And she was that. A successful business woman. An able mother. A woman comfortable enough in her own skin to flaunt her beauty. She dressed hot, talked hot and apparently fucked hot. She should know better than to compare a youngster, even his son, with a mature man. Jackson probably had no clue what he’d held in his arms.
But he did. Not entirely, though. She wrapped her persona in enough mystery that it would take some time to really know her. Yet he knew a few things about her. She had a fascination for yellow, a fascination for race horses, and—at least briefly—a fascination for his cock.
That was enough to move forward on. He turned and whistled softly, making his way down the hall toward his hotel room. He’d have to call his trainer. Surely they must have a horse or two in their string they could ship to Arlington Park.
- o -
Lifting a leg above the steamy, sudsy water, Kitty washed it carefully. She paid it the same sort of attention she’d devoted to her other leg, her arms, her breasts and her loins. There wasn’t much she enjoyed more than a thorough soak and scrubbing. Like lovemaking, she believed a bath should seldom be rushed.
She’d realized long ago that for her, bathing was an act of self-love. She had no qualms about that. There was long period in her life when she hadn’t had the time for such pleasure.
Kitty tucked her leg back under the hot water and rested her head on the lip of the tub. This was a luxury she’d earned. Never again would she work for a boss—male or female. She thoroughly enjoyed being her own boss. Any mistakes she made were hers. The same could be said for her successes.
She closed her eyes, replaying her trip to Seattle. Although never pleased with redeye flights, she felt like a soothsayer having booked that return trip. Events swirled too rapidly in the Pacific Northwest, even for her.
She sighed and yawned. No matter what people said about traveling first class, the seating space was still too confined to get a good rest. Though she had to admit that was better than traveling in coach with the other sardines.
She hoped Susan would be as happy in the future as she looked on her wedding day. Some of Kitty’s divorced friends rued the day of their marriages. Everything apparently went downhill from there.
Kitty scrunched her shoulders together. She peered through eyelashes at her breasts breaking the surface of the water. Her nipples immediately pebbled under the cooler air temperature, causing her to smile. She wouldn’t know about weddings. She’d never had one. And that was fine with her.
She’d never had to worry whether a husband remained faithful to her. And—she searched and found the bar of soap under the water—she didn’t have to wonder if she could be faithful. Remaining single meant she could pretty much find a cock whenever she needed one without all the domestic expectations and inevitable grief.
She had no need to depend upon a man, and more importantly, no need to trust one. She only had to rely on her good sense and judgment.
She winced—she hadn’t used such good sense after the rehearsal dinner. Uncharacteristically, she’d been whipping herself over that one all the way back from Seattle. Usually she let misadventures roll off her back, trying to learn from them and move one.
This one still gnawed at her gut. What the hell was the best man’s name? His dad had called him Jackson, right? It didn’t really matter. Her vibrators were a hell of a lot more reliable than his cock. She smirked and pushed the soap bar down to her pubic area. She shouldn’t blame his cock. It was rather nicely proportioned, actually. Too bad its owner didn’t know how to use it to its fullest potential.
She’d had decent young lovers before, but Jackson wasn’t among their ranks. Still, she preferred an older man who knew how to treat a woman like she was aging wine. She preferred long sensuous lovemaking—she slid the soap bar down one side of her labia and back up the other—like a luxurious bath. She wasn’t opposed to primal fucking, either; she could do quick and hard, but that had to be with a man who knew what he was doing. She wasn’t going to be any guy’s fuck doll to simply be used to bring himself off—quickly or not—without paying attention to her needs, too.
She spread her labia between the fingers of one hand and eased the soap along the resulting crevice. The damn kid hadn’t even helped her come.
The image of the thin mustached father crept into her awareness. His smile disarmed her, making her shiver. “Damn,” Kitty moaned, widening her thighs. The soap bar slid farther in. She slid it back and forth, cleansing her inner reaches and gulping for air. He’d been right. She’d been close to climaxing as she ground her pubic bone against his massive cock. Clothes weren’t going to prevent her from that pleasure, but his words had certainly jolted her out of any pre-orgasmic haze.
Her fingers stilled below the water’s surface. How much had his son told him about her? She grazed her navel. Did Jared know she wore a belly ring? She eased the soap bar in and out of her vulva again. Did he know she kept her pussy bare of all pubic hair? He wouldn’t have to be bothered with getting little hairs caught in his teeth.
Kitty trailed fingers from her belly ring to her clit. She stroked it between thumb and forefinger, keeping time with the soap cleansing her pussy. What would his tiny mustache feel like pressed against her pussy lips? Would it tickle? Would it scratch? And if it did, would he soothe her with his tongue?
“Good God,” Kitty panted, leaning forward and jerking against her fingers and the soap bar. Her head bobbed up and down as she sought release, as she welcomed release.
At last she sighed and settled back into the warm water. It had been a long time building—since before the wedding. What a strange little trip she’d taken.
She shuddered once again, imagining Jared’s dark head between her legs sipping at her flow. Instead, her juices merely mingled with the bathwater. She smiled. That seemed like a waste, even to her.
Once she’d gotten out of the tub and dried herself with a large Turkish towel, Kitty sat down at her makeup desk. She considered her image in the small round mirror. Even though she had that clean, well scrubbed, satisfied look about her, she confessed she hadn’t been able to rid herself of Jared Jacobs as easily as she had other aspects of her trip.
She tugged a thick robe around her body, basking in its warmth. She could track the man down, probably within hours, but should she? Kitty shook her head. She wasn’t sure she should. And that indecisiveness bothered her more than anything. He was just a man, after all. One more cock hardly mattered.
She smiled at her frown in the mirror. It wasn’t his cock she’d been imagining so recently, and so vividly. It was his mustache, his tongue, and his laughing eyes.
Didn’t he take her seriously? If nothing else, she’d be taken seriously.
She reached for her makeup kit. She’d put off a decision about Jared Jacobs for another day or two. She’d learned early on not to be rash.
Brushing blush on her high cheekbones, she made one decision she’d been putting off for too long. She’d track down her business contacts who owned racehorses. She grinned at her reflection. Maybe that was the most important thing she’d brought back from Seattle—a commitment to her childhood dream of owning the next Seattle Slew.
CHAPTER TWO
The following morning, after meeting for two hours with her two staff assistants, Kitty stepped out into the main office area to find Maria Alvarez, her receptionist/secretary, grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat.
“What is it?” she asked. “Did we get an unexpected offer on a property?”
Maria showed plenty of white teeth as she shook her head from side to side.
“A new client?”
Maria shrugged, her big brown eyes turning toward the empty desk between her and the entrance.
Kitty followed Maria’s line of sight. She gasped when she saw the long stem yellow roses—then she brightened. “So you have an admirer?” She wasn’t about to fall into the trap of saying Maria must have a new male admirer. She’d been down that embarrassing road once bef
ore. Maria welcomed lovers of both genders and didn’t appreciate assumptions otherwise.
For her part, Kitty tried her best to accept everyone for who they were. But switch hitting had no appeal to her personally. Still, whoever had given Maria the bouquet had excellent taste—whether the giver was male or female.
“They’re not for me,” Maria chided. “They’re for you.”
“For me,” Kitty squeaked. She stared hard at the flowers. They’d lost some of their luster. Who would be trying to butter her up with flowers? She wasn’t easily overwhelmed by such sentimentality.
Cautiously, she approached the desk and reached for the tiny note card. Opening it, she frowned. The words had no meaning. She gulped. Yes, they did. It read:
To the vision in yellow. Perhaps we should start over.
JJ
Damn it. He’d gotten to her before she could make up her mind about him. At least he wasn’t assuming anything. The roses, the card were a peace offering, of sorts. She nodded. He must be smiling over what she might do with the flowers. Did he expect her to toss them out, or accept them without comment?
She brought a yellow rosebud to her nose. She loved the fresh scent. Had he known she was a softie for flowers? Usually she had to buy her own.
“I can put them in water, if you like,” Maria said.
Kitty glanced back at the fifty-two year old bursting with curiosity. “Please. It’s nothing to get too excited about.”
Maria rose to her feet and beamed a warm smile. “I was giving it fifty-fifty that you’d toss the flowers in the waste basket. So I’ll be a little excited for you.”
Kitty walked back to her office and closed the door behind her. She sat at her desk and stared at the phone. What should she do? She’d dug up his work phone number as soon as she’d gotten to her office. Jared obviously had hers, too, since he had her work address.
Obtaining his home phone would take a little more doing. Hers wasn’t going to be easy to get either, if he wanted it.
She shook her head at the phone. She’d promised herself a couple days to decide about the man from sunny California. Had he really seen her as a vision in yellow? She wet her lips. She had to admit she liked that—a lot.
- o -
Trimming his moustache after shaving, Jared wondered if his vision in yellow had received her flowers yet. He wasn’t sure, but there was a two hour time difference.
He shrugged, trying to convince himself he was as nonchalant as he appeared in the mirror. What had he expected? A phone call dripping with thanks? That didn’t seem like Kitty Paige’s style.
Would she hang up on him if he called her? Probably. It was too risky to try that. He had to soften her up more before taking that step. Though he’d sure love to hear her throaty voice again.
Before the day was over he’d have her home address and private phone number. He nodded at his own reflection. He’d already asked Sorenson to do the necessary digging. He knew he could trust the scrawny snoop. He’d used him on several cases. There had been times the man had ferreted out potential legal landmines resting beneath a company’s surface before Jared had taken the fatal step of plunking down good money for it.
Jared glanced at his reflection and gave himself a satisfied smile. He’d be one step closer to claiming the vision in yellow before the day was done. He set the clippers down on the sink. “Patience,” he muttered. He peeked down at the stiff erection tenting his pajama bottoms.
He shook his head. He didn’t entirely like how much time the woman was taking. He was a busy man; he couldn’t stand around all day thinking with his dick.
She’d better be worth the effort. He flashed on the image of her grinding away on his cock in the corner of the darkened ballroom and smiled—she’d be worth it.
He’d no doubt get over her in a flash, but she’d definitely be worth the effort.
Whistling to himself, Jared walked into his bedroom where he’d already laid out the day’s clothes. It was time to select the next salvo for softening up Kitty Paige.
Was she fantasizing about him at all? He sure hoped so. He didn’t like the thought of doing all the fantasizing.
What next? He didn’t want to appear overly eager. He’d wait a week, but it wasn’t too soon to consider his next step. He thought of Kitty’s below-the-shoulder length blond hair. She’d worn it pouffed up for the wedding, with half of it falling over one shoulder and the rest down her back. It wasn’t difficult at all to imagine drawing the blond tresses over a breast, using them to play hide and seek with a nipple.
Would her nipples harden quickly or would they rise slowly?
Jared tugged his trousers up over his arousal and tucked his shirt in. Carefully, he buckled the belt.
Did she ever wear her hair up? She’d look stunning with it up. Not that she didn’t with it down.
He chuckled, toying with that image. A scarf. A yellow scarf. A yellow Thai silk scarf, like he’d seen in Bangkok. A long one, with long fringes. She could wear it around her forehead and let the tails fall down her back. Or she might lie naked on a bed and let the tails fall forward. Would they reach to her pussy, prompting another game of hide and seek?
His decision made, he reached for the bedside phone to make the arrangements. He wished he could see her face when she’d seen the roses and the card. Damn, he wished he could see her when she ran the yellow silk scarf through her fingers. Would she appreciate its beauty? Would she run the pads of her fingers over it wishing she was running them over his flesh? Would her wrists tingle, aware the scarf would be perfect for binding them?
Jared jerked himself alert at the demanding voice on the phone. “Yes,” he said at last, “I’m here. I’d like to place an order—a rush order.”
- o -
The next morning Kitty immediately walked over to the yellow roses sitting on an end table next to the couch in her office. She sniffed and inhaled deeply. A smile crossed her lips. It was hard to forget Mr. Sunshine with these flowers greeting her. She imagined that was their purpose.
Sitting down at her desk, Kitty checked her calendar. Her morning was free. She was meeting for lunch with a couple who were interested in looking at houses in the million to million and half range—she grinned: her kind of client. There was a closing to attend in the late afternoon on a five acre parcel zoned commercial she’d brokered with a national retail chain.
She tapped her fingers on the desk. She really liked looking at her own investments grow, but she’d already decided her next investment was going to be a fun one. If it made money for her, fine, if not—so be it. Her commission from the retail chain would go a long way toward the purchase of a race horse.
The following afternoon Kitty stood in the alley of Barn B staring at the huge animal that was eyeing her carefully. She didn’t know a lot about horses, but she had the same feeling she had when she stepped into majestic mansion with oak trim, French doors, and plenty of soft light. She recognized class and majesty even when it stood on four legs. Even when it snorted at her.
“As you can tell, he’s a good looking animal. He’d be a good way for you to get started in horseracing. I’ll make you a fair deal on a fifty-percent share.”
Kitty nodded at her old friend and real estate magnate, Lawrence Madison. His white hair turned whiter each year. She’d been his broker almost from the time she’d broken into the business. Five years ago the man had been devastated by the death of his wife. Kitty had waited for more than a year before inviting him to her bed and showing him he still had much to offer a woman in her boudoir. They’d remained an item for over six months—a near record for Kitty. She’d done much to lift his spirits and reintroduce him to the world of the living. He’d taught her to appreciate older men. His staying power was phenomenal, particularly if she did most of the physical activity. They’d parted amiably after she introduced him to banker friend close to retirement. The two of them had been married nearly two years.
Lawrence thought he owed her. She smiled to h
erself. He didn’t owe her a thing, but she knew she could trust him. And he’d been racing horses for over thirty years, making him the kind of partner she needed for her latest venture. She wanted to learn the business and she was a quick learner, but her old friend could coach her and guide her through the inevitable pitfalls of any business.
“I know you’ll be fair, Lawrence.” She didn’t take her gaze off the horse. “So this fellow is four years old.” She grinned at him. “Guess he’s too old for the Derby.”
The white-haired man chuckled and shook his head. “You’ll probably get to the top of any business you decide you want to conquer, but we don’t start there. If you want a derby possibility, we can visit one of the yearling sales later on and see what we can afford. For now, I’d advise tiptoeing into horseracing. This guy’s no slouch. He’s stakes quality. He has one win and two seconds in the five stakes he’s entered. He’ll be a contender.” Lawrence gave her a sardonic grin. “That’s about the best one can hope for—a contender.”
She nodded. Her lips curved slightly. What would her California man think of the horse? She pursed her lips. So was he a contender?
“He’s still intact.”
“What?” she looked sharply at Lawrence.
His face crinkled. “He’s still got his essentials. He could become a stud—perhaps even a promising stud.”
“Oh.” Kitty wet her lips. “A promising stud. That would be nice.”
“You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes, Kitty. Are we still talking about the horse?”
Kitty laughed easily and leaned over to peck his cheek. “You know me too well. Have the papers drawn up, Lawrence. How is Rebecca doing these days? I haven’t seen her for weeks.”
The Best Man Page 2