by ANDREA SMITH
It was my turn to grunt. “Hell, I still know what that’s like at twenty-nine, bro.”
“Yeah, I guess you do at that,” he replied, chuckling.
“I guess those college prep guys have it made, huh? Probably getting different tail every night.”
“Not with Lindsey,” he stated firmly. “At least I don’t think so.”
“Oh sorry. I didn’t mean to disrespect your step-daughter. I was speaking in general terms.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s not about that. It’s something else that happened over the holidays. I happened to walk into the room when Sammie and Lindsey were wrapping Christmas presents one afternoon. I overheard her tell Sammie she was still a virgin.”
Oh fuck.
“No shit?”
“Yeah. She sounded pretty pissed about it, too.”
“Well, hey, you know, that’s a good thing, right? She’s not a skank.”
“Well, then she pulls this disappearing act sometime in the early hours of Christmas morning. Comes trippin’ in damn near eight o’clock in the morning. I thought I was going to have to medicate Sammie.”
“Really?” I asked, focusing hard on the windshield.
“Yeah. Claims she was driving around to think or some shit like that.”
I shrugged. “Maybe she was. I mean, a lot went down the night before with her grandfather and all.”
“Naw, there was definitely more to it than that. She had that “just fucked” look going on big time. Then she proceeds to get lippy with her mom and flat out bitchy with me.”
Shit, I know that didn’t go over well.
“You know what I think?” Slate said.
Fuck, here it comes.
“What, man?”
“I think that Kyzer dude that so generously commissioned his rich daddy’s plane to bring my mother-in-law up from Florida stuck around. I think they planned to meet later.”
My hands quickly formed fists at my sides. “Well, you know, that’s a thought,” I replied. “But hey, it’s really none of our business I guess, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I just hope to hell she doesn’t fall for some slick Willy like her dad. Rat bastard.”
“I hear that.”
I was relieved when the topic of conversation between us changed. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t constantly thinking about Lindsey without Slate having to bring her name up anyway.
Christ, I was replaying that mind-blowing fuck we’d had like an X-rated movie in my mind over and over again. I couldn’t recall ever being inside someone who was so sweet and so innocent, yet off-the-charts sexy at the same time.
She was a fucking contradiction in terms. She was soft and sweet; lusty and sexy; reserved and abandoned at the same time. I’d gone back to bed right after she left, wanting to revel in the scent of our sex all day long.
I finally had to wash those sheets after three or four days. Her scent was gone now and it pissed me off. I wondered how it would’ve felt to have been inside her without that damn condom on. I’d never wondered that with any other girl before.
God, I wanted to teach her so much more. I envisioned those sweet full lips of hers wrapped around my cock, her tongue tracing the length of it.
“Hello? Did you hear me?”
“Sorry, man, I was drifting off to sleep.”
“With your fucking eyes open?”
“I do that sometimes.”
“I’d like to review the notes we’ve made so far on this sting operation in Baltimore. Laraby is going to want it drawn out for him blow by blow, step by step. If we aren’t prepared, we’ll be jacking around with him all fucking day.”
“Yeah, I know. Let me grab my notes.”
Slate and I had been covering a drug cartel that had been operating in the Baltimore area for more than two years. They were a slick bunch. The cartel was small and closely knit.
We had uncovered the fact that the leader was a semi-notorious mobster out of Philadelphia. He was the silent leader. Getting the inside scoop of the workings of this group had been extremely complicated. We had tracked the activity to a couple of well-paid longshoremen working out of the Port of Baltimore.
A beer exporter out of Belgium had created a unique brand-name ale that was imported with the rest of the legitimate ale and pilsners produced there and shipped to the U.S. The brand that was not legitimate was called ‘Augustus Ale.’ It was liquid cocaine.
Slate and I had been working on our covers for weeks. The bust was to go down in a couple of weeks. According to the manifest, the shipment was to arrive on the 28th.
The dock loaders were staying over their normal shift to unload the cargo during the late night hours. That was when we would make the bust. It was to be transported by a commercial truck to Philadelphia before 6:00 a.m. Agent Hatfield had already been working undercover with the longshoremen for about three months. The shipments were like clockwork. This bust stood to net about $6.5 million dollars’ worth of illegal contraband. I was stoked.
Our meeting went well with Laraby. He was on board with the plan. We went over the layout of the dock areas and entire waterfront region. We had our cover assignments and post areas cleared.
There would be a host of undercover assistance if back-up was needed. Intel told us these guys were fully armed and had an arsenal at their disposal. That included the thugs driving the semi-truck that always parked at the end of the pier.
The trailer was never completely empty. There were armed personnel stowed back there as well with the ability to observe anything going on in the vicinity.
On our way back to Falls Church, Slate’s phone chimed.
“Hey, babe,” he said, all smooth and sweet. “How’s it going?”
How fucking cute.
It was quiet for a couple of minutes as Sammie was evidently filling him in on how it was going.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked.
Evidently, things aren’t going well…
“Yeah, yeah. I understand, baby. I miss you, too. He’s fine. Lindsey’s spoiling him rotten. No, I’m in the car right now. Taz and I had a meeting today in Germantown on a project. Okay, babe. I’ll call you later tonight, how’s that? I’ll give him a kiss for you. I love you too, baby.”
Christ! If I hadn’t heard it with my own ears I wouldn’t have believed that shit was coming out of Slate’s mouth. God damn, he used to get some serious fucking tail back in the day. Now the dude was totally wrapped around one woman’s little finger.
He ended the call.
“Everything okay, babe?” I asked with a smirk.
“Shut the fuck up. One of these days, you should be so fucking lucky.”
I laughed good-naturedly. I was actually happy for Slate. He was my best friend. I would say he was like the brother I’d never had except I did have a brother. I had a sister, too. I just wasn’t tight with them. They were different people than me.
“Hey,” he said, interrupting my thoughts, “do you have plans for tonight?”
“Not a thing, man. Want to hit some dives?”
He looked over at me, rolling his eyes.
“Not exactly. Lindsey told me this morning she was making homemade lasagna. Just thought you might want to have something decent to eat for a change. Plus, I could use a little more testosterone in the house, you know? Besides that, the Knicks are on tonight.”
The thought of eating a home-cooked meal definitely appealed to me. The thought of kicking back with some cold ones and watching the Knicks was even more appealing. The idea of seeing Lindsey and that sweet, sexy body of hers drove me to fucking distraction.
“I’m in.”
chapter 18
I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and set it on top of the stove. I shoved the tray of sliced garlic bread into the oven and set the timer. The salad was made, so everything was good to go if Slate made it home when he said he would.
I looked over at Bryce in his high c
hair. I’d fed him earlier. He’d been snacking on graham crackers while I’d tossed the salad and set the table. He now had soggy pieces of cracker smeared on his face.
“Look at you,” I said to him. “You’re never going to impress the girls with that face.”
He gave me a big grin, drooling some liquid cracker down his chin.
“Come on, big boy. Let’s get you cleaned up before Daddy gets home.”
I removed him from his high chair and took him to the nursery for a diaper change and clean-up.
I’d dressed him so cute today in a pair of bib overalls that had a Harley Davidson emblem on the front, and a plaid flannel shirt underneath. He was such a good baby for me. Spending this time with him made me think how much I wanted a baby or two someday.
Mom had called earlier to check on the both of us. She told me things were going slow with getting the assets calculated for the estate. I was relieved to hear that Grandma had started to come out of her silent funk.
My grandparents had a lot of friends and social connections in Indianapolis. Mom felt that Grandma would likely want to stay there, for the time being, anyway.
I finished up with Bryce and took him out to the family room where his play area was located. He was great about entertaining himself, especially with the new batch of toys that Santa Claus had delivered. I sat with him and we started putting a puzzle together when I heard Slate come in through the garage.
“Yo, Lindsey,” he bellowed.
He could be so loud at times.
“I’m back in the family room with Bryce,” I called out to him.
Bryce had immediately recognized Slate’s voice. He was on his feet in a second, toddling out to greet him.
“We’ve got one more for dinner,” Slate called from the hallway now.
I got up to follow Bryce to the hallway. Slate scooped him up high in the air, causing the baby to squeal with delight. I had to laugh at how cute they were together. I looked past Slate and saw Taz coming through the front door. His eyes immediately went to mine and held.
“Oh. Hey, Taz,” I said, as nonchalantly as I could muster.
My heart did a tiny pitter-pat when I saw him. Damn, he always looked hot, no matter what he wore or how disheveled he looked.
“Lindsey,” he nodded.
“I invited Taz to join us for dinner. We’re going to kick back later and watch the game.”
“No problem,” I said with a smile. “There’s plenty, that’s for sure. I’ll just set another place.”
I quickly left to go back to the kitchen. I hadn’t expected him to have that much of an effect on me.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about the morning he’d made love to me. I’d played it over and over again in my mind. I’d even given myself a sweet little orgasm to the memory of it a couple of times.
I set the extra place. The timer went off for the garlic bread. I quickly removed it from the oven, managing to burn one of my fingers in the process. Damn! I needed to focus on other things besides Taz.
Dinner was cordial. The conversation centered around Slate’s wondering when the hell Mom would be back, how the Knicks were playing so far in the season, and what new words Bryce had learned since Taz had last seen him.
“The lasagna was great, Lindsey,” Slate said after his third helping. “You’re going to make some lucky guy a wonderful wife someday.”
“You didn’t just say that, right?” I asked, getting up and starting to clear. “I swear, as much as you think you’ve got your cool on, you come up with some pretty lame stuff at times.”
“Hey, it was supposed to be a compliment,” he replied, giving me a wink.
“Lindsey, it was great,” Taz said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. See, Slate, that’s a compliment. I think you could learn some things from Taz.”
I didn’t realize how that came out until it was too late. I immediately felt my face turn crimson. I looked over at Taz and saw the amusement in his eyes.
“Learn from Taz? I don’t think so,” Slate laughed.
Bryce was over by Slate’s chair, holding his arms up, starting to whine.
“Hey Linds, tell you what. I’ll get Bryce ready for bed if you’ll clean up the kitchen.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re too good to me.”
“I’ll help you Lindsey,” Taz volunteered.
Slate went off to the nursery to get Bryce changed and ready for bed. I started scraping and rinsing the dishes while Taz finished clearing.
“So, how have you been?” he asked, as I started loading the dishwasher.
“I’ve been good. Kind of anxious to get back to school after all of this. How’s it going with you?”
Taz didn’t have a chance to answer me before my new phone vibrated on the counter.
“Hold that thought,” I said, picking it up. It was Kyzer.
“Hey Kyzer,” I said, “What’s going on?”
I heard a soft mumble from Taz, as he took up where I left off rinsing the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher.
“Just wondering what you were up to,” Kyzer said from his end.
“Not much. Just finished dinner and cleaning up. Bryce wore me out today.”
We made small talk for a couple of minutes before I told Kyzer I’d call him back later. Taz was getting so loud with banging the pots and pans around in the sink, I could barely hear what Kyzer was saying at the other end.
I rinsed the last of the silverware, bending down to place it in the basket inside the machine. “There,” I said, straightening back up and latching the door to the dishwasher. “That should do it.”
As soon as I turned, I bumped into Taz. He was right there, inches away.
I looked up questioningly at him. His eyes darkened as they gazed into mine. Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me to him and lowered his lips to mine.
I knew this was dangerous territory. Slate could walk back in at any moment. Taz didn’t seem to care, and neither did I. I laced my arms around him and kissed him back, loving once again the feel of his lips working mine. His hands were rubbing my backside, as if he was feeling me for the first time.
I finally pulled away, kissing his lips softly before I did.
“Lindsey,” he said quietly, “I was wondering if maybe you were ready for your next lesson?”
I immediately felt the butterflies surge deep within my belly. Was he serious? I contemplated it only for a moment.
“I may be amenable to that. No strings?”
“Absolutely no strings. You know the drill.”
I smiled up at him. “I suppose I’m ready for my next lesson. When and where is it to be held, Professor Matthews?”
I was totally getting turned on by the idea of playing the role of ardent student to my personal educator.
“My place tonight around 10 p.m. I’ll tell Slate at halftime I need to crash early.”
“Okay. See you then, professor.”
chapter 19
I hollered out to Slate around 10:30 p.m. that I was going out with Darcy for a while.
He responded with the obligatory, “Okay, be careful.”
I hurried out the door before he had a chance to see what I was wearing.
I’d taken a luxurious bubble bath after making the arrangements with Taz. I’d then invaded Mom’s spare closet upstairs that held all of the clothes she’d moved from Indy that were either mine or hers. We hadn’t gone through them yet.
I was delighted when I found what I was looking for. It was a dark maroon and navy plaid skirt with pleats in the front. I’d purchased it a couple of years ago when Daddy had taken me to Chicago on one of his trips.
I pulled the dark maroon pullover sweater out of the closet that went with it. I dug through the box marked “Misc Lindsey’s Room” on the floor of the closet, finding all sorts of T-shirts and socks.
I even found Robespierre, my cherished stuffed poodl
e that Daddy had brought home for me from Paris. He’d been there on business for a couple of weeks when I was nine or ten years old.
I’d slept with that stuffed animal from the time he gave it to me until I went off to college. I cuddled it to me, thinking it was the closest bond I had with my father these days. I left it out. It belonged on my bed back at the apartment.
I continued rooting through the box and finally located the pair of maroon tights I’d worn with the ensemble. Perfect. I took the tights along with Robespierre back to my room.
I dressed in the outfit, making sure that I put sexy underwear on underneath. I put a pair of short, black leather boots on with it.
I’d been letting my hair grow out. It still had a ton of layers, so I gathered the hair at the crown, which was now long enough to pull up into a little ponytail sprout. I brushed a thin layer of bangs down on my forehead.
I’d applied some eye make-up and blush. I looked wholesome. I looked like some parochial school girl up to no good, which was kind of close to the truth, given my lack of experience.
I drove the twenty minutes to Taz’s place, feeling excited and anxious at the same time. I was curious as to what our second lesson would entail. At any rate, I was sure it would be pure pleasure.
I reached his porch. He’d left the porch light on for me. I pressed his doorbell and, in a matter of seconds, he opened the door. His eyes immediately perused the whole length of me and I could see he was a bit puzzled by my appearance.
“I’m here for my lesson, Professor Matthews.”
He totally got it then. He knew I was role-playing and a slow grin spread across his face. I knew he was into it.
He opened the door for me. “Come in, Ms. Dennison,” he replied. “Right on time. I like that.”
He helped me off with my jacket, tossing it over on the sofa.
“May I offer you some refreshments before our lesson begins?”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to a glass of wine, Professor.”
“Have a seat,” he gestured. “I’ll be right back.”
I took a seat on his sofa, crossing my legs and pulling my skirt down as much as I could with its short length, to ensure I was prim and proper. I clasped my hands in my lap.