Выбрать главу

Norma Egan

The new neighbor

CHAPTER ONE

Gloria Benson had two itches she couldn't satisfy. One of those itches was all too familiar, a hot melting sensation in her pussy that told her she needed a man. The other itch was more vague, a longing to be Somebody, to belong to the rich and glamorous clique of young couples in her new neighborhood.

Gloria was sunning herself on that warm October day in Los Angeles or pretending to sun herself. She kept glancing into the next yard where a cocktail party and barbecue was going on. She wished desperately that she'd been invited. She wanted to be part of that glamorous crowd of laughing couples. And besides, there were hordes of handsome and sexy men over there.

"Dammit," Gloria muttered to herself, "why won't they even say hello to me?"

Since her divorce six months ago, Gloria had been looking for a posh neighborhood to move into, and at last she'd found it. Her former husband, Eddie, was a millworker and a very nice guy, but he'd never been able to give Gloria anything but cheap apartments and little crackerbox houses. They'd been nobodies. When they divorced, Gloria had been determined to make her way to the top of the social scene.

So here she was in one of the most swinging young neighborhoods in L.A., and the neighbors wouldn't even acknowledge her existence. If she said hello or smiled, they'd snub her. Obviously they thought she wasn't good enough for them. Gloria was getting desperate. She was lonely – lonely for people to hang out with, lonely for the exciting touch of a man's body in bed.

She didn't think she could hold out much longer, but what was she going to do? She'd tried everything she could think of to break the neighborhood clique. It wasn't as if she were stupid or elderly or ugly. Not in any sense of the word was she ugly. So what was bugging those people? Why wouldn't they admit her into the group?

"Shit," Gloria muttered.

She walked from her patio into her small but expensive Spanish-style house and made her way down the hall to her bedroom. There was a full-length mirror there, and she studied herself in it, trying to figure out what it was that turned her new neighbors off. She was wearing a skimpy bikini swimsuit, just like the rest of the women.

In the mirror Gloria saw a beautiful twenty-eight-year-old woman of average height with a spectacular figure. From her long thick auburn hair down to her long shapely legs, everything was nice to look at. She turned slowly, studying her pert little ass and her thrusting large breasts. Her skin was tan and silky and flawless. She had big green eyes with heavy natural lashes, a turned-up nose, and a naturally red sensual mouth.

"Hell," she said, "I look damned good."

It was true. There was nothing about her to turn anyone off. Rut maybe that was just the problem. Finally it dawned on Gloria that the young wives of the neighborhood might be afraid of her. They knew she was a divorcee and available. Maybe they were afraid she'd take their men.

"And why not?" Gloria asked herself with an impish grin.

So far she'd tried to make friends only with the women on the block. What if she started being friendly with the men? She might kill two birds with one stone. She might get invited to neighborhood parties, and she might get laid. And she sure as hell needed to get laid. It had been six months since she'd had a man.

But it would be a wicked and brazen thing to do, seducing married men in order to break into that snobbish little group. Would she have the nerve? She'd been a faithful wife to Eddie during the seven years of their marriage. She didn't even approve of playing around. Now things were different, though, and she was willing to do damned near anything to be accepted by her new neighbors.

"It's worth a try," Gloria said grimly. "Nothing else has worked."

She took one final glance at her superb supple figure and marched out onto the patio again. The party was just breaking up next door, and she noticed that everyone glanced at her as she appeared on the patio again. The women's looks were freezingly hostile, but the men's glances showed obvious interest.

Okay, Gloria thought, no more Mrs. Nice Guy.

She studied the party guests as they started to drift off. One man was clearly trying to get his wife to go home, but the woman was engaged in some hot gossip with another wife. The man shrugged and started to walk off by himself. Gloria gathered her courage and strolled over to him, first making sure that no one else was looking.

"Hello there," she said, flashing the man a big smile.

He blushed clear to his toes. "Oh, uh, hello," he said.

He was hardly the sexiest guy at the party.

Rather short and skinny, his sandy hair starting to thin on top, he wore horned-rimmed glasses and looked meek and bashful. Gloria had singled him out on purpose. If she were going to break into the group, she'd have to start with the weakest link in the chain.

"I'm Gloria Benson," she said. "I suppose I'm being awfully nervy, but I wonder if you could look at a leaky faucet in my kitchen? I just moved in, and I don't know anybody who can help."

"Oh, uh, sure," the man said, blushing even hotter. "By the way, my name is Howard Ross."

"This way, please, Howard," Gloria purred.

She led him into her kitchen, walking slowly and swinging her delectable little butt, giving him plenty of time to admire her ripe but trim figure in the tight black bikini. She really did have a leaky faucet, and Howard Ross went right to it, giving it serious attention. He seemed terribly embarrassed to be alone with her.

"What do you do for a living, Howard?" Gloria asked.

"I'm an accountant," he mumbled.

"That must have been your wife you were talking to?" Gloria said.

"Yes, Peg and I have four kids," Howard said hastily.

If he thought that was going to turn her off, he was wrong. Gloria moved up close beside him at the kitchen sink and watched him work. At least he knew what he was doing. He had the dripping faucet fixed in no time. But Gloria noticed that his hands were sweating and that he couldn't stop blushing.

"That should do it," Howard said, stepping back.

"You're marvelous," Gloria cooed. "It's so good of you to help a total stranger. Please, let me fix you a drink before you leave."

She expected him to say no, he was acting so shy of her, but he managed a smile and said, "Well, gee, thanks. I don't mind if I do, uh, Gloria."

Gloria made him a gin and tonic strong enough to fell a horse, and they went to sit in the living room. She sat close to him on the couch, so close that their legs almost touched. Howard was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and his legs were hardly Mr. America material, but just being close to a man again made Gloria hotly excited. Then she noticed that Howard was frowning.

"You seem a little upset, Howard," she said. "Anything I can do?"

"Oh, it's just my wife," Howard pouted. "She'd rather be out gossiping than home making dinner. She treats me like I don't exist."

"Poor baby," Gloria said, moving her thigh to touch his. "She doesn't know what a nice man she's got."

"You really think so?" Howard said, eyeing her a little glassily through his horn-rimmed spectacles. Obviously the drink was getting to him, or he'd had too many at the party.

"I know so," Gloria cooed, running her fingers through his thinning hair. "I mean, it was just wonderful of you to help me out, Howard. I think you're a fantastic guy."

"Oh, wow," Howard sighed. "I'm really flattered. I mean, you are a really beautiful woman, Gloria. Everybody's noticed it."

"Why, thank you, Howard," Gloria said, leaning in to kiss him.

It was all so much easier than she'd imagined. Howard Ross was ripe for seduction. He seemed to melt when her mouth touched his, and went back limp against the couch, sighing. She kissed him hard, hungrily, and worked her slick little tongue deep into his mouth. Howard gave a lusty snort, then timidly tongued her back.