Page 61 of Games We Play
Sloan leaned against the wall. Her pants were on the floor, her feet bare and her camisole straps falling down her arms, but she was far from the sexual being she should have been in that moment. Her eyes traveled from the photograph of a young Margaret showing off her diamond engagement ring to the picture-perfect bride on her wedding day.
Fuck you for being so happy. You didn’t know a damn thing.
“Yes,” Sloan purred. “Then I’m going to count to ten. If you make it to ten without coming, I’ll give you something very, very special the next time I see you.”
Those were sharp breaths of torture in the background. The perfect soundtrack to Sloan slowly counting to ten as she meandered back to her purse and opened the top flap.
“Ten.”
Leah’s shallow breaths exploded into a loud wail that was quickly muffled by a pillow.Congrats. You get a prize.
Sloan stared at the diamond setting sparkling in her bedroom light. While Leah gradually regained control of her breath and body, Sloan returned to her bed and opened her nightstand with renewed fervor.
“All right, kitten.” She flopped down, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder. Her hands were busy elsewhere. “Now it’s your turn. This doesn’t only go one way, you know.”
Rather amazing how quickly her mood could change once a plan began to form. The old Maggie used to hear that was the best part of her personality. Now, she was the only one who reaped the benefits.
Her and Leah, anyway. The more Sloan shared this part of her with another person, the more she remembered what it was like to give parts of her soul away.
Another one for the wall.Someone should have taken a picture of her when she was finished with her phone call. Because that was the moment she realized how important Leah would soon be to her big, grand plans.
Chapter 20
A large cupcake order came in first thing Thursday morning. Leah had enough in her baking pan already, but Enid told her to stop everything she was doing to personally tackle the cupcake decorating. Oh, and it was due by three, when the client wanted to pick them up.
“Yikes,” Gina muttered, before going back to her birthday cake assignment. “What did you do to piss the boss off?”
“More likely that the client dumped a bunch of bonus money into getting this by three.” Leah looked over the instructions. What utter gibberish! Each cupcake was to have fresh white cream frosting, but the only decoration was a single letter or number written on each one.Maybe it’s for some party theme.Leah wasn’t paid to ask questions, however. She was paid to decorate some damned cupcakes, so that’s what she did as soon as she washed up and put on her gloves.
She decorated them in the same grid formation that the instructions came in. Three dozen cupcakes were lined up in neat rows, and the first letter Leah pumped out with dark purple frosting was a big, hearty “C.” The next one was a “G.” A few numbers broke up the monotony.
It wasn’t until she was nearly finished that she realized the cupcakes actuallydidspell something.
“Chicago, V-Day. No. 47 8:30 am.”
Leah took a step back once the letters and numbers made sense. God knew whatsheimmediately thought of when she saw the name “Chicago.”
V-Day was Valentine’s Day. No. 47… wasn’t that the flight number she took the last time she flew to Chicago to see Sloan?I flew at 8:30 am!Leah dropped her frosting, a gasp rattling her throat.
“What is it?” Gina asked, looking up from her Minion’s cake.“Happy Birthday, Didi!”was halfway to spelled out in neon yellow frosting. “Did you fuck up?”
Leah picked up her frosting and insisted that nothing had happened, but as soon as Enid walked back to the check on the projects, Leah asked, “Do you know who made this order?”
Her boss furrowed her brows. “I know who it’sfor,but beyond making sure we get paid, I don’t care who puts in the order. Why?”
“No reason. It’s… a weird order, you know?”
“I don’t ask questions, as long as we do it right. Are you done with that, by the way? I need you up front as soon as it’s done.”
“I still have the groom’s cake for…”
“Up front, please. I need to take my lunch.”
As soon as the cupcakes were in the cooler, Leah stole to the front of the shop and waited for the first opportunity to sneak a text to Sloan.“Do you know anything about these cupcakes I made?”She never received a response.
She almost missed the arrival of a young man around three. He popped into the bakery, his sweatshirt heralding him as a member of a local social services center. They had been in the news often, lobbying for new and improved homeless shelters in neighborhoods that desperately needed them. He looked like he hadn’t seen proper sunlight in months.
“Hi…” he sheepishly said to Leah behind the counter. Enid swept up behind her, a petite torrent of businesslike demeanor. “I was told to pick up an order for the Coalition of…”
