Hooked

from his mouth.
    “What? How can you say that?”
    Benny sat back, kind of pissed his breakfast nipple had retreated. “Come on, Eileen. I know you’re not schmoozing with those snooty Junior League women every day. You can’t stand them. Nor are you doing whatever those women in garden clubs are supposed to do when they’re not attending those stupid luncheons. You get dressed up, poke your head into those meetings, leave, then get into your Lexus―a car I pay for, by the way―and hop over to the club to play tennis. You do that whenever I’m gone, but the only balls you see are between the legs of that empty-headed pro, what’s his name?”
    Eileen stood with her legs spread and her hands on her hips, her breasts flushed as pink as her face. “Which one? There are two of them.”
    “I suppose the one who isn’t banging Herb Mokler’s wife. Or maybe you two are playing doubles. How the hell do I know?” Benny sat up straighter. “You must think I’m dense as shit. To quote a cliché, leopards don’t change their spots. You and I are sex junkies. It’s what got us together, and it’s what started Upper Eighties. You knew my conditions when we married. All this,” he waved his arms around the house, “and future security, to ignore my minor peccadilloes. Do you think I don’t understand the goose/gander thing? I just didn’t want to know. But you had to bring it up, and all because you’re jealous of Tawny Dell. You knew who she was. You’re clever, but you’re a lousy liar.”
    “I am not jealous.” She collapsed on the edge of the bed. “Well,” she trilled, “maybe a little.”
    “She’s business. I told you her conditions. No freebies from management. That’s me, and Colin wouldn’t have her if she put it in his mouth. So what’s disturbing you?”
    “That you might think she’s better than me.”
    “I told you, no freebies. What part don’t you understand? Besides, no one’s better than you, sweetie. You’re the mother of my children, my business collaborator, my favorite sex partner. What more do you want? Monogamy?” He patted the bed. “Now, come over here. Daddy’s had a bad week. He’s overwhelmed with anxiety. He needs a release of tension.” Another bed pat.
    Eileen sniffled and shuffled to the bed, her tits swaying in rhythm. Benny knew she did it on purpose, and he loved every undulating beat of her luscious boobs. By the time she threw one leg over his thighs, he had a boner the size of a 2 x 4.

Chapter Twenty-Three
    One More Night

    T awny saw Lincoln Walsh slip into the gallery. Even though she found it irritating earlier when he told her—no, ordered her—to wait for him, then hung up before she could tell him she wouldn’t be there, her heartbeat did a little dance when she saw him. What was the big rush anyway? You’d think her life had been threatened.
    She couldn’t wait for him and be late. This was her assigned time, and her boss expected her. She loved her mornings at the museum, and even though she repeated some of the same things every tour, she fed off the interest of her tour group, who were now enthralled by her explanation of the painting on an Egyptian vase that provided a rare example of the actual painting process of the time, encaustic. Leaning closer, Tawny pointed to the figures on the vase as they mixed the pigments with wax to paint a sculpture of Herakles, while Zeus and Nike presided and Herakles himself surveyed his image. Though the backside of the vase was less accessible, she explained the depiction of Athena and other Gods. She wanted her audience to appreciate the painting as a record of life at that time, but also to understand the mythology. She moved from one piece to another to another. Before she knew, the hour’s allotted time had run out. She accepted thanks from the group and answered a couple of questions before they scattered to either another guide or their individual meanderings through the museum.
    “I learned something this morning,” Linc said.
    “There’s lots to learn, even for me.”
    “You did good, Doctor.” His tone sounded sincere, with no hint of sarcasm for once.
    “Thanks. So now you know what I do in my spare time. Surprised?
    “Not at all.”
    She snickered.
    “Well, okay, a little surprised.”
    “You obviously went to my apartment, and when I wasn’t there, what did you think about my appointment?” When he didn’t answer, she snickered again. “Can’t get past it, can you,