Well, that’s not something you see every day. And this one looks younger than Jake’s average client. Younger and in better shape and…
Holy shit, it’s Janet!
Heat washed over Carla, pooling behind her eyes. She raised her hands to her gaping mouth, slapping herself in the face with Denzel.
This was Janet’s hot date? After Carla had spilled all her secrets, her BFF had gone and hired Jake herself?
Carla stepped back from the window. She felt dizzy. She felt angry. And deep down, she knew she didn’t have the right to feel any of those things.
Jake didn’t belong to her. He never had. She’d paid him for a service, just as Janet was paying him now.
It was like recommending a hairdresser to your friend. Or a manicurist. Or the woman who plucks your brows.
Wasn’t it?
Carla never should have peeped in the first place. Again, she’d crossed the line and lost control. And now she’d never wash the image out of her mind.
“Hi-yo, Silver!” she heard Janet yell through the window.
Carla needed to get the hell out of here, and mind her own business. She was just about to turn away when Janet got off Jake’s face, and he stood up.
Carla’s breath caught.
He was gorgeous as always, his dark hair tousled, his blue eyes twinkling, his chin shadowed with a day’s stubble. His chest glistened, every muscle highlighted, but that wasn’t all the bare skin she saw.
Jake’s pants were gone, his legs bare, and nothing but the straining leather pouch was covering his erection.
Janet reached for him. “I paid you extra, honey. I want to see the full monty!”
Jake… the same Jake who had refused to take his cock out… the same Jake who Carla wasn’t allowed to touch… pulled down his pouch, and let his hard length spring free.
Carla threw Denzel at the window as hard as she could.
Ten
A crash echoed off neighboring houses. Cracks spiderwebbed the picture window, obscuring Carla’s view of Janet and Jake.
What in the hell did I just do?
Carla squeezed her eyes shut.
This can’t be happening.
This can’t be happening.
When she opened them, the window was still broken, the scene in the living room just the same, only this time both Jake and Janet were staring straight at her, their mouths agape.
Letting out a shriek, Carla whirled around and stumbled on a bush. She lurched forward, half falling, half flying, and landed face down on the grass.
Jake’s front door burst open. He stood above her, looking down, his naked body highlighted by the last rays of the setting sun. “Carla? What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Nothing. Never mind.” Carla scrambled to her feet. For a moment, she couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe. Then she spotted Janet walking up behind Jake, her eyes hidden behind the Lone Ranger mask, naked except for the leather chaps.
“Hey, skank.” Janet smiled big. “We’ll be done in an hour or so. Should I come over for a drink after?”
Carla whirled around and raced for home.
“I’ll text you!” Janet called after her.
Carla took the steps two at a time and hit the door with a wallop that stung her palms. Fingers shaking, she punched her code into the lock.
“Carla, wait!” Jake ran across the lawn toward her, his erection bobbing with each stride. The erection she wasn’t allowed to see, to touch.
But Janet was.
“Go away!” Carla yelled. She yanked open the door, ducked inside, and slammed it closed, leaning back against it.
Footsteps pounded on the porch. The doorbell rang, its chime echoing through the foyer. “Carla? I need to talk to you.”
Carla didn’t move.
The bell sounded again. “Come on, Carla. Let me in. I’m standing out here naked.”
“I noticed that. Guess you don’t always follow your own rules, do you?”
Carla covered her mouth with her hand, wishing she hadn’t said anything. Jake was an escort, not a boyfriend. What he did with other clients wasn’t any of her business.
And maybe if I recite that over and over in my mind, it will eventually sink in.
“Why did you break my window?”
“I’ll pay for it. Go away.”
“You’re obviously upset. Let’s talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Go back and finish fucking my friend.”
“Your friend?”
“Janet. Yes. My best friend.”
Silence answered, stretching ten seconds, twenty. Carla had just deduced that he’d left when he spoke again, his voice making her jump.
“Carla, I didn’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But I can tell it does.”
“You’re wrong.”
“You often smash windows with a dildo over things that don’t matter to you?”
Carla covered her face with her hands. She’d lost her shit. That was certain. And although she’d like to pretend she’d pulled herself together, she knew that if she had to do the whole thing over, it would turn out the same.
“Let me in, Carla. We can talk about this.”
“You’re on Janet’s time. She’s not paying you to talk to me.”
“Please. I’m standing here naked in front of the whole neighborhood. Let me in.”
Carla peered through the peephole. Sure enough, Jake was standing on her porch in all his glory, his hands cupped over his junk.
Still covering up in front of me.
Carla’s face heated, but this time it wasn’t from embarrassment. She’d wanted to talk to Jake tonight, wanted to test her feelings for him, find out if he’d felt something, too. And as easy as it would be to just walk away after what she’d seen, she wanted the answers to those questions even more now.
She flipped the dead bolt and opened the door.
Jake stepped in. “Thank you. Uh, do you have a towel or a robe I could borrow?”
Carla closed the door behind him. She knew it was only fair to fetch him something to cover himself with, and yet she didn’t feel like being fair. She looked down at him, his hands still hiding the view. “I would have paid extra to see your cock, Jake.”
“It isn’t about money.”
“Then what is it about?”
Jake shifted his bare feet on the mahogany floor. He glanced into the living room. “Do you mind if we, uh, sit down and talk this over?”
“I’m comfortable here.”
Jake glanced around the foyer, his gaze landing on her tote. He reached into it and pulled out her crochet project. Straightening the thing as best he could, he held it in front of his crotch.
“It’s too late. I’ve already seen it.”
Jake looked down at the tangle of yarn in his hands. “What is this anyway?”
“A scarf.”
“It’s… uh… interesting. I didn’t know you could knit.”
“Crochet. And I can’t.”
“Can we sit down?”
“You want to sit?” Carla pointed to the bench. “Then sit.”
“I meant both of us go in the living room or something.”
“You meant to avoid answering my question.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I bet.”
“I’m not interested in a relationship, Carla.”
His words stung more than she thought they would, and she had to let a moment pass before she could speak. “I never said anything about a relationship. I asked about your no cock rule.”
“I’m trying to explain.”
Carla folded her arms. “Then explain.”
“It’s the reason I became an escort. My job lets me be intimate with women, but I don’t have to worry about things getting any more serious than that.”
Carla watched his eyes. His explanation felt right. Since she’d met Jake, he’d been alternately flirty and distant. And although h
e was doing a fine job of dashing her hopes that there could be anything personal between them, he still hadn’t answered the question she’d asked.
“I never said I wanted to tie you down, Jake. I just wanted the full monty, like Janet. Why would you do that for her and not for me?”
“You’re not listening.”
Carla didn’t want to listen. She’d already heard him loud and clear. And the worst part was the real reason she’d wanted to see him tonight, to talk to him, wasn’t to answer her questions. She realized that now. She’d wanted him to say he had feelings for her like the feelings she had for him.
Pitiful.
Pathetic.
Deluded.
A heavy feeling blanketed her chest, weighing her down with each breath. When she saw Jake take it all off for Janet, she’d been angry. Now she just felt tired. It had been rare for her to find a guy she really liked. Rarer still for her to be able to open up with him. Unheard of for her to lose control.
But her hopes for a personal relationship not working out? She knew just how to navigate this terrain.
Give him an out and let him go.
“It doesn’t matter, Jake. I’ll pay for the window. Go home. I’m new to this paying for sex thing. You do it all the time. What you do with Janet is none of my business.”
Jake stood there, looking like a kicked puppy.
“I want you to understand, Carla.”
“Understand what?”
Jake didn’t answer. Carla’s cell phone buzzed. She took it out, saw a message from Janet. It was a selfie of her on Jake’s fucking machine, with the text OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“You better get back to your client,” Carla said, showing him the picture. “She’s starting without you.”
Jake didn’t look at the phone, and his eyes never left Carla’s. “Your friend, the handful of other clients I’ve stripped for, I didn’t have to worry about them.”
“You had to worry about me?” Carla wasn’t sure, but that might have been the most hurtful thing he could have said to her. “Why?”
“You’re different.”
“How?”
“Because, I…” He pressed his lips together, as if stopping himself from revealing some giant secret.
“I thought we kind of liked each other. At least I thought you found me—”
“I like you too much, Carla.”
Carla frowned, waiting for his words to fall into place in her mind, to make some kind of sense. She’d just made peace with the fact that he didn’t share her feelings, and now…
“What are you saying, Jake?”
“I don’t have to worry about getting involved with the others, but you… With you, I forget myself. I mean, my rules. My boundaries.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“For me, it is.”
“I thought we were trying to move beyond our boundaries.”
“You were, not me.”
“Why not you?”
Jake shook his head. “I’m not talking about sexual boundaries, Carla.”
“Sure you are.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“Why isn’t it? What are you so afraid of?” She grabbed the homemade scarf.
For a second, he held on, then heaving a sigh, he released the tangle of yarn, and Carla tossed it to the floor.
He was only partially hard, his length long and full, yet hanging down. But as she stared, his erection flexed upward, growing and stiffening as if she was stroking him with her fingers and not just with her gaze.
“I can’t do this, Carla,” Jake said, although he didn’t move to cover himself, his fists opening and closing at his sides.
Carla didn’t reach for him, didn’t touch him, just watched. Jake had done so many things to her, so many amazing things, so many intimate things, and yet standing erect and exposed in front of her made him so obviously uncomfortable, she could tell it took everything he had not to shield himself from her.
He coaxed pleasure from every part of a woman’s body, and yet didn’t let them touch him. He gave his clients orgasm after orgasm, and yet never came until after they left.
“You want others to need you, but you don’t want to need them,” she said.
Jake lowered his head.
“Because if you need them, they can hurt you.”
“Carla, stop.”
She thought of his mother, the story of her leaving, Jake’s comment about the ladies not liking bow ties. “If you need them, you’re afraid they’ll leave.”
“This… this isn’t the conversation I want to have.”
“Then maybe it’s time for you to grow up.”
Carla knew the words were harsh, and regretted saying them when she saw Jake’s face sink. And that wasn’t all that sunk. His lovely erection began to droop, like the air slowly being let out of a balloon. A cock-shaped balloon.
“I should get back.” Jake slowly turned around, opened the front door, and then quickly closed it. “Shit.”
“What?”
As if in answer to her question, a spotlight flashed through the front windows.
Jake turned to face her, a dark silhouette against the glare. “Someone called the cops.”
Carla peered out the window at the police cruiser stopped in the street, its red and blue lights blinking. A single officer stood on the front porch of Jake’s house, talking to Janet.
That couldn’t be good.
Carla eyed Jake’s nudity then ducked into the powder room off the foyer and grabbed one of the decorative bath towels. Returning to the foyer, she handed it to Jake.
“Thanks.”
“Stay here. I’ll handle the cop.”
“I got it, Carla.”
“You’re going to march out there in nothing but a towel, and then what are you going to do?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
“No. I’m a lawyer. I broke the window. I’ll take care of it. Now stay here.”
She pulled open the door and walked briskly over to Jake’s house. Janet was still wearing the Lone Ranger hat, mask, and chaps, She’d thrown on a western shirt since Carla had last seen her, its buttons now straining to hold in her bodacious breasts, the shirt’s tails draping to mid-thigh.
Please let her be wearing panties under that shirt.
The cop was tall, broad shouldered, big gun, just the kind of guy Janet couldn’t resist. Only judging by the hard expression on his face, this guy took his job seriously and was not likely to fall for Janet’s in-your-face charms.
As she got closer, she heard Janet say to the cop, “So, are you single? I got a nice holster for your pistol. Nice and tight. You could slip it right in.”
Carla fought the urge to slink back into her house and pretend nothing was happening. The whole thing was her fault.
“She’s kidding, officer,” Carla said, stepping onto the porch.
“It’s true. I am kidding. I really don’t care if you’re single or not, my holster is still open for business.”
The cop cleared his throat. He didn’t look amused.
“We received a call about a disturbance here this evening. Would either of you know anything about that?”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that, officer,” Janet said. Then she touched her eye and pretended to look surprised. “Oopsie! I lost a contact lens! Is that it?”
Janet made a show of slowly bending over and touching the porch, her ass wiggling at the cop.
Nope. No panties.
The officer glanced at Carla, then to Janet, then back again. “Does one of you live here?”
“I live next door,” Carla gestured to her home.
He pulled out a notebook. “Your name?”
Carla gave it to him.
“You want my name, too?” Janet asked, her head upside-down between her knees. “And my number?”
Carla rolled her eyes at Janet, injecting enough drama to make a teenager envious. She addressed the cop. “She doesn’t live aro
und here. Now what’s the problem, officer?”
He stepped off the porch and marched into Jake’s landscaping, extending his index finger in a point. “Is that yours?”
Janet followed the cop, Carla bringing up the rear. She focused on Jake’s house, on Denzel hanging suspended in the living room window, his scrotum hooked on the remaining glass’s sharp edge.
Ouch.
“Yeah, that’s definitely hers,” Janet said, taking a closer look then jerking a thumb at Carla. “It’s a little on the small side for my tastes, and I would never treat a dick that way. Even a rubber one. I treat them much, much better.”
Janet ran her tongue across her lower lip and winked.
“Can you please stop the flirting shit, Janet? This isn’t the time for it.”
“Let’s ask Officer Sexy.” Janet pouted. “Should I stop the flirting shit, officer?” She placed her fingertip in her mouth then began to move it in and out.
Carla stared at Janet and wondered why she continued to be her friend. She’d always been like this. Inappropriate. Immature. Behaving like a spoiled kid.
“That’s enough, Janet. You’re acting ridiculous.”
Janet lost the fake pout, and her eyebrows creased. “Me? I’m the one acting ridiculous, Nolan Ryan?”
Carla stepped past the officer and toward Janet. “Why did you call Jake?”
“I can’t treat myself? You did. It’s okay for you to do it, and not me? My money is good, too.”
Carla put her hands on her hips. “This is just like college.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t have any money in college.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t. Jake is the first guy I’ve ever paid to fuck me.”
The cop glanced up from his notebook. “Back up there.”
Carla advanced again, dodging Jake’s foundation plantings. “What about my college boyfriend, huh Janet?”
“What about him?”
“You fucked him.”
“I did not! I just let him finger-bang me.”
“How could you do that?”
“Well, first I took my jeans off.”
“How could you do that to me, Janet?”
“I didn’t do it to you. He did it to me. And then he knocked on every door in his frat, telling everyone to smell his finger. I did you a favor, Carla. He was creepy. Yelling like he’d just discovered the cure for cancer. Smell my finger! Smell my finger! Who does that?”
Want It Bad: A Kinky Romance Page 18