Diluted Desire (5 page)

The two maids who hated her were standing outside the door when she shoved it open.  And they laughed at her while she struggled to carry her bags down the stairs, neither offered to help.  And when she almost fell on her third and last trip down, both watched with bated breath, to see if she would tumble down the stairs, she didn’t. 

She tossed the last two pieces of luggage in the Range Rover, after much pushing, tugging, and jiggling she managed to fit everything in the truck.  She strolled back inside to appeal to Marcel one last time.  “Are you sure?” she asked, while batting her eyelashes at him.

“Positive.”

She touched his arm. “Marcel, I—”

“Bye Larkin,” he said meanly.  He crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps bulged menacingly.  This was the same man who murmured sweet nothings in her ear, the man who lavished her with expensive gifts and taken her on extravagant vacations.

After giving him one final look, she slinked out of the house and into the garage where she slid into her now stuffed Range Rover. 

Just as she got to the gate, she saw an approaching car.  “Oh shit! It’s Ra’Mone.”  The gate slid open and she drew up alongside him, she powered down her window to talk to her stylist.  “Hey.”

“Hey bitch, where you going.  I’m here to make you pretty, not that you need it.”

“I don’t need you Ra’Mone. I’m not going tonight.  Something’s come up.”

Irritation flashed across his face.  “You know that I still have to charge you, don’t you?”

“I know.  Charge it to Marcel; he’ll take care of it.”

Larkin drove on, the mansion filling her rearview mirror, she didn’t look.

The next day, Larkin found herself at a Holiday Inn; she had pawned one of Marcel’s rings, and had gotten enough money to stay at the hotel for a month and then some if she needed.  She had placed a couple of calls to some friends who would be willing to let her crash with them until she got straight. 

“Happy fucking holidays to me.  What am I going to do?  I’m definitely not going back to Juke.”  She pulled out her iPad a gift from Marcel and logged onto brandislist.com.  She had used the site in the past when she needed some fast money.  Larkin scanned the listings.  Several postings caught her eye, but one in particular made her sit up.  Beautiful Lady Needed to Seduce my Husband.  “I can do that.”  She rummaged through her suitcase until she found her digital camera, another gift from Marcel, then scrolled through the pictures until she found some that showcased her assets.  She uploaded twelve of them then sent the e-mail. 

She crossed her fingers.  “This gotta work.”

Chapter 6

Violet excitedly glanced at her clock.  Today she was going to meet two ladies who answered her posting.  She liked both of their pictures, she knew that either one of would turn her husband on, but she wanted to talk with them both to see their personality.  And to determine who was really hungry for the job, she decided to interview them together. 

Then as if on cue, her assistant buzzed her.  “There’s a Larkin Spain and a Mona Lisa here to see you.”

“Bring them in, please.”

She watched them both saunter in and she quickly appraised them, appearance wise, they were as different as night and day.  Tall, lithe and the color of burnt nutmeg, Mona Lisa had a quiet sophistication about her.  Larkin was the opposite, medium height and voluptuous, she oozed sex.  Her bright red lipstick complemented her golden brown skin.

Larkin seemed to pour herself in the chair while Mona Lisa sat with her legs crossed at the ankles and her purse in her lap.  If Violet hadn’t seen the revealing pictures of Mona Lisa exposing her breasts and everything else that God had given her, she would have thought she was meeting with the President of the PTA instead of someone willing to get paid for seducing her husband.

“Thanks for coming, would either of you like something to drink?”

“No thank you,” Mona Lisa replied primly.

“Yeah, do you have any alcohol?” Larkin asked.  “I’ve been having one hell of a day.”

“No alcohol, but I can offer you coffee, tea or a soft drink.”

“Oh…okay then.  Give me a Coke, the caffeine will help a lot.”

“Okay. Give me a minute.”  Violet buzzed her assistant for Larkin’s drink.  “Are you sure you don’t want anything?” she asked Mona Lisa.

“I’m fine.”

Moments later Violet’s assistant came in carrying a tray with an unopened can of soda and a glass filled with ice. 

“Oh, I don’t like ice,” Larkin announced, “it hurts my teeth.”

Violet’s assistant was halfway out of the office. “I’m sorry, I’ll take it…”

“No leave it.  I’ll drink it out of the can,” Larkin said.

As soon as Larkin opened her soda and took a sip, Violet started, “Both of you responded to the ad—”

“What the—” Larkin sputtered, spraying a little soda.  She swallowed, then turned to Mona Lisa.  “You responded to the ad? I thought you were a lawyer or something.  That’s interesting.”

Violet smiled to herself.  She liked Larkin; she spoke her mind.  This might not be as difficult as I thought it would be, she thought gleefully to herself.  “She’s here for the same reason you are,” she said crisply, not betraying her true feelings.  “I was impressed with both sets of photos, they were all tastefully done.  I really had a hard time picking one of you.”  She pinned her gaze on Mona Lisa.  “Why are you interested in this?”

Mona Lisa cleared her throat and sat up, as though she was about to recite a poem.  “I am interested in seducing your husband because—”

Larkin pursed her lips at Miss Prim and Proper.  “Hell, I’m interested because he’s an asshole and he hurt you and he deserves to be kicked in the balls, literally and figuratively,” she said passionately, then winked at Mona Lisa. 

“I like you Larkin, I want to hire you.”

“But she didn’t give me a chance to answer!” Mona Lisa protested.

“I think she’s more qualified,” Violet said.  “She seems to be showing more, um, interest in the job.”

“But I am qualified,” Mona Lisa objected.

Larkin set down her soda, stood up, shimmied out of her sweater dress, and stood naked before Violet.  She placed her hands on her hips.  “So are you more qualified than this?”  Larkin called over her shoulder to Mona Lisa.

Violet gulped.  “Well damn.  You’re definitely hired.”

Chapter 7

Not eager to go home, Clint decided to stay late and close the bakery.  The flu was going around and it seemed like half his staff was recovering from it or just catching it, and because of it, they all felt like hell.  Luckily for him he didn’t catch it.  He wasn’t sure if it was because he got the flu shot, exercised like crazy or took his vitamins, either way he was healthy and happy. 

It was seven o’clock and he still had two hours left before closing, the bakery was empty, he figured that people might be getting an early start on holiday shopping. 

Once again he was grateful for his bakery, not only did it provide him with a wonderful living but he could also use it as an excuse to avoid Violet.  They had sex last night, but she was going through the motions, she was so out of it that she had almost dozed off and he had to literally poke her to keep her awake.  Afterwards she had profusely apologized, but the damage had been done. 

The quaint sound of the bell over the door tinkled, signaling that he had a customer.  Clint couldn’t take his eyes off the lady who glided in as though she was walking the runway.  She had on a bubble gum pink sweater that most women would wear as an oversize blouse, but she boldly wore it as a dress and paired it with over the knee black suede boots. 

Clint’s gaze roamed slowly over her body as she sauntered toward the case and suddenly his pants tightened.  “May I help you?” he asked, his tone professional. 

“What’s good?” she asked.

“Everything’s good.  What do you have a taste for?”  Clint grinned as the customer winked at him. 

“I’m not sure it’s on the menu,” she drawled. 

Clint held up his hands.  “Hey, I’m married.”

“Happily?”

“Um…yeah.”

“That sounded convincing,” she replied sarcastically, then studied the contents of the case.  “Let me have a Hummingbird Cupcake and a decaf.”

“For here or to go?” he asked casually, secretly hoping that she was going to eat at the bakery.

She considered his question before answering.  “Here, I guess.”  She strolled over to the register while Clint filled her order. 

Clint waved her toward the tables.  “Don’t worry about it, it’s on the house.”

“Oh wow, thanks.  If you keep giving me free things, I might turn into one of those stray cats that you’ll never get rid of,” she joked.

Clint watched her out of the corner of his eyes while she sat at the closest table to the counter.  Moments later he brought her order over.

“Sit with me,” she asked and Clint shook his head.

“I can’t, I need to start closing out.”

“Well, can you talk and close out?”

“Sure,” Clint responded easily.  He checked the clock, ninety minutes to closing, he wasn’t expecting anyone else, but if someone did come in they’ll get some reduced priced goodies.  Clint pulled out his first tray, his plan was to pull out each tray, bag the cupcakes, muffins and cake slices then mark them down.  He started the process, normally the mundane activity would calm him, but with the customer so close by, he could barely concentrate.  Every nerve ending was at attention. 

“So what’s your name?”

“Clint.”

“That’s a nice strong name.  It fits you.  You look like a Clint.”

Clint paused from his work to look at her, he grinned.  “So what does a Clint look like?”

“Drop dead gorgeous.”

He beamed.  “Thanks.” He resumed his work.

“I’m Larkin,” she offered.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Do I look like a Larkin,” she asked teasingly.

Clint’s full lips curled into a smile.  “What does a Larkin supposed to look like?”

Larkin leaned on the table so that her breasts jutted enticingly at Clint.  “Hot, sexy, gorgeous and with a side of sassiness,” she said giving him a smoldering look.  “Would you agree?”

“Oh, yes I would,” Clint murmured, his eyes locked on her breasts.

Larkin glanced at the wall clock.  “It’s time for me to go.”  She picked up her cupcake and carried it to the counter.  “Can you wrap this up for me?  I think that I’ll eat it later.”

“Sure.”  Clint grabbed one of the small plastic domes that the shop used for carry outs and deliveries and gently dropped it inside.  He placed it in the bag along with a blueberry muffin.  “Here you go.  It was nice talking to you.”

Larkin grabbed his wrist and stroked his arm.  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again,” she drawled.  She plucked the bag from Clint’s hand and with a wink, she waltzed out the shop. 

Clint slumped in his chair, his heart pounding as if he had just finished running a marathon. 

Chapter 8

Larkin strolled to her Range Rover, jumped in and like Clint she slumped in her seat.  “Wow! That man is hot.  This is gonna be a fun job.” 

After Violet had decided she was perfect for the assignment she had given her three thousand dollars with the stipulation that she had two months to seduce her husband or reimburse every penny to her.  But if she could seduce him before the holidays she would be given a hefty bonus.

Larkin pulled out her expense statement that Violet had given her and noted the cost of the cupcake, blueberry muffin and coffee.  She also wrote down her mileage and gas. 

As soon as Larkin was able to think straight, she called Violet.  “I’ve met him,” she said excitedly.

“So…”

“There is definitely some interest,” Larkin said.  “He could barely take his eyes off me.  He looked like he wanted to throw me on the floor and screw me,” she gloated.  Violet was silent.  “Hello, are you still there?”

Violet cleared her throat.  “I’m here.”

“So can you tell me where he’s going to be in the next couple of days, I want to get him while his dick is still hard,” Larkin joked.

“I want you to listen to me,” Violet hissed.  “Are you listening?”

“Yes,” Larkin said meekly.

“This is not a joke.  And please do not refer to my husband’s genitals in such a crude manner.  Just do your fucking job, do you understand?”

“Yes,” Larkin croaked.

“Now that we understand each other, do you need some more money for your expenses?”

It took Larkin a few seconds to gather her thoughts, Violet scared her. “Um yeah, and I need three thousand to get an apartment.”

“Why do you need an apartment?” Violet asked sharply.

“I don’t want to take him to a hotel, I want someplace homier,” Larkin responded holding her breath. 

“Fine,” Violet grudgingly conceded.  “Check your account, I’m sending it to you via my phone.”

“She scares me,” Larkin admitted to her friend Mariah.  “I get the feeling that it doesn’t take much for her to go off.”  A sliver of fear shot through her every time she thought about last night’s conversation with Violet.

“Drop it.”