The Affair

Chapter 10

JULY

"Say it again."

She smiles and looks my face over.

"I love you."

I smile, softly kiss her on the lips, and study her closely. She looks so beautiful this afternoon. Her cheeks are sunburned and it makes the already prominent freckles pop even more.

"I love you, too," I murmur softly.

I've lost count of how many times we've made love in the weeks since we started our affair, but if I were to look in my journal, I'd be able to count the exact number. I detail each encounter so I can go back and read them when I can't see her, which is somewhat often.

On days that she has shoots we have an hour or two in between the time she's finished and the time Hugh is going to get home. If she's shooting nearby she comes here. If she's not close, I'll get us a room at whichever hotel she's closest to. We've gotten into a routine.

Today, we've been in my apartment. No shoot, so she's been here since a little after Hugh left for work at nine. It's almost noon. After making love as soon as she stepped through the door, me fucking her against the wall in the hallway, we had coffee. More lovemaking, on the couch, and that's where we lay now. We've tried something new today that pleased us both. She sat with her legs spread and touched herself until she came. I crouched on the floor in front of her and watched closely, then ate her until she came again, and fucked her.

She's on her stomach between my legs now, her arms folded beneath her chin and resting on my stomach, and both of us are naked. I'm smoking a cigarette and hold it to her lips, she takes a drag, and I follow.

"One more time."

"I love you."

"You know, darling, I think you're getting a little too clingy."

Now she laughs loudly and I do, too.

"I love when you laugh," she says. "I never hear you do it."

"I'm glad you like it."

I'm happy today. There's been intermittent moods of jealousy that have tried to overcome me, but I've managed to keep it at bay. It's easy when she's here with me. But the moment we're not together, it becomes difficult. Even more so on days when I can't see her at all.

"What's your schedule like this week?"

"I have a shoot tomorrow afternoon. But it shouldn't last more than a couple hours. I can come by after."

"What kind of shoot?"

"A clothing ad. Jeans."

"Just you in it?"

"No. Shooting with a man."

I say nothing, but she smiles.

"What's the matter?"

"What?"

"You look strange. Does my shooting with a man bother you?"

Am I that obvious? No, I don't think so, but she's quite good at reading me even when I try not to show my emotions. It's a quality I haven't yet gotten used to about her. She knows me, knows how to read me, something no one else has been able to do.

"You modeling with a man certainly isn't my favorite thing in the world."

She laughs again.

"You're so jealous. He's very nice."

I want to say I couldn't care less if he's very nice, that's all the more reason for him to be nice, in order to try to fuck her. And she must be well acquainted with him, otherwise how would she know he's nice?