“I believe that there is a perfect someone out there for everyone. Sometimes two someones. If you’re all agreeable why not? And of course I think about something besides sex. I have a child.”
“Uh huh. So you’re saying that you believe that marriage can work if you find the right person, but sometimes that’s two people? You just want two wives and that’s not fair. If my man can have two wives, I can have two husbands.”
“I’d let you have another husband as long as you still shared my bed.”
Brandy made a face at him as she pulled in behind Stella’s car in a long driveway. “I don’t really want two husbands. I’d never do it with two guys on the same night, let alone at the same time.”
“You wouldn’t have to have sex with them at the same time. We can talk about that later, after you decide you want to marry me.”
Brandy snorted. “Listen to your ego. Who says I’m ever going to want to marry you?”
“I have faith. You’ll have to find a second man more worthy of you than Chad though.”
“Ugh. Just shut up.”
Gabe chuckled. “Don’t bring shit up if you don’t want to step in it.”
“Ha ha. Let’s go. I promise I’ll spend more than thirty seconds deciding I don’t want this house.”
“Brandy. You seem to believe that you’re undeserving of things because they cost more money than you’re used to. Money doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“It sure meant a lot to you when you didn’t have any didn’t it?”
Gabe shrugged. “It certainly meant more to me than it does now, but that still doesn’t mean much.”
“Well, at least you’re not like some rich people who it seems to mean everything to. Let’s go see this way too big for one person house.”
“Yes darling.”
Gabe followed Brandy to the house. Stella had unlocked the door and was inside, standing in the middle of a huge living room. Stella told Gabe the technical stuff about the house while Brandy wandered around. She fell in love with the house because it was beautiful and so nice, but knew that she could never live in a place like that by herself. She openly admired the Jacuzzi out back. Gabe gave her a wide grin when she came back inside, but she shook her head.
“Beautiful, but still way too big. And I don’t wanna know what it costs.”
“You don’t have to worry about what it costs. I’ll take care of you Brandy. No more worries. I guess we’re going to look at the two bedroom Stella.”
“Okay. Tenth Street it is then. The next door neighbor is rather nosy and has a bunch of crazy teenagers, but all in all, it’s a nice neighborhood.”
“A bunch of crazy teenagers?” Brandy said. “Like how many?”
Stella laughed. “I believe it’s four. Why would you mind teenagers Brandy? It looks like you just got through being one yourself.”
“I know what I was like as a teenager. I don’t want to be around that.”
Stella nodded. “Brenda’s children are nice kids. Just your typical teenagers. I wouldn’t show anyone the house if they were that bad. The people that own the house are old fuddy duddies. They were always calling our office after Brenda moved in about four years ago. But what can we say? Her rent is always paid on time and the landlord has never reported any damage to the house or complaints other than from the Nelsons. I think it upsets them that they never felt that young.”
Gabe laughed. “If you’re sour when you’re young, you only tend to get more sour as you get older. It’s a shame, but such is life. Thank you Stella for letting us drag you around today.”
Stella winked at Gabe. “Any time spent in your company is well worth it Gabe. I’m used to driving from one house to another all day long. At least I know you’re not wasting my time. I know that most of them don’t do it on purpose, but traipsing around from house to house in these heels all day is killer.”
“Why don’t you wear more sensible shoes then?” Brandy said.
Stella laughed. “Because I am literally married to my job honey. My husband is the official owner of the agency. It was passed on from his daddy on the condition that he was the only one it was passed to and that our prenuptial agreement said I could have anything else if we divorced but the agency.”
“So why’d you marry him? That sucks. You do most of the work don’t you?”
“Darling, you’ve never been in love so much that you’ve seen stars in your eyes have you?”
Brandy shrugged. “I guess not, but I still think it sucks and isn’t fair. You do most of the work don’t you? Or at least the leg work?”
“Life isn’t fair sweetheart, even when you’re as pretty as you are. Ethan is a good man and a damned good father. I do the leg work because my legs are a lot prettier. I always sold twice as many houses as he did anyway. I’m okay with the fact that he sticks his penis between a pair of legs that’s not mine every once in a while because I know where his heart lies.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Gabe gave her a look. “Brandy, I think it’s time to move on now. Let’s go.”
Stella gave Gabe a look. “Let the girl speak Gabe. You’re the one that seems to favor gorgeous women with strong opinions. Deal with it.” She winked at him to soften the blow.
“Doesn’t it make you feel like crap to know that he’s with other women? Doesn’t it make you wonder whether or not you’re good enough? I’ve never cheated. Well, technically I did once, but it was right in front of his face. He was the one that wanted me to do it in the first place.”
“Honey, every marriage is unique. What a woman or a man will and won’t put up with is up to them. Some people choose to stay married until they’re kids are grown because then you don’t have to deal with the crap of having to ask for child support and one parent getting the short end of the stick. Even in an amicable divorce, one person usually does.”
“But it still makes you feel bad sometimes doesn’t it?”
Stella sighed. “Sometimes I think my husband’s indiscretions would be better left unsaid. It’s not as if he shoves them in my face, but I know when he does it. I’ve always known. A scent of perfume on his clothes that’s not mine, lipstick on his collar, a different brand of condoms in his wallet. It used to make me feel terrible, especially after I gained all this weight, but a certain someone helped me to realize that I am still very attractive to some men at least.” She winked at Gabe. “I’ve learned to live with it. But if you can’t do it sweetheart, then don’t. Men do stay true. They may have to get married at 50. Or you may have to get very inventive in the bedroom or invite someone else in every once in awhile, but you can take part in that decision before it happens.”
Brandy made a face. “But isn’t that as bad as cheating? And why should you feel bad about having sex with someone else when he doesn’t?”
“Oh honey, you are so young. How old are you Brandy?”
“Twenty.”
Stella nodded. “At my age, you may feel differently. When you’ve been married for ten years, you may be the one bringing up inviting another woman into your bedroom for the night so that your man won’t stray or at least in the traditional way.”
“You’re not that old. You look twenty-five.”
Stella laughed. “Thank you sweetheart. I would honestly say that you look seventeen. I’m twenty-seven and sometimes feel thirty-seven.”
“So you got married really young. Would your husband be okay with you inviting another guy into your bed for the night? It only seems fair.”
“Ethan is a complicated man. He may tell me yes one night and no the next night. I believe that if it was what I truly wanted at the time, he would indulge me in that way yes. And I assume it is a divine experience, even if the men aren’t bisexual. Men certainly seem to fantasize about having two women in their bed enough right Gabe?”
Gabe chuckled. “I believe that the experience would be more pleasurable at this point if the women were not bisexual, but that’s just me. When the women you’r
e in bed with are more interested in pleasuring each other, the luster fades rather quickly.”
Brandy sighed. “I’m sorry to bug you Stella, but I think it’s time to go now.”
Stella laughed. “No problem honey. It’s interesting to hear a younger woman’s take on things.”
“I hope you have a married friend that you can talk to about stuff like this when it does make you feel bad. Hey, maybe you should talk to Gabe’s wife. She knows all about being cheated on.”
Stella laughed. Gabe gave Brandy a dirty look. “Leslie is hardly an innocent victim Brandy. She was with not one but two other men on our wedding night and wouldn’t make love to me. She also got drunk that night and she was pregnant. That upset me more than her infidelity.”
“Sure it did. She doesn’t take guys out to dinner or pay their rent or screw them in broad daylight.”
“You probably don’t want to know the things she does do Brandy.”
Brandy sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that one. Let’s get outta here.”
“Yes darling. We’ll follow you Stella.”
“Sure Gabe.”
They went back to their respective vehicles. Gabe remarked as she followed Stella onto the street “You seem to be comfortable behind the wheel. You shouldn’t have any trouble passing at least the driving part of the exam.”
“You’re insulting me again aren’t you? I’m not dumb Gabe. I graduated high school and everything, all by myself.”
“I’m sorry Brandy. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You did too. You think I’m dumb and get through life on my pretty face and my body. That I’d screw any guy who wanted me as long as I got something out of it too. Well, you’re wrong. I’ve been with four men in my life. Two of them fathered my babies. The other two were Chad and you. The one time that I cheated was right in front of Chad’s face. It wasn’t even really cheating since he asked me to do it. This guy made this lewd comment about me, and told Chad that he was going to buy his drugs elsewhere because the shit Chad buys isn’t the best quality, if I didn’t suck his dick. I told him to go fuck him himself, but Chad took me in the bedroom and reminded me that we didn’t have any money and this guy always bought from him. If he would have made me do it again I would probably have bitten both of their dicks off.”
Gabe chuckled. “Ah Brandy, you are so refreshingly honest.”
“Are you telling me if your wife told you to go down on your nanny even though she was nasty or she’d quit, but she was really good with your kid, that you’d be happy about doing it? This guy was fat and nasty and sweaty. I hated Chad for three weeks afterwards even though he kissed my ass. He made sure we always had cigarettes and had decent food and that I always had a ride when I needed one and a calling card. Then he went right back to being an asshole like usual. So I guess I’m the dumb one huh?”
“You’re not dumb. You can carry on a very intelligent conversation.”
“So don’t talk like I’m dumb. I’m tired of guys thinking that I’m dumb because I’m pretty or that I’m an easy lay.”
“Misconceptions often follow beautiful woman Brandy.”
“Yeah. Sometimes I’d rather be fat so that I’d know a guy liked me for me instead of just wanting to get down my pants.”
Gabe shook his head. “Your face is too beautiful. You would never be one of those girls that made people remark ‘oh she’s fat but she has a pretty face’. They would always say damn that big girl is fine. I’ll bet you had guys hitting on you all the time when you were pregnant.”
Brandy rolled her eyes. “So what? I told you my boobs looked really good.”
Gabe chuckled. “I’m sure they did. Stella stopped up ahead.”
“I saw that, but thank you for reminding me. Would you like to drive?”
“You’re getting cranky darling. Are your cravings getting to you?”
“That and your smartass attitude. I don’t blame your wife for not inviting you on her trips. You must drive her absolutely crazy.”
“The feeling is mutual Brandy, believe me.”
“Yeah.”
She stopped the truck in the driveway that Stella had pulled into. They got out and followed Stella into the house. The house was much more reasonable in Brandy’s opinion, though she still wasn’t sure why Gabe thought she needed a house, especially one with more than one bedroom. She wandered through the house and then went outside, going from the back to the front. The yard was very nicely sized. She loved the front porch. It was big without being too big, and there was a comfortable looking lounge chair that she could imagine laying out on during the summer months.
She went back inside and said “This is much better. I’d still rather have an apartment though.”
“We do handle the apartment building on Eighth Street Gabe, or is it seventh? We don’t do much business for them since most prospective renters go directly to the building, but they are reasonably priced and in decent shape for their age. The landlord is wonderful and the apartments are made spotless for future renters. We can go take a look if you’d like.”
“Yes,” Brandy said.
“No,” Gabe said. “We’ll take this one Stella. I’m sure you’d like to eat lunch and that you’ve got houses to show this afternoon. We’ve taken up enough of your time. We have much to do this afternoon as well. We’ll follow you back to the office.”
Stella looked at Brandy, but then turned back to Gabe. “If you’re sure.”
“Yes, we’re positive.”
Stella walked back to her car. Brandy followed Gabe back to the truck. “You’re an asshole. I looked at those stupid big houses because you wanted me to, and you won’t let me look at an apartment? This is my place, even if you are paying for it at first.”
Gabe sighed. “For someone who wants so badly to be taken care of, you’re not very good at sitting back and letting someone else take the reins are you?”
Brandy pulled back out on the road. “Fuck you. I never said I wanted to be taken care of. You assumed that and Chad assumed that. Just because I was dumb enough to come here with him and let him take shitty care of me for almost a year, it doesn’t mean that I need a man or anyone else to take care of me.”
“You’ve only been here a few months darling.”
“Duh. I’ve been with him for a little over a year. We left my hometown almost a year ago together. We came here because he was supposed to have some wonderful job that paid well. And dealing probably would have if he wouldn’t have been so bad at it.”
“You were okay with being the girlfriend of a drug dealer? Did you plan on marrying Chad, on bearing his children?”
“Eventually.”
“And you would have been okay with him continuing to deal drugs out of your home? That could have cost you your children permanently if someone would have reported you to child protective services.”
“Screw CPS. Half those bitches don’t have kids. So what right do they have to tell everyone else how to raise theirs? I wouldn’t have been okay with him dealing after I got pregnant. But if he figured out how to make good money at it like some guys do, we would have been okay until he found a different job. I read this romance novel once where this guy was dealing drugs because he had to pay the bills for his mom since she was in the loony bin. He was hot. He screwed around a lot until he met this girl and fell in love and went legit. I always kinda wished that Chad was more like that guy after he started dealing.”
“Sounds rather farfetched to me. How can you be such a closet romantic, yet not want a man to take care of you?”
Brandy shook her head at him as she stopped beside Stella’s car at the real estate office. “I’m not a closet romantic. I just want to fall in love with a guy that really loves me back. Maybe I want a guy to take care of me a little. But I never want to depend on a man so much again that when he walks out on me, I’m scared that I might have to sell myself on the street corner so I can eat and pay the rent.”
“I would
have picked you up long before another man had a chance to.”
Brandy lit a cigarette. “Uh huh. How long ago did you give Trina that money to tell me that she’d worked at Gabe’s Place? ‘Cause she told me she didn’t even have the money to loan me yesterday to buy a meal. Neither her nor her man do drugs as far as I know.”
“About a month ago. I’ve had my eye on you since you arrived in Brunton. I wouldn’t have let you sell yourself on the street corner Brandy, believe me.”
“Sure. Are you gonna go fill out that paperwork? Do you need me to come with you since I’m gonna be the one that actually lives there?”
“No. It’s fine darling. I’ll take care of everything.” Gabe leaned over and kissed her. “Once I’m done, we can check your apartment and see if you have any suitable furniture left. Then we can shop for what you need. If we have time, we’ll look for a car so that we’ll have a better idea of what to buy when you get out of rehab. And we’ll eat lunch and dinner whenever you’re hungry of course. You’re wish is my command today Brandy.”
“Sure it is. Go, do what you need to do. I want a really nice car.”
Gabe chuckled. “I had a feeling you would. It’s wonderful to have a first car that’s not a complete piece of crap. I’ll be back.”
Gabe exited the truck. Brandy almost sighed as she watched him walk away. He annoyed the hell out of her sometimes, but damn he had a spectacular ass she thought. He took forever in the real estate office. She knew that Stella grabbed Gabe’s ass when they hugged goodbye because it was very blatant. But her husband was on the phone in the office and Brandy could no longer blame the woman for wanting to grab Gabe’s ass. She wouldn’t blame any woman for wanting to grab Gabe’s ass really, because it was a damned fine ass.
When Gabe was back in the truck she said “It gets you off when she grabs your ass like that doesn’t it?”
Gabe chuckled. “Yes it does. Stella is spectacular in bed. I was so disappointed when she told me that we couldn’t see each other again after our first coupling.”
“You’re a silly romantic too aren’t you? If Stella was willing to leave her man for you, you’d be all over it wouldn’t you?”
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 44
