TheProfessor (6 page)

“But that’s not Billie Jean’s fault that she’s mixed race.”

Mom kissed my forehead. “I know.”

“So that’s why you see that white guy on the down low?”

“Where did you pick up that phrase, Danielle?”

“My friends at school.”

Mom gazed silently at me. Then she said, “Yes. Interracial dating, just like biracial children, is not something that’s talked about out loud by black people.”

“But why are black people so touchy about kids like Billie Jean?”

“That is a very good question. I don’t think even black people could give you a good answer. But I’m still embarrassed that you caught me.”

“Why, Mom?”

“You saw me having sex with another man besides your father. In our bed. I had fully intended to have that man out of the house and gone well before you came home from school. But I lost track of time.”

My teenage mind was having a
seriously
hard time processing any of this. “It’s okay, Mom. Really. It’s okay.”

Mom touched my face so tenderly. “How did I get so fortunate to have you?”

“Just luck, I guess?”

Mom laughed out loud. “Good answer, baby.”

“What about Dad?”

“I won’t ask you not to tell your father what you saw today. But I would appreciate it if you didn’t, just the same.”

“Don’t worry, Mom, I got your back.”

Mom let out another peal of laughter, softer this time. “Thank you, Danielle.”

“Are you guys going to get a divorce?”

“Not on your life. I intend to keep this family together. You need the stability.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“I was listening to you do your scales. You are really getting up there.”

“Thanks. But I wasn’t half as high as you were.”

“And just what are you trying to say, Danielle?”

“He must really know to put it down, Mom. That guy sure was slow to leave.”

Mom blushed again, laughing as she kissed my forehead. “I’m going to ignore what you just said. Have you had anything to eat yet?”

“No, Mom. Not since I got home.”

“We got some leftover spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge. How does that sound?”

“That sounds good, Mom.”

“Okay, baby. I’ll get dressed and make dinner. You keep working on your scales.”

And as I sat there doing my scales while Mom heated leftovers, I couldn’t help think that Mom had already corrupted me.

* * * *

Reluctantly, I came back to the present. I got up, went to the sink and splashed cold water on my face. As I patted my face with a towel, there was a knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s just me, Miss Danielle.”

I opened the door. “Hi, Naomi. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to check on you. You seemed…tense.”

“Yeah. You could say that.”

“It’s Jeff, isn’t it.”

She didn’t bother phrasing it as a question, so I didn’t bother denying it. “Yes.”

“I kind of thought so. Are you going to be okay, Miss Danielle?”

“I’ll be fine, Naomi.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.” Naomi closed the door quietly.

I gazed at myself in the mirror to pause and reflect. I hadn’t prepared myself for this. Didn’t expect that just having a white man in close proximity would only fan the flames of my desire. But that was the whole point in having him here. One way or another, I was going to have to find a way to the other side of my devious plan.

Finally I left the bathroom and made my way back to the recording studio.

Charles said, “You ready to continue, Danielle?”

I put the headphones back on. “Yes, Charles. Let’s get to work.”

Chapter Seven

Jeff

The last couple of days have been so hot that I haven’t gotten any more work done.

I’ve been at the house almost two weeks. And I’m not that anxious to leave, to be honest. The house is large, comfortable, and has central air conditioning, not to mention a large library with lots of comfortable furniture and lots of books, plus a mini movie theater with a slamming audio setup and a huge flat panel TV. I need to make a visit to an electronics store and upgrade my own setup at home.

I miss my house. Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. I even miss the people at the office. Well, some of them.

The day before yesterday, a high-pressure area parked itself in just the right position to send hot desert winds right over this area, turning a cool oasis into a desert. I’m serious, it went from seventy-five degrees one day, to eighty-five degrees the next day. Yesterday was the last day of fairly normal weather. Today was just hot, at ninety-five degrees.

It’s half-past midnight. I’m lying in bed, sweating my butt off, despite the air conditioning. Tossing and turning. Sleep was definitely not on the agenda. So I got out of bed and went to the dresser. It suddenly crossed my mind that there was a big fat swimming pool in back, just waiting to be used. Maybe a swim would help me cool off. Pulling open one drawer after another, I finally found a pair of swim trunks, bright blue with white stitching, little cargo pockets on the sides. I stripped down completely nude and pulled them on. Then I grabbed a towel and made my way down the hall, down the stairs and over to the sliding glass door.

Sliding the door open, I stepped out onto the deck.

The night air, still too warm but starting to get cool, greeted me as I stepped out. The slight breeze felt cool brushing against my bare skin, tickling the hairs on my legs. The fine hairs on my upper torso stood up. The wooden deck felt solid beneath my bare feet. Not too far away was the sound of the ocean. I felt better already.

I slid the door shut. And stopped on a dime. I heard a female voice. I realized there was someone in the pool already. Would be just my luck. Then I realized it was Danielle.

My mouth hanging open, I stood there like an idiot, watching her. She was swimming with long easy strokes, more for fun than for fitness, her chocolate curves parting the cool blue water like a whisper.

As I continued further across the deck, I stepped on something soft. Looking down, I saw it was a red night shirt. I looked at the shirt, and then I looked at Danielle.

She was swimming. In the pool. At night.
Naked
.

All of a sudden I did not know what to do. My brain said it was time to get the hell
back
inside the house. Other parts of my body were saying something entirely different. Fortunately my brain was in charge. So I started to head back inside.

Then a soft, husky voice said, “Hey.”

I turned back around and swallowed. Danielle had swum over to where I was standing. She was looking openly at me, a friendly smile on her lips.

I just said, “Hey.”

“What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?”

“Yeah. It’s too hot.”

“I know, this heat is terrible. So I’m guessing you’re not just standing there in your shorts barefoot for the fun of it?”

I grinned down at her, forgetting she was naked. “Well, I, uh,
was
planning on taking a swim to cool off, yeah.”

“So why don’t you jump in? The pool is more than big enough for two. And the water is just
fine
.” She swam closer to the rim of the pool and stood up. Her breasts were unexpectedly fully exposed. To say they were beautiful would be an understatement. They stood out from her torso like ripe chocolate melons, tempting and mouth-watering. Her nipples were erect, standing out like fudge-colored buds.

Shit
. My cock twitched. “Uh…I don’t know…”

“Oh, come on. I promise I won’t bite.”

“Well, Danielle, you don’t, uh, you’re naked.”

Her steady gaze never left my face. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“So come on, get in the pool with me…”

God help me, but I let another part of my body do the thinking instead of my brain. I tossed my towel on the nearest lounge chair and then headed over to the shallow end of the pool. I felt the beginnings of an erection as I stepped into the water. I dove all at once down in the cool blue water, then surfaced.

Danielle swam over to me. I couldn’t help but watch how the water moved over her smooth skin and completely bare chocolate body.

The tightness in my groin started getting stronger. Shit.

She stopped about arms-length away. Water dripped off her wet black hair. “There. Doesn’t that feel better?”

“Yeah, much.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, Jeff, this is quite a body you have.”

“Uh, thanks. If you work with the military, it doesn’t pay to be slow.”

“Listen to you. How do you stay in shape?”

“Oh, well, a lot of cardio. Some martial arts. Gymnastics.”

“That’s good that you do a lot of different things to stay in shape.”

“Yeah. It, uh, prevents any plateau effect.”

“Right…”

“What about you? How do you, uh, stay in shape?”

Danielle moved closer to me, making ripples in the water. “During the summer, mostly swimming.”

“Makes sense. Got to use this pool somehow.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, do you always swim in the nude?”

She shrugged, a small movement of her soft brown shoulders, looking very sheepish. “Not usually.”

I grinned, despite myself. “Not usually?”

“Well, it’s like you said, it’s way too hot to do anything.”

“So you came down here?”

“Had to cool off somehow. Cold shower wasn’t cutting it.”

I chuckled. “Guess not. So, you were saying?”

“Yes. Well. The other form of exercise I use to stay in shape, especially during the winter, is sex.”

That tightness in my groin was getting worse. “Uh, really?”

“Yes. But that hasn’t been an option lately.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

“I’ve been working so hard lately. I never seem to have any time for myself.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m always getting picked for these assignments away from the lab. I don’t have a chance to have a life.”

“Why does Marlene send you out of the office so much, anyway?”

I shrugged. “No friends. Nobody at home to miss me.”

“I’m sure someone misses you.”

“Probably not.”

“Don’t say that. What about your friends and family?”

“No friends, except for work. No family except in other states.”

Her arms were unexpectedly around my neck, her pillow-soft breasts pressing gently against my chest.

I was left speechless, standing there with my mouth hanging open. She kept holding me. I finally put my arms around her waist, to discover her skin was as silky-smooth as it looked. She just kept holding me. I don’t know how long she held me.

She pulled back slowly and I saw tears flowing down her face. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was a feather-soft whisper.

“For what?”

“Here I am, pulling you away from home. Again.”

“Don’t sweat it.”

“Don’t say that.”

“If I wasn’t here, I would be somewhere else.”

“You say you don’t have any friends. Can I be your friend?”

“Yeah. I guess so.” My brain was trying to tell me, one last time, like my mother did when I was little, to get the hell
back
inside the house,
now
. Unfortunately my body was starting to do all the talking. And
it
told me to
stay
in the pool!

“So, friend, tell me about yourself. Obviously you like computers.”

“Yeah.”

“So what else do you like? Do you like football?”

“Nah, not really. But I like basketball.”

“Really? Me, too! I never refuse a basketball game. Although I’m sort of afraid there won’t be a season with this lock-out.”

“No
sort of
about it. There won’t be, if they can’t resolve the lock-out.”

“Be nice. I’ve seen you in the library a lot in the evenings. Do you like to read?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m constantly reading. Books, magazines. Anything.”

“That’s a good thing. I’ll bet you like science fiction stuff, huh?”

“Yeah. Good guess. Fantasy stuff too.”

“Oh, like Tolkien?”

“Of course.”

“Although, I’ve also seen you reading Eric Jerome Dickey and Marcus Major.”

“Well, you know, it doesn’t hurt to read different kinds of books.”

“No. It sure doesn’t. Do you like black women?”

“Uh, well, I, uh…”

“Don’t tell me, let me guess. You’ve been too busy being incredible to really see black women and take notice of their beauty?”

“Uh, I don’t know about that. But I do like that new show,
Single Ladies
.”

“Really? I’ll bet you like it because Stacey Dash in it.”

“She’s pretty.”

Danielle raised an eyebrow. “She’s
pretty
? Is that all you have to say?”

I shrugged. “Well, I’ve never met her in real life, so I don’t even know if she would be my type. But yeah, she’s totally hot.”

“Yes, she is. Have you ever been with a black woman?”

“Uh, no. Never.”

“Time for you to find out.”

“Find out what…” I had about a second’s warning before Danielle had her arms around my neck again, but this time she leaned in and her mouth was against mine. Her beautiful lips were touching mine, with light but affectionate pressure.

When she started kissing me, anything my brain might have said got drowned out. I slipped my arms back around her waist and pulled her closer. I became a willing participant in this crime of passion. I don’t know how long we kissed.

Danielle pulled back slightly. “So, baby. You want to touch this body-body?”

“Yeah. Where should I start?”

“Are you any good at giving a girl a back rub? I could use one.”

“Sure. Let’s see what I can do.”

Her body was pliant to my touch as I turned her around and guided her to the shallow end of the pool, so that half her body was out of the water. Once there, I moved her wet hair to one side, and began to massage her shoulders.

Danielle moaned as I kneaded her shoulders. “
Mmmmmm
…
Ooooohhh
…” Her voice was soft and husky. “Oooohhhh,
Jeff
. Keep
going
!”