The Wives of Beverly Row 3: Lust Has a New Address by Abby Weeks Page B

you. I really wanted a future with you. I swear it.”
    “But how can you say that now?”
    “The thing with Trudy, I don’t want to make excuses, but it really did just happen before I even knew it. You remember that day I went over there to take her photo?”
    “Of course I do. I hated that you were going over there.”
    “Well, I got there, and she was dressed all sexy.”
    “I knew it,” Becky said.
    “And she just knew exactly what to do to me, Becky. It was almost like she hypnotized me. All I had in mind was taking photos, and the next thing I knew I’d had sex with her. It was unreal.”
    “I bet it was,” Becky said. She wasn’t impressed with Kyle’s explanation but she knew it was probably the truth. She saw Trudy coming at him a mile away and she knew enough about boys to know that they didn’t have much resistance when a woman came on to them like that.
    “I know this sounds like a cliché,” Kyle said, “but it basically was over before I even knew it had begun.”
    “And then you went back for more last night,” Becky said.
    Kyle looked at her and she knew he didn’t have any explanation for that. “Yes, I did. And I admit it, I pretty much knew what was going to happen last night and I went over anyway. I wanted it.”
    Becky nodded and listened. She was quiet. She wasn’t sure what to say.
    “The thing is,” Kyle said, “you want to know what I was thinking as I did those things with Trudy?”
    “What?”
    “I was thinking that I could use everything I learned with Trudy on you.”
    “That’s weird.”
    “No, listen,” Kyle continued. “She’s experienced. She knows about sex. I don’t know anything. I was thinking, whatever she told me to do, whatever she really liked, I could then do it to you, and you’d love it.”
    Becky listened. It was actually a pretty smart idea. “Well,” she said, “it did feel really good when you went down on me.”
    “Right,” Kyle said, “it was amazing .”
    “It was amazing,” Becky said.
    “So I was thinking,” Kyle continued, “that we could take everything I learn from Trudy, and we could use that to pleasure each other.”
    Becky looked at him. She knew it was a crazy idea, she knew that wasn’t how monogamous relationships worked, but something about the idea thrilled her. It was the fact that she and Kyle together would be using Trudy. They’d be the ones getting all the benefit, taking all her knowledge and then using it to make their own sex life better. It would be something that she and Kyle could have, that they could share, that would be all theirs.
    And it would be kinky as hell!
    “Show me what she taught you last night,” Becky said.
    Kyle looked at her. “Right now? My mom’s downstairs!”
    “Okay,” Becky said, “but tonight, you’re going to take me up to our spot in your truck, and you’re going to show me everything .”

XII
    A RIEL STOOD IN FRONT OF the enormous, four-hundred-year-old canvas and took a deep breath. She was really doing it, she was going ahead with Gabe’s plan and getting herself involved in what could possibly be the most dangerous and foolhardy project of her life. And the thing was, despite all the risk, all of the danger of their project, she was thrilled. She couldn’t wait to test herself, test her skill against this canvas.
    She picked up the brush and examined it. Gabe had thought of everything. Even the brushes were ancient, made of the same hog-bristles that Rembrandt had used. The handles had been sharpened with a paring knife. It was another unusual technique that Rembrandt had pioneered, using the sharpened end of the brush to scratch into the primer or make markings in the paint. Gabe had thought of everything, right down to the tiniest detail.
    She opened the pot of glue-chalk gesso and began putting down the first layer of primer. It was essential to prepare the canvas properly. When she’d layered on the primer she went over to the window and waited for it to