Page 13 of Masked Indulgence
Right?
I moaned as I got into bed, pulled the blanket up to my chin, and closed my eyes. They burned, and I feltdehydrated.
Sitting up, I chugged the water, praying I could just rehydrate and make everything okay again. I would put Nixon out of my head—refuse to let that memory enter my brain. I’d whack at it with everything I had each and every time he tried to come back to visit me in myimagination.
No more NixonSlaughter!
Even though I’d slept some ten hours that day with all my naps, I found myself tired still. As I drifted closer to sleep, I began to think about one of the ideas my client had run byme.
Baily Sever routinely ordered book covers from me. She wrote young adult romance under a pen name, specializing in BDSM. When I’d told her about my little encounter with that world, she’d begged me to let her interview me. She’d pay me for my time, and better yet, she’d give me part of the royalties and tag me as a co-author.
I hadn’t taken her up on the offer yet but as I lay there and thought about what I’d been doing, falling down the rabbit hole, I decided I would take her up on thatoffer.
Getting back out of bed, I headed to the living room and my desk. Right then and there, I got on my laptop and sent her an email, telling her I wanted to take her up on her offer. She could call me as soon as she wanted to do the interview. Hell, I’d even make the cover of the book free of charge since she’d said she’d give me credit as the co-author.
The prospect of this new work had me feeling pretty peppy, and I headed to the kitchen to make me some eggs and bacon. Crazy how getting a new project started can get you up and goingagain.
I had to move on from that night. As spectacular as it had been, it was over. I had to get that through my head; I’d never have another night like that one. Notever.
Chapter9
Nixon
The monthafter Halloween both dragged on and flew by somehow. It was the day before Thanksgiving and Shanna and I were on my private jet, heading back to Texas to spend the holiday with ourfamilies.
Like every day before that one, my mind was on Katana, wondering what she’d be doing for Thanksgiving. Shana sat across the narrow aisle from me, filing her nails as we sped through the sky. “Why do you seem so zoned out,Nixon?”
I’d been laying my head on the headrest, eyes closed, picturing Katana in that hotel room. I turned my head to look at her. “I’m just wondering what Katana is doing tomorrow. And wishing like hell I’d gotten her number or at least her address so I could send her flowers orsomething.”
One blonde brow arched as she looked at me with an incredulous expression. “Why? Why would you still be thinking about that little brainlesstwit?”
I sat up, taking offense at what she’d said. “Hey, no reason to call her names, Shanna. And need I remind you that you don’t even know her? What grounds do you have for calling her anything atall?”
“I know all I need to know about the girl. She’s into some sick shit and can’t have a brain in her head if she’s into that stuff. Now, I can see a man being into that lifestyle. Of course, who wouldn’t get off at least a little bit, ruling over someone? But being the one who’s ruled over—well, that only means one thing in my book: no brains.” She put the nail file down and picked up a magazine, thumbing through the pages. “Put her out of your head,Nixon.”
Closing my eyes again, I tried not to think about Katana—but did anyway. Shanna was wrong about her. She wasn’t brainless. Sure, I didn’t know her that well—or at all really—but I knew she wasn’tdumb.
“You know who I bet will be in town, too, Nixon?” Shanna asked with a lilt to hervoice.
“Nope,” I said without even opening myeyes.
“Bianca.”
My cock twitched. Bianca had been a couple of years older than me and often taunted me when we were kids. By the time we were in high school though, I’d caught her giving me sideways glances, admiring how I’d grownup.
I’d always had a crush on her—she was the hottest girl in school. Long legs, tanned skin, dark hair that hung to her waist. And then it hit me—Katana and Bianca had a lot of similarities. Maybe that was why I had felt so instantly attracted toKatana.
I sat up and looked at Shanna. “You really think she might be visiting her parents?” I had to admit I was a little excited about seeingher.
“Why wouldn’t she be there?” Shanna asked. “Everyone comes home for theholidays.”
I nodded and lay my head back again. I tried to picture Bianca. It’d been two years since I’d seen her last. That was at Christmas. She’d been with some guy then, but gave me a sexy little smile that told me she would’ve given me a bit of her time if she’d been alone. It was a smile she’d never given mebefore.
But as hard as I tried to bring Bianca’s face into my mind, I couldn’t. The only face I saw was Katana’s, and it was beautiful. So beautiful it made my heartache.
I should’ve gotten her damnnumber!
When the jet stopped at the San Antonio International Airport, we hopped into a rental car and headed for Pettus. It took us a little over an hour to get home, and when we did, we were greeted with open arms by ourfamilies.
