"Men are so weird.” She sighed as she handed him the key to unlock the door, pushing the button to lock the car. "Who the hell would want to think about some guy with his tongue in their daughter's mouth? Not that I would ever stoop so low as to think of any of my mother's husbands as anything near a father, but you know what I mean."
"You don't get it Tor. The last thing a man wants to think about is some guy with his tongue in his little girl's mouth. It's that thought that drives a guy to say something like what your stepdad said to me. If I had a teenage daughter, I'd want to keep her locked up in her bedroom so I wouldn't have to think about shit like that."
She shook her head at him as he followed her up the stairs. " If you did that, that's the first thing she'd want to do; go out and find some guy the first chance she got. Every kid knows that parents want to keep you away from the things that will make you happy."
He snorted. "You tell my Aunt Lori that and she'll kick your ass."
"You know what I mean." She followed him down the hall to his room. "When you're a teenager, your parents want to keep you away from all the bad shit. Sex, drugs, and alcohol; because they know all the trouble they got into when they were kids. But you can't protect them from life. Almost everybody tries drugs at some point, even if it's just a little weed. And booze, what the hell can you do about that? Even if you can keep them away from it until they're a legal age, what can you do to stop them then? And sex well, deep down with as much as some people probably think that they'd be perfectly fine with their kids being celibate, beyond becoming a nun, doesn't there get to be a point where it's kind of an embarrassment if your kid's still a virgin? Only a fruit loop would be proud to say that their kid is a virgin at thirty."
"I guess you're probably right about that.” He laughed as they stood outside the guest room that Langston had directed him to. "We'd better say goodnight Tor. It's getting late."
"Blah."
"Your mom and stepdad are going to come home sooner or later. What are they going to think if you're standing outside my door?"
“I don't give a shit what they think. Are you going to be all right Tony?"
"Yeah, I think so. If you'd have come back in three months instead of three weeks, I'd probably be really screwed; if not dead from an overdose. I'll get through it. Knowing that you're down the hall helps."
"It doesn't help me. It didn't help me lying at bed in night by myself knowing that you were only a couple miles away. Knowing that you're down the hall probably sleeping naked doesn’t help me one bit."
"I'm not going to sleep naked while we're here." He laughed. "If I got up to go to the bathroom, forgot where I was, and ran into your mom-that would not be good. And if I ran into your stepdad with my penis hanging out, even if I was coming from the other direction and you were asleep in your bed, well, we don't need to be give him an excuse now do we?"
"My mother would probably get a thrill out of seeing you naked. Once she found out what you do for a living she'd probably try to steal you away, and talk you into becoming some big drug lord so she could be with a rich guy who is good looking for a change."
"Your stepdad's not a bad looking guy."
"How could you manage to notice that with his sparkling personality? I guess Langston's not the worst stepfather I've ever had. And I have to thank him for getting me the hell away from this place for the last two years. But I swear if he comes anywhere near you with so much as a butter knife, I'm going to make them both regret that they ever met."
"That should make dinner interesting. It's not like he really meant it. He was just asserting his role as king of his castle."
"He can get away with it with you. Asking Lindsey to get everyone a drink is not the norm. Even with no 'staff' around it ain't her who's getting up to make the drinks. If he makes her do it again, she's liable to break the bottle over his head. My mother will not be with a man who doesn't kiss her ass on a regular basis. King of his castle my ass. Langston may have shelled out the cash for this place, but it sure ain't a king that runs this castle."
"So that's where you get your dominant streak from."
"You compare me to her again Tony, and I might have to castrate you myself."
"Now now, baby. Be nice."
"Nice girls are boring."
She reached out and ran one hand over his chest while she fiddled with his zipper with her other hand.
He kissed the side of her neck and removed her hand from his zipper. "You're going to get us both into a nice predicament if you don't take your ass to bed. I don't think anyone would get out of here alive if they came home and found me screwing you against the wall, legs wrapped around my waist."
She groaned. "Shut up Tony, or you're gonna get me so turned on I won't care."
"A little sexual frustration never hurt anybody." He winked. "It makes it that much better when you find that sweet relief."
"Enough Tony. You're already going to have me tossing and turning all night, my head filled with dirty thoughts."
"I’ll let you share all those dirty thoughts with me when we get home."
"Nope. We have a bet remember?"
It was all she could do now not to get down on her knees and beg him to take her to a motel she thought, but all she did was lean over and give him a chaste kiss on the mouth.
"Goodnight Tony."
"Night Tor."
She could feel his eyes on her as she walked away, so she walked slower, shaking her ass a little as she walked.
"You know you drive me crazy right?"
She turned around and blew him a kiss. "And you know you love it."
"Yes baby." His voice was so soft that she could barely hear him. "You know I do."
When she was in her room with the door closed behind her, she chanced a look at herself in the mirror. Her hair had come halfway out of the ponytail, and her cheeks were flushed. When she looked at the fire in her amber eyes, the only thing that she could think of was Tony when he was really turned on and all she had to do was look in his eyes to know he wanted it.
She had that same hungry look.
Yawning, she slipped her dad's old t-shirt over her head and crawled into bed, having to fight with herself to stop from picturing Tony down the hall in the guest bedroom alone in that big bed. If he wasn't sleeping naked he was probably only wearing a pair of those drawstring pajama bottoms that she'd seen when she was doing his laundry and nothing else.
And that was almost as good she thought. When he had a bare chest, and bare feet; she could look at him all day and never get tired of it. Hard abs, firm muscular arms, barely there hair on his chest. And then you moved up to that face she thought. With his high cheekbones, his full lips, his beautiful hazel eyes and his wavy dark blonde hair, he could have been a model. And with his other talents she thought, he could have been a porn star. She turned over in bed, closing her eyes.
They popped open again almost immediately because she heard footsteps in the hall. But when she sat up in bed, thinking that it was Tony, she heard Lindsey and Langston arguing again. She lay back down with a sigh. She hoped that Lindsey and Langston didn't think sex when you were mad was as hot as Tony did. She didn't think she could take hearing them go at it tonight.
But sex seemed to be the last thing on either of their minds as she heard their bedroom door slam and Langston call out "Be a bitch. I'll sleep on the fucking couch tonight."
Damn she thought she'd never heard him cuss before. He seemed too uptight and utterly boring to bother cussing. And why was he sleeping on the couch when they had at least three other bedrooms that weren't being used she wondered? Lindsey must really have done something to piss him off.
Oh well she thought, why should she give a shit if her mother got a divorce yet again? She was a few months away from never having to deal with a husband of Lindsey's. It just meant that this time she'd found a really rich guy, who must have been really stupid too, Tory thought. She had to have him hook line and sinker to be willing to dump Lang
ston.
She stretched and wondered whether Tony was asleep. Maybe Langston would get so pissed off at Lindsey that he'd take off for a couple days. Then she could easily sneak into Tony's room. When she was drunk, Lindsey snored almost as loud as Langston. And it did turn her on to think about getting caught. It wasn't so much the thought of Lindsey catching them doing it that turned her on. It was the thought of rubbing it in Lindsey's face that she was having sex; that she liked having sex.
Yawning widely again, she turned onto her other side and closed her eyes, keeping them closed when she heard Langston curse loudly from downstairs. It wasn't bothering Lindsey, whose drunken snores she could hear coming from next door, so why should it bother her she thought?
Chapter 14
She awoke the next morning to the sound of loud banging coming from the kitchen. Oh god, Langston wasn't going to try to cook breakfast was he she thought? He'd probably end up burning the house down. She needed to get up and take a shower but she didn't want to leave the comfort of her bed.
It was her bladder that finally made the decision for her. She grabbed a fresh pair of clothes from her bag, bypassing the crap that was hanging in her closet that Lindsey had bought for her. It was such bullshit that Lindsey bought her all those clothes that would make her look like a whore when she warned her against the evils of sex. Or was it merely a warning against having a child she thought as she passed her mother's room, hearing her mother still snoring inside? A child that she figured would make Tory as miserable as she'd always felt having her had made her mother?
She was lost in thought and almost ran into Tony in the hallway. She had to smile when she saw him. He'd obviously just gotten out of the shower. His hair was wet and he'd slipped back into his pajama bottoms and nothing else.
The little chest hair he had was as curly as the hair on his head when it was wet. She had to stop herself from reaching out and running her fingers through it.
"Morning, Tor.”
She could see that he could tell what she was thinking by the look on his face, before he decided that it was better to avoid her eyes.
"Morning, handsome." She leaned up and gave him a soft, slow kiss on the mouth.
"Tor." He pulled back.
"I kept my tongue in my mouth. Besides, my mother's still passed out and Langston's down in the kitchen making so much damn noise that he wouldn't hear a thing if we did it right here in the hallway."
"Behave Tory. And don't give me that wounded look like you're a little kid and I took away your favorite toy."
"But you are my favorite toy." She took a step toward him and then stopped when she heard Langston calling to her mother from downstairs.
"Do you think you should knock on her door?" He took another step towards the door to his room.
"Nope." She bent over to pick up the sock that she had dropped on purpose, straightening up slowly so that she could give him a nice view of her ass. "If he wants her that bad he can come up and get her himself."
"You are so bad.”
She wasn't sure if he was talking about the show she'd given him or her blatantly ignoring her stepfather.
She shrugged, giving him a wink as she went down the hall to the bathroom. It was still steamy from Tony's shower when she entered. She was glad that she'd made the trip down the hall instead of using the bathroom at her end. There was still a faint trace of the cologne that she'd seen him shove into his bag in the air.
Even the smell of his cologne made her think of sex. Though it could also be the thought that he'd been naked in this room a few minutes before; that probably played a part in it as well she thought. Oh, how different her life could have been these last few months if she'd given in to Jude. But she no longer thought it would have been changed for the better.
He'd probably still be messing around. Obviously he was still screwing around on Molli if he'd called her and was coming on to that other chick in the parking lot. And if she'd been with Jude first, she wouldn't know that she liked sex. If every time with Jude was as pathetic as the first time they'd had sex then she'd probably be like her mother. It was pretty funny how having sex with someone who knew how to do it could change your outlook on the subject she thought.
She smiled as she stepped under the shower, thinking that Tony sure did know how to do it right. She made her shower quick, not wanting Tony to have to deal with Langston by himself for too long in case Lindsey still hadn't dragged her ass out of bed.
Though it probably wouldn't be any more fun dealing with the two of them together, she pondered as back in her bedroom, she slipped into her shoes. She could only hear two voices when she made her way down the stairs though, and it was Langston and Tony.
Langston was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee, a newspaper spread out in front of him. But he was looking up at Tony with an intense look on his face. Tory gave Tony a bright smile when she walked in, wondering what it was that they were talking about.
"Good morning Tony." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, stifling the urge to give him a kiss on the mouth shoving her tongue in as far as it would go. "Langston.” She gave her stepfather a fake smile.
"Is your mother up?"
"I don't think so. Why?" She moved up beside Tony who was leaning against the counter next to the coffee pot. She leaned up to get a mug out of the cupboard; making sure that she gave him a good view of her cleavage when she bent back down. "Oops." She gave him a sly grin that Langston couldn't see. "Excuse me Tony."
"No problem Tor." He gave her a dirty look.
Hiding a smile, she took her cup of coffee and sat down at the table as far away from Langston as she could get though the table in the kitchen was of a much more modest size than the one in the dining room.
Langton looked at his watch, which had probably cost him as much if not more than Tony had paid for his car and glanced toward the stairs. “Damn it, I told her we had an early start today. It always takes her forever to get ready. I've got an important meeting. He's bringing his wife so I thought I might as well bring Lindsey along. So you two are pretty much on your own for the day. I hope you don't mind."
He gave them what she figured was supposed to be an apologetic smile.
She wanted to jump up and hug him for the first time since she'd met him.
"Of course tomorrow is a day for family." He glanced again at his watch. "We'll be going out to dinner, since dear Lindsey never could cook. There's a nice program that they're putting on at the community center. A Christmas play. A client's grandson has a starring role so it should be fun. We had hoped that since last we knew you weren't seeing anyone Tory that you two might hit it off. The boy is from such a good family."
Feeling Tony's eyes on her, she bit her tongue. "That really is too bad. But Tony and I really have been happy together haven't we Tony?" She turned to him and gave him a bright, innocent smile.
"Of course. Tory's a wonderful girl. We really have been quite happy together sir."
Langston sighed. She didn't know if it was because he wouldn't be able to pawn her off on whatever geeky moron he'd wanted to to make his client happy or if it was because Lindsey still hadn't come down. "Tory, would you mind going up and checking on your mother?"
"Uh, sure."
It was the last thing she wanted to do though. Her mother was a huge bitch during the day but hell hath no fury like a rich bitch without her beauty sleep. Tory would rather have let her sleep ‘til noon like usual.
But she was saved as her mother entered the kitchen, cigarette in hand, hair carefully done, makeup and clothes perfect as usual.
"I thought you were quitting." Langston mumbled as she leaned over and pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.
"And it was my understanding that I was supposed to go with you on your last business trip. Two weeks stuck here by myself with nothing to do but yell at the idiots you've got working here for not doing their jobs like usual."
Lindsey turned and gave him a tight smile which clea
rly said 'we're even'; flashing bright white teeth that could only come from many trips to an expensive dentist with her years of smoking.
"Are you ready to go?"
It was like she'd been the one that was waiting for him, and not the other way around Tory thought.
"Of course. Feel free to eat whatever you can find in the fridge kids. You should be able to find plenty to do around town if you decide to go out. Most everything should still be open at least until the evening. We'll both have our phones, so feel free to call if there's some kind of an emergency; but only then if you don't mind. It doesn't make much of an impression with your cell phone ringing off the hook all day. If you do decide to go out, make sure you set the alarm. This is a good neighborhood but you never know when someone will get desperate, especially during the holidays. Drive safely Tory. I know that your mother put you through the drivers' education program but you have to be wary of everyone else on the road these days."
She thought it would be pretty funny if Langston had to shell out the money to pay for a new car for Tony if she did get into an accident. She'd tell him that Tony had paid five grand for the car. It was easily worth it.
Hell, maybe Langston would hand over the keys to one of the cars sitting in the garage. Yeah right she thought. But there did have to be something good in having a loaded step father right? Maybe she could sweet talk him out of a couple hundred bucks, telling him she hadn't had the money to get her mother anything for Christmas. Then she'd buy Lindsey an ugly as sin coffee mug from a convenience store and pocket the rest.
Lindsey never bothered to keep anything Tory gave her. She'd caught her throwing away a mother's day card she'd painstakingly made when she was in kindergarten and promptly burst into tears, running to her grandmother who happened to be there to pick her up. That was the only time she could remember that she'd seen her mother look anything close to sorry or ashamed. Corey's mother had reamed her, making her dig the card out of the trash. But it had only made her be more careful when she got rid of Tory's gifts.
Never had Tory seen her mother give a gift she had worked hours on at school more than a cursory glance. And she never bothered to say thank you. But why should she because she would never have meant it Tory thought? What mother could possibly want a construction paper token of love from her only child when she could have all the jewelry and clothes that money could buy?
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 120
