Free Hall Pass by Sarah Bale Page A

the present and he shook
his head.
    “No, I didn’t. Did you really expect me to?”
    Linda glanced over her shoulder. He followed her gaze. Randy
stood a few yards away, his tie askew.
    “I take it Randy said yes.” It wasn’t a question.
    Linda’s lips lifted into a smile. “I knew he would.” Her
expression turned serious. “But you know I won’t do this unless Beth agrees.”
    He couldn’t believe they were having this conversation in
the middle of a party where anyone could listen to them. Fuck, what would his
coworkers who were present think if they overheard? They’d never let him live
it down.
    He pulled Linda to the side. “I didn’t think you were
serious the other night.”
    Part of him knew she had been serious though. Just as much
as he had been when he thought about which female he would pick. And far from
upsetting him, the idea of his wife being with someone else led to the hottest
wet dream he’d had in a long time. His reaction had surprised him.
    Her hazel eyes met his directly. “I was. Hunter, I need
this. I know you love me but I need to feel…special.”
    His gut clenched. Where had things gone so wrong with his
wife that she thought a stranger could make her feel more important than he
could?
    She must have seen the question in his eyes because she said
in a low voice, “Seventeen years is a long time to be married to someone,
Hunter. You’re the only one I’ve been with sexually. I’m not saying I don’t
love you. I’m saying if I don’t do this, I will always wonder…”
    His gaze drifted to Beth, who stood in the kitchen taking a
shot. Yeah, he knew what Linda meant.
    “Supposing she does agree, which I highly doubt, then what?”
    Linda’s face lit up. “Randy and I can entertain ourselves in
one of the guestrooms. You would be free to use our bedroom until tomorrow.”
    “And after that?”
    “We move on with our lives, hopefully happier.”
    He wasn’t sure sleeping with someone else would make them
happier but it couldn’t hurt anything at this point. Sometimes it was everything
he could do to stay with Linda. Call it a midlife crisis…but he was feeling the
same way his wife was. Seventeen years was a long time to be with
someone and lately things had been lackluster with his wife, as if the magic
had been lost. And he didn’t know how to get the spark back in their
relationship. Stress from working probably wasn’t helping things either.
Getting a hard-on was impossible when all he could think about was meetings or
if the new employee would show up on time…
    He heard Beth’s throaty chuckle from the kitchen and his
cock jumped. One night? Might not be a bad idea…
    He looked down at his wife and nodded in agreement. She
jumped up and down and squealed in response.
    He held up a hand. “But only if she agrees, which I doubt
she will.”
    “Oh I think she might surprise you. I’ve noticed the way she
eyes you when she thinks no one is looking.”
    He snorted. “I’m sure it’s because I’m the only sober guy
around most of the time.”
    She grinned. “If that’s what you want to think,” she said.
“See you tomorrow.”
    After a quick kiss to Hunter’s cheek, she went and grabbed
Randy’s hand, and they disappeared into the group of dancing bodies in the
living room. He watched for a moment as the group moved as one in a tangled frenzy
of passion.

Chapter Two
     
    Hunter shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. How in
the hell was he supposed to approach Beth with his proposition? Walking up and
saying, “Hey, Beth, want to be my one-night fuck?” might be a little too
straightforward. She’d probably deck him in the jaw and never speak to him
again, not that he would blame her.
    Someone called his name from the kitchen and he found
himself walking that way before he’d decided what to say to Beth. He walked through
the doorway and stopped in his tracks. Beth stood with her back to him, bent
over the counter, showing off something on