Dino offered them a ride uptown in his official SUV.
“Does it have a siren?” Gloria asked.
“You bet your sweet ass,” Dino replied.
“Thank you. May we turn it on?”
“Nope, we might get arrested.”
“I should have thought we were immune to that,” she said.
“The only time I’ve turned it on for a civilian was when Stone and I were at dinner and he got a phone call telling him that he had to be in Rome for a board meeting the following morning, and he had fifty minutes to get the last plane at JFK.”
“It worked, too,” Stone said. “I made the plane and the meeting.”
“Now I’m hurt,” Gloria said. “You’d turn it on for Stone, but not for me?”
“Do you have a plane to catch?”
“Usually, but not now.”
“Not good enough.”
“Dino, you are as exasperating as your friend Stone.”
“I hope I’m more exasperating than that.”
Stone tapped her on the shoulder. “We’re almost at my house. Would you like to surrender?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Then come in for a drink, and we’ll discuss it.”
“Okay.”
The car stopped in front of Stone’s house; they thanked Dino and got out.
Stone let them in and took her to the elevator.
“Where are we going?” Gloria asked.
Stone pressed the button. “Up.”
“Are there any other choices?”
“Down, but there are no lights on down there.” The elevator stopped, and Stone led her toward the master suite.
“Now where are we going?” she asked.
“Down the garden path,” he replied, showing her in.
He stopped, faced her, and kissed her lightly.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked.
“Take a big step forward,” he replied.
She did so, bringing her pelvis against his.
“Does that answer your question?”
“I suppose it does,” she said, kissing him and pressing herself against his crotch. “Emphatically.”
“Would you like me to undress you, or would you rather self-strip?”
“I think I’d like you to do it.”
Stone obliged, and she stepped out of her panties. “Now what?”
“Now you can undress me,” Stone said. “That’ll give you time to think about what comes next.”
She had a little trouble with the three buttons on his cuffs, but she managed. “Now what?”
“That will require a demonstration,” he said, leading her to the bed and kissing her again.
“Demonstrate away,” she replied.
He did so.
—
They lay on their backs, panting. “I didn’t quite get it,” Gloria said. “I’ll give you a couple of minutes, then I will require another demonstration.”
“I admire optimism in a woman,” he said.
“Maybe you could use a little help?”
“It couldn’t hurt.”
She put her face in his lap for a minute or so, then looked up. “My optimism was not misplaced,” she said.
Stone demonstrated again, this time with variations, and they managed to reach the end of the demonstration simultaneously.
“Now I get it,” Gloria said, throwing a leg over him and nestling against him. “It’s a lot like fucking, isn’t it?”
“When you’re right, you’re right,” Stone replied.
—
Stone stirred at his usual time, and he woke her with his tongue.
Ten minutes later, they were both fully awake.
“What’s for breakfast?” she asked.
“You name it.”
“Well, I’ve had the first and second courses, could I have a plain omelet, please?”
Stone rang downstairs and placed their order.
“What time is it?”
“Nearly seven.”
“I’ve got a noon deadline for my interview with you.”
“Do you have any further questions?” he asked.
“I think you answered them last night, unless I dreamed all those orgasms.”
“If you did, then we had the same dream.”
“I didn’t know that was possible.”
“It is, if you work at it.”
“I like your work,” she said.
—
Breakfast came, and Stone pressed the button that raised the head of the bed. “So,” he said, “my turn for a question.”
“Fire away.”
“What is your relationship to this guy at Fishkill?”
“We were on our way to a pretty good relationship when he got arrested.”
“What was the charge?”
“He was a little vague about that. He said he had sold an apartment for a friend, and it turned out that the friend didn’t own it.”
“That would attract the attention of the law,” Stone observed.
“It did, and as it turned out, it wasn’t the first time.”
“How did he and his friend get past the closing attorney for the buyer? They wouldn’t have had the proper paperwork, would they?”
“As it turned out, the friend had some expertise at closing a sale, until he got disbarred, anyway. He was also pretty good at filling out blank documents and printing others on his computer, and he was also very good at converting cashier’s checks to cash in record time.”
“How many apartments did they sell?”
“A dozen or so, I believe, mostly between half a million and a million each.” She sipped her juice. “This is delicious orange juice.”
“It’s freshly squoze, like your convict’s clients,” Stone said.
“I feel freshly squoze myself,” she replied.
“Would you like to be squozed again?”
“I would, but not on this occasion. I have to go write up your interview and get it to my editor in time for approval.” She gave him a kiss and ran for the shower.