Page 11 of Twisted Love

Tears formed and spilled out of Keily’s eyes at the thought of her sister and Alice, the cutest niece an aunt could ever hope for. Luckily, Violet had been totally against entering Alice into pageants, which had set their mom off, even though she lived so far away now. Keily had been proud of Violet’s adamant denial that she would ever do that to her daughter, even if the part about ‘look how Keily turned out’ had stung her to the core.

Keily had to admit, Violet was right. Those pageants had done a number on her and her mother. Her mom had admitted more than once that the meth habit started with the pageants. One of the other moms used it to stay awake and had offered some to the harried mother she’d found in tears. She couldn’t kick the habit, even now when it was about to kill her. The woman was still using it, but tried to tell her family she had it under control and flat-out refused to go to rehab.

As for Keily, the pageants turned her into a snob, she had to admit. When she found out about her mom’s theft, well, she’d come to see the whole pageant life as an ugly stain on her own life. If it hadn’t been for those pageants, none of this would have happened and life might have been different. She might be a normal human being.

With a deep breath, Keily pulled a blanket over her lap, opened a book, and tried to put those thoughts away. It was time to look to the future, not the past. And now, if she had some scholarship money left, she even had a backup plan.

6

Logan

“Do I really have to go?” Logan spoke in the car on his way to Keily’s a week after he’d handed her his last gift. He’d had to work really late the last few days; a new product was launching, and he’d had to be at the office to oversee everything. This was his first chance to spend some time with her and he’d been looking forward to it.

Then he got the call that ruined his evening.

“Yes, it’ll probably just be continued, but you have to be there if you want the judge to take this seriously. It’s only assault and battery in the third degree, which would get him thirty days in jail with a fine if he wasn’t on probation already, so I’m pushing for the judge to take it seriously. I can go alone, but it looks better if you’re there.”

“Fine, I’ll be there.” Logan groaned, noting the date a few weeks away in his calendar.

“Great, Logan, thanks. I’ve been wanting to nail this jerk ever since we were in high school.” Felix, his lawyer, laughed. “I’d almost do this case for free.”

“I thought the prosecuting attorney didn’t charge plaintiffs anyway?” Logan laughed and shook his head.

“Yeah, you’re right. I need to go back to being a defense lawyer, my kid needs a new retainer. How she keeps breaking them I’ll never know.”

“Kids find ways, you know that.” Logan didn’t know personally, but he’d been a kid once. Shit happened.

“Yep. Right, that’s all I need, you be safe driving home.”

“I will. I guess you heard the traffic?”

“Yeah, you could have rolled your windows up, you know?” Felix groused, but Logan just rolled his eyes. The prosecuting attorney was a good guy and had been a year behind Joe, Keily’s ex, in high school, apparently. The man detested Joe and had made no bones about it. That made him a friend in Logan’s book.

“I could have but then the noise wouldn’t have annoyed you, would it?” Logan quipped and heard Felix groan.

“You’re such a dick, Logan,” Felix said but laughed it off.

“I am. Talk later, Felix. Take care.”

“You too.” Logan heard Felix say just before he pushed the button on the display to end the call.

The call would only ruin the evening if he let it, he decided as he drove through evening traffic to Keily’s apartment. He hadn’t seen her in days now and he was eager to be with her. He couldn’t believe it, but he missed talking to her, feeling her, even smelling her. His hands clenched on the steering wheel as he thought about her, his need for her growing.

He hated it, but he had to admit to himself that he wanted her. He insisted to himself that it wasn’t getting out of hand, as he drove into a parking spot and turned the car off. He’d gone days without seeing her and it hadn’t killed him. But he’d hated every moment of being without her. He squashed that thought with a frown and got out of the car.

“Hi there.” She met him at the door with a smile, wearing only a long-sleeved t-shirt that barely covered her ass, much less anything else.

“Mm, hi there.” He swept her into a hug that soon turned into a kiss as he pressed her against the wall and kicked the door shut.

He pulled away when he inhaled and scented something delicious that wasn’t her. “What’s for dinner?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you were coming but I made a Belgian stew and some bread to go with it.” She replied and pulled further out of his arms. He noticed she was barefoot and frowned for a moment.

She was an excellent cook, that wasn’t why he frowned at all. The stew sounded, and smelled delicious, it would taste the same way, he was certain. No, it was her lack of shoes that bothered him.

She was a great conversationalist and they’d had many conversations that intrigued him, made him think. And she was always eager for his touch, most of the time. The lack of shoes was a signal though.

He’d become accustomed to the subtle signal of her footwear since he’d become her lover. She’d always worn some very sexy shoes. He’d never realized he had a thing about women’s shoes until he’d seen her in his office in those black heels. Those heels meant she wanted sex rough and dirty, usually as soon as he walked in the door. She wore boots when she wanted sensual and long play with him, a slow tease that lasted throughout the evening. But on evenings when she was barefoot, she wasn’t interested in sex at all. After a long absence, he’d expected the heels to be on her feet.