Boy Next Door (Parkside Avenue Book #2) (10 page)

“Nah, I’ll pass on the walking
STD this time, thanks. I’ve got other plans.”

“What plans? You hooked up
without telling me?” he asked, contorting his face as if the possibility were
laughable.

I followed him out of the room
and jogged down the stairs. “I’m working on it.”

“Yeah? You have someone in mind?
Who is it? Do I know her?”

“Kind of.”

He turned to face me. “Really?
Who? Is it that hot chick from the burger joint?”

“Nah, I’m after some higher class
action.”

Pappa’s voice prevented Kendrick
firing any more questions my way. “Kendrick? Is that you? Feeling better?” He
wandered into the hallway. “Good grief. You don’t get those from any illness I
know.” Pappa scowled at me. “I expected better of you, Johnny. You told me he
was ill and you were taking care of him. You’ve been lying to me for days.”

“I’m sorry, Paps, but I didn’t
want to worry you,” I said, wondering how in hell I was going to explain why
his grandson’s face was six shades of messed up. I didn’t have to.

Pappa grabbed Kendrick’s chin, and
turned his head from side to side. “Who did this?”

“No one, Paps. Bike crash,”
Kendrick said, wincing slightly.

“What bike?”

“My mate’s. I was riding pillion.
We rode out of town. A few of them were racing, and the bike I was on got out
of control and crashed into a tree. I rolled down the banking into a pile of
twigs and crap. Scraped the shit out of me.”

“You were racing? It was that
Murphy boy wasn’t it? I knew he’d get you into trouble. Why weren’t you wearing
a helmet?”

“I was. Strap snapped. Helmet
came off. It’s nothing, Paps. Don’t fuss.”

I had to respect my brother’s genius.
If there had been a medal for bullshit, he’d have earned his stripes with that
excuse.

Paps continued his interrogation.
“Have you been to hospital?”

“No need. It was only a couple of
bumps and scrapes. I’m good.”

“You should still get looked
over. Banging your head is dangerous.”

“I said I’m good.” Kendrick made
a break for the exit. “See you later.”

Pappa watched the door close,
before his attention slid back to me. “Idiot boy. He’s a danger to himself. Who
gets injured in a road accident and doesn’t go to hospital?”

How could I answer without more
lies? “Some people, I guess.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t you believe his story?”

“I’m not sure I believe anything
that boy says, nowadays.” Pappa shuffled into the lounge, as I headed for the
kitchen to grab a bite. Nerves over my visit to Cora had snuffed my appetite,
but I knew I should eat something. I settled for a banana.

“There’s a documentary on about
plant life, in half an hour. I thought we could watch it together,” Pappa
called.

“Love to, Paps, but I have to go
out, and I don’t expect I’ll be back in time.”

“I didn’t catch that.”

“I have to go out,” I shouted, louder
this time, as I discarded the peel and took a bite.

“Work again?” he asked, when I
stuck my head around the doorway.

“Hopefully.”

“Maybe catch the repeat, then.”

“Sure, no problem,” I said,
stuffing the last of the fruit down my throat, as I left.

Chapter Fourteen

I stopped on the doorstep of
number twenty-one, smoothed my unruly fringe from my eyes, and cupped my hand
over my mouth to check my breath. I hoped Cora liked eau de banana. At least,
I’d had a sandwich, and not my usual pizza, for lunch. Banana was preferable to
stale garlic.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked.

The door opened, and Nessie glowered
through the crack. “Oh, it’s you. Tired of mornings, are we? Didn’t want to pop
in again at sunrise and assault my mother again?”

Assault her? “Excuse me?”

“She told me.”

What the fuck had Cora said? “Told
you what?”

“About your dawn visit. The
urgent business that couldn’t wait. The business that was so important you seem
to have forgotten about it. What’s that fucking urgent about gardening? Please enlighten
me, because I haven’t the first clue.”

“Oh, that. Your mother didn’t
tell you?”

“She said I wouldn’t be
interested, but believe me, I am. So, come on, spill.”

Kendrick’s talent for lying would
have been handy at that moment, unfortunately, I wasn’t as gifted. “I’m sure if
Cora wanted you to know she would have told you.”

“Look. I don’t know what’s going
on with you two, but something is, and I don’t like it. Things have changed
around here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mum’s not Mum. She wanders around
like she’s not even here. The house is a mess, I have to make my own meals, and
she isn’t interrogating my every move. It’s not normal.” She angled her head
and narrowed her eyes. “Are you fucking her?”

My eyebrows shot up at her
candour, and I almost choked on my own spit. “No!”
Not yet
. “I can’t
believe you asked that. Look. Can I come in or not? I need to talk to her.”

Nessie chewed over my request, before
shouting, “Mum. You have a visitor.” She left the door ajar and disappeared
from view.

My grin spread wide at Cora’s
appearance.

“Johnny? I-I wasn’t expecting
you.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and noticeably swallowed.

“Nice surprise?”

“Um, have you come about the
garden? I said there was no rush.”

“I know. Can we talk inside? As
nice as your doorstep is, it’s been a long day, and I wouldn’t mind sitting
down.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

The door opened wider, and I
followed Cora into the living room. Nessie was already curled up on the sofa:
headphones over her ears, magazine in hand. Cora sat down rigidly on the
opposite seating and clenched her hands together. I joined her, leaving a
respectable gap between us.

“Are you all right?” I asked,
flicking my eyes over to Nessie. Those headphones had better be on full volume.

Ignoring my question, she nodded
at the sketchbook in my lap. “Was there something you wanted to show me?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. It’s just some
ideas I had, but they can wait. I want to talk about what happened the other
day.”

“Please, Johnny. Now is not the
time.” Her eyes held a warning.

Nessie’s presence was annoying
and unpredicted. I hadn’t banked on her being at home, let alone in the same
room. In my desire to see Cora, I hadn’t thought things through. I needed to
get her alone. It was time I made my move. I’d waited too long, and damn it, I
had to know where I stood.

Nessie was positioned with her
back to the kitchen area, so, banking on Cora being the perfect hostess, I
said, “I wouldn’t say no to a drink.”

“A drink?”

“Yeah. You know. The liquid stuff
that comes in a glass.”

“I know what a drink is, Johnny.”

“Then you won’t mind getting me
one. Anything will do.”

Cora sighed, stood, and wandered
off in the direction of the kitchen. I waited all of four seconds, and followed
her. Nessie’s gaze followed me.

In the kitchen, Cora was securing
the top on a half-used bottle of gin.

“Fancied the hard stuff, huh?” I
noted.

She pulled a bottle of tonic from
the refrigerator. “It was already open, and you said anything,” she said,
twisting off the cap and holding the glasses as she poured. Her hand trembled
so much she missed the second one and splashed liquid on her fingers. “Shit,”
she said, licking off the droplets.

I let out a small laugh. “That’s
the first time I’ve heard you curse,” I said, stepping closer to prise her hand
from her lips and pull it to mine.

Our eyes locked as I took her
fingers into my mouth and ran my tongue down the creases. Her eyelids fluttered
gently, and her chest rose and fell rapidly. Fuck it. It was time. I couldn’t
hold out any longer. Hooking my arm around her waist, I closed the space between
us, released my mouth from her hand, and sealed it to her lips before she had
the chance to stop me. She stiffened but didn’t object, so I let go of her hand
and reached up to her neck to caress her jaw, holding her to me as I pressed my
tongue into the line of her lips. Christ, I had to get in there. I had her. I
knew it. I could make her mine, if she would just …

Cora relaxed. Her arms reached up
my back, and her lips parted. A split second was all it took for my tongue to
find hers. She responded, tentatively at first, then eagerly. All my pent-up
frustration spilled out, and I left no part of Cora’s mouth undiscovered. She
softened into me. Her pliable body squeezed tightly against mine. The touch of
her fingers on my shoulder blades, and her breasts pressed against my chest,
made my blood run hot and head straight to my groin, causing the hard line of
my dick to push urgently into her stomach, alerting her to just how much I
wanted her.

All too soon, she pulled back and
gasped. “I can’t breathe.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve wanted to kiss
you for so long. I got carried away.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“I-I want … No. I shouldn’t have
let you …” Her words were resisting, but her eyes begged for more.

“Let me what? This?” I lay soft
kisses on her cheek, her jaw, her chin, her lips.

“Johnny, please …”

Before she could finish her
sentence, Nessie strode into the kitchen, face full of anger, and planted her
hands on her hips. “I fucking knew it!”

Jeez, could I never get a break?

Cora stepped back, startled,
stumbled on a chair leg, and braced herself against the kitchen table. “Vanessa.
It isn’t … We weren’t …”

“Yes, you were,” Nessie said. “I
saw you.”

I grinned. “Jealousy’s a killer.”

“As if. It’s disgusting. Sick.”
Nessie threw her hands in the air. “Are you having a midlife crisis, Mum? No. Don’t
answer. I can’t deal with this shit. It’s wrong on so many levels. I’m going to
Jess’s.”

Silence hung in the kitchen until
the front door slammed shut. I stepped over to Cora and took her by the
shoulders. “I guess that means we’re alone.”

Cora’s eyes slowly met mine. “Johnny,
what are we doing?”

I bent my head to her neck.
“Getting it on,” I said, dropping kisses on her neck. If I had to kiss her a
thousand times to get her to admit defeat, I would. No way was I giving up now.
Not now I’d nibbled the frosting. Now, I had to have the whole delicious cake.

“But Vanessa …”

“Forget her. This isn’t about
her; it’s about you … and me.” My hand moved slowly down her neck to the top
button of her blouse, and popped it open.

“But …”

I continued down the line of
buttons, slowly releasing each one. Black lace. Perfect. My favourite. “No. No
buts, no more excuses, no more waiting.” I parted the material and drank in the
sight of her breasts, cupping one in each hand and running my thumbs over their
supple swells. “This is gonna happen.”

Her knuckles whitened as she
gripped the tabletop harder and arched her back to me. “Why me?” She gasped. “Why
me, when there’re thousands of girls out there: younger, prettier girls? Oh
God, that feels good.”

“I don’t want them. I want you. You’re
a smart, sexy woman, and I think about you every moment of every day.” I teased
down the lace and bent my head, eager to see her pert nipple and taste its
sweetness.

She didn’t let me get that far. “Stop,
Johnny. Please stop.”

Was she serious? “Why?”

She pushed her hands up between
us and pulled the front of her blouse together. “Just stop.”

Chapter Fifteen

I collected the drinks and followed
Cora to the living room, setting the bottles and one glass on the coffee table
and nudging the other against her shoulder. “Here. Get that down you.” She
accepted her drink, and I watched her gulp a couple of mouthfuls, wondering
what was going on in her head. Did she need a few moments to get herself
together after Nessie’s interruption, or was she having second thoughts? I knew
I was pushing it, but as much as I’d been trying to convince myself to take it
slowly, I couldn’t. The attraction was there. I knew it. I could feel it. All
the signs pointed to it being something real. If she needed time, she could
have some.

Sitting on the rug below her, I
opened my sketchbook. “What do you think?” I said, holding it out.

After a moment of study, she
finally spoke. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the structure at the side
of the pool.

“The pergola we discussed. If you
flip the page, I’ve done a more detailed close-up.”

She turned to the next sheet. “I
don’t remember it being much of a discussion.”

“Suggestion then. Don’t you like
it? Because I can always change it, if you want.”

Still studying the picture, she
asked, “Can you really do that?”

“What? Change it?”

“Build it.”

“I wouldn’t have put it there if
I couldn’t.”

“It seems like a lot of work.”
Cora drained her glass without looking at it, and before she could set it down,
I refilled it.

“Nothing’s too much trouble for
you.”

A small smile played across her
lips. “The space would be useful, but I can’t see how it’s going to fit.”

I leaned back on the plush pile,
resting on my elbows. “Don’t worry about that. As soon as I get rid of that old
maple tree, there’ll be plenty of room.”

“Really? You want to get rid of
the maple tree? Don’t you like it?”

“I’m sure it was great, in its
day, but not now. I can always plant a new one somewhere, if it was a favourite
of yours.”

Finally, she looked down at me. “Is
that what you do, get rid of things that are past their prime and replace them
with younger models?”

“Ah, I see where you’re going
with this. Our age difference really is a big thing for you, isn’t it?”