Seduction

I offered her a job and a roof, nothing more. But that first night in the house by the river, neither of us pretended it was still just an arrangement.

What started as a paid massage in a small-town hotel turned into something my friend and I swore we’d never tell a soul.

I’d put on the shortest skirt I owned, and when that college student rested his hand on my thigh, I knew the journey would be far longer than the ticket said.

I’d soaked her dress at the start of the party. I never imagined that same stranger would corner me against the railing when there were almost no people left on the rooftop.

A guy rummaging through a dumpster whistled at me in the street, and when he told me why, I wanted to disappear. What I never imagined was how I’d end up thanking him.

I thought it was just a game of late-night messages until one afternoon he shut my office door, turned off the light, and stopped asking permission.

I dressed to impress, but once I stepped into that office I realized I wasn’t going to use my résumé to get the job.

The rustle of the sheet woke me, and when I turned my head I found her asleep beside me. I remembered nothing from the night before, but my body did.

He had never seen a naked woman until that afternoon by the waterfall. What he did not know was that desire would carry him to the end of the world.

I thought I was the most disciplined man at the faculty. Then she leaned against the empty classroom door and made it clear she knew everything I hid.

I hadn’t been touched by anyone in two years. My daughter knew it, and that afternoon she showed up in my room with a thong two sizes too small and an idea in her head.

I stopped to fix a bike chain and kept walking to the office, not knowing that stranger would cost me my job... and give me a lot more than a bad day.

I met her in a dive bar, and at thirty I thought I knew everything about sex. That woman proved in a single night that I knew nothing.

I met him among paintings that seemed to whisper, and two hours later I was against the door of his apartment, wondering how I’d come this far without saying a word.

My heart was racing and my legs were tight. I didn’t want to look, didn’t want to think; I only wanted him to keep going and finally discover what I’d imagined so many times.

I never thought that a comment about how obedient her dog was could ignite something like this between two old acquaintances on her sofa.

I arrived alone at a freshly moved-into floor, wearing tight leggings and a thin sweater. The mover looked at me differently when he closed the door, and I knew I wouldn’t be leaving unsatisfied.

I put on the red dress with nothing underneath and thought it was just a thank-you dinner. I had no idea how the night was going to end.

I took an empty shot glass with me when I left the dance floor. I didn’t even understand why, until we were alone in his car and I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

An old ballad comes on the radio and I stop listening to the lyrics. I start seeing something else, a scene I shouldn’t tell you about, but I confess anyway.