The Wives of Beverly Row 1: Lust Has a New Address Page 6

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Veronica said. “I’m being silly. It’s just, sometimes I get to feeling so cooped up, so controlled and held back. It’s oppressive.”

  “You’re just horny,” Ariel said.

  “I am,” Veronica said. “I know it. That’s what I’m saying. I’m so horny I’m willing to scream it from the rooftops. I can’t remember the last time Hank gave me an orgasm. Having sex with him, which is a pretty rare occurrence in the first place, is like using a limp, wilted piece of celery for a dildo.”

  “Veronica!”

  “Don’t sound so shocked, Ariel. You’ve been married. You know what it’s like.”

  “Do I?”

  “Come on. Don’t you have some wicked, naughty fantasies that you’d do anything to fulfill?”

  Ariel thought about it. She looked at Veronica. Then she smiled. “Everyone’s got fantasies,” she said.

  “Exactly,” Veronica said. “That’s all I’m saying. If they exist, why not just admit them? Where’s the harm in it?”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Ariel said. “I guess people are afraid of them.”

  “What’s to be afraid of?”

  “I don’t know about you, but I’d be scared to death if someone said they were going to make my naughtiest, dirtiest fantasies come true.”

  “I wish someone told me that,” Veronica said, shaking her billowy, ruby hair over her shoulder.

  “But no one’s going to make them come true, are they? That’s the point. They’re just fantasies. They’re never going to happen.”

  Veronica took a sip from her coffee. The way she looked at Ariel was unusual.

  “What is it?” Ariel said.

  “Don’t you just wish they could come true. Just for one night?”

  Ariel shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, if you really want it, if you just want to have anal sex with a big giant hunk, I’m sure it could be arranged. It probably wouldn’t even be that difficult. There are all sorts of groups on the Internet these days.”

  “I know,” Veronica said. “I actually think about it all the time. I’m desperate. I just fixate on it, when I’m at home alone I use a dildo.”

  “In your butt?”

  “In my butt.”

  “Veronica! I can’t believe you.”

  “I know, I know. I’m, what’s the word? Gauche?”

  “You’re fine.”

  “I know people usually don’t admit to things like this. God, you hardly know me.”

  “You’re just being honest.”

  “I just don’t think I could cheat on Hank. He’s been so good to me and Kyle. He’s been so decent to us.”

  “Why don’t you talk to him about what you want? Maybe he’d try to give it to you.”

  “I don’t want him to try. I don’t want him to do it because I want it. I want him to want it. To be honest, I just don’t want to do it with him at all. He’s too meek. I want it with someone else!”

  Ariel hit her on the arm, playfully.

  “I’m kidding. I couldn’t cheat. I just couldn’t.”

  “Well, there’s always porn.”

  Veronica shook her head. She covered her face in her hands. “What’s wrong with me?” she said.

  “Nothing’s wrong with you. We’re all the same, Veronica. All of us.”

  “Really? Because I don’t hear other women ever say anything like this.”

  “Okay,” Ariel said. “I’ll tell you a real fantasy of mine.”

  “This better be good.”

  “Ménage à trois.”

  “A threesome?”

  “Yes. Me and two men. Both strangers. I’d be all over that like white on rice.”

  “Really?”

  “At least in my mind. In real life I might chicken out, but as a fantasy? Yes! Definitely! I could get off thinking about that.”

  “Why do we have fantasies like this if we can never act on them?”

  “Maybe one day we’ll get to,” Ariel said.

  “Maybe we will,” Veronica said.

  XII

  “HOW WAS SCHOOL, HONEY?”

  Becky had just come in the front door. She dropped her backpack on the ground and went through to the living room where her mom was watching TV.

  “Oh, just wonderful!”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. I loved it.”

  “For real? Or are you kidding? I can’t tell.”

  “For real, mom. I’m not being sarcastic. I loved it.”

  “Well, that’s great, honey.”

  “Kyle showed me everything. He’s on the football team.”

  “Kyle, Veronica’s son?”

  “Yes. He introduced me to everyone.”

  “That sounds great.”

  “He is.”

  Ariel looked at her daughter. It seemed someone had a crush.

  “How old is he, honey?”

  “A senior.”

  “Well, you just make sure you make friends in your own grade too.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, mom. Everyone thinks I’m hot shit because I know Kyle. You should have seen them, the mean girl clique, they thought they were going to intimidate me. By the end of the day they were all sucking up to me.”

  Ariel wasn’t so sure how she felt about her daughter getting too attached to a senior but it was definitely better than Becky coming home in tears because she had no friends. “Then you’ll be glad to know we’ve been invited over to the Roycrofts for dinner.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Will Kyle be there?”

  “I believe so.”

  “Sweet!” Becky said and rushed upstairs and into her shower.

  Mother and daughter spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for dinner. They both probably over did it, Becky because she was trying to impress Kyle, Ariel because she was trying to impress Hank and Veronica.

  *

  “DON’T THE TWO OF YOU look darling,” Veronica said as she let them in.

  Ariel had brought a bottle of wine and a cake for dessert.

  “Oh, you didn’t need to bring anything,” Veronica said. “Come on in.”

  “Is Kyle here?” Becky said.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie,” Veronica said. “He’s just having a shower. He’ll be down in a minute.”

  Veronica looked at Ariel and gave her a little nudge.

  “What’s going on there?” Veronica said, quietly.

  “I think Kyle showed her around the high school today, introduced her to his friends, I’m afraid he made quite an impression.”

  “I see,” Veronica said. “Well, he better behave himself.”

  The dinner was nice. Veronica had it catered by an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills and they even sent over a very good-looking young man to serve it. Becky sat next to Kyle and Ariel could tell she was smitten. She watched as Becky laughed at everything Kyle said. She swooned when he paid her a complement. He seemed like a nice boy but Ariel shuddered at what might happen if he ended up breaking Becky’s heart. He was a senior after all, and she was just a sophomore. Ariel couldn’t help feeling protective over her daughter, she wanted to spare her all the pain she’d experienced in her own life.

  “Can I take Becky to see the skatepark?” Kyle asked after dinner.

  “Really?” Becky said, obviously thrilled. “Can I, mom?”

  Ariel sighed. “Just make sure you’re home by ten.”

  “We will,” Ariel said, getting up from her seat, “and thanks so much for dinner, Mrs. Roycroft.”

  “It’s Veronica, honey.”

  When the kids were gone, Veronica opened another bottle of Zinfandel.

  “So,” Hank said to Ariel while Veronica was getting the dessert from the fridge, “what are you planning on doing with yourself now that you’re a wealthy woman? Have you thought about investments?”

  Ariel looked him over. She could see what Veronica had meant when she said he was boring. He was a nice man, decent, but he w
asn’t exactly the kind of guy that had girls weak at the knees with sex appeal. He was an accountant, he talked like an accountant, and he looked like an accountant.

  “Oh, I’m far from wealthy,” Ariel said. “I got a great settlement but I’ll have to figure out something to do with myself. I spent most of my money on the house.”

  “What did you do before?”

  “Before I figured out my husband was hiding millions of dollars from me?”

  “Did you work?”

  “Sure. I ran the gallery with Gabe. It was a passion for both of us. He handled the finances, I curated the art, contacted artists, asked if we could show their work, that sort of thing.”

  “Were you good at it?”

  “I never knew it, I thought we were broke the whole time, but it turned out I was excellent at it. Gabe always handled the transaction and told me we couldn’t get the commission we wanted, but we made sales all the time. I was good at reading our buyers. I was good at predicting what would sell, what artists would go on to get attention. I can safely say that anyone who ever bought a piece at our gallery made a very good investment.”

  “But he managed to pull the wool over your eyes for years?”

  “Basically,” Ariel said. She always felt a little stupid when she explained how her husband had managed to hide so much money from her for so long. “I mean, the gallery did okay from the sales we made. We supported ourselves and our life in Pomona. We raised Becky with the money.”

  “And where did the other money come from?” Hank said. “The millions?”

  “Hank!” Veronica said as she came back into the dining room with the cake. “Sorry, Ariel. It’s in his nature. He’s a forensic accountant. Finding the places people hide money is what he does.”

  “I don’t mind,” Ariel said. “You might as well know the whole story. It’s not that exciting really. He just did sales off the books that he never told me about. Artists love making sales they don’t have to declare. That way they don’t have to pay tax on them. Buyers are the same. Often they’re trying to hide money too and secretly buying art is a great way of storing wealth without having it show up in any bank accounts.”

  “To me, that’s really interesting,” Hank said. “My firm would probably be willing to pay your husband to show us all his methods.”

  “I could mention it to him, I suppose,” Ariel said.

  “Please do.”

  “To be honest, he’d probably be very reluctant to discuss it. It’s still how he makes his living and it’s not always kosher with the IRS. There’s a huge part of the art world that’s involved in tax evasion and he’s pretty deep into that side of things, especially now that I’m gone. I was the legitimate side of the operation, it appears.”

  “If he saw what we’d be willing to pay for his time, he might think twice. Give him my card at least.”

  Hank took a business card from his shirt pocket and handed it to Ariel.

  “Hank! Really!” Veronica said. “Can’t we have one nice meal without discussing business?”

  “I’m sorry,” Hank said, “but give him the card. He’ll be very interested in what I have to say.”

  “Hank,” Veronica said. “Tell Ariel about Matt.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Hank said. “I don’t know if she’d be interested in that.”

  “In what?” Ariel said.

  “Hank’s got a friend he could set you up with.”

  “On a date?”

  “Yes, on a date. Matt’s a great guy. You’d get on with him like a house on fire.”

  “He is a nice guy,” Hank said.

  Ariel was surprised. She’d had no idea Veronica was thinking of setting her up with someone.

  “Who is he?”

  “He’s a contractor,” Veronica said. She said it like that was the sexiest possible answer she could have given.

  “He’s done a lot of work for us,” Hank said. “I do the books for his business. We used to go out with him and his wife a lot.”

  “He got divorced,” Veronica said. “Trust me. You’ll love him.”

  “I don’t know,” Ariel said. “I haven’t really started dating yet.”

  “There’s no time like the present,” Veronica said. “He might even be able to arrange that little fantasy you mentioned!”

  Ariel’s cheeks blushed bright pink in embarrassment.

  “Veronica!” she said.

  “Oh, relax. Hank’s heard it all a thousand times. Nothing shocks him about woman anymore.”

  “Is that true, Hank?” Ariel said, looking at him in his shirt and tie. “Nothing shocks you?”

  “Well, Veronica’s told me some pretty crazy things about herself.”

  “So she’s told you about her own little fantasy?”

  Now it was Veronica’s turn to look embarrassed. “I’ve told him everything.”

  “Everything?” Ariel said.

  “Well, maybe not everything.”

  Hank looked at Veronica questioningly.

  “Oh, calm down, Hank. I’ll tell you in bed tonight if you like. It’s just a fetish, not even a fetish, just something I told Ariel it would be fun to try some time.”

  XIII

  BECKY HOPPED UP INTO KYLE’S pickup truck. She thought it was so sexy that he drove a truck. She couldn’t believe she was sitting right next to him. He looked so hot in his jeans and V-neck shirt. She was glad she’d spent so much time getting ready. She felt pretty and confident and excited.

  “So where’s this skatepark?” she said as he pulled out of the driveway.

  “Well, the skatepark’s down the hill close to our high school.”

  “So what’s up the hill?” Becky said, a mischievous smile on her face.

  “I’ll show you!”

  Becky sat back and enjoyed the music as Kyle drove up through the hills of Beverly Row and into the Santa Monica mountains. As they climbed higher and higher, the views down into the valley grew ever more spectacular. The road wound it’s way upward, switchbacking back and forth. At places it was very steep. Becky gazed out at the Hollywood sign across the valley.

  Eventually, the road came to an end at a little parking lot that overlooked the entire city of Los Angeles. As far as Becky could see, there were lights and buildings twinkling like the stars of a galaxy.

  “This is beautiful,” she said.

  “You’re beautiful,” Kyle said.

  Becky looked at him and blushed.

  “Do you really think so, Kyle?”

  “Are you kidding me? You’re the hottest girl in our school, by far.”

  “Even hotter than the senior girls?”

  “Definitely,” Kyle said.

  “Even hotter than what’s her name?”

  “Sydney?”

  “Yes, even hotter than Sydney?” Becky said, referring to the girl with the knee-high socks who she’d had the encounter with earlier.

  “Way hotter,” Kyle said, smiling at her. “She’s not even in your league.”

  Becky sat back in her seat and looked out over the view of the city. Kyle knew just what to say.

  “So,” Kyle said after a minute, “I was wondering if you’d like to make out?”

  Becky looked at him and then she nodded, very slightly. Kyle leaned forward and reached around her. She held her breath as he opened her seatbelt. She’d never made out with a boy before. She looked at Kyle and her heart fluttered. She had a huge crush on him. She knew it was crazy, she’d only just met him, but she was sixteen and starry-eyed and he had such strong muscular arms. His neck looked beautiful in the moonlight. She imagined kissing it and almost thought she would faint.

  She opened her mouth as he leaned in toward her. His lips touched hers and she closed her eyes. His lips were so soft. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting but the feel of Kyle’s lips was just perfect. It felt even better than she’d imagined her first kiss would feel. She moaned very quietly and then he surprised her by pressing his tongue gently into her mouth. S
he was really doing it. She was having her first kiss and it was here in this beautiful place with this beautiful, beautiful boy.

  She felt the softness of his tongue press against hers and the sensation was almost too much. It was too delicious. It felt soft and sensual and so erotic. She wanted more. She wanted to drink him up. She wanted him to drink her up. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. Becky felt every delicious movement of Kyle’s tongue in her mouth, every sensuous press of his gorgeous lips against hers. She breathed and moaned and ran her fingers through his hair.

  Kyle’s hand reached down to her chest and he cupped her breast through the dress. Becky gasped. It was too much. Everything was too much. No boy had felt her breast before, not ever. Her pussy felt hot and moist between her legs and she wanted to touch herself. Instead she touched Kyle. The bulge between his legs was firm and warm and she pressed on it through his jeans.

  “Jesus,” Kyle moaned.

  Becky could tell he liked it. She rubbed him through his jeans and he pressed his pelvis forward toward her. She was shocked that she could feel the surge of his penis as it came to full erection. Even under his jeans the bulge was obvious. It almost frightened her.

  “Reach inside,” he whispered.

  “What?”

  “Reach inside my pants.”

  Becky didn’t know what to do. She’d never touched a boy’s dick in her life. She liked Kyle but she wasn’t sure how fast she was ready to let things move. At the same time, she was afraid that if she didn’t do what he wanted he might lose interest in her.

  She opened the top button of his jeans. He was kissing her neck, his mouth getting lower and lower toward her breasts. It felt so good but she was also a little scared. She hadn’t been expecting all of this. She pulled open his jeans and saw his boxer shorts, his penis erect underneath the thin layer of cotton like a tent pole. Kyle was touching her breasts through her dress, licking and kissing her neck and she felt like she was on fire. She was scared but she knew that she liked what was happening. She liked it a lot and she didn’t want it to stop. Not ever.

  “Yes,” she moaned as he pulled down the neckline of her dress, exposing her bra.

  “Can I kiss your breasts?” he whispered.

  She thought for a moment before answering. Things were moving fast, too fast. She’d never been in this position before. She’d never allowed a boy to even see her breasts and now Kyle wanted to kiss them!