Michael politely took his card and said thanks, but didn’t engage him further.

He didn’t want to be stuck in a conversation. He wanted off this plane.

Just when Michael decided he was going to head to the bathroom again, the pilot let them know they had clearance to land. Michael leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. It was seven o’clock now. He should be home by eight. He’d texted Piper to be ready for him, and his cock, once he arrived home.

She’d been coy in her reply.

I’LL BE READY IF U CAN FIND ME.

He didn’t know what that meant, but he was eager as hell to find out. A playful Piper meant great sex, and he was more than ready for that.

The flight attendant interrupted his visions of Piper naked, legs spread, dripping wet, waiting for his cock. “Sir, please bring your seat upright. We’re getting ready to land.”

Michael opened his eyes. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” Before he could maneuver his seat into the right position, the flight attendant discreetly handed him a folded napkin. Once she walked away, he opened it. It read:

Mile High, if you’re interested.

He glanced up to see her deliberately draw the curtain between first class and the front of the plane. The bathroom was behind that curtain.

Damn, he really should start wearing a wedding ring.

It actually delighted his wife that he didn’t wear one. He received a lot of attention because of it. But he was tired of it.

The guy next to him chuckled. “I bet that’s not the first time you’ve received one of those invitations. Me? Never. Not even in my prime. But that didn’t stop Patty and me from doing it like bunnies every time we could. She was the love of my life, that woman. I lost her two years ago this summer.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Michael replied, folding up the note and sticking it in his front pocket to show Piper later. He could already imagine her reaction and smiled.

“My advice to you, cherish what you have. Learn to enjoy it, because when you get to my age, all you can do is look back on the mistakes you made and wish like hell you could change them. It’s not fun, lemme tell you, because there isn’t any going back. You’re stuck with all the shit you’ve made forever.”

Michael nodded along to what the guy was saying. It felt like a long time since he’d cherished anything.

When had he gotten so selfish?

He did cherish his wife, but lately he and Piper had been wandering through life like a couple of robots on autopilot. Michael turned to his seatmate, suddenly curious. “What’s been your biggest regret so far?” he asked him. “If it’s too personal, I understand. You don’t have to answer.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” The guy waved off the question. “My biggest regret is not trying harder to have kids. We had some minor setbacks, but never decided to get any help. When we figured out kids were what we wanted, it was too late. The next one is not living every day feeling in love. When your spouse dies, that particular void never gets filled. When I look back, every single day together was a blessing. But we didn’t live like it was. We fussed at each other, got into fights, and the like. I wish I’d woken up each day of my life and rolled over and said, ‘I love you more than bacon,’ because it was the goddamn truth.”

When Michael spotted wetness forming at the corner of the guy’s eye, he turned his head to give him some privacy.

The man had spoken with such passion that it had touched Michael. How could it not?

Michael couldn’t imagine his life without Piper, and someday he might be in the same position as his seatmate. He’d be on a flight somewhere lamenting that he hadn’t told her every single day of his life that he loved her.

The flight attendant who had propositioned him pushed open the curtain, interrupting his thoughts once more. Not meeting his eyes, she resumed checking the cabin for their final descent.

The pilot came back over the speaker. “Thanks for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll be on the ground in just a few minutes. Make sure your seat backs are upright and tray tables are locked. We hope you choose to fly with us again. Good night and safe travels home.”

Michael made up his mind right then. He was going to start changing the way he did things. Piper was going to know every single day that he loved her. They were going to figure out this slump and get back on track. But first, he was going to fuck her hard.

His cock jumped at the thought.

For the fourth time today.

* * *

Piper had been racking her brain all afternoon trying to figure out how she and Michael could have exciting sex once he arrived home. She was actually relieved to see online that his plane had been delayed an hour, because all her thoughts so far had been extreme.

Too extreme.

Around four o’clock she’d finally settled on one.

The plan was smaller, but doable, and it had her libido skyrocketing. It was something she’d always wanted to try, but had never been gutsy enough to go through with it. Once she’d decided, she’d rushed home from work to do a quick change, and then ran over to Caroline’s to get her take.

“I think it’s an excellent idea!” Caroline had said. “It’s a great way to jazz up the excitement. Michael will be thrilled, I’m sure.”

“Jazz up?” Piper had snorted. “You know, if we get caught, I could get fired.” She’d lamented all her concerns to her friend.

“I thought risk-taking was the whole point?” Caroline grinned. “Plus, there are plenty of advertising jobs out there if you get fired. But you won’t. I’m positive of it.”

“No one is going to hire someone who got caught fucking in the conference room.”

“Honestly, who would tell?” Caroline replied. “Even if you got caught, it would stay on the down low, don’t you think? I can’t imagine that being broadcast, especially to anyone outside the office.”

“I’m not sure. If I got fired for it, it would go on my record.”

“What record? You don’t work at a police department!” Caroline laughed. “They love you there. You’re a hard worker who brings them tons of business.”

“True.”

“And don’t think for one moment that you’re the first one to do this. It happens all the time!”

“Not the way I’m going to do it.” Piper gave her a sly smile.

Caroline’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean?”

“I want it to be memorable, as in days later memorable. I’m planning on leaving a souvenir behind. A memento of our night. Just not something that marks it as me who did it. Half the fun is having people know about it.”

“No way!” Caroline exclaimed. “Why would you do something that? Why risk it? It’s already ballsy enough.”

“Because that’s the payoff. Duh,” she said. “I’m talking about giving myself an adrenaline rush that lasts. I want the fun to continue after the act. When everyone’s talking about it at work the next day, I’ll be turned on again. Then Michael and I can banter about it. And let me just admit this here, I like that it makes it more risky. In the past, seeing Michael out in the open with another woman at a work party was titillating, but it’s not the same thing.” She shook her head. “Looking back, I think I could’ve done things differently. I guess hindsight and all that.”

“Differently how?”

“I’m not sure if we really needed Emma and Pete, or Brad and Gillian, even though it was fun.” She winked. “And it really was fun, so I can’t regret it too much. I think I just need to learn to make sex exciting again between the two of us.” She threw in the next part because she’d wanted to bring it up before she left. “By the way, I saw Emma today, and you and I need to chat about her possibly joining us for some STD meetings.” Piper held up her hand, adding, “I know what you’re going to say, and I get it. But this whole thing today is her fault—in a very good way. She’s the one who nailed my need for risk-taking. Just give it some thought. We’ll discuss it next week. Bye, gotta go!”