Page 48 of Naturally Naughty


Font Size:  

“And?”

Kate got up to wash lettuce for the sandwiches.

“Come on, what gives? Aren’t you going to make him your love slave, then trample all over his heart with the heels of your six-inch-high, slut-puppy boots?”

“I don’t own slut-puppy boots.”

“You sell them.”

“I sell a lot of things that I don’t own or use myself,” she said as she sipped.

“Aw, gee. Here I figured you gave a personal testimonial with every dildo, clit ring and butt plug you peddle.”

Kate laughed so hard some of her margarita spilled from the corner of her lips. “You are as bad as Armand.”

“So tell me about the Winfield prince,” Cassie said.

“I don’t know about Jack—J.J. He’s not what I expected.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning he might be more than I can handle.”

Cassie lifted a brow. There probably wasn’t a man alive who her cousin couldn’t handle. But Kate wasn’t Cassie.

“Maybe I’d better start out a little easier. Focus on some of my other goals. Like the shop. Or Angela and Darren.”

“Hmm, yeah, I forgot about them. I saw Angela one day, walking out to her car. She and her mom live up the street.”

“Please tell me she’s fat.”

“Sorry, hon. She looks pretty good. Still looks like a total bitch, but not a Jenny Craig-bound one.”

Rats.

“What about Darren?”

“Works at a car dealership and lives downtown in an apartment over the Tea Room. Did you know he and Angela were married for a while right after high school? The rumor mill says she got knocked up on prom night. They married that summer. Then when she lost the baby, he divorced her and went into the army.”

Kate winced. “Maybe I should thank her for stealing him on prom night.” She couldn’t imagine how her life might have ended up if she’d been the pregnant teen. Probably she’d be living here, bitter and sour with a poochy belly, saggy breasts and four kids who looked like moon-faced Darren clinging to her skirts.

Kate met Cassie’s eye, knowing she was thinking along the same lines. They exchanged shaky smiles. “Here’s to what didn’t happen to us on prom night,” Kate said softly.

Cassie nodded. “Hear, hear.”

JACK LUCKED OUT and arrived at his mother’s house after she’d left for her Saturday hair appointment. Closing himself in his father’s office—to the chagrin of Leonardo the bulldog—he spent two hours balancing bank statements, sorting out documents. He heard his sister Angela moving around, once stopping to have a long phone conversation in the next room.

He didn’t get his sister. Angela was pretty and had been given every advantage. She’d been the apple of their parents’ eye, and had once had a genuine sweetness to her personality. Sure, she was spoiled. She’d shown signs of that, even as a toddler. But at least before, when she’d been a kid, she’d had an infectious laugh and a beautiful smile. In the fifteen years he’d been gone, she’d lost them both. Probably three failed marriages and two miscarriages could do that to a person.

Resolving to get along better with her, he forced a look of welcome to his face when she walked into the office. “Hi.”

“You busy?”

He nodded and rubbed his weary eyes. “Dad left a mess.”

Her laugh could only be described as bitter. “Yeah. As usual.” She sat on a chair next to the window. “I don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind and plan to stay here.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ang. I don’t know how you can stand it. I can’t breathe in this place.”

“Even after he died Dad still managed to drive you away.”

Jack pushed his chair back. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, you took off fifteen years ago because of him. Because of how he pressured you to follow in his footsteps.”

“Most fathers do.”

Angela continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And as soon as it looks like you’re going to come back, you find out about his dirty little secret and won’t stay here now, either.”

Jack shook his head. “It’s more complicated than that. How did you find out about Dad and Edie, anyway?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like