1. Seduction She stood at her window, just across the alley. I’d been noticing her for months coming and going, doing this or that. I mean, a pretty woman lived next door-I’m bound to notice even if she closes her shades. My neighbor didn’t, at least not in the living room. Not that there was much to look at usually. I mean, I’d seen her on the street for at least a year.

I noticed her from across the bonfire. Of course I did, it was early in the evening and she was practically naked already. The scrap of dark fabric she was wearing as a skirt was flying all over the place because she was dancing. It looked like she wasn’t really part of the same world as the rest of us. I’m not complaining, it was quite a pleasant sight. I sipped my drink and leaned back trying to put on my cool and hoping to watch her for a while.

The party was good, but I still needed to get away. Once a year was still overwhelming. Too many people at all once for my taste. Too much raw sex in the air-not that I have anything against sex, I just want to be able to smell fresh air sometimes over the low hum of arousal. I took a walk to the far side of the deck and looked out over my host’s spacious-and incredibly private-back yard.