CHAPTER 3
"Absolutely marvelous woman you have here, Ed. Everyone at the club was absolutely wild about her and I had to swear I'd bring her back again!"
"Of course, George, I don't pick anything but winners," Ed Waring jubilantly agreed as he handed McHenry a frosted martini he had just mixed. "Lynn, for heaven's sake, take George's coat and we'll get him warmed up a little before he has to go out into that blizzard again!"
Lynn was still in the doorway to their house, trying to stamp the wet snow from her thin shoes and frost-red ankles. It had apparently been snowing all the time she and McHenry had been in the Executive Club, and she felt chilled to the bone from having to fight her way through the blistering wind and soggy flakes that were still pouring down from the sky. Now, she looked up at Ed and tried to flash him a look of warning, but he either did not see or ignored the expression on her face.
"Thanks, son, but I don't want to impose right now," George said, smiling expansively as he pulled off his leather gloves. "The reason we came home early was because Lynn wasn't feeling too chipper and, much as I'd like to stay and enjoy her lovely company for a while longer, I think I'd better go home so you can tuck her into bed."
Lynn saw the expression of irritation that clouded her husband's face and knew he was worrying if she had somehow insulted McHenry by cutting the evening short before he was ready to leave. "Oh, don't worry, darling, it's nothing major," she quickly chimed in, stepping into the living room after hanging her wrap beside Ed's own dripping overcoat. "I'm afraid I drank a bit more than my limit and I wanted to leave before I did anything I'd regret later." She tried to place special emphasis on her words so that Ed would realize that the evening had not been quite as innocent as he now assumed, but rather than even notice she was trying to tell him something, he turned on her with a look of accusation that she knew was not entirely in fun.
"I certainly hope you didn't embarrass us at the club, honey," he murmured, his ominous tone of voice belying the smile he wore. Then, turning back to McHenry, Ed went on in a more apologetic tenor. "George, I'm really glad I got home early enough to see you. I want to apologize for my wife. I should have told you she's not used to drinking much, but I promise it won't happen again. If you ever want to take her to the club again, I'll make her promise to stay on ginger ale before she leaves the house."
Lynn's back stiffened and she stared at her husband's face, wondering if she was hearing him correctly. After all she had been through tonight, was she going to have the added humiliation of hearing her husband apologize for her, when all she had done was try to preserve her fidelity to him? Was he so hungry for that promotion that he would unthinkingly jump on the idea that she had made a fool of herself this evening, without even giving her an opportunity to tell him the unbelievable insults she had endured from this man he was fawning over right now? And now, he was already trying to set up another date for her to that… that sex club!
"Darling, I wouldn't think of embarrassing you," she said from between clenched teeth, straining to keep her voice sweet and wife-like. "Why don't you and George talk in the office tomorrow? I really don't feel well and I think I ought to go to bed, if you don't mind terribly."
McHenry's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he heard the tiny blonde call him by his first name. He had asked her to call him "George" several times this evening, but she had coldly ignored the request, clinging to the more formal "Mr. McHenry." Now, he knew that it was a sign that she was either softening toward him, or so upset that she had forgotten herself. If it was the latter, he decided he would have to talk fast if he still wanted to get this enticing little morsel into bed because, no matter how ambitious young Waring was, there was no telling what might happen if his wife told him what had happened tonight before George had a chance to get to him and give him a slightly-altered version of the night's events.
"Look, sweetheart, if you want to sleep that badly, go on, and George and I will just enjoy our drinks. Okay?" Ed was advising his obviously distraught wife, a look of dismay on his face that she would be so openly inhospitable to their important guest. "But you're going to have to learn how to stay up a little late if I get that -"
"Now, now, Ed. Calm down," McHenry interrupted, seemingly concerned about the argument budding between the two young people. In fact, it was exactly what he'd hoped for and expected. "Sometimes, wives just have to be pampered a little. I was just going home anyway," he added, putting what he hoped was the right amount of disappointment in his voice.
"Oh, no, George. Stay a while longer," Ed urged him as visions of a lost promotion filled his brain. Turning to his wife, he snapped, "For God's sake, Lynn, stop indulging yourself and make up a few more drinks. It's not going to kill you to stay up a while longer."
"Ed, please -" his young, visibly upset wife pleaded, trying to tell him with her eyes that it was desperately important that she talk to him, before McHenry had a chance to commit her to another evening like this one. She could still feel the warmth of McHenry's fingers as they had tried to force her legs apart under the table at the club and she shuddered in horror at the thought of having to go through that again.
In his agony of doubt in wondering if all his aspirations to executive status had been ruined by his wife's silly selfishness, Ed did not even acknowledge her plaintive cry. Instead, he went hurrying after McHenry who was already moving toward the door, pulling his gloves back on as he walked. Stumbling anxiously behind his departing boss, Ed could not see the secret smile of triumph that already wreathed George's face.
"Look, George, I'm really sorry about this evening," the handsome young husband nervously repeated. "I just don't know what could have gotten into Lynn to make her act so rude."
"Well, son, she's barely more than a teenager," George shrugged, with a trace of regret in his voice. "Perhaps, she's a little young to carry all the responsibility that goes with being an executive's wife…" His eyes darted back to the tiny blonde who was struggling to restrain her fury in the middle of the living room. It was all he could do to keep from rushing back into the room and tearing the clothes off that "youngster" right now. Obscene thoughts of how tight her wet little pussy would be shifted through his mind. He could see by the stricken look on Waring's face that he thought he had lost the promotion and George had no doubt that Ed would hand over his young blonde wife without a thought right now, if he thought it would get that third vice-presidency back again.
But George had better plans and no matter how much he might enjoy the idea of ramming his hardened cock up into her soft little belly right this minute, he knew that it was going to be infinitely more interesting to watch Waring selling his pretty young wife down the drain, without ever suspecting what he was doing.
McHenry allowed a few more minutes for his ominous pronouncement on Lynn's potential as an "executive wife" to sink in, then listened with apparent disinterest as Ed began to beg for another chance, just as George had expected.
"Really, George, you've got to understand that this was just a bad night for Lynn… I mean, you said that everybody at the club liked her… she's just awfully wound up about all this excitement about the promotion," Ed defended, rushing his words out in hopes that he could change McHenry's mind before he had a chance to sleep on his decision.
"Mmmm. That's quite possible I suppose," the balding man murmured with seeming thoughtfulness. He seemed to ponder some question in his mind for a few moments, then looked up at Ed with a condescending smile. "Well, son, let's try it again then. Why don't you and your wife come to the club with Marian and me next Saturday night? Do you think Lynn would be feeling better by then, or should we postpone it for a while?"