Angela glanced around once again and confirmed to herself that it was the right place for her.
“I’ll take it.”
* * *
“Wow, we’re going to have so much fun here!”
Angela had to laugh at the excitement of her closest and oldest friend, Naomi Kane. She had just finished the third tour of the apartment and checking out the moving men who were just finishing up. Naomi was the biggest horndog that Angela knew and she often felt that part of the reason they had remained friends for so long was because it was so entertaining to watch Naomi shamelessly flirt with every guy who was remotely good-looking. Naomi really had no type and Angela always had the impression that Naomi hooked up with a lot more guys than she ever told anyone about.
“I know, right!” Angela said as Naomi wrapped her arms around her. If there was ever anyone that she knew whose looks she might have been intimidated by, it was Naomi. The girl was almost five-feet-ten-inches tall and she was possessed with a superhuman metabolism that allowed her to effortlessly keep that waif figure that every model Angela knew starved themselves to obtain. Life was just not fair sometimes.
But Angela knew better than anyone that a lot of Naomi’s flamboyant party girl lifestyle was to cover up the fact that she carried with her a lot of pain. She never spoke about it much, but ever since her parents divorced when she was twelve and her mother moved to Paris, there was a definite emptiness inside of her. It was like a light had been extinguished and Angela could see it in her eyes sometimes.
Angela’s mother had caught Naomi’s father, Richard Kane, cheating on her mother with a model. Richard was a highly successful entertainment lawyer. He was responsible for celebrities getting slaps on the wrist for indiscretions and crimes that would have put most people behind bars for several years. The man was smooth as silk and charming as could be. Angela had always had a bit of a thing for him, despite what he did for a living.
He was actually her parents’ lawyer. He had met them through a few of his supermodel clients (whom he was probably hooking up with regularly) and had decided to offer his services and advice on legal matters for a significant discount. It was unwritten but understood that he would be attending social functions and be introduced to more and more up-and-coming models by this act of charity. The man was a smooth operator.
Naomi loved her dad a lot, but their relationship had been somewhat strained since the divorce. She blamed her father not only for ruining her parents’ marriage but also for the fact that she hardly ever saw her mother. Angela had tried to explain to Naomi that it was not her father’s fault that her mother moved to another continent or that she could never be bothered to even pick up a phone to talk to her daughter.
But that was the way it was with kids who desperately sought out a parent’s approval, but said parent was just not interested in this case. Naomi practically worshiped her mother, who had been a fairly popular model when she was younger but could never quite get her figure back after Naomi was born. Angela thought it was horrible that Mrs. Kane blamed her daughter for ruining her career, and this obviously created a lot of insecurities in Naomi.
“What’s it feel like?” Natalie Young asked, coming out of the kitchen with a banana in her hand. Angela and Natalie had been roommates at Harvard. She was one of the funniest girls that Angela had ever met, but she was so smart it was scary. It was uncanny actually. If someone had taken Naomi’s body and Angela’s brains and put them together it would be Natalie. But Natalie had no interest in modeling and even refused to believe that she was as pretty as she was. She had dated the same guy for the past four years and it was pretty much a given that they would be married after Joseph finished medical school.
“It’s indescribable. I mean, I got a taste of life on my own at school, but this is a whole new level.”
“Wow, your folks are so sweet. I don’t think my dad would ever trust me enough to get me a place like this,” Naomi said.
“Mine don’t either. I used my bonds to pay for all this,” Angela replied.
“Oh, that’s right. I’ve thought about doing something like that, I mean I have the money saved up, but I just don’t know if I care enough to spend it all on this,” Natalie said.
“I would love to do it, but my dad keeps me on too tight of a leash,” Naomi said.
“Well, if you would take up those modeling offers that have been thrown your way since you were twelve,” Angela reminded her.
“You know I can’t do that and you know why,” Naomi said with ice in her voice. Angela liked to tease her friend about the fact that she could have followed her mom’s footsteps and become a model any time she wanted to, especially with the connections she had. But Naomi refused to do it because she hated models. Somehow, she blamed modeling on destroying her family. It was understandable that she would feel like that when she was younger, but at twenty-two she should have had a better head on her shoulders, Angela thought.
“What about you, Ange? When are you going to become a supermodel of the world?” Natalie asked.
“When my parents wake up and realize that I would love to do it,” Angela replied.
“They know that you could do it. Don’t let them fool you,” Natalie said. “They just don’t want you to be a model because they feel it would make them look bad somehow.”
“That’s just it; I don’t get that reasoning. They love the industry. They’ve worked tirelessly for years to make their business what it is. Why wouldn’t they want me to be a part of it?”
“Because models suck. They’re all overpaid Barbie dolls who use their looks to make money for no work and then steal rich guys’ hearts and wallets,” Naomi responded.
Natalie and Angela could not hold back the laughter.
“Go on, Naomi. Tell us how you really feel,” Angela snickered.
“Oh, please. You aren’t going to sit there and argue with me that I’m wrong,” Naomi replied.
“You can’t say that about all models. That’s a gross overgeneralization,” Natalie said.
“Uh oh, she’s pulling out the money words,” Naomi joked.
Natalie blushed. She often used a lot of big words without even realizing it. Angela could have sat there and listened to those two banter all day long, but she decided that she would change the subject to something else.
“So, what are you guys doing tonight? We hitting some clubs?” Angela asked.
“Don’t tell me you forgot what today is,” Naomi said.
“What?”
Natalie and Naomi looked at each other. “Her brain must be out of space after all that studying at law school,” Natalie said.
“Did you forget that tonight is the big party my dad is hosting?” Naomi reminded.
Angela practically heard the lightbulb flashing off in her head.
“Oh, I am so sorry. It’s been a hectic week with the apartment and everything,” Angela said.
“Yeah, it must have been a real drag being around all these sweaty, muscular moving men all week.”
“Well, we all have our crosses to bear, right?” Angela retorted. “My dad even reminded me of it last night at dinner.”
“Then you have no excuse,” Natalie jabbed. Angela shot her a ‘really?’ look. Natalie at times had a bit of a sadistic streak where she loved to remind people of their shortcomings. Angela would not say that Natalie was a narcissist, but occasionally she let that side of her personality slip out a bit. Angela had always just assumed it was because everyone expected her to be so perfect all the time that she often expected the same in others.
“So, you’re going right?” Naomi asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
Angela was not sure how this had momentarily slipped her mind. Her father had brought it up the night before. It was the first time her parents had actually had to spend with her since she arrived back in town the week before. They were both in good spirits, but they never failed to remind her that it was almost a privilege that they were taking time out
of their busy schedules to have dinner with her. Of course, they never said that, but the tone constantly implied it.
Richard Kane was having a big party to kick off the summer season as he always did. It seemed that he had a party for every season and every month and every time he decided to have a party, really. His parties just kept getting bigger and bigger as he invited more and more celebrities and the mega-rich.
The parties were more extravagant now than they had ever been because his business had grown immensely since Angela and Naomi were kids. Richard had started off as an entertainment lawyer, who became a partner in his firm and then set out and started his own firm. Angela admired the hard work and dedication that Richard put in, but it had come at a great cost as far as she could see. He and his daughter had a strained relationship and it had cost him his marriage too.
Angela saw this new party as a way for Richard to try to patch things up with his daughter, which he did from time to time. But she figured he had a personal agenda beyond that as well, even though Naomi told her that the party was mostly to celebrate her graduating from college.
“I bet you’re excited, Naomi,” Natalie said.
“I thought I was, but now as the hour looms nearer, I’m starting to feel that it’s going to suck the big one.”
Angela almost choked on the beer she had just sat down with. She didn’t hear Naomi curse that much, but when she did it reminded her of a truck driver. The girl could get a filthy mouth running on her from time to time. And it was always entertaining. Naomi and Natalie—never a dull moment with those two around.
“Then why are you going?” Natalie asked.
“Well, my dad told me it’s basically my party. It would be a jerk move if I didn’t show up.”
“Okay, so we won’t stay long,” Natalie suggested.
“Do I dare leave my own party early?” Naomi asked with a wicked grin.
“Well, if it’s lame then we vacate the premises,” Angela added. “But if it turns out to be awesome then we stay and party it up. Besides, the party's early, right? We can hit the town after.”
“Problem solved,” Natalie said.
“Well, ladies. Then I guess I will see you there,” Naomi said.
Angela shook her head. God only knew what crazy ideas Naomi was working with. After Naomi left, Natalie relaxed a bit. She was always a little on the tense side around Naomi for some reason. Angela had thought about it in depth before and the only thing that she could come up with was that Natalie was afraid she was going to say the wrong thing or it was going to be taken the wrong way by Naomi. Natalie often said the wrong thing to people without meaning to and then when people were offended Angela had to explain to her why that was.
So because of that, Natalie was always walking on eggshells around Naomi, ever since she had been introduced to her during Christmas break freshman year of Harvard. Natalie grew up in Long Island, whereas Angela and Naomi were both from Manhattan and went to a different school than Natalie. Angela often found herself wondering what it would have been like to grow up with both of them.
They would have had some sweet times.
“She’s going to get so bombed tonight,” Natalie said with a naughty smile. She loved to mess with Naomi when she’d had too many.
“I hope to as well,” Angela said, “It’s been too long!”
They sat in silence for a few moments and Angela realized that she was starting to become very excited about the party for one reason—Richard Kane. She had always had a bit of a crush on him, but the past few times she’d seen him she had caught him giving her a very approving eye. It was borderline creepy, being that she’d known him since she was twelve and he was her best friend’s father, but the creepiness factor had begun to wane significantly.
Richard Kane was a sexy man. Even with everything that she knew about him and his constant pursuit of new women to conquer, he was so damn sexy. She could not count the times she had thought about him and doing some very naughty things with him. He was the type of man she would love to have her first time with.
She knew this was the stupidest idea in the world. He was the exact wrong type of man to let pursue her, but that was part of the appeal. In some ways, he was the epitome of the bad boy, but at the same time, he was so different from the typical bad boy. He was a bad boy who had matured and kept all of the great qualities of being bad with the good qualities of a nice guy. The two blended together was just the ideal of sexy.
But she doubted that anything would ever come from it, except maybe some harmful flirtation. Besides, if Naomi ever knew that she had sexy thoughts about Richard then she would probably want to claw some eyes out. Naomi hated any woman who ever tried to get designs on her father, but coming from her best friend she would probably find to be the utmost in betrayal. Was a long friendship like theirs worth something like that?
Angela thought not, which is why she had always pretended that the gushy looks Richard had thrown her way the past few years were not noticed. She had done her best to ignore them, but she found him appearing in her thoughts randomly.
So tonight was going to be different. It had been a while since they had seen each other and she wondered if Richard was going to notice her at all or if he would have his hands full with some big-breasted model.
It was going to be an interesting evening.
Chapter 2
Richard Kane thrust his hard member deeper inside the beautiful blonde beneath him. He was almost there. It was going to be an epic orgasm. He had held it back for a while now, not willing to give up the sweet wetness he was engulfed in at that moment. But now he simply could not hold the release back any longer.
“AGGGHH!”
With a loud groan, he released himself deep inside of her, slowing the thrusting to a minimum as his body began to cool down. The girl wrapped her legs around him tightly, and as she felt the aftershocks of his climax and her own melting together she let go slowly.
Richard lay there for just a few moments before heading off to the shower. He was already running late this morning, but the waitress he had picked up at the Canal Bar the night before had been feeling frisky this morning. Apparently, the three-time marathon lovemaking session from the night before had not been enough to tire her out. She was insatiable and the hottest looking waitress he’d ever met.
But there was no other real chemistry. He was starting to get used to that sort of thing. It had been forever since he had met a woman with whom he could really connect; it had all been physical. He had a few relationships in recent years, but they never seemed to work out. He could always sense the end, long before mutually deciding to abandon the relationship.
Richard knew that he got around and he had slept with more women than he could really keep track of. It was not something he was really proud of, though, despite what other people seemed to think. They all assumed he was just some womanizer, but nothing could be further from the truth. He loved women. He loved everything about them and that was probably his problem. He was a slave to his physical desires and he had always been good with the opposite sex. They were drawn to him for some reason that even he had never been able to explain. He knew he was good-looking and he was successful, but even before the success women had always felt comfortable with him and he never had trouble making sure he was not alone at night if that was what he wanted.
But where he had fallen short was in finding love. He wanted to be in love just like most men did (even if they would never admit it) but other than his ex-wife he had never come close, and if he had to really examine things he knew he should have realized early on that he and his ex-wife were just not that compatible despite trying hard to make it work.
At least they had a beautiful, intelligent daughter together, he thought.
The hot water was soothing and reinvigorating. He had a tough day ahead of him and a good, hot shower always did the trick to get him motivated. Usually, he would start his day with a jog, but since Kathy decided that she wanted a morni
ng quickie he had to give that up. In all, he had probably only had about three hours of sleep. He thought he was getting used to that, but he was starting to realize that he was actually running thin and getting behind.
He finished his hot shower and dried off.
When he got downstairs, Kathy was already enjoying the breakfast that had been prepared by his butler Nathan. He had made Richard’s favorite—sausage links, bacon, eggs and a few pancakes. Richard had always started his day with a massive breakfast, this allowed him to work through lunch most days and sometimes dinner too. That was one of the keys to keeping his physique that he didn’t really share with others.
Kathy remained mostly quiet during breakfast. It wasn’t because Richard preferred to eat breakfast in silence, he actually loved conversation with his meals, but there was just not much to say. He tried to start several conversations with her but she just didn’t seem like she really had much to contribute. So, Richard just concentrated on eating his food and hurrying to the office.
His driver dropped Kathy off at her place, which happened to be on the way, and Richard said that he would call. He wasn’t sure why he said that, but he always thought that he might. It was always a possibility, but it was unlikely. Once again, there was a physically compatible relationship that had nothing else to it. It felt like a bit of a curse at times and he hated it.
When he arrived at his office his secretary went over the reminders of the meetings he had today. It was a crazy-busy schedule that would conclude with an appearance in court and then hopefully he could finish up a few briefs before the party tonight.
He hoped that his sweet Naomi would enjoy the party. He had planned it perfectly for her, to show her how much he cared and how proud he was of her accomplishment. He was blown away when his daughter told him she had gotten into Harvard. He himself had only managed to gain acceptance into NYU. His parents were incredibly proud of him since neither of them had been able to attend college. But his dad had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and started a fairly successful small construction business where Richard had worked every summer until law school.
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