hug, "Thanks for losing the shirt, Jim. You look very sexy to me."
Next was the three-way leg station. Diane went first and Jim drank in the delightful sight of her sexy and athletic legs pumping as she worked her way up to some very respectable weights of 210 on the leg press, 125 on leg extensions, and 95 on leg curls. Clearly whatever fitness routine she was doing must really favor legs – Jim supposed that a dancing DVD could do this.
He started out with some moderate warm-up weights, but as he progressed to higher weights, they seemed to get heavy faster than he expected. Despite his best efforts he was extremely surprised that he could only manage the leg press at 200, the leg extension at 110, and the leg curls at 85.
Although Diane might be able to hold her own with lower body exercises Jim was still confident that he could show her who was boss on the upper.
With good-natured generosity he conceded, "Well, Diane, you've clearly proven that you have extremely magnificent legs. I take off my hat to you... except since I'm not wearing a hat, here goes my sneakers, socks, and gym shorts." This left him feeling a bit exposed, standing in only the red form-fitting briefs.
"Thanks, Jim. I'm really appreciating the view. I guess I'll go first again."
She moved to the arms station and Jim was struck by how shapely her arms had become. He was flabbergasted to see her work up to 80 pounds on the biceps curl machine and 85 on triceps. Desperate to beat her weight and drawing on his memory of curling 100 on the free weights in this very room, he managed to force out a slightly sloppy 90 pounds on both biceps and triceps.
"Still got those big arms, babe," she smiled. "So I owe you two items of clothing."
Jim expected her to take off her sneakers and socks. Not much in the way of excitement, but necessary steps nonetheless. To his surprise, however, she added, "Maybe I'll follow your lead with the top first."
