Chapter 05
“Mark, dinners ready, if you’re hungry!”
I felt like white trash yelling across the house at him, but the thought of knocking on his door made me nervous for some reason. Shaking it off, I poured myself a glass of wine and was surprised when his feet pounded down the stairs.
“Take it easy on the stairs,” I said with a frown, as he sat down, “and you can help me make up some plates if you’re joining me.”
He ducked his head in chagrin and stood, staring at his feet as he went to get a plate and silverware. I felt terrible instantly, I wasn’t angry with him, and he certainly didn’t deserve to be the brunt of my anger.
“I’m sorry,” I said, moving to help him, “I’m just a little stressed today.”
“I know,” he said, and when he looked up, I was arrested by the calm understanding in his pale green eyes, “Dad's lawyer called and told me what’s going on. I’ll get a job and help out or something. I can’t believe he would leave us with this mess, but we’ll figure it out.”
“You’re so sweet,” I said, feeling a swelling of affection for the boy and pulling him into a one-armed hug, “But you focus on school, let me worry about the debt. I might have a plan to help us get through it.”
“What plan?” He asked, and I caught his eyes bobbing down to stare for a moment at the massive swell of my chest before he turned away quickly and set the plates down on the table.
“I might have found an agency that’s willing to take me on as a model,” I portioned out the meat while he scooted rice and veggies onto the plates, and I covered them in the pan sauce I’d made.
“You don’t talk about you’re modeling days much,” he said, not quite looking up from his plate as he toyed with his food, “is it really as crazy as all the stories make it out to be?”
“You mean the drugs, sex, and all that?” I asked with a crooked grin, taking a sip of my wine and almost laughing as the boy squirmed on his seat; finally, he nodded, looking up with a shy smile, and I grinned back and shook my head.
“Not when I first got in, I think I was too young to really get involved in all that. It certainly existed but was mostly at the clubs. There might have been one or two crazy nights in my early twenties, but I wasn’t as bad as some of the other girls and guys.”
He continued to probe me with questions about those early years in Europe, so I told him about the disco techs with their greasy men and wild women. Of trips on yachts where I worked, just hanging out on a deck and sunbathing with a dozen other women while men conducted business.
“That sounds insane,” Mark said with a laugh at that story, “I can’t imagine being that rich, that you would hire a bunch of gorgeous women just to lay around and stare at.”
“Why not?” I asked, grinning all the wider when his fork paused, and he looked up at me, “Why wouldn’t you imagine being that wealthy? That powerful? I’ll tell you one thing about your father, he had the instinct to take what he wanted, just not the grace to earn it. You could learn something from that.”
“Is that what women want?” Mark asked, and I felt tension grow in the room, “A man who takes what he wants?”
“Yes.”
My simple answer seemed to stun him, and he sat there for several long seconds with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Not just women,” I said, “Men also respond favorably to another man who knows what he wants and takes it. If you can do it with compassion for those around you, you will be a great man.”
“I’d never really thought about it like that before,” he said, voice thoughtful.
“Do you have any idea what you want to focus your studies on?” I broached the subject delicately, knowing it had always caused a blowup between him and his father.
“I’m not exactly sure, there are a lot of things I’m interested in,” he said, “A friend and I have an idea for a website where gamers could stream their gameplay. There isn’t anything like it currently except for YouTube, so it would be a gamble, but we think we can build the site ourselves.”
“Well, that sounds exciting,” I said, having no idea what he was talking about but happy to see him engaged with something, “so is it like programming stuff you’re doing?”
“Mostly,” he nodded, “but also a lot of design stuff. I didn’t realize how hard it is to make an intuitive user interface from scratch.”
“Oh, I love designy things!”
“I’d ask you for help, but I don’t think my partner could handle having you on our skype meetings,” Mark said with a laugh.
“Why not?” I said, “I might not have a degree, but I know what looks good and what doesn’t, and I’ve learned enough about what makes a successful company over the years from watching my father and yours.”
“It’s not that,” Mark said with a grin, “It’s just, he already thinks you’re the world’s hottest MILF. If he had to sit and stare at you for more than a minute, I think he’d explode.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a touch of heat on my cheeks and letting my eyes hold his for a moment before I glanced down at my plate, “Well you wouldn’t have to worry about anything, I hope you know honey. I’m completely yours.”
I don’t know where it came from, perhaps all the new thoughts and desires dancing around in my head, but there was a heat in my words that felt wholly unlike anything a mother should say to her son. I glanced up and saw Mark staring at me, a little wildness around his eyes. Our eyes held each other’s for a long second, and then he glanced down to my breasts, ever the teenage boy.
Unconsciously, feeling his gaze on my body, my hand reached up and ran light fingers under one massive breast. Mark started, eyes wide, and he stood abruptly. The silverware rattled as his thighs hit the table, and with a muttered apology and something about being late for a game thing, he was gone.
I was left to clean up the kitchen and try to ignore the heat radiating out from between my legs. Something about the sinful nature of what I was doing, coupled with the fact that we were being watched, had wetness draining down my thighs by the time I crawled into bed. I had no trouble sleeping, as sore and exhausted as I was after my long day, but once more, my dreams were troubled.
Waking early, I threw on some workout clothes, my AirPods, and went to the gym. It’s always been my happy place, and if I’m ever depressed, upset, or feeling out of sorts, a good workout always sets me right.
I got there in time to join the spin class, and the instructor put us through the wringer. After fifty minutes of hard riding, I was dripping with sweat. I spent twenty minutes lifting small weights and keeping my heart rate up but was eager to get out of the weight room. I enjoy the attention I get for my looks, but some men turn a casual glance into an extended leer, and the worst offenders always seem to be at the gym.
After the third man tried to be stealthy, as he snapped a photo of me bending over in front of him, I shot him a disgusted look and stalked into the locker room. A woman who was working out near me smiled as she caught my eye in the mirror and nodded in understanding at my grimace of annoyance.
“They’re all animals, aren’t they?” She asked, a gleam in her eyes that I couldn’t quite place.
“I’m used to it,” I said with a shrug, “but I don’t know what use they can get from taking photos of sweaty women in the gym. It’s pretty disgusting.”
“I’m sure you’re used to it,” she said, her eyes lingering on my figure as she looked me up and down, “You’re Alice's friend, aren’t you? I’ve wanted to introduce myself for a while. I’m Ellen, Alice and I have yachts on the same dock.”
“Pleasure,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand. “I’m Heather.”
“It’s all mine,” the woman said, her hand caressing, more than shaking, mine. “If you’re free tomorrow evening, I’d love to take you to dinner.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly reassessing the woman as things fell into place. “I’m sorry, I think there might be a misunderstanding…”
“No misunderstanding,” Ellen said in a purr as she stepped closer to me, “It’s just dinner and drinks. Get to know one another a little. If you were interested… I could make sure you weren’t disappointed.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to let the woman down gently, “but I’m a little busy lately.”
“Think about it,” Ellen said, stepping back and proffering a business card, “call me if you change your mind. I promise to make it an evening, you’ll never forget.”
With that, she turned and strode back out into the gym, flashing me a dazzling smile over her shoulder before she disappeared around the corner. The woman was gorgeous and knew it. With platinum blonde hair and the type of firm tennis body that made men and boys weak, not to mention the occasionally bi-curious woman.
If not for the fact that my life was already far crazier than I thought I could deal with, I might have taken her up on the offer. The woman was beautiful, and I had had a couple girlfriends when I was in my early twenties. Finding a different kind of comfort in the arms of women than I did from men.
I got home, my mind distracted by Ellen and her offer and nearly didn’t see the small package sitting before the door. Picking it up, I felt my stomach do a flip as I tried not to imagine what was inside. Hurrying up to my bedroom, I saw Marks light on and knew he must be up, drinking coffee and playing his game or studying. If he was at his computer, he would be ideally positioned to see the lawn chair I was about to lay in.
Heart racing, I cut open the box and pulled out the small black material inside. Holding it up, I saw it was a black Versace triangle style string bikini. My mouth went dry when I read the tag, and I wanted to shout in joy. I didn’t even know Versace made bikinis, and this one was beautiful. The velvety-soft material looked like it would fit me perfectly.