Maybe Read Free

week. She’s already agreed to sign them.”
    “Don’t do it hoping to marry me,” she says.
    “Why not?”
    “We’re never going to be a couple.”
    He changes the subject. “I’ve found a guy to do your boob job.”
    She laughs. “I hope it’s a doctor and not just some guy.”
    “Don’t worry. Your boobs will soon be in the hands of a highly-skilled surgeon.”
    “Odd way to put it,” she says.
    “It seems insane to pay another man to put his hands on your body. He should pay you for the privilege.”
    “Hmm. Maybe I should charge you next time!”
    “If that’s what you want, I’ll gladly pay.”
    “Assuming there’s a next time,” she says, then smiles, noting his silence. Maybe loves being able to manipulate him for a change. For the past year he’s been a demanding, judgmental father figure. Now, after one night in the sack, she’s turned him into a lovesick puppy. Sam spent a year scrambling his voice, manipulating her over the telephone, and all that time he thought he was in charge. Now he’s met her, had sex, and his power has crashed and burned. He’s fallen head over heels for her, and she loves it.
    He says, “There has to be a next time.”
    Maybe can hardly contain her joy. In truth, she expected he’d probably never call after getting what he wanted. That’s happened more than once with boys in the past, so she assumed a grown man would be even more aloof.
    Especially a married man like Sam.
    But as it turns out, she has the power to make him happy or sad. It’s an amazing feeling, one she’s never experienced.
    Sam says, “I have to have you again.”
    “Why?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “What’s the big deal?”
    He sighs.
    She loves it when he sighs. He’s frustrated, working hard to win her affection.
    “You’re the best I ever had,” he says.
    “The best what?”
    “Lover.”
    She smiles and says, “That can’t be true.”
    “I’d take a lie detector test on it.”
    “You’re older, wealthy, and married. This is all about you getting a little strange on the side. You probably fucked me, thinking of your wife.”
    “That’s not true, Kimberly.”
    “Wrong name, Sam.”
    “Sorry.”
    “You expect me to believe I’m the best you ever had?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Have you forgotten my sexual issues? You had to inject my vagina with Botox to get it open. I felt nothing. It can’t have been a pleasant experience for you.”
    “It’s not just the act, it’s the whole experience. It’s being with you, holding you, touching you. Helping you achieve sexual comfort. I know it sounds absurd, but I’ve never felt this way in my life. If you don’t like me calling it love, I’ll call it passion, though it’s love, passion, and a hundred other things combined. I’m not trying to push you, honey. But I have to have you. And yes, you’re the best I ever had.”
    “The best what?”
    “I already told you.”
    “Say it again. Be vulgar.”
    “The best fuck.”
    “Say it again, with feeling.”
    “ You’re the best fuck I ever had! ”
    “Thanks, Sam.”
    She feels something warm and exciting stirring within her…
    And likes it.
    “When can I see you again?” he says.
    “I’m not sure. I’m working for him.”
    “Who, your father?”
    “Yes.”
    “Have you told him about me?”
    “He still thinks you’re a post-Rapture pet salesman.”
    “Have you told him my real name?”
    “He asked, but I refused. We’re still calling you Chuck.”
    “If he demands to know my name, what will you say?”
    “I’ll tell him to fuck off.”
    “He’s your boss now,” Sam says.
    “I freelance. I work for him, I work for you. If someone else comes along, who knows?”
    “Prove it.”
    “Prove what?”
    “That you work for me.”
    “How?”
    “Kill him.”
    “Who, my father?”
    “Yes.”
    She laughs. “I’d kill you before raising my voice at him.”
    “I know. I was just kidding. But I think I’ve made my point. You obviously don’t work for