Page 1 of Opening It Up (Humbled Superstars #2)

Harley

“ Y ou in, Dr. Donaghy?”

My head jerked up at the familiar low, throaty voice.

“I thought you might want a coffee.”

My heart skipped a beat as Makayla walked through the open door of my office. One hand held a steaming coffee, the other played with the pearl buttons on her white blouse, her fingers slipping past the silky fabric to run down her cleavage.

Makayla worked one floor above me with the Strategic Synergy PR firm. And I tried not to look too long at her, at how elegant and tall she was, how her brown hair fell in long shining waves down her back. How tight her skirt was, how long those legs were.

It’s wrong to touch. But it can’t be wrong to look .

Especially when she’s looking back at me, and I can read the expression in her eyes perfectly.

If only it wasn’t forbidden

If only you weren’t such an honorable man

Makayla perched her tight little ass in that pencil skirt on the edge of my desk and held up the cup of coffee.

As she leaned forward, I saw a peek of her lacy bra and the tantalizing curves of her breasts.

“Oops, a little spilled,” she laughed, holding up her fingers where a tiny creamy drop had landed and was rolling down to her palm. Then her wet pink tongue darted out and she licked slowly up the lucky line of coffee.

I felt sweat break out under my collar as I tightened my hand around the fountain pen.

What had I just written?

101 Easy Strategies for Strengthening Your Marriage

My next podcast topic.

But with Makayla here, it was impossible to concentrate.

“Thank you,” I said, our fingers brushing as she handed me the steaming cup.

But I did not do what I wanted. I did not seize her in my arms and ravish her on the table.

Even though sweat rolled down my back and my cock twitched, I maintained full control over my lust.

After all, I would never cheat on my wife.

Because I absolutely loved Lily-Mae. Wonderful supportive woman.

We had been together since she was in college and I was a grad student.

17 wonderful years, our dream home, and two rambunctious boys later, I would absolutely take a bullet for her.

But.

But.

Sometimes I wondered what else was out there. . .

When we met I was a tall, awkward man with shaggy hair and glasses. Very much a nerd. Barely knew how to talk to people really.

But there was something about this studious tender-hearted sweetheart that made me absolutely blossom.

And now? I wasn’t blind to the fact that women wanted me now.

Before I had been an awkward weirdo. Now I was confident and charismatic, so at the top of my therapeutic field that I even had my own podcast.

I had become something of a celebrity. Women recognized me everywhere I went, and everywhere I went I saw naked lust in their eyes.

Maybe it was my tall, athletic frame, the dark hair that was just now starting to silver on the edges, my chiseled cheekbones. Or maybe it was the appeal of my brain or intellect.

Either way, it had powered me to a prosperous podcast distribution deal and millions of listeners who tuned in every day to hear my therapeutic advice on happy families.

Yet I had never had sex with any woman besides my wife.

And at 44 years old, I lusted for them.

I wanted to feel another woman’s arms around my neck, wanted another woman’s pussy clenching around me, wanted to pull down Makayla’s silky top and run my tongue across her breasts, suck on that plump nipple I saw straining to escape her bra.

But I wasn’t some kind of scumbag asshole.

So I didn’t.

Even though her every motion advertised the fact that she wanted me, too.

She shifted on the desk, exposing the bottom edge of her garters, her leg shimmering with some kind of sparkly makeup.

Just a few inches closer and I could have run my fingers under her skirt, snapped that garter off to feel the silky skin underneath. . .

I could have, but I didn’t.

Because I was a man of honor who could keep his throbbing cock in his pants.

“Do you believe in other lives?” Makayla asked.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I haven’t seen any scientific evidence for that.”

She took a sip of her coffee, her bright red lipstick staining the plastic lid, and she inched a little closer.

“I can’t help thinking,” Makayla said breathily, “in another life, things could be different. . . In another life, maybe we could be together. . .”

The pain in her big brown eyes almost broke me.

I got up and began to pace back and forth in my office, my long strides taking me quickly from one end to the other. The big city of Santa Rosa stretched out underneath me.

“But we are in this life,” I gritted out.

“If we kept it very quiet. . .” Makayla began but I brushed the idea aside.

“I will not cheat on my wife. That’s not who I am. My podcast isn’t just for show. I am committed to full honesty and transparency in all aspects of my life.”

“I know,” she said breathlessly. “That’s what I love about you. I know I should fight these feelings I have for you, but I—can’t.”

My hands tore through my hair.

“We are professional colleagues. Nothing more. If there was a way. . .but there isn’t.”

Makayla hopped off the desk and walked toward me. How sensual she was, every movement a symphony of beauty and grace.

“You’re so lovely,” I said. “So lovely and so wrong.”

Her red lips twisted up as she ran a finger down my tie. Stopping just above my belt. Just above where my cock pulsed frantically in my pants.

“I understand. If you can ever. . .figure out a way. I’ll be waiting.”

After she left, I continued to pace my office. My podcast was so successful that I was able to easily afford this high-rise recording studio, with a perfect view of downtown.

How could things be different?

I had zero intentions of ever divorcing my wife. I loved our life together with our two boys in our big Victorian house.

I just wanted to. . .have the freedom to experience other women, too. I had never had that in college.

If there was only a way. . .

I wracked my brains desperately until. . .finally, an idea came to me.

Something I knew my friend Jeff had recently started doing in his own marriage.

It would solve everything. I could keep my honor, love my wife, and still get to experience the things I was craving.

But Lily-Mae would never go for it!

Never.

Her love for me was too deep and starry-eyed to ever entertain such a thing. And surely she would get absolutely the wrong idea from the suggestion.

Wouldn’t she?

Was there really no way to convince her?

I grabbed my microphone and started to piece together my thoughts. I was a huge fan of talking my way through a problem. Of course I wasn’t actually going to upload this recording session, but it would be good to get all my thoughts out in one place. . .