My Kind of Girl (12 page)

Now that she was thirty, Traci had
decided that unless she was in a committed relationship there would
be no sex involved, and yet she had a feeling that sex with Sean
wouldn’t be casual. It would be overwhelmingly passionate and
incredible. The sample she’d received at her apartment was
mind-blowing. A tingle pulsed between her legs and her body shook
with pure excitement of what could’ve transpired that evening, but
it was too soon even though she desired to be with him and would
worry about the consequences of breaking her rule later.

Traci opened one of the drawers to the
island which held his silk boxers. Those would definitely fall off
of her and she found a drawer with T-shirts. She pulled out one of
his medical school shirts that would probably hang off of her as
well. Her eye caught a few bathrobes hanging on the casual side,
and she was relieved when she found one that was shorter than the
rest. She figured the paisley robe would have to do temporarily
while she threw the clothes she was wearing in the washing machine
that she’d spotted in the back of the closet area past the rows of
dress shoes he owned. There had to be at least one hundred pairs of
shoes, all perfectly shiny and color-coordinator of
course.

Traci still couldn’t believe she’d
agreed to stay, shower, and put on something that belonged to Sean;
however, she wanted to see him again. She’d thought about him
constantly since the night at her apartment. She could barely
concentrate last night at the Botanical Gardens while she gave a
private tour of the new orchid conservatory to some of the board
members. All she could envision was Sean’s heated eyes as he raked
his tongue across her skin, or tugging and sucking at her nipples
that pebbled at the mere thought of his lips on them. At one point
in the evening, she’d looked down to see her nipples were perked up
under her dress that normally wouldn’t even need a bra. Luckily,
she had on a shawl just in case the air became cooler and pulled it
closer to her body to hide the obvious while hoping none of the old
gentlemen had noticed.

Her cell phone rung, sending her out
of her amorous thoughts. She figured it was her mother returning
her phone call, but it was Caitlyn. Traci hadn’t spoken to her
mother in a few days and was worried.

“
Hey, Traci. Whatcha doing
on this sunny Sunday afternoon?” Caitlyn’s tone was upbeat as
always. She couldn’t think of a time when Cait wasn’t in a
pleasant, fun-loving mood.

“
Um … you wouldn’t believe
me if I told you,” Traci said, fiddling around with one of Sean’s
expensive watches. It had diamonds encrusted around the face and a
shiny gold band. Realizing it was a Rolex, she set it down gently.
Taking off her socks, she tossed them next to her shorts and sat on
the floor next to the island.

“
Well, I know you’re not
home because I just finished banging on your door when I returned
from the laundry room.”

“
I’m sitting in Sean’s
closet.”

“
Oh my. Where is he? Wait,
why are you in the closet? Is it a
special
closet with sex
toys?”

“
Get your mind out of the
gutter. He’s at his sister’s house not far from here. I was
finishing up planting some flowers in the front lawn, and he asked
me to stay. I was going to go home to shower and change and come
back, but he’s only a few minutes away. He said I could shower in
his bathroom and throw on something of his even though all of his
things are way too big for me.”

“
OMG! You’re in his house
alone? Are you snooping through his things? Does he have a sex
room? I bet he does!”

Traci chuckled at her friend’s
overzealousness. “Calm down. I’m not snooping, and I definitely
don’t want to know if he has a sex room.” The thought sent a shiver
to race through her. If he indeed had one, she didn’t know if she’d
been intrigued or terrified. Maybe a little of both, but after the
other night she sensed that Sean wouldn’t do anything she wouldn’t
feel comfortable with.

“
Well, you said that model
was there with handcuffs and a whip. I’m sure he keeps his toys
locked up somewhere. You’re in his closet now. See any good hiding
places? There could be a secret room somewhere.”

“
Cait, I highly doubt that
and I’m surely not going to find out.” Standing, she took off the
rest of her clothes and hiked to the washing machine.

“
Fine, but please keep me
posted. You can always take pictures and text them to
me.”

“
You’re crazy, girlie, and
I’m changing the subject. So are you going to see Garrett again? He
seemed like a really cool guy.”

“
Mmm … no. He is a nice
guy, but after you and Sean left and we sat back down, his
attention was distracted for the rest of the night by the tall
chick with the weave ponytail that had joined you for a moment. He
couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.”

“
I don’t think that’s
weave, and from what I heard when she was at the table chatting
with Sean, she’s not interested in Garrett.”

“
Nah … there was a knowing
flash between them as we were leaving to chill at my place. I saw
it. She looked jealous as hell when he left with me.”

“
Maybe, but she’s moving to
Georgia soon so I wouldn’t write him off just yet. Keep your
options open, Cait.”

“
I will. Well, I was
calling to see if you wanted to catch a movie, but you may be
making one of your own tonight with Dr. Feel Good so I’ll see you
tomorrow at work.”

“
Laughing out loud! Girl,
you know I would never do a home movie.”
Would I?
She was already slightly
curious about whether or not he had a sex room. She shook the
thought from her brain and said good-bye to Caitlyn before she
started searching for a room with chains, whips, and
swings.

After the refreshing shower, she
wrapped his bathrobe around her and tied the belt tightly at the
waist. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she laughed as his robe
hung miserably off of her body. Her eyes perused over his
toiletries on the vanity. He had an electric toothbrush, a few
bottles of cologne and deodorant. Nothing out of the ordinary even
though Caitlyn’s suggestion of a sex room had her vaguely curious.
She slowly opened one of the drawers to the vanity. It held his
hair supplies. Traci closed it and opened the one next to it and
almost gasped when her eyes landed on two boxes of extra-large
condoms. She shut it and her eyes. She reopened the drawer slowly
again with one eye open and peeked at the boxes. She took one of
them out, but tossed it quickly into the drawer. She closed it once
more and stepped back, feeling guilty that she’d opened the drawers
in the first place.

Traci wasn’t one to go through a man’s
things so she wasn’t going to start now. Sean trusted her in his
home alone, and she didn’t want to abuse that privilege. Now she
wished she hadn’t seen the boxes of condoms. And extra-large at
that! She couldn’t even imagine how that would be as a cold quiver
raced through her.

Grabbing her glasses and cell phone
from the sink, Traci retreated back to the bedroom only to find
Sean seated in the sitting area cheering on the Tennessee Titan’s
football game.

“
Oh! I didn’t know you were
here.”
When the heck did he arrive?
She thought she had at least another forty-five
minutes alone. She had hoped by the time he came home, her clothes
would be washed and dried, but they were still on the rinse cycle
when she’d last checked on them.

His eyes raked over her and a wide,
devilish grin reached across his face. “Just came in a moment ago.”
He perused his eyes over her once more. “You look cute in my
bathrobe. Come here so I can roll up the sleeves.”

“
Okay.” She put on her
glasses and walked in his direction. Now she felt even guiltier for
opening his drawers. He was just in the next room. What if Sean had
walked in on her why she was staring at the condoms with her mouth
hanging open? Another nervous shiver ran through her at the
thought.

“
Are you all right?” he
asked, as he rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. “You look like
you just saw a ghost.”

“
Oh … no … I’m fine. Just a
little tired.” She sat on the couch and stared up at the television
so she couldn’t make eye contact with him. “How was the meeting for
your parents’ anniversary?”

“
It was good. I think
they’re really to going to enjoy it. Mom is mad she isn’t in on the
planning, but it’s their 45
^th
and we wanted to do something
special for them. However, she tries to offer input through
Raven.”

“
I can see her doing that.
She’s a perfectionist.”

Traci’s cell phone vibrated in her
hand. This time it was her mother. She’d been trying contact her
mother for the past few days including going to her home that
morning. Her car wasn’t in the garage and when Traci went inside
the home, she checked the bathroom and Mildred’s toiletries weren’t
there.

“
Hello, Mom.” She was
relieved to hear her mother’s voice. They never went two days
without speaking no matter what.

“
Hey, Tray. I was returning
your phone call.”

“
I just wanted to check on
you. Hadn’t spoken to you in a few days. Everything okay? I came by
the house this morning, but you weren’t there.”

“
Oh … I … um …” Her
mother’s voice trailed off into a muffled mumble.

“
You what?” Traci raised
her voice, and she noticed Sean glance in her direction with a
concerned expression. She walked back into the bathroom for she
could feel her emotions rising, and she didn’t want that to happen
in front of Sean. Closing the door, she sat on the edge of the
bathtub.

“
I’m not in town,” her
mother stated slowly.

“
Where are you?” Traci
asked as calmly as possible even though she had an inkling that her
mother was in Tunica, Mississippi hanging at a casino.

“
I’m in Vegas.”

“
Vegas?” Traci yelled so
loud she was certain Sean heard her through the closed door. She
lowered her voice, but her anger didn’t go away. “What the hell are
you doing in Vegas?”

“
It was a last minute trip.
I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Traci sighed as she asked the dreaded
question. “Are you playing poker?” It was her mother’s favorite
game and while she was actually good at it, she didn’t always
win.

“
Not anymore. I’m done for
the day. I’m in my hotel suite resting until we go to a show on the
strip. However, I won a pretty penny. I’ll give you half when I
return.”

“
I don’t want it, Mom. I
just want … no, I
need
you to stop gambling. I can’t believe you’re way in Vegas.”
The anger rising in her caused her chest to contract, and she
exhaled to calm down.

“
I’m a grown woman, Traci.
I don’t need your permission.”

She bounced up from the tub and raised
her voice even louder. “No, you just need my money whenever you
lose all of yours.” As soon as she said, Traci regretted it. She
never liked to yell at or disrespect her mother, but she was
concerned.

“
That was completely
uncalled for. I’m hanging up.”

Traci threw her phone across the room
and it landed in a broken mess by the closet door. She sat back on
the tub as the tears rushed down her face. She was at her wits end
when it came to her mother. She didn’t know what else to do at this
point. She’d tried everything to get her mother to stop gambling.
It was getting out of hand now. How many times had her mother been
to Vegas without her knowing? Traci knew about the trips to
Arkansas and Mississippi, but those casinos were only forty-five
minutes away not a bunch of states and another time
zone.

A light knock sounded on the door
reminding her that Sean was there. Taking off her foggy glasses,
she wiped her tears.

“
Come in.”

Sean’s eyes zoomed in on her and then
to her smashed up cell phone on the floor.

“
Oh … that’s the crash I
heard.” Striding toward her, he stooped down in front of her and
wiped the tears from streaming down her cheeks. “What’s wrong?” he
asked tenderly.

“
I don’t want to talk about
it. I don’t want anyone to know because it’s so embarrassing.” More
tears fell and he wiped them away.

“
You know I’m a
psychiatrist, right? I’m not going to tell anyone, dimples.” He
raised his right hand. “Patient/doctor confidentiality,” he said,
placing a comforting kiss on her forehead.

“
I’m not your
patient.”

“
Is your mother
sick?”

“
No.”

“
Depressed.”

“
No … well, I don’t know.
Stop trying to guess.”

“
I did hear you scream out
Vegas and something to do with money. Did she lose all of her
quarters on the slots?”

Traci sighed. Sean was not giving up.
“No. She thinks the slots are for amateurs. She plays blackjack and
poker, mostly poker.”

He stood and grabbed one of the
decorative hand towels from the rack by the sink. After he’d ran it
under the water he resumed his position in front of her. He wiped
her face gently and the coolness of the cloth and his concernment
made her feel a little better.