Bared (6 page)

John still looked like the football jock he’d been in high school. Tall, fit, with a baby face and soft brown eyes. “Come on, Cassandra, how often does this happen?”

Her sister had always been the straight-A student and a worrier. In fact, Cassandra reminded Cora of her friend Presley, only without the kinky side. If her sister knew the lifestyle Cora led, she’d likely faint in pure dramatic fashion.

Cassandra was the good girl who went to college, married, and started a family. Cora had been the adventurous one who didn’t stick to traditional ways. Things hadn’t changed all that much into adulthood. Plus, her sister was a damn control freak, which was why Cora didn’t babysit as much as she’d like to.

Even if they were different, Cora and her sister had a great relationship. When Cora was seventeen, Cassandra’s wedding had brought them closer together with all the planning. That bond hadn’t faded. They talked weekly, and though they didn’t have much in common, Cora loved her and her family very much. She had no complaints and had wonderful memories of her childhood.

She might have been a difficult teenager, but Cora had spunk and she’d never been ashamed of that. Perhaps she had skipped school and gotten into typical teenage trouble, but she’d come out of it with a great job and a home of her own. Apparently, she’d done everything right—she just took a different road to get there.

Her parents were proud of her, she knew that.

Hell, she was proud of herself.

Cassandra once more looked to her children, who were all now crowding the porch to wave goodbye, before she lifted the bag in her hand. “Here are some toys for them to play with.”

Before Cora could accept the bag, her nephew ripped it out of his mom’s hands. Cassandra frowned, shaking her head at her son. “Honey, be careful with those, you don’t want to break your toys.” Turning to Cora, she said, “If he gets to be too much, take them for a walk or to the park.”

Cora placed her hand on Cassandra’s shoulder. “You’re only going for a couple hours. I can handle this. Seriously, cut the cord.”

“Listen to your sister,” John called, now standing by their minivan, holding the passenger door open.

Cassandra sighed. “Call if you need anything.”

“Will do.” Before Cassandra could say more, Cora hustled the kids back inside and shut the door. “Good grief.”

“What does
good reef
mean?” her three-year-old niece, Julia, asked.

Cora patted the top of her blond head, staring into her sparkling brown eyes that looked nearly identical to John’s. “It means your mom needs to go out more, sweetie. Go play.”

As Julia skipped away to the bag of toys Eddie had now dumped all over the floor, Cora’s telephone rang. She grabbed the cordless phone off the glass coffee table and pressed it to her ear. “Hello.”

“Hey,” Presley said. “I’m calling to check in after last night. Is everything all right?”

“Yep, it’s great.”
Okay. Lie
.

Presley didn’t need to know that Cora was still mulling over what happened with Aidan. Lord, she hoped he’d forget about her running out last night. After Dmitri came to talk to Cora before she left Club Sin, Presley had said that she hadn’t told Aidan anything. Not that Presley had anything to tell, so what did Cora have to worry about?

Her
secret
was still hidden.

That’s all that mattered.

“Okay, I’m glad you’re good.” Presley hesitated. “I’m only going to ask this once, and then I’ll stop bugging you. But do I need to worry about you?”

Cora leaned her hip against the wall, pressing the phone harder against her ear. She watched her nephew pull out magazines from the holder next to the couch and throw them up in the air. “Of course not.” She paused, feeling a pang in her heart. Presley was such a good friend, and the phone call to check in only proved that. “If something was wrong you know I would come to you.”

“I hope you would,” Presley said softly. “So, you will, if you need to talk?”

“You got it.” Cora waved her finger at her nephew. He grinned, unashamed, as he pulled the cushions off the couch and started to pile them up on top of one another. “Thanks for worrying about me, sweets. But I’m okay. Really.”

“That’s good enough for me.” Presley’s voice lifted. “Any plans for the day?”

Cora watched her nephew climbing the cushions, hoping he didn’t fall. She’d been around him enough at family dinners and the few times her sister allowed her to babysit to know he was a freaking monkey. At least the cushions were soft. “I have a house full of crazy kids.”

“Your sis is over?”

“Nope.” Cora watched her nephew bulldoze the cushions and then jump on them as if they were lily pads. Julia was quietly coloring a drawing in her book while lying on the floor. She missed the paper a few times and colored the hardwood floors instead. Nothing a little cleaner couldn’t fix. “I volunteered to babysit this morning so Cass and hubby could have a brunch date.”

“How nice for them,” Presley replied. “And how nice of you.”

A sudden head popped up in front of Cora, and she laughed as her other niece was making funny faces at her. The seven-year-old brunette with the cute curls looked and acted more like Cora than she did Cassandra.

Poor Cassandra was in for it when her daughter became a teenager.

Cora said into the phone, “After the kiddos leave, I plan to go shopping. Wanna come?”

“Buying something sexy?” Presley asked.

“Well, of course.” Cora stuck her tongue out at Hannah. Her niece gave a full-out belly laugh. Nothing matched the laughter of a child—so sweet and pure, it made Cora laugh, too. She said to Presley, “I’ll come get you at three, okay?”

“Sounds good. See ya later.”

“Bye.” Cora clicked the off button on the phone and returned it to the coffee table. She smiled at Hannah. “Yes, were you trying to get my attention?”

Hannah bounced up and down. “Can you do my makeup again?” Her light brown innocent eyes, surrounded by thick lashes, peered up at Cora. “Mommy never lets me.”

She tapped Hannah’s button nose. “When you are here, you can do anything you want.”

“I love you, Aunty Cora,” Hannah exclaimed.

Cora knelt down and hugged her. She had always wanted children, and thought she’d be a fun mom. Though how could she dream of that now? She was in love with a man who couldn’t possibly give her a future. Still, she had many childbearing years ahead of her, and she held out hope that one day Aidan would forget the past and live in the present.

In his own time …

She leaned away from Hannah. “I love you, too.” Gathering the young girl in her arms, Hannah giggled as Cora stood. “Let’s go get into the makeup and make Mommy really mad.”

Chapter Five

Blocks away from the famous Fremont Street, Aidan swiveled in his chair to face the large windows on his right. He leaned against the backrest, lacing his fingers behind his head. The sun burned brightly, and Aidan was glad to be in his office, surrounded by air-conditioning. The afternoon sun looked scorching hot.

He stared out into the dry Vegas desert, preferring the scenic view as opposed to the Vegas strip. His father, Edward Knight, owned the office building where his law firm was located.

One day the building would belong to Aidan.

He’d never questioned following in his father’s footsteps, nor was he ever undecided that he’d practice in his father’s firm after law school. Now, after his father’s retirement last year, Aidan took control of the firm.

Those five years they’d worked closely together had been good memories. Aidan had learned all he could from the man he greatly respected, and he had enjoyed working side by side. Vegas lawyers feared and admired his father. Aidan strived to leave a similar imprint in his few short years. He was proud to be Edward Knight’s son, and he had no doubt his father was equally proud of him.

He stared out at the mountains and smiled. He didn’t live in Sin City for the casinos or the party atmosphere. While he’d grown up in Vegas and enjoyed the nightlife in his twenties, he stayed in Vegas for that view.

Nothing beat the Vegas desert.

A sudden dinging of his computer had him turning to his thick, dark oak desk. He looked at his computer screen, noticing a telephone call coming through on Skype. He clicked the accept button, and immediately his parents’ faces appeared on the screen.

“Aidan, are you there?” His mother, Laurie, leaned in closer to the webcam. Her thin nose became the focal point of Aidan’s view. Her dark brown eyes searched the screen as if she would find him in it.

He chuckled and clicked on his webcam. “Hello, Mother.”

“Oh, there you are.” She smiled, flashing white teeth and leaning back to show his dad, who was sitting next to her.

His father waved. “Hello, Son.”

Both of them looked tanned and vibrant, no doubt from their latest European cruise. While his father’s oval face held more wrinkles than his mother’s, due to a little help from his mom’s plastic surgeon, both appeared to look ten years younger than the early sixties that they were.

“How are you?” Aidan asked.

His father squinted, his light brown eyes searching over Aidan’s shoulder. “Is that your bookcase behind you?” He frowned. “You’re not at work, are you?”

Aidan raked his fingers through his hair. “Just for a little bit.”

“Go home right now,” his mother chastised. “It’s Saturday.”

“I plan to soon,” he said, to placate her.

His father might have worked hard, but his mother had kept him in line and his priorities straight. She’d always reminded Aidan as a child how important family was. She also told her husband often that his schedule was nine to five, and that he was expected home promptly after. His dad managed to keep those hours, utilizing superior organization and delegation skills.

Edward never broke his promise to be home on time, because he had a large staff who helped to carry the workload for him. The most important lesson Aidan had learned from his parents: Lots of money was great, but if you have no life to enjoy, what’s the point?

His parents were wealthy. They were smart with their money, knew how to invest, and bought real estate. But his father had never worked so much that they forgot what was important in life—your family, and not the material things. They had a marriage Aidan respected. And his mother was the most caring stay-at-home mother, the type of mom who always had fresh cookies for him when he got off the school bus.

“
Soon
as in you came in to get something and are leaving?” his father asked. “Or is this now a habit of yours to work on weekends?”

“Big case next week—just did some prep to get ahead of the game.” He rested his elbows on the edge of the desk. “I’m going for a run this afternoon.”

“Good for you,” his mother said. “You look healthy and fit.” She leaned farther into the webcam as if to regard him. “How are things besides work?”

“Never better.” He hesitated, pondering what to say next. Christ, he had nothing to talk to his parents about. No exciting news. His parents would not understand his lifestyle choices—they knew nothing of his interest in BDSM and the dungeon. Of course, they would do their best to be supportive, but that conversation was not one Aidan ever wanted to endure.

At his silence, his father asked, “What’s been keeping you busy?”

“I’ve been climbing a lot,” Aidan said, stretching out his legs beneath his desk. “We’ve had good weather.”

His mother shook her head, dismayed. “I don’t know why you go up and down those cliffs. It’s so dangerous.”

“It’s safe, Laurie,” his father interjected. “He’s all harnessed up.”

“Well, I worry, Edward.” She glared at her husband. “He is my only child. I don’t want him hurting himself.”

Aidan stayed silent, watching his parents bicker, as they always did. But it was a beautiful thing, really. They were both strong people, with strong opinions. Though they respected each other and even if a conversation became heated at times, it always ended with a kiss.

His mother finally looked to Aidan. “Any new ladies in your life?”

“No news on that front,” he replied.

Part of him wished he could tell them about Cora, but how to explain that relationship to his parents? Impossible. He wanted to share that he did have a special woman in his life, just not in the traditional sense.

His mother’s voice softened. “It’s been a long time, Aidan.”

He didn’t need a reminder that it’d been a long time since Lily had died. He felt her absence every damn day. Though what his mother didn’t know was that he got everything he needed in the dungeon with Cora.

Aidan missed the man he was with Lily—carefree and content. He longed for the life he had with her. How happy she made everyone that was in her presence. How happy she made him.

Now he had returned to the man he was before Lily. Yet somehow even he knew how much he had changed since her. He had a small moment of heaven once, and now a dark cloud had settled over his day-to-day routine

How could a man touch an angel and then be asked to forget about her?

He couldn’t.

Aidan wondered at times if he was being punished. Had he done something to deserve a taste of heaven, only for a moment, when others had a lifetime together? He sighed. “Yes, Mother, I’m aware how long it’s been.”

So many things he regretted, but his biggest regret of all: not proposing to Lily. He wondered if Lily truly knew what she had meant to him. Even if he’d told her he loved her, they were young when they started dating.

He hadn’t been given enough time to go down that road. In fact, he’d been too busy with his career, trying to build the perfect life for her. He had become comfortable. He thought he had forever.

Aidan had never been so wrong.

His mother smiled softly. “You know, I hear this online dating is a hot, new thing.” His father frowned. She gave him a dismissing flick of her hand. “Perhaps you should give that a go.”

“Perhaps,” Aidan replied. He preferred to agree instead of continuing with this conversation. He had Cora. What they had worked. He didn’t want to date. “Tell me about Europe.”