Christmas Pet
Her eyes sparkled like she’d been helping herself to eggnog all day long. “You went to school with her.”
I sipped my drink and mentally scanned a list of possible people. “That could be hundreds of people. Another clue.”
“You asked me about her earlier this week.”
My pulse picked up speed. No fricking way. “Sophia Landers?”
My mom nodded gleefully. “Remember her beautiful, long black hair. She dyed it blonde. It’s too brassy for her, I think. Huge mistake.”
My eyes darted around the kitchen. “Where is she?”
“In the living room with her grandmother. But before you go say hello, there’s something else I want you to guess—”
“Later.” I needed to see Sophia with my own eyes. If she had blonde hair, she might also be pregnant. Was Sophia Landers the reason Erin and Daniel Chastain were getting a divorce?
Barely able to contain my excitement, I rushed into the sitting room. Perched on the sofa with blonde hair that looked expensive and not brassy at all was Sophia Landers. I glanced down at her clearly pregnant belly.
I’d found the holy grail. When Sophia spotted me, she smiled and gave a small wave. Waving back, I walked over to her. She stood and gave me a fleeting hug. “Pearl. You look fantastic. It’s been way too long.”
“Great to see you, Sophia. Nice hair and nice bump. Who’s the lucky guy?”
She laughed, her eyes filling with love. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
I laughed back. “Oh, you’d be surprised.”Chapter Three - JamesI rolled my shoulders back and lifted my eyes to the ceiling. Erin Chastain was a woman in pain. Anger and grief consumed her, and every time we talked, she vacillated between wanting to kill Daniel and get back with him. No wasn’t a word she liked to hear, but it was something I said to her over ten times a day.
She’d suggested that she seduce him and then serve him with the divorce papers when he reappeared.
I put the kibosh on that idea. Things didn’t need to get any messier than they already were. Thank God there were no kids involved. If there was, they both would have used their children as pawns.
I’d wanted to spend the evening relaxing, but I had work to do and catch up on. Erin wasn’t my only client. She might be my most high-profile one, but I still had other people I needed to take care of.
If I had time, I would stop by the club and find a willing sub. A blow job would go a long way to relieving the stress building up in my shoulders.
The image of Pearl’s lips wrapped around my cock popped into my head again, and my dick hardened. I’d shrugged off the idea I’d had about making her my pet. It wouldn’t work. The last thing I needed was a sexual harassment charge. She didn’t understand a thing about the lifestyle.
It didn’t matter what she’d said on the phone to her friend. Pearl wasn’t what I needed. Sure, she used toys and vibrators and talked about masturbating, but getting tied up and whipped and spanked and being pleasured to the point of pain wouldn’t be her thing. But, damn, my desire for the woman was driving me insane.
My cell rang, and distractedly I picked it up. “Hello.”
“Mr. Matthews, it’s me, Pearl.” She sounded breathless and jubilant. “It’s her. It’s Sophia. I didn’t outright ask her if Daniel Chastain was her baby daddy, but it’s for sure a possibility. She has blonde hair and is pregnant.”
I sat up straight. “Are you sure it’s the woman in the photo?”
“I’m pretty positive but, hold on, I’ll take a sneaky picture and send it to you.”
A few seconds later, a message popped up on my screen. The woman in the photo was one-hundred-percent Daniel’s mistress.
“Text me your mother’s address. I’ll be there as soon as I can. You need to find out if Daniel is the father of her baby.”
“Um, okay. It’s not like I can come right out and ask her that.”
“You’ll find a way. I have faith in you.”
It was too late to organize someone else to serve the papers. I would have to do that myself. If she was there, Daniel wouldn’t be far away.
***
Had I inadvertently wandered into a parallel universe or perhaps the North Pole? Blinking lights, candy canes, elves, and various incarnations of Santa blinded me. Tackiness was alive and kicking in Brooklyn. I pulled up outside the most brightly decorated house. Why was I not surprised that Pearl’s mother lived here?
Christmas had never been a happy occasion for my family. The holiday of goodwill to all men meant arguments and tears and Christmas trees being thrown across the living room.
Even now, as an adult, I didn’t celebrate. I went to the obligatory Christmas parties and banquets. I wished everyone happy holidays, but on the 25th of December, I worked, hoping that the day would end and that everyone would regain their sanity.