Flaw (The Flaw Series) (8 page)

“He’s got it,” Becca says for me. My mom pulls her hands back and stares in disbelief at the first girl I’ve ever brought home.

“Mom, this is Becca. She lives across the hall from me. Becca, this is my mom, Helen.” I introduce the two of them.

My mom is speechless for a moment. Her eyes devour every last detail of Becca, from the pink braids all the way down to the black flip flops she’s wearing in the cold weather. She gives a quick glance in my direction before her voice finally returns. “I am so pleased to meet you. Come in, come in. How long are you here for? I’m just about to make some lunch. Please tell me you’ll stay.”

“We’d love to stay and have lunch.” Becca puts a friendly hand on my mom’s arm and follows her into the house. She turns around and when she gives me a wink, it does something funny to the inside of my chest.
Did I bring her here on purpose?
I could have dropped my laundry off anytime.

My mom heats up the oven to bake a lasagna she had defrosting on the counter. I know that means it will be at least an hour before we’re ready to eat. Becca seems unbothered when I inform her of this. She gabs with my mother, looks at all the pictures my mom insists on showing her, and doesn’t say anything when my mom refills her glass of soda three times.

I sit across the table spending most of my time staring at Becca, listening to the funny conversation taking place between the two women. Becca tells my mom about her big family and my mom shares a few stories about growing up in a big family herself. Some of the things I never even knew.

“I’m surprised you only have Josh,” Becca says to my mom not knowing that having one child was never part of her plan.

“We had hoped for more children but it just wasn’t in the cards for us.” My mom answers her casually, not mentioning the years of fertility treatments I know they went through. I had been the first of what my parents had hoped would be many children. “And I swore I would never spoil him but you know Josh.” She reaches over and pinches my chin.

Becca tilts her head, encouraging my mom to finish her thought.

“My boy’s a charmer. Josh could always sweet talk me into just about anything. Oh gosh, he always knew just the right thing to say to get what he wanted.” My mom tosses her head back and laughs. “He still does.”

Becca shoots a strange look in my direction and the smile briefly leaves her face. I’m not sure why. It was just silly talk about how cute I am. Is it possible my mom is starting to say too much?

“We got to head out soon. Becca, you ready to go?”

Not surprisingly after all the soda, Becca excuses herself to go the bathroom, leaving me alone with my mom.

“Well. I. Just. Love. Her.” My mom starts right off, hands flailing straight out in front of her. “I knew, I just knew, when you finally brought someone home she was going to be special. She’s so sweet and so friendly and oh, God, she’s just gorgeous. That pink hair, so cool and trendy. I love that little diamond in her nose. How long have you been together? Are you going to bring her around again soon so your father can meet her?”

“Mom, calm down, we’re not together. She’s just a friend.” I lower my voice, hoping my mom will follow suit, searching over my shoulder to make sure Becca can’t hear us.

“What?” My mom gasps and dramatically fans herself. Meeting the right girl is high on her list of priorities for me. Every time I’ve gotten in some type of trouble, Mom has always claimed once I meet the right girl everything would fall into place for me. “Why aren’t you together? She’s perfect for you.”

“Because, Mom, we’re just friends and … .”
Wow, this is actually hard to say
. “She’s with Aidan.”

“Oh, I see.” Her eyes go sad, looking into mine, and I quickly lower my head away from hers.
She knows
. She gets up quietly from the table and begins clearing the dishes. I hate that my mom knows me as well as she does. Right now she’s wondering why I brought home another guy’s girl to meet her. She knows once again I’m screwing things up in my life. And worst of all, she knows the way I’m feeling towards Becca.

I pick up my plate and walk over to the sink. “Here, I can rinse them and put them in the dishwasher.”

“Everything will work out, sweetheart.” My mom rubs my back and is up on her toes giving me a kiss on the cheek when Becca walks back into the room.

I back away from my mom’s kiss. “Are you ready to head to the grocery store?” I close up the dishwasher, turning back around.

“Yes. Josh and I are going grocery shopping. Do you need him to pick you up anything?” Becca asks my mom.

“Ehh, uhh…” For the second time today my mom is at a loss for words. She might be in shock. She looks over at me and I hold back the laugh that’s building down deep in my gut. “I don’t need anything from the store,” she stammers out.

Becca thanks my mom and hugs her, and my mom makes her promise she’ll be back again soon. We all walk out to the driveway and my mom continues waving her hand in our direction until we drive away.

“That was so much fun. Your mom has so many pictures of you. The one with the double exposure where you’re happy in the first pose and serious wearing sunglasses in the other…I need a copy of that.” She laughs, trying to imitate my serious face.

Becca didn’t even see half of the embarrassing pictures there are of me. My mother dragged me to the portrait studio twice a year for professional pictures when I was growing up. Christmas and my birthday. I’m thankful my mom didn’t show her the pictures from the brief time I was into magic. The pictures involve playing cards in one hand and a live rabbit in the other.

“No, you can’t have a copy of that picture.” I keep my eyes on the road. I want to kiss Becca. I want to pull the car over, grab her in close, and kiss those shiny lips.
Why does she have to be with somebody else?

“Was I the first girl you ever introduced to your mom?” Becca asks, looking out the window. She doesn’t even wait for me to answer. “I guess girls like Mindy don’t get invited over to family dinners?”

“Mindy?”

“Blonde hair, tons of make-up, you did unspeakable things with her in your room and then asked me to ditch her for you. We all had pancakes together. Ring a bell?”

Dammit, even if she wasn’t with Aidan, I’d have no chance with her. I’m that guy. The one girls are warned about. The one girls never take seriously. Especially a girl like Becca.

“No, I’ve never brought anyone home before,” I say to her. No girl ever seemed special enough.
Until now
.

Aidan

Becca’s at work and thankfully so is Josh. Leaving the house in the middle of the day would send up a red flag that I was up to something. Becca was clear about her feelings towards Jordyn. I know it’s best if I keep this excursion to myself. This is a one-time thing I was roped into doing,
more like falsely seduced
.

Jordyn sends a text that she’s outside waiting for me. Gotta just get this over with. I zip up my hoodie and lock the door behind me.

I open the car door to the white Audi parked outside and I’m struck by a vision. Her cascading hair moves in soft, slow motion, blowing around her flawless skin. Granted the vents are blowing heat in her direction, but my God, this girl is magnificent. The eyes looking back at me are the golden color of a sunflower.

“You okay with the sunglasses today?” I ask, remembering how last time she told me she found them distracting.

“In the sunshine they’re just perfect,” she purrs, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

I’m already in trouble. Every movement she makes, every word she says, turns me on. For the millionth time I wonder what the hell I’m getting myself into today.

“I have to start by apologizing. I didn’t know about you and Becca. She mentioned you a few times and the way she talked, well, I just didn’t realize…I mean, I guess I misunderstood your relationship. If I had known I wouldn’t have come on to you the way I did the other night.”

I swallow hard. So she was definitely coming on to me. I didn’t imagine all that. The images of her pressed up against me on the treadmill have been controlling my mind all week. My breathing becomes unsteady and my heart, well…that’s just a lost cause around her. “You were just being friendly because you needed a favor,” I supply, breathing in deep through my nose.

“All right, we can go with that.” Her velvety voice fills the car. Smooth, rich, and perfect, just like the rest of her.

“So, what do I need to do today? Do I need to talk? Is this a speaking part?”

“No talking. Masked characters never speak. Mostly you’ll just stand there in a prince stance, one arm bent at your waist, the other arm bent at your back. I’ll show you when we get there. I have to warn you, it’s chilly today but you’ll be warm in the costume. If you need to break for some air or you need a drink to cool off, you just have to signal to the princess.”

“Oh, there’s a princess?”

“Of course. She’ll be the one to lead you in and out. She’s the one who speaks and makes sure the kids are posed properly for pictures. She’ll be at your side all day.”

I don’t even bother asking. I know who my princess is.

“The children that will be here today, are they the children the benefit is for?”

“No, those are different events. They usually take place at the hospital. This one will be at a nice place with a fancy luncheon and cocktails. We’ll be entertaining the children of the parents who are making
very
large donations.”

“Do you ever do the events at the hospital?”

“No, I haven’t yet.” She bites down on her lip uncomfortably. “The events I participate in are usually just like this one.”

When we arrive, Jordyn leads the way through a back entrance of an upscale venue. We have our own private dressing area, hidden away from everyone. She pulls me in and locks the door behind us. She points to a garment bag hanging from a hook, then picks up a second bag and disappears behind a curtain. I do my best to not think about what she’s doing behind it.

I unbutton my jeans. “I’m gonna take my jeans off before I put the costume on. Right?” I ask, just to make sure.

“Yes, you’ll die if you leave them on under that heavy costume,” she yells over to me.

I slide my jeans down, lifting my foot, bending over to fully remove them, folding them neatly, and tossing them onto a chair in the corner. The costume is definitely heavy. She wasn’t kidding about being warm. I examine the prince pants, making sure I know exactly how I’m gonna get into these things.

“Need help?” Jordyn peeks from her hidden dressing area. Her eyes go down to a place a princess should certainly not be looking.

“I think I got it.” My face heats up as she continues watching until the pants are all the way on and zipped.

Moments later she steps out in a yellow gown, her silky hair pulled to one side and tied back with a satin ribbon. The sleeves of her dress fall off her creamy bare shoulders. I choke out a few coughs on the saliva filling my watering mouth. She helps secure the mask in place over my head and the sensation of her fingers on my neck brings out the feeling of a beast inside me. I suppress the growl building in my throat and overcome the strong urge to take her into my arms.

With the costume locked into place, she takes hold of my upper arm and guides us out of the room and down the hall. If I was standing here naked I’d be sweating around this girl. In a fur-lined costume with her hand clinging to my arm, I’m a puddle.

The little girls are in a frenzied panic when we enter the ballroom and a few bombard us, ramming right into my waist, forcing me to hold back grunts when they accidentally ram into lower parts.

The voice Jordyn uses as princess is melodious and enchanting. She fits the role of a princess to a tee. The girls hang on her every word and she hugs each one before signing little pink autograph books. She’s amazing with the children. They adore her. Of course they do, she’s perfect.

At one point a loud chant begins for us to kiss. I can only see out the front of the mask but I feel a tug on my hand and a pressure at my side. I’m pretty sure my furry mask was just kissed. It might be time to give her the sign that I need some air.

“Breathe.” Back in the private room, once I’m free of the mask, Jordyn hands me a bottle of water and sends a cooling breeze my way by waving a piece of paper in front of me. “You’re doing great. The girls all love you.”

Automatically I reach for my pair of sunglasses, tossing them over my eyes. The sweat still pours off of me and I run a hand over the back of my buzzed hair, thankful for the short cut. “I only need a minute or two and then I’ll be fine.”

“No, we’re going to take our time. At least thirty minutes. I’m a mess. Look at me. I need a break, too.”

There isn’t a hair out of place on her head and if she’s hot, it sure doesn’t show. Her skin is as fresh as it was when I first saw her this morning. A little cup of ripe strawberries gets placed in front of me. I watch Jordyn pick one out of the cup and bring it up to her lips. Watching her bite into the plump red berry only makes cooling down that much harder. I finish up my water and grab a strawberry of my own, turning my head in the opposite direction away from her.

“How’d you get that scar?” Jordyn asks.

No one asks. Ever. Even Becca. She only knows what I volunteered. “It’s from a knife.” I give the simple answer. She doesn’t say anything but her eyes press me for more details and for some reason I submit to them and keep talking. “I went to a bar. A few words were exchanged. The guy didn’t like what I had to say. He reached for a knife. I didn’t get away in time.”

“I hope the guy’s locked up.”

My response is a single grunt and my stomach tightens. I try not to ever think about that night, but it still haunts my thoughts more often than not.

“Eat these strawberries up. They’ll help you get through the rest of the afternoon.” She reaches over, taking a strawberry from the cup and holding it out to me. I bring my mouth down and bite into the juicy fruit she’s offering, taking it from her, tempted to lick the red juice from her fingertips. “I was just handing it to you, but that’s fine, too,” she says and grins.