Boy Next Door (Parkside Avenue Book #2)

by Lyon, Raquel

  It had been a pretty busy week, all told. I’d started work on the old cemetery, and that had led to a couple of one-off jobs for some local old folk, but I’d spent every spare moment I had with Cora, both in her garden and her bed.

  Reaching the other end of the pool, I took a quick breath as I turned around, and swam back towards Cora. When I surfaced, I was staring at her crotch. She was sitting on the edge of the pool, swirling her feet through the waves. Her bikini bottoms were stretched tight, moulding over her curls, and my body responded to the sight. We’d made love every single day, sometimes more than once, and I still couldn’t get enough of her sizzling hot body.

  Dragging my eyes up to hers, I asked, “Any luck?”

  “Vanessa’s in Ireland.”

  “She’s where?”

  “Ireland, the large piece of land off the west coast.”

  “I know where Ireland is. What is she doing there?”

  “Spending time with her boyfriend. He lives there.”

  “Oh. I didn’t know that. Does Jess have any idea when she might be coming back?”

  “No, but she never stays long. Garrett’s on the road a lot.” I must have looked puzzled, as Cora went on to explain, “He manages a band.”

  “Really? Anyone I’ve heard of?”

  “Now, how would I know that?”

  I laid my hands on her thighs and stroked the inside of them with my thumbs. “I guess we still have a lot to learn about each other.”

  Cora held her face up to the sun. “Vanessa told me who they were, once, and I googled them. They’re quite successful, but I can’t say I’ve been interested enough to remember the name.” She licked a film of sweat from her top lip and blew her breath up her face.

  “Well then. I guess she’s safe, and she’ll come home when she’s ready. So, how about you keep me company in this pool?” My hands moved around to her ass, and I scooped her towards the water. She giggled and wrapped her legs around my waist, before lowering her head to meet my eager lips. The taste of salty sweat mixed with my chlorine flavoured tongue. I pressed her up against the pool edge, pushed her bikini top to the side, and grabbed a handful of creamy flesh. “Have you ever made love in the pool?”

  “You are joking?”

  “I never joke about pleasure.”

  “But the neighbours …” She panted.

  “Pappa hasn’t been outside for days, and the couple at the other side are at work. No one’s gonna see.”

  “You’re a wicked man, Johnny.”

  ***

  I swam over to where Cora’s bikini floated and threw it back to her, before retrieving my boxers and pulling them back on. By the time I swam back to the steps, Cora had dressed.

  “I need to take a shower,” she said. “I’m meeting Diane for lunch.”

  I pulled her back as she tried to leave. “Can’t you cancel? I’d booked you in for full day’s services today,” I said with a cheeky grin.

  “Aren’t I the lucky one?”

  I kissed her neck and nibbled playfully on her earlobe. “You don’t know how many times you might have been, unless you stay.”

  “As tempting an offer as that is,” she said, pushing me away, “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work. Your client is expecting a professional job.”

  “Aw, come on. Break the habit of a lifetime. The world won’t end if you don’t stick to your routine, and my client will understand. Stay.”

  “I’ve got to go.” She kissed me on the cheek, climbed the steps, and grabbed her phone on the way to the house. I watched her dripping ass all the way inside, before climbing out and getting my head back on the job.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Later that afternoon, I heard Cora’s car pull into the driveway. One day I would own a car like hers: a sleek, gas-guzzling, engine purring, look at me I’ve made it, machine. But the way things were going, that day was a long way off. I’d already had to dip into my savings, this week. Travelling by bus just wasn’t working out, and I’d given in and bought myself a truck. It was far from the cutest dog in the pound, but it should be good for a couple more years.

  My stomach growled, despite having returned to Pappa’s for lunch. I wondered if I should pop home to check in on him again. When I’d seen him earlier, he was sitting in his chair, alternately puffing on his pipe and wheezing.

  “I think you should see someone, Paps,” I’d said. “You’ve not been right for days.”

  “Nothing wrong with me that a break from this damn heat won’t cure. My plants would be happier too.”

  “I’ll stick the hose on them later. Can I get you something to eat?”

  “Already eaten. Just see to yourself.” He’d racked up a lungful of tar, and grumbled, “Damn cough.”

  “Okay. Drink then?”

  “No. Nothing, thank you.” Irritation had crept into his voice.

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look too good.”

  He’d laughed—an alien sound of late. “I haven’t looked like Cary Grant for forty years. Old age will creep up on you too, you know. I’m fine. When I’m dead, you’ll know about it.”

  I worried about Paps. Seventy-six wasn’t that old, but the jovial, old man, I’d returned home from uni to, had transformed into a grumpy sod, complaining about the smallest of things, and the new model seemed smaller, whiter. Maybe he just needed to get out in the sun more, instead of avoiding it.

  I stared into the hole awaiting the new maple tree, hoping that Cora would think to bring me out a sandwich. She often brought me a bite to keep me going, and now would have been a good time for her to show up with the goods.

  A car door slammed, as I dragged the tree into position. Was she going out again, without even saying a hello, or a goodbye? Perhaps she’d been shopping and needed a hand to bring her purchases inside. She’d been gone for hours, and I’d missed the hell out of her. If she were going out again, I couldn’t let her disappear without at least a kiss to stoke the fire.

  Wiping my hands on my shorts, I headed for the house, but when I reached the back door, I paused. Cora was inside, and she wasn’t alone.

  “You’re looking good, Cora.” It was a man’s voice.

  “Why are you here, John?” That bastard? Seriously? Yes, why was he here? Cora must have been out of her mind to open the door to him. He’d better fuck the hell off, and soon.

  “I missed you.”

  Yeah right.

  “Oh really?”

  “Have you missed me?”

  My body tensed as I waited for her to respond.

  “Not for a minute,” she shot back.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Believe what you want.”

  “Honey, I wish I could fix what I’ve done. I know it was my fault.”

  The sound of him using an endearment made me want to punch my fist through the door. I had to see what was going down, so I ducked under the window and peered up over the ledge. The pair were facing each other over the breakfast bar.

  “You’re damn right it was your fault,” Cora said.

  “We had a good thing and I threw it away. I’m so sorry.”

  Did he really believe he could come crawling back into her life, again, with an apology and a smile?

  “It’s too late to be sorry.”

  “Don’t say that. We can try again.”

  “Not this time.”

  “Why not? You took me back before.” He rounded the breakfast bar, backing Cora into a corner by the table.

  She dodged past him. “I was a fool. I’m not a fool anymore.”

  “It’ll be different this time,” he said following her.

  “I remember you saying the same thing the last time. It was a lie then and it’s a lie now.”

  “It isn’t. Madeleine and I are over. I know what I want now.” He took another step forwards, and his line of sight almost connected with mine. I shot back under the sill with my heart beating rapidly.

  “The funny thing
is, John, so do I. I should have been broken-hearted when you left me for a second time, but I wasn’t. I was relieved. Things were never the same between us. We can’t get back what we had, and recently, I’ve realised I don’t want to. I’m a different woman to the one you knew. Times change and people move on. I’ve moved on. You’re part of my past. I can’t change that, and I wouldn’t, but you are no longer part of my future.”

  A speech like that should have gained John’s full attention. I risked another peek.

  “Is there someone else?” John paused and studied Cora’s face. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

  She avoided his gaze and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her trademark sign of nerves. It killed me to witness her discomfort. If she didn’t get rid of this asshole soon, I would have no option but to interfere.

  “All I’ll say is that I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

  A smug smile spread across my face.

  “Who is he?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Get rid of him.”

  What the fuck?

  Her eyes flashed back to his. “Excuse me?”

  I’d heard enough. My territorial instinct took over. She might not have said it yet, but Cora loved me. John was history, and if he wasn’t getting the message from Cora, he’d get it from me, loud and clear.

  Attempting to get my wave of emotions under control, I flung open the door and strode into the room. “I think it’s time you left.”

  John eyed me from top to toe and back again. “Who are you to tell me to leave my own house?”

  “I’m sorry. I was under the impression you didn’t live here anymore.”

  “Johnny, this is between me and John. Go back outside, please.”

  I could see Cora was struggling to remain calm, and she was doing a far better job than I was. “I can’t believe you’re giving this shit the time of day.”

  “We have history. He’s the father of my children. Haven’t you got a tree to plant?”

  I walked over and placed my body between them. “I don’t trust him, and I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

  John’s eyes narrowed as he watched our altercation. “If I wasn’t so disgusted by the thought, I’d say there was something more than gardening going on here.”

  “What if there is?” Cora’s voice vibrated my left eardrum. “My private life has nothing to do with you any longer.”

  “He’s a child, Cora.”

  Audacity puffed out my chest, and I faced up to him. “Oh yeah? If I’m such a child, why don’t you show me how much of a man you are?”

  He stepped back in disgust. “You think you can compete with me? Look at you.” His gaze fell and rose. “You’re dropping dirt all over the floor, and do you even own a shirt? Cora, how could you choose a manual labourer, who probably has so few brain cells they get lost swimming around in his head trying to find a friend, over me?”

  “Actually, Johnny is very smart, and talented, and exciting,” Cora paused to offer the final blow, “and ten times the lover you ever were.”

  John blew out a breath. “You don’t even like sex,” he scoffed.

  “How would you know?”

  “Well, let’s see. How about the amount of times I’ve heard, ‘Well, if you must, but make it quick and pull my nightdress back down when you’ve finished.’ Remember those nights?”

  “I wish I didn’t, but I’m doing my best to forget.” Bitterness oozed through her voice.

  John’s eyes narrowed. “Were you really surprised I looked elsewhere? Being in bed with you was like sleeping with an ice cube.”

  “Maybe if you’d treated me like a real woman instead of a trophy wife …”

  Thinking about them together made me sick, and hearing him call Cora an ice cube was just ridiculous. If only he knew. “If you want my opinion …”

  John interrupted before I could finish. “You don’t get an opinion,” he said, roughly pushing me against the lip of the tabletop. The bastard was seriously asking for it. His tone changed, and he reached for Cora’s waist. “If sex is what you want, then there’s even more of a reason for us to get back together. We had fun, back in the day. Remember when we were first married? It could be like that again.”

  Ugh.

  “You were a different man then.” Thankfully, she smacked his hands and backed away, before I hit more than his hands. “Leave me alone, John. It’s over.”

  With one final scowl, he swung round and stormed off down the corridor. “Fine. Keep your plaything, but don’t come crawling back to me when you come to your senses,” he shouted.

  Cora screamed at his back. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  I waited for the sound of the front door slamming before taking Cora into my arms. She was shaking. I held her tightly and stroked her hair until she calmed. “It’s okay,” I said. “He’s gone, and now he knows the score, I don’t think he’ll be back.”

  She pulled away and looked at me. “I hope not. I don’t think I can go through that again.”

  “You won’t have to. If he ever shows his face here again, he’s toast.”

  She sighed and stroked my cheek. “I’ve tried so hard to put my marriage behind me. I just want to stop fighting old ghosts and live again.”

  “And you will.” I kissed her on the nose and grinned. “Listen. I have an idea.”

  Her eyebrows pushed together. “What kind of an idea?”

  “A really bad one.”

  “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

  “Do you own a pair of jeans?”

  “What are you going to do, make an effigy of John and burn it on a bonfire?”

  Now there was a thought. “Um, no. I’d like you to wear them when I pick you up tonight. I have to go home to check on Paps and make sure he gets a decent meal in him, first, but I’ll be back around eight.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  My jaw almost hit the porch floor when Cora opened the door. “Wow. You’re stunning.” I’d asked her to wear jeans, thinking dressing down would help her blend in more, but add the fuck-me heels and tight tank, squeezing her tits into perfect mounds at the neckline, and you had a homing beacon for every schmuck with a pair of eyes and a dick. “I’m not sure my knuckles are primed enough to beat off the competition.”

  “Is it too much? Do I look like mutton? Should I change?” she asked, fondling one of her huge, hooped earrings and glancing down at her outfit. “Yes. I’ll go and change. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She turned to go back inside.

  I snagged her arm. “No. Don’t. You look fantastic. Nice t … top.”

  “It’s Amy’s.”

  “It’s hot.”

  “Thank you. Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?”

  “You’ll see.”

  ***

  The light was fading by the time we walked the short distance to the Pocket Scratcher. Cora began fidgeting as soon as we passed through the door.

  “I’m not sure about this. It looks a bit rough,” she said.

  “It’s a lot rough, and way out of your comfort zone, I’m guessing. That’s why I brought you. You said you wanted to live a little.”

  She coughed. “Live. Yes. Not die,” she said, holding tightly to my arm and walking a pace behind me all the way to the bar.

  Her eyes darted nervously into every smoky corner, as I ordered a couple of Buds, before studying the bottle I passed her. “What’s this?”

  “Beer. Don’t tell me you’ve never tried one?”

  “No. Actually, I haven’t”

  I shook my head, laughing. “Then here begins the first lesson.”

  “Don’t I get a glass?”

  “Nope. Just wrap those pretty lips of yours around the rim and chug it down your throat.”

  After a small hesitation, she did as I instructed, and I watched, mesmerised, switching my weight from one leg to
the other, when my dick registered the movement of her mouth around the bottle’s neck. Receiving a blow job was definitely on the agenda, tonight. She wasn’t even breaking to take a breath.

  I gestured to Pete for another round, as the track on the jukebox changed, and Cora’s knee dipped to the beat of the music.

  She placed her empty bottle on the bar. “This takes me back,” she said. “I haven’t heard this song in years.” She swayed, and flung her head from side to side, her blonde locks swishing in time to the tune. I’d never seen anything so sexy in my life.

  I gestured for another round. Then picking up the drinks in one hand, I grabbed her hand with my other. “Come on.” I’d spotted a free table in the corner, and you had to get in quick when opportunity struck.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To start living.”

  I spent the next hour trying to teach Cora how to play pool, and I wouldn’t be adding it to my list of successes any time soon. Still, it was worth it. The feel of her ass, wrapped tight under denim, nestling into my crotch as I bent over her to guide her shots, drove me wild. I couldn’t wait to get her home and do it minus the denim.

  Towards the end of the lesson, the familiar face of a local policeman appeared at my side.

  “Missed you at the cemetery today, bud,” he said.

  “Yeah, sorry. I had another job.”

  He took a sip of his beer, and cocked his head, eying up Cora’s cleavage as she lined up a shot. “No worries. It’s almost done anyway.”

  I waved Cora over, after she almost jabbed the tip of her cue into the baize. “Babe, come and meet a friend of mine.”

  She straightened up and smiled weakly. “Hello Matthew.”

  He greeted her with a nod. “Cora.”

  “You two know each other?”

  “A long time,” Cora said. “Matthew is Sheila’s son. He dated Vanessa for a while.”

  My brows shot up. “Is that right? I reckon you deserve a medal for that one, mate.” I slapped his shoulder playfully.