Chapter 1: Megan's New Friend

"Dad!" Megan ran up and threw herself into my arms as soon as I came in the front door. It still brought a smile to my face to hear my stepdaughter call me 'Dad'. It had taken a couple of years after I married Serena for Megan to begin thinking of me that way.

"Whoa, babe, what's got you so pumped up?"

"I made a new friend today. She's the coolest girl in my class... and her name is Laura... and she knows everything and everybody... and I want you to meet her...."

I put my finger on Megan's lips to stop her babbling. "Slow down and take a breath. Now, tell me more about this Laura. You just met her?"

"No Dad," Megan said, trying unsuccessfully to contain her enthusiasm. "She's been in some of my classes since school started, but I was too shy to talk to her. She's very popular...she's like the coolest girl in school and she always has lots of other girls hanging around her... but today she came and sat with me at lunch and said she wanted to be my friend."

I was pleased to see Megan so happy for a change. She had always been a quiet, shy girl, and when Serena died it had only darkened her soul further. She had few friends, an unusual situation for a thirteen-year-old, so I was aware of what a significant event it was for her to suddenly find herself hanging around with "...the coolest girl in the school."

"That's great, kiddo. I'd like to meet her someday."

"Okay, but if you do, don't give her the third degree, all right?"

"I'll try. It's just that I like knowing who you are hanging around with, okay?"

"Okay, Rick. Whatever."

I knew that when she reverted to using my name, it was her way of showing her displeasure with what she considered my meddling in her life. Being overprotective was one of my worst faults as a parent, and it had only gotten worse in the three years since Serena had died. Losing the love of my life to cancer at the age of thirty-three was something that almost destroyed me. Before meeting Serena, I had been a wild bachelor, living life to the fullest, with an almost self-destructive drive to experience everything I could. I lost track of how many women I had screwed, and was amazed that I had made it through all those years of debauchery without contracting some horrible disease or being shot by a jealous husband or boyfriend. But when Serena came along, I fell in love immediately, and quickly began to finally grow up. After only a couple of dates, I knew she was the one, and resolved to do whatever it took to get her to marry me. After I succeeded, I vowed that I would do everything I could to make the rest of our lives a wonderful experience.

The only problem had been that she had a seven-year-old daughter from her first marriage. I began to feel uneasy as soon as I he found out she had a daughter. My feelings had nothing to do with Megan herself. She was a well-behaved, polite kid who seemed to accept him into her family readily. No, the problem had been mine. There were some events in my past that I thought were hidden away, involving inappropriate thoughts and desires toward young girls, that made the idea of being a parent somewhat frightening to me. When Serena first told me she had a daughter, I secretly hoped that she would turn out to be a fatty, or unattractive. Instead, even at seven Megan was already a beautiful little girl, with blond hair and sparkling blue eyes.

The idea of being her stepfather made me question my self control, but my fears had turned out to be unfounded. It didn't take me long to start thinking of Megan as my own daughter, and as perverted as some of my secrets were, I knew I could never allow myself to act on those desires with her. I think my biggest fear, like a lot of dads if you dig deep enough, was that Megan would meet a boy like I had been at her age.

Being a single parent caused me to feel like I was constantly under pressure. Serena had been very protective about her only child, and that only added to my own uncertainty and caution. I could almost hear Serena's reaction to Megan's news. "Trust me,"she might have said, "there is a reason why Laura is the most popular girl in her class, and I'd like to find out what it is before letting Megan be friends with her."

For the next several days, I was regaled at the dinner table each night with Megan's stories of what Laura had done or said that day. A picture of Megan's new friend began to develop in my mind. She seemed to be a very outgoing, intelligent, witty girl, the kind of kid that everyone found easy to like. Despite my natural caution, she seemed like the perfect kind of person for my shy daughter to have as a friend. I hoped that Megan could learn how to be more of an outgoing person just by being around Laura.

Then one evening at supper, the inevitable question arose. "Can Laura come over and spend the night sometime?" Megan looked at me expectantly, waiting for my answer. She hadn't had anyone over for a sleepover since her mother had died. She seemed to be surprised and delighted by my quick reply.

"Well, of course. It'll give me a chance to meet your friend." I smiled at her. I had thought that maybe Megan was past that phase. 'Too old for sleepovers, and too young for sleeping around,' was the inelegant way I had expressed it to a friend a few months earlier. Again, Serena's voice of caution rang in my head. "We really don't know much about her, or her family."

Later that evening Megan called Laura, and the arrangements were made for her new friend to spend the night on Friday. I wondered if I was really ready to handle two tweeners. I naively convinced myself that it would be easy. Feed them some pizza, let them play some games or watch a movie, and pretend not to notice when they disobeyed my request to turn out the lights and go to sleep. Breaking the rules was part of the fun of a sleepover, after all.

Megan was a bundle of nervous energy as we waited for Laura and her mother to arrive on Friday. When she finally saw the silver SUV pull into the driveway, my stepdaughter ran out to greet her friend before she even had a chance to get out of the car. Megan dragged Laura into the house, pausing only long enough for a quick introduction.

I knew as soon as I looked into her eyes that Laura could be trouble for me. It was only a quick glance, but I didn't see any of the shyness and temerity that most kids that age will show when meeting a new adult. Instead, she stared straight at me, with a great deal of self-confidence. Her eyes never left mine as we exchanged a very adult-like, firm handshake. As the girls headed down the hall toward Megan's room, Laura turned and gave me a grin that bordered on being a leer. It felt like she had looked inside my head and seen some of the secrets hidden away there for the last twenty years.

I turned and realized that Laura's mom was still standing in the doorway. "Sorry," I said, "my daughter seems to have forgotten her manners. I'm Rick McKinney."

"Hi, I'm Susan Morgan," she said, gripping my hand as tightly as her daughter had. She gave me a big smile, and I thought for a moment she was going to give me a conspiratorial wink. Like mother, like daughter. I could see where Laura got her outgoing attitude. They were both naturally friendly, bordering on being flirty.

As we shook hands, I took the opportunity to check her out, a skill that I still retained from my younger, wilder days. Susan didn't fit the mold of the typical suburban soccer mom. She looked younger than the other parents of kids in Megan's age group I had met at PTA meetings and soccer games. If I didn't know she had a thirteen-year-old daughter I would have guessed her age as somewhere in her late twenties. She could almost have passed as Laura's big sister. Even the way she dressed gave the impression of a woman who was finding it difficult to give up being a teenager, and a slutty teenager at that.

She wore a tight tank top that left little to the imagination. My guess was that her top was struggling to contain a pair of 36Cs, and either she was excited about meeting me, or she was one of those women whose nipples always seemed to be protruding, because there was no doubt that her little soldiers were standing at attention. Her tight top was matched by a pair of equally tight and very short denim cutoffs. I hadn't seen many mothers at the PTA meetings that could get away with that look, but Laura's mom had the legs and butt to pull it off. I could easily picture her as the most popular girl in the trailer park when she had been a teenager.

"I hope my little hellion doesn't drive you crazy tonight," Susan said. "She's got a lot of energy. If she really gets bad, just give me a call and I'll come get her."

"Oh, don't worry about that," I laughed. "Megan has had friends over before, and it's always been fun." It was easier to tell a little lie than admit that Megan hadn't had an overnight visitor since her mother died.

"Yeah," Susan said, "but I'll bet none of them have been quite like Laura." She almost sounded like a character in a horror movie, the one who warns the house guests that her daughter was a possessed demon-child.

I struggled to find something else to say, but small talk has never been one of my strong points, especially when all I really could think about was pulling her into my bedroom. Yeah, she had that strong of an effect on me. Megan wasn't the only one who hadn't had a sleepover in a long time.

After a couple of uncomfortably silent moments, Susan headed toward the front door. "I'll pick up my she-devil about noon tomorrow, if that's okay."

"Oh, don't worry about that," I replied. "I'll bring her home. I have a couple of errands to run tomorrow anyway."

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow then."

As she turned and headed back toward her car, I was sure she gave her hips a little extra twitch as she sashayed down the driveway. Damned hot, and she knows it, I mused. I hadn't noticed a ring on her finger, and wondered if I should ask her out. Slow down, I warned himself, don't dive off the board until you know how deep the water is.

---

The first part of the evening went by without incident. We had hamburgers and French fries, one of my specialties. Laura even complimented me on the meal. After the girls helped clean up the kitchen, they disappeared into Megan's room, where they did whatever it is that tweener girls who are just getting to know each other do. About ten-thirty I knocked on Megan's door.

"If you guys take your showers now and get ready for bed, the clean up some of this mess, I'll let you stay up until midnight."

"You can take a shower first," Megan told Laura, "since you are the guest. I'll start cleaning up in here."

Laura grabbed a nightshirt and some fresh underwear out of her overnight bag and disappeared into the bathroom. I went back to watching a baseball game in the living room, happy that they were being so cooperative. I even congratulated myself on how well things were going.

When Laura emerged from the bathroom I heard her run down the hall and announce in a loud voice that it was Megan's turn. She was obviously still full of energy, and I began to get an uneasy feeling about the way Susan had described her daughter as "a she-devil".

As soon as Megan closed the bathroom door, Laura came bounding back down the hall. It seemed like she did everything at top speed, and I began to wonder if she might be hyperactive. She came to a halt right next to me, close enough that I could smell Megan's strawberry-tinted shampoo on her still-damp hair.

"What'cha watching?" she asked.

Dumb question, I thought, then realized that she was just trying to start a conversation. "Oh, nothing special. Just a baseball game."

"Can I keep you company?"

I turned and looked at her. She was looking at me with that same unsettling grownup expression I had seen on her face when we first met. I saw things in her eyes that convinced me she was wise beyond her years, and not in a good way.

"Sure, Laura, have a seat. When Megan's finished you guys can go watch TV in her room."

Laura plopped down beside me like a sack of potatoes falling off a truck. She even sat down energetically. It is a large sofa, and there was plenty of room for the two of us to have our own space, but she chose instead to sit right next to me. I scooted over as far as I could toward the end cushion, but when I did Laura slid over too. Her legs were pressed against mine, and it was obvious that she wanted the contact.

"I think we have awhile," she said casually, twirling a strand of her brunette hair around her thumb. "That silly cunt told me she takes long showers, then she has to blow dry her hair."

I couldn't believe what I had heard. I knew that kids that age could sometimes be foulmouthed around each other, but I thought they usually were more discrete around adults. At least we had been in my day.

"What did you say?"

"Oops," Laura grinned. "Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget where I am and use the wrong words. My mom keeps reminding me that not everybody has potty mouths like our family."

I was getting ready to give her a lecture about respecting her elders, but before I could start Laura changed the subject. She spun around on the cushion, facing him, and put her feet in my lap. "Do you like my nail polish?" she asked, wiggling her bright red toes.

"Very nice," I said. "Did you do that, or your mom?"

"Oh, I did it. My mom was too high. If she had done it I probably would look like I had red socks on." She laughed at her little joke.

The fact that Susan got high around her daughter wasn't that much of a surprise to me, based on the brief time I had spent with her, but Laura's nonchalance attitude about it did make me wonder what kind of family life she had.

"Do you like my feet? I think they're ugly."

Her nightgown was short, and with her feet propped up on my thighs, her legs were bared almost to the top of her thighs. I couldn't stop myself from stealing a glance at her thin, girlish legs. In my mind I was already imagining what it would feel like to run my hands up those legs, caressing her slender calves, then up past her knobby tomboy knees, and finally onto her smooth, tanned skinny thighs.

That's when I knew that my worst fears about being a stepfather were coming true. Laura was just the kind of girl I had been trying to avoid being around for most of my adult life. She had uncovered my deepest, darkest secret, almost as if she could see inside my head. The fact that she was just a natural temptress who probably had tormented several men before didn't make me feel better. The cap I had so carefully maintained over the perverse nature of my being had been popped open by the little Lolita now staring at me. The memories of the most erotic portion of my own childhood came rushing back into my consciousness.

When I was fourteen I had spent a week of my summer vacation visiting my aunt and uncle, and my eleven-year-old cousin Jenny. Like Laura, Jenny had projected an image as a nice, innocent young girl, but hidden below her sugar-and-spice facade was an adventurous, precocious creature who treated me like a new toy. Every day during my visit, Jenny and two other girls from her neighborhood had tortured my young libido with a series of playful activities that might have seemed innocent enough based on the ages of the participants, but left me with a twisted, unrequited desire toward young girls.

It started one afternoon when my aunt left Jenny and I at home while she ran some errands. As soon as Jenny heard the garage door close, she called her friends, Karen and Patty. As soon as they arrived, Jenny led all of us to her room. Somewhat of a control freak, she then informed us that we were going to play doctor. I was dreading having to spend a boring afternoon with three little girls, but I soon learned that my little cousin had a nasty streak, and liked to play hard-core.

The girls decided that I was going to be the patient, and that I needed a full physical exam. Jenny told me to strip, and appointed the other girls, her nurses, to help me. I thought the whole thing was kind of silly, but it wasn't worth making a big deal out of it, so I played along. I didn't resist very much when the 'nurses' began taking my shirt off, because I was sure they were just playing and would stop before anything embarrassing happened. When they pushed me down on the bed and started trying to get my pants off, I realized that the game had more to do with fulfilling their curiosity than role-playing.

By then, it was too late to resist, and to be honest by that point I wasn't sure I wanted them to stop anyway. When the 'nurses' managed to force my Jockeys down, revealing my now erect penis to their delighted view, I felt excited and embarrassed at the same time. I was at that point in my life where my thoughts were turning more and more to girls and sex, but my three playmates were still the first females to see my private parts since my mother when I was little. I was pretty sure that they had never seen an erection before either. They gathered around me and took turns inspecting my hard cock. Their warm hands almost caused me to erupt accidentally while they were still examining their new discovery. Luckily they grew tired of that part of the game before they found out what the body of a fourteen-year-old boy can do under the right conditions.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. I assumed the role of 'Doctor Rick', and examined each girl, one by one, in Jenny's closet. I was driven by my baser instincts to take advantage of my young playmates innocence, but I was also smart enough to understand that they were just young girls trying to satisfy some of their prepubescent curiosities. It would have been easy to let things go too far, but I knew no matter who had started the game, I would be the one held responsible. My hormones were raging, making it even more of a challenge to reign in those urges, but I managed to limit my explorations in the semi-darkness of that closet. I allowed myself to pull their panties down to their knees, and caress those soft, round bottoms as they giggled in delight at my daring. When it was Jenny's turn, I gave her the added thrill of rubbing my finger along the length of her tight, hairless little slit.

We had a close call, when my aunt arrived home earlier than expected. Jenny had just pulled her underwear back up as we quickly exited her closet as Aunt Martha came down the hall to see what we were doing. Her unexpected arrival deprived me of receiving any more attention from my three tormentors, which left it up to me to take matters into my own hands.

I spent most of that night feverishly masturbating to the images of the three naked girls, imagining that it was their warm fingers wrapped around my burgeoning manhood and not my own fist. I'm not even sure how many times I jacked off that night, but the wad of tissues on the floor next to the bed the next morning indicated that I had probably 'enjoyed' each of the girls at least once. I was so groggy at breakfast that Aunt Martha asked if I was okay. Assured that I was, she felt safe in leaving the kids alone that afternoon too, once again with me supposedly in charge.

This time, the girls decided that they wanted to play school. I was now an eager participant in Jenny's naughty fantasies, and was glad to assume the role of a discipline-happy teacher. The make-believe classroom was just an excuse for some spanking games of course, but I took my role seriously. I made a real effort at maintaining control, but it didn't take long for each girl to manage to do something bad enough to deserve punishment, and there was only one form of discipline in that school.

Each time one of them pushed the teacher too far, I would grab the squealing girl and drag her into the hallway, where Jenny had placed one of the chairs from the dining room. I again found it difficult to control myself when I had a squirming young girl bent across my knees, with her skirt pulled up and her panties pulled down. I managed to limit my contact to a few light slaps on their bare butts, with a quick rub of their reddened cheeks when I finished. That night I went through the rest of the box of tissue beside the guest bed.

I never completely got over the excitement of those adventurous days, and the unfulfilled longing I felt for my three little temptresses. That had led to what I always felt was an unhealthy interest in young girls, the interest that I had been working so hard to suppress. Now, in just a few minutes, Laura had taken me back to those not so innocent days in Jenny's room, and filled my head again with totally inappropriate thoughts.

She raised one foot and dangled it in front of my face, causing her nightgown to slide even higher. It was impossible to ignore the sight of her cute little white panties. My eyes lingered there for a moment, and when I looked up Laura was staring at me with a big smile on her face. I had no doubt that she had known just what would happen when she raised her leg, and I had taken the bait. Laura was not some innocent child - she was an imaginative she-devil like my cousin Jenny and her friends.

"Can I sit in your lap?" she asked innocently. Not waiting for an answer, she quickly pushed herself up and before I knew what was happening she straddled my legs. She was facing away from me, and bobbed up and down a few times like she was riding a wooden horse on a merry-go-round. When she finally settled down, she wiggled her hips against my groin. My conscience was screaming, but I just couldn't bring myself to push her away. The warm pressure of her slim body pressing against my growing erection just felt too good, and brought back a flood of suppressed memories.

She turned and smiled at me. "I used to sit in my Uncle Bob's lap all the time," she rattled on, like nothing unusual was happening. "He really liked it. And do you know what else he liked?"

Before I could tell her that I wasn't interested in what her Uncle Bob liked, Laura reached down between her legs and pressed her hand against my penis. I could feel myself begin to swell even more when she touched me. That's when the alarm bells in my head finally rang loud enough. I knew this had to stop, right then. I put my hands under her arms and lifted her off my lap, almost throwing her onto the floor.

"Damn it, Laura," I said, almost shouting, "what do you think you're doing?"

Megan picked that inopportune moment to come out of the bathroom. "Dad, what are you yelling about?"

"Oh, nothing honey. Laura just stepped on my toes and I lost my temper a little bit. Sorry, Laura, I know it was an accident."

Laura looked at my lap, smiling at my obvious excitement. "That's OK, Mr. McKinney. And I'm sorry I... stepped on your toes."

The girls went back to Megan's room. I left them alone until a little before midnight, as promised. As much as I didn't want to see Laura anymore that night, I had to be the good parent and make sure the girls got to bed.

"Time for bed, girls," I announced. Somewhat to my surprise, there were no whiny protests, just cooperation.

After brushing her teeth, Megan came into the living room for our usual goodnight kiss, a quick peck on each cheek, followed by a hug. That was the extent of physical contact that I allowed himself with her, and even that small intimacy sometime stirred those old passions.

As she skipped back down the hall, she turned and said "Oh Dad, Laura wants to give you a goodnight kiss too. Is that okay?"

No, it wasn't okay, but I couldn't think of a way out of it that wouldn't make Megan suspicious, so I reluctantly agreed. She gave me a smile and continued on her way back to her room. A few seconds later Laura came trotting back down the hall, like a relay racer who had just received the baton. I leaned forward, hoping that she would settle for a quick peck on the forehead, but instead she grabbed my head, bent it up a little , and gave me a kiss full on the lips. She even tried to slip her tongue into my mouth, but I kept my lips tightly clenched.

After she gave up her attempt at giving me a French kiss, she leaned forward and whispered into my ear. "I can be a very naughty little girl, Mr. McKinney. Do you like naughty girls?" She didn't wait for an answer before heading back toward Megan's room. This time, instead of running at full speed, she walked slowly, with an exaggerated twitch in her hips that I knew was for my benefit. Just before she closed the door behind her, she turned and gave me an exaggeratedly large wink, like a cartoon character.

Chapter 2: Play Dirty With Me

The next morning after breakfast, we piled into the car, and Laura guided us to her house. I had volunteered to take her home for a reason. I wanted to see where Laura and her family lived. It seemed inevitable that someday Laura would invite Megan to spend a night with her, and I wanted to get some idea what kind of environment she would be exposed to if and when that happened.

The Morgan house would have been hard to find without Laura's directions. It sat well back from the main road, at the end of a long dirt driveway. The house was hidden in the middle of an acre or so of woods and undergrowth.

Calling it a house was a bit of an exaggeration. It looked more like a shack, and one that was in need of attention. It reminded me of one of those spooky houses that teenagers always seemed to be drawn to on Halloween. To complete the picture, there were several junk cars in various states of disrepair scattered around what would have been the front yard if anyone had made an effort to maintain it.

As we neared the house, I saw a man working on one of the cars. He raised his head, and glared at me. My first thought was that it might be Laura's dad, but he seemed too old. He looked at me like a moonshiner eying a revenue agent, but when he saw Laura his mood softened.

"There's my granddad," Laura screamed in her usual, over-enthusiastic voice.

"Hi, peanut," he said, giving her quick hug.

I got out of the car as the girls ran into the house. "Hi, I'm Megan's dad," I said, putting his hand out toward the unhappy looking old coot.

"Charles Morgan," he replied, wiping his hands on his pants before extending one for an uncomfortable, perfunctory handshake.

I stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do next. It was obvious that the old man wasn't the talkative type, and wanted to get back to working on the car, so with a quick wave I turned and headed for the house. I knocked on the door, and heard a voice telling me to come in. I opened the door and walked into a small living room. The house looked a little nicer inside than it did from outside. I could hear the kids giggling from the back of the house, and what I assumed was Laura's room, but I was alone in the living room. A moment later, the two girls came charging back to the living room, coming to a sudden stop in front of me.

"Dad!" Megan shouted, obviously absorbing Laura's spirited nature, "Laura has a fish pond out back. Can I go look at it?"

"Um, how far is it? We have to get home pretty soon, you know."

That's when Laura's mother finally emerged. "Oh, it's only about fifty yards or so back in the woods," she explained. "Laura goes there all the time. It's safe."

I agreed, and the girls disappeared out the door, headed for another adventure at top speed. I was actually glad that they were gone, because it gave me a chance to talk to Susan privately. I wanted to learn more about the unusual Morgan family, and possibly bring up Laura's bizarre behavior. I wasn't sure how to go about that, but I felt like it needed to be done.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Mr. McKinney?"

"Sure, and please call me Rick."

"OK, Rick it is. Come on into the kitchen, there's a fresh pot just finishing up."

I followed Susan into the tiny kitchen. The whole house seemed very small, almost too small to hold an energetic girl like Laura. After Susan filled two cups, we sat down and I struggled to make polite conversation for a few minutes. What I really wanted to do was skip the small talk and get to what was really on my mind, Laura's flirtations behavior.

"I met your dad outside."

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Personality himself. I'm surprised he even said anything to you. He's not really a people person."

"I got that feeling. Is this his house?"

"Yep, this piece of crap, and the three acres surrounding it. The county has wanted to buy the property from him for several years to put in a park, but he keeps holding out for more money. Personally, I wish he would go ahead and sell. But I guess I shouldn't complain too much. The old coot was nice enough to let Laura and I move in here when my husband left."

"Does your dad live here too?"

"Nah, he has a bigger piece of crap even further back in the woods. He just uses this as a place to store his junk cars."

"You said you husband left. Are you divorced?"

"Yeah. We were separated, supposedly working things out, when I found him shacked up with some trailer park slut and her two kids. That's kind of funny, actually. One of the reasons he said he wanted to leave was that Laura bugged him. Now he has two little rug rats to put up with. So, how was the hurricane last night?"

That was the opening I had been waiting for. I took a deep breath, and gave Susan a quick overview of Laura's behavior. I left out some of the more explicit details, but did bring up her comment about good old Uncle Bob.

"Yeah," Susan grimaced, "Bob. He's a real piece of work. He taught Laura a lot of things, things that she wasn't ready for. But that's not a problem any more. He's locked up now."

"You mean he...molested her?"

"Her and a couple of other girls in the neighborhood. That's what got his ass thrown in jail."

I decided not to give Susan too many details about the way Laura had groped me. I didn't need to stir up even more trouble for the troubled woman sitting across the table from me than it appeared she already had. I almost regretted bringing the whole thing up. I had been dreading this conversation all morning, and now it had turned out even worse than I had feared.

"Look," Susan said, "I'll talk to her, and remind her again that she needs to forget all those "Uncle Bob' things, and act more like a young lady. I'm sorry if she embarrassed you."

"It's okay, I just wanted you to know." I quickly changed the subject. "So, what do you do for a living?"

"I work at Target."

"Oh, maybe that's where I've seen you. I had the feeling when we met last night that I had seen you somewhere."

Susan stared at him, then grinned. "You really don't remember me, do you?"

"Uh, no. But apparently, I should?"

"Early nineties? The Curious Kitty?"

That made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The Curious Kitty had been one of the topless bars I had frequented during my wild bachelor days. But how had she known that? I took another, more careful look at her, then it hit me. "Sweet Suzie!" I exclaimed, "that was you?"

"In those day, yeah. I guess I look a little different now, but I still remember you. Rick McKinney, God's gift to women, or at least that's how you introduced yourself to me the first time I gave you a lap dance."

''That was a long time ago," I muttered, somewhat embarrassed to be reminded of my seedy past by the mother of one of Megan's friends.

"For both of us," Susan added. "Now look at us, both grownup, responsible adults, with kids. Didn't see that coming."

The conversation waned at that point, leaving an uncomfortable silence in the room. I told Susan I had things to do and started to rise. Before I could get to my feet, Susan put her hand on my arm and stopped me.

"Rick," she said in a voice barely above a whisper, "how long have you been a widower?"

"How did....?"

"Laura told me."

"It's been almost three years now."

"Got any lady friends?"

"Don't really have much time for dating," I sighed, "between work and trying to keep up with Megan."

"Tell me about it," she laughed. "Look, the girls are going to be back in a minute, but before they do I have something I want to ask you."

"Sure, shoot."

"Would you like to have sex with me? I know that back in the day, you really seemed to like me, and I don't think I have aged too badly. Now we're both single, and I know I'm horny. I'm not looking for any kind of relationship, just sex. Come on Rick, play dirty with me."

I sat in stunned silence as Susan made her sales pitch. She looked into my eyes, with a shy smile and tilt to her head that brought on a sudden flashback to the days when she had called me her favorite customer. A little older, a few pounds heavier, the big blond hair now short and brunette, but still the same Suzie who could always wheedle an extra tip out of me as she writhed her hips across my lap. Now she was trying to seduce me into more than just an extra twenty.

I found it hard to believe that on a sunny Saturday morning, the mother of my stepdaughter's new best friend was propositioning me. What was even stranger was that without even thinking about it very long, I found myself saying, "Sure, but no strings, right?"

"Just sex," she repeated "That's all I want, and I think you do too."

"It has been a long time," I sighed.

"Good. There is something else I should tell you though."

"What?"

"I like to role play."

"A little fantasy with your sex. I can do that." I smiled at her, feeling more at ease every minute. Now that our faces were only a couple of feet apart, I could definitely see the old Suzie there, peeking out from behind a few wrinkles. "When?" I asked, my excitement beginning to grow already.

"Can you get off work some afternoon this week? Laura gets home from school about a quarter to four. If you can be here around two, that would be great."

"Okay, I can take a few hours of sick leave. How about Wednesday?"

"Wednesday it is."

"So, what's the fantasy?"

"You'll find out when you get here," she teased.

"It's a date," I said, wondering if that was really the right word. Was agreeing to meet a woman in her thirties that I barely knew for a matinee considered a date? Before I could dwell on that question too long, the girls came back into the house in another cloud of energy. Megan was holding a turtle. "Can I keep it?" she asked.

"I guess so," I agreed. She could probably have asked for a car and I might have agreed. At that moment my resistance low. All I could really think about was having sex with a women for the first time in almost three years.

---

On Wednesday I drove back down the dirt lane, not nearly as excited and sure about what I was doing as I had been Saturday. I was finally beginning to worry about things that should have occurred to me right away, but which I had avoided until the day of our assignation.

Despite Susan's assurances, I was still worried about entanglements. She had said it was just about sex, but you could never be sure, and I wasn't in the market for a new wife, especially one with another girl the same age as Megan. Then there was the time issue. Would two hours be enough? I knew that once we got down to the actual sex, it wasn't going to take long for me to find relief, but I had no idea how involved and time-consuming the role playing was going to be. And where was Susan's father? Was there a chance he might drop by unannounced? Would I need protection?

There was one sensible thing I had thought about in advance. I patted my pocket for the third time, verifying that the condoms were still there. I knew that an attractive, sexual woman like Susan who liked to play erotic games would likely have a lot of other 'playmates'.

I managed to push the last of my doubts out of my mind when I knocked on her front door. I heard Susan's voice from the back of the house. "Come on in, Rick, and have a seat."

I followed her instructions, and sat down on a small sofa in the equally small living room. The coffee table in front of me was covered by supermarket tabloids and celebrity magazines. I squirmed uncomfortably, my nerves on edge again. I hadn't heard anything from Susan since I had stepped inside. I figured Susan was still getting dressed, and began to imagine what she would be wearing when she did finally appear. She still hadn't given me any clues about what the fantasy was going to be. Would she be wearing the tank top and shorts she had worn when we met? Or would it be some revealing lingerie. Perhaps she would just be nude. But nothing my imagination came up with prepared me for what I saw coming down the hall a few seconds later.

Susan was wearing a cheerleader outfit, and it wasn't a Halloween party make-believe imitation. This was the whole nine-yards, a sweater with a big letter 'U' on it, a short skirt, with alternating purple and white vertical strips, white ankle socks, and athletic shoes. Her hair was gathered in a ponytail to complete the look. Now I knew what the game was - high school days, but I still didn't know what my role was. She didn't give me any hints, so I just took a shot.

"So, you're on the squad now? Congratulations."

"Well, only j. v. for now," she replied, following my lead. "But the coach says I'm doing so good that I should be on varsity, but he's leaving it up to the other girls to decide. Becky is the captain, and she says there is only one test I have to pass to be on varsity."

"What kind of test?"

Susan smiled shyly, looked down at the floor, and said, "I have to fuck the captain of the football team. That's why I asked you to come over." It almost looked like she blushed a little. I realized then that she really got into her fantasies. There was a frustrated actress inside the former lap dancer.

I decided that "cheerleader" Susan probably didn't want the quarterback to make things too easy for her. "Damn, girl, you think you can just have me show up, fuck you, and solve your problem for you?" I growled. "You know Becky is my girlfriend, right?"

"Sure Rick, and I would never do anything to come between you and her. Remember, this is her idea. It's just sex, she told me. Come on, I really need your help. I really want to be on the team."

She reached out and took my hand, and I reluctantly let her lead the way down the short hallway to her bedroom. It was as tiny and unkempt as the rest of the house. The bed was the only piece of furniture in the room without a stack of clothes on it. Serena had trained me well, just seeing that mess made me feel uneasy. Don't be an ass, I reminded myself, this is about sex, not housekeeping.

"You're sure this was Becky's idea?" I asked, still playing along with her fantasy.

She smiled at me. "Don't you trust me?"

"Maybe, but how do I know you just want to fuck me. I've never heard about the cheerleaders having any kind of test or initiation."

"That's because we try to keep it secret, silly," she chided. "Now come on, Mr. Quarterback, show me what kind of man it takes to lead a state championship team."

Susan was sitting on the bed, hands folded demurely in her lap, managing to look surprisingly like a frightened high school girl. She was a better actress than I had expected. I wondered if she had actually been a cheerleader, or if this was just some kind of wish fulfillment.

Whatever it was for her, it certainly appealed to me. As a teenager, I had experienced that same fascination with cheerleaders that all teenage boys seem to have, but I had never come close to having sex with one of those flexible, short-skirt-wearing temptresses. I had been much too shy to even contemplate such a feat. I hadn't started coming out of my shell until after high school.

Now, I had one of those 'untouchable' fantasy figures sitting on a bed right in front of me, waiting and wishing for me to have my way with her. Just the idea gave me a raging erection. Susan had touched one of my hot buttons without even knowing it.

She sat quietly, letting me control the action. The way she had set thing up, her being an inexperienced but willing young girl ready to do whatever it took to make varsity, seemed to me to be in invitation to be aggressive lover, perhaps more than I ever had been before. I thought briefly of dragging her outside and having sex with her in the back seat of my car, but doing that in the middle of the afternoon seemed risky. Instead, I stepped closer to her, until my knees bumped hers. She looked up at me, as if expecting a kiss. "Take it out," I commanded.

"What...?"

"My cock," I said, my tone letting her know that was an order, not a request. "Take it out and suck it. All good cheerleaders know how to give a blow job, right?"

"All right," she agreed. She reached out and unzipped my pants, still maintaining eye contact. She exposed my rock-hard member easily, displaying a bit more experience than the "innocent girl" she was playing should have. She seemed to catch herself, and quickly slipped back into her role. "I ... I ... don't know how..." she said, looking at the object in her hand like it was something she had never seen before.

"Use your hand... that's right, just rub it... up and down... not so tight... oh yeah, that's nice."

"It's getting bigger."

"That's the idea, sweetheart. Geez, you really are inexperienced, ain't ya?"

"Come on Rick. I'm only fifteen, and my parents don't even let me date yet. How am I supposed to know about ... stuff. That's one reason I want to be a cheerleader, so I can meet boys. Big, handsome boys, like you."

I found himself getting drawn more and more into her make-believe. Sitting there in her little cheerleader outfit, with her hair in a ponytail, I could easily imagine her being a virginal fifteen. The image was so strong that I was afraid I would cum just from thinking about it, something that hadn't happened to me since I was .... well, the age I was supposed to be playing.

"Stop talking and start sucking. Put it in your mouth."

"The whole thing?"

"Not all at once. Take your time. Just put your lips over the head... yeah, like that. Now tease it with your tongue. When you think you're ready, move your mouth down a little further."

Susan followed my instructions dutifully, sliding her lips over my shaft inch-by-inch, until she began to gag.

"Take it easy, you don't need to prove anything to me," I whispered, not sure whether I was speaking as the high-school jock or a middle-aged man. "Just take a little bit at a time. Let yourself get used to the feel of a dick in your mouth."

She pulled away, a strand of spit stretching from my cock to her lips. She smiled up at me. "Are you sure? Becky said you like it deep."

"Fuck Becky," I snapped, getting back into my character. "This is about you and me now."

"Thank you," she whispered, then bent back down and resumed her oral massage. This time she dropped the innocent act, and began to give me a real blow job. Now it was an experienced former topless dancer working over my dick, not a fumbling, shy high school girl. Lots of lips, tongue, and saliva, combined to arouse me to the point where I felt like I was going to cum way too early. I put my hands on her head and reluctantly pulled her talented mouth away from my throbbing cock.

"Hey, take it easy," I chided, jumping out of character again for a moment. "I'm not really a teenager who can cum over and over again."

"Sorry," the real Susan grinned up at me.

As if turning a switch, she quickly returned to her role. "Gosh, I guess you want to fuck me now, right? Just take it easy, okay? Remember, I've only done it once, and that was with Jason. He has a really small dick, not like you at all."

I knew I was at best only an average-sized guy, but if "cheerleader" Susan wanted me to be hung like a donkey, I vowed to do my best to live up to the demands. She had seemed to enjoy it when I had acted like a macho creep, so I fell back into that mode. "Don't tell me what to do, bitch. I'm just doin' this as a favor to you, so you can make varsity. So, we'll do it my way, got it?"

"Yes, Rick," she whispered, looking down as if afraid to meet my gaze.

"Now, stand up and take your panties off."

"Not the rest of my clothes?"

I toyed with the idea of giving her a little slap on the face, but decided that might be overacting. Instead, I snarled at her. "Nah, I'm not interested in the rest of your body. Maybe some other day, but right now, I'm in a hurry, I've gotta get to practice. I just want easy access to your pussy."

She did as I requested, stepping out of her white cotton briefs but leaving the flared skirt on. She removed the band holding her hair, and gave her head a quick flip, which caused her hair to cascade down to her shoulders. I could have given her a hard time about not doing just what I had asked, but I kind of liked the look so I let it go.

"Lie down," I commanded. She settled down in the middle of the bed, but before she could get too comfortable I stopped her. "Not there," I barked, "come over here." I pounded the edge of the mattress in front of me to make sure she got the idea.

She was sliding toward the side of the bed when I grabbed her ankles and pulled her roughly the rest of the way. I positioned her so that her hips were just barely on the bed, with her legs drawn up toward her chest. I put my hand on her knees and pushed her legs further up, then spread them almost painfully wide. She was limp, letting me position her like a rag doll.

With my erection pointing straight out from my body, I stepped closer to the bed. I used one hand to rub the head of my shaft along her outer lips, which were projecting boldly from the forest of pubic curls between her thighs. 'Suzie' had been a pubic shaver, but Susan apparently had given that up. As I had suspected, she was already dripping wet - the fantasy had put her in the mood as much as it had me.

I looked down at her, spread out on the bed in front of me, legs askew, but still wearing her cheerleader sweater and skirt. Both of us were almost totally clothed, which seemed to add to the illicit teenage sex atmosphere of the scene. I pushed my hands up under her sweater, found her bra, and pushed that up also, my hands finally touching her breasts. I would have liked to dallied there for awhile - exciting a woman by playing with her breasts has always been on of my favorite things to do, but by now my cock was twitching with excitement, and I knew a quick-and-dirty fuck was more appropriate. I gave her rigid nipples one last tweak, then turned my attention to her "teenage" pussy.

I probed the center of her heat with the tip of my manhood, and easily found her surprisingly tight vaginal opening. Pushing forward, with all the haste and impatience I remembered from my first clumsy sexual experiences, I plunged almost all the way into her in one movement of my hips.

Susan sighed as my hardness slipped into her. That was when she finally dropped the innocent-young-girl act. Her hips began gyrating, and soon she was thrusting her pelvis back at me, matching the intensity of my strokes with her own responses. Soon we were slamming into each other in as rough a fuck as I could ever remember having. I worried for a moment that I was overdoing it, but it seemed to be just what Susan wanted. She wrapped her legs around my hips and ground her vulva against e like she wanted to pull my whole body into her steaming snatch.

"God damn ... god damn ... don't move ... don't move a muscle," she commanded, locking her legs tightly around my hips.

Buried to the hilt in her hot, wet pussy, I stayed still and watched as Susan got herself off with some intricate movements of her body against mine. Something seemed to tighten inside her as her climax built, and that was all it took to trigger my own orgasm.

"Ohh!" Susan almost screamed. "Damn ... Rick ... now ... hard ... do me hard."

Her legs moved away from my body, as she spread them even wider than before, as if making room for me to answer her plea. As I felt my own eruption building, I began pounding into her brutally again. A moment later my cries of delight mingled with hers, as I felt myself in the throes of a mighty ejaculation.

I looked down, and for a moment thought Susan had passed out. Then her eyes opened and she looked up at me. "Damn, quarterbacks play rough," she said with a grin.

"Is that a complaint?" I asked.

"No way. It almost seemed like you read my mind."

It was only then, as my erection began to wan slightly, still in the grip of her dripping wet vagina, that I remembered the condoms that were still in my pocket. That really did make it seem like some of the quickies from my teenage years, when good intentions often fell victim to teenage lust.

As I pulled back, the reality of the wet spot on the bed, and on the front of my pants, pulled me back to reality. I found a bathroom in the hall and tried to clean myself up, while Susan changed back into her 'mom' clothes. Feeling somewhat embarrassed by how much I had gotten into the idea of roughly fucking a fifteen-year-old girl, I wanted to leave as quickly as I could. In a haze of post-coital guilt, I almost regretted accepting her invitation, regardless of how enjoyable the experience had been.

Susan seemed to sense my unease, and tried to make me more comfortable. "That was great," she said. "You're not only a good lover, but you know how to get into a role also. Did you ever think of becoming an actor?"

"In porn films, maybe?" I joked.

"Yeah, I guess that's what we just did. Scene two of 'High School Cheerleader Sluts.' Would you like something to drink before you go?"

"No, I better get going. I told Megan I would pick her up from school today. She hates to ride the bus."

"Yeah, Laura too. Which reminds me, I need to ask a favor."

"What's that?"

"Can Laura come home with Megan after school tomorrow and Friday? Usually my dad and I arrange our work schedules so that one of us is always here when Laura gets home, but this week one of my coworkers had to go out of town suddenly, so I have to work late. I was wondering if Laura could stay with you until I can come pick her up. I should be there by nine or so."

"Sure," I agreed reluctantly. "I usually get home about an hour after Megan does, and she has strict orders not to answer the door or go out until I do. She would probably enjoy having somebody to hang out with, and if Laura doesn't mind hot dogs or pizza, I can see to it that she is fed."

"Great," Susan said with a smile, and a quick kiss on the cheek.

Where had that come from, I wondered, then decided that it was probably nothing. We may have been talking parent-to-parent, but only a few minutes previous we had been fucking like hormone-crazed teenagers, so a little adult goodbye gesture probably wasn't anything to worry about. No entanglements, and no strings, was still the rule.

---

When I got home the next day, the house was suspiciously quiet. I had expected to find Megan and Laura watching TV, or, ever the optimist, maybe even doing homework. Instead, as far as I could tell, they weren't even in the house, contrary to my rule. I angrily stormed out the front door and down to the end of the driveway, looking for my errant stepdaughter and her precocious friend. Megan had never disobeyed me like this, and I was already blaming Laura.

"Megan," I shouted, hoping that they were at least still within earshot.

I heard Megan's voice respond. "We're here."

"Where?"

"In the backyard."

I walked around the side of the house, but still didn't see the girls. I stood in the middle of the backyard, looking around. They were obviously playing some kind of game with me, and I wasn't in the mood for hide-and-seek. "Megan," I shouted, "where are you, and why are you guys outside?"

"Gosh Dad, don't have a cow," she responded. "I was just showing Laura our tree, and she wanted to climb it."

I looked up into the camphor tree that dominated our back yard. I finally spotted the two grinning girls hovering in the branches about ten feet overhead. I felt relieved, and a little ashamed about being so paranoid. After all, Megan was only a couple of years away from getting her restricted drivers' license. Maybe it was time for me to show her some trust. I probably would have felt a little better if her cohort had been anyone other than the mischievous Laura. I still wasn't sure just what all the Morgan family women were capable of.

My eyes were drawn to Laura, straddling a large branch right above my head. Her shorts were hiked up, revealing her slim thighs almost all the way to her butt. She was just a kid, I reminded himself, but the sight of her bare legs as she rocked on the branch, like she had done on my lap a few days earlier stirred up the coals of my suppressed urges. The way she was moving and the sultry smile on her face led me to suspect that she was stimulating herself by rubbing her crotch against the rough bark. She's hot, I thought, and she knows it. God help us all in a few years.

Megan seemed to be blissfully unaware of what Laura was doing, as she started to climb down. "Hi Dad. Been a long time since I've climbed a tree, right?"

"Yeah kiddo, it sure has. You girls be careful, okay? I don't want to have to call 911."

"Oh Mr. McKinney," Laura said with a giggle, "we're not little kids. We know what we're doing."

Yeah, I thought, I bet you do. She was still rocking, and my dirty mind assumed that the big smile on her face was because she was to getting herself off. I couldn't help myself, I began imagining that nasty young girl lying in her bed at night, playing with herself.

"Dad, are you okay?"

Megan's voice broke the spell and put an end to my dirty daydream. "I'm fine. Why don't you girls come on down an wash up. There's a pizza in the kitchen."

That got them out of the tree in a hurry. Soon we were all digging into the large fragrant pie. While we were sitting around, stuffed and happy, I turned to Megan and asked, "You used to climb trees a lot when you were younger, but I haven't seen you do that in a long time. What made you decide to go back up today?"

"It was Laura's idea," she said. "We were playing pirates, and that was our ship. You were in the water, Dad. I hope you didn't get too wet." She and Laura both giggled at her joke.

I looked at Laura. "Your idea?" She nodded. "Pirates, huh? I would have thought that you guys were a little old for fantasy games like that. Next thing you know, you'll be dressing your Barbie dolls again."

"My mom says that even grownups like to have fantasies sometimes," Laura said with a sly grin, "but they usually just keep them in their heads and don't tell anybody else about it. Is that right, Mr. M.?"

Laura was staring intently at me, and I got the distinct impression that she knew just what she was talking about. I wondered how much she knew about her mother's little hobby, and my participation. The mischievous smile on her face indicated that she knew a lot, but I couldn't imagine a mother sharing those kinds of details with her young daughter.

"I guess in a way that's right," I said. "We all daydream occasionally. Maybe adults would be happier if we climbed more trees and sailed more pirate ships."

After we cleaned up I suggested that the girls do homework while we waited for Susan to show up. For the next half hour, I relaxed in front of the TV, and almost forget that Laura was in the house. The spell was broken when she suddenly showed up at my elbow.

"Mr. M., can you help me with my math?"

"Math? Hmm, Not really a strong point for me. What are you working on?

"Long division."

"Okay, sit down." I said. "Let's see what you've got."

Not to my surprise, Laura sat down right next to me, her leg pressed against my thigh. If she had been any other young girl, that would have meant nothing, but I was already overly sensitive when it came to touching Laura in any manner. She put her math book in my lap and pointed to the page of problems she was working on. To my surprise, for a few minutes it seemed like she was serious about seeking my help. I managed to give her a few hints about how to go about solving the laborious problems in her text, and even ad-libbed an answer to her question about why she even needed to know how to do long division in an age of computers and calculators.

When we finished, Laura didn't get up right away, choosing instead to sit with me, still much too close for my comfort.

"I wish you would have come home a few minutes later today," she sighed.

"Why?"

"Because I was really enjoying myself in that tree," she replied, leering up at me with an expression that was anything but angelic. "I don't know why, but it just felt good having something big between my legs... rubbing me... you know where. Like this." She got up, and straddled the arm of the sofa next to me. "When I rocked back and forth, like this, it made me feel all tingly inside. I even got a little wet ... down there. Ohh, I think it happening again. Let me show you."

Laura took my hand and guided it to the leg opening where her thin, tanned thigh emerged from her shorts. I wanted to resist, but those suppressed frustrations from my days with Jenny and her friends overruled my better judgment. Almost in a trance, I pushed my fingers passed the tight barrier of her panties and traced the crease of her tiny labia, just as I had done with the girls in Jenny's closet years ago. I could tell that she was truly stimulated. I think it was the surprising slick feel of her emissions that brought me to my senses. I pulled my hand away suddenly, as if her pudenda was a hot iron. Like a man waking from a nightmare, I felt a moment of panic as I realized what I had done.

Laura didn't give me much of a chance to dwell on the consequences of my actions. She swung her leg over the arm of the sofa, and before I could stop her she was sitting in my lap again, this time facing me. She went on talking like nothing unusual was happening.

"I bet riding a horse would be fun. I know a lot of girls like that, and I think I know why. Have you ever ridden a horse? Is it fun for a guy?"

I was desperate to get her away from me before Megan came out to see what we were doing, but I just couldn't do it. The soft pressure of her tiny, round butt pushing against my rapidly expanding erection was just too hard to resist. "I rode a horse once when I was about your age. It was fun."

"Isn't it hard for guys? I mean, don't your balls get in the way?"

"You have to be a little careful."

"Doesn't it hurt when they get in the wrong place?"

"How do you know so much about male genitalia?"

"Geni... what?" she said. Her face indicated innocent curiosity, but her hand revealed just how much she did know as her fingers found my excitement and wrapped around my cock as it throbbed in my pants. I wanted so much to tell her to take it out and finish what she had started, but my senses returned just in time.

"Stop it," I snapped. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what, Mr. M.? I just like you, that's all. And thanks for helping me with my homework," she said, changing the subject with that manic, hyperactive speed I was still getting used to. As she got up her hand pressed against my crotch once more. "Gosh. Mr. M.," she grinned, "did you hurt yourself today? It feels like something is swollen up in your pants. Maybe you should put some ice on it."

"Leave me alone," I muttered. She definitely took after her mother, a couple of sexual animals.

"You probably think I'm a really bad girl, right? I'll be you'd like to spank me."

"I don't believe in physical punishment," I replied.

"You mean you've never swatted Megan's bottom?"

"No, I told you, I don't do that." I felt a flush in my cheeks giving away my lie. I had taken Megan across my lap once when she was eight, and had felt bad about it ever since. Bad, but in a strange way, good also. Recently I had often found myself wondering what it would be like to do that again, now that she was almost a teenager. That was another hidden part of my personality that Laura had somehow uncovered.

I couldn't sleep that night. My thoughts were a swirling combination of excitement, guilt, and curiosity. I wondered if Laura behaved like that around other men, or if I was the cause of her inappropriate behavior. I had been hearing a lot lately about teachers and coaches being caught with their hand in the cookie jar. It seemed like Laura was just the type of precocious girl to entice a horny man into just such a trap. Her cookie jar appeared to not be very tightly covered. Was she aggressive, maybe even promiscuous, with her classmates? Was that one of the reasons she was so popular? And how much did Megan know, if anything, about how her new best friend behaved? That was the question that kept me awake the longest.

I knew I right thing for me to do would be to tell Megan not to hang out with Laura any more, which would keep her away from me also. But even as well-behaved and obedient as Megan was, I knew she would be unlikely to obey such an order. Having Laura as her friend just meant too much to her, and I got that.

When I got home the next day the girls were watching TV. Instead of take out, I kept myself busy by fixing a real home cooked meal, as a way of keeping some space between Laura and myself. After supper, the three of us watched a movie. As long as Megan was in the room, I knew that Laura wasn't going to try anything too outlandish. When Susan showed up, I practically pushed Laura out the door. I thought about discussing her behavior with Susan again, but my first attempt hadn't seemed to do any good, so I doubted a second conversation would produce any better results.