Page 10 of Be My Temptation (Temptation 2)
She answered on the second ring. “Hi.”
Brock walked through his apartment, shedding clothes as he did. “You realize Valentine’s Day is still weeks away.”
Her voice was heaven in his ear. “You found my gift? I’m glad. I hope you like it.”
Standing in his bedroom in just his boxer briefs, Brock said, “The perfect gift would be you here in my bed tonight, but I’ll take what I can get.”
She laughed nervously. “We agreed to slow it down a bit. Being with you every day has been wonderful, but I need to get my life in order, and to do that I need a little space.”
“Space?” He hated that word. Every man should. He usually heard it right before a woman announced she was calling it off or sleeping with another man.
“Yes. I can’t keep going as I have been. Doing nothing. Putting off making decisions about what I want to do. I’ve started applying for jobs at local places. I need to get out of this house. Hopefully I’ll find something I enjoy doing.”
“That’s really good, Kate.” Local. Thank God.
“Thank you for being so understanding, Brock.”
“I want you to be happy. You know that.”
“Speaking of happy, what do you think of the perfume?”
Brock took off the cover and sprayed it in the air, then gagged a bit on the nauseatingly sweet smell of it. “It’s unique.”
“Then you’ll wear it?”
Brock took another whiff and shuddered. “Me? I thought it was for you.”
“It’s unisex and one of my favorites.” Her voice became low and husky. “I’ve always found it really sexy.”
Brock placed the small bottle on his bedside table and made a face at it. If Kate liked it enough to buy it for him, he would wear it. He turned his back to it for now.
“I have another gift for you. I thought I’d give it to you tomorrow night when you come here for dinner.” She paused, then added, “If you’d like to come over.”
Hell, yes. “I’ll be there. But, you don’t have to give me anything, Kate.”
“I already bought it, and I’m actually pretty excited to see you in it.”
In it?
Shit.
“Can you do something for me?” Kate asked in a near whisper, sending his blood rushing to his already half-erect cock.
“Anything.”
“Will you wear the perfume all day tomorrow? I’ll be running around filling out applications and feeling nervous. It’d make me happy, imagining you wearing it and thinking about me throughout the day.”
Oh, I’ll be thinking about you all right. Thinking how soon I can get in the shower at your house to wash off that smell. “Of course I will. Then I’ll come over for dinner. How does five-thirty sound?”
“Perfect. See you tomorrow, Brock.”
Brock stripped off his boxer briefs and took a long, hot shower. He let the water beat against his back while he jacked off to the possibilities of how he and Kate would spend the next night together. Wild and crazy, or slow and tender—he didn’t care. Kate didn’t want vanilla sex. Well, tomorrow night he was going to bring his best. He would make Kate come so many times she would be too exhausted to text Mr. Elf.
And I’ll do it wearing whatever the hell she bought me. He closed his eyes. Edible underwear? Some costume? What would a woman want a man to wear?
Hopefully nothing that matches that perfume.
Chapter Eight
“You sent him to work wearing women’s perfume?” Angie asked gleefully during an afternoon walk with Kate. She leaned forward to push her double stroller up a steep section of sidewalk.
Kate nodded and her eyes narrowed. “I did. I bought it at a discount store. It’s not only for women, it’s also awful.”
“So, a test of his love for you is how bad he’ll allow himself to smell?”
Kate looked away, then back. “No, I bought it because I can’t believe he hasn’t said a single thing about Mr. Elf. Not one little hint. I don’t think he feels guilty about it at all. You should see what I bought him to wear tonight. He’s going to look like a complete idiot, and he won’t even know it.”
“Be careful, Kate.”
Kate glanced over and was surprised to see how concerned Angie looked. “Careful? You almost suggested piercing his genitals. All I did was give him women’s perfume and ask him to wear it. How is that crossing a line?”
Angie wrinkled her nose at Kate. “It’s not what you’re asking him to do that worries me, it’s why. You told me this wasn’t about revenge. Now it seems like it is. Do you love this guy or do you hate him? Testing a man is different than trying to humiliate him.”
Kate stuffed her hands angrily in the pockets of her coat. “You’re right. This isn’t what I thought the game would be about, but I can’t help myself. I’m so angry with him. He’s doing everything I ask, but all I really want is for Mr. Elf not to exist. To have never existed. I want to go back to seeing Brock as the simple, honest man I thought he was before I found the phone.”
Angie shrugged. “I want to not have stretch marks, but you know what? Shit happens, Kate. I’m beginning to think you shouldn’t play this game with Brock. You’re not a spiteful person. This is not the way to find out if he loves you.”
Kate stopped walking. “First you tell me he should pay. Now you’re second-guessing everything I’m doing and calling me spiteful? Maybe the only mistake I’ve made was turning to you for advice.”
Angie stopped her stroller and turned toward her. “I said you’re not spiteful. Listen, you’ve been through a lot this year. I don’t want you to lose Brock over something stupid that I thought could be funny. You were supposed to enjoy the game, Kate. You’re not. End it now.”
Kate felt cornered and exposed. She snapped, “You know what I’m sick of? People telling me what I should or shouldn’t do. My mother planned out every moment of my childhood. My ex-husband tried to make me into the wife he thought I should be. The last thing I need is a friend who thinks she knows what I should do better than me. You have two kids, Angie. Mother them, not me.”
Kate turned and walked away from Angie. She heard Angie calling after her, but she didn’t stop. She kept walking until she was safely back inside her house. She threw her coat on the back of a chair and stood in the middle of the living room for several minutes, shaking in anger. As her adrenaline rush subsided, Kate sank into the couch and dialed a number on her phone.
“Angie?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken my bad mood out on you.”
“It’s okay. I know you’re confused right now.”
“I bought him a fishnet thong. Should I throw it away?”
Angie chuckled. “Wow. That’s quite an image you just gave me. Before I answer that, I need to say something. You were completely justified in telling me to back off. Your relationship with Brock and how you handle it is your business. I wouldn’t want you telling me how to handle Mike. So, ask me, if you want my opinion, but know that I’ll be okay if you don’t follow it.”
Warmth spread through Kate. She didn’t know what she’d done to earn a friend like Angie, but she was so glad she had her. “I want your opinion. Fishnet or no fishnet?”
Angie was quiet for a moment, then said, “Fishnet, if you give it a chance to be sexy. Don’t laugh at him while he’s in it. Hey, I’ve seen him at the gym. Brock has an amazing body. He may rock that thong. It really isn’t about what you give him, Kate. It’s why. I don’t believe Brock ever meant to hurt you with his game. Don’t hurt him with yours.”
“I don’t think I can give it to him without smirking.”
Angie chuckled again. “Just laugh with him, Kate. Have fun with it. Hell, tell me where you got it and maybe I’ll pick one up for Mike.”
Kate’s eyes rounded. “You really think Mike would wear one?”
“Kate, you have a lot to learn about men. He’d do anything for a blow job. Oh, and me. We can do shit like this to
each other and laugh about it later because it’s all in fun. Does that make sense?”
“Angie, I am so lucky to have met you.”
“I feel the same way. Hell, Mike loves that we hang out. You reminded us to make time for each other. Have fun tonight, Kate. Forget about everything else, and just have fun.”
***
