Page 85 of Unmasking Love
“No, I’m not a plant person. I haven’t forgotten about you wanting a kitchen garden at your home though.” I tease and I feel him stiffen.
Did I say something wrong?
Before I get the chance to ask he tips my chin up and presses a kiss to my lips.
“We’ll talk every day and then when I see you again we won’t have to catch up, we’ll be able to get into bed immediately.”
I giggle and he reaches down to give my ass a little tap.
Wrapped up in him, in each other, is how we spend the night and the following morning. Aiden walks me to my car. I head back to my house to shower and get ready for work. With a kiss he closes the door and waves as I drive away.
***
“Happy Thanksgiving!” My mom hollers as she shimmies to me in a bikini. She said she was "pregaming" by scheduling this trip before Gerald’s family get together.
“Hey Mom,” I say as she wraps me in a hug. I must have gotten my height from my father, whoever he is, because Mom can only clock 5’3” if she’s in three inch heels. Which she is. At a beach resort.
“I thought we’d do a spa day together.” She says as she loops her arm into mine. “It’s beenagessince we got pampered.”
“Yeah,” I agree halfheartedly, because it was only six months ago we went to Cancun for Mother’s Day and, you guessed it, pampered ourselves.
She leads me to a pair of lounge chairs and I set down my things. The concierge kept my bag and said he’d have it delivered to my room so all I have is my carry-on bag from the flight. I packed my latest book and the stack of design magazines I picked up at the newsstand at Dulles. Mom chatters away about the spa menu and I let a yawn slip out.
“Oh sweetie, are you tired?”
“Yeah, a little I guess, it was kind of a late night.”
Understatement of the year.
The first week of Aiden’s road trip was fine. We texted, we chatted, but last night I came home to a delivery on my doorstep. I opened it and found a vibrator. When Aiden called that night after his game he gave me very specific instructions to use it while he watched on FaceTime.
He kept me up all night. Instructing me to edge myself, reading my body through the screen just as well as he does when we’re together in person. Then, when he finally let me finish myself it was the most mind-numbing orgasm I’ve ever experienced. My body was limp afterwards but my mind was buzzing. It took me another forty five minutes to settle down and fall asleep.
But this trip is about resting and relaxing. The pampering sounds nice. A massage, mud bath maybe. And then plenty of time lounging in the cabanas that line the private beach.
“Excuse me, Miss Daniels?”
“Yes?” Both my mother and I say at the same time. Mom got tired of changing her name with each husband so she is now legally Anna Daniels and she tosses a hyphen onto her husband’s names for fun.
The poor server looks unsure what to do next. Who to address. Mom lowers her sunglasses and gives the young man a once over. He flushes and I watch as the tray he’s holding tips a little before he catches it. “I uh, have a drink delivery for Harper Daniels.”
“That’s me,” I smile and raise my hand. He steps over and hands me a creamy brown drink with a straw.
“This is a Horchata latte sent from Aiden Youngren. He says he hopes you got some sleep on the plane and this should help perk you up.” The kid clears his throat and steps away in a hurry.
“Who is Aiden Youngren?” Mom asks without skipping a beat.
“He’s someone I’m seeing.”
“What did you do to lose Crispin darling? He’s the son of the agency owner. You’d have been made. You wouldn’t have had to work again.” She says, shaking her head at me in disappointment.
That’s Mom’s method. Find a man, charm the pants off him, literally, and then weasel her way into his life so she can be a stay-at-home wife. It was more difficult for her when I was around but she’d find ways to use me in her schemes.
“Yeah, but he cheated on me, Mom,” I say as I take a sip of the drink. It’s creamy and sweet and I like it a lot.
“Oh, pish posh Harper, cheating doesn't mean anything. People cheat all the time, it’s the way of the world. Hell, if I had a penny for every time I cheated or the man I was with cheated I’d be independently wealthy!” She lets out a cackle and I hide my grimace in my straw.
This is a sentiment I do not share with my mom. I hated the way people looked at her. At me. Like they assumed the worst. And yeah, oftentimes they were right about her because she made her way through this world by her own rules, but I have tried not to do the same. Mom never cared about the collateral damage of her decisions. I try to make my life as impactless as possible.
