From the corner of Grant’s eye, he saw Garland’s bag. “What’s in your bag of tricks?”
She smiled. “A little surprise for Zora.”
He cocked his head. “What kind of surprise? Last time I heard that, I found out I was being taped.”
“I have that DVD with me if you want to see it.” Winta beamed as though having his sexual encounter on a permanent record was a good thing.
“No, it’s not that,” Garland replied. “Ever wanted to be immortalized?”
Knowing Garland, Grant had a feeling he wouldn’t like where she was going with this.
Chapter Fifteen
“Follow the diet,” Brax said to Zora as she walked onto his porch the next morning. “And I want you and Lynia to work out at least three times a week, if not more. You’re more than welcome to use our weight room and walking to the main street and back is approximately one and a half miles.”
He kissed her but to Zora it didn’t feel like a sexual kiss. It was more like a fatherly kiss. She didn’t know whether she should be offended that he was treating her like a child or grateful that he took the time to care about her health and well-being.
So she kissed him back, waved to Lynia, who was still in the house, then walked across the street holding her dirty clothes from the day before in one hand and her newly prescribed diet in the other. Thankfully Brax had loaned her one of his t-shirts, one from his publication. On the front it read ‘Tantric Publications’ and on the back in red letters it read ‘We love keeping you satisfied.’
When she saw Winta, then Garland walking out of her house, Zora stopped in her tracks. Winta, wearing nothing more than lingerie that could have doubled for pink-colored air, swayed across the street back to her house. Unapologetically, she peered at Zora and smiled.
“Good morning,” Winta said. “You have some man.”
Apparently. When Garland walked by her she stopped, stared at Zora and offered the closest thing Zora had seen as a smile on Garland’s face.
“I’m glad you two are here in the neighborhood.” With bag in hand, Garland strolled to her house.
“Yeah, me too,” Zora said silently as Garland walked into her house.
And here Zora was feeling sorry for Grant because he was home alone last night and he had the time of his life with not one but two of his neighbors. Okay, so had she. But he knew about it. She may not have felt so bad about him being with Winta and Garland if he’d told her up front.
Opening the front door of her house, she scanned the room for Grant. Everything looked to be in order. The couch had been returned to its original state. No telltale wrappers on the floor. No broken furniture. Then she heard the hiss of the shower.
Storming to the bedroom, she threw her clothes on the floor, set her diet on the dresser and burst into the bathroom. She saw Grant’s silhouette behind the burgundy shower curtain.
“Did you have a good time last night?” she asked over the shower spray.
Grant pulled back the curtain. His eyes were full of passion and lust. He looked wild. Without answering, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the shower with him.
“Grant!”
But he ignored her pleas and ripped the t-shirt from her body. He kissed her so hard her lips ached but she didn’t want to stop. Whatever argument she was going to make about telling her about the two women went down the drain.
“Two women,” he said between kisses.
“I noticed.”
He pulled his head back. Confusion masked his expression.
“I saw them leave when I came home.”
He nodded. “You?”
She nodded.
“Both?”
She smiled.
“Damn, baby!” He pushed her against the wall. Holding up one leg, he pressed his hard cock against her clit.
“Condom! Not without a condom!”
“I know.”
Instead of his penis, he offered her his middle finger. With one thrust inside of her, her pussy walls clamped around his digit.
“Tell me everything,” he said, his voice that sexy morning gravelly sound that turned her on so much.
“Brax gives bad head,” she said.
Grant laughed in her ear. “That’s all Winta and Garland wanted me to do last night. No wonder they acted deprived.”
This time it was Zora’s turn to laugh. “I went down on Lynia.”
Grant stared into her eyes.
“And she went down on me when Brax went to sleep.”
He smiled. “Good?”
She beamed. “Very.”
With a piston motion, he finger fucked her pussy until she came not once but twice.
“You’re going to be late for work,” she said, feeling like she should say it as a good girlfriend.
“I want to call in sick so bad and stay home with you.”
“Another time. I don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss.” She smoothed her hand down Grant’s face.
“Are you going to work today?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Will you call me in an hour and do the phone sex thing again?” His hand cupped her breast.
“Anything for you, babe.”
***
Grant was on his twentieth goodbye kiss before he finally skipped out the door. In their driveway as usual, Winta had her hands on the hood of Art’s car and he was behind her, pants down, hands on her hips, fucking her doggie style.
“Good morning!” Grant said.
Art nodded but never broke his stride.
“What a great day! I love Mondays!” Grant announced before getting into his car.
At least he thought that before he got to work. Then the bitch on heels brought him down so fast it hurt.
“You’re late,” Stephanie said as she stood by him at his cubicle.
“No, I’m not.” Grant kept his back to her, thinking maybe if he ignored her long enough she would leave.
“I ask that all of my employees arrive to work at least fifteen minutes before their assigned shift.”
With this, Grant turned around and faced her. “Then I suggest you either pay me for fifteen minutes of overtime each day, allow me to leave fifteen minutes early at the end of the day or let me take an extra fifteen minutes for lunch. If I can’t get any of those, then you’ll only have me from eight to four each day.”
He turned his back on her and resumed typing on his computer. Then he felt her looming over his shoulder. She was so close he felt her breath on his cheek.
“Your work is substandard,” she grumbled in his ear. “Your colleagues have to constantly cover for your inadequacies. You’ll never make it above associate.”
With each put-down his hand balled into a tight fist until he finally sprang to his feet. Stephanie stumbled backward. A strange hush consumed the immediate area around them. Grant scanned the group. They looked at him, wanting him to do something, say something.
“Going to the bathroom.” He shoved his chair under his desk and headed to the bathroom on the bottom floor. He didn’t want or need any of his colleagues to follow him and offer any consolation.
Grant shot through the door to the first floor like a bullet through a gun chamber. He kicked the door to the men’s bathroom open and paced the floor as one man washed his hands. Once the man left, Grant ducked into a stall and stood there, motionless. He undid his pants, reached for his meaty pacifier between his legs but stopped.
No way would he whack off to that bitch and her degrading remarks. And he couldn’t stay at this job forever. He had to do something or he would go crazy and take Zora down with him. Her job didn’t pay enough to cover the rent and utilities. And even though she fucked the landlord, Grant doubted that Art would be willing to let them skip the rent for a couple of months while he found another job.
Leaning against the cool wall in the bathroom, Grant closed his eyes and counted until he calmed himself down. The chirping of his cell phone clipped to his belt loop s
topped him at one hundred forty-nine.
He saw that there weren’t any calls or messages. Then he remembered he had another phone, the special one. He unhooked it and looked at the display. A text message. ‘Come one, come all to Toy Friday on Fascination Street. Brax has an assortment of toys to try out. Meet at his house at six.’
Grant laughed at the message. He took a deep breath and felt almost calmed enough to return to his desk. If he saw Stephanie again, he wouldn’t be responsible for what he said or did to her.
***
What started off as a fucking fantastic morning that stemmed from an incredible night soon became a shitty day that Grant wanted to forget. No wonder people hated Mondays. Pulling into his driveway, he waited in his car for a couple of minutes before getting out.
Evan stood in the front yard watering his lawn. “S’up, man,” Evan said.
Hanging his head down, Grant mumbled something about the day but continued to his house. Once in the door, he took off his shoes, set his briefcase down and plopped on the couch.
“Grant, is that you?” Zora asked from the bedroom.
“Yeah,” he called back. He was going to say something smart like asking if she thought it would be anyone else. But considering the whole neighborhood had carte blanche into their home, she was right in asking.
With his hand over his eyes, he heard her tiny steps coming down the hall. Then the couch next to him sank when she sat down.
“Rough day, baby?” She kissed his forehead and stroked his hair.
“Same as usual.” He removed his hand. Turning to her, he smiled for the first time in over nine hours. “It’s always good to come home.”
She kissed him on the lips. “Feeling better?”
“Not perfect but I’m getting there.”
“‘Cause I need you to be in a good mood for what I have to tell you.”
A statement like that made him straighten up. “What is it?”
“Grant, just don’t go crazy or anything.” She put her hand to his chest as though trying to calm him before he potentially blew up but her stalling in sharing whatever this news was made him angrier than anything she could have told him.
“Can’t go crazy until you tell me what’s going on. What is it? Is it money?” he asked.
“No.”
“Is it the neighbors? Did they do something?”
She waited a beat before answering. “Sort of.”
“Did they come over here while I was at work? Did you---”
“No, nothing like that.” She took in a deep breath then said, “It has to do with something they did, something they gave us.”
“Gave? To us? What?”
He scanned the living room and didn’t see anything new or different. Then it hit him. Zora had come from the bedroom when he’d gotten home. His eyes widened as he bolted to his feet.
“Hell, what did they do?” He stomped down the hall to their bedroom. “What do we have a fucking swing or something now?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
Grant looked in their bedroom and didn’t see anything unusual. Everything was in place. Wait. They did have two other bedrooms.
He turned, nearly running over Zora. Grabbing her shoulders, he moved her aside and went across the hall. He should have guessed there was something in that room. The door was closed and since they’d painted the walls they’d never closed that door.
“Grant, just let me explain,” Zora called after him.
But it was too late. Standing in the doorway with his jaw dropped, he stared at what had to be the biggest bed he’d ever seen. The four-poster monstrosity sat in the middle of the room. It was already dressed with new sheets, comforter and pillows.
“It came this afternoon,” Zora began. “Winta came by and said Art bought it and she got the sheets to match the walls.” She walked into the room and crawled onto the bed that looked better than their own bed. “Wasn’t that nice of them?”
“Damn it!” Grant shouted as he charged from the room and out of the house.
“Grant! Wait! This was something nice they did for us!”
He didn’t see it that way. He saw it as a slap in his face. Worse than his boss calling him a loser, now he had to come home and see that his neighbors found him to be substandard too. He couldn’t have that.
Grant got to Winta and Art’s house and pounded on the front door with his fist. “What the hell am I doing?” He opened the door.
Inside he found Winta giving her husband a backrub as he sat in a wingback chair. She wore shorts and a t-shirt. And, just like Grant, Art looked to have just gotten home from work, too.
“Hey, Grant. How are you?” Art asked.
“You have some fucking nerve.”
Art’s smile slipped off his face. Grant heard footsteps behind him. When he turned he saw Zora standing in the doorway.
“Something wrong?” Art questioned.
“That bed.”
Art smiled again. “So it came?”
“How fucking dare you buy something like that like I can’t afford to provide for me and Zora.” Grant poked his finger in Art’s smug face.
Art sat still. “It’s only a gift,” he replied. “A welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift.”
“No, it’s charity. It says that I can’t support Zora.”
Art stood. “You’re projecting. If there’s some other problem, you can always tell me.”
Grant shook his head. “You just don’t get it. Don’t buy us any more expensive beds.”
“Oh, so I can buy you two a cheap bed?” Art and Winta snickered.
Just like at work, Grant hadn’t gotten through to these two either. He turned to the door and whisked by Zora.
“Where are you going?” Zora asked.
“A walk.”
“Without shoes?”
He glanced down at his feet. He looked silly walking around in socks. But he needed to clear his head. Instead of admitting he needed footwear, he continued down the street.
***
“Hi,” Zora said as soon as Grant walked through the bedroom door.
She’d thought about pretending to be asleep when she heard the door open and close. But she wanted to be there for him, be available and open.
Grant said nothing as he crouched down next to the bed and put his head on her lap.
“Baby, just tell me. Are you okay?”
He sighed. “I just had a rough day at work and I took it out on the wrong people. I need to apologize to Art and Winta.”
“Do it in the morning. I don’t want you leaving the house again tonight.”
Zora moved over in their bed to make room for him. Grant crawled in with her, his back against her chest. With one arm around him she stroked his hair with her other hand.
“You know I love you,” she said to reassure him.
“I know. I love you too. I want to be everything for you.”
Zora kissed his cheek. “You are. But I want you to be happy. If your job is making you miserable then---”
He rolled onto his back and cradled her face in his hand. “I’m fine. Just a bad day.”
But she wasn’t convinced. She knew Grant like she knew her hair would frizz up in humid weather. But when he was ready to talk, she would be ready to listen.
“So what do you say? Want to try out the new bed?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m content here in our bed.”
Chapter Sixteen
Bored, Zora doodled pictures of flowers on a blank new client form. Since Grant’s outburst and subsequent apology, the week had gone by quietly, although she still enjoyed watching her neighbors go at each other like rabbits. She and Grant were content to do their business indoors and away from prying eyes.
Grant hadn’t admitted what was bothering him. Then again, she hadn’t told him about her desire to become more than just a dog groomer. Call it silly, but she wanted to style hair. With all of her hair, she certainly had enough practice. She’d even gone to be
auty school and graduated at the top of her class. And here she was shampooing dogs. Except today, when Julie sent her to do the reception desk again.
Zora’s gaze fell onto her paper and she noticed one of her drawings take on a different, more phallic look. What started off as an unopened rosebud suddenly looked like an erect penis. So she went with that idea, making the bud look like the all too familiar mushroom tip. She made the stem wider. By the time she got to the point where she was going to add a bead of pre-cum, a male voice snapped her out of her concentration.
“A hidden talent?” he asked.
Zora balled the paper and tossed it under the counter in the trashcan. “I’m so sorry. How can I help---” She stopped her inquiry when she recognized who stood in front of her. “Evan?”
For most of the month that she and Grant had lived in the house, she’d only seen Evan a handful of times. If he wasn’t watering the lawn then he was fucking his wife outside of the house. To see him away from the neighborhood, away from Garland, she found him striking.
His dark brown eyes sucked her in. And with his caramel colored skin tone, his black eyebrows and goatee stood out. “In the flesh,” he answered. 155
“I just never expected, um, well---”
“To see me out of the house?” he asked.
“Well, yes. Garland keeps a close eye on you.” Something that bothered Zora considering she had wanted to have sex with him ever since she saw him naked at their dinner party.
“Garland is more vocal about it but the close eye thing is reciprocal. Believe that.” He chuckled and rubbed his hands together.
His bright smile mesmerized her. Damn, if she were Garland she would have kept this guy under lock and key in her house, too.
“What are you doing here? Do you have a pet?” She looked over the counter but Evan answered her question to stop her search.
“Lunch. You want to bounce with me?”
It had been a slow day. She could use the break. And she could finally ask him questions that had been plaguing her since she first met him.
“Um, I---”
Before she could finish what she wanted to say, Inez interrupted her. “Hey, is the big dog brush in here? Hello!” Inez’s mouth dropped open as she stared at Evan. “May I help you?”
Fascination Street Page 17