Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (20 page)

“No.  I would really appreciate it.  Would you?”

“I’m getting off early on Thursday.  I can take you
then, if you want.”

After exchanging phone numbers, a silence envelopes
them.  Aliah feels surprisingly content.

“My mom and dad were never in love, you know,” Hannah
admits, out of nowhere.  “My mom told me so before she died.”

Aliah nods, slightly gleeful to hear the news.  “Does
your dad know you know this?”

“No.  And please don’t tell him.”

Aliah draws a cross over her heart.  “I swear.”

Hannah seems to trust her.  “Thanks.  What do you
think I should do about Jared?”

“Is that the jock’s name?”

She nods her head, as her eyes grow wide.

“What’s wrong?”  Aliah peers over her shoulder and
instantly glances back at Hannah.  “Jared?”

“Yeah.”

Jared walks directly up to Hannah.  “Hey, baby.”

Hannah stands to her feet and he drops a kiss on her cheek,
as he hooks an arm around her waist.  “Who’s your hot friend?”  He
smirks seductively at Aliah, making eye contact.  “Maybe she can teach you
a few tricks for the bedroom.”

Aliah bites her bottom lip and has to grip onto her seat to
stop herself from punching the jerk.  To her surprise, Hannah pushes him
off of her and her hand makes an amazing connection with his face.

I couldn’t have done better myself!  Go, Hannah!

Jared’s friends walk up, after witnessing her assault. 
At first they appear shocked.  Then they start to snicker at him.

“I’m not your baby.  And you won’t be on the receiving
end of any of those little tricks I’ve learned.  Now get out of my
face.  You’re dimming my light.”

She turns back to Aliah and takes a seat, acting like
Jared’s a worthless piece of junk that doesn’t deserve her attention.

“
You’re
dumping
me
?” he belts out
hysterically.  He’s clearly never been dumped before.

Hannah glances over her shoulder, like she can’t be bothered
to turn around and face him.  “Are you deaf?  I’m not
interested.  Do I really need to repeat it in front of all of your
friends?”

Another guy grabs onto his elbow and tugs him toward the
counter.  “Come on.  She’s not worth it.”

Jared yanks his arm away and scowls at Aliah.  Aliah
flashes him her best
take that, asshole,
smile.

Hannah takes another drink from her coffee.  Aliah can
see that she’s shaking, so she takes her hand and pulls it under the table.

“Can I just say that you’re amazing?  Good for you.”

“You said it.  I’ve saved myself this long.  Thank
God I didn’t have sex with him.  I would have regretted that for the rest
of my life.”

“I’m so proud of you.  I wanted to knock his block off,
but you did a pretty damn good job yourself.”

“Thanks.”  She smiles.  “It felt pretty good, if
I’m being completely honest.  Oh, my God.  I can’t believe I did
that.”  She starts to giggle.  “Are they gone yet?”

“Nope.  They’re all staring over here, as we speak.”

Hannah looks like she wants to curl up and die.

“Here.  Take my car.  Why don’t you pick up a
girlfriend and cruise around for a bit or something?”

Hannah’s mouth drops open.  “You’re going to let me
drive your car?”

“Go nuts.  Actually, no.  Take it easy on my
baby.”

Aliah smiles and she knows that she is scoring major points
with Hannah right now.  She doesn’t know why that’s so important to her,
but suddenly it is.  And it feels good.

“Oh my gosh.  You are so cool.  Thank you!” Hannah
cheers.

Aliah unhooks the key from her keychain and hands it over to
her.  “Promise you’ll take good care of him?”

“Your car’s a him?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Absolutely not.  I love it!”

“You’re in business then.  Just please have my car back
to your house by ten.  Does that sound fair?”

“Fair enough.  Thank you again, Aliah.  I really
appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” she answers.

Hannah looks so giddy when she spins around that she almost
skips to the front door of the café.  Hannah really is a sweet girl. 
A virgin too.  Her father will be happy to hear that, when she gets around
to sharing it with him.

Aliah finishes her drink, wondering how she’s going to get
home.  As her quiet time starts to turn into loneliness, the bell on the
front door clanks across the glass.  She instantly looks up and locks her
gaze on the hunk of muscle entering the place.

Harley Gates is easy on the eyes.  Looking at him never
gets old.  He doesn’t seem to notice her at first.  She quickly tears
off her glasses, before he can catch her wearing them and buries them in the
bottom of her handbag.  She glances back up at him, looking a lot like a
giddy fool.  When his eyes meet hers, an electricity strikes her core, and
the longer his eyes rest on her the hotter the fire grows.

“Can I sit?” he asks, holding the back of the chair as if
she might say no.

With a great deal of effort, she manages to remove the smile
from her face and waves a hand at the vacant chair.  He takes a seat and
gazes at her some more.

“You won’t believe who I just met with,” he starts.

“Jillian?” she guesses.

He seems shocked by her sureness.  “My Jillian?”

“Please don’t call her that.”

He smiles.  “If I was meeting with my assistant that
would hardly be remarkable.  Why don’t you like her?”

“I don’t know.  There’s just something not right with
that girl.  I can’t put my finger on it.  It’s just a feeling. 
Intuition maybe.”  Aliah circles the rim of her mug with an index
finger.  “I don’t like the way she looks at you.  There are
unresolved feelings there, I think.”

“You’re seeing things.”

“Whatever you say.  But don’t say I never told you.”

“Okay,” he growls.  “It was Brandee Hawkins.”  He
freezes in place when he realizes that he’s never shared the connection with
her.

“Ugh.  You did not just say that name.”

“I did.”  He clears his throat. “And you’re not going
to be very happy with me when I tell you why.”

“Then don’t tell me.”

“You’re going to have to face the truth at some point,
Aliah.  I’ve been trying to tell you this
little
secret I’ve been
keeping from you, but you’re not making it very easy for me to come clean.”

“Out with it then, if it’s that important to you.”  She
doesn’t even think before she speaks. 
Is she ready to hear his
secrets?

“Brandee Hawkins
was
my client.  I’m a private
investigator who goes by the name of David H. Gates.  She hired me to look
into Mitchell Cavanagh’s personal life.  The case is now closed.”  He
blurts it out, hiding the fact that he’s been hired to nose around her life
too.

Is that the only reason they’d ever met?  Did he get
the evidence he was looking for?  Is he still using her to get the goods
on Mitchell?

Aliah has so many questions, but she refuses to react to it,
unsure how this new information is supposed to make her feel.

“Harley?” she asks, her tone begging him to tell her why
he’d lied about his name.

“My middle name.”

She nods unhappily, but nothing can clear the horrid feeling
from her gut.  “It’s about time you tell me.  I was starting to
wonder if you would ever come clean.”

“I know we didn’t meet under the most honest circumstances,
but it’s my job.  It’s what I do.  And what I feel for you is
real.”  He pauses, but not nearly long enough for her to sort out her
jumbled thoughts.  “I am truly sorry to do this, but we have to stay
focused here.  Brandee Hawkins,” he repeats.

“What is that girl’s problem?  What she needs is to
take a chill pill.”  Aliah’s not impressed with Harley’s evil ways, but she’s
smart enough to know that now is not the time to dwell on it.  “She’s
constantly gawking at me,” she points out.

Harley smirks and rakes her body with hooded eyes. 
“That could have something to do with how provocative you dress.”

“I’m wearing a flowered shirt and a pair of shorts. 
You can hardly call what I’m wearing right now provocative.”  She pauses,
then gives him a pointed look.  “Quit looking at me like that.”

Harley’s gaze warms her to a boiling point in an
instant.  Even after feeding her a handful of lies, she can’t evade the
desire coursing through her body.

“That outfit fits you like a glove.  You look
incredibly sexy in it.  Your breasts look perky and perfect; your skin
soft and flawless.  Those legs… Should I go on?”

Aliah is now trying to fight off a smile.  “I certainly
won’t stop you, if you insist.”

Neither of them can remember the importance of the secrets
being unveiled only seconds earlier.  Harley reaches out and runs a finger
over her naked shoulder.  When he growls, it sends her nerves firing off
like firecrackers.

“You’re a beautiful girl, Aliah.  People are going to
stare at you no matter what you wear.  Like those boys over there,” he
says, nodding toward the fixated teenagers.

She acts unaware of the attention, skipping the part where
one of them just got bitch slapped by his daughter.  “I’m used to a little
attention.  But it’s felt different lately.  Catching people looking
at you is one thing.  It’s another thing entirely when they’re hiding in
the bushes waiting to jump you for God knows what reason.”

“I can protect you.”

“Can you?  Are you going to walk me to my lobby at work
every morning and tuck me into bed every night?”

“If you’ll let me,” he answers.

He looks completely serious.  The thought has her head
spinning.  She can see herself enjoying that for some reason.  She
hates the idea of relying on anyone at all.  Why now, all of a sudden, is
she okay with depending on this man?  Especially after he’s lied to her on
more than one occasion.

“I was only teasing.  I can handle myself,” she says,
even if she wants him to handle her.

“If you change your mind, I’m always a phone call away.”

His proposition has her changing her mind already.  She
nods her head, smiling.

“There is one request I have to make though,” he adds.

“What’s that?”  Aliah polishes off her second cup of
coffee.  It’s no wonder she’s so jittery tonight.

“Don’t go anywhere without your own transportation.”

“Oh.”  She feels like he’s got her pinned under his
thumb.  “I can explain.”  Even she can see how dumb a move it was
abandoning herself at the café in the circumstances.

“You offered my daughter your car?”

She turns her head down and smirks.  “You noticed.”

“You do realize she’s only been licensed to drive on her own
for a few months now.”

“I trust she’ll be extra careful.  If I were her, I
know I wouldn’t choose now as a good time to fuck up.”

“Shit happens, Aliah, and Hannah is not you.  Remember
that.”

“Shit certainly does happen, but let’s just say that the
benefits outweighed the potential loss at the time.  You might not see it
now, but you’ll thank me later.”

A look of disbelief covers his face like a mask.  “I
know how much you love that car.  That must have been some discussion the
two of you had.”

“We understand each other.”

“I hope for your sake you’re right.”

“I am.  And I can see how much she respects you. 
Even if she acts out from time to time, she’s only a girl and she loves you.”

He nods his head, suddenly very curious to hear about their
discussion.  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I have to
threaten it out of you?”

“That depends on the question, and the punishment.”

“You tell me what she told you and I promise not to be
gentle.”

His words have her pussy twitching, but she won’t admit that
to him.  “Ooh.  So tempting.”  Her words are dripping with
sarcasm, but she really is intrigued.  “Unfortunately, I made a promise to
your daughter, and I’m going to have to keep it.”

“You aren’t going to tell me anything, are you?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you something.  I’ll give you everything
you need to know.  The rest isn’t really for a father’s ears anyway.”

“Why don’t you get talking and let me be the judge of that?”

“Okay.  You asked for it.  But don’t shoot the
messenger.”

“If you don’t spit it out right now, I might be
tempted.”  He bends his elbow and settles his hand over his hip where she
knows he parks a gun.

She looks over her shoulders as if someone might be
listening in on them, her face turning more serious.  “You’re sure you
don’t want to go to a more private place to discuss this?”

His voice turns low and seductive, ignoring her
concern.  “That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.  What time did
you say Hannah is due home?”

“I didn’t tell you that.”

“Oh, right.  I had a little chat with her out in the
parking lot just before I arrived.  She said a time.”

“Ten o’clock,” Aliah tells him, certain of it.  “Why?”

He checks his phone and glances toward the front door of the
café.  “That gives us two hours all to ourselves.  My house is
guaranteed to be empty.  I guarantee you, Hannah won’t be home more than a
minute early.  That is unless you’d rather stay and talk about my
shortcomings.”

She does not want to talk anymore.  “You’re sure you
want to take me there?”

“I’m sure.”  He stands from his seat and clasps onto
her hand.  “You can tell me the important points from your conversation
with my daughter on our way to my bike.”

Aliah delivers him a sly smile, as she slinks past him and
pulls her hand free from his.  The look exchanged between them doesn’t go
unnoticed by their teenaged spectators.

Harley is surprised by the gawking.  “Who is that?”

“Jared,” Aliah says, without turning to look at him.

He has no choice but to follow after her.  “Again, I
ask, who is that?”