It took over a year for Annette to convince herself to sit nude in the steam room at the spa. She was not a prude or even embarrassed, but being in a room filled with strange naked ladies was not something she was used to. She came to the spa at least once a week, spent an hour getting a massage, another half hour in the steam room, an equal amount of time in the dry sauna and then she and Heather, her friend since college, went to lunch together if they could.

Heather joined her in the spa after finishing her time with her masseuse.

"Oh, my god! I can't tell you how good it felt today with Roger."

Heather leaned back on the wooden seat in the steam room and she pulled the towel she used to wrap around herself away from her breasts and let it drop to her lap.

"That good, huh?"

Annette dabbed at the sweat beading on her forehead. At thirty-two she knew she still looked as good as and perhaps even better than most of the other women who frequented the spa. She regularly exercised by swimming laps in the pool in her back yard, watched her diet and credited everything else to good genes inherited from her mother, who had been married four times and still had the elegant good looks to drive men into affairs that lasted long enough for her to pick up a nice piece of jewelry, and on one occasion, a Jaguar convertible.

"You have no idea."

Heather smiled in a fashion that begged Annette to ask more.

"So?"

"So, I was laying on my stomach on the table and Roger was working on my shoulders. He was leaning over me and as he pushed down, he kinda bumped my forehead with the front of his pants."

"You're kidding? Roger? I always thought he was gay."

"Oh, let me tell you. He's anything but."

She looked around to make certain they were the only two women in the room.

"When he leaned over I could tell he had a hard-on and it was just literally staring me in the face."

"What did you do, as if I really have to ask."

"I did what any horny almost middle-aged woman would do. I reached out, pulled down his sweats and let his magnificent cock spring free. Thirty seconds later I was giving him a blow job that he is not likely to forget in this lifetime."

Annette tried to stifle both a laugh at Heather's description and her shock at the admission of what her friend had done.

A few minutes later when they both stood to go out to the shower, Annette couldn't help but notice that she was far too wet between her legs for it to be the effect of the steam room. Perhaps it had been the steamy sex Heather had described.

Annette met Heather when they were in college and they had remained best friends since that time. Between them they had been through two divorces, one for each and several bouts of doubts about marriage and life in general which they freely discussed. Heather had helped Annette through a serious surgery relating to a very bad pregnancy early in her first marriage that had left her unable to ever have children. It was after her recovery that Heather confessed that Annette's husband at the time had tried to pull her into a bedroom at a friend's house one night at a party. They had very few, if any secrets so it is not unusual for them to share their deepest thoughts and fears. Even with this background Annette was not prepared for what Heather said when they got to one of the little outdoor cafés that dot the area on Miami Beach.

Annette sensed that Heather had something on her mind as they ate while they watched the mostly tourist crowd pass by. Most of the men were dressed in shorts and gaudy Hawaiian-style shirts and the women were in bathing suits with a recently purchased cover. They could not have looked more foreign to the area if the word "TOURIST" was flashing across their forehead. Along with the standard dress, most were toasted with a rosy red sunburn.

Unlike them, both Heather and Annette wore year-round tans. Heather's was helped by her Italian heritage and Annette's came from the fact that her house was surrounded by large orange and mango trees which allowed her to spend as much time in or around her pool swimming or sunbathing in the nude as she wanted.

Finally, she could stand it no longer.

"Okay, what is it? You've got something on your mind that needs to come off."

Annette poured them another glass of wine from the half empty bottle on the table.

"After what you told me about you and Roger, I can't imagine what it is, but I'm trying really hard to come up with something that's even more wicked."

She raised her glass in a mock toast.

"Okay. You asked for it. Please let me finish before you make any comments one way or the other."

Heather held her glass of wine and starred into the depths of the liquid as she began.

"You know I've not been happy...with a lot of things for a long time. Jack and I had some financial problems a year ago, until he made Captain with the airline, but we have pretty well worked them out. About that time our marriage began to suffer and when the money went, so did the sex. We didn't have sex for almost three months at one time."

Heather took a drink and looked at Annette.

"And you and I both know how much I love sex."

Annette just nodded her head and waited for Heather to continue.

"I was about ready to throw in the towel on this marriage like I did once before, but I didn't want to be counted among the infamous 'Miami divorcees' everyone down here talks about."

She took a drink from her wine and continued.

"I know both of us have not been the most faithful wives on the block but..."

Maybe it was the wine or the time, but once she got started she could not stop.

"I really didn't know what to do and then Jack and I came up with a solution that works for us."

Heather reached across the table and placed her hand over Annette's.

"And I think it will work for you as well."

Annette was about to speak when Heather held up her hand to silence her.

"Don't. Let me finish. I know you and Todd are having some of the same problems Jack and I had. Not so much with money, but I know how much time Todd spends on the road with his business and how much you miss him. I don't think it's that you miss him but you miss getting fucked on a regular basis."

Almost without recognizing it, Annette nodded her head in agreement with Heather.

Heather looked around and motioned for the waiter to bring them another bottle of wine. She waited for him to bring it and pour her a sample before she continued. After taking her time to inhale the aroma, then swirl the wine to check its clarity, she tasted it, nodded her approval to the waiter and watched as he poured two glasses.

Both were silent. Annette waited for Heather to speak and Heather hesitated so she could get her thoughts together.

"Remember when you found out Todd was screwing that bank teller in Lakeland? At first you were furious and then he reminded you that he had found out about you and the guy from the supermarket the previous year."

Annette just nodded her head in embarrassment as much as agreement.

"I do. I think we both got over it."

"Really? You mean you think Todd had kept his dick in his pants just because you found out about one woman?"

She took a drink and looked at Annette.

"And what about that man you met when you and I were at the theater last month? I saw him slip his business card to you."

She stopped and looked as Annette dropped her eyes.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't call him and if you haven't already, that you're going to just to see if he can fuck your brains out?"

Annette remained silent. Heather reached across the table and took her hand in hers.

"I'm not passing judgement. I'm just saying you and Todd need to be honest with each other. I know you love Todd and he loves you, and you'd never leave him and I don't think he'd ever leave you, but both of you have needs that can't be filled in your own bed."

Annette downed the remainder of the glass of wine.

"I know Jack and I had the same problem and we came up with a simple solution."

Annette raised her head and looked at Heather.

"Okay. I'm listening. What was the solution?"

"Honesty. And trust. And an open marriage."

"Open? You mean...?"

"Yes. Open...wife swappers...swingers...whatever you or the rest of the world wants to call us, but it's working for us and it'll work for you. Just be honest. Set some rules and enjoy life. We are."

Annette sat and looked at Heather. This was a side of her friend that she did not know existed, and as shocked as she was by her confession, deep down, Annette knew she made sense and that worried her.

Heather stood and reached out for Annette's hand.

"Let's get out of here. Think about what I said and I'll come by your house tomorrow and we can talk more if you want to."