Scrolling and looking for cheap furniture to fill his practically empty apartment on marketplace wasn't going particularly well. He didn't have a lot to spend, and people seemed to have a ridiculously high opinion of stuff they were trying to get rid of.
Then an image of a gaudy, zebra-striped couch came up. It looked to be in good shape, and the asking price was only $80 — negotiable.
What's more, Jacob recognized it, and the name of the seller.
Mary's mom
, he thought, and chuckled. He and Mary had more or less grown bored of each other and started talking to someone new at about the same time, so it hadn't ended badly. Her mom was good-looking, had nice tits, and had flirted with him every time he was around — and her husband wasn't — much to Mary's dismay.
It was within budget, and if he could negotiate down, that would be even better. He quickly responded to the ad, "Is this still available?"
A couple of minutes later he got a response. "I only posted the ad fifteen minutes ago, Jacob. Yes, it's available. Aren't you the early bird?"
"Are you busy right now? I only live a few blocks away now."
"Come on over."
He shut off his tablet and got up from the bed, which was currently the only place to sit other than a pair of ratty barstools. It was only a couple of minute's drive in his pickup to Mary's house.
He didn't even have a chance to knock, because she opened the door as he was walking up the sidewalk. She was wearing a vivid red dress with a black belt around her waist. The neckline was loose and flowing, showing off just the tiniest bit of cleavage, and the hem was several inches above the knee, showing off long expanses of gorgeous leg. Her glasses added a touch of school teacher or librarian vibe that only made her look sexier.
He smiled and asked, "Is your mom home? I was coming to look at a couch for sale."
She rolled her eyes, sighed, and said, "Oh, you." Then she stepped back out of the doorway and said, "Come on in."
He couldn't resist a quick peek at her ass when she closed the door. She was still hot.
"It's down in the basement, in my ex-husband's old
man cave
," she said the last two words with disdain bordering on disgust, while waving for him to follow. As she walked toward the door, she said, "Why on earth do you want that awful thing?"
"Beggars can't be choosers, and I need furniture. Besides, it comes with the bonus of seeing you."
"What would people think if they heard you say that?"
"That they were thinking the same thing."
She laughed while opening the basement door and turning on the light. "You haven't changed a bit."
"Neither have you," he responded, and then let out a quiet growl.
"You could almost make a girl think you're serious."
At the bottom of the stairs, she flipped another switch, filling the basement with light. Ahead was the laundry room, and to his right was the old man cave, which was now an empty space. Holes pocked the wall where decorations had once hung. The only things inside were the couch, and a few boxes.
She said, "There it is. Go give it a test drive. I'll be overjoyed to have that awful thing out of the house. I'm sick of looking at it."
Jacob walked over to the couch, and she followed. He was pleasantly surprised when he sat down. The couch was really comfortable. Up close, it looked just as good as it had appeared in the photos.
Mary's mom sat down on the opposite end and slowly ran her hand over the back of the couch while looking at him. "So, what do you think?"
"Comfortable, and I don't own enough stuff for it to clash with anything. So, you're asking $80?"
"Mmm hmm."
"Any chance you could go down to $50? Money's a little tight."
She pursed her lips for a moment and said, "It's a steal at $80. I looked it up and nearly fainted when I saw it retailed new for over $2000. I almost tracked my ex down and strangled him when I found that out. Granted, it's ten years old, but I think the price is more than fair."
It was hard to argue with that,
and
hard to fathom why anyone would spend that much on a zebra-striped couch.
"Sure you can't go down a little?"
Her eyebrows lifted, and her face practically screamed
what did you just say?
Jacob felt his ears go a little warm when her reaction alerted him to the potential double meaning of what he'd said. "Come down a little, I mean."
She smirked and chuckled.
Realizing that wasn't much better in conjunction with the first inadvertently suggestive attempt, he shook his head, fought against the heat spreading to the rest of his face, and asked, "Could you do $60?"
She followed up almost instantly with, "Nine?"
It was the most blatantly sexual thing she'd ever said to him, and it caught him off-guard. "What?" he asked with somewhat nervous laughter in his voice.