Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“Hello,” he said, noting the number calling as he yanked the earpiece for his equipment that allowed him to hear into Kylie’s house.

“Hey, little brother,” Megan said, sounding cheerful yet tired. She always sounded tired these days. “Word on the street is that you might have found a hot little number.”

“What?” he hissed, rolling his eyes. “Hold on a minute.” He dropped the earpiece that had a cord attached to a black box in his passenger seat. Then grabbing his Bluetooth out of the cubby on his dash where a CD player or some other modern contraption could be installed if he were so inclined, he shoved it in his ear. “Do I even want to ask what you might have heard?”

Before Megan, his sister and mother of his nieces, spoke he was positive he heard amusement in her sigh. “It appears the girls spent the afternoon with a Kylie Dover. I admit freaking on it a bit, even with Diane there, too, until they told me you were part of this gathering as well. Mind filling me in on what’s going on?”

“What did the girls tell you?”

“You know I hate it when you answer my questions with questions.”

He knew. He also was curious whether the girls had told Megan a different story about Kylie than what they had told him. When he didn’t respond, Megan sighed again, sounding slightly less amused, and continued. “Dani met her first at the bowling alley earlier this week. They tell me she’s working on her thesis over at KU but came here to get a different perspective from teenagers. Apparently she’s going to several different towns before writing her thesis and turning it in. They tell me she’s a cultural anthropologist and is focusing on teenagers as a subculture within our social structure. From what I heard, it sounds as if she actually has some interesting data gathered.”

“She told the girls what data she’s gathered?” It wasn’t jealousy or envy that stabbed at his insides. Just because Kylie wouldn’t let him see her work but shared it with his nieces didn’t mean shit. He did barge in on her and accuse her of playing investigator. And the jury was still out on that one.

“Dani told me she saw some of Kylie’s notes. She’s convinced that fourteen-to sixteen-year-old girls are more daring on the computer than seventeen-and eighteen-year-old girls. Apparently, although all girls in that age group seem to have no problem meeting people they don’t know after talking to them online, girls in the fourteen-to sixteen-year-old bracket are more inclined to meet boys for dates than teenagers in other age brackets.” Megan paused and sipped at a drink.

He pictured his sister gripping her glass of iced tea, drinking and then getting that faraway look in her eyes like she always did when she digested information. “What was Dani’s take on all of that?”

“Are you kidding? Dani tell me what she’s thinking?” Megan laughed. “So anyway, the girls think it would be great to have Kylie over for dinner. And I admit I’m a bit curious about her. How does next Wednesday night sound to you?”

“Why are you asking me?” Perry scowled, already guessing the outcome of the conversation. He hated his sister trying to match him up with anyone. “If you want to meet Kylie, that’s your business. I’ll be busy.”

“You will not,” Megan snapped. “And I expect you to invite her over. Let’s say six thirty. That gives me time to get home from work and I’ll have the girls focus on supper.”

Perry turned onto his street and slowed, hitting his brights before he reached his driveway. “Megan, you know I hate it when you get your hopes up about something.”

“Perry. I’m a widow with four teenage daughters. I work two jobs and have no life. Let me do this. It will be fun and something to look forward to,” she said, pausing as her tone turned serious. “Or are you telling me that there is absolutely no chemistry whatsoever between the two of you?”

He didn’t mean to hesitate with his answer. Perry glanced in his rearview mirror and then across his yard when his headlights swooped over his large, neatly mowed corner lot. It was habit, confirming that no one lurked waiting for him to get out of his Jeep. Years of being on the force, knowing he was personally responsible for more than one criminal going to jail, made it habitual to watch his ass coming and leaving his home.

“That’s what I thought,” Megan said smugly, as if he’d responded. “Then next Wednesday at six thirty. Be sure and tell me when she confirms.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he grumbled, and parked the Jeep outside his garage door, which was closed. “Talk to you later, Sis.”

“Love you, little bro,” she chirped, and hung up the phone.

Perry grabbed his monitoring equipment and cell phone and then headed inside. He showered, something that usually helped him unwind after coming home, but tonight he was wound just as tight after slipping into his sweatpants and padding barefoot to his kitchen for a beer.

He opened his refrigerator, staring at the bleak contents before leaning over and pulling out one of several longneck beers. Twisting the cap off, he tossed it in the trash and grabbed the monitoring equipment.

Perry’s den faced the front of his house and oftentimes served as his bedroom as well as a computer room. After closing his blinds and placing the small black box next to his computer, he changed the settings so he could hear everything without earphones and slumped into his chair behind his computer.

His desktop appeared on his monitor when he moved his mouse and at the same time the audio started crackling on his monitoring equipment. Perry strained to hear what was picked up on the bugs in Kylie’s home.

“You’re still up, sweetheart,” he whispered, staring at the nondescript black box.

Before tonight, his interest in Kylie was physical. He hated thinking that a grown woman wearing such innocent-looking yet incredibly seductive minidresses could get him hard as stone when so many other women had tried and didn’t hold his interest. Granted, listening and watching her over the past couple of days had piqued his curiosity, and more than physically. Although any time he got anywhere around her his cock grew harder than steel.

But there were things about her that bugged him. The simplicity of her house, no knickknacks, no pictures, barely any furniture, seemed odd. It also bugged him that being in her company brought forth more than just a craving to sink into her hot little pussy. She questioned his nieces like a pro, using a pattern, building her line of questioning like a professional. And then so easily blew him off, using the lame excuse that she couldn’t show him her schoolwork until it was done.

Things didn’t add up, but that didn’t make her a criminal or an amateur detective. Regardless of his inability to figure her out, Perry was a patient man. He would learn what she was about. And there was more to Miss Kylie Dover than just being a student.

Reclining in his chair, he picked up his sweating bottle of beer and guzzled half of it while moving his mouse over the icon to check mail. Nothing came over the monitoring equipment other than occasional static popping, probably the result of some small noise in her home that the device barely registered. When he opened his mail, the chat feature automatically signed in as well. Immediately Dani popped up with an instant message box.

Did you ask her? She put a silly smiley face at the end of the question.

Chatting online wasn’t one of Perry’s strong points. He didn’t like a means of communications that eliminated body language.

No . He typed the answer, which was immediately followed by a frowning face.

Mom says she wants to meet her if we’re going to spend time with her . Now Dani presented her argument in an effort to corner him into doing the dirty deed. So you’ve got to ask her , she added before he could even think about what to say to her previous comment.