by Amy Brent
I thought about Halle and decided I’d imposed my thoughts and opinions on her father enough for the night. I’d call her in the morning and I vowed then and there that I’d never say a word to her about what I witnessed. Perhaps suggesting a privacy fence would be better, but then part of me wondered if that would be the last show I’d see from my window.
Chapter 3: Grant
I sipped my coffee on the veranda and read through my messages in my phone. I missed the days of folded newspapers and the smell of fresh newsprint, but the local service had stopped delivering a year ago.
My daughter called out behind me and I turned to wave her out. “Are you having breakfast still?” My doting daughter, Halle was as beautiful as her mother had been, with the same wide blue eyes and peaches and cream complexion. Add that to her blond hair and waifish figure and all I had to do to see my wife was look at her.
“I’m finishing up.” I pushed the saucer of burnt toast and butter away and then took a sip from my mug.
“Oh, Daddy, why are you eating that blackened mess again.” She scowled at my toast and I smiled. Her mother had always done the same and neither could understand the way I liked my toast a bit darker than normal.
“I’m fine, besides, you know I don’t have the cook in on weekends.” I gave her a peck on the cheek as she leaned in then she tossed her large handbag on the table and raised her sunglasses to her forehead.
“I could cook you something, Daddy. I know how.” She lifted her chin and then plopped down in the chair beside me.
I gestured to the house next door. “I see the new neighbor moved in early. It would have been nice for a head’s up.”
She clapped her hands and wiggled in her seat flashing me a warm smile. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
It was a surprise all right. “You’re not trying to play match maker again are you? That didn’t go over so well the last time if you remember correctly.”
“No, Daddy.” She placed her hand on my wrist. “It’s Katie!”
I blinked twice remembering the shadow in the window. It couldn’t have been Katie from college. “Your best friend? That Katie?” I hoped the girl wouldn’t run her mouth about what she saw, but then again, maybe she would be too embarrassed.
“Yes! Isn’t it exciting? She’s going to be doing her private practice from the front office just like Dr. Peters used to.” Halle seemed real pleased with herself as she dug in her purse.
“Yeah, what kind of practice does Katie do again?”
“Jesus Daddy, do you ever listen? I’ve told you thirty times she’s a therapist.” I guess she had told me, but I didn’t think too much about Katie. I’d only met her maybe three times, though my daughter talked about her like they were joined at the hip. I remembered her well enough though. She had been a gorgeous young thing, the kind that might be my type if she weren’t my daughter’s friend and maybe a few, make that five, years older. We’d brought her along on our last trip to our summer home on the island. “I can’t keep up with you and your friends.”
“Katie isn’t just any old friend, Daddy. She’s my best friend and she’s always been like family to me. When she called needing a house I knew that Dr. Peters’ old place would be perfect. Plus, when I come to see you, I can see her too. We’ve not gotten to hang out as often since college.”
“That’s what happens, Halle. People grow up and move on with their careers and their own lives.”
“Not me and Katie. We’re going to be friends until the end.”
“At least until one of you are married. How’s that boyfriend of yours, what’s his name?” I knew she had to be seeing someone, but I could never get her to tell me who.
“For the last time, I’m not seeing anyone.” She cut her gaze to me and smirked.
Laughter belted from my throat. “That’s not the most convincing face.”
“We were talking about Katie, remember.”
“Still?” I drank my last sip of coffee and placed the mug away from me.
“Yes, I’m about to go over and see her. You’re welcome to come along and meet her again. I know it’s been years. You should really try and be neighborly. I’d love for her to come to our dinners on Mondays. She doesn’t have any family of her own.”
“I can’t today. I’ve got a meeting with a nine iron in half an hour.”
She gave me a sideward glance. “Daddy, you’ve gotten where you hang out at the club more than a retired person.”
“I may as well be retired. It’s not like I do much more than take phone calls and host business meetings these days. Besides, I’ll be fifty my next birthday. I’m an old man.” I flashed a wink.
“You’re being silly. You don’t do much more with the business because you don’t have to and you don’t want to. Personally I’m worried about you.” The concern showed in the set of her brow and the pout of her lip.
“I’m fine, honey. I promise. I’m keeping busy in my own ways.” I’d never be able to tell her exactly which ways. I stood and stroked her hair, brushing a loose strand of it from her face. “Go on and have a good visit with Katie. I’ll see her another time.”
“Fine! Have fun.” She shoved her things back into her bag and then headed into the house and I followed. She’d stopped in the hallway to text and I went around her to fetch my clubs.
I had to make it believable, and besides, it wasn’t like I wouldn’t hit the links eventually. Maybe after I have my balls polished.
She was still there when I headed out and I wondered what had been so important that she couldn’t put it off until after she saw Katie.
I made the short trip to the club and headed to the restaurant where my friend waited out front.
Mila’s brow furrowed as she slid across my soft leather seat. “You’re late. I only have like twenty minutes before I have to clock in.” Her hand snaked up my thigh and rubbed my stiff cock through my pants as she licked her lips.
“We can raincheck for—
My zipper came down as the words flew from her lips “No.” She leaned in closer, stroking my shaft and kneading her long fingers against my sac. “I’ll be quick.”
“You’re eager.” Her attitude almost made me laugh, but then her mouth found its target and she went to work.
I brushed her hair back she lifted her eyes to mine as she wrapped her sweet mouth around my head and sucked it with one long hard pull. Pleasure punched through my balls and I hardened even more in her mouth. She moaned as if it tasted like ambrosia and I worked my hand around and slipped my finger into her panties. Her mouth vibrated as she responded with a growl of pleasure and a twitch in my cock sent the first leak of precum into her mouth.
That only made her work me faster and she wrapped her hand around my cock to milk another taste. She worked it like a pro and I was getting so spoiled from our little hookups. She had an oral fixation I could appreciate and it fed right into my needs.
She removed her hand and sucked in a long breath, her throat expanding to swallow more of my thick erection and like no one else ever had she took me all the way to my balls, her tongue snaking out and tickling them. I rode out the pleasure a while longer, finger-banging her nice and steady to keep her purring. Keeping an eye on the time, I edged until the last possible minute and then tensed as my nut busted in her throat. She moaned and suckled like a thirsty slut until she got every last drop. She pulled away, still swallowing the last of my load and then kissed my mouth playfully.
“Come by again later if you want. I get off at five.” She sat back and straightened her panties.
“I’ll try, but no promises.” I never made her any promises, and I knew I wasn’t the only man she was seeing.
I decided since Halle had shown up the house and was probably still lurking around that I might actually need to play a round of golf, so I pulled into the main parking lot after dropping Mila back off up front and grabbed my clubs.
I thought about Sylvie from the group and wondered why she couldn’t be more like Mila; free a
nd easy going, and eager to play along with nothing but her own pleasure as a payoff. I’m sure Sylvie had started out that way, with good intentions, and there was no saying that Mila wouldn’t change her game eventually too, but the other girl had put me in a bad spot the other night. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to turn her in or not. The whole group thing was starting to be a turnoff and that was a bad thing for a guy like me.
Chapter 4: Katie
Living alone with no family makes for an awful lonely time unpacking, but then, it also means there isn’t too much to unpack. I had only gotten through my fifth box in the kitchen when I realized the cabinets would have to be empty when I had them re-stained later the following week. So instead of unpacking I’d started the re-packing process when Halle knocked on my back door.
I threw open the door and she rushed me for a hug. “Oh wow, you’re doing this all by yourself?” Halle broke away and went the first box she saw and started pulling things out while I shut the door.
I spun around to find her working on the items I’d just unpacked and repacked. “Wait. Not that one.” I hurried over and took the stuff and put it back in the box.
“Sorry.” She held her hands up and stepped back from it like it might explode.
“No problem. I was working in here when I remembered the man’s coming to do my cabinets next week. I’ll have to wait to set this room up later.” I was so excited to be getting the kitchen done to my tastes. It had always been a dream of mine to have a big kitchen. I loved cooking and creating fun, colorful recipes.
“I’m so excited for you. I knew you’d love this house.” She gave a tiny squeal and lifted her shoulders.
“About the neighbor,” I gestured to direction of her father’s home. “Is it a man or a woman?”
She stiffened and her smile faded. “Did you see a woman?”
Her suspicious tone had me taken aback. “No, I was only wondering.” I didn’t want to spill any of her father’s private details.
She put a hand on her chest and took a deep breath. “Oh I thought you saw a woman over there. That’s my dad’s house.”
Her mother had been gone for an acceptable amount of time for her dad to start dating, but I wasn’t going to try and explain that to her now, not with the look of shock and the green tint still fading from her skin. “Your dad, huh? You should have told me. How nice I get to be neighbors with him.”
“I know, right? I get to have my two favorite people in the whole world right here so close. Right where I can look out for you both.”
I stifled a giggle. “And you called me Mother May-I.”
“Oh you’re still like an old lady. Take this rug for instance.” She glared down to the rug that was left by the previous home owner.
“Hey, I take no responsibility for that rug. It came with the house.”
She curled her nose and did another glance. “Sorry, I guess that’s on me too. I thought I took out all the ugly stuff.”
“Well, I kind of like it, so I think I’m going to keep my ugly rug. Besides, I don’t have another one. Do you have any idea how much a new rug would cost for a room that size?” Of course she didn’t. She wasn’t used to being completely on her own.
“You know better. If I needed a new rug I’d go steal one of Daddy’s. He wouldn’t care and he’d buy a new one. I can go over and see if he’s got one if you want.” She gestured a thumb in his direction.
“No, that’s okay.” I couldn’t imagine the things he’d done on his rug after seeing what he’d done to his patio table.
“Offer stands. He’ll never miss it and if he does, he can come over and see it any time he wants.” She didn’t miss a beat as she strolled into the next room. “This room is my favorite.” She called from my new office. “Your patients are going to love it.”
“I prefer to call them clients. The word patients makes them seem crazy.”
She stopped and thought for a moment and then her eyes widened. “Are some of them crazy? Like really insane or something? You really should make sure your alarm is kept in tip top shape and I’d add a few security cameras.
I thought about the security cameras I did have and what I might have captured on at least one of them. “That’s a good idea. You can never be too careful, but I don’t like to think of them as crazy. I usually don’t deal with anyone too out there. Though I admit that some of the sexual deviants I’ve met are a bit interesting, most of my personal clients are as average as anyone else.”
“Deviants?” Her eyes widened as she smiled. “What kind of things do they do?”
“Lots of various things that you probably don’t want to think about, so I’ll spare you the details.”
“Well, that’s no fun.” Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she headed into another room and after a moment of quiet she stepped back in earshot. “This house is amazing. I should have bought it myself.”
“Why didn’t you?” I smiled and waited for the answer I predicted.
“Because my father lives next door.” Yeah, that was the one. But suddenly her mood seemed to change as she asked the next question. “Do you treat other types of sex addicts or only people with crazy issues?”
“I’m first and foremost a family and marriage counselor, though I do normal sex therapy, yes. Any particular reason you ask?” Maybe she was having an issue of her own she didn’t want to talk about.
“Not at all.” She glanced around the room. “Is there anything else I can do for you as your realtor extraordinaire and best friend?”
“You could ask your father about planting some trees between our houses. It might keep the noise level down for both of us and add a bit more privacy.” I hoped the suggestion wouldn’t hint to anything, but I’d appreciate her asking instead of me. If I had to ask, he’d know why and I’d rather not have to look him in the face.
“That sounds like a good idea. I’m sure he’d foot the bill too.” She smiled and took out her cell phone.
I shook my head and held up a hand to protest. “No, I didn’t mean he’d have to pay. I was just thinking since our houses are so close there, he might not want trees planted. I’d like to make sure it’s okay, but I’d pay for it.”
“Nonsense, consider it a housewarming gift.” She waved her hand like she was the one with the billions. But I guess in a sense, it wasn’t like she didn’t work hard for her father and she was his sole heir. I still always felt strange when she suggested using his money for anything. She reached out and took my hand. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“When are you going to start seeing patients…clients.” She amended herself with a giggle and I pointed across the room to a stack of boxes.
“As soon as I unpack those. They have all my files from work.” I hated to think about how ugly leaving my last job had been and the emotion of it must have shown in my expression.
Halle put her hand on my arm. “Got ugly didn’t it? What happened?”
“Yeah, you know I’m not cut out for drama. My boss started seeing one of the other women counselors. They were both married and then their others found out. Not a great scene to blow up in the office in front of other clients.”
She crinkled her nose. “I can imagine.” She glanced around once more. “At least you’re off to a good start. I’m assuming you built your own client base?”
“I have. I should be good. They are all as excited about the new location as I was which came as a surprise. They are great people.” I did have some amazing clients. “I expect that I’ll be in business at the start of next week.”
“Speaking of the start of the week, I’d love for you to come over and meet my dad. We have dinner each Monday and you’re always welcome to join us. His chef is amazing so you don’t want to miss it.”
The invite came as a surprise and my cheeks reddened remembering him thrusting against the outdoor table, his muscular ass tightening with each pump as her heels dug in. “Sure, I
’d love to.”
“Awesome, I’ll call and remind you. I know how you get so busy you forget to eat.” She did know me too well, but I had a feeling I would be anticipating the meet and greet.
Chapter 5: Grant
Halle’s ringtone sounded so I shut off the shower and stepped out as steam billowed around me. I wrapped a towel around my waist as the air chilled the droplets on my skin. I didn’t make it to my phone in time, so I left it on the counter of the bathroom and found my robe. Halle could at least until after I was dry and my facial hair was in check. I’d learned keeping a permanent stubble was best for me and spent less time grooming that look than I should have. I wasn’t the metro type, but wanted to be desirable. It helped with my cravings and I’d never had any complaints.
Halle had only waited five minutes before her tone sounded again and this time I put her on speaker and said hello.
She greeted me with a huff. “Where have you been?”
Since I’d only spoken with her an hour before I assumed she’d only meant since. “I had to wash the stink of the day off me.”
She huffed again. “Like you’ve ever sweated a day of my life outside a gym, I was referring to yesterday when you said you’d been at the club.”
“I was at the club.” My back stiffened at her tone. “What is this about?”
“I was told you weren’t on the greens when I called the clubhouse.”
“Are you checking up on me now? Isn’t this recent role reversal getting a little old?” My daughter had taken to asking strange questions of my whereabouts for the past few months.
“Daddy, I’m worried about you. You aren’t in the office and you aren’t spending as much time on the green as you say you are. I want to know where you’re spending your time. You can talk to me.” Her voice was pleading, but this was one conversation I wouldn’t get into with her. Not the truth anyway.
I walked to the bedroom and sat on the bed. “I’m a grown man, Halle. I’m your father and I don’t have to check in with you or tell you where I’ve been.”
“Are you seeing someone?” The break in her voice made me image the expression on her face as if I could see those concerned blue eyes right in front of me.