Chapter 2

There he was, standing before her, her mystery man. It was everything she could do not to reach out and touch him. How she wanted to run her fingers through his hair, run her hands over every one of his muscles. But she didn’t, she controlled herself.

She smiled coyly at him, nervously twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. She felt like a school girl with a crush on a boy. You’d never know she was 25 years old by the way she was acting, she seemed more like 15.

But Ashley couldn’t help it. Something in his green eyes mesmerized her. It was almost as if they bore into her soul and turned her insides to jelly. She wanted to say something, but her mouth wouldn’t work. The words were running rampant through her head, but she couldn’t figure out which order to put them in. Is it “Is, Ashley my name hi,” or “Hi, my name is Ashley.” Once she had that figured out, she just needed to get it from her brain to her lips.

Lips…he had such full lips. She imagined they were soft, that they would feel miraculous on her body. If only she could get close enough to feel them.

Oh, right. Say something. “Hi.” She said softly. “I’m Ashley.” She held out her hand for him to take it. Just as he reached for it and opened his mouth to say something, Ashley heard the most obnoxious beeping sound.

Her eyes suddenly flew open. “It was just a dream.” She said sadly.

“Yeah, you were dreaming. Now shut the damn alarm off.” Hunter snapped, half asleep.

“Sorry.” Ashley said and hit the button on the alarm to shut it off. It took her a few minutes for her breathing to return to normal, before she could get up to take a shower.

@-}----

“Courtney, you don’t understand. That is the fourth day in a row that I have had the same dream. Every single night since I saw the guy, I have dreamed about him. What’s wrong with me?” Ashley asked as her and Courtney at lunch in the company cafeteria.

“Ash, there’s nothing wrong with fantasizing about a man. Hell, I’ve never met Josh Duhamel, but I dream about him every night. Hell, thinking about him is the only thing that gets me off lately.” Courtney told her friend.

“Ew, I’m trying to eat here. It’s not easy to eat a sandwich with mayo on it when you’re talking about getting off.” Ashley groaned.

“Sorry, just trying to make a point.” Courtney told her. “Anyways, what are the plans for this weekend. You know its Girl’s Night Out tonight, have you thought about what you wanted to do?”

“Let’s just go dancing or something. Hunter is going to some poker party and won’t be back until late anyways. So that leaves me with the whole night free.” Ashley suggested.

“Sounds good to me. I could use to do a little ass shaking!” Courtney told her and began gathering her garbage from the lunch table. “So, I’ll pick you up around 9:00 then?”

“It’s a date. I’ll let Molly and Kara know where to meet us. Don’t be late.” Ashley said before dumping her garbage and heading back to work.

@-}----

At 8:55, Ashley had just finished getting ready. She knew that her outfit was pushing it just a little, that married women don’t normally flaunt their body in this way, but she just wanted to see what kind of reaction she would get. She wanted to know what her husband would say about it, if he even noticed it, then at the club, she wanted to see if anyone would even give her a second glance.

She wore a pair of black Capri hip-huggers that went lower than she was used to wearing, and a red and black corset-like top. On her feet, she wore a pair of black wedge sandals that had straps that wound around her ankles and calves a few times. No, the outfit wasn’t really slutty, but it hopefully would cause some sort of reaction.

Ashley walked out of the bedroom that she shared with her husband and into the family room to wait for Courtney. Her husband sat on the couch flipping the channels, and barely registered her walking into the room.

“What time will you be home tonight?” She asked him.

“It depends. Probably pretty late, depending on how long the guys want to play cards for.” Hunter told her. “How about you?”

“Either when the club closes or when us old ladies get tired, so between 1 and 3:00.” Ashley told him, getting a bit disappointed that her outfit didn’t cause any sort of stir within her husband.

As soon as the doorbell rang, Ashley grabbed her stuff, knowing it was Courtney.

“Give me a kiss goodbye.” Hunter called out.

Ashley turned back and leaned down to the couch to kiss her husband. He gave her a peck on the cheek and dismissed her with a wave of his hand and a “Have fun.”

Slightly miffed, Ashley slammed the door behind her as she left the house.

“What was that all about? Another fight? Let me guess, he told your slutty ass to go back in the bedroom and change?” Courtney said, noticing her friend’s mood.

Ashley snorted. “Not at all. Actually, he didn’t even notice my outfit.”

“Ah, therein lies the problem!” Courtney exclaimed as they got into her car.

“You got it. I think I could have gone out wrapped in cellophane tonight, with all my goodies showing for anyone who wanted to see, and he wouldn’t have given two shits. I give up trying to make him care.” Ashley said sadly. Then as an afterthought she added, “But you know what, I’m not going to let this get me down. I am going to go out and have a kick ass time tonight, and enjoy myself. I’m not going to worry about it. Things could be worse, right? He doesn’t abuse me, so that’s something positive. I’m not going to let this get me down anymore. Let’s go out and live it up. After all, it is Girl’s Night.”

“That’s the spirit. Let’s get you drunk tonight.” Courtney cheered.

“Yeah! Woohoo!” Ashley said, getting into the mood for the night to come.

@-}----

The club was packed tight with people, and it was a wonder that they were even able to find their other friends in the crowd. But sure enough, Molly and Kara were sitting at a table, waiting their friend’s arrival with a round of drinks.

The girls all hugged and exchanged pleasantries. They all commented on each other’s outfits, and hair, getting the girly things out of the way. Then, as an official beginning to Girl’s Night, they each slammed the opening shot of Tequila Rose.

After a few more drinks and a few more shots, the girls headed to the dance floor. They found a spot, just big enough for them all to dance in, surrounded by many others gyrating to the music.

Ashley loved to dance. She felt the most free when she was out on the dance floor, moving to the beat of the songs that played. She would have loved a career in dance, but it just wouldn’t pay the bills the way her other job did. Unfortunately, she had to grow up and become responsible, instead of chasing her dreams.

While the girls danced, they had plenty of visitors. Guys came up to them left and right, staying for a dance, then moved on. Ashley had her fair share of men hitting on her, feeling relieved that she wasn’t loosing her touch or her looks.

She began to really heat up and needed another drink, so she left her three friends and headed to the bar. Just after she shouted her order to the bartender, Ashley looked across the club and locked eyes with him, with her mystery man.

He didn’t seem shocked to see her, the way she was to see him. Maybe it was because she hadn’t made as much of an impact on him as he did on her. Or, it could have been because he was watching her all night, and the shock had already worn off.

Ashley didn’t know what to do. Should she go over and introduce herself? Should she just forget about him and go back to her friends? One thing was for sure, she couldn’t stand there and stare at him all night like she was currently doing.

Soon enough, her decision was made for her. Molly came up to see what was taking her so long. Ashley turned to talk to Molly for a split second, and when she turned back around, her mystery man was gone.

Disappointed, Ashley went back to the dance floor with her friends, trying to get back into a good mood. As she danced, the song changed and Ashley felt goose bumps all over her body. She had never felt this way before when she heard Madonna’s song “Beautiful Stranger”, but as she now danced to it and thought of her mystery man, she knew that she would never forget how she felt in this moment.