Respect Me, Part 1 by Nia Arthurs
Jerrison
“I’m goingto sue the hell out of her.”
I squeeze the bridge of my nose, sighing loudly into the phone. “Cindy, calm down.”
“She ruined my truck, Jerry!” Cindy shrieks. “She freaking destroyed my darling baby and I’m not going to freaking stop for a freaking minute until she’s behind bars. I swear to you! I’m going to destroy her!”
“I understand.”
“That freaking…”
“Could you stop with the ‘freaking this’ and ‘freaking that’?” My annoyance barks out of me. She sounds like a middle-schooler trying to look tough. It’s hard enough to talk to someone so young. I can’t stand when a woman isn’t classy.
Shocked silence rings on the other end of the phone.
It ripples. Expands. Taints the air.
I realize I might have screwed up by making Cindy even angrier and quickly change my tone. “Baby girl,” I drop to the husk that she likes, “send me a check for your truck. In fact, tell me if you want another car altogether. I’ll buy it for you.”
“Really?” She coos, all signs of anger gone.
“Mm-hm.” I shuffle the documents on my desk around, fixing my glasses so I can read the fine print. “Forward me the bill, okay?”
“You’d really do that for me?”
“You deserve it, love.” I check my gold watch. Think of my schedule. I have a meeting with one of our recruiters in an hour and then I have a line of presentations to give for our investors. When I get off the phone with Cindy, I’m going to have a packed day.
“Can I see you?” Cindy asks.
The keyboard clacks loudly when I start typing. “I’m busy.”
“But I want to thank you for buying me a new truck, baby.” She purrs in my ear.
“Sorry, Cindy. Not today.”
“Is it because of your wife?”
I stop. Think about it.
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is… complicated.
Harriet made it clear that she’s going to leave me if I get caught again. Whether she means that or not is something I have no interest in testing.
My wife says Cindy’s got to go.
So she’s gone.
I have more women on the hook anyway, so it’s no loss to let one of them go. Besides, Cindy was getting a little exhausting. There’s only so much of her inexperience and whining that a man can take.
“You said you cared about me,” Cindy screeches.
“I do care, baby,” I murmur, sorting through my files for a missing document.
“You’re not breaking up with me just because she found out about us, are you?”
My annoyance spikes. “Why would I break up with someone I’m not even dating, Cindy?”
She goes quiet again.
I sigh and swing my chair around. The view of the city stretches out from my penthouse office. The tops of the trees pierce the sky. Clouds float by like white cotton candy.
Tenderly, I assure her. “I never lied to you. You knew I was married from the jump.”
“Yes, but…”
“And I told you that this couldn’t be anything serious. We agreed we’d just have fun.”
“I-I know that.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I just want to see you one last time.”
“For what?” My eyes flit to the screen of the laptop. Restless fingers drum against the desk. My schedule is showing a brief overlap. I have to check with my secretary about pushing down the meeting with Patrick until after lunch.
“For closure.”
“Cindy…”
“What? You’re too busy?”
“I made myself clear.”
“One last time, Jerry.”
“I don’t—”
“You won’t regret coming over. I swear.”
“What do we have to discuss, Cindy?”
“We wouldn’t say anything.”
My eyes jerk away from the view. “No?”
“We should be mature about how we end this.” Her breath gets heavy. “I was thinking, I could cook you that steak you like? The one with my family’s special sauce…”
My mouth begins to water. Damn. Cindy could grill a mean steak.
“… And while I was cooking, guess what I’d be wearing?”
“I don’t know.” Blood rushes south because I do know. And I can picture it very clearly.
“Guess,” Cindy croons.
“The cherry lingerie,” I croak. Damn. She looked so good in it. A scrap of lace from Victoria’s Secret. It cost me an arm and a leg, but it was so worth it. I got to watch her creamy skin popping out of silk and peeking through barely-there negligée.
“Not that.” She giggles in my ear, casting her spell on me until every inch of my skin feels hot.
I’m in a damn furnace. Is the air-conditioning on?
I check the thermostat.
It’s under forty degrees, and yet I feel like I’m in the desert.
“I wouldn’t be wearing anything at all, Jerry. Not a thing under my apron.”
I groan aloud as I picture Cindy, all her pale skin on display, glistening from the heat of the stove. Her blonde hair falling over slim shoulders. Her pink lips pursed to taste the sauce. Those glorious tits bouncing as she presses the steak into the pan. I picture her dropping a bit of the sauce on her chest. Licking it off with a swipe of her long, pink tongue…
My nerves twitch in anticipation.
“You know how I get when I’m naked, Jerry.” Her hot whisper is so effective, I can literally feel her licking my ear through the phone. Can feel her red-nailed hands clawing at my chest and then at my pants until my belt is free. “I need to feel your skin on mine. I need to hear you call my name one last time.”
“You like that, don’t you?” I growl.
“Yes, I do,” she sighs. “I love it when you groan for me.”
My ego blows all the way to fifty. “Tell me what else you’d do.”
“I’d climb on the bed when I heard your key in the door.” She pauses. Draws it out just to torture me. “And I’d lie back with my head on the pillow. I’d wait for you to get closer. Closer.” She moans. “When you turn the door to the bedroom, I’d open my legs so you could get a good look at what you’d be missing…”
“And what would I do to you first?” I’m on the edge as I lean forward, a hand over my pants.
“No, baby. It’s what I would do to you first.”
Hot.
Damn.
My body’s screaming for satisfaction.
Now.
I need it now.
“You still busy?” Cindy asks in a husky voice.
“My schedule just cleared up.”
“How much time?”
“Enough.” I swipe my keys off the desk. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
She giggles. “Make it thirty. I have to start the steak.”
“Don’t bother.” I grab my jacket and shrug it on. “Just make sure you’re on the bed.” I stop in the doorway. “And Cindy.”
“Yes, baby?”
“This really is the last time.”
“If you say so.”
* * *
I thrust hard,gripping Cindy’s hair and listening to her scream my name.
The release yanks me down violently.
My body drops like a rock.
The mattress shudders.
I collapse on top of Cindy, moaning into her naked shoulder as wave after wave of pleasure rams into me. When I’m finished, I push up and start to roll off her.
“No.” She wraps her hands around me, keeping me on top of her. “This feels too good, baby.” She kisses my chest. “Stay a little longer.”
“I have to go.” I pry her hands off me.
As quickly as I shake her off, she latches onto me again. I swear, this woman must be part octopus.
“I’m not ready yet.”
“Cindy, that’s enough.” I shake my head, glad I insisted on protection. She’s moving funny and I don’t play those games with women. I’ve been careful all my life. That’s one area where I’m extremely disciplined.
No rubber. No sex.
One simple rule has kept me from paying child support through my nose.
“No one’s ever done me like you, Jerry.” She pouts. “Nobody.”
I rub her hair and kiss her gently. “I understand. But there will be other guys.”
Her hands slide around my waist. “You’re making this more complicated than it has to be, baby.” She kisses my neck. “I don’t want a relationship with you. I like the way things are now.”
“You’re a beautiful girl, Cindy.” Annoying, but that has nothing to do with how wild she puts it down. The last thirty minutes proved exactly why I kept coming back to her bed. “Some guy is going to love you for who you are.”
“Your wife is a lucky woman,” Cindy says, sitting up. Late afternoon sunshine falls on her skin and tousled hair. She looks especially young right now. “Are you ever going to leave her?”
“I just need time.” The lie slips past my lips with ease.
Like hell I will. I’m never leaving Harriet.
She’s it for me.
Cindy’s eyes drop to her pale hands.
After I’m dressed, I face her. “Make sure you keep your promise. Pick the truck and I’ll buy it. In exchange, you leave Harriet alone.”
“What if I don’t?” She pushes out her bottom lip, her eyes flashing with attitude.
“Then you’re going to piss me off.” My voice snaps through the room. “And you don’t want to do that, Cindy.”
She shudders.
I don’t know what she’s imagining and I don’t care. Harriet’s my wife and I won’t let any harm come to her. Especially if the person raising the stink is someone I need to keep out of her sight.
“You understand what I’m saying?” I insist, sliding my hand through my watch.
Cindy pulls her bottom lip into her mouth. “Yeah.”
“Good.” I ruffle her hair. “Have a nice life, Cindy.”
“Yeah.” Her throat sounds husky. Not the kind of husky that I heard when I was licking my way down her legs, but the kind that tells me she’s about to cry.
I make myself scarce before the first tear falls and point the truck home instead of the office. The fragrance of lust fills the car. It’s all over me.
Cindy went wild the moment I stepped through her bedroom door. She was, indeed, naked, but she wasn’t waiting for me with the goods on display like she promised. Instead, her hands reached for me. Tearing at my clothes. Tugging on my hair. Slipping beneath my boxers to drive me out of my mind.
I smell like her. Like a raunchy good-bye. And I don’t need Patrick or any of the other guys in the office asking me questions about it.
The gate swings wide.
My body’s loose and my mood is good. I feel like I can pull an all-nighter with this energy. Good ole’ Cindy. Always handy for an adrenaline boost.
I drive into the garage and stop short.
My smile drips off my face.
There’s a shiny vehicle parked inside.
It’s the middle of the day.
And Harriet’s home.
