Bait (Wake, #1)(73)

When I came back up I heard the sound of it ringing, but I slipped reaching for the towel and it went to voicemail. Almost immediately I heard the chime of a new recording.

It was Blake.

“Hey, it's me.” I heard a dog park in the background and knew she was outside her apartment, I'd heard the same dog bark his ass off many times. “Listen, I didn't want to fight with you tonight.” She paused and I looked at my phone to make sure that wasn't the end of the message.

Finally she started talking again.

“I'm sorry. And you're right. I'm not being fair. I want to meet up with you. Email me your next few weeks.” She sighed heavily. “I miss you. I hope you're all right. Take some ibuprofen and drink some water. Call me tomorrow if you want. ’Bye.”

Damn right she wasn't being fair. Fair would be breaking it off with that guy she likes to cheat on and giving this damn thing with me a real shot.





Saturday, February 14, 2009


THE WEEKEND WASN'T GOING to make anything better, but I had to give it a shot.

I was shaking. Running the razor up my soapy leg. I'd been nervous all day.

It had to be the last time, but I wanted to make it count. I knew how twisted that was. Finish on top, as they say. After tonight I'd go back to being the adoring fiancée.

I'd be faithful.

And if that was my last night with Casey, I'd need to make it count. I wanted to remember every second.

After my legs were smooth and everything else was in order. I put my face under the hot stream of water coming from the showerhead. I thought about the shower we took in Seattle. About how his hands roamed my body and touched me everywhere a man could touch a woman. My hand ran down to my core, feeling my trimmed hair.

God I want to feel you bare. I don't want anything in between us.

His words echoed through my mind and I reached for the soap and the razor. I'd gone down to naked skin before, but it was a very, very long time ago. I thought it was probably in college.

I took my time, doing a thorough job. When I was finished my skin felt new and sensitive. Like the hair had been hiding me from wondrous sensations. I ran my fingers over myself and anticipated Casey's doing the same.

After I had dried myself and applied his favorite-smelling lotion, I blow dried my hair, then stained my cheeks and lips and darkened my eyes and lashes.

I pulled a black garter up each leg. I wasn't going to be wearing much, but I wanted to enjoy him taking his time removing them. I pulled the black, thigh-high stocking up my calves and fastened them to the garters with the clips that hung from ice-blue bows. I slipped my legs through the black silk underwear and prepared myself for the icing on the cake. The set that I'd ordered, and was currently dressing in, came with a corset.

It was black with ice-blue ribbons matching the bows on the garters and panties. It laced up the front. I'd looked at the ones that laced from behind, but they looked like a nightmare. I'd already have a struggle getting into one I could watch myself lace.

When the last hook and eye was latched, I straightened it and pulled. Instantly my chest looked bigger, fuller and heaved from the already very low-cut fabric that held my breasts. I ran my hands up the sides, feeling the rigid and straight boning, and yet I felt so comfortable and held together.

I pulled on the blue silk robe that completed the ensemble and went out into the main room to find the shoes and start a fire. I plugged my phone into the suite's speakers and got out the champagne, putting it on ice in a bucket on the coffee table in the main room. I brought a plate of cheese and fruit to the table and then I went back to the kitchenette for the last piece.

The courage. The kind from a bottle. I had ordered a small decanter and placed it on the table as well. I was going to need a few shots if I ever had a prayer of pulling this off. Seduction wasn't my forte. But he deserved it.

I usually felt so awkward and clumsy during sex. Well. Not with Casey.

With him I felt worshiped and desired. He acted like he craved me in the way he moaned from kissing my neck sometimes. It made me feel special. Made me feel sexy and wanton.

I arranged the extra pillows and blankets, that I'd ordered up, and they looked so inviting there on the floor in the center of the room.

I'd given it some thought on my plane ride here this morning. I wanted the night to be unforgettable. It was already unforgivable.

I downed two shots. Back to back. The cognac tasted sweet and bold. The taste lingered on my tongue.

I left the robe on. I wanted him to open me like an expensive gift. I wanted to watch his eyes up close when he saw what I was hiding underneath.

I'd told him to be there at eight and it was five to when he knocked. I'd left him a key—as was customary for us at hotels then—knowing he would use it if I didn't answer.

I rose to my feet, with an extra four inches added from the Brian Atwood heels which Reggie bought me for Christmas. How was I to know they’d come in so handy when I'd sent him a joking picture in a text message version of a fairy-tale princess's Christmas list?

As I stood there preparing myself, my heartbeat didn't exactly feel fast; it just felt strong. A powerful pulsing that reverberated throughout my whole body.

The door handle clicked.

I'd turned the lights out, only a few recessed lights over the bar area and the fireplace remained lighting the room. It was tastefully amber and dim. The backlighting behind his body from the bright hallway, when he opened the door, gave me a chill.