by Rachel Torrent

Carli walked into the Matthews store at 11:45 a.m. hoping the owner was there. Not the son, Eric. Not anyone else at all. Just the owner, Alan.

She’d met Eric here a week ago while buying a parka for her trip to Aspen. But she’d had her eye on Eric’s dad the whole time. And now she couldn’t get him out of her head. He was least 45, but still in great physical shape. Short, reddish blond hair with touches of gray. Green eyes and an enchanting smile.

He was married, she assumed. He wore a gold band. He’d probably been that way most of his life. But she’d sensed he wasn’t entirely satisfied. There had even been an overheard phone call last week where he’d said to the other party, “I’ll be home when I get home. Stop nagging.”

And he’d seemed overly attentive to Carli too. Maybe her luck was changing. She’d found an older man she was attracted to in all aspects, and he was possibly charmed by her too. This possibility is exactly what she’d returned to the store today to explore. A real adventure in a real adventure store.

Then she saw him.

The door had just closed behind her, and he walked out from the back room. Other customers may have been in the store; she didn’t notice. She saw only him, and he looked better than she’d remembered. Dark blue, tight-fitting knit shirt with two of the three buttons undone, tucked in, sleeves pushed up. Light-blue worn jeans, also tight-fitting. Carli took it all in instantly, memorizing him for later pleasure.

“Hi! Can I help you?” He smiled his salesman’s smile at her.

“Hi. Yes, I’m Carli. I was in a few days ago to get a parka. Eric helped me.”

“Oh, yeah. I thought you looked familiar. I’m Alan Matthews.” He held out his hand, still smiling, eyes twinkling.

She shook it. It was warm. Did he maintain the grip just a little longer than necessary? “Nice to meet you. You’re the owner, right?”

“That’s me. Why? Was something wrong with your parka?” Now his face turned to concern. What a salesman.

“Oh, no! Not at all. I love it. Just checking. I like to know who I’m talking to. And I like to talk to the most important people around when possible.” What a line, she thought. What a bad line.

He smiled again, blushing and looking down. “Well, I’m not all that. But your only other choice would be Eric.” He glanced to his right at Eric who was with another customer.

“You’ll do just fine, Mr. Matthews.”

“Alan. Call me Alan.” He was definitely responding to her flirting, she decided.

“Okay, Alan. How are you guys fixed for snow mobile equipment? I’m in the market for that today.”

“Bummer. All I got for snow mobiling is what you wear when you do it. I don’t sell the actual machine. Sorry.”

She watched him talking. He was so very handsome and didn’t seem to be aware of it. “I guess that means you don’t stock the parts either.”

“No, ma’am. But I’ll find out for you who does.” He turned and started walking behind the counter, towards where she remembered the telephone to be.

“Uh, it’s Carli. You don’t have to call me ‘ma’am.’”

He turned back to her as he reached the phone and laughed. “Okay. Touché, Carli. That’s an interesting name.”

“My dad named me after Carl Yazstremski. Boston Red Sox,” she explained.

“Oh, yeah. I remember him.”

She smiled. Definite flirtation going on here.

After he located a place just outside of town to handle her snow mobiling needs, he came back around the counter and gave her the information he’d written down. She caught a faint scent of after- shave lotion, and her infatuation with this man became desire.

“Do you have a business card?” she asked him.

He looked surprised. “Yes, but no one ever asks.”

I’ll bet you’ve got a lot of things that no one ever asks for, she thought.

He took one out of the cardholder on the counter and held it out to her. “What about you? You got one too?”

Her heart jumped up into her throat. He asked for something from her! A forward gesture on his part! There was hope in her mind.

“Yes. I’m in the desktop publishing business. I work out of my home.” She gave him a card from her purse. He looked at it.

“Oh. Do you do advertising stuff? Fliers and brochures?”

“Yes.” She held her breath. Why hadn’t she thought of this angle?

“Maybe you could do some for the store.” Bingo.

“Really? You think you could use something like that? I’d be happy to!”

“We need all the advertising we can get. That Army/Navy store down the street kills us sometimes,” he said with a half smile.

“Well, how about we discuss it over lunch?” She held her breath again. Was she following his lead or just being overly brave?

He seemed surprised at first and then looked down at this watch. She noticed the slight bulge in his jeans and hoped that the time wasn’t his main concern. She couldn’t lose him now. She was too close.

“C’mon, Alan. It’s about noon. You gotta eat lunch somewhere. And I’ll even buy.”

He laughed. “I usually stay in for lunch and let Eric go out.”

She thought he must have stayed in too much in his life. “Eric can go out when you get back. I won’t keep you longer than one hour. Promise. Whadaya say?”

“Maybe the next time you come in.”

“Hey, I don’t offer free lunch every day. You’d better jump on this.”

He laughed again. “Okay. An hour is all I can spare, though. Just give me a second.”

Carli was inwardly screaming. Sure, lunch was only lunch. But she couldn’t believe she’d even gotten this far with this family man. She was successfully getting him away from his domain to a different atmosphere to enjoy all by herself. He had agreed to go somewhere with her. A first step was about to be taken.

After turning the helm over to Eric, Alan grabbed a light jacket, and they walked outside. The weather was pleasant, so he suggested they walk the three blocks north to the bar/grill side of Renaissance. Carli hoped her old flame Rob Sweeney wasn’t there since she’d heard that he took photos now to hang in that place.

Over a lunch of burgers, salads, and beers, they laughed and talked easily about lots of different subjects. Carli learned that he was, in fact, married and had been for over 20 years. He talked extensively about his three children, including Eric, but hardly mentioned his wife at all. He jokingly grumbled about his life in general, in a mid-life crisis kind of way, even sounding downright cynical at times.

He seemed to feel comfortable with her, especially when they discovered that they shared interests in snow skiing, sky diving, and professional basketball. She thought he was probably thrilled to have found a kindred spirit, someone he enjoyed talking to. She knew for sure that she was thrilled to have found him. She wondered if he was at all sexually excited by her. She’d been looking at the chest hairs coming up through the opening of his blue shirt during lunch and was feeling very turned on.

Close to the end of their meal, they did actually discuss Carli doing some advertising materials for the Matthews store. Walking back from the restaurant (where he’d refused to let her pay), he tried to describe the various products and services available at his store.

“Would it be okay if I just take a good look around? I mean around the retail floor and the supply room in the back? That way I could see everything,” she said.

Because he didn’t realize yet that she had ulterior motives, he quickly said, “Sure! I’ll show you around.” Another major hurdle crossed, she thought. And she smiled. The beers had been a nice touch. They both were loosened up considerably.

Eric left for his lunch break before she could introduce herself to him. But, she reminded herself, it was Daddy she’d come here to see. She noticed immediately that no one else was in the store.

“The supply room is back this way,” Alan called to her, removing his jacket.

She’d just eaten, but she was hungry for him. So she followed him, and watched his ass as he walked in front of her.

In the back, he busied himself with showing her around and pointing items out to her. “We keep these sleeping bags open for demonstration, and this light will burn for 48 hours straight with one little battery.”

She brushed up against him a couple of times as if by accident. The smell of beer and the after-shave caused her breathing to speed up. Then she purposely walked close enough in front of him to let the back of her hand graze his crotch. His body was reacting to her, no denying it. She didn’t look at him because she was sure he’d understood her purpose.

There was a slight pause, and his voice faltered a little when he spoke again. “You wanna go out and see the selling floor now?” He was leaning against a high counter there in the back with his hands on it.

She turned then to look at him. “What I’d really like to see now is more of you.” She planted her feet inside his spread feet and stood directly in front of him.

He laughed a nervous laugh. Without the beers, she knew she’d never have gotten to this point.

He said, “Me? Are you kidding?”

“No. Not kidding.” She placed her right hand on his tight knit shirt and caressed his nipple through it with her fingers.

He laughed again. “I don’t think this is a very good idea.”

She kept massaging his nipple and feeling his pectoral muscle through the shirt. “Ah, Alan, this is the best idea I’ve had in years.”

He grabbed her wrist, gently. “I’m married.”

With her free hand, she rubbed the front of his jeans. “You’re turned on too, and I don’t see your wife anywhere around.”

He sighed out loud, still holding her wrist. “I can’t do this.”

“You don’t have to do a single thing.” She’d begun rubbing him harder now.

He closed his eyes, enjoying it. He let go of her hand, and she used it to slip her fingers inside his shirt to touch that chest. He opened his eyes and looked at her but didn’t move. “Please don’t, Carli.”

“Alan, you don’t mean that, now do you?” He felt like he was about to burst out of his jeans. But he stood there without moving or stopping her.

“What about my customers?”

Then Carli knew she had him. “No one’s out there. I’ve been listening. And this won’t take long. So just relax.”

He closed his eyes again and let out a big sigh. Carli caressed him then, using her hands and mouth. Luckily for both of them, she had on jeans too. He moaned a little at her touch. He gave himself to her, allowing her to pleasure him and bring him to a shattering release that was long overdue.

She stood up and waited for him to open his eyes. They were beautiful and glassy.

“You liked?”

He laughed the same nervous laugh. “Oh, I liked…….You are evil.”

“Ah, yes, but as long as you liked it……” She straddled his legs and pressed herself against him. He pushed her hair out of her face. The room held the essence of intimate bodies.

“That’s not an everyday thing for me,” he said.

“I figured. And you’re better than I’d imagined.

“Oh, so you’d imagined me.”

“Lots of times since I saw you last week.” She smiled.

“Did you really need snow mobiling stuff today?”

“Yes. But I wanted you more.”

“Well, it looks like you got what you were shopping for.”

“I got the best deal of my life.” Carli kissed his cheek.

“No, you got bargain basement merchandise,” he said, touching her lightly.

“You’re not gonna feel guilty, are you?”

“Well,……I’m not sure right now.”

Carli left the store that day hoping like crazy that Alan would want more. She certainly did.