EXTRACT FOR
Julie's Shame
(Kelly Addams)

"How long have you been friends with Chris?" she asked a few nights later as they lay in bed together. 

"Couple of years I guess," Charlie replied, "He moved into town just before we got married, so you've known him almost as long as I have... why do you ask?"

"I think he fancies me." Julie answered quietly, "But don't go all alpha male on him, he didn't do anything, he didn't really say anything, he just said you were lucky to have me, well, he implied it, he didn't say it just like that."

Charlie propped himself up on one elbow and grinned down on his young wife. "So Chris was trying it on, randy bugger... what did you say?"

Julie blushed, "Thanks! What else could I say?"

"And that's all he said?"

Julie paused because the conversation hadn't ended there, Chris had begun to talk about the long hours that Mandy worked in the nursing home where she was a care assistant. He had told her how some afternoons and evenings he became so lonely he didn't know which way to turn. "You should give me a call when it gets like that." she had said without really thinking about the potential consequences, and Chris had taken her words to heart, he had called her the following afternoon and invited himself round for coffee.

"Well, somehow I sorta led him on... a bit," Julie smiled to hide her nerves, "I felt sorry for him, and I might have said he could call us when he was lonely, and perhaps come around from time to time."

"And he called, and then he came!" Charlie saw the truth in her eyes, then grinned.

"The randy sod is trying to get you while I'm at work... and I know you Jue, you're loving every second."

Julie tried to stop the grin that was racing to her lips, he knew her so well, because before their marriage she had been a terrible tease. Short skirts, revealing tops, an air of innocence and naivety that made her teasing and exposure look almost accidental and unintentional. She had driven the guys wild with frustrated lust and desire, and Charlie remembers how I was... and now he thinks I'm teasing Chris.

"He asked you if you'd go for a drink, as friends! Didn't he?"

Charlie had chuckled as he saw her flush, then nod.

"And what did you say?"

Julie gave the smallest of smiles, "I ducked it, I didn't say no and I didn't say yes... I didn't even say maybe, I just said I might think about it."

"That's exactly the same as saying maybe, and we all know that in a guy's mind maybe means yes."

"I didn't know what to say, I mean the guy is our friend, and he's lonely, and you know you can trust me."

"So," Charlie looked down into her eyes, his expression neutral, "The decision is mine."

Julie smiled apologetically, then nodded.

"I don't mind," he replied, "Go for a drink with him, I trust you love, but understand this, if you say yes he'll see more, he'll think it's more than just friends. I guarantee he'll try it on with you."

"But I'm married." Julie gasped.

"Believe me that doesn't matter," Charlie chuckled, "You go for a drink with him, wear something sexy, and I lay odds he'll try to feel you up."

"And I say he won't," Julie replied, her mind racing. "I say he'll be a perfect gentleman."

"Yeah, right!" Charlie scoffed, then chuckled. "But promise to tell me what he does if you get proven wrong."

"Why, so you can beat him up?" she answered quickly.

"Oh I wouldn't beat him up, he's our friend, I'm just curious to know how far he'll try to push his luck."

And that almost sounds like an invitation Julie told herself as she denied that the tingling down between her legs was a sign of arousal.