Chapter Seven
“I have to say this one is different from all the others. I’m not just saying that to get underneath your skin. We’ve been on five dates and I haven’t got past putting my hand on her knee.” Adam was feeling a pent-up need to call one of his past lovers in a little black book with a five-star rating beside each name. One stood out from the rest.
“I know what you mean. I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised by how hard she is making it for you. I haven’t been any luckier, but I don’t really care. There’s something about her that draws me in without a will of my own. We’ve had several conversations about art.” Blake was standing in his home office with Adam sitting at his desk going over some prospects for new investments.
They were both wearing the same dark, tailored suit, but their shirts were amazingly different. Blake was wearing a red shirt with a black tie and Adam was more comfortable in a white shirt and red tie. Their styles didn’t have any comparison.
Blake was wearing polished black shoes and Adam was playing the part of an overprivileged rich kid. The tennis shoes were his way of breaking the mold when it came to the perception of business over casual.
“I don’t think the topic of conversation has ever veered toward art. I feel somewhat inferior concerning the intellectual part of this pursuit. I might have to bite the bullet and learn a few things to keep her interested.” Adam was never much for those things that made him have to think.
Art had the appearance of something his cousins would draw and have their parents slap it on to the refrigerator.
“We both have our strengths and weaknesses in our business and personal life. I bow to your expertise when it comes to schmoozing a client. You have no interest in the numbers and I make sure we are not overreaching. A good deal is made with a handshake but also with due diligence. The same thing can be said for dating.” Blake’s interest in being with Yvette had grown over the few weeks they had been dating.
“Blake, I would gladly step out of the way, but I don’t think I can. She’s become more than just another fleeting moment of pleasure. I have to see this through.” Adam was laying the foundation to give Blake a reason to let his brother find something he had never had before.
“I would do the same, but we have too much in common for me to let her fall into the arms of a man like you. No offense. I just don’t believe she’s one of the many flotation devices you have brought home in the past. There’s a genuine and giving person inside the pretty packaging.” He was rather surprised by how she jumped in when he’d volunteered at the soup kitchen last Saturday night, much like he did every Saturday.
“I took her to a hockey game and she was rather enthusiastic. I don’t think she has ever been to a live game until I introduced her to it. I bought her a New York Rangers hockey puck and jersey. She changed in the bathroom and came out looking like a wet dream come true. I hope you don’t mind me talking about her like this. I wouldn’t want to make you feel ‘uncomfortable.’” It was precisely his intention.
“I don’t mind at all. She will be here shortly for our date. We are going to the museum. They have a new exhibit of Egyptian artifacts on display. I would invite you to come along, but you would be bored. Besides, I don’t want you anywhere near a piece of art after what happened the last time.” Blake could still remember how Adam had thought one of the exhibits was something to sample.
“I don’t know how many times I have to apologize. How was I supposed to know the food on display was someone’s idea of art? I didn’t see the woman complaining when I plucked a cherry off of her nipple with my teeth.” The bloodcurdling scream of the artist and the sting of her slap across his face was something he would never forget.
“You would have been aware had you taken the time to listen. I’ve tried in vain to show you the error of your ways. There is beauty in art if you only give it a chance to move you. I know you have only placated me by letting me have a few pieces on display in the penthouse.” He woke up every morning and went to bed every night looking at the painting displayed prominently in the living room.
“I sometimes think we were separated at birth.” Adam wasn’t going to go out no matter how much his lack of sexual play had been plaguing him lately.
“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Blake had on a fancy, new, red sports coat with a crisp white shirt ironed to perfection by his own hand. He never could stand creases in his clothes.
“I have this sixth sense she’s about to knock on the door.” Adam had his eyes closed with his thumb and forefinger on his forehead like he was clairvoyant.
“I would be more impressed had you not been looking at the security camera over the door.” Blake punched him lightheartedly on the shoulder.
He opened the door and his tongue dropped to the floor, metaphorically speaking. She was wearing a blood red, strapless dress and a string of pearls that made her breasts pop out as if they were saying hello.
“I hope I haven’t made you wait long. I had enough time to put my article to bed and then grab something from the closet on the way out the door.” She was low maintenance, but this time it was a painstaking effort.
“It was well worth the wait.” He couldn’t say much more without tripping over his tongue.
“I love the jacket. It really does fit you like a glove.” Blake wasn’t much for anything ostentatious but a little bit more sedate in his style.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the jacket every time he walked by the store to see it in the window, mocking him. It was a bold departure, but he felt it was necessary to shake things up. He didn’t want Yvette to think he was stuck in his ways. He was able to walk on the wild side and go outside of his comfort zone when the occasion warranted it.
“You kids have a good time and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Adam knew what he wanted to do and was waiting for the day when her scent would be on his pillowcase. Their night of lovemaking would leave her essence in his sheets. The smell of her perfume lying beside him would make it necessary to wake her up in a different way than a kiss on her lips. It would be on her lips, but another set far more delicious. He had no idea how to seal the deal. All of his old tricks weren’t working, but he breathed a sigh of relief to know Blake was faring no better.
They had promised to be honest with each other and not keep anything hidden about their dates with Yvette.
“I don’t know how to take that. It’s a broad stroke and there are things you would do which I would never think about even contemplating. You forget I’m the one who has seen the videos before they were taken off the cloud. Some things are better left to the imagination.” Blake ushered Yvette out the door with questions on her lips.
“I’m not sure I want to know what that was all about. This jealousy is an ugly side of you. There’s no reason to put your brother down to make you look better in my eyes. You lost some brownie points and I hope you have a way of getting them back.” He couldn’t believe he had stooped to the lowest common denominator.
“I’m going to apologize. I let him get underneath my skin and I can’t promise to never let it happen again. We’ve been around each other all of our lives. We know what it takes to push each other’s buttons.” He was regretful of his actions, but Blake understood his reaction was perfectly normal for their dysfunctional family.
“Nevertheless, it’s sometimes better to turn the other cheek than to feed into his game. You can be the bigger person. I don’t want to beat a dead horse. I’m only suggesting there’s a better way than this continuous cycle of trying to outdo one another.” She couldn’t believe how she had been able to control her raging hormones.
There’d been several times during her dates with each man where she felt she could have done something reprehensible in her mother’s eyes. They both had bodies to make a grown woman weep. There was no point in lamenting over something that hadn’t happened.
“We have an unhealthy competitive nature. Our tastes in women vary, but this isn’t the first time he has coveted a woman I wanted. Most times, it’s a game to see whether or not I can be left with egg on my face.” He wasn’t going to give Adam the satisfaction of ruining what was shaping up to be a great evening.
“You are both somewhat insecure, but you hide it differently. He compensates by sweet talk and you compensate by being kind and courteous.” Yvette had some ideas to bring them all closer, but she wasn’t sure if she could repeat it without sounding like a crazy person.
They went down to the stretch black limousine waiting to take them on a night of culture and romance. This was the one time he liked to pull out all the stops. Their first date at the burger joint had them laughing so hard that milkshake was coming out of their noses.
The anticipation was hard to ignore with her natural scent smacking him in the face at the door.
“I hope you are in the mood for some champagne. We don’t have to stay long and the food is kind of pretentious. I think you have witnessed for yourself I have layers when it comes to what makes me happy.” Blake liked to let down his hair from time to time by joining the white collar workers for a meal that would stick to his ribs.
They arrived with the red carpet rolled out for those high rollers and men of influence. The flashbulbs were blinding, but Blake stood in front of Yvette to keep her from the scrutiny of the public eye. It was ironic considering she was part of the press and deemed part of the problem with society as a whole.
“I’m not going to hide, and I don’t care who sees me plastered on the front page. I’m proud to be on your arm and there’s no reason to protect me. It does touch me deeply that you would go to the trouble to shield me with your body.” They waved to the crowd as a happy couple out to paint the town red.
“I don’t want them to think you are my flavor of the month. I suppose it really doesn’t matter what they think as long as we know the truth.” They mingled and made small talk, but they were there primarily to see the Egyptian artifacts.
He was able to slip two-hundred dollars to one of the guards for a private viewing. He had done it discreetly with the same handshake routine he had done many times to get preferential treatment. He didn’t do it often, but sometimes it was better to fight fire with fire.
“I’d thought it was sickening for you to use your influence and wealth in this way. I stand corrected. It’s so much better to see these pieces without the murmurs of the crowd getting in the way of the experience.” Blake hurried her out the back way avoiding the hoopla.
They flagged down a taxi, holding hands, Yvette ready to be the woman she had always wanted to be. Tonight was going to be the night and she had prepared the bedroom for an evening to live in infamy in both of their minds.
“I would like to invite you up to my penthouse for a…nightcap.” The underlying meaning wasn’t lost on her.
She blushed noticeably at the very idea of getting him behind closed doors. Taking off his clothes was going to be a slow and agonizingly sweet process. Each piece of skin exposed would be met with her hot lips, igniting a flame that would burn out of control.
“I don’t see any reason why the evening has to end.” He had been with enough women to know that a nightcap usually resulted in something more physical happening between them.
They were holding hands when they got off the elevator and soon accosted by three familiar people in her life. Her mother, her ex-husband, and ex-mother in law had come all this way and weren’t about to back down despite how awkward the situation was.
“It might be better for you to leave.” She didn’t give him a chance to say anything and grabbed his hair to seal her lips to his with her tongue extended into his mouth.
Blake wanted more than lip service but understood this was a potentially explosive situation. They continued to make out for a full minute with all three glaring daggers at him.
“I was wondering why it was taking you so long. I would rather do this inside where those with inquiring minds couldn’t witness this scene. Come in but don’t expect to stay long.” Her hands were shaking.
She was looking back and forth from all three of them, wondering how she could possibly delude herself into thinking this wasn’t going to happen.