Her Superhero Lover

Turning her eyes back to the ocean, she decided to relax and enjoy the warm sunshine, when the phone inside rang. Thinking of the time, she saw it was nine forty seven, and she wondered if it might be Grady. The caller ID didn’t show a number she knew, but the title said “office,” so she was pretty confident. “Hello?”

“Good morning, beautiful,” Grady said, his rich voice flowing into her ear and making her smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Almost perfectly. It could have been better to wake up with you still holding me, but I understand, and thank you for the note.” She took the cordless handset back out onto the porch, where she could keep watching the waves. “How was your meeting?”

“Good,” he replied, and she could hear him shifting around. She imagined him in an office, wearing a starched white shirt and red tie, his suit jacket hung up on a hanger behind the door. She wondered what the rest of his office looked like. She expected it was utilitarian, but still top of the line, like almost everything else she’d seen from him. Then again, with that Lotus, maybe his business persona was more playboy. She wanted to find out. “So does this mean you’re sticking around for the day?”

“I was thinking about it, and decided to make a decision after you’d called. I’ll be honest, I’ve found a good book, and figure I can’t leave until I know how it ends. I’m just that kind of person, you know.”

Grady laughed softly, sending a light thrill through her body. It reminded her of the sound he made when they were engaging in foreplay the night before. “Well then, I shall have to remember that and keep a very good supply of interesting books on hand. So does this mean you’ll join me for dinner again tonight?”

“Actually, I had an idea,” Renee said. “I’m not working tonight, and I was wondering…. would you let me make you dinner at my apartment?” She was nervous. While Grady had seemed relaxed enough picking her up the night before, she knew there was a big difference between going to an apartment building in City Heights and actually staying there for a while. A lot of people, not just ones who were as rich as Grady, didn’t like the neighborhood. Not that she could blame them, it was that sort of neighborhood. “Unless….”

“No, I love the idea,” Grady said. “I was just thinking about how much that means to me. I mean, invited into your home so quickly, and for a home cooked meal? That’s really nice.”

Renee felt her throat tighten, and she blinked, feeling her eyes itch and start to water. Damn dusty patios. “Well, you haven’t had my cooking yet,” she joked, deflecting her emotions. “If you knew how bad I am, you’d go running the other way. Maybe all the way to Tijuana.”

Grady’s voice dropped, and his baritone words sent fresh waves of desire through her. “I doubt there is anything you’d make that could be that bad, Renee. And if I want to go to TJ, I’ll bring you along with me some time. So, how do you want to go about it? Should I meet you at your apartment?”

Renee shook her head, even though he was on the phone. “No way. That Lotus wouldn’t last a half hour at my place. Come back here, I’ll go shopping while you’re at work, and have it all ready when you get home. We can drive over to my place together, if you don’t mind. Or would you like to just have dinner here instead?”

“No, I want to see more of your place than just the front door. Besides, I bet you can show me more of your music at your place anyway. I’d love to see how you make magic that way.”

“It’s a deal then. When can I expect you?”

Grady hummed in her ear, thinking. Renee could feel a warm dampness between her legs, and knew she wanted more than just dinner with him again. “How about I get back to my place around five thirty? I can duck out of the office early this afternoon, the big stuff is taken care of. Will that give you enough time?”

“Sure will. But, I don’t know where I can go shopping around here.”

“There’s a decent market about a mile away. If you want, I have a home laptop next to the TV in the living room. It’s password protected, but you can get on with a guest account and have full Internet no problem. I know there’s more around, but I’m blanking out as to what.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I need to change out of your old PE uniform anyway and go shopping.”

Grady chuckled again, his voice dropping to a desirous whisper. “Really? Well, I bet you make that old shirt look a lot better than I ever did. You going to keep it?”

Renee bit her lip and smiled, letting a bit of her own latent need into her speech. “For the most part. I do need to take it off for a while. You see…. I’m not wearing any underwear under it right now.”

The sharp intake and held breath on the other end of the line thrilled her, and the fact she could arouse a man like Grady made her feel beautiful and wanted. Finally, he growled lightly and spoke again. “Five thirty. And you’re wearing the shirt for dinner, or else.”

“Or else? Is that a threat or a promise?”

“Perhaps both,” Grady teased, and it was Renee’s turn to hold her breath and get herself under control. Both of them chuckled, and she took a deep breath. “All right, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

“Bye.” Renee hung up the phone, then thought to herself. She could cook, she knew that. After all, as a single woman who wasn’t making huge money, she saved every dime she could by cooking for herself (and occasionally cadging off of the clubs she DJ’d at. Most of the managers were cool with it). But she hadn’t cooked for another person in at least two years. What did Grady like? More importantly, what did he like that she could cook?

“If in doubt, check his kitchen,” she said to herself, going back inside. Opening the refrigerator, she felt relief wash over her in an awesome wave. Instead of being packed with all sorts of unfamiliar ingredients or labels in foreign languages, she found normal things she would get for herself. While the quality was higher than what she got at the Supercenter she used, ground beef was ground beef, and pasta was pasta. In ten minutes, she had her plan, and rushed back to the bedroom to change. She needed her underwear, and while Grady’s shorts were comfortable, they weren’t appropriate for going to a supermarket. The t-shirt was staying though.