He paused.

“Come to think of it she was wearing pants today, wasn’t she? Well, her rear end in a pair of slacks is pretty stunning too.”

“Keep it up, you lecher, and I’m telling Kim!”

Ed glanced up.

“Wow, you must really like her. You know I like looking at women, and you’ve never threatened to tell Kim before.”

“Tell me what?”

Ed’s wife had walked in without my hearing her. Kim’s small, delicately pretty, and runs her family with an iron hand in a velvet glove.

“That you’re way too good for him. When are you going to dump this joker and run off to Tahiti with me?”

I made a halfhearted grab at her just to give her an excuse to squeal and jump into Ed’s lap. She giggled as she cuddled up to him.

“When elephants fly, jerk! You’ve been giving me that line since before our wedding, and I keep telling you the same thing. I’d rather have my man who knows he’s lucky to have me than a smartass with delusions of superiority.”

She waved the big rock on her left hand at me.

“Go find your own woman, Ben. This one is all Ed’s and that’s how I like it!”

Ed kissed her, laughing. It was true that we’d been kidding around like this since we had all met in college. Those two were so devoted to each other that no one took it as anything but a joke.

“He’s finally working on it. He was just telling me about his date with Jill Williams last weekend.”

Kim’s eyes widened.

“That blonde who almost caused a riot when she walked into the Bar Association Christmas party in a little cocktail dress? And you call Ed outclassed! How did you manage that?”

“Literally by accident.”

I told them the story about the bike wreck. Kim shook her head when we got to the part about how Jill wasn’t going to see me outside of court while the case was open.

“Well, Ed, you better get it resolved quickly before this poor schnook loses the plot. He’s obviously got it bad. Couldn’t find a more elegant woman to fall for, though. Now come on, I came down here so you guys could take me to lunch.”

Jill called me that evening.

“Well, that was a shock seeing you this morning. What’s this ‘Angus B. McLoughlin’ stuff? I never made the connection.”

“Old family tradition, but if you had a first name like ‘Angus’ you might go by your middle name too. You can imagine what they called me in junior high.”

“I can see that. Look, I can’t tell you how much I regret this, but there’s no way I can go out with you while this case is going on.”

I sighed.

“Yeah, Ed told me about the e-mail. No way around this, is there?”

“I wouldn’t take it if there was. There are lines I can’t cross professionally, and you’re on the wrong side of one of them. Once this case is over with, though, I hope we can pick up where we left off.”

“I hope so too. I’ll keep the first mate slot open.”

“First mate already?”

“Would you prefer galley wench? I need one of those too.”

She laughed.

“First mate it is. I really am sorry about this, Ben.”

“So am I. Talk to you later.”

Ed called me two months later.

“Hey, Angus, your dream girl got the State’s side of the case dismissed. She’s not off limits any more, so you can stop finding excuses to ask me twice a week.”

“Don’t call me Angus, jerk, and don’t poke fun at Jill. Thanks for letting me know, though.”

“Still sensitive about her, eh? Well, enjoy it. She’s a nice gal and a hell of a lawyer.”

Jill called me after work. She sounded nervous.

Ben? It’s Jill Williams. Remember me? I resolved that case, so if you want to get together sometime, it’s not a problem…”

“Hey, that’s great! Want to go sailing this weekend?”

“Love to. Listen, you doing anything tonight?”

“Nothing important. Why?”

“Some of my coworkers dragged me out to a bar to celebrate winning the case and it’s getting old fast. If you want to come pick me up we could hang out a while.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

When I got to the bar Jill hugged me, kissed me on the cheek, and dragged me around with her hand firmly in mine to introduce me to a few people before announcing that she was leaving with me. It seemed a little over the top, but why should I complain about her being happy to see me? When we got in the truck it made more sense.

“I hope I wasn’t coming on too strong. Some of those dorks get a couple of drinks in them and think they’re God’s gift to women. Being seen leaving early with a good looking guy is going to save me stress later. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Having a pretty woman pretending I’m her boyfriend? It’s a tough job, but if it’s for a good cause, I guess I can tolerate it. Any side benefits?”

She punched me in the arm.

“Keep hoping! Are you always this full of it?”

“Most of the time. You want to go get dinner?”

“It’s been a long few days getting this case settled, and I have to go to work tomorrow. Would it be OK if we just got some takeout and went to my place? I’m too tired for anything fancy.”

“Fine with me. Szechuan Heaven?”

“Sounds good.”

Her house was simple and neat on the inside with lots of interesting photography she’d done. She pointed me to the kitchen.

“Would you mind getting out the plates while I change out of my work clothes? There’s some Tsingtao in the refrigerator if you want it.”

“Should I get you something to drink?”

“Just a soda, thanks.”

She came back in tennis shorts and a t-shirt that left just a little strip of skin showing above the waistband. Simple, comfortable, sexy- was there anything this girl didn’t do well? I could well believe that she had the best legs in the Bar, too. We got into a casual chopstick duel over the last kung pao shrimp, which I promptly fed to her when I won. The smile in her eyes made it more than worth it. She stretched.

“Let’s leave this mess for later and go catch the late news. I want to see if they said anything about my case.”

I flopped on her couch, she flopped right next to me and put her feet up on the coffee table so I did too. She put both hands around my bicep and laid her head on my shoulder, and we played a little casual footsie while we watched the news. As it ended I glanced at her.

“Looks like they missed it… Jill?”

It takes a heck of a woman to look cute when she’s snoring, but she did it. Time to call it a night; I gently disentangled myself, got her all the way on the couch, covered her with the blanket that was draped over the back, and kissed her cheek. Her eyes fluttered.

“Ben?”

“I’m calling it a night, sweetheart. I’ll call you later about the weekend.”

I don’t think she was all the way awake.

“You’re a great guy, Ben. Good night.”

Not exactly the way I had hoped the night would end, but I could live with it.

Saturday morning she came skipping down the dock bright and early with a smile on her face.

“Morning, Ben! Nice boat!”

“Thanks. I built most of it myself. Jump aboard.”

She handed me her backpack and then took my hand and stepped aboard. I took the chance to snatch a quick kiss, and she responded enthusiastically.

“Sorry I was such a bad hostess the other night.”

“Forget it. Take a look around below if you want. I’m going to get the sail set and get us out of the marina.”

She disappeared for a few seconds and then came back on deck.

“Nice setup here. Can I help?”

“Sure, grab that line there and pull until I tell you to stop.”

She obviously didn’t know much about sailing but was more than willing to take directions. I tacked a couple times and got us settled on a long reach out toward the island. Jill dropped below and came back with a couple of cups, handing me one.

“I figured out the stove. Hope the coffee’s how you like it.”

I took a sip.

“OK, you’re officially the galley wench.”

“Galley wench? What happened to first mate?”

“No reason you can’t be both.”

She settled herself beside me in the cockpit, and we drank our coffee in a companionable silence.

“What’s that smile?”

“I was just thinking. Beautiful day, enough wind, and a gorgeous woman beside me in my boat. Sailing doesn’t get much better than this.”

Jill studied her cup thoughtfully.

“Ben, I want to be honest with you, and I don’t know if I can say this without sounding like a stuck up bitch.”

“You’ve never been less than honest before, and you’re about as far from the other as you could get. Go ahead.”

“People have been telling me how good looking I am as long as I can remember, and it’s never made a lot of sense. I don’t think I’m all that pretty, but other people seem to and maybe they’re right. It’s nothing I did, though. I try to take care of myself and stay in shape, but the rest of it is just genetics. Why compliment me if I got lucky with my ancestors?”

“Well, I think you’re about the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, but if you don’t want me saying so I’ll stop.”

“You’re different. There’s something to be said for attracting handsome single men.”

She thought a second.

“I worked hard in law school, and I work hard as a lawyer. If someone wants to be impressed by my legal work that’s great. Being attractive just seems to make it that much harder to be taken seriously as a lawyer. I may kill the next person who tells me that a girl as pretty as I am doesn’t need to work for a living. The girls I knew in college that went that route are either married to older men and bored out of their minds or desperate to get married before they get any older. I think I’m actually pretty good at law, and I want people I deal with to judge me by my work, not my looks. It’s one reason I had to put you off limits for so long. People would have thought I was dating you to get an edge on the case.”

“From what I saw the other day you are pretty damn good at law. I know Ed thinks so too, although just between you and me he’s also made a couple comments about how I’m dating the hottest woman in the Bar Association.”

She laughed.

“Ed’s all bark and no bite. He tries to hide how devoted he is to his family. I can’t be offended by that. The fact that he thinks so much of you was a definite point in your favor. So you don’t think I’m a stuck up bitch?”

“I think you’re a sweet, smart, talented woman. Is it OK if I think you’re hot too?”

She grinned and kissed me on the cheek.

“You, sir, are welcome to think anything you want.”

It was getting hot by the time we headed back after lunch. I went below for a soda and almost dropped it when I came back up and saw Jill’s shorts and sweatshirt in a pile on the bow, next to her stretched out body.

“If you don’t want men noticing your looks, that bikini is a step in the wrong direction.”

She sat up and looked around.

“How many men are in sight?”

“Well, just me, I guess.”

“Figure it out, genius. You need any help with the boat?”

“Not really.”

“I’m going to work on my tan for a while, then. Actually, this bikini belongs to my girlfriend. She said that if a hot guy was taking me sailing my old Speedo wasn’t good enough.”

She looked down at herself and grimaced.

“I forgot that she’s a half size smaller than I am.”

“I don’t see the problem.”

“You wouldn’t, would you? Typical man.”

“Thank her for me the next time you see her, OK?”

She laughed and laid back down. My mind was racing ahead to the marina. Sailing in with what looked like a stray from a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot on the bow would get me enthusiastic service from the teenage dock boys for a long time to come. I wandered back to check the tiller and GPS for the point where I wanted to tack to get to the marina in one reach.

As we got there I went to swing the boom and made the mistake of glancing at Jill, now dozing on her flat belly on the bow. She had untied the top of her bikini and moved the strings off to the side. Sensible move if a girl wants to avoid tan lines, but a lot to spring on a guy without warning. Definitely distracted me at the wrong time. As the boat came around the boom swung across and caught me in the stomach, and I instinctively grabbed it as it carried me over the rail. The sudden tilt of the boat and my frenzied cursing brought Jill leaping to her feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Grab that line and pull me back in! Quick!”

She did so and then doubled up laughing.

“Oh, Ben, if you could have seen the look on your face!”

“Whacked in the ribs, hanging out there over the water, and being rescued by a topless first mate doesn’t happen every day.”

“Top…?”

She glanced down.

“Oh Lord!”

She crossed her arms, blushing furiously, and then took a deep breath and looked around.

“Oh, hell, no one out here but us and you’ve gotten a good look already.”

She casually picked up her tank top and pulled it on, with a little extra bounce for my benefit. My turn to laugh.

“Talk about surprised looks! You should have seen the look on your face. Your breasts are a lovely work of art, by the way.”

She blushed and grinned at the same time.

“No they’re not. One hundred percent natural, and I don’t appreciate you suggesting otherwise.”

“That’s not what I- ah, hell, you know what I mean.”

She laughed at my confusion, I laughed at her, and before we knew it we were both laughing helplessly. She collapsed into my arms and I took a step back and sat heavily on top of the deckhouse, cradling her slender body. It took a while but eventually the laughter slowed down and we regained control. Then she looked at me and it started again. Finally she pulled herself up and wiped her eyes.

“I haven’t laughed that hard in I don’t know how long.”

She glanced over my shoulder.

“Uh, Ben, are we supposed to be this close to shore?”

I spun around. Not being under proper control, the boat had drifted into a deserted cove and was getting too close to the beach for comfort.

“Oh, crap!”

I ran forward and dropped the anchor to give myself time to sort out the situation. Once I stopped the drift I took a look at the wind.

“We’re going to be stuck here a while. I can’t sail out of this cove with the wind in this direction. There’s usually an offshore breeze that comes up around sunset, and once it does we’ll be in good shape to get back.”

Jill shrugged.

“I wasn’t in any rush to go anywhere. Come give me a hand in the galley.”

I set up the table in the cockpit and took the tray of cheese and crackers she handed me. Then she handed me a bottle of Roederer.

“Can you open that?”

“Sure. Where did this come from?”

“Gift for winning that case. I meant to share it with you Wednesday night, but I was so tired I forgot and fell asleep.”

I popped the cork and poured us each a glass.

“Here’s tae us, wha’s like us?”

“Damn few, and they’re all dead.”

She grinned again at the look on my face.

“You aren’t the only one on this boat who had a Scottish grandfather.”

“I guess not.”

We fell silent for a while, sipping champagne and watching the sun set.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“You’re an amazing woman. Educated, smart, sophisticated, and incredibly pretty whether you like it or not. What do you want with an average guy like me?”

Jill sighed, put down her glass, and sat in my lap, resting her arms casually around my shoulders.

“In the first place you aren’t an average guy. Ask any of my girlfriends if it’s easy to find a sane, intelligent, responsible single man these days. Men like you are rarer than you think. I also see a man who habitually does the right thing without worrying about himself, which is pretty cool. Being good with your hands is sexy. Last but not least, I think you’re pretty good looking yourself. I like you a lot and I get the impression you like me too.”

“I have the world’s biggest crush on you, and you know it.”

She shifted to straddle me on the cockpit bench, giving me a very female smile.

“I suspected, anyway. Don’t over think this, Ben. Stop putting me on a pedestal and telling yourself I’m some sort of goddess. I’m just an ordinary girl who’s learned to put up a good front, and I’m definitely not more than you deserve. Let’s enjoy this and see where it goes.”

“This?”

Her lips came within a half inch of mine, and she whispered.

“This.”

I pulled her the rest of the way into a long, deep kiss. As it continued my lips drifted down her neck to her collarbone, and farther still to those glorious breasts she was pressing into my face. The soft cotton of her tank top kept getting in my way, so I pulled it over her head with her willing help. Her skin tasted of salt spray and coconut oil, and under it a warm smell of happy, excited woman. She shuddered as her small puffy nipples disappeared into my mouth, first one and then the other.

“Oh my God, that feels so good. Don’t stop…”

Stopping was the last thing I wanted to do. My hands slid down her back and found the bow ties at her hips that held her bikini bottom on. One good pull and I tossed it aside.

“You OK with this?”

“Have I told you to stop?”

I kissed her again and reached down under her spread hips to her hot, wet center, running my fingers along and then between her moist lower lips. She gasped and tightened her grip on my shoulders further. Then she sat back and attacked my belt and shorts, loosening them as fast as she could. I arched under her a little and I was naked too. She put her arms around my neck and looked down at me, pushing my face into her cleavage.

“Oh, this is incredible..”

I entered her slightly. She paused a couple of seconds and then slid down the rest of the way, wiggling a little to get me as deep as possible. She was hot and wet and tight, and it felt so good I would willingly have held her like that all night. After a couple minutes she started rocking slightly, and that felt even better. I wrapped my arms around her and helped her slide up and down, all the way in and out. I got a nipple in my mouth again. She was half moaning a steady stream of comments:

“Oh, that’s nice…so nice… just like that…this is good, so good… oh yes…yes… oh my GOD!” I felt the waves of orgasm start from deep inside her and engulf her whole body, and that was all it took to push me over the edge. She sagged onto my shoulder, suddenly boneless, and I held her tight while caressing her back. I felt a wetness on my shoulder and heard what sounded like a quiet sob.

“Jill? My God, did I hurt you?”

I started to lift her off me, but her arms and legs tightened.

“No, but if you pull out now I may hurt you.”

She lifted her head and kissed me, and I would swear she came again.

“Of course you didn’t hurt me, silly. Couldn’t you tell that I was enjoying that as much as you were? I just had the most overwhelming sexual experience of my life with what may be the best man I’ve ever known, and I’m crying because I’m happy. I know it’s silly and girly and illogical and all those other things I try not to be, but right now I don’t give a damn.”

“Jill, I know you’re a hell of a lawyer, but good lawyers aren’t hard to find. A man only finds a woman like you once in a lifetime, and that’s if he’s lucky. I want you as a woman, and you can be as silly and girly as you want.”

I know that technically a man can’t be held responsible for anything he says while he has a naked girl wrapped around him, but what was happening that night was so mind blowing that I couldn’t think of anything to say but the truth.

“God, if those people I scare in court could see me now…”

“Naked and in a post-orgasmic daze? I think I’ll save that privilege for myself, although I intend to get you into this condition frequently.”

“Promise?”

I kissed her.

“Promise.”

Eventually I popped out of her, and she picked herself up and pulled her tank top back on. We were both staggering a little, and not because the boat was moving.

“You have any big plans tomorrow?”

“Not really. Why?”

“I’d rather not sail back in the pitch dark if we don’t need to. Why don’t we spend the night here and head back in the morning?”

---