“So, you’re going right?” Naomi asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
Angela was not sure how this had momentarily slipped her mind. Her father had brought it up the night before. It was the first time her parents had actually had to spend with her since she arrived back in town the week before. They were both in good spirits, but they never failed to remind her that it was almost a privilege that they were taking time out of their busy schedules to have dinner with her. Of course, they never said that, but the tone constantly implied it.
Richard Kane was having a big party to kick off the summer season as he always did. It seemed that he had a party for every season and every month and every time he decided to have a party, really. His parties just kept getting bigger and bigger as he invited more and more celebrities and the mega-rich.
The parties were more extravagant now than they had ever been because his business had grown immensely since Angela and Naomi were kids. Richard had started off as an entertainment lawyer, who became a partner in his firm and then set out and started his own firm. Angela admired the hard work and dedication that Richard put in, but it had come at a great cost as far as she could see. He and his daughter had a strained relationship and it had cost him his marriage too.
Angela saw this new party as a way for Richard to try to patch things up with his daughter, which he did from time to time. But she figured he had a personal agenda beyond that as well, even though Naomi told her that the party was mostly to celebrate her graduating from college.
“I bet you’re excited, Naomi,” Natalie said.
“I thought I was, but now as the hour looms nearer, I’m starting to feel that it’s going to suck the big one.”
Angela almost choked on the beer she had just sat down with. She didn’t hear Naomi curse that much, but when she did it reminded her of a truck driver. The girl could get a filthy mouth running on her from time to time. And it was always entertaining. Naomi and Natalie—never a dull moment with those two around.
“Then why are you going?” Natalie asked.
“Well, my dad told me it’s basically my party. It would be a jerk move if I didn’t show up.”
“Okay, so we won’t stay long,” Natalie suggested.
“Do I dare leave my own party early?” Naomi asked with a wicked grin.
“Well, if it’s lame then we vacate the premises,” Angela added. “But if it turns out to be awesome then we stay and party it up. Besides, the party's early, right? We can hit the town after.”
“Problem solved,” Natalie said.
“Well, ladies. Then I guess I will see you there,” Naomi said.
Angela shook her head. God only knew what crazy ideas Naomi was working with. After Naomi left, Natalie relaxed a bit. She was always a little on the tense side around Naomi for some reason. Angela had thought about it in depth before and the only thing that she could come up with was that Natalie was afraid she was going to say the wrong thing or it was going to be taken the wrong way by Naomi. Natalie often said the wrong thing to people without meaning to and then when people were offended Angela had to explain to her why that was.
So because of that, Natalie was always walking on eggshells around Naomi, ever since she had been introduced to her during Christmas break freshman year of Harvard. Natalie grew up in Long Island, whereas Angela and Naomi were both from Manhattan and went to a different school than Natalie. Angela often found herself wondering what it would have been like to grow up with both of them.
They would have had some sweet times.
“She’s going to get so bombed tonight,” Natalie said with a naughty smile. She loved to mess with Naomi when she’d had too many.
“I hope to as well,” Angela said, “It’s been too long!”
They sat in silence for a few moments and Angela realized that she was starting to become very excited about the party for one reason—Richard Kane. She had always had a bit of a crush on him, but the past few times she’d seen him she had caught him giving her a very approving eye. It was borderline creepy, being that she’d known him since she was twelve and he was her best friend’s father, but the creepiness factor had begun to wane significantly.
Richard Kane was a sexy man. Even with everything that she knew about him and his constant pursuit of new women to conquer, he was so damn sexy. She could not count the times she had thought about him and doing some very naughty things with him. He was the type of man she would love to have her first time with.
She knew this was the stupidest idea in the world. He was the exact wrong type of man to let pursue her, but that was part of the appeal. In some ways, he was the epitome of the bad boy, but at the same time, he was so different from the typical bad boy. He was a bad boy who had matured and kept all of the great qualities of being bad with the good qualities of a nice guy. The two blended together was just the ideal of sexy.
But she doubted that anything would ever come from it, except maybe some harmful flirtation. Besides, if Naomi ever knew that she had sexy thoughts about Richard then she would probably want to claw some eyes out. Naomi hated any woman who ever tried to get designs on her father, but coming from her best friend she would probably find to be the utmost in betrayal. Was a long friendship like theirs worth something like that?
Angela thought not, which is why she had always pretended that the gushy looks Richard had thrown her way the past few years were not noticed. She had done her best to ignore them, but she found him appearing in her thoughts randomly.
So tonight was going to be different. It had been a while since they had seen each other and she wondered if Richard was going to notice her at all or if he would have his hands full with some big-breasted model.
It was going to be an interesting evening.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Richard Kane thrust his hard member deeper inside the beautiful blonde beneath him. He was almost there. It was going to be an epic orgasm. He had held it back for a while now, not willing to give up the sweet wetness he was engulfed in at that moment. But now he simply could not hold the release back any longer.
“AGGGHH!”
With a loud groan, he released himself deep inside of her, slowing the thrusting to a minimum as his body began to cool down. The girl wrapped her legs around him tightly, and as she felt the aftershocks of his climax and her own melting together she let go slowly.
Richard lay there for just a few moments before heading off to the shower. He was already running late this morning, but the waitress he had picked up at the Canal Bar the night before had been feeling frisky this morning. Apparently, the three-time marathon lovemaking session from the night before had not been enough to tire her out. She was insatiable and the hottest looking waitress he’d ever met.
But there was no other real chemistry. He was starting to get used to that sort of thing. It had been forever since he had met a woman with whom he could really connect; it had all been physical. He had a few relationships in recent years, but they never seemed to work out. He could always sense the end, long before mutually deciding to abandon the relationship.
Richard knew that he got around and he had slept with more women than he could really keep track of. It was not something he was really proud of, though, despite what other people seemed to think. They all assumed he was just some womanizer, but nothing could be further from the truth. He loved women. He loved everything about them and that was probably his problem. He was a slave to his physical desires and he had always been good with the opposite sex. They were drawn to him for some reason that even he had never been able to explain. He knew he was good-looking and he was successful, but even before the success women had always felt comfortable with him and he never had trouble making sure he was not alone at night if that was what he wanted.
But where he had fallen short was in finding love. He wanted to be in love just like most men did (even if they would never admit it) but other than his ex-wife he had never come close, and if he had to really e
xamine things he knew he should have realized early on that he and his ex-wife were just not that compatible despite trying hard to make it work.
At least they had a beautiful, intelligent daughter together, he thought.
The hot water was soothing and reinvigorating. He had a tough day ahead of him and a good, hot shower always did the trick to get him motivated. Usually, he would start his day with a jog, but since Kathy decided that she wanted a morning quickie he had to give that up. In all, he had probably only had about three hours of sleep. He thought he was getting used to that, but he was starting to realize that he was actually running thin and getting behind.
He finished his hot shower and dried off.
When he got downstairs, Kathy was already enjoying the breakfast that had been prepared by his butler Nathan. He had made Richard’s favorite—sausage links, bacon, eggs and a few pancakes. Richard had always started his day with a massive breakfast, this allowed him to work through lunch most days and sometimes dinner too. That was one of the keys to keeping his physique that he didn’t really share with others.
Kathy remained mostly quiet during breakfast. It wasn’t because Richard preferred to eat breakfast in silence, he actually loved conversation with his meals, but there was just not much to say. He tried to start several conversations with her but she just didn’t seem like she really had much to contribute. So, Richard just concentrated on eating his food and hurrying to the office.
His driver dropped Kathy off at her place, which happened to be on the way, and Richard said that he would call. He wasn’t sure why he said that, but he always thought that he might. It was always a possibility, but it was unlikely. Once again, there was a physically compatible relationship that had nothing else to it. It felt like a bit of a curse at times and he hated it.
When he arrived at his office his secretary went over the reminders of the meetings he had today. It was a crazy-busy schedule that would conclude with an appearance in court and then hopefully he could finish up a few briefs before the party tonight.
He hoped that his sweet Naomi would enjoy the party. He had planned it perfectly for her, to show her how much he cared and how proud he was of her accomplishment. He was blown away when his daughter told him she had gotten into Harvard. He himself had only managed to gain acceptance into NYU. His parents were incredibly proud of him since neither of them had been able to attend college. But his dad had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and started a fairly successful small construction business where Richard had worked every summer until law school.
They had always wanted something better for him and he knew that they were very proud. And now he shared that same pride in his daughter’s graduation. She had decided not to go into the legal field as he had, but he never cared what she wanted to do as long as it made her happy.
Richard could not have picked a better line of work for himself—he loved the law. There was just something about it that had spoken to him since he was a teenager and had taken a field trip to the courthouse. He knew right then, watching the litigators in action, that he was destined for it.
The morning went by with a blur as he attended meeting after meeting. They had several new associates on the floor this week who had just graduated and they needed a bit of handholding and steering as they got their feet wet. He was glad to help out and there were a few of them who might actually stick it out and make good lawyers, he thought. The rest would realize they had made a terrible mistake and fall back on their undergraduate degrees. Then they would hate themselves for wasting all that time and money on law school. But one had to be happy with what they did all day.
“Kane, you want to head to Toth’s and have a few beers for lunch?”
The head that had popped in the door belonged to Teddy Giles. He was one of the senior lawyers in the firm and one of Richard’s best friends. They had known each other since law school.
“I really shouldn’t. I got a lot of stuff to do. I have to cut out early for the party tonight,” Richard said, “You are going, right?”
“Yeah, of course. But you don’t have to be such a workaholic. It’s your firm; you have to live a bit!”
“I suppose you’re right. My brain is starting to melt looking at these damn briefs anyway.”
Twenty minutes later, Richard was with his friends Teddy and Charlie at Toth’s, scarfing down some hot wings and beer. They did this at least once a week. It was a great way to blow off steam and unwind. As much as Richard loved what he did, it was great having these two who were able to talk some sense into him from time to time and drag him away from work before his brain started melting out of his ears. Richard was enough of a workaholic to drive himself insane if someone was not watching out for him.
“So, Richard, how did it go with that little hottie from last night?” Teddy asked.
“She’s a sweet girl,” Richard said.
“Sweet? Yeah, she looked pretty sweet. Oh, I’d give my—“
“Hey! Let’s have a little bit of respect you pervert,” Richard said.
Teddy and Charlie gawked at each other.
“Wow, excuse me. When did you get so sensitive?” Teddy asked.
“I’m not sensitive, I just don’t look at women as anonymous numbers the way you guys do,” Richard said.
“Okay. Is she like the new girlfriend? You like this one?” Teddy asked.
“I do like her, but we just didn’t have a lot in common,” Richard said, “The sex was great, but that’s only part of the puzzle. The other pieces just didn’t fit.”
“Okay, we hear you,” Charlie said.
Richard glanced at them both sarcastically. He doubted either man had any idea what he was talking about. They were both complete horndogs and they reveled in it. They looked up to Richard because he seemed to be able to take any woman home that he wanted to, and that was true in most cases, but he never saw himself as being like either one of them. They didn’t have the respect for women that Richard did.
“It’s rough out there,” Teddy said as he chugged the rest of his beer. Richard was not sure if he was kidding or not; with Teddy, it all sounded the same.
“So, how about you guys? You having any luck in the romance department lately?” Richard asked.
“Yeah, I’ve met a few girls. But like you, I just haven’t found anyone really special yet,” Charlie said.
Richard knew that Charlie was being straight up. Out of his two friends, Charlie was probably the one that he felt could be most reformed. But Teddy was a lothario since birth and it would not be easy to change his ways.
“Well, keep hanging in there. Maybe you’ll meet some great ladies tonight at the party,” Richard said.
“I’ll show up, but I might not stay long,” Charlie replied.
Richard had noticed that Charlie was a bit depressed lately, but he had not really pressed him about it—it was possible that Charlie was just overworking himself. Out of all the people he knew, Charlie was the only person who worked as hard as he did. It was a sickness that they both shared.
“What’s wrong?” Teddy asked.
“Nothing, I just don’t feel like partying tonight.”
“You sure? You can talk to us,” Richard said.
“I’ll be fine, mom,” Charlie said sarcastically with a grin. Richard smiled back. This was the first genuine smile he had seen on Charlie’s face in a while.
“Good. But I want you to come to the party tonight. Trust me, just give it an hour or so and I know you’ll feel better. We gotta do something to get you out of this funk you’ve been in,” Richard said.
Charlie relented, “Okay, I’ll come.”
“Yes!” Teddy said, slapping his friend hard on the back. Richard thought for a moment that Charlie was going to choke on his beer.
Richard finished his drink and looked over at the waitress to bring him another. As he did so, an amazing beauty caught his eye. She was about twenty-five with long, blonde hair, and the most amazing smile he had ever seen. She
was tall with curves for days and large, real breasts.
“Wow, that’s a looker,” Teddy said.
Richard glanced back at his friend snapping him out of his daze. He forgot sometimes just how observant Teddy really was. It was pretty damn annoying when he thought about it.
“Yeah, she is,” Charlie said. It was amazing how the beauty of a woman could snap a man out of whatever depression he might have found himself in. Charlie was now drooling over his wings as he was unable to take his eyes off the woman in the corner.
“You guys are like junior high schoolers. Stop gawking at her before she thinks we’re all creeps,” Richard said.
“Well, since you saw her first I guess you got first dibs,” Charlie said.
“Damn right, I’ve got first dibs,” Richard replied.
As he turned back to look at the woman again, he locked eyes with her and smiled as she did. She was now definitely giving him the signal to come over.
Richard wasted no time. He waved her over to the bar where the two arrived together.
“Hi there, I’m Richard,” he said, extending his hand.
“Mariah,” the woman replied. Her voice was sexy and sultry—feminine while being very confident and relaxed. Richard sensed a slight purr behind it. She sounded like a news reporter in a way.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mariah. What are you drinking?” Richard asked.
“I’ll keep it simple, a margarita.”
Richard ordered two margaritas from the attractive bartender. He saw her giving them both a disgusted look. Richard was actually rather used to this. It seemed that there were a million bartenders in the city and many of them seemed to think that eventually he would come and talk to them. Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn’t.
Boxer Next Door Page 78
