The VIP Room (30 page)

She was brought back to reality when she realized she was screaming with her release. She dropped the handheld device and sank to the floor, hands still inside herself. It took several moments for her to breathe normally again. She stood up and rinsed her hair in a daze.

What was that about?
She never had a fantasy like that before. She wasn't given to daydreaming. Yet that was the most explosive orgasm of her life, and it was brought on by envisioning sex with a man who was practically a stranger.

A
t the end
of the workday, Derek returned to the trailer he used for his office. It suited his needs perfectly. It was mobile, so he could move it and operate from any job site, and it was not glamorous at all, so no one knew how well he was doing. He was just another lawn guy trying to make a living.

Derek scooped up the mail from the floor where it had fallen after being shoved through the mail slot he crafted in the door. He turned on the wall air conditioning unit, pulled a beer from the small refrigerator, and sat at the beat-up desk he had squeezed in when he bought the old Airstream from its previous owner. One day he was going to fix this baby up, but for now the "seen better days" appearance was exactly what he wanted.

Derek slit open all the envelopes and sorted his mail quickly. He flipped on the computer monitor and scanned emails. Nothing interesting. He took a long slug of beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he leaned back in the creaky padded desk chair. He put his feet up on the desk and closed his eyes. It was no use trying to divert his attention with business. He'd had only one thing on his mind since that lunchtime appointment with Lauren Daniels. Two things, he corrected himself. Those big baby blue eyes and the vision of her from behind as she bent over the patio tiles.

Little head came to attention as he took another sip of beer. This time he relished the taste in his mouth as he relived the vision of her protruding round buttocks and wide, fleshy hips. In his mind's eye he moved closer, pulled down her bathing suit bottom around her knees, grabbed hold of those love handles, and pushed his primed cock into her hot little hole. He'd have that suit top untied in a flash and massage those lovely melons from the pinky tips to the wide base while he fucked her silly.

Little head was now poking up uncomfortably against the confinement of his briefs. He undid his zipper and pulled himself free, stroking his shaft brusquely with each shove he envisioned plowing into Lauren. His hand moved ever more rapidly and when he felt that familiar contraction in his balls that let him know he was about to pop off, he quickly grabbed the wastebasket from under the desk and shot his load. He took a sheet of paper towel from the roll in his bottom desk drawer, wiped himself off, and threw the wadded mess into the small trash can.

Man, I haven't done that since eight grade. What the fuck?

Once Derek had turned fourteen and sprang up to six feet tall, he figured out he could pass himself off as older to the high school girls, who were more than willing to do that and more for him. He had plenty of opportunity to get sucked, fucked, and jacked off before he even got his first car. By the time he turned sixteen, he had grown to six feet four inches and filled out in all the right places, with the help of his daily workouts in the school's weight room. Then he got that Mustang convertible and turned it into the fastest hotrod in the county, and the girls stood in line for a chance to get into his backseat.

Even as an adult, Derek didn't expend much energy on getting laid. When he felt the need, all he had to do was show up around eleven o'clock at one the local hotspots, party for an hour or two, and he was back home with a beautiful babe. But as he got older--he was pushing thirty--that scene got old, too. Getting up at sunrise is no fun after a night of drinking and fucking, so he hadn't indulged much recently. Derek concluded his recent inactive sex life was the reason for what he had just done.

He decided to call it a day and head home. He took the liner out of the waste can and tied the top. He was about the turn off the wall banger when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket. Carly again.
This has to stop. Now.

"Yeah, Carly. What?"

"Nice greeting," purred the voice in his ear.

"You've been calling me all day when I've told you a hundred times I don't like personal calls while I'm working."

"Well, it was business."

"Yeah, funny business."

"Come on, Derek. What's happened to you? You used to be fun."

"Carly, that was when I was ten and you were six, and we played together while our parents drank themselves into a stupor at the weekend barbecues. And I only played with you then because Cade was fourteen at the time, and his favorite pastime was beating up his little brother. So, it was either hang out and tease you or have my big brother use me for a punching bag. I'd say we're both old enough now to know better."

"Mmm, I remember some other fun times, like when I was nineteen and you were--"

"That was a mistake, Carly. I've apologized many times. Please don't bring that up again."

"It didn't feel like a mistake to me, Derek. It was the day my dreams came true."

"Carly, please." Derek's voice softened. "Don't make me do this. You know I don't want to hurt you. If it were anyone but you, I'd have blocked the calls by now. Look, you've just finished grad school, and you have your whole life to live. Don't waste your time chasing something that can never be."

"Derek--"

"No, Carly. There's nothing left to say. Please. Stop the calls and showing up where you'll think you'll find me."

Silence.

"Carly, are you there?"

A loud sigh. "Yes."

"All right. Goodbye, then."

"Don't hang up--"

But Derek had already clicked off. He sank back into his chair, holding the small trash bag in his lap. Maybe he was crazy. Most other men would be selling their souls to hook up with a sexy babe like Carly. He shook his head. He screwed up that one night when she showed up at his apartment almost seven years ago. It was almost two o'clock in the morning when he heard banging on his door. He'd dragged his drunken body out of bed, cursing, only to find her standing there in the rain, crying.

She rushed into his arms and told him how her college boyfriend had just dumped her. She had been planning to secretly spend the night with him and had told her parents she was sleeping at a girlfriend's house, so she couldn't go home. She begged him to let her stay the night on his couch.

He felt sorry for her, and told her the guy must be a real asshole to let her go. It was late, he'd had more than a few beers, and she was all warm and sweet smelling against his chest. He intentions were only to comfort her, but one thing led to another, and little head got the best of him that night.

Derek regretted his indiscretion and did everything he could think of to let her down gently. Then, a couple of years later, she let it slip that there was no boyfriend, and she had come over with the idea of seducing him. Worse, it turned out she'd been a virgin before he took her that night.

Since then, Derek had been less sympathetic about the event. But because he never wanted the incident known to her parents or his, he tolerated her when she was around, especially since it was only for short periods of time when she was home on vacation breaks from school.

But now that she'd graduated, she had moved back permanently and was underfoot all the time. He had to end it once and for all, and he hoped like hell this time she'd finally get it into her pretty little head that there was no future for them together.

Derek was well aware that most women that hooked up with him were chasing a good time and a rich husband. Before he started his own business, he was widely known as one of the handsome heirs to the Holmes billions. Several years ago, he came to the conclusion that he wanted to be more than a figurehead in his father's company and a pretty boy for some spoiled brat like Carly or gold digger looking for a rich husband. That's when he began his landscaping business. Now, four years later--and with the help of his brother who gave him his initial clients through his own business, Holmes Construction--he had built his own net worth to a half billion and was on track to making his own billion without his inheritance, which he planned to give away.

Derek became aware that he was wringing the trash bag into twisted little knots and quickly tossed it over to the door. He thoughts went back to Lauren as he remembered the act she had inspired only minutes before.

What was it about her that was driving him to distraction? She certainly was nothing like any woman he'd ever been attracted to before.

Derek sat upright.
That was it! Lauren was nothing like any woman he'd ever known!

Not only was she physically unlike the women in his life, she had no idea about what he was worth. To her, he was a lawn guy, a blue-collar worker who owned a small business. Everything about her suddenly became more appealing.

He was already enthralled with the idea of making love with a woman who wouldn't disappear under him and who he wouldn't be afraid he'd crush with his weight. She had real curves in all the right places, and he couldn't wait to bury his face in her breasts. He'd slide his hands between her legs, feeling the softness of her fleshy thighs. He imagined licking the sweet juices that trickled down from her honey pot and driving his tongue into her depths. She'd wrap her legs around his head and fuck his face while he squeezed those beautiful ass cheeks.

Fuck, little head, you don't let me think straight.

Derek forced himself to breathe and turn his thoughts away from his sex. After a couple of minutes, his cock relaxed and he got to work. He turned on the computer and began preparing an estimate for work on her property. As he was putting together his proposal, a plan for how to court Ms. Lauren Daniels popped in his head like the proverbial light bulb flash.

If she showed any interest in him, it wouldn't be for his money, it would be for him alone. He couldn't wait to test his theory, and he knew exactly how he would do it.

Lauren surveyed her living room with satisfaction. The boxes were gone, her books were aligned neatly on the bookshelves, and she'd managed to hang a few prints on the wall. Her new couch hadn't been delivered yet, but she had an oversized armchair and ottoman next to an end table that held her Tiffany lamp, so she had a comfortable setting for reading or listening to music.

She sat in the armchair now. The window shades were rolled down but until she had drapes that could be pulled to ensure privacy, she wore her sleep shirt around the house, although she was naked under the soft cotton. She had her feet propped up on the ottoman with her knees bent and the folds of her shirt fell between her legs. She idly let her fingers of her right hand brush her inner thigh as she thought about the upcoming week at work.

As much as she had enjoyed the week off, she looked forward to returning to the office and getting back to the projects she'd been working on. Her clients depended on her for budgeting, investing, and finding ways to save money by lowering their taxes and expenses. Much of it was routine, but she enjoyed researching investment opportunities.

She was good at it, too. Her clients were mighty pleased at the close of the last fiscal quarter when their assets were anywhere from twenty-five to fifty percent higher than the previous quarter--and that was across the board. Lauren earned herself a cubicle with a window, and she'd been there less than one year.

She could have a corner office in her father's firm, but she preferred to earn her position. Her plan was to make the money to open her own company in a few years. She wasn't in any hurry, but the sooner that happened, the sooner she'd be the one calling the shots, not her father, her mother, or her boss.

Her cell phone rang. Lauren didn't recognize the incoming number and was hesitant to answer. After closing on the house, her number was made available in the county's public records as a new homeowner, and she had been besieged by telemarketers selling everything from insurance to cable television. She wasn't going to answer, but her finger slid across the screen and she accidentally pushed "Answer" instead of "Ignore."

"Shit."

There was silence on the other end.

"Hello?" Lauren winced, hoping her expletive hadn't been audible to the caller.

"Hi, Ms. Daniels. It's Derek Holmes from Holmes Landscaping. I have a proposal ready for you with an estimate, and I was wondering if I could send it by email. That way I can attach photos of the plants and trees I have in mind."

"Oh. Sure." Lauren sat up in the chair and pulled her shirt over her knees, as if he could see through the phone.

"What's your email address?"

Lauren hesitated for a moment. "When are you sending that?"

"As soon as I get your address."

"Good. Then, I'll give my personal email, rather than business. That way, I can look at it right away. Tonight, I mean." Lauren rolled her eyes, silently cursing herself for sounding like a nitwit.

"Sure. My phone number is on the paperwork, so if you have any questions at all, call me. Tonight even."

Lauren lit up with the thought of lying in bed later, talking to Derek on the phone. Didn't matter that they'd be talking plants. She could pretend they were having phone sex.

She gave him her email address. "Are you sure about calling you tonight, though? I wouldn't want to bother you if you have plans for the evening."

"Nothing important. It's sent, by the way. If you're near your computer, you could open it up and we could go over it right now."

"Actually, I'm not. But, give me about an hour. That should be enough time for me to review everything. Do you want to call me back?"

"All right. I have a copy of the proposal on my tablet, so I can pull it up and go over everything with you whenever you're ready. I'll call you back in about an hour."

"Great. Talk then."