Pretty Packages (19 page)

“Although a lot of things are starting to make sense right now, particularly the fact that you can move your body in the bedroom better than any man I’ve ever known, I still can’t believe you were actually a stripper.” She turned around in the passenger seat to face him . . . or rather stare at him from head to toe.

“I prefer the term exotic dancer.”
Kentucky
chuckled. “But yeah, I was a stripper for a short while.”

“Why?”

“During my junior year of college, things got pretty rough again for Mama and me. I had declared a double major and so my educational expenses were higher due to all the extra textbooks I needed, the family car suddenly went out, and one of
Florida
’s infamous hurricanes tore the roof off the house. There just wasn’t enough money with her job and my part-time job to address everything, so I started dancing at bachelorette and sorority parties.”

“Stripping just popped into your mind as a viable option just like that?” Giada snapped her fingers, still not quite over her shock yet.

Kentucky
laughed harder. “Actually, no. That idea was courtesy of my
Latina
girlfriend at the time, who was a stripper by night herself. She knew of my financial woes and suggested that I put my other assets to work in order to get the money I needed. The fact that I work-studied as a lifeguard for the campus pool and had competed locally in various weightlifting contests made it easy for me to get up before women and show off my body. I did need a bit of coaching for the dancing part, though.”

“I assume Miss Thing helped you get your groove on,” Giada said, folding her arms across her chest as jealousy shrouded her features. “Much like Pinky did when you danced with her.”

“Correct.”
Kentucky
smiled at her jealousy. Now at a red light, he leaned over and licked the outer perimeter of her left earlobe. “Stop being jealous, baby. You’re my Miss Thing now,” he teased.

Giada grinned. “I better be your
only
Miss Thing.” She unfolded her arms and relaxed again.

“Most definitely.”
Kentucky
chuckled and returned his attention to the road now that the light was green again. “Anyway, Mama put an end to all that when she got suspicious of my sudden surge in income and decided to investigate. Though she was relieved that I wasn’t slinging drugs like my cousin Millsap or pimping women like my uncle Ulysses, she expressed her extreme disappointment about me using my body in that way. Even preached to me about how a good name was better than great riches. How it was okay to have money just as long as I kept my integrity, too.”

“Wow. Now that is deep,” Giada said, looking as if she was really taking those words to heart. “No one ever said anything like that to me before. Not my mother, not even my grandmother. As long as I helped with the bills, they didn’t care where I got the money from.”

“That’s sad.”
Kentucky
frowned. Sympathy for her filled his heart.

“Yes, it is, but don’t let that stop you from continuing with your story,” Giada prompted, giving him a courageous smile, despite her glossy eyes.

Kentucky
smiled, pleased to find her so brave. “Well, since I absolutely hate disappointing Mama, I retired from stripping, joined the reserves, and made use of the G.I. Bill for my educational expenses. I also took on work as a bouncer at a few clubs around town. By the time I completed my MBA, people were requesting me for personal bodyguard services, too. I stuck with it because it was exciting, allowed me to meet important people, travel all over the world, and it paid better than the finance jobs I’d been offered,” he said, deliberately leaving out another perk of his job—access to beautiful women. There was no need to bring that up.

“Which meant you could realize your dream of opening a boarding school a lot faster,” Giada said.

“Exactly.”
Kentucky
smiled over at her. “By the way, I plan on taking you to see the school next weekend if you’re free.”

Giada’s eyes twinkled with adoration. “I’m always free for you, baby.”

Chapter Seventeen

After eating a hearty dinner,
Kentucky
and Giada adjourned to the family den to watch a bit of television. His stepmother was in the kitchen preparing to-go plates for them and a few extra plates for select neighbors who were experiencing illness at this time.

Kentucky
sat in the oversized black recliner that had belonged to his father. Giada scooped Mercedes up from the floor and proceeded over to the black-and-blue sofa to brush and pat her pet.

“Come sit with me, baby,”
Kentucky
said, patting his thighs.

Giada looked nervously at the doorway that led to the kitchen. “I thought we couldn’t be affectionate in your mother’s house,” she whispered as she turned to face him again.

Kentucky
chuckled. “I said I don’t have
sex
under Mama’s roof. I didn’t say I wasn’t affectionate.”

He patted his thighs again. “Now come here, woman. I’m lonely for you.”

Giada bent to put Mercedes back on the floor before going over to him.

“Uh-uh. Bring Mercedes, too,”
Kentucky
added.

Giada’s eyes widened and glistened with emotion. “You mean, I can bring her
with
me?”

“Sure. There’s enough room in this chair for all of us.” Noticing her glossy eyes,
Kentucky
asked with concern, “Why do you suddenly look like you’re about to cry?”

“Because every other man I’ve had didn’t want anything to do with my dog.” Giada scooped Mercedes up again. “Fabian didn’t even like for her to be in the same room with us,” she continued, walking the short distance to the recliner.

“Why? Because
Chihuahuas
are territorial to their owners, even to the point of jealousy?”
K
entucky
spread his large legs wider, giving her adequate space to sit in his lap.

“Truthfully, I think it was the other way around in Fabian’s case. I think he was more jealous of Mercedes than she was of him. He would scold her for following me foot to foot and hated whenever she showed me any affection.” Giada sat down in
Kentucky
’s lap and then settled Mercedes upon hers.

Kentucky
nodded in understanding. “The way I see it, just like there’s enough room in this chair for all of us, there’s enough room in my heart for you and Mercedes. Besides, she has never given me any problems.”

Giada turned and smiled at
Kentucky
. “That’s because she probably fell in love with you like her mother did.” She leaned over and gave him a kiss of gratitude. “That’s for being so understanding.”

Kentucky
grinned. “Mercedes, what do you think Daddy will get for doing a thousand push-ups a day? Especially since Mommy is in the mood to give out rewards for things he’s gonna do anyway,” he said, tenderly stroking the white patch of hair at the top of the dog’s head.

Giada chuckled. “Tell Daddy I’ll show him tomorrow,” she replied, playing along with the fun Mommy/Daddy/Baby game.

Kentucky
’s loins stirred. “You might have to show Daddy tonight,” he whispered in her right ear before licking her earlobe and grinding his hips briefly beneath her.

* * * *

Giada gasped as desire surged through her body from
Kentucky
’s heated words and actions. Was he serious about them making love tonight? Had he suddenly changed his mind about her sleeping over? Or was he going to break his own rule and make love to her under his stepmother’s roof?

Giada couldn’t wait to find out.

As if she’d been conjured up, Hannah walked into the den a few minutes later. She was carrying two bags of food containers, one in each hand. “Oh, that’s so sweet,” she cooed, smiling with approval at the couple and pet in the chair.

Giada and
Kentucky
turned to smile at her in return. The sleepy canine in Giada’s lap just lifted her head and stretched lazily before settling again.

“Do you need any help with those, Mama?”
Kentucky
asked, noting the bags of containers in her hands.

“No, I’m fine. Just stay where you are. I know you only have a few more hours together before you have to leave.” Hannah looked at the oval-shaped wooden clock on the den wall. “I should be back within the hour.” She chuckled and added, “That’s if Mrs. Connors doesn’t have another long story she just
has
to tell me.”

Giada and
Kentucky
laughed and waved good-bye to Hannah on her way out. When the front door closed a few seconds later,
Kentucky
said, “Go lay Mercedes down in her bed and then meet me at the back shed.”

A question was in Giada’s heart, but she didn’t voice it. She trusted
Kentucky
completely and so found it easy to be pliant to his will. Plus, with the impassioned look in his eyes, she knew that whatever awaited her in the back shed was going to be pleasurable for them both.
 

* * * *

When Giada arrived at the shed, she saw the door open, the overhead light on, and
Kentucky
moving a few things around inside. From left to right, she noticed how neat everything was.

Garden tools hung on the west wall from smallest to largest. Two lawn mowers rested beneath them with a red gas can beside them. Handheld power tools were on a long worktable on the east wall of the shed. A wheelbarrow filled with bags of potting soil, fertilizer, and lime sat in a corner.

On the center wall of the shed was a long, sturdy bench. That’s where
Kentucky
was. He was moving the various flowerpots from the bench and aligning them on the floor up against the wall.

“Need I ask what that bench is going to be used for?” Giada said, entering the large shed more fully. A huge grin was upon her face.

Kentucky
turned to smile at her. “Well, since I don’t have sex under Mama’s roof, I found a place that I
could
have sex—the shed I built with my own two hands.”

“Ahh, the infamous loophole.” Giada chuckled. “I found plenty of them for the old law firm I worked for. Found a few for the new firm I’m working for now in the short time I’ve been there.”

“And they think they just hired another pretty face. Woman, you are brilliant and deserve to go all the way to the top,”
Kentucky
said, smiling at her with pride.

Knowing that he was proud of her made Giada feel warm and tingly all over. It also inflamed her in a very sensual way. “I want you, Kenny,” she practically moaned out.

* * * *

At Giada’s moan,
Kentucky
suddenly grew very serious as the flames of her passion leaped upon him. “Close the door behind you and come get me, baby.” While she complied with his request, he opened the fixed high-level side windows for ventilation purposes. Then he washed his hands in the sink and dried them with paper towels.