04 - Born to be Wilde.txt (6 page)

As Sydney's best friend, Lora was also the voice of reason in their relationship when it came to Cass, especially since she'd had her share of raising a teenager—her own brother. She didn't hesitate to set Sydney straight now, to give her the words she needed to hear.

"I know it's hard to watch her grow up, Syd," Lora said gently. "But it's going to happen. You've loved her and you've done a great job raising her. Don't hold those reins too tight, or you might find her doing just the opposite of what you want."

"I know, I know," Sydney agreed with a sigh, and dragged her fingers through her drying curls. "I just want her to make smart choices."

"Then give her the chance, and a bit of space." The advice was logical, but not to Sydney, who'd spent years being an overly protective mother. "We've all made mistakes, and she'll make her share. But you need to have a bit of faith in Cass, and she needs to know you trust her. Let her go to the party and have a bit of fun, Syd."

Her friend didn't look convinced, or swayed. "Well, I'll see what her math teacher has to say today before I say yes or no to the Halloween party."

Lora arched a brow mockingly. "You have to ask her math teacher's permission for her to go to the party?"

"No, smart-ass." Sydney stood and carried her mug to the sink and dumped the last of her coffee. "I got a call from him requesting a parent-teacher conference. Remember Daniel Barnett, Cassie's math teacher from last year?"

Lora nodded. Oh, yeah, she definitely recalled the good-looking high school math teacher very well. She'd attended Cassie's Open House Night with Sydney last year, and that's when Lora had also noticed the subtle attraction between the two. But Daniel Barnett, with his clean-cut appearance and genuine nice guy personality, was the kind of man Sydney avoided as a rule—she preferred bad boys, rebels, and guys who were out for a good time, and nothing more. She didn't do long-term commitment or emotional entanglements, and never, ever allowed her heart to get involved in any relationship. According to Sydney, she had her daughter, The Electric Blue, and Lora as a best friend, and there was nothing else she needed in her life.

"Anyway," Sydney continued as she rinsed out her cup and put it into the dishwasher, then dried her hand on a terry towel. "He's teaching Algebra Two this year, so Cassie has him again. He wants to talk to me about how she's doing in class, which is surprising, since she's always done very well in math. She even got an A in Algebra One last year."

Lora joined Sydney at the counter and grinned. "Maybe Daniel Barnett is just looking for a good excuse to see you again."

"Ummm, he's pretty straihtlaced, Lora. Kinda like you are." Sydney flicked the collar of Lora's practical work smock and wrinkled her nose playfully. "Besides, he's not the type of guy to call me in for a parent-teacher conference just to flirt with me. Something's definitely up with Cassie."

Worry filled Sydney's gaze, but before Lora could address her friend's concerns, the object of their discussion walked into the kitchen, her normally curly auburn hair now straightened into the latest shoulder-length style most teenage girls were wearing these days. The silky strands framed her face in wispy layers and brought out the golden flecks in her hazel eyes.

Growing up, Cassie had always been a no-frills kind of girl, more of a rough-and-tumble tomboy. But in the past few weeks Lora had begun to notice that Cassie was starting to pay more attention to her appearance, and taking more time with her hair, makeup, and picking out the clothes she wore to school. She still favored jeans over skirts or dresses, though, and today she had on a pair of dark denim jeans, a pale pink T-shirt, and a matching denim jacket.

Truly, Cassie did nothing to flaunt her body, but there was no way for her to hide her mature curves, either. And that was one of Sydney's biggest concerns, since her daughter was around hormonal teenage boys all day long.

" 'Morning, Aunt Lora," Cassie said as she slung the straps of her backpack over one shoulder. "I'm ready to go, Mom."

As Cassie passed her mother on the way to the front door, Sydney grabbed one of the straps on her daughter's backpack, effectively bringing her to a stop. "You need to eat something before I take you to school."

Cassie rolled her eyes and exhaled dramatically as she trudged back toward the refrigerator. "Fine. I'll drink a bottle of orange juice on the way."

Knowing that wouldn't be enough to appease Sydney, Lora grabbed a napkin and picked out a buttermilk bar from the pastry box for Cassie. "And take a doughnut with you, sweetie, so you don't have to listen to your mother lecture you about the importance of breakfast all the way to school."

Behind Cassie's back, Sydney stuck her tongue out at Lora, silently telling her what she thought about Lora taking her daughter's side in things. Lora barely held back the humorous laugh threatening to surface.

"Thanks, Aunt Lora," Cassie took the doughnut, gave Lora a bright, grateful smile, and headed out of the kitchen before Sydney could stop her again. "I'll be waiting in the car, Mom!"

"You are such a troublemaker," Sydney said to Lora once the apartment door slammed shut behind Cassie. "You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do, but someone has to keep things balanced around here and between you two." Sydney was way too strict and protective of her daughter, though her friend didn't see things that way.

"She never wants to leave for school early." Frowning, Sydney picked up her purse and car keys. "Something's up."

"Oh, for God's sake, Syd," Lora said, her tone reflecting her exasperation. "Quit being so suspicious. She probably wants to spend some time with her friends before the first period bell rings." Grabbing her own pocket-book, she followed her friend to the front door.

"Or spend time with a boy," Sydney added, and didn't sound happy about the possibility.

"Which is a perfectly normal thing for a fifteen-year-old girl to do." Even as she tried to reassure Sydney, Lora knew that her friend's experiences at the age of fifteen had been vastly different from her own—which was a huge part of why Sydney was struggling with her daughter's transition from little girl to young woman now. "You need to face the fact that she's not your little Tinker Bell any more."

Sydney smiled at the nickname she'd given Cassie shortly after she'd been born. "Does she really have to grow up so fast, and so soon?"

Lora hooked her arm through Sydney's as they walked down the corridor together. "Yeah, she really does."

"That's what I'm most afraid of," Sydney said, and sighed.

FINISHED with her third client of the morning, Lora headed to the receptionist's desk to check on her next appointment and what spa treatment she needed to prepare for. She'd already completed a facial, a seaweed body peel, and a mini refresher massage. After reviewing the session log on the computer, it looked like she had a body polish scheduled in the next half hour.

She turned to head toward the treatment rooms to get one of them ready for her next client, but was stopped by the spa's receptionist as the younger girl returned to the front desk.

"I'm glad I caught you," Brittany said as she brought up a list of the spa's daily appointments on the computer. "There's been a change in your schedule this morning."

"According to the log, I have a client coming in for a body polish at eleven."

"Not any longer." The receptionist cleared Lora's next two appointments and rescheduled them with other technicians. "You now have a hot stone massage waiting for you in treatment room five. He just came out of the steam room, so he's all set up, draped, and ready to go." Brittany glanced back up at Lora and grinned. "He must be someone important, considering Ashley St. Claire called up here herself to schedule him an appointment specifically with you today."

That was a bit of a shock. Ashley St. Claire was the hotel owner's daughter, and while she indulged in a spa treatment every once in a while, she'd never pulled strings to make special arrangements for a guest, as she had today. And Lora was equally surprised that it was her services that Ashley had requested for the client.

But, important or not, the man was just another client to Lora, and she gave every customer the best treatment possible. "What's his name?" she asked Brittany, so she could at least address him in a professional manner.

"John Smith."

A nice, nondescript name, she thought, finding the whole scenario a bit strange. "Is he a guest at the hotel?"

"Not according to our records. I already checked. So, he must be a personal friend of the St. Claires'." Grinning, Brittany leaned closer and lowered her voice so other nearby guests couldn't overhear her. "By the way, I'm thinking you're going to want to give him lots of special attention."

Lora caught Brittany's not-so-subtle wink and smiled. "Oh, really?"

"Mmmm. A few of us saw him when he first arrived, and let me tell you, the other technicians were begging me to give him to one of them. He is super-fine and hotter than most of the preppy executives that come up here." The receptionist fanned herself with her hand for effect. "We want details when your appointment with him is over."

"Details?" Lora asked, not sure what kind of inside information they were all after.

The younger woman nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we all want to know if his body is as rock hard as it looks. Everywhere."

Lora couldn't help but be amused, and was curious as all heck to see this John Smith for herself. "Sorry, but I never gossip about my clients. Or their attributes," she added with a grin.

"Yeah, I know," Brittany said on a disappointed sigh. "But I thought it was at least worth a shot to ask."

The spa's phone rang, forcing the receptionist back to work. She answered the call with a courteous greeting, and after a brief moment began describing what a Spa Signature Sampler entailed to the caller on the other end of the line.

Not wanting to keep her client waiting any longer than necessary, Lora made her way to his room. She quietly slipped inside, grateful to find the room already set up for her. A few aromatherapy candles had been lit, and the pleasant, woodsy-floral fragrance of rosewood filled the air. Soft music played in the background, adding to the soothing, relaxing atmosphere. But it was the gorgeous, well-built specimen of a man laying facedown on the massage table that made everything feminine within her sit up and take notice.

She'd seen a whole lot of nude male bodies during her years of being a massage therapist, and for the most part it was easy to remain indifferent and unaffected, but like Brittany had indicated, this man was unlike the normal executives and businessmen that frequented the hotel's spa.

This man was big and broad and well-defined in all the right places. Unable to resist, she took a moment to appreciate and enjoy the sculpted contours of his naked, muscular body. Starting at his bare feet, her gaze traveled over well-defined calves and up his long, strong legs. From mid-thigh to the base of his spine, he was covered with a towel, but there was no mistaking that he had an ass that was just as rock hard as the rest of him. The slope of his lean, sun-bronzed back led to wide shoulders and sinewy arms that spoke of the kind of power and strength no one would dare mess with.

He was facing the opposite direction, and she took in his thick, roguish long and shaggy hair. Those textured, unruly strands, coupled with that amazing body, stirred an undeniable awareness and familiarity inside her. She walked around the table and confirmed her suspicions when she was met with vivid blue eyes and a positively sinful grin that gave her a thrilling rush of pleasure.

The tempting, fully naked body laying on her massage table was none other than Joel Wilde.

Chapter Four

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LORA tipped her head, lifted an inquiring brow, and regarded Joel with an amused smile. "John Smith, I presume?"

He chuckled, the sound as intimate as the blue-eyed gaze traveling down the length of her body. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You definitely accomplished that."

His gaze slowly, gradually returned to her face, making her all too aware of how drab and sensible she looked compared to how he had seen her at her night job at The Electric Blue. Per the spa's rules for female employees, her hair was pulled back into a neat and tidy ponytail, and she had on a white smock, matching cotton pants, and rubber-soled shoes she wore more for comfort than style.

The outfit certainly wasn't something to inspire a man's lust, yet the spark of desire darkening Joel's gaze was as real as it got. And seductive as hell.

She turned away for a moment—to check the heat setting on the massage stones and make sure they were ready, as well as to compose herself and her response to him—before glancing back at Joel. "I don't know if I'm more surprised to see you here, or more surprised to find out that Ashley St. Claire made special arrangements to fit you in at the last minute."

"It's great to have connections," he said, and grinned shamelessly. "I never know when I'll need to pull in a favor, but it comes in handy at times like this."

"Times like this?" she asked as she picked up one of the warmed basalt stones and placed it on his upper left thigh.

"Yeah. Getting-to-know-you time. You're so busy that I figure I ought to take whatever time with you I can get."