Boy Next Door (Parkside Avenue Book #2) Read online

  Tina inched closer. “So, where you been hiding, then?”

  “Uni.”

  “Brainbox, huh? That mean you’re gonna get one of those city toff jobs and earn loads of dosh?” She threw her head back, laughing, like one of those boxed clowns at the funfair: a horsey laugh with little snorts at the end.

  “Nah, not my style, babe.”

  She raised a sceptical brow, finished her drink, and lit a cigarette. Was I the only one who didn’t smoke around here? “You wanna go somewhere?” she asked, chewing on a piece of gum like a cow chewing cud.

  “Like where?”

  “Anywhere. You choose.”

  “How about your place?”

  “Still live with my folks and three baby sisters.” She paused for a second. “Guys usually wanna go to Crown Point.”

  Yeah, I bet. “I don’t have wheels yet.”

  “Your house?”

  It was past midnight, and Pappa’s hearing wasn’t what it used to be. I pictured him snoring heavily in his bed. We might get away with the sofa, if she was quiet. It was worth a shot, and better than taking her up against the side alley wall surrounded by discarded kebab trays and yesterday’s empty beer bottles.

  “I’m bunking with my grandfather. I guess it would be okay. But no screaming.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “You usually make girls scream?”

  “Don’t get too excited. You want something. I want something. I’m not out to impress.”

  Tina shrugged; clearly not out to impress me, either.

  ***

  Arriving at the end of Pappa’s driveway, I was puzzled to see the living room light still glowing. Didn’t all old folk crash early? Perhaps he’d left on the bulb as a welcome home, or fallen asleep in his chair.

  “Wait here,” I whispered.

  I crept up to the window and peered through a gap in the curtains. The standard lamp lit up Pappa’s spot, and there he was, newspaper and pen in hand, scribbling away. Shit. Who does a fucking crossword in the middle of the night? I contemplated sneaking Tina past him and up to my room, but there was always the chance he might see, and this girl wasn’t worth upsetting Paps for. I turned to Tina. “The old man’s still awake. Some other time, maybe.”

  “Not so fast, buster. Don’t you know it’s bad form to get a girl all worked up and drop her without so much as a fumble? What about the garage?”

  Fuck me. She was desperate to get some. “It’s locked, and I don’t have a key.”

  “Round the back then?”

  I thought for a moment. “There’s a shed.”

  “Perfect.”

  A few minutes later, I had Tina pressed up against the wooden slats next to the plant pots. She had her hand up my shirt, running those huge lips over my stomach faster than a whip crack, and I had to admit, it felt kinda good. Wet, but good. In the dark, I tried to put another face to my date, but the only one I could conjure up was Cora’s. A bevy of beauties out there, and all that came to mind was somebody’s frigging mother. I pulled Tina’s head level with mine and kissed her hard, imagining her friend Lexi instead. At least Lexi was young and pretty. I wouldn’t have minded going there for the night, if Kendrick hadn’t staked his claim first. Tina responded with enthusiasm, prising my lips open with her tongue and thrusting inside. She tasted of cigarettes. Old, musty cigarettes. I imagined it must be a similar experience to lick a dirty ashtray. Not that I’d ever tried it, even in my most drunken of moments. Tina’s mouth was as big as her lips suggested, and I struggled to keep up with it. An episode of tonsil tennis was normally all it took to get me geared up for the main action, and yet, things were oddly quiet down there. My dick obviously found Tina as unattractive as my eyes did. It was time to get things moving.

  Raising my hands from her waist, I headed for her tits, but they were so flat, it felt like I was touching up a freaking boy. She let out a moan. She liked it. Me, not so much. Even thumbing her nipples brought no response where it was needed. This was gonna be a tough call. I couldn’t have her opening that big mouth of hers and spreading it around town that I couldn’t get it up.

  Her hands moved further under my T-shirt, pushing it up until I let her slip it over my head. Then her lips smoothed over my pecs, and she fumbled with my fly, opening it and pushing my jeans past my hips. My dick flopped into her hand.

  “You’re not ready.” She sounded disappointed.

  I shrugged. “Probably the beer.”

  “Hmm.” She glanced up for a second before looking down again. “Let’s see if we can get things moving, shall we?” Her fingers set to work, and my blood pumped. “Must be wearing off,” she said. “It’s stiffening.”

  Couldn’t she just shut the fuck up? I was finally gaining traction, but her voice was killing the mood. I pushed on her shoulders, and she got the message.

  Yeah, that’s right, rubber lips, down you go. Ahh.

  Thankfully, that mouth was good for something after all, and I was hard in seconds. Thinking about Cora’s ass in her skintight shorts helped. What was it about that woman? Pappa and Kendrick had both succumbed to her charms and now she was wheedling her way under my skin too. But hell, at least something was working, and I’d take what I could get.

  “I think that’s done the trick,” she said with a note of satisfaction. “My turn.”

  What the fuck? If she thought I was going down on her, she could forget it. My tongue was not going to the same place I imagined dozens of dicks in town had. I grabbed her by the shoulders and flipped her around to bend over the potting bench.

  “Whoa there. Not so rough,” she protested.

  “Sorry.” I reached under her skirt and yanked down her panties. I needed to get the job done before she softened my wood with her voice.

  With one hand on her bare ass, I rooted for my wallet with the other.

  “Hurry up,” Tina shouted.

  “Can you just be quiet for one damn minute? I’m trying to find a rubber.” I always kept one on me, just in case. I prayed it wasn’t out of date.

  “I’m on the pill.”

  “Good for you.” Girls lied about that kind of thing. I knew. My best buddy at uni had been caught out like that, and I’d be damned if I was going to let it happen to me. Besides, when you go swimming with sharks, you need a strong cage.

  When I thrust into her, she gasped, and her nails scraped over the tabletop, but she bent her knees and rocked against me, encouraging a faster rhythm. Tina could fuck. Bonus. Steadying the pace, I focused on building to release, feeling bad that I didn’t fancy the girl, but hey, she was getting what she wanted, just as much as I was. Trouble was, as I rammed harder, and the pressure built, my thoughts were honed on one thing. Cora’s ass.

  Chapter Three

  It was almost lunchtime when I crawled out from under the bedspread and moseyed down to the kitchen. I poured a glass of juice and gazed through the window as I drank. The sun was out, and Pappa was pruning the hedge, with Smokey laid out at his feet, black fur shimmering in the breeze. I went outside to say good morning.

  When he saw me, Smokey wagged his tail, jumped up, and ran around my legs. I stroked his back as I asked, “Need a hand, Paps?”

  “Oh, morning, son.” Pappa looked flushed and was panting from the exertion. “It would be wonderful if you could save me stretching. Grab those ladders over there and start on the top, if you would. There’s another pair of shears in the shed, at least there should be. I was actually in two minds about whether to call the police or not. The shed appears to have been broken into, last night.”

  Yeah, by a horny couple. “What makes you say that?” I asked, opening the shed door.

  “Stuff everywhere, tools on the floor which I know I hung up, broken plant pots, and they made a right mess of my potting bench. Haven’t found anything missing, though. Very strange.”

  I scanned the shed quickly for the shears, noting the gouges along the table’s surface. Tina had had sharp nails. “Most likely kids,” I shouted.


  “All the same, I think I’ll run down to the hardware store this afternoon and buy a padlock. I’ve been meaning to fix one on for ages,” he replied.

  Finding the shears, I tucked them into my back pocket, and picked up the ladders on my way back. “I can do that for you, Paps. I’ve had some flyers made, advertising my gardening services. They might let me leave a few on the counter.”

  “I thought you were going to look for a real job?”

  I planned to take anything I could find, but I needed as much money as I could get, as quickly as possible. My plans were big, and slacking wasn’t an option. “I am, but it won’t hurt to have a sideline.” I wiggled the ladder’s feet into the soil and climbed up. “How much should I trim?”

  “About two feet. It’s far too overgrown, and I’d like it level with the top of the fence.”

  I set to work lopping the branches, and it wasn’t long before I had a great view over into next door. “Did you know the neighbours have a pool?” I asked.

  “Waste of money and space, if you ask me. Why anyone would spend money on something that only gets used a couple of times a year, when they could have a nice lawn instead, is beyond me.”

  His grumblings about people’s general lack of appreciation of a good garden washed over me. My attention was occupied elsewhere. On the tiniest section of overgrown grass, behind the swimming pool, a figure was contorted into a strange position. I stared in admiration as it slowly formed another shape. Damn, she was flexible. I wondered if she was seeing anyone. If so, I hoped he appreciated what a gem he had. A woman as fine as her would know how to please a man. I could be that man. Unlike Tina, Cora was just my type—if you took away the fact that she was old enough to be my mother. Fair in colour and feminine, yet sporty, my brain began to imagine her naked, bending her body around mine, as she twisted into a new pose, met my eye, and smiled. Crap. I’d been caught peering over her garden fence like a perv. At least she couldn’t read minds.

  “Morning,” I said, holding up the shears to prove I had a reason to be there, before severing a nearby branch.

  Cora nodded, turned away, and continued with her routine, but her indifference didn’t stop my eyes from drifting over, more than once, before the hedge was fully shorn.

  ***

  Sunshine streamed through a gap in the curtains, making it impossible to sleep any longer. I got up and threw on my black vest top and cargo shorts. I liked to keep in shape, but gym membership was pricey, and I didn’t want to waste a single penny of my savings on something I could do for free, so I planned to jog around the neighbourhood distributing my leaflets through letterboxes. The hardware store had had a no promotional literature on the counter policy, but they had allowed me to pin one onto their notice board. It was a start, but I had to get my butt in gear if I wanted to get the word out.

  I managed to jog to the end of the drive before stopping in my tracks. Cora was doing stretches on her front porch.

  Adjusting my bag full of leaflets higher onto my shoulder, I stared at the woman who’d been skinny dipping in her pool during my previous night’s dream. And when she bent to touch her toes, I got an eyeful of creamy cleavage, bringing back memories of her pink nipples bobbing above the water. Christ, I’d love to get a handful of those beauties.

  As she straightened up, she caught my eye, but pretended not to notice me.

  “Nice daisies,” I shouted, giving her no option but to acknowledge my presence. She narrowed her eyes and looked me up and down. Her scrutiny was intimidating, yet strangely seductive. “H-hi. How ya doing? I-I’m Johnny. I-I live next door.” Stop stuttering, man. You sound like an idiot.

  “Do you make a habit of staring at your neighbours?”

  No. Just you. “Only when I’m wondering why they have a meadow where their lawn should be.”

  She had a deep, sexy laugh. I liked it. Most girls giggled and drove me nuts. Cora’s laugh coated her throat like a mature wine. “It is a bit long, isn’t it? But I admit I’m not friendly with the lawnmower.” She strolled down the driveway, furrowing her brow as she surveyed the grass. “My husband used to take care of such things.” She sighed.

  “Used to?”

  “He’s gone.”

  I knew that. “I’m sorry.” No you’re not.

  Her laugh surfaced again, and a hot rush swept through me. “Don’t be. He’s not dead. Just dead to me.” Her words were said with so much venom, I wanted to ask why, but I held back. “I have been meaning to hire someone to take care of this, but it hasn’t been one of my priorities.”

  “I could do it … if you like.”

  She looked up through her lashes. They were the longest I’d ever seen and framed her grey eyes perfectly. “You want to mow my lawns?”

  Blood hammered through my heart and I felt it all the way to my toes. How could it be possible this woman was having such an effect on me? “Mow your lawns, pull your weeds, show your garden some love. It doesn’t seem to have had much lately.” Fuck. Did I seriously just say that?

  Thankfully my clanger went unnoticed. “It didn’t have much when John was here, either. He wasn’t the gardening type.”

  John? Shit. What a fantastic start. Now she’d be thinking about her husband every time she said my name, and most likely resent me for it. “Oh? What type was he?”

  “Ambitious. When he wasn’t at the office he was thinking about it. Our whole life revolved around his work.” She bent her legs behind her, alternately grabbing her feet to continue stretching. “Until he left, I never realised how draining it was.”

  Could her legs bend forwards as easily as they bent backwards? I imagined how her ankles crushing the sides of my neck would feel. “What happened?” I asked, immediately regretting the question. I’d just met the woman and already I was prying into her life, but for some reason, I had to know.

  She paused, as if unsure as to whether she should answer, before two words escaped on a breath. “Another woman.”

  Looking at the woman before me, beautiful, fit body, and clearly sharp minded, I couldn’t comprehend any man passing her over for someone else. He must have been insane. “His loss.”

  She studied me, deep in concentration, and I was immediately transported back to high school, when a bunch of us were pulled into the headmaster’s office after the remains of a joint was found behind B block. I’d practised my poker face that day, and was the only one not to receive detention. I used it again under Cora’s gaze. If I wanted this gig, I couldn’t let it show how much I wanted to get her in the sack.

  “What did you say your name was?” she said.

  “Johnny.” I cringed as the word came out.

  “Well, Johnny, I really must get on with my run, but if you’re serious about helping out, come over this evening and we’ll discuss the details.” The end of her sentence was carried on the wind as she pressed a button on her stopwatch and set off at a pace.

  Score.

  Chapter Four

  Not wanting to appear too eager, I killed time by taking a shower and a shave, certain that sweaty pits and stubble would not be on Cora’s list of turn-ons. At the back of my drawer, I managed to find a T-shirt without a rock band logo on it, and I slapped on a helping of aftershave, for good measure.

  It was eight o’clock when I knocked on Cora’s door. A young girl answered. “Hi,” she said. “Are you Ron’s son?”

  I realised she must be one of the famous daughters. “Grandson.”

  “That’s right. Mum’s expecting you. She’s in the lounge. I’m Nessie, by the way.”

  “Johnny,” I replied.

  I followed Nessie into the hallway. From the back she looked a lot like her mother, apart from her clothes, but somehow, I couldn’t see Cora wearing the strappy, crop top and tiny, denim hot pants, exposing the hint of ass now wiggling in front of me. I’ve always been an ass man, and the sight of her cute curves would normally have had me adjusting my dick, but I was strangely comfortable.

  Cora glanced up fr
om her book as I entered the room. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said with a weak smile.

  Figuring it wasn’t the kind of room where tatty trainers would be welcome, I kicked off my shoes and left them at the door. “Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, scanning the room in two minds about where I should sit.

  Cora was curled into one end of the cream sofa, and I didn’t want to encroach upon her personal space, so I stepped towards a nearby chair. She patted the cushion beside her with her French manicured fingernails. “You may have just been being polite.”

  I sat down next to her, leaned back leisurely, and crossed my ankles, quickly changing my mind and adjusting to a more upright position with my hands clasped between my knees. “No. I was serious. I’ve recently completed a degree in horticulture, and I’m looking for work,” I said, trying to sound professional.

  “Oh, I see. My eldest, Amy, is at university now, and my youngest, Vanessa, whom you’ve just met, is due to start there in September. Did you enjoy it?” Her grey eyes seemed genuinely interested.

  “It was a means to an end.” I didn’t want to talk about uni. I hated the way it accentuated the difference in our ages and made me feel like one of her kids. “I aim to own my own business, one day.”

  “Gardening?”

  Bit of a stupid question. “Yes. And for my first client, I’m offering special privileges.” The wink that accompanied my sentence was involuntary, but every time I saw Cora, I felt myself falling a little deeper, and my body had decided it was time to start flirting.