Friends With Benefits. Rhonda Lee Carver

must’ve turned crimson. “Thank you, for always being there.”

      “No problem. See you tomorrow, babe. You can tell me all about the letter then.” He winked and disappeared.

      Cassie stared at the large metal doors until they stopped swinging. What just happened? Confusion clouded her brain. And why did she tingle all over?

      At eighteen, she and Sebastian had tried the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, and learned they were better as friends. Sebastian hadn’t been ready to settle down. He’d needed to sow some wild oats. Fact was, she’d also needed to experience life before she dedicated herself to one person. So, she had broken it off while they still liked one another.

      Luckily, they’d become the best of friends.

      They’d even opened the corner coffee shop, Whipped Dream, as partners five years ago. Not once in all those years since they’d broken up had he initiated anything intimate with her.

      Tonight, when he’d looked into her eyes, she’d felt something. His touch had held promise. It also seemed like he’d stopped from doing what he’d wanted.

      Cassie couldn’t deny she’d wondered a time or two why they never took their relationship a step further, like friends with benefits. They’d cuddle on the couch watching a movie. They’d hold hands. He’d always treated her like the ice cream cone that he could never lick. At times, she’d wished he’d sample her flavor. Cassie had even been disappointed when he hadn’t.

      She blew a long breath through her teeth.

      Could it be possible that a part of her wanted, expected, Seb to initiate something more between them? It was almost as if they were lovers without making love.

      She swallowed back the frustration. What were they waiting for? She couldn’t wait forever.

      She stared down at the paper.

      When the letters had first started, she’d suspected they were from Seb, but when he’d gone on vacation for two weeks and the letters continued to surface, she’d known it wasn’t possible he could be her secret admirer. When she’d asked him, he’d denied having any role.

      She pushed aside her tedious thoughts. The piece of paper she held demanded her attention. Her fingers trembled as she opened the folds of the fine-grain stationery and smoothed the wrinkles her nervous grip had created.

      She read the typewritten words aloud:

       Dear Cassandra,

       Tonight I would like to visit you, my dear beauty. It is time we meet. Would you be interested in a game of excitement and intrigue? If yes, leave your light on and the door unlocked. Wear only a blindfold and nothing else. I hope to see you at nine o’clock.

       Yours Truly,

       Secret Lover.

      Her hand shook and the paper rustled. A thrill scorched her every nerve ending.

      Finally, he wanted to meet her.

      For six months he’d written her letters professing his love and his attraction. She’d tried to catch him in the act of leaving the letters, but he’d always been one step ahead of her. She knew so little about him, and yet he felt nothing like a stranger.

      Excitement made her blood rush to her head.

      He wanted to see her, yet he didn’t want her to see him. The thought dampened her mood. He also asked her to not wear anything? Was he serious? He couldn’t be. Could he?

      As strange and risque as it seemed, her inner thighs quivered. Her panties moistened at the seductive request. She couldn’t possibly do as he’d asked. Could she?

      Cassie could think of a hundred reasons why she shouldn’t. Yet, she found the invitation thrilling. Her dull life needed a boost. She grew tired of living on the safe side, waiting for–

      What? Sebastian to notice her?

      She shot back a dose of realization. It was pathetic to think they could be more than friends.

      She chewed the corner of her mouth in contemplation. Eagerness sent tingles along her spine. She’d never done anything so erotic, so electrifying. Could she put all her inhibitions aside and live for pure ecstasy?

      What if it didn’t turn out to be a night of passion? What if her secret admirer wasn’t the man of her dreams? Doubt swirled inside her.

      Glancing at her slender gold watch, she sighed. Making a decision as serious as this took more than two hours, but that’s all she had. One hundred and twenty fretful minutes.

      She pinched the bridge of her nose. Perhaps this was a sign that she should respond spontaneously, from the heart. Maybe she needed to keep her overworked brain out of the equation, just this once.

      It had been a long time since she’d been with a man. Her female parts were more than ready for explosion. A release would benefit her greatly and ease the tension that’d been building for months. The tightening of her muscles would relax, and sex would rejuvenate her mind.

      Sliding off the countertop, she refolded the letter carefully and stuck it back into her pocket. The answer came to her, clear and true. With a smile, she went back out into the shop area, a new energy racing through her veins.

      * * * *

      Sebastian climbed into the driver’s side of his Jeep, placing his guitar on the passenger seat. He slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel in frustration. “Damn.”

      He needed to hit the gym for a strenuous work out. A good hour at the punching bag would release his pent-up aggravation. A little sweat, muscle exhaustion and tranquility of the mind would do him wonders.

      Looking out the side window, he watched the shop as Cassie bid farewell to the last patron. She flipped the closed sign on the door and then shut off the bright overhead lights downstairs. He waited. The light came on in her apartment upstairs.

      She’d seemed so happy about getting the letter. What he wanted more than anything was her happiness. From the smile she wore tonight, her happiness wasn’t an issue. However, his jealousy certainly could be. He had no right to be. He’d brought this upon himself. Why hadn’t he simply told her how he felt a long time ago?

      He gave the windows one last perusal, then started the ignition and pulled away from the curb with a squeal of his tires.