Call Me Bunny [+ prologue]

They'd had a lot of joint showers over the years. Actually having sex in the shower was more trouble than it was worth but lots of other fun could be had. It had often been excellent foreplay for wonderful nights of passion. And without knowing it, the shower had become a kind of safe spot for the Lancasters. A time to just let silence and intimate contact tighten their bond.

The water ran and ran and ran as an ill-defined psychic stain was wiped away.

Finally, Stacy turned off the water. Jared reached for the towel. His wife absently complained about the scratchy hotel quality of it as he dried her. With her wrapped in the towel and his arms, he finally said, "There was more to whatever that was tonight. Stace, can you tell me?"

She rested her forehead against his shoulder. "I'll tell you what I was thinking when I got this stupid idea but I need to ask your forgiveness first."

Jared could have just said 'anything baby' but they both hated empty words. His silent encouragement was enough. She stepped away from him and pulled on an equally scratchy robe. He followed suit and they returned to the bedroom. They sat on the bed.

"Okay." she said. "I think it was about two years ago. Maybe a bit more. It wasn't too long before we started... you know. Fucking other people." Strangely, she was more comfortable putting it that way than using the word 'swinging'.

He put an arm around her and she continued. "I guess the first thing I should say before telling the whole story is that nothing happened. Okay? It was just a scare but nothing really happened."

Jared went still. "What really didn't happen."

"A guy at work. One of the sales weasels. There was an office party at a bar and he came back to work drunk." She wanted to get through the story now. The words came quickly. "I was still working, he showed up drunk and we were alone."

"The asshole came on to me. Called me frigid and told me I should dress better. Started talking shit about you. About me not getting what I need." She was angry now, thinking about it all again.

"What did you do?" Jared asked.

"When I realised he was drunk... things started getting out of control. I was alone in the office and he kind of wasn't taking no for an answer."

"Stace...?" Jared was glad she'd explained before hand that nothing had happened.

"He was grabbing me. Ended up tearing my blouse." Her hands gripped each other tightly. "We were just right there in the open. In the hallway."

"I started shouting for help." She looked at him. "I don't know how far he would have gone. I keep telling myself he could have realized what he was doing at any time. He may have stopped himself."

"But what happened is that the office wasn't totally empty. Someone heard me and came. Bruce stopped and tried to weasel out of it."

"Bruce?" Jared said, committing the name to memory.

"Yeah. He was one of the sales weasels. Frat boy type. Biggish."

"So someone intervened. What happened to Bruce?"

Now she smiled, "Oh, Mr. Dell fired his ass. Moron made it easy. The whole thing was caught by the security camera. He was on street within half an hour. We never heard from him again."

They sat in silence for a time. "And you didn't tell me because?"

Stacy made a face. "That's the apology I need to make. I'm sorry." But then she hesitated. "I think. I don't know. I still don't think telling you then would have made anything better."

Jared wasn't sure how he felt about that. He couldn't deny, it kind of hurt. He could see her reasoning but at the same time felt obscurely betrayed. But he knew he'd get over it because he also knew how selfish it was to resent decisions his wife made while trying to deal with something difficult.

"Okay. But what does that have to do with tonight?"

Stacy made a meaningless gesture. "Oh, it was just watching all the players down at the casino trying to score with the girls. It reminded me a lot of Bruce."

"At the time, with Bruce, I think the things he said about you and my sex life pissed me off more than him putting his hands on me." she started getting agitated. "The asshole didn't have a clue. Just a big frat boy that was never going to grow up and has never kept a woman satisfied in his life!"

She took a breath. "I just know that's what he's like, you know? Selfish and lazy in bed. And I watched good old Zeke down on the casino floor getting shot down over and over again for two nights. I wanted to prove my theory. I wanted the take one of those meatheads to bed and just see if I was right."

She shrugged. "Like I said. Dumb idea."