Excerpt                                                                        Return

                                         The Affair

She studied him in the sweet shade of afternoon.  She hadn't wanted to return.  To come back was admitting an addiction, a strange and dreadful kind.  "He may not even call.  He was supposed to let you know four days ago.  He put you off three times last month."

But, Andrew was far more resolute.  "He'll call.  I know what he needs now, and I can give it to him."

"Well, I'd love to stay for the next intriguing episode, but I really can't."

Andrew wore a towel around his waist.  As he pulled her toward him, she could smell her own perfume rubbed into his skin.

"I know.  You're going back.  You always do.  No matter how I fashion things for us, you don't belong to me."  Even as he said it, he was deliberately exciting her, to remind her of their tie.  His hands slid beneath the silk she wore and ran along her thighs.

"I won't always be here, Jessica.  I don't want to wait!"  But the kiss that followed was even more intense.

From behind a sun that blinded them came faint sounds of life more civilized.

"Don't answer it!"

He did, though, disengaging from the significance of a certain kind of passion.  Garcia was calling.  That was enough.  It was an expression crossing Andrew's face that told her there were problems with Garcia, once again.

"Why in the hell should I pay for the story?  Jesus, you're full of crap!"

Jess grimaced.  It was sounding like a hold up.

Andrew wrestled with it, though.  "I'll tell you what I'll do, my friend.  I'm going to make a few calls and if I like what they say about you, I'll put a cashier's check for twenty-five thousand in a trust account with conditions.  If you don't play, then I don't pay.  Got it?"  He listened for a minute, then hung up.