Stiletto Secrets (23 page)

And with that Hunter left, leaving Emma behind with a broken heart filled with chaos and conflict. He was right. Emma was no better than Nicholas. She had been betraying him as much as he had betrayed her tonight. Everything was now one big, tangled mess of hurt, pain and secrets that could ultimately destroy them both.

NICHOLAS
stormed into Billy’s Pub, desperately needing a drink…or six.

What in God’s name was he doing? Going over to the club, seeing her? If he could have kicked his own ass, he would.

And then he kissed her. What the fuck was that?

But those lips, her taste, it was so much like her, like Emma. It was like he had been kissing the same person, which of course was impossible. But everything about Cinderella revved him up, exactly the way Emma did. And now it seemed like he was addicted to it, craving it more and more.

The entire day he was at the office, his mind just kept on playing ping pong between thoughts of Emma, and thoughts of the stripper—the goddamn stripper!

He couldn’t concentrate on work at all. Throughout the entire day he kept an eye on the clock, and an eye on his phone, waiting for it to be time for Cinderella’s show, and then waiting to hear from Emma.
Sick fuck!

He didn’t plan on going to the strip club. It just sort of happened. It was like there was this invisible force that pulled him in that direction toward her. The closer it came to ten o’clock, the stronger that pull seemed to get. He knew she would be there, in Cinderella’s Booth, wearing those sexy as hell shoes. He knew that if he should go there, he would be able to see her, or feel her, or touch her, or whatever. And the minute he got into his car, he knew he just could not let that chance slip through his fingers.

Nicholas had cursed the entire way there, making multiple U-turns whenever he thought of Emma. He didn’t claim to be an expert in the love department.

Sex? Yes.

Love? Not so much.

But he knew enough to suspect that he had in fact fallen in love with Emma, which was kind of insane since they hardly knew each other. All he knew was that he was in love with the way he felt whenever he was with her. He felt good. He felt like less of a dick than he usually felt like—which was a lot—for him.

Still, dickhead Nicholas Blake had to just screw around and go to Twisted Fable for what? Shits and giggles? No. He went there because when it came to fucking up, he had his effing master’s degree.

And then, when she finally came walking out from behind that curtain, and he was finally able to lay his eyes on hers, the entire world around him just stopped. It just fucking stopped.

That smooth-looking, slender body with curves in all the right places knocked the breath right out of him. And when he saw her wearing the shoes he loved, the sex crazed animal inside of him just went completely ape shit.

Dressed in a white lace corset that accentuated all her delicious curves, the garter belt that stretched along those beautiful thighs making him wish like hell he had those thighs clenched tight around his waist, it was all just too fucking much.

But the real doozy, the motherfucker of all curveballs, was when he walked closer to her and stared into her eyes for the very first time. Blue-green eyes that seemed like they could magically see right through him was enough to send him into a frenzy of raw lust and uncontrollable desire. And that’s when he fucking lost it. That’s also when he kissed her. He wanted to devour every inch of her right at that moment. Bury himself so deep between her legs that she would be unable to think about anything but him.

But when he tasted the saltiness of her tears, he realized that not only was he fucking around with Emma’s feelings and his own, but also with the feelings of this woman he didn’t even know.

Yup, class A bastard.

“Tequila,” he ordered when he got to the bar. “And keep them coming.” The bartender nodded and Nicholas pulled his hands through his hair feeling as frustrated as hell.

On his way from the club he had tried phoning Emma, but she didn’t answer. She was probably still out with her sister.

The bartender placed his first tequila in front of him and Nicholas shot it back, cursing as he felt the sting.

He tapped the empty glass on the counter. “Another.”

Fuck, he really needed to see Emma, speak to her, touch her. He grabbed his phone and sent her a text asking where she was and what time she would be done.

See, he knew very well that he was the biggest asshole, the scummiest bastard to ever have entered Emma’s life. But he was selfish like that. Even though he knew he had found something special in Emma—
with
Emma—he just could not keep the fuck away from that goddamn club. Twisted Fable had become his Hell.

Nicholas snorted to himself. Funny. Emma was the one that kept on saying that she wasn’t good enough for him, meanwhile he was the one that just wasn’t good enough for her.

Another tequila shot got placed in front of him, and he quickly tossed it back.

He glanced at his phone. Why wasn’t Emma answering? Why hadn’t he heard from her?

Typical. He screwed up in the biggest way tonight, and now he was acting all insecure.
Pussy
.

“Thought we might find you here.”

Nicholas turned around just as Adam slapped him on the shoulder, shooting him a smug-ass grin. Hunter was standing behind him…no, wait, Hunter was towering over him. Nicholas could have sworn that guy grew larger and larger by the fucking second.

“You all right, man?” Hunter looked at him with concern.

Nicholas drank the third tequila, and then tapped it on the bar. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Well, you look like shit.” Adam signaled for another round of drinks as he took a seat next to Nicholas. “But have no fear. Adam Masters is here to breathe some new life into you, my friend.”

Just then two women walked past, giving them the dreamy stare, and smiling at Adam.

Adam bit his lip and gave a long appreciative “hmm-mmm” as he leaned back on his chair to stare at their asses. “I see the ass-tastic twins came out to play tonight.”

Hunter sat down on the other side of Nicholas. “You wanna talk about it?”

Nicholas snorted. “That is a definitive no.”

“Talk about what?” Adam turned to them.

“Nothing.”

Adam focused on Nicholas. “Dude, is there trouble in paradise already? Because if there is, I’m pretty sure the Kardashian twins that just passed would be very helpful in making you forget all about whatever the fuck is up your ass.”

“Dude!” Hunter barked. “Do you ever stop being a man whore?”

Adam’s eyebrows lifted to his hairline. “The day I stop being a man whore, is the day my dick falls off from neglect, which will never fucking happen since I take very good care of him.”

Nicholas shook his head slightly, desperate to get
that
picture out of his head. “Can we please stop talking about your dick?”

Adam slapped Nicholas on the shoulder again. “My friend, stories will be told of my dick, books will be written.” Adam spread his arm out wide in front of him and stared into open space. “It will be called
The Dick Diaries
.”

Nicholas stared at Adam. “You need help.”

“I’ll have the ass-tastic twins at the back there ready to help me within the hour.” Adam grinned.

Nicholas just shook his head and turned his attention back to the bourbon that got placed in front of him. Hunter took the liberty of ordering since he could probably sense that Nicholas was in need of hard liquor.

Adam slapped Nicholas on the chest. “Ooh, here they come.”

“Who?”

“J-Lo and Kim K. Okay, boys,” Adam tossed back his drink, “I shall see you on the flip side. It’s time for me to get my daily dose of booty and pussy. See ya’s.” Adam trotted off after the two girls with the good-looking butts. As a man Nicholas had to admire the curvy asses which were being swayed from side to side, but he just didn’t care.

Hunter took a swig of his beer before putting it back down. “So, is it Emma?”

“Yeah…no…” Nicholas sighed. “I don’t know. It’s me…I think.”

Hunter nodded like he totally got what Nicholas was trying to say, even though Nicholas himself didn’t get what the fuck he was trying to say.

“Did you find out anything? About Emma, or this Cinderella stripper?” Nicholas looked at Hunter, not sure if he wanted to know if Hunter did indeed find out anything.

But Hunter shook his head. “Not yet, my man.”

He got up from his chair and placed a reassuring hand on Nicholas’ shoulder. “But I have a feeling you won’t need it.”

Nicholas wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but when he turned, Hunter had already made his way through the crowd, on his way out.

He glanced at his phone. Still no answer from Emma. It was just after twelve a.m., and he was sure that Emma would have been home already. Why did he have this sense of foreboding stirring inside his gut?

The worst part? He didn’t know where Emma lived. So he couldn’t even go to her apartment to find out if she was okay or not. And he needed her now more than he ever did. More proof of what a selfish ass he was.

Finally the light of his phone flashed. It was a text from Emma, and Nicholas wanted to kiss the fucking screen.

Just got home. I’ll see you tomorrow
.

That was it? Just
that?
No
I miss you
, or
come on over
, or anything like that. Just…
that
?

Nicholas quickly typed a reply.
Can’t wait 2 c u. Will send Beth over with dress etc
.

He waited…and waited…but nothing. Abso-fucking-lutely nothing.

Something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong. And he didn’t like it one little bit.

IT
was Sunday morning and Emma was sitting in the kitchen busy with her fourth cup of coffee. The night before, just after Hunter left, Emma walked out of the club and promised herself that she would never be going back there. The past few months she worked so hard on keeping Cinderella’s Booth apart from her life, not to let it become personal…well now it was very, very personal.

Emma did take a little memento from the Booth though. Call it stealing, she didn’t care. She needed that one thing to remind herself that something good came from her time in that place, even if it might have been short-lived.

When Emma got home and received a text from Nicholas, she fell on her bed and cried some more. Her emotions and feelings were just all over the place. What Hunter had said to her was so damn right. She was betraying Nicholas as well, lying to him. And Claire was out for Emma’s blood, so if she didn’t come clean to Nicholas about her being Cinderella, it would only be a matter of time before Claire had one of her henchmen figure it out.

She only answered Nicholas’ text when she eventually stopped crying. She didn’t know what to say since she wasn’t sure whether she was still going to this damn masquerade ball or not. She wasn’t sure about anything. All she knew was that her heart was bleeding with all the secrets that swirled around like whirlwinds of destruction between her and Nicholas. Her secret, his secret, it was smothering all the good out of their relationship—if she could even call what they had a relationship.

“What happened to you?” Lizzy walked into the kitchen wearing her boy shorts and shirt. “You look like crap.”

“Gee, thanks, little sister.” Emma pulled her fingers through her curls which were just one big frizzy mess at that moment.

Lizzy grabbed some orange juice from the fridge and looked at Emma. “You were home early last night. Why?”

Emma got up to put her cup in the kitchen sink. “I quit.”

“Really?” Lizzy smirked. “Does a certain Nicholas Blake have anything to do with that?”

Emma sighed, slumped her shoulders and leaned over the sink. “Maybe.”

“Emma, is everything okay?” She could hear the worry and concern in Lizzy’s voice, and she didn’t like the fact that her little sister was concerned over her. It was supposed to be the other way around.

Emma took a deep breath, gathered all her strength and tried her best to fake a big smile when she turned to face Lizzy.

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, and I’m Snow White.” Lizzy cocked a brow. “You know, even though I’m the younger one here, you are allowed to confide in me every now and then, Emma.”

Emma walked over to the fridge to grab herself a glass of orange juice too since she had already reached her caffeine high.

“You just concentrate on getting through law school,” Emma said, trying to steer the conversation away from her.

Lizzy narrowed her eyes and stared at Emma pensively. “Fine,” she conceded. “What’s your plans for today?”

Emma snorted. “That’s the problem, I don’t know.”

Lizzy crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Talk. Now.” She pursed her lips and shot Emma a look which said
no more bullshit
.

Emma sighed. “Nicholas invited me to some or other charity masquerade ball tonight.”

And then Lizzy jumped off her chair and squealed.

Emma stared at her. “Are you going to do that every time you hear me say his name?”

“Yup. Be glad I’m not shoving my pom-poms in your face right now.” Lizzy’s eyes beamed with excitement. “So, what are you wearing?”

“Lizzy, I’m not even sure I’m going.”

“What?” she blurted out. “Please tell me you’re kidding?”

“Nope.” Emma stomped off out of the kitchen toward the living room. Of course Lizzy followed her.

“Emma, you can’t be serious? Of course you’re going.”

“I’m still deciding.” Emma took a seat on the couch and grabbed a magazine, which she had no intention of reading.

Lizzy stood right in front of Emma with her hands on her hips, her foot tapping impatiently on the floor. Basically Lizzy was telepathically telling Emma to look up and listen to what she had to say—now.

“Lizzy,” Emma placed the magazine down, “it’s complicated, okay?”

“Um, no. Not okay. With a guy like Nicholas you un-complicate it, stat.”

“Lizzy.” Emma got up and shouldered past her sister. “I’m realizing more and more that I’m just not the right type of woman for Nicholas.”