Book 1 - Page 24 (1/2)
He closed my robe; then stood, staring down at me.
”Gideon...?”
”Seven o'clock, Eva.” He reached down and touched my ankle, his fingertips caressing the diamond anklet I'd put on in preparation for the evening. ”And keep this on. I want to f**k you while you're wearing nothing else.”
Chapter 6
”Hey, Dad. I caught you.” I adjusted my grip on the phone receiver and pulled up a stool at the breakfast bar. I missed my father. For the last four years we'd lived close enough to see each other at least once a week. Now his home in Oceanside was the entire country away. ”How are you?”
He lowered the volume on the television. ”Better, now that you've called. How was your first week at work?”
I went over my days from Monday through Friday, skipping over all the Gideon parts. ”I really like my boss, Mark,” I finished. ”And the vibe of the agency is very energetic and kind of quirky. I'm happy going to work every day, and I'm b.u.mmed when it's time to go home.”
”I hope it stays that way. But you need to make sure you have some downtime, too. Go out, be young, have fun. But not too much fun.”
”Yeah, I had a little too much last night. Cary and I went clubbing, and I woke up with a mean hangover.”
”s.h.i.+t, don't tell me that.” He groaned. ”Some nights I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about you in New York. I get through it by telling myself you're too smart to take chances, thanks to two parents who've drilled safety rules into your DNA.”
”Which is true,” I said, laughing. ”That reminds me...I'm going to start Krav Maga training.”
”Really?” There was a thoughtful pause. ”One of the guys on the force is big on it. Maybe I'll check it out and we can compare notes when I come out to visit you.”
”You're coming to New York?” I couldn't hide my excitement. ”Oh, Dad, I'd love it if you would. As much as I miss SoCal, Manhattan is really awesome. I think you'll like it.”
”I'd like anyplace in the world as long as you're there.” He waited a beat, then asked, ”How's your mom?”
”Well...she's Mom. Beautiful, charming, and obsessive-compulsive.”
My chest hurt and I rubbed at it. I thought my dad might still love my mom. He'd never married. That was one of the reasons I never told him about what happened to me. As a cop, he would've insisted on pressing charges and the scandal would have destroyed my mother. I also worried that he'd lose respect for her or even blame her, and it hadn't been her fault. As soon as she'd found out what her stepson was doing to me, she'd left a husband she was happy with and filed for divorce.
I kept talking, waving at Cary as he came rus.h.i.+ng in with a little blue Tiffany & Co. bag. ”We had a spa day today. It was a fun way to cap off the week.”
I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, ”I'm glad you two are managing to spend time together. What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?”
I hedged on the subject of the charity event, knowing the whole red carpet business and astronomically-priced dinner seats would just highlight the gap between my parents' lives. ”Cary and I are going out to eat, and then I plan on staying in tomorrow. Sleeping in late, hanging out in my pajamas all day, maybe some movies and food delivery of some sort. A little vegetating before a new work week kicks off.”