Free Layers Deep by Lacey Silks

must have been worried; or had she? I’d never discussed any
relationships with my mother, especially the sexual ones. The talk
beyond simple dating was off limits between the two of us. I’d
avoided the subject because the first sexual experience I’d been a
witness to was my mother getting raped. A brutal attack I couldn’t
stop.
    “She’s a
beautiful lady, Allie. I can see where you get your charm.” He set
the newspaper down on a table.
    “You met her?”
And, I sent a stranger to her house. She must have freaked.
    “She makes the
most delicious stack of waffles I’ve ever tasted.”
    What? My mother hadn’t made waffles since that dreadful day. How had
Cross managed to persuade her?
    Not only had
she let him inside, but she’d also made him breakfast.
    “She made you
waffles? What time is it?”
    I gazed around
the room, searching for a clock. The fluffy bed filled with over a
dozen pillows would have better suited Cross, or even the Queen,
than me. The antique wood tones set the room back a few decades. A
mirror hung above the fireplace on the wall across from the bed.
Still, there was no clock.
    “I have that
effect on women.” He shrugged. “It’s ten in the morning. I didn’t
want to wake you.”
    My dress had
been nicely laid out on the chair beside Tristan. Black panties and
bra were folded on top into a neat square. Tristan followed my gaze
and smirked.
    “Did we?” I
gasped.
    “No,” he shook
his head. “I don’t take advantage of women.”
    “You undressed
me?”
    “I helped you
take off your dress. You did the rest.”
    Gosh, he’d seen
me in my underwear! Or even naked!
    I buried my
face in my hands and slid lower under the covers. Would Earth
please open up and swallow me whole? This was so unlike me. It was
the damn tequila again. Yet oddly I didn’t feel the hangover I
usually had, though thirst was slowly creeping into my mouth.
Tristan stood up and passed me a bottle of water.
    “Thank you.
You must think I’m a drunk.”
    “I don’t,
Allie. Everyone needs to wind down once in a while. You’re human.
And believe me, you’re not a drunk. I’ve seen addicts and
alcoholics enough.”
    “I also should
be more responsible.”
    “You’re one of
the most responsible women I’ve met.” He placed a file labeled with
my name on my lap. I wanted to get up and get dressed, but wasn’t
sure how, with Tristan staring at me. He had me pinned in the exact
spot he wanted me.
    “What is
that?”
    “Everything I
need to know about you.”
    “How?”
    “Really? You
have to ask?”
    Of course not!
Cross was an investigator. I should have expected he had a thick
file on my past in that leather briefcase he carried.
    “May I?”
    He nodded.
    I flipped
through the pages and there it was. My entire past. My stripping
days, some photos, where and when I moved my mother, how I paid for
college. Everything except Wright. He wasn’t there. I exhaled in
relief.
    Then it dawned
on me. Cross had known everything about me before he stepped into
the auditorium. The job I tried to erase from my resume haunted me.
I wasn’t ashamed of it, but the stripping past didn’t help when you
wanted to move up the law enforcement ladder. He was aware of how
I’d paid my way through college and police academy. Yet, it was me
he wanted to hire.
    “You know it
all.” I closed the file. “Why me, then?”
    His expression
changed to one of disappointment. Well, I’m sorry if my life’s
circumstances forced me to make decisions most women didn’t have
to!
    “It’s time we
put some cards out on the table. We’re taking a trip today.”
    “But my
mother...”
    “Your mother
is fine. She knows you’re safe with me. She threatened not to make
me waffles again if I hurt you.”
    “She did?”
    “She loves
you, Allie, and wants to see you happy. And I can’t have you
thinking about other things when I hire you. I need you to know
you’re safe, she’s safe, and only then can you work with