Full Circle (36 page)

“Andrea is the interior designer Mark hired.
She stops in every few days to check on things and suggest more
furniture.” She waved to the walls. “See this lovely shade of
taupe? This was Andrea’s idea.” She came to the top of the stairs
and pointed to a narrow glass table along the wall. “That table?
Andrea.” She stopped and did a Vanna White between two landscape
paintings hanging on the wall. “And these?”

“Let me guess,” Daniel said. “Andrea.”

Karma gave him the wink and a gun. “Bingo.”
She started down the hall to the bedroom.

“You don’t like her suggestions?” Lisa
said.

She pushed open the bedroom door and flipped
on the light. “Oh no, I love them.” Andrea had done a superb job
incorporating her style with Mark’s to give them both what they
wanted.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Karma welcomed them into the master suite.
“The woman just doesn’t know
when to stop
.” Everyone laughed
at the way she opened her eyes and pretended to choke herself. “At
this rate, she’s going to burn through Mark’s entire inheritance
before summer.”

“Wow, Karma. This is . . .”
Lisa gaped when she finally turned her attention to the room.

Karma had to admit, their bedroom was
impressive. It was one of her favorite rooms in the whole house.
Lots of natural light came through the large windows and French
doors leading to the private balcony. And the cream-colored carpet
reminded Karma of vanilla ice cream.

Which reminded her.

“Shoes off.” She waved at their feet. “No
shoes in the bedroom.” She’d never had to worry about such things
before, but with this luxurious layer of clouds on her floor, she
wasn’t letting anything that could stain, maim, discolor, or
otherwise dirty it into its midst. She needed a sign on the door
that said, “No shoes, wine, or tomato sauce beyond this point.”

Everyone dutifully took off their shoes then
wandered the bedroom like they were viewing a museum exhibit.

“Jesus, Karma!” Zach called from the
bathroom, followed immediately by, “Daniel! Get in here. You’ve
gotta see this.”

Lisa disappeared inside the walk-in closet. A
few seconds later, as Daniel entered the bathroom, Lisa poked her
head out, her face the picture of impressed.

“My whole apartment can fit in here, Karma,”
she said at the same time Zach said, “This is the kind of master
bathroom I want in our next house. Check out that showerhead. And
the tub. And . . . what? A refrigerator? Karma!” He
came to the door and looked from her to Lisa and back again. “You
have a refrigerator and coffee bar in your bathroom?
Seriously?”

“What?” Lisa abandoned the closet and hustled
into the master bath. “Holy shit, Karma!”

Karma propped herself against the doorframe.
“And the towel racks are heated, too.”

“No way.” Zach ran his fingers over one of
the racks.

It was comical watching her friends marvel
the way she had the first time she viewed the place with Mark. Now
it felt like she was finally getting used to it. Something she
never thought would happen.

After a couple more minutes of ooing and
ahing, Karma said, “Okay, so are you guys ready to see the rest of
the house?”

“I don’t know,” Lisa said. “I might never
want to go home. This is kind of depressing.” She walked out into
the hall and picked up her shoes. “Do you and Mark need a
roomie?”

Everyone laughed as she led them through the
hall in the opposite direction to a wing of bedrooms and another
hall that extended like a mini-catwalk to an empty room she and
Mark hadn’t decided what to do with, yet. It was over the garage
and large enough to be a bedroom, but not laid out as one. It could
be a home office . . . or a playroom for the kids
someday . . . or maybe even an adult playroom. Mark
had hinted at converting it into something they could use just for
them. A place where he could put the Tantra chair he still planned
on ordering

“See,” Lisa said as they peered inside the
first bedroom on their way back through. “It’s already got a bed
and everything. You’d never even know I was here. I promise.”

“Yeah, but then you’d have to listen to Mark
and me having sex,” she teased. “We can be pretty loud.”

Daniel chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve been
using your new toys.” He exchanged glances with Zach.

“Toys?” Lisa said, perking up. “What kind of
toys?” She arched one eyebrow.

“We bought Karma a few toys as an early
bridal shower gift,” Zach said. “Special toys she can use with
Mark. Man toys.”

“Really now.” Lisa eyed her.

She shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint you
guys, but we haven’t used them yet.”

“What?” Daniel’s mouth fell open. “Doesn’t he
like them?”

She turned for the stairs. “Come on. You
still have to see the main floor and the basement.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Daniel caught up to her
and grabbed her hand. “Haven’t you even shown them to him? Does he
even know you have them?”

“We’ve just been so busy,” she said, trying
to break away.

“Excuses, excuses. Now you’re starting to
sound like him putting off the wedding date.”

Lisa crossed her arms. “Would someone please
tell me what kinds of toys we’re talking about so I can catch
up.”

At the same time, Zach and Daniel said, “Butt
plugs and cock rings.”

“Excuse me?” Lisa’s forehead wrinkled as a
dumbfounded expression overtook her face. “Butt
whats
and
cock rings?”

“Plugs,” Daniel grinned and let go of Karma’s
hand. “Mark has a thing for having his prostate stimulated.”

“You weren’t supposed to say anything,” Karma
said, huffing at them.

Daniel held up his hands as if warding off
further scorn. “Sorry, but I figured she knew already. You usually
tell her everything.”

Lisa cocked her head to the side. “I’m
lost.”

“Oh, God. Not you, too.” Zach glanced from
Lisa to Karma. “Do women simply not understand the power of the
prostate?”

Karma started down the stairs, thinking of
Nina, who had likely been the one to introduce Mark to the power of
his
prostate. “I’m sure some do.”

“Well, men need to do a better job cluing you
ladies in. Everyone says the way to a man’s heart is through his
stomach, but they’re wrong. The prostate is the gateway to keeping
a man satisfied, honey. Tickle him right, and he’ll never leave
you.”

Lisa brought up the rear, no pun intended.
“What do butt plugs, or whatever you called them, have to do with a
man’s prostate?”

At the bottom of the stairs, Daniel and Zach
stopped and looked at her. “We’ll show you later.”

The way Daniel spoke with a hint of mischief
prickled Karma’s awareness. “What do you mean, you’ll show her
later?” she asked suspiciously. “What have you two done now?”

Zach laughed and reached out his hand. “Give
me the keys, babe. I’ll go get it.”

Daniel smirked and nodded then handed over
his keys. “Might as well.”

“Get what?” Karma watched Zach dart out the
front door.

“You’ll see.” Daniel motioned for her to
continue the tour.

Reluctantly, she took them to the basement.
Zach showed back up as they peeked into the workout room, where
Karma’s stationary bike and treadmill were already set up, along
with a combination of his-and-her-free weights.

He handed her a gift-wrapped box.

“What’s this?”

“Just another early bridal shower gift.”

She and Mark didn’t even have a wedding date,
and already she was receiving bridal shower gifts.

“Go ahead. Open it,” Daniel took Zach’s hand,
and the two watched like proud, gay Jedi Masters as their
apprentice finished building her first light saber.

She sliced the paper with her fingernail then
ripped it back to reveal a black and red box. Actually, it was two
black and red boxes. As the paper tore away, the boxes tumbled out
and nearly fell to the floor before she secured them in her hands
with a little help from Lisa.

“What is it?” Lisa said, peering closer.

On one box, in bold red letter, was the word
ADAM. On the other was the same red font, only it read EVE. On both
packages, in small, clean script, were the words,
From Eve’s
temptation came Adam’s desire
.

“It’s a his-and-her gift,” Zach said, stepping
forward and taking the boxes. “See, this is for the man.” He lifted
the Adam box, displaying the image of the black probe-looking thing
with two slender, curly-Q handles at the base. “And this is for
you.” He handed her the Eve box and pointed. “See, it’s for Kegels.
And this . . .” He lifted the Adam box again. “Well,
this will blow Mark’s world. I’m telling you. Guaranteed.”

Daniel nodded so aggressively she knew they
were speaking from experience.

Lisa took the box from Zach. “So, are you
telling me this . . .” She pointed at the black
thing that looked a bit like a large, swollen thumb, bigger on the
end than at the base. “This goes inside his . . .
his . . .”

“His ass,” Zach said, ever the blunt one.

Lisa covered her mouth, eyes wide. “Oh my
God. Seriously? Mark likes that. He actually wants you to do this
to him?”

Daniel nudged Lisa’s shoulder. “Trust me, she
wants
to do this to him.” He turned his attention to Karma.
“Karma, even if he had never told you he liked this sort of thing,
he would be forever grateful to you for giving him this. Trust me,
he will never come harder or longer or as many times in a row as
this little baby will allow him to do. Just . . .”
He exchanged eager glances with Zach. “Yeah, this one is a keeper.
Absolutely. It takes a bit to get used to if he’s never used one,
but once he hits the spot . . ” He rolled his eyes
and raised his hands in front of him as if praising Jesus. “Wow,
Karma. All I can say is wow.”

“And thank you,” Zach added. “Because if you
hadn’t shared with us what Mark told you, Danny and I never would
have done a little shopping for ourselves, and we never would have
discovered this precious little darling. So,
yeeesssss
,
Karma.” He grabbed her hands and practically bowed fealty. “Thank
you, thank you, dear God,
thank you
.”

Okay then. Apparently, the Adam was a
must-try. “You’re welcome, I think.” She giggled at the way Daniel
and Zach gushed over themselves to convince her of the Adam’s
potential.

Lisa handed the box back to Karma. “Well, I’m
sold. Next time I’ve got a man in my life, I’m making him try one
of those.”

“You won’t regret it,” Zach said. “Danny and
I did a lot of reading on the website about it, and while men
who’ve used it raved about how they could walk around with it in,
they rarely made it past an hour, because the thing just sets them
off. Just, like, in a blink.” Zach snapped his fingers. “It would
move a certain way, and then it was orgasm city, just out of
nowhere. One testimonial said the guy sprayed his cabinets and
didn’t even get an erection. He said that his wife tried to get him
to the bedroom, but that every few steps, it would start over. He
just kept coming. And then I guess the sex was off the charts, even
for her. When he finally full-on ejaculated, it lasted for five
minutes, and his wife just kept coming with him. And Danny and I
can vouch for the accuracy, because—”

Karma and Lisa held up their hands at the
same time, cringing. “We get the idea.”

“Yeah,” Lisa added. “TMI.
Way
TMI.”

“Sorry.” Zach grinned as if he was anything
but sorry. “Just got carried away.”

“Obviously.” Karma glanced down at mankind’s
greatest sexual secret.

And was it hot in the basement or what? She
couldn’t listen to Zach carry on any more about how the Adam could
send Mark’s ejaculatory reflex into outer space without wanting to
excuse herself to relieve a little of her own frustration. Mark had
been gone a week, and he’d only been home ten days out of the last
thirty. After what they’d done to each other in Chicago, that
wasn’t enough. She was seriously Jonesing for a repeat
performance.

As if reading her mind, Lisa said, “When does
Mark get home?”

“Tomorrow.” He’d flown to Florida Monday,
then to Minnesota Wednesday morning, and then into Chicago Thursday
night. He’d spent Friday with a client, and then had dinner with
his parents. Today, he was visiting with Rob and Holly, who had
recently announced she was pregnant.

When Mark got home tomorrow, she was
determined to corner him for a little private time.

She glanced at the boxes in her hands.

Okay, make that a
lot
of private
time.

Chapter 22

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

-Neale Donald Walsch

Mark shook Rob’s hand then gave him the
tissue-wrapped gift he’d bought last night at Tiffany’s. Nothing
big, just a silver picture frame. Something to put their first baby
picture in.

“Congratulations,” he said, hugging
Holly.

“Thank you.” She placed her palm on her
stomach, already doting on the unborn child who, from what Rob had
texted last night, was already giving Holly terrible bouts of
morning sickness. But there was no sign of sickness right now.
Holly’s cheeks were flushed, eyes bright, lips plump.

“You look good,” he said to her.

“It’s a good day.” She grabbed Mark’s hand
and led him into the living room. “A perfect day for what Rob and I
have planned for you.”

“I told her not to do this,” Rob said,
laughing, “but she’s shown me the light.”

He cast Rob a questioning glance, feeling a
bit like a dog being led on a leash. “And what light would that
be?”

“To never disagree with a pregnant woman. It
doesn’t end well.”

Holly laughed. “Don’t listen to him. I’m not
that bad. I’m really quite agreeable, given the circumstances.”