by Sherie Keys
Her friend leaned close to her and looked into her eyes intently. "And how are you going to manage losing the kind of money you'll be losing, when you take a night off a week?"
Wondering if she should tell her friend the truth, and simultaneously knowing that she could not hope to keep the truth from her, Brandy took Alice into her confidence.
"It's a special arrangement that I have with him. He's going to compensate me for every time that we are together,” she told her friend in a hushed whisper.
Alice's eyes grew enormously wide. "What? Are you telling me that you are a prostitute now?" She look at Brandy in in shock and horror.
Brandy frowned deeply back at her. "No, of course not! I'm no prostitute!"
Alice folded her arms across her chest. "He's paying you to screw him, right? That's the definition of prostitution."
Brandy grew irritated. "That's not it at all. I'm more like a mistress. We like each other!" She spoke defensively.
Her friend sat straight up in her chair and her eyes widened even further than they had just before then. "A mistress? Is he married?"
Brandy's hand flew to her mouth and then she sank slightly in her seat. "Yes. He's married."
Alice let all her air out in one exasperated gasp. "What are you doing? What in the hell do you think you're doing? Sleeping with a married man for money? There's no way this can end well!"
Her consternation lessened when she saw the desperate expression on Brandy's face.
"I really like him. I've liked him for a long time, and things just kind of changed between us, and now it's something we've both wanted for ages and it's happening, and..." she paused and touched Alice's arm, raising one eyebrow dramatically, "it's amazing."
Alice looked at her suspiciously and asked, "Wait, you already knew this guy? Who is it?"
"You don't know him," Brandy said quietly, taking a bite of her hamburger.
"I know everyone you know. Who is it?" Alice insisted again.
Brandy swallowed and then she spoke his name. "Kyle Jamison,” she said in a breathless whisper, smiling unbidden at the joy his very name brought to her.
Alice tilted her head thoughtfully and bit her lip thinking about what she had just learned. "Kyle... Kyle... Ky-" She stopped suddenly and sat bolt upright in her seat.
"Wait a minute... is this the super cute guy from your office? The married cute guy who you've had a crush on for a while?"
Brandy grinned and nodded, as Alice's mouth formed an "O."
"Have you lost what's left of your mind?" she asked Brandy in a horrified gasp.
"You're sleeping with a married man who is one of your clients from work?" Alice asked her in disbelief.
"You know, it sounds so much worse when you say it like that." Brandy frowned and took a sip of her coffee. "It's not as bad as that sounds."
"What it sounds like to me is that you've completely lost your mind and your morals all in one fell swoop for a hot guy who wants to buy you. What are you doing?" Alice asked again, trying to understand what had made her friend go so far over the edge.
"I'm making a lot of money, and I'm having a damn good time doing it, with someone I already wanted anyway, and he's someone who wants me back,” she said defiantly.
Brandy leaned closer to Alice. "You remember how I was three months behind on my rent at home?"
"Yeah..." Alice looked at her suspiciously and took a stab at her salad, cramming the bit into her mouth.
"Well one time with him... one time, and all of it was paid off. I even had a little money left over. I never have leftover money,” Brandy said proudly.
Then she sighed and frowned a little. "I haven't lost all of my morals. I know it's wrong, and I felt a little weird at first doing it, but I'll tell you something, having the ability to pay my bills like that means so much to me, and it feels way better to me to have them taken care of than to sit there and worry about how I'm going to cover all of them while I'm working my ass off at the spa, not making enough money."
Alice nodded in agreement. "I get it, honey, I do... that's a lot of money, but what kind of a price is this going to cost you? You have to remember that everything comes with a price, and this is no exception. Whether it's now or later, it's going to cost you, and when it does, I hope it's something you can handle. I have seen you go through enough; you don't need to go through more."
Brandy nodded and they hugged each other goodbye tightly before going off in different directions.
Chapter4
Two days later, Brandy was walking out of her history class when she caught sight of Kyle standing nearby, waiting for her. He grinned when he saw her and she walked beside him chastely as they headed to his car, both of them allowing for a big enough space between the two of them that there could be no doubt that they were only friends.
He walked her to the car that was waiting and her jaw fell open when she saw that it was a limousine. "What is that doing here?"
. He just smiled and nodded at the driver who held the door open for them. "It's waiting for you and me,” he answered her.
"Your chariot awaits you, my lady,” he teased her as they climbed into the warm car.
"I always wondered what one of these things looked like on the inside!" She moved around the limo and looked at all the aspects of it. She poured a drink at the mini bar and flipped buttons on the television screens. Then she looked up at Kyle who was trying not to laugh at her.
"This is incredible!" She grinned at him, looking back at the rest of the buttons and gadgets.
"It truly is,” he replied to her. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone enjoy a limousine more than you."
She realized that she was behaving like a schoolgirl and she went to him and sat beside him, staring at the car in wonder as it zipped along through the streets. "I guess you must be used to it all by now,” she said with a smile.
"Oh, you know, I guess I must be, because I've never had more fun in one of these than I just did watching you enjoy it." He winked and grinned at her and then pulled her up onto his lap and looked hungrily at her face and her mouth.
"Do you realize that it's been two whole days since I saw you? Two days! I didn't know how I was going to cope!" He smiled a little and gazed at her mouth a bit more seriously.
"Kiss me,” he asked, and she leaned close to him and gave him a soft, sweet, sensual kiss that made his hands close tightly around her.
They were both breathless for a moment and then she asked him, "Where are we going?"
He had grown hungry during their kiss, and not for food. "We're going to dinner, but I think I want a little dessert t first." He spoke quietly as he slid his hand up her dress between her thighs, reaching until he found the core of her and then he overtook her mouth again as his fingers worked over her and made her sigh and gasp.
He bit her lips softly and sucked on them as his fingertips dipped into her and rubbed her harder, stealing her breath away from her and drawing up a hot fire; his touch making her squirm.
Kyle's expression grew dark and haunted, and in a breathless and husky voice, he spoke in her ear, "Come for me... come for me, baby. Do it... come for me." Moments later, she gasped and clung to him, kissing him hard and crying out as the pleasure he gave her washed over her and momentarily paralyzed her.
Satisfied at least a little that he had brought her that pleasure, they walked into a fine restaurant and he was immediately seated at a private table in the back.
"This place is very discreet. None of them will remember that I am here, or who I am with, and that's one of the reasons I love coming here. It's hard to get good service and these people are some of the very best at it," he told her with a smile.
They were seated at their table near a simple waterfall, one that bubbled and gurgled as it moved behind them.
"Wow! This is a beautiful place,” she said with a grin and a decidedly open and honest demeanor.
Her wonder caught Kyle off guard. He'd brought Veronica to the same restaurant
several times over the course of their marriage and she had never once even noticed any part of it around her, let alone be impressed by it. It was refreshing to him.
"I love the way you look at things. You seem to notice what should be obvious to everyone and isn't obvious to anyone at all. That's a gift,” he told her with a smile.
She grinned back at him. They ordered a nice dinner and after the wait staff took their order, Kyle stood up and held his hand out to her. "Would you care to dance?" he asked as if he had just stepped out of a classic movie.
Brandy nodded and rose to her feet. He took her hand and walked with her to a small dance floor where only the two of them stood with no one else around. It was a truly private area, meant for important people who wanted to stay clear of wandering eyes.
Music began to play and he closed his arm around her waist and guided her around the floor gracefully. She floated like a feather on the water.
Kyle was impressed with her. "This is a surprise. How did you learn to dance?" he asked, smiling and taking her in, in her entirety.
"My grandfather taught me. I used to dance with him all over the house, and sometimes when we were lucky enough to go out to dinner together." She smiled as memories swam past her eyes.
He watched her curiously. "Is he still alive, your grandfather?" He felt that he must already know the answer to that question, but he wanted to ask her, anyway.
She grew sad for a moment and kept dancing with him. "He passed away a few years ago." She looked up at Kyle and said wistfully, "You know, this is the first time I've danced at all since I last danced with him. Can you believe it?"
He laughed and nodded. "I can believe it,” he told her with a smile, and then he stopped dancing and leaned down to her, pulling her into his arms. He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her lightly, softly, almost like butterfly wings had landed and fluttered on her lips and then flown away.
She caught her breath and drew it in like a sailboat. "That was incredible,” she whispered to him. He knew she was right. It was incredible.
"A fine assessment, Miss Keller." He grinned at her then and turned her back toward the table. "I'm discovering that many things with you, that I once believed to be no more than mere trinkets or just a backdrop of my life, are in fact much more interesting and fun than I ever knew they were. What a lesson for me to learn." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it, his lips lingering there on her skin for a moment, and sending a jolt of electricity through them both that they felt all over their bodies.
A knowing look passed between them, one that was filled with a promise of what was to come later in the evening.
Dinner was served, and it was one of the single most stunning meals that Brandy had ever seen. She loved every part of it, and Kyle loved to watch her appreciate it as she did.
When they had had their fill of several courses of dinner, wine, desserts and dancing, he took her from the restaurant and pulled her into the car with him, instructing his driver to give them an evening drive that showed off the skyline. The driver did so, but neither Brandy nor Kyle noticed it at all.
They were engrossed in one another as he slid her dress slowly up her thighs and drew her to the stiff erection that had been aching for her all night. He pulled her down onto it and began to drive it up into her as he pulled her dress from the front of her body and lost himself in the dark mounds of her breasts and her hot wet mouth.
Brandy knew without a doubt that it was the best date she had ever had. There was nothing about it that she would change; nothing from the moment he secretly picked her up at school, to the moment when he clung to her tightly and cried out her name, coming hard in her as she quivered and trembled in his arms, coming on him.
He lifted her from him and leaned back against the seat, sated and happy. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, kissing her cheeks and her mouth.
"How do you feel that this went tonight?" he asked curiously.
She glowed up at him with the brightest smile. "It was one of the best nights of my life," she breathed happily.
Her joy brought him joy, and he nodded and smiled. "Good. I'm glad to hear that. I want to take you out early next week, too. There is a symphony you would probably enjoy."
She bit her lip. "Will that be our one date next week, then?"
He shrugged. "Probably. I don't think anything else will be coming up, but if it does," he whispered to her, leaning close and kissing her softly, "I'll try to make sure that it fits with your schedule." He ran his hand up her thigh and squeezed it firmly.
"Thank you for what you are doing with me. It means a great deal to me,” he told her, kissing her again as the fires began to stoke between them once more.
"It's my pleasure." She giggled softly.
He pulled her dress from her and laid her back on the seat as he spread her legs and pushed himself into her again. "Oh no, Brandy, believe me, the pleasure is all mine,” he said as he lost himself in her and made love to her again, filling her and moving against her until they had both exhausted themselves in bliss, and then the car finally turned to take her home.
When Brandy sat down to have coffee with Alice two weeks later, she grinned excitedly as she set a nice new leather computer bag on the table between them. "Look what I got!" she said as she pulled a brand new computer from the bag.
Alice whistled. "This is swanky! How on earth did you ever afford a laptop like this one?" She stared at it and ran her hands over it appreciatively.
Then she looked up at Brandy and a little smirk turned up the corner of her mouth. "What, the guy? That's how you got this?" Alice shook her head and put the computer back into the bag, and then zipped it up. "How are things going with you and Mr. Self Control?" Her tone was half-teasing as she lifted her chocolate filled croissant to her mouth and took a bite out of it.
Brandy could not stop herself from gushing happily, as she went over all the finest details of the time the two of them had spent together. She told her about the limousine, the restaurant, the roses, the symphony, the gowns he had bought for her to wear to the places he was taking her, and so much more. She shared with her friend how magical it was to be made love to by a man like him.
"You mean a married man?" Alice asked her with a hint of sarcasm as she sipped her coffee.
Brandy just sighed and shook her head. "It's more than that, Alice. It isn't just sex. We're having a great time. He really likes me."
Alice shook her head. "I wish you could hear yourself! Typical 'other woman' verbiage! You are worth more than this, Brandy, you are worth a man who wants to be with you and have the time of your lives as your man, not as someone else's man who is sneaking around on his own wife with you. Those aren't happy memories, Brandy, they are stolen seasons." She set her coffee cup down firmly to punctuate her point.
Brandy sighed. She had to admit to herself that it pinched her heart to know that Kyle was going back to Veronica every single time he left her.
Alice saw her sad expression and caved. "Okay, I realize that we are not going to save your world today, so please enlighten me on the latest. Also, please accept this peace offering as a token of my good will." She broke her chocolate chip cookie in half and handed half of it to Brandy. Brandy took it with a laugh and ate it with a smile.
Brandy told her about the things they had coming up; a ballet, a concert, and a weekend trip out of town together. Alice shook her head. "So you aren't just sleeping with him for extra money anymore, you two are a full-fledged couple who are dating each other now, right?" She asked in concern, and with a note of obvious distaste.
"We aren't a couple," Brandy said, realizing that they had become a couple.
"It's official." Alice said with a groan. "You're the other woman. Congratulations." She held up her cup of coffee in a salute.
Brandy frowned and Alice shook her head. "You know, I'm just going to say this once. This is the best possible time for you to get out of this relationship you are in, because you s
houldn't be in it at all to begin with!" she stated flatly and clearly.
Brandy looked away from her and then looked back at her again. "It's just for money, and just for fun,” she told her, and Alice scoffed.
"Which one of us are you trying to convince?"
Later on when Brandy was in her room in her home, she laid on the bed alone and thought about it. She was the other woman. She hated to think of herself like that, especially since that hadn't been part of her life's plan at all and she felt as if it degraded Kyle and Veronica and herself. But that was where she found herself, or rather, where she put herself if she was being completely honest.
Everything began to fade from her mind except Kyle. He was her sole focus for the rest of the night. Him, with his beautiful green eyes, his sweet smile, and thoughtful ways. Him, with his insatiable hunger for her that drove her hunger for him.