Unlove 21: You'll do (fic)
Alex sighed softly and planted a line of kisses along Jimmy's jaw. "I felt awful saying that, even though it was just-"
He put a finger on her lips. "I am a married liar, baby."
She shook her head, speaking against his finger. "Not to me. You've never lied to me or Bobby about it." She turned her head to by-pass his finger and kissed his cheek. "From the first day I met you, it's been nothing but good."
He hugged her tightly, touched by her words. In the five years they'd worked together and three years they'd been lovers, she'd never once complained about being the other woman. "I had a husband," she told him, "and with that partner you gave me, I practically have another. I'm barely suited to being a girlfriend."
She said that just before he made his first move of asking her out to dinner. Thinking nothing of it, she accepted. She ate meals with her co-workers all the time and he joined them sometimes. It was odd to be just them, but not suspicious. Dinner was wonderful; they never stopped laughing though the meal and the walk afterward. He didn't touch her or do anything to indicate his intentions. Something else needed to be done first.
A few weeks later he invited Bobby out. With the drive to visit his mother, all the younger man could manage was drinks, but that hour drew out into two before the men parted ways. Hard to find the words to explain that despite having a decades long marriage you are asking for permission to commit adultery with your subordinate's partner. Fuck that, it was impossible. Thankfully Bobby was quick on the uptake once he suspended his disbelief. Able to present the problem baldly and without judgment, Bobby presented all the issues one by one for discussion.
When he finally had to go, he left Jimmy with his permission and a warning. He didn't have to say that if Jimmy did anything to hurt Alex, Bobby would make it his mission to repay the hurt. That had been understood from the start. Instead he warned that she might take the suggestion badly. Very badly. Bobby had no intention of softening the blow if that were the case. Jimmy was on his own.
Courtship began in earnest a month later. Another dinner invitation and then another and finally drinks in a quiet but very public place. Presenting himself to Alex as a suitor was easier than it had been to Bobby, but only marginally so. He was honest about having no intention of leaving Angie before his youngest left home. He was honest about still having a sexual relationship with his wife, albeit a limited one. He was also honest about his feelings for Alex. One touch, one gentle kiss, was all it took to convince her of that.
When he told her about his discussion with her partner, there was a flare of feminist anger and then heartfelt laughter. He actually worried about her she laughed so hard. After pulling herself together and getting a fresh drink, she shook her head. "Jesus, Jimmy, you must be serious about this if you went to that risk. I only wish I'd been there to see it. The expression on his-on both your faces." Only another deep drink kept her from breaking into laughter again. Then she repeated her self assessment.
She made him work for it. Another few months of courtship passed before Angie took the girls on a long weekend to the shore and Alex took him to bed. He was as grateful as he was excited when they consummated their relationship. She was surprised to discover just how compatible they were. Bobby knew about their weekend but didn't ask how it went. He didn't have to. Finally he pulled Jimmy aside and congratulated him. When Jimmy thanked him, saying they seemed happy, Bobby laughed. "No, I meant for getting past her impulse to slug you."
She pulled away far enough to go back to kissing his jaw and down his neck, nuzzling him until he lay back moaning. While he surrendered to her increasingly passionate assault, he took a moment to be honest with her again. He told her how much he loved her, how grateful he was that she'd taken the chance on being with him, how amazingly good what she was doing felt. He said he hoped he was half the lover to her that she was to him.
She didn't answer him until after her molestation became full fledged sex. He thought she'd lost track of the conversation somewhere around the time he rolled her onto her back and entered her, his words dying off into a needy growl. She hadn't, of course. As always, she just waited for her moment. Flat on her back, panting heavily, still flushed from exertion, she reached over and patted his hip.
Her voice was still rough, but her affection showed clearly. Smiling faintly, she whispered, "You'll do."
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