by Amy DeMeritt
Janae squeezes my hand, causing me to look up. She has an amused look on her face, like she’s trying not to laugh. I clear my throat and shake my head.
“Nothing at the moment.”
The girl practically runs away, which makes Janae burst in laughter. She slaps my shoulder and shakes her head at me.
“How many ways did you fuck her in your mind before she left?”
“Damn, I don’t know, at least five. Did you see the ass on that girl? I mean, it can’t compete with yours, but since I can’t have yours, hers would help fill the void.”
“Hey, what did you think of my new girl?”
Jill sets our cappuccinos down and I lick my lips as I lean back, just thinking about what I want to do to the new girl. Jill gives me a knowing look and nods once.
“I thought so. Stay away from her.”
“What? Why?”
“She’s five years younger than you and she’s an innocent. I swear, I don’t think she has ever had sex.”
“There is no way a twenty-six-year-old woman that looks like that is a virgin, unless she has a fucking chastity belt or was locked in a tower all her life. But if she is, that’s fantastic. Do you know how much fun it is to play with the virgin innocents?”
“Uh, Jill…?”
The sexy blonde walks over with blushing cheeks and tries not to look at me, but our eyes meet and her cheeks darken.
“What’s up, Carrie?”
“Joanne needs your help with something.”
“Ok, I’ll be right there. Oh, hey, Jack, Carrie is new to town and is looking for a room to rent. Do you have any space in that huge house of yours?”
My jaw tenses and I narrow my eyes at Jill, who smiles in a victorious way. Every so often, I take in tenants to help people out, or just to have some company, and everyone knows I will not sleep with a tenant.
Carrie tries to protest, saying, “Uh, no, that’s ok. I’ll…”, but Jill cuts her off, saying, “No, you really don’t want to turn down this opportunity. Jack lives in a mansion, and she charges next to nothing for rent.”
“But…”
The girl looks terrified. I rub the back of my neck and wipe off all of my cockiness and try to exude an air of safety and humility as I sit forward to grab my cappuccino. I take a sip and then pull my wallet out, feeling completely defeated. I pull out a business card, steal the pen in Jill’s apron, and write my address down on the back of the business card.
“Here, if you’re interested in looking at the place, come by tomorrow.”
She takes the card with a shaking hand and nervously bites her bottom lip as she reads it.
“You own a computer software company?”
“I do. You can Google me.”
She looks me up and down then looks at the card again, looking very confused. Her reaction is common, but it’s annoying. I roll my eyes and grab my coffee mug, feeling completely over her now.
I can’t stand being stereotyped against like that. Just because I like my hair short, have tattoos on my arms, and a small neck tattoo on the left side of my neck, doesn’t mean I’m a criminal or unintelligent. I built my first computer application and sold it to an internet startup company for five million dollars when I was a senior in high school. In just thirteen years, I’ve built several computer applications, plug-ins, and analytics macros that I have copywritten and sell usage rights contracts to the largest corporations around the world. I rake in millions annually and will hit my first billion in just a few years.
Ignoring Carrie and Jill, I lift my menu and start skimming it, trying to decide what I want to eat. I don’t know if it’s because of this trip to Seattle, or if it’s because I’ve been dealing with reactions like that for too long, or because I’m getting older, but my patience for it is next to nil.
“We’ll give you time to decide on what you want to eat.”
After they leave, Janae takes my hands and kisses both of them. “Are you ok, honey?”
“Fine.”
“No, you’re not. What happened on your trip?”
“Same bullshit as always. I’m sick of being looked down on by ‘proper society’ just because I don’t look how they think I should. I felt like I was white knuckling ninety-percent of those meetings just trying to maintain professionalism and not punch anyone in the face.”
I had four associates with me and I was grateful that the bastards in Seattle at least had the decency to not treat them with the same judgmental glances and comments. I don’t want my associates to have to deal with that shit.
“I think you’re beautiful, exactly how you are.”
I smile and squeeze her hands, tugging her forward. She gives me a soft lingering kiss on my lips, and then one on my forehead. I love forehead kisses so much. They just feel more meaningful for some reason.
“You know you’re my favorite person in the world, right?”
Janae nods and brushes her thumbs over the tops of my hands. “Yes, and you are my favorite person.”
“What do you want to do after breakfast?”
“I want to go to that pottery place and spin a vase with you.”
“Do I get to wrap my arms around you and glide my hands through that wet messy clay with your hands?”
Janae inhales deeply as her eyes widen in an aroused way. “You better.”
“What do you want to do after that?”
“Shop for wine.”
“Is this your way of telling me that you drank all of my wine while you were masturbating in my bed?”
She releases an adorable giggle and her cheeks blush, as she extends, “Maybe.”
“Ok, we’ll go wine shopping.”
“Uh, sorry, excuse me. Are you ready to order?”
Janae and I release each other’s hands to pick up our menus. We look them over quickly and give Carrie our orders. She nods awkwardly as she accepts the menus then walks away.
“I’m going to fuck Jill hard for doing that to me.”
“You’re not allowed to fuck Jill anymore.”
“Why not?”
“She has a boyfriend.”
“What? Since when?”
“They met while you were out of town. She said she might be able to get serious about him, so she’s going to try not to mess around on him.”
“Damn.”
“You shouldn’t be fucking your friends anyway.”
“You’re really trying to destroy me today, aren’t you? I think you might be my only close friend I don’t get to fuck or haven’t fucked at some point.”
“And what does that tell you?”
“That you love to torture me.”
“No, it means I love you the most.”
My face spreads into a huge goofy grin, making Janae laugh. “I love you the most too.”
“You better. So, why didn’t you get any action while you were in Seattle?”
“I just wasn’t in the mood to go prowling after dealing with those assholes. I wasn’t feeling sexy. I was just angry. I don’t want to talk about that stupid trip anymore. What have you been up to? I feel like I barely got to talk to you while I was gone.”
“It was pretty much the same as always. Work was busy. I made twenty-two special order cakes, which is double what I typically accept on a weekly basis. I did skip out of the bakery in the middle of the day on Wednesday to go to the movies. I just needed a break before I destroyed everything in sight.”
“Why did you take on so much work?”
“I was bored. You were gone and everyone was busy.”
“You should have come to Seattle with me.”
“Maybe next trip. When do you leave again?”
“Probably not for a while. I have another meeting lined up with a company in Boston, but I’ll be able to send my team there to handle that deal. They’re a smaller company and their needs aren’t as great, so I shouldn’t need to be there for that one. One good thing that came out of this Seattle trip, besides the huge paycheck, is they unknowing
ly gave me an idea for a new product while they were explaining the obstacles they deal with for data management. I’m going to get working on script framework on that application soon so my team can start beta testing in the next couple months.”
“That’s great. You’re taking over the world, honey.”
I laugh and shrug a shoulder as I lean back. “You going to rule by my side?”
“Always.”
“If I could make you queen of some country or island, would you wear a crown?”
“No, I’m not a fan of crowns, but I think I’d like a royal scepter with a hidden sword in it.”
“What’s on the top of your scepter?”
“I have no idea. The only thing I can picture is that cobra scepter Jaffar has in Aladdin . That was pretty badass. The ability to hypnotize people would be so awesome.”
“With you by my side with that badass scepter, we’d be able to take over the world for sure.”
“What would be your first official decree?”
“That my queen has to have sex with me.”
Janae laughs hard and slaps my arm. “So, your authority automatically overrules mine?”
“Damn, I make you a queen and you still won’t sleep with me?”
She passes her tongue through her teeth with her lips spread in a grin while trying to think of how to answer me.
“You honestly make me your queen, meaning no more hookups with hoes, and you’d be able to have me.”
“It always comes back to that. Why do you love me so much when you think I’m a dirty tramp?”
“I love you, despite our differences in sexual needs. I just want you to be happy, Jack. If you’re happy hooking up with random women and never having a relationship, then go for it. But when that gets old and you want a relationship, I’ll give you the whole fucking world, honey.”
“You know we’d probably be like a box of TNT together and blow this world to bits. It’s going to be explosive.”
“Yes, it will.”
“Here you go.” Jill sets our meals down in front of us, then runs her hand through my hair. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not handling that situation with Carrie tactfully. Do you want to come over tonight?”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend now?”
She smiles and shrugs a shoulder. “Yeah, but I feel like I owe you one. Plus, I missed you.”
“I have banned her from fucking you anymore.”
Jill releases a laughing scoff at Janae and shoves her arm. “Bitch. I can’t believe you just cock-blocked me like that.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You have a man!”
“Yeah, but…” She looks around, and then sits down next to me. She leans in towards the center of the table, and whispers, “Ok, so he’s got a great package, but he’s too timid. I feel like I spend half of the time telling him what to do, which makes it feel more like a tutorial than fucking. How do I get him to act more like an animal and less like he thinks I’m a flower he’s going to crush?”
“Role reversal. Tie that bastard up and wail on him. Show him what you want him to do to you.”
Jill looks at me with the tip of her tongue tucked in the corner of her parted lips with a thoughtful grin. “Role reversal, huh? That could be fun. I wonder if he’ll let me fuck him with a strap-on.”
“Is he straight or bisexual?”
“Straight.”
“Go buy it and have it on when he comes over. If you try to talk to him about it in advance, he might freak out with gay-phobia or something. A lot of straight men enjoy it, but it can be a hard topic to breach with them. Do you have a piece of paper?”
She pulls out a pad of paper used for taking orders and hands it to me with her pen. I tear off a sheet and flip it to the white side.
“Ok, if you really want to make his dick explode, start with this position. Get him on his hands and knees facing the foot of the bed. You’ll need a cock-ring and a long two-inch-wide strip of satin or one of those wrist wraps boxers use for their hands. You’ll tie the satin to the ring, slip it on, and then wrap his shaft to the tip. Not too tight or too loose – treat it like you’re wrapping gauze around a wound. You need enough length that you can tie it to the headboard behind you. Each time you thrust into him from behind, it will tug on his dick.”
“Damn, that sounds hot. Why do you know this when you don’t fuck men?”
“Because friends like you ask me for advice on how to spice up their sex lives with men. It’s freaks like you that force my brain to come up with this shit.”
She laughs and wraps her arms around my shoulders while firmly kissing my cheek. “Thank you. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
Chapter Three
The doorbell rings just as I’m sitting down on my couch with my laptop. I release a groan of frustration as I set my computer aside. I jog to the front of the house, and just as I’m getting my hand on the handle, the bell rings again. I hang my head in agitation, and then yank the door open. I lift my head, running my hand through my hair to brush my bangs to the side, and lean against the doorframe to face Carrie. She’s standing about three feet away from the door with her hands gripping the shoulder strap of her purse, and she has that same terrified look she had yesterday. I almost roll my eyes from seeing she is wearing a baggy tee shirt and loose-fitting jeans, as if she’s trying to obscure the shape of her body. Yesterday, she was in a pair of tight black pants that accentuated every curve, and her work polo was form fitting.
“Uh, good morning. Is it ok that I’m here?”
“I said you can come over, so why wouldn’t it be?”
“Right, uh, well, ok. Thanks.”
I push the heavy mahogany door open wider, and wave her in. She nervously bites her bottom lip for a moment as she walks in past me and looks around the foyer with wide eyes and a slack jaw.
“This place is beautiful.”
“Thanks. You can put your purse on the side table, unless removing it will cause permanent damage to you.”
“What?”
She looks down, and seeing that her hands are red and shaking from how tightly she is holding onto the purse, she blushes bright red and places the purse on the sidebar.
I wave her forward and lead her through the first level, and then show her the backyard with the nice deck, the swimming pool, and hot tub.
As we’re reentering the junction between the living room and dining room, Carrie points down a hall I didn’t bring her down, and asks, “What’s in those rooms?”
“My home office and master suite.”
“Oh. Why isn’t your room upstairs with the others?”
“Because that’s where I wanted it. Come on.”
She blushes again as she looks down at the floor, as if I scolded her.
The upper level has four guest bedrooms and two bathrooms. I don’t have company often, so the second level is pretty much a waste of space for me.
“You can pick any of these rooms. They’re all furnished, but if you have your own furniture you’d prefer to bring, I can have a room cleared out.”
“This place is amazing. I just don’t think I can afford to…”
“The rent is four-hundred a month and that covers everything, including food. If you don’t destroy anything before you leave, I’ll give all of it back to you upon your departure.”
Her jaw drops and she just stares at me with her widened light green eyes misting over.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. Take a look around. I’ll be downstairs when you’re done.”
Without waiting for a response, I walk back downstairs to my kitchen. I grab a bottle of beer from the fridge and pop the cap off with an opener affixed to the side of the fridge. As I lean against the counter, I take a large swig of the musky fruity summer ale.
After having a wonderful time making pottery with Janae, we went wine and beer shopping, and then made
it back here just in time to meet the food service delivery with my groceries. Yesterday was nice. I had really missed Janae like crazy while I was in Seattle.
I pull my phone out and take a selfie holding up the beer to send to Janae.
Me: You were right. This summer ale is great. You coming over soon to share them with me?
I know she’s making a cake today for an elderly couple’s fortieth anniversary so she probably won’t see it for a while.
“Jack?”
“In the kitchen.”
Carrie comes walking around the corner and places her hands on the buffet counter, staying outside of the kitchen.
“Would you like a beer or something else to drink?”
“Uh, sure.”
I get her a beer, then lead her out to the living room. She sits in the armchair next to the couch but remains sitting forward, not settling back and getting comfortable.
“Did you find a room you like?”
“They’re all beautiful. Are you really ok with me staying here? You don’t even know anything about me.”
“Would it make you feel better if I run a background check on you?”
“Well, isn’t that customary?”
I release a small laugh and pull my laptop over to my lap. I take a large swig of beer and then set it on a coaster on the coffee table. I log into my account with the background check screening company I use for my employees, then place the laptop on the coffee table.
“There you go. You fill it out and we’ll see if you’re a serial killer. I’m betting you’re not. What’s your guess?”
She releases a small laugh and brushes her long blonde hair behind her ear.
“I hope I know myself better than that to need to guess.”
“So, this is only a gamble for me. Before you do that, let me explain some things so you can decide if this is really worth it to you or not.”
She withdrawals her hands from the keyboard looking terrified again. I grab my beer, take a sip, and settle back against the couch.
“I’m home a lot, unless I’m traveling for business. Sometimes, I’m gone for a few days to a few weeks at a time. I don’t anticipate having to leave town for a few months though. I have business meetings, parties, or just hang out with friends here at the house on a pretty regular basis. I try to limit late night parties to the weekends, mostly out of respect for my neighbors so they don’t have to deal with the noise.”