He frowned at her as she jumped, but said nothing, just poured two glasses of wine and set them down on the table as she dished up the omelettes onto warmed plates.
They sat opposite each other at the table and suddenly she felt uncomfortable to be under his gaze and knew that he was aware of it, but still he said nothing.
She sipped her wine before adding salad to her plate.
Jim was already tucking in. “This is very good. It still surprises me that you can cook.”
“Thank you, I think, not that an omelette is really cooking.”
“So, we should start our Q&A sessions tonight. You can go first if you’d like to.” He continued eating.
With a short nod she began, “Tell me about your past.”
He frowned. “You’ll need to be more specific in your questioning.”
“Your past, your relationships,” she expanded.
“More specific,” he repeated.
“Your significant relationships,” she said now.
“More specific, Tasha. Who? What?”
“I don’t really know what I’m asking,” she admitted, causing him to smile before she continued. “I asked you to tell me more about you, your past and I know I asked that one of your boundaries should be to be less intrusive about my sexual past, but I know nothing about your past, sexual or otherwise.”
He put his knife and fork down. “Ask what you want to know. I’m very honest, Tasha, and if you overstep the mark I will let you know.”
“How did you get to be so good at sex, knowledgeable?” she asked, almost cringing as she heard the question out loud.
Jim laughed and took a sip of his wine before responding, “Practise.”
She cut her eyes at his flippant response making him smile.
“I will happily put you across my knee if you do that thing with your eyes again tonight,” he said seriously.
She could feel her insides clenching at the prospect of it but the subtle sting that remained in her behind reminded her that it may be a little too soon to re-tread that particular path.
“Sorry. I said I would be honest with you, baby, and I’m kind of being an ass. Practise is the honest answer because I have always had quite a healthy appetite where sex is concerned, so I guess it started from my first time.”
“Your first time?” She was still unsure what she was asking but also wondered if she really needed to know about his sexual past from day one. The truth was she wanted to know, but maybe didn’t need to. Nerves settled in the pit of her stomach, knowing that once she knew the details there was no taking them back or denying them. She considered changing her question, stopping Jim from continuing, but he was already speaking.
“When we were fourteen Bobby and I both took jobs; Bobby had a paper round and I quickly worked out that in order to make serious money, which I had always craved, I needed to do something with the scope to expand or diversify so I went around our neighbourhood washing cars, cutting lawns, whatever needed doing that I could get paid for and within six weeks I’d made $500. One house where I did some odd jobs was the house of a girl I went to school with, Sally Carter. Oh my, Sally Carter,” he mused in a breathless voice.
“That’s Angie’s name, Carter,” Tasha said with a small smile, wondering if these women were in any way related, although it was a common enough name.
“Oh, yeah. Weird. You might want to put that out of your mind once you’ve heard the rest of this,” Jim said seriously, too seriously.
Tasha could feel slight jealous rising in her which she knew was ridiculous and was unsure if it was the foolishness of her reaction or the jealousy itself that caused her to frown at him.
“I’m not a big fan of the frown either, but so long as it wasn’t the thing with the eyes your ass is safe, for now,” he threatened, making her gasp slightly as she felt the familiar stirrings in her lower body. He laughed as he stretched over and lifted her chin, making her realise she had beencatching fliesat his threat.
“So, Sally Carter?” said Tasha.
“Yes, she was a very pretty blonde and we were in some of the same classes, but I had never really had much to do with her. One day after cleaning her mom’s car she and I got talking and enjoyed a few laughs and as her mom was out and her dad was away overseas we kissed and made out a little. After a little fumbling we ended up rolling around on her bed half-dressed and then her mom came back so it stopped there for a couple of days until we went to watch a movie and afterwards we went back to her house and had sex. It wasn’t brilliant, but at the time it was out of this world. We continued to see each other for a couple of months and had sex at every opportunity. One day, just after my sixteenth birthday I went round to clean the pool and Sally was out, but her mom, Mrs Carter, Laine, was at home and while I cleaned the pool she lounged at the side of it in a very little bikini, not that different to yours actually.” His comparison made her irrational jealousy rise and her brow furrow into a frown again.
“That will be the last frown for tonight too, honey,” he warned. “Poor Laine was having some difficulty applying her sun cream to her back so asked if I would assist her, which I was more than happy to do and after applying the cream to her back she asked if I would cream her front.” He laughed at the memory. “I will spare you the details, baby, but she was very skilled and a very good teacher, but insisted I couldn’t continue seeing Sally, so I broke things off with her and only ever went to clean the pool and car when Sally was out and Mr Carter was overseas. I guess that carried on for about a year, but it was fun and any other girlfriends I had at the time and since have benefited from Mrs Carter’s expertise.” He laughed again. “I practised lots, from that first time with Sally to right now with you.” He refilled her wine glass.
“She sounds a real good Samaritan, Mrs Carter, seducing a sixteen year old boy, but insisting that he couldn’t continue screwing her daughter and her. Quite the moral majority,” she pouted.
