Naked (20 page)

Strong arms wrapped around her and she hugged Roxy back with the full strength of her body. Although she was terrified to return to the city, face her social circle, and take over the company, seeing Roxy every day was definitely the silver lining. Which was why she couldn’t stop the guilt from clenching her stomach when she remembered that she’d kept the truth, her true feelings, from her best friend.

“I finally get to see you and it’s here.” Roxy’s mouth curled up in a sneer. “This party is a snoozefest.”

Violet frowned. “It’s just started.” She hated that she’d left her best friend to fend for herself at these events for so long.

“Exactly. It’s a snoozefest now, it’s going to be a damn morgue in here later on.”

Roxy’s family was even more wealthy than her own. Her mother was on every charity board and her father’s name was on every donation card. But Roxy was a wild child and most of the time was overlooked by men in their social circle based on her outlandish behavior. Which was why Roxy made every effort to wade outside of the eligible bachelor pool they were expected to frequent. Violet had never been so courageous.

Until she’d met Noah.

Last night when he’d given her a sharp slap on her ass, she’d been surprised she’d like it. And she wanted him to do it again.

“I missed you, Rox.” Violet smiled, pulling her in once again for a hug.

I missed you and I have to tell you something. Show you something.

How the hell was she going to do this? Deciding that tonight was the appropriate place and time to reveal her scars to Roxy hadn’t been her most brilliant decision.

Right, because you’ve been making so many of those lately.

But she had to do it. It was her homework. And she’d never, not once in her academic career, missed an assignment. She wasn’t going to start now.

“All right, all right.” Roxy patted her back and placed a kiss on her forehead when she pulled away. Her eyes darted over Violet’s shoulder and Violet knew without even turning that people were watching. “No need to give the guests a show, Violet.” Roxy spoke louder now. “Let’s save our affections for when we’re alone.” She winked and Violet giggled. She had no doubt rumors of their “relationship” would spread through the crowd by the time the night was over.

Unfortunately, that meant—

“Violet, dear.”

—Bridget Walker would hear them, too.

It was like she had a sixth sense of when she was being thought of.

Violet turned, and the first thing she noticed was her mother’s red lipstick.

“Hello, Mrs. Walker,” Roxy said, leaning in for a casual one-armed hug.

“Roxy, I haven’t seen you as of late.” It had taken a long time for her mother to understand Violet’s friendship with Roxy. They were as different as can be, but loyalty and trust were far more important than whether they both liked ballet.

Great job you’re doing with the trust part.

For the record, Roxy hated ballet but had suffered through every one of Violet’s recitals. She’d even managed to stay awake. Because Violet loved it.

Roxy would follow her to the ends of the earth if she asked, and Violet couldn’t even be honest about the accident, her scars, or her feelings about Steven.

But you’re here to rectify that.

“Been lying low.” Roxy winked. “These things aren’t any fun without my partner in crime.”

“Violet and I are going to have to make an appointment at the downtown store very soon,” her mother said. “We’re going to need some new wardrobe items now that Violet is back in the dating pool.”

The woman had no clue how badly Violet did not want to jump back into the dating pool. At least not while she was with Noah. But she knew she wasn’t going to be able to avoid her mother for much longer, and if dress shopping would appease her so be it. It also meant she was going to have to consider how she would break the news about her scars. There were only so many full-sleeve dresses in the spring/summer season, if at all.

“Anytime.” Roxy leaned forward, squeezing her mother’s hand. “I can make myself available if need be.”

At the front of the room someone announced that dinner would be served momentarily.

“Yes! It’s feeding time.” Roxy linked her arm with Violet’s. “Excuse us, Mrs. Walker.”

They walked arm in arm toward their table, while Violet took in the décor. Flower centerpieces with muted colors were on each table. The standard champagne-colored tablecloths covered every surface, and of course, the table wouldn’t be complete without the correct amount of cutlery and glassware. The proper setting for a proper event. It looked like a wedding, but instead of a receiving line there was a silent auction. Instead of a bridal party, there was a planning committee.

And this is exactly what your gala is going to look like.

She mentally cringed. The last time she’d been to one of these events, everything had sparkled. The people. The drinks. The food. The conversation.

Now none of that mattered. Because it was all fake. It was all a show. Just like her looks. She painted her nails and waxed her legs, wore the right clothing and matched her lipstick to her skin tone. All because she was supposed to be beautiful. Her life had been built on the notion of her beauty. That she could do anything, not because she was smart, not because she was a good negotiator, but because she was easy on the eyes and had everything handed to her.

But regardless of the way the room made her feel, she was here for a good cause. She’d never turn down the opportunity to sign a check in the Walker Industries’ name if it meant it would help others.

Roxy whispered, “It’s been torture having to endure these things without you the last year.”

“I’m sorry.” There it was again, that guilt. “I just…”

Roxy shook her head in an attempt to let her know she didn’t need to explain. “Just don’t ever leave me alone with the hyenas again.” She winked, but her face grew serious, holding out her hand and placing it on Violet’s cheek. “I couldn’t bear it.”

By the looks of it, her mother had become one of the hyenas. In the few short minutes it took them to find their table and settle in, her mother had flitted from group to group, sizing up every man without a wedding ring in a very unsubtle way. The longer Violet watched, the more suits, ties, and cuff links she noticed around the room, which made her realize that maybe the perfect man for her might be at home banging something with a hammer.

Her mother had never interfered in her love life before, so the sudden interest was troubling. They were going to have to have a little chat about it, but not tonight. She had other fish to fry this evening.

Violet was swarmed with hugs when they arrived at their table. Hands rubbed up and down her arms and back while kind words were murmured.

“Violet, it’s so good to see you.” Mimi Alden, a women she and Roxy had gone to private school with greeted her, then stepped back. “How are you doing? We are so sorry about Steven and the accident.”

She had expected this. It was the first time she was seeing the people in her social circle since Steven’s memorial. She had been recovering and didn’t want any visitors. And then she’d fled the city to a place where no one would know who she was and get a kick out of talking behind her back. Although on her first date with Noah at Wally’s, she’d found out that wasn’t the case. She’d been the topic of conversation since she’d moved to town.

“So, Violet, what have you been up to?” Mimi asked from the other side of the table while dropping some kind of white powder into her water.

“Just took some time off.” She placed her fingers on the cutlery to her left and straightened it. “A couple of vacations.”

Although they’d known each other for years, Mimi wasn’t a friend. In truth, Violet and Roxy interacted with these ladies because they had to. The same social circle their parents belonged to had extended to their children. They couldn’t go to a party or event without running into one another.

“We just got back from Spain.” Mimi smoothed the edges of her dyed blond hair. “Dean was there for work and I had to tag along so that he wasn’t alone for all the business dinners and events.”

“How inconvenient for you,” Roxy said beside her. Violet had to stop herself from laughing out loud. “No parties to plan then?”

Mimi had been an art history major and her father had funded the opening of a private gallery downtown. She barely had any art at the place but there was never a shortage of parties.

“Luckily, no.” She circled her spoon in her ice water, dissolving the powder. “So I was able to save him.”

“Good thing.” Roxy grinned like a Cheshire cat. “He would have had such an awful time fucking hot Spanish women.”

Violet coughed out her laugh and thrust her hand up to cover her mouth to keep the rest of it in. Although she was always cordial toward Mimi, Roxy was compelled to do the opposite. Because they had history.

“Is it any wonder, Roxy, why you’re not married?” Mimi glared at her from across the table, her unnatural blond hair barely moved with the amount of hairspray keeping it in place.

“I think it’s wonderful that I’m not married.” Roxy held her glass up in a toast motion. “No time for a husband. Having a real job is time-consuming.”

Roxy’s behavior wasn’t just general bitchiness, but stemmed from back when they were in private school and Mimi had had a hand in ruining her senior formal date.

“And what about you, Violet?” Mimi’s sidekick, Barbara, asked. It was her turn to press. Although she did it with a less condescending tone. She did make it a point to flash the huge rock she had on her left hand she’d gotten from her stockbroker fiancé.

It had only been ten minutes since she’d sat at the table and already Violet knew she hadn’t missed these events, these people, one bit in the last year. After the accident she’d realized she’d changed and what was once important, or what she had thought was important, obviously was not on her mind now.

“I’m not really thinking about—”

“We just have to get this darling back in the game,” her mother interrupted from behind. “It’s only a matter of time before she has another ring on her finger.”

What the hell was her mother doing? Besides the fact that she was out of line, she was talking like Steven didn’t even matter.

But you’ve already dismissed him. What are you doing with Noah?

She didn’t know what the proper etiquette was to mourn your fiancé. Especially when you weren’t really in love with him to begin with.

“We’re almost thirty years old. Time is running out for you.” Mimi smiled sweetly just before taking a sip from her glass.

No it wasn’t. Getting married and having children had never been her number-one priority. Not that she didn’t want it all, but Walker Industries was always her focus.

She’d always felt like she was missing a certain chromosome. The one that would make her content to plan parties and give money to charity. To be happy in the socialite bubble. She played the game well, but she never felt like she fit it. And even more so today.

She didn’t want to be like these women. Barbie doll drones. Almost a year ago, she was on the road to being one of them. Blind. Ignorant. Unhappy.

But always smiling.

The only real smiles she had over the last few weeks had been because of Noah. She wondered what these women would think if they knew she’d let him fuck her in the front seat of a pickup truck. Or how she’d jerked him to orgasm in her front hall and gotten fucked in a public bathroom.

Roxy would give her a high five.

The rest of the Barbie dolls, they’d probably recoil in horror. She’d be surprised if they had any idea what it was like to give in to passion. To indulge every dark secret and every dirty fantasy.

It felt fucking fantastic.

Anger consumed her just thinking about the trash talk going on in their heads. The trash talk that would go on as soon as she left the table.

“What’s in that glass, Mimi?” Violet asked, rage bubbling under the surface of her skin. “Another diet powder?”

Right now she didn’t give a shit. She had come here with a mission: Harper’s homework. She was going to show Roxy her scars. She was going to test the waters and see her best friend’s reaction.

“I need you to come with me for a minute.” She grabbed Roxy’s hand and tugged.

“Oh—kay.”

When Violet stopped short, Roxy bumped into her from behind. “Where the hell are we going?”

The bathroom would be busy with women touching up their makeup and pretending to go to the bathroom so they could avoid eating. They needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere private.

She’d been to a few weddings here, held up on the mezzanine. She pulled Roxy by the arm, hoping that the room wouldn’t be in use.

“Are we smoking a joint?” Roxy asked. “Because this event could use some illegal substances.”

Violet pushed through the door, and as she’d hoped the room was empty. She stared straight ahead at the cute space that acted as an altar during wedding ceremonies. “Close the door and stand in front of it so no one can come in,” she said over her shoulder.

She walked down the small aisle between two sections of chairs. About halfway down she stopped and turned. As directed, Roxy rested her bottom against the door. Knowing the room was secure, Violet reached up to pull at the back of her dress.

“You’re acting really weird, and seriously, I was only joking about the whole lesbian thing.” Maybe so, but Violet could see the worry in her eyes.

Violet fumbled with the zipper in nervousness. At least she wanted it to be nervousness. It was also the fact that her damn hand had seized up and refused to cooperate. Surgery hadn’t been able to fully repair the damage, and physical therapy could only do so much.

“I totally love you, sweetie, but you don’t have the equipment I need to get off.”

Violet straightened and slapped her hands at her sides. “Can you be serious for one minute?”

She felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest or seize in panic. Either way she’d take it because then she wouldn’t have to do this.

But she
had
to do this.