“So, you’re telling me you haven’t talked to him for almost a week? Have you at least tried texting him, relationships even those just beginning are a give and take kind of thing?”
I shook my head.
Stella sighed. “I don’t get it, that man is crazy about you, he is dead gone.”
“He still might be, but he has a major family issue that he needs to take care of first.”
The bell above the door rang, and I turned to welcome the newcomers but froze at the sight of Channel 2 News, Haley Loles along with two men, both carrying cameras with a huge mic.
“We’re here to eat, can we sit anywhere?” Haley asked.
“Nope, please leave,” I stated, trying to hold my composure. How dare she come into my establishment and try this shit?
She let out a long huff. “We’re just here for service.”
“Yep, and I’m refusing it. Please leave.”
In well-rehearsed movements, the three of them were in position revealing their true reason for being here. “Then let me ask you, Vivian Haines, Orlando’s Sweetheart, what is going on with you and Aaron Skkye and is it already over? Does he have a secret love child?”
“That’s it,” Harley ordered as she removed the mic from Haley’s hand. “You were asked to leave, and you’ve refused. Now, I’m in charge.” I smiled as Deputy Harley Scott, a great friend, guided the three of them out and other officers followed behind.
“So, I can take this as you refusing to answer?” Haley shouted back toward me.
“You can take it as you’re a bitch,” Stella shouted back. “And no one likes you.”
“That’s it, I’m headed home, Mikki you’ve got this?” I asked.
“Absolutely, go home and chill. We’ll be fine,” she assured me.
“Nope. We’re not having that.” Stella tugged my hand. “Danny, can I have a shaker, some limes, and a bottle of Patron?”
“Coming right up,” Danny shouted back as he grabbed a bowl of sliced limes and began filling a tray.
“That”—I pointed toward the door—“is just one more reason why Aaron and I would never work, I hate the media.”
“Yep, don’t we all.” Stella was placating me as she pulled me to the corner table.
We all sat while Danny delivered a stack of shot glasses, tequila, limes, and several salt shakers.
Everly, who had been sitting with some of the firemen and paramedics, joined us and began filling glasses.
“Take a lime and shake your salt,” Stella said as she shook her ass for emphasis.
I held up my glass and announced, “Haley is a bitch.” We all slammed our first shot back.
Everly immediately began refilling while the rest of us grabbed our lime and salt.
“Men are assholes,” I proclaimed as I waved my glass in the air again, and everyone downed their second shot. “I feel like we need some J-Lo and Shakira in here.”
Sadie, one of the deputies, ran to the jukebox and searched for songs. When “Booty” came on, we all got into the rhythm and got two—or maybe five—more shots into us as well.
By the time we had listened to every Latin artist we could think of and I believed that I could now speak Spanish, my world was spinning. Not as in spinning out of control but spinning as in, the fucking room wouldn’t stop moving.
“Okay, pile into my car, I’ll take you all home,” Everly announced.
“Hey.” I patted her cheek. Everly grabbed my hand. Okay, maybe I patted a little too hard. “You can’t drive and drink.” I thought about what I had just said. “Um, I mean drink and drive.”
“I haven’t had a drink; I’ve been filling the glasses and watching you be crazy-ass fools.”
“No.” I shook my head, which made my stomach shake too. “Not crazy-ass fools, crazy over some asshole.”
“Night,” I hollered to everyone in Everly’s car.
“Night, sweetie,” Sadie called after me.
“Love you, bitch,” Stella boomed for my neighbors’ listening pleasure.
“There’s no crying in baseball,” Harley shouted.
“What?” I turned around and almost stumbled. “What?” I asked again.
“I don’t know. It sounded good to me when I said it.”
I paused and stared at Harley like the freak she could be. “You’re weird.”
“Nah, just drunk.”
I unlocked my door and stepped in, letting out a sigh of relief at finally being home. For some reason, I wanted to talk to Aaron, like now. I needed to hear his voice and tell him exactly how I felt.
Stumbling back to my bedroom while dialing him on the phone, I decided that I could multitask. I’d get ready for bed and talk.
“Hello?”
I paused for a second, waiting for the beep.
“Vivian?”
I slipped on my nightgown and then crawled onto my bed. “Aaron?”
A chuckle rang through my phone. “Yes, you called me.”
“Oh, I thought I would get your voicemail or something. I was wondering why it didn’t have a beep. Your voicemail does have a beep, doesn’t it? I have to ask because I don’t think I’ve ever left you a message before.”
“I think I have a beep, I’ve never called myself before. But enough about the beep, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“You hurt me. No, that isn’t it, you pissed me off. I was starting to like you, but you blew it. Vivian Leigh Haines does not give second chances.”
“Oh. I hate to hear that because while you may have been just starting to like me, I was starting to more than like you.”
“But you left me. I know you had an emergency, and I shouldn’t be upset because being upset when someone has an emergency is kind of a dick thing, but then it was nothing, nada, nothing but a text, that was all.” I leaned back and rested my head against the headboard. “Men kinda suck, you know? Or maybe it’s me. I can’t figure it out. I hadn’t let anyone in, not even an inch, since Eric died, and the first person I do is not for me. How fucked up is that, like really? You left me there to face that Haley-bitchface-Loles. She kept shoving a mic and camera in my face to see if I was the person you were smiling at and asking why you left. I hate the media, have I ever told you how much I hate the media?”
“No, why do you hate them?”
“They are bottom feeders. They think everyone’s business is their business. They forgot the basic human respect that there are times you need to leave people alone, like when you are trying to bury someone. They want to exploit your every emotion and reaction as if it is everyone’s business how you cry or when you rage against things that are happening. It’s messed up, seriously messed up.”
“Yeah, I agree. They are intrusive. I don’t mind when they ask about plays after a game, but when I’m not on the court, I’m a normal person. For the most part, they let me be a normal person. I would rather them interview a doctor and ask them how many lives they saved today, or a judge and ask how many dangerous criminals they got off the streets.” Aaron’s voice was like perfectly aged brandy, mellow, smooth, and hung in the air with languid notes.
“How about not even them? Politicians only. If you run for a public position, then you are offering yourself up to public opinion. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with crap like Haley Loles coming into my bar to bombard me with questions.”
“She showed up at your work? What happened? You okay?”
“Nothing.” I scoffed. “She shouted a bunch of questions, but you know my patrons. They weren’t putting up with her shit. But, yeah, I’m fine. Oh wait, do you have a secret family?”
“What?” He chuckled. “No, I don’t have a secret family.”
“No. Stop. Don’t lie to me.” Okay, I was two sheets to the wind, but even I could tell I sounded like a whiney-ass woman. “I saw some pictures. You were with a woman and a girl; the girl looks just like you.”
“Some people that I had a very close bond to were killed in a car accident, which is why I had to leav
e immediately. The woman in that picture was the case worker. There’s so much more I want to explain, but would you mind if we talked about it tomorrow . . . when you will remember?”
I should have been annoyed that he thought I was too drunk to remember, but his voice was warm and soothing, as if he were smiling through the words.
I liked it, but I also hated that he had lost people he was close to.
“Viv?”
A heavy sullenness had settled over me, making it hard to talk. “Yes? I’m sorry about your friends.”
“Thank you. Grab some water and drink a lot before you go to sleep. But, trust me, I really want to see where we can go. I’m leaving tomorrow, okay. Good night, my midnight call girl.”
“Night, Aaron.” I disconnected and dropped my phone.
Aaron
She’s a girl, one hundred percent female.
I glanced back at Ireland, who was seated in my backseat in the most uncomfortable position possible. Her face rested on the strap of the seatbelt that was strung across her chest, which forced her head to tilt in a weird way. My neck hurt just watching her.
Toys were stacked and crammed into every nook and cranny around her in the tiny backseat of my Porsche Cayenne. The girl had no problem agreeing to all new clothes and shoes but absolutely refused to leave any of her toys.
Kids.
Once we’d taken care of what we could at her parents’ house, we got on the road. I had no idea how many hours having a kid in the car would add to a road trip. I think that I made a total of twelve stops for a twelve-hour trip, we ate at restaurants not fast food because that was what she wanted, and I would bet that Ireland saw the inside of every bathroom stall between Evansville and Orlando. The kid either had a tiny bladder or a freakish curiosity for toilets.
“Hey, boo, we’re here,” I whispered as I shut the garage door. “Wake up, let’s go inside.” I turned off the ignition, got out, and opened the house before returning and helping a sleepy Ireland out of the car. How she was sleepy was beyond me, since if she wasn’t hungry or in need of a restroom, she was asleep. “We’ll unpack your stuff tomorrow, let’s just go in, and you can go to bed.”
“But where?” Ireland grunted and yawned at the same time.
“I have five guest rooms, you can have whichever one you want.” That seemed to perk her up.
“Where’s your room?” she asked as we walked into the kitchen.
“Mine is right over there.” I pointed to the oversized double doors at the far end of the hallway. “The other rooms are down over there.” I pointed to the two side wings of the house. “You can choose any one you want.”
Ireland shuffled off to look and explore. I plopped down on the sofa and picked up the remote.
Flipping through channels, I paused when Ireland shouted, “Can I have this one?”
I followed her voice and found her in a spacious room. It was beige—okay, my entire house was beige, but still, this one lacked all color.
She was already up in the bed and had her shoes off.
“You can have whatever you want, you ready for bed?” I reached into her backpack that she had set by the door and pulled out her pajamas.
“I’m tired.” Her words were soft, and I couldn’t tell whether it was from sleep or sadness creeping in.
“Okay, get changed and brush your teeth. Tomorrow, we can make a list of everything you need and do some shopping if you want?”
“Yeah, okay,” she mumbled as she grabbed her bag and PJs, then headed toward the bathroom.
“There are new toothbrushes and some toothpaste in the drawer in there.” Okay, I wasn’t sure which drawer, but I knew they were there since my housekeeper kept it stocked with all the normal toiletries just in case some of the players crashed here. As I thought about that, I rushed to the nightstand and jerked the drawer open. Before Ireland had a chance to find them, I removed the unopened box of condoms that were also kept in each room. That’s the second I realized a lot of things were over for me, and for some reason, I wasn’t sad. It was almost a relief, as if I had done my part and I could move on to what I really wanted to do.
A few minutes later Ireland came back out dressed for bed. She climbed under the covers, and I moved to sit next to her. Gently brushing her hair back, I lowered a soft kiss to her forehead. “I know this is hard and that everything hurts so much, but we’re going to get through this together. You and me, okay?”
“Okay.” She rolled over onto her stomach and turned her head away from me, a silent gesture that said so much. She wanted to be left alone.
Turning off the lights, I stood there for several seconds. “I love you.”
As I headed back out to the living room, an emptiness washed over me, and I found myself reaching for my phone. It wasn’t even ten yet, so she was still awake.
Vivian
“Hello?” I answered even though I wasn’t sure how much I was willing to hear him out.
“Hey, Little One, I just got home, and I was wondering if you wanted to come over.”
“It’s late, if you just got home go to bed, we can talk tomorrow,” I assured him, keeping my heart guarded.
“It isn’t that late, plus there is so much I want to talk to you about. What if I said please?”
The pleading in his voice changed something in me. Aaron was all man, but the softness in his tone had me giving in.
“Where do you live?” I asked, more resigned, and wrote down the Bayhill address as he rattled it off. “I’ll see you in about twenty-five minutes.”
I hung up and then quickly gathered my things from my office before waving goodbye to Danny and Mikki.
With the window rolled down, the cool night air blowing through my hair, and Billy Joel crooning “The River of Dreams,” I headed west toward the Bayhill area. I had no clue what to expect when I got there, I’d been racking my brain, trying to figure out what was so important that he couldn’t tell me what it was over the phone. It was like some riddle, but of course, my mind went to the extremes, like he was married and wanted me to meet her. Okay, I was being ridiculous, but I was baffled. I exited the interstate and turned onto Sand Lake Road just as my GPS was saying to exit now.
“Nice try, dipshit, you’re a little late,” I said to the robotic woman’s voice.
When I pulled up to the guard gate, I handed my license over and was immediately waved through. Aha, at least he alerted them that I was coming. When I pulled into his driveway, the first thing that dawned on me was that Sixes and my house could fit inside his home. Good god, what did a single guy need with a house this big? Okay, no one needed a house this big, unless we were talking about the Brady Bunch or Octomom.
I turned off my car and then just sat in his driveway, constantly checking my rearview and side mirrors. Maybe I expected whatever his secret was to jump out at me. When nothing did, I sighed and opened my door. I turned to walk up to his front door and found him standing on his porch, a wide smile on his face. Okay, that was reassuring, at least. How bad could this be if he was happy?
I headed up to him and then was engulfed by everything that was Aaron Skkye, his height, his cologne, his sheer strength.
“You feel so good, thank you for coming out,” he whispered before stepping back, locking eyes with me.
“Well, only the best secrets are worth a drive in the middle of the night to hear.” I was grinning because my nerves had settled, and the heaviness of trepidation had lifted. Then he was kissing the smile away, drinking me in as if he couldn’t get enough. “God, Vivian, I can’t tell you how good it feels to have you here.”
“It feels nice being in your arms.”
“Come on, let’s go inside.”
Beige, the place was beige, which was the only sense that I had of his home, lots of beige walls, ecru window treatments, and walnut-colored accents. I never wanted to give a kid a box of crayons and tell them to brighten the place up more than I did the moment I stepped into Aaron’s some-several-million-dolla
r home.
“I have some red wine out already for you.” Aaron pulled me over to a deep, plush, dark brown couch and sat. “How are you? You look beautiful, and I can’t believe how much I missed our chats.”
“I missed you too.” I took the glass of wine that Aaron handed me and slowly sipped, watching him over the rim of my glass. I relaxed with my glass and Aaron reached for it, setting both of ours back on the table before he grasped my hands.
“I had a bad childhood, there’s no other way to say it. From as early as I could remember my mom would leave me and go off on some drug bender. It would be days before I saw her again. There were many times she left and there was no food, so I did what anyone would do: I went looking.”
My heart froze, because what kind of mother could leave a child? My god, this meant he was what, three or four?
“Sometimes the police would find me and take me to a foster home, but other times I would find my way back and wait for her to come home. I’m not telling you this to feel sorry for me; I can see it on your face. I’m telling you so that you understand me.”
“Okay.” I bit my lower lip to keep from saying anything else.
“My life was spent being jostled around from my mom to foster homes and back to my mom. I don’t think that I ever felt love until my first real girlfriend. She would tell me that she loved me, and it was such a strange feeling, but I liked it. Her name was Maisy.”
He reached forward and swept a stray strand of hair off my cheek. “She was the first girl I had sex with.”
Hearing about him having sex with someone else bothered me, it was weird, it shouldn’t, because it was a long time ago, but still.
“Uh, Aaron, you don’t need to tell me all of this. It’s okay, really.”
“But I do. Maisy got pregnant. At first, she wanted to have an abortion, and I wanted to keep the baby. I wanted to be different, show a child the love I never got. I thought she had changed her mind, and she was coming to see things my way. But shortly after delivery, when they wheeled the baby off so Maisy could sleep, she got up and snuck out of the hospital. No one has seen or heard from her since.”
Vivian, Midnight Call Girl (Iron Orchids Book 6) Page 11