Free Black Aura by Jaycee Clark Page B

voices in the background.
    “Sorry, as I was saying, if you change your mind, we ass-kick to please.”
    This time she chuckled. “Man I miss you guys. I needed this call. Maybe I should just come home.”
    “We miss you, too,” Cora said, her voice soft and convinced. “So, what did he do?”
    She took a deep breath and tried to let it out slowly, but it didn’t help. She was pissed. Very pissed. “The idiot questioned my conviction in what I do, first of all. He did that last night.”
    “Before or after you had him in bed.”
    “And then—” She blinked. “God, Cora, there wasn’t a damn bed.”
    “With you, there never had to be.”
    “Bitch.”
    “Back at ya, babe.”
    Lake grinned. “Sooooo, as I was saying, he questioned my conviction while we were having dinner. A nice dinner too that he ruined. But we talked about it, ya know?”
    “Talked about what?”
    “If I really believe in what I ‘sell’, for the lack of anything else to call it.”
    A silent beat thrummed over the phone. “I’ll leave that one alone, it’s too easy and you’re not in the mood.” Another humming moment, then, “Okay, so he questioned you, basically what you believe, which by the way, is simply who you are. Then what?”
    “Then I said that it wasn’t just a damned mask that I put on when it suited me. It was part of me, reading auras and believing in fate and psychics.” She stood, waving a hand in aggravation. “Or whatever. The point is he questioned, I answered, thought we had it settled, and then he kissed me.”
    “The good part.”
    For a moment she thought back to the explosive kiss that she had wanted more of. “Yeah, it was good, great in fact, and the man is no doubt superb in bed, but that’s all beside the point.”
    “Dear me. Lake just said that superb sex is beside the point.” Cora’s clear laughter rang over the phone as she clearly told whoever was there with her what Lake had just said.
    Cora’s chuckles still danced through the phone.
    “This is so not funny, damm it. I need some—”
    More giggles. “Yes, I’ve noticed. You’re wound so tight…” More laughter.
    Frustrated, Lake sighed and said, “When you get done laughing and want to know why I’m so pissed I could smother him with his own drop cloths, call me back.”
    She clicked the phone off. Damn it. Where was a—
    The phone rang again.
    “I’m sorry. Really,” Cora said, not laughing, but Lake could still hear the smile in her voice. “I promise I will remain silent until you ask my opinion. Rogan left so I won’t get in trouble for yelling our conversation at him. He misses you and your stories.”
    Yeah, right. “So anyway,” Lake picked up as if never having left off, “here I was, and here he was, and he had a valid reason to worry. About my convictions, ya know?” She took another deep breath. “He’s got a daughter, probably nineteen-twentyish, I can’t remember, college age anyway.” She closed her eyes and sat back down on the couch. “The girl is the most gifted I’ve ever been around, Cora. I mean I can not only see her aura, but feel it. Really feel it. And she doesn’t have a clue, at least not that I’ve noticed. Well, to some extent.” She stood again and paced to the window. “So I had mentioned to her that I’d like to talk to her and he’s concerned that I’m merely playing her or scamming her or something, ya know? But I thought we cleared all that up.”
    “Last night, right?” Cora asked.
    “Yeah, we discussed it over dinner then he kissed me and then I left.”
    “Wait. I have to ask.”
    “What?”
    “This guy you’ve been eyeing for months finally took you out and then he kissed you but that’s it? And it was a great kiss?”
    Lake smiled, remembering it, then scowled. “On my old scale, at least a eight, if not a nine.”
    “No tens?”
    “Ten was years ago, no one’s ever met that one.”
    “Another story.”
    “Another time,” Lake finished on a