by Jenny Penn
“Why, Mr. Davis, what are you doing here?”
That line was too smooth not to have been well practiced, and that thought had GD relaxing into a smile as he imagined her staring at herself in the mirror and perfecting the purr she put into those words. He’d practiced a few of his own, though not out loud.
“I’ve come for you, Miss Allison. You wanna go for a ride?”
Kitty Anne glanced over toward where her car was parked. It was blocking in the other two vehicles already piled into the driveway. He could easily guess what she was thinking.
“Why not?” Dropping back to the ground, Kitty Anne opened up the door and climbed into the cab while GD shot her car another pointed look.
“Don’t you want to move that?”
“No.” Kitty Anne slammed the door and shot him a smile. “Mom can drive over the grass. Trust me, it won’t be the first time.”
The way she offered him that assurance spoke volumes about the nature of her relationship with her mother. GD couldn’t deny that his curiosity was piqued. He glanced back at the big, pink Cadillac that probably could have crushed Kitty Anne’s tiny, white convertible and backed up right over it.
“I guess your mom’s got better eyes than mine because I wouldn’t leave anything that small parked in her rear view.” That was just the God’s honest truth.
“If Mom runs over my car, she knows I’ll sue her.”
GD barked up a laugh at that, thinking she was kidding, but the look Kitty Anne shot him as she snapped her seatbelt into its holder had him sobering up and returning her look with his own shocked one.
“You’re not joking?”
“What?” Kitty Anne blinked as if he were the crazy one in the cab. “She sued me. Twice!”
“She did?” GD scowled. He hadn’t found any record of that, and he’d done a pretty thorough search of Kitty Anne’s mom. Pretty thorough, given there wasn’t much to find.
Unlike her daughter’s, Lynn Anne’s file was thin and read like that of a saint. Hard-working with not even a speeding ticket to her name, she’d managed to raise and support her daughter without going into debt and all the while maintaining good and strong social ties to the community.
“You sound surprised,” Kitty Anne commented as she narrowed her gaze on him.
GD could feel the wheels in her mind churning as he eased the truck away from the curb. Schooling his features to give nothing away, he waited to see if she was as smart as he suspected. She was.
“You investigated me, didn’t you? And my mom, too.” At least she didn’t sound offended. Just the opposite. Kitty Anne sounded a little amused. “And you didn’t find anything on her, did you?”
“Nope.”
“That’s because my mom knows where to bury the bodies so not even God himself will find them.”
Beneath the cynically sharp edge of that observation, GD could detect the hint of not only amusement but also pride, proving that, whatever Kitty Anne felt for her mother, it was complicated. Complicated was interesting to him.
“So, you going to tell me where they’re buried?” GD pressed as he turned out of Lynn Anne’s neighborhood and back onto the highway.
“First, tell me what you found out about her,” Kitty Anne pressed. “I’m curious to see how good she is.”
And conversely how bad he was, but GD didn’t suffer from enough pride to mind having his flaws shown. Instead of taking offense, he slouched back into his seat and cast her a quick smile before coming clean.
“To be honest, there wasn’t much on her. I got a list that’s about two feet long of clubs, groups, and organizations she belongs to, and I think the most controversial of them all is the Ladies for Life club.”
That comment had Kitty Anne snickering. “You know that doesn’t actually have anything to do with abortion, right?”
“No?” He hadn’t actually. “Then what the hell kind of club is it? Is it some kind of friendship club? Or an etiquette group?”
“Please.” Kitty Anne snorted with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t allow the fancy title to fool you. It’s more like a boozing group. Their motto is living life to its fullest, which apparently means never letting a glass run dry.”
“Well, then…can I be a lady?” GD asked, sharing a laugh with Kitty Anne as she shook her head at him.
“Trust me, they’d eat you alive. Those women…they’re scary.”
“That’s kind of hard to believe.”
“Like I said, she sued me twice.”
“Yeah, but you haven’t said why yet.”
“Slander and liable, the usual…oh, and breach of contract.”
Kitty Anne shrugged, but GD wasn’t buying her nonchalant attitude. She knew there was nothing normal about her and, probably, would be insulted if there were. He could also sense that she was waiting for him to ask the next question and not sitting silently because she didn’t want to talk about the subject.
“So, what you say about her and to whom?”
“I didn’t say anything.” Kitty Anne instantly defended herself with an insulted tone GD could hear right through. Whatever she was about to lecture him on hadn’t only been practiced. It had the well-worn edges of a soapbox she’d spent quite a bit of time on.
“I got arrested…the first time.”
“Indecent exposure.” GD nodded, well aware of Kitty Anne’s arrest record. It was almost as long and colorful as her mother’s social club list.
“It was a political statement,” Kitty Anne retorted with a huff.
“You were caught skinny dipping.” GD smirked, not only finding her indignation cute but the idea of her wet and naked alluring.
“And I should be free to be as nature and God intended if I wish. I should not be confined by the laws of man to hide what, in all honesty, all you men want to see anyway!” Kitty Anne’s head had started to roll, her finger wagging as her pale cheeks bloomed with a passion that had him smiling, which only seemed to enrage the woman more.
“The only reason I have to wear clothes in public is because you guys can’t control yourself.”
“That and the bugs,” GD agreed without pause. “Wait until you get a bite on your ass, and we’ll see how quickly you’re pulling on the panties.”
“Please, I’ve been bit by bigger predators than that,” Kitty Anne scoffed as her grin took on a wicked curl.
She was teasing him and testing him, needling in that way women did in an attempt to measure the depth and type of affection a man might feel toward them. Just for that, GD remained silent, knowing he was driving her nuts as her smile slipped upside down into a frown.
“Anyway,” she said with a sigh, “long story short, I ended up in court with the judge asking me if my mom hadn’t taught me about the dangers a naked young woman faced in public, and I responded that my mother had taught me how to bake a pie, to stitch a hem, and keep my legs crossed at all times, but I’d decided to follow her example instead of her advice. That did not go over well.”
GD could imagine it hadn’t. Judges, like mothers, didn’t tend to admire flippancy. Not to mention that small towns ate up that kind of gossip. Kitty Anne certainly had fueled those fires through most of her life, but somehow her mother had come out clean and untainted by their association. That was odd.
“So she sued you?” GD asked, not exactly sure how a parent got from being indignant to litigating a child for slander.
“No, first, she came up with a plan to send me to a rehab facility. She spread the rumor that I had a little problem.” Kitty Anne hesitated to smirk and shake her head before cluing him into the joke. “But given I didn’t drink, I was kind of resistant to the idea.”
“But you did eventually go.”
He knew that. He’d seen it on her record. Kitty Anne was supposed to be a recovering alcoholic, but it made more sense that she didn’t drink. She put way too much effort into her appearance and her act to give over control to something like alcohol. If she had, then she probably wouldn’t have bothered
with the rest of the mask that she was finally allowing him to see beneath.
“I didn’t have money for a lawyer, and it was the only way to get her to drop the suit.”
“Wow.” GD glanced over at Kitty Anne as he slowed the truck toward a stop.
Their gazes connected for a moment, and he didn’t even bother to offer her any fake assurance that he knew would only have her retreating back behind her well-defended persona. Instead, he hit her with the truth.
“That’s kind of messed up.”
The dark clouds that had veiled her brilliant gaze shifted with that admission, opening up her bright eyes with a sense of humor that assured GD he’d said the right thing.
“Yeah, it kind of was.”
They shared a quick, knowing smile before he glanced back at the parking lot he pulled into. It welcomed members to the Disco Ball, with the ball being of the bowling variety. Kitty Anne glanced up at it and then back to him as she frowned in disapproval.
“You expect me to wear rented shoes?”
* * * *
Kitty Anne didn’t wear rented shoes. She had her own custom pair that she’d bought back on a whim when she’d been flushed with cash. Of course she’d gone broke before she could buy the ball, but used balls were a hell of a lot more sanitary than used shoes.
Especially when one didn’t even have socks.
Kitty Anne opened her mouth to repeat that thought out loud when GD surprised her by seeming to read her mind as he produced a pair of bright white athletic socks.
“They’re straight out of a new pack,” he informed her before shoving open his door.
Kitty Anne stared down at the socks in her hand and smiled. She really did like GD. He had a sweetness and thoughtfulness about him that she wasn’t used to in the men she ran around with. Hell, he wasn’t like any man she’d ever known. He even opened the door for her and held her hand in his as he led her into the bowling alley.
The innocent touch sent a shaft of pure delight up her arm, and the sensation felt more intense than it probably should have because he’d yet to touch her in any other real way. GD was moving slow, slower than a snail, but that didn’t mean the attraction wasn’t there. The lust, the want, they were thick in the air, making the fact that he held back all the more touching.
It also made her want to return the gesture, and she did what she always did with men, assured they won. This time, though, she threw the game out of kindness instead of her normally patronizing reasoning. That didn’t seem to matter much to GD, who shot her a strange look after he won the third game in a row.
Then, suddenly, it was hard for her not to win. Kitty Anne had to put some effort into it. She knew he’d figured out what she was doing, so she changed gears and started crushing him. Of course, GD fought back, but it was too late. Kitty Anne bowled two perfect games, much to GD’s amusement.
“If there was money on the table, I’d think I was just hustled,” he commented as they finally called it quits.
“You should see me with my shoes on,” Kitty Anne shot back with a smile that only grew as GD caught her gaze and returned the warm gesture.
“Something tells me you have an outfit to go with those shoes.”
“Of course.”
“Pink and black?” GD guessed.
“Yellow and white.”
“Pants?”
“Of course not.” Kitty Anne allowed GD to take her shoes and then her hand as he helped her up and escorted her back to the counter. “I don’t own any pants.”
“That’s my kind of woman.”
“Really?” Kitty Anne lifted a brow at that, somewhat surprised.
“Oh yeah. I’ve been waiting my whole life for a skirt-wearing karate master?” GD retorted.
“I’m not a karate master.”
“You’ve been practicing since you were little,” GD reminded, as if she’d forgotten that fact. “And so have I.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.” That agreement rolled out of the back of GD’s throat, a slow drawl that warned her of what was coming. “And can you guess what I got planned next?”
“I think I can.”
* * * *
Kitty Anne could. Just as she suspected, they ended up at her karate studio getting sweaty and physical with a whole crowd watching. More importantly, she had a lot of fun and got to put GD on his ass more than once, though, truthfully, he won most of the rounds. The man wasn’t only just big. He was fast…and strangely gentle.
Every time he pinned her or took her down, he made sure she landed softly. It was that kind of attention to detail that had more than just her heart melting. She wanted him. She needed him, something she tried to make clear, but yet it was as though she was speaking Urdu.
GD didn’t even seem to recognize she was hitting on him, but Kitty Anne knew that was a lie. All she had to do was glance down to admire the rewards of her efforts. GD was hard all over and had been ever since they started sparring.
While the loose fit of his karate uniform had hidden the thickening length of his erection, Kitty Anne had felt it clear as day searing her through the thin cotton more than once. He’d felt like a good ten inches and as meaty as the rest of him, but he looked more like twelve and a good deal bigger when he’d changed back into his jeans.
Kitty Anne almost felt sorry for the man as they were shown to a table at a restaurant he clearly frequented, given the hostess’s reception. The cheery brunette gave GD a warm welcome along with a big hug. Kitty Anne would have been jealous, but not only did GD introduce her right away, the other woman greeted her with a smile that assured Kitty Anne whatever had happened between her and GD had happened a long time ago.
Besides, the food was too good to stay grumpy for long.
Ordering fried deviled eggs for a starter and fried chicken for a main course, Kitty Anne decided to make it an all-fry night and ended the meal with deep-fried apple fritters that had her all but drooling in her plate. It didn’t even matter that GD was clearly close with more than the hostess. From the smiles he received from several of the waitresses, she was beginning to suspect that he’d ordered more than one dish that wasn’t on the menu and probably been served by almost the entire wait staff.
That thought made her snicker as the one lone male waiter moved past their table. Ever alert and with eyes for only her, GD didn’t miss Kitty Anne’s quick little smile, and neither did he let it lie.
“What?” GD glanced back over his shoulder at the boy. “You see something you like?”
“You ever seen something you didn’t?” Kitty Anne shot back, holding back the laughter as a waitress went by.
She glanced down at GD, who didn’t even notice as his brow wrinkled into a frown. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Kitty Anne glanced innocently around. “I’m thinking you’ve dined on the three brunettes, the one blonde, and the redhead behind the bar, or am I mistaken and you’ve just confined yourself to the actual menu?”
GD snorted at that and actually blushed at that accusation. “It’s not like that.”
“It’s not?” Because Kitty Anne kind of thought it was. “So I’m not sitting in the middle of your trophy case?”
That had the red staining GD’s cheeks darkening as he glanced about before begrudgingly admitting that she might have a point. “I’m sorry…I didn’t think of it like that. I just knew you’d love the food.”
“I do.” Hell, the food was excellent, and none of GD’s former conquests seemed to be holding any kind of candle or grudge because the service had been excellent. “And I’m not upset. We all have pasts. Mine’s just not so…concentrated.”
“I’m afraid that I might have made a habit of…concentrating my attention at all my favorite places,” GD admitted forlornly, and Kitty Anne could easily guess the direction of his thoughts. She could also tell that it wasn’t the women he was grieving over.
“You don’t have to give up your favorite places,” Kitt
y Anne assured him. “Just as long as I don’t end up with spit in my food and you don’t end up with a waitress in your lap.”
“Trust me, nobody’s going to spit in your food. That’s not the kind of women I rolled with.” GD smiled, eyeing Kitty Anne with an amused glint. “At least, I didn’t used to.”
“You think I would spit in somebody’s food?” Kitty Anne gaped up at him, not half as insulted as she managed to appear. Not that GD seemed to care. He laughed and shook his head at her.
“Something tells me you would go even lower than that.”
He said the sweetest things. They may not have known each other long, but GD really did seem to get her. Now all she had to do was convince him to take her.
She plotted her next move all the way back to her mother’s house. As he pulled up along the curb, Kitty Anne was flinging her seatbelt off. By the time he had the big truck in park, she was crawling across the seat. Kitty Anne slid right into GD’s lap and caught his cheeks in her hands. She stole the protests from his lips as her mouth broke over his and her tongue swept in to make her claim clear.
Or that had been her intention, but almost instantly, Kitty Anne was lost in the heady taste of his kiss. Beer, nuts, and a flavor that was even more intoxicating and unique flooded through her senses, making Kitty Anne melt down into his lap as she began to grind herself against the thick, heated length of his erection.
She could feel his heat and hardness through the layers of their clothes and didn’t have the patience to remove them, even if she wished they weren’t in the way. It didn’t matter. The thick cream of her arousal coated the swollen folds of her cunt and soaked her panties, making the slip of lace stick to her like a second skin. It didn’t offer her any protection.
Neither did her skirt, which ground roughly over her clit, making Kitty Anne pant and mew. GD grunted beneath her, his own breath sounding choppy and broken, his need as obvious and desperate as her own.
His hands settled around her waist and forced her tighter down against him as his hips picked up speed. That quickly things began to spin out of control as the frantic desperation settled in along with the pleasure that was too great for her to deny. Tipping back her head, Kitty Anne arched into each of GD’s thrusts, wishing only that she could have felt his thick, hard length buried deep inside of her.