Vegas, Baby by Sandra Edwards Read Free Book Online

entered his head. Eddie, get your feet off the table . He’d heard that plenty of times as a kid.
    A quick glimpse at Rio, in the kitchen pouring him a glass of water, she was oblivious of his violation. He slipped his feet off the table, unnoticed.
    “Billy called? What’d he say?”
    “Just that he’d call you back later.” Eddie studied Rio’s demeanor through his hazed cognizance. He pushed the confusion to the back of his mind, giving his curiosity more room to advance.
    She didn’t say anything, just moved toward him with grace. Nothing about her gave away Billy’s identity. Hopefully he wasn’t a boyfriend. That would put a damper on Eddie’s plans.
    “He must be a pretty open-minded guy.” He hit her with an open-ended question smothered in enough evasiveness that she might not recognize the masquerade.
    “Open-minded?” She tilted her head and set the glass on the table. “Yeah, I guess.” She shrugged and sat, leaving a noticeable space between them.
    “Well, I mean, you know, I answered your phone and all...”
    She started laughing, one of those cackling wails born more out of absurdity than humor.
    Eddie didn’t know what to make of it, but at least he’d diverted her from the phone call she’d walked in on. “I’m glad I could amuse you.” Somehow, insecurity had snuck into his tone. He didn’t like it but it was useful. It made his diffidence appear genuine.
    “Aside from the fact that Billy is my cousin—” Rio shook her head. “He’s getting married soon.”
    Not that marriage was an ironclad remedy against infidelity, but Eddie didn’t see Rio Laraquette as the type to settle for the role of mistress. “Billy,” Eddie said, and leaned back, relaxing. “He’s your cousin?” It was time to turn the conversation on its side. “By blood?” He let the inquiry hold all the innuendo and insinuation she was bound to imagine.
    “Yeah.” She turned toward him, and, as if her legs had drawn too close, she scooted back, keeping her distance. “My biological mother and Billy’s father are—were siblings.”
    “At least you can trust family,” he said with such conviction she’d never know he was feigning hypocrisy.
    She snorted and showered him with brief hostility. “Well, trust and family don’t mix well where I come from.”
    Mine either . Eddie stopped the words from spilling past his thoughts. He was feeling better now, and he wasn’t about to let this turn into a wasted opportunity. “Your trust is better saved for coworkers?” He’d learn, one way or another, where her alliances lay.
    She cut her eyes toward him, her face skewing into a scowl.
    “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Don’t you trust me?”
    “Well...” She sunk back against the couch. “I have trust issues.”
    “Trust issues?” he asked, leaning toward her.
    “Thanks to dear ole’ Mom,” she said, her voice edged with irritation.
    Eddie’s eyebrows lifted and he left them there until they’d crinkled into a frown. “You and your mother don’t get along?”
    “That’s putting it mildly.” If that wasn’t so sad, it might be funny.
    “How about your dad?”
    Rio’s mood turned bittersweet. “Daddy...” Oh, where to begin. “Daddy means well.” Too bad he wasn’t very good at it. He had no trouble showering Rio with money and gifts, when all she really wanted was love.
    “He doesn't like that you’re a cop?”
    “He’s not crazy about the idea,” she said, “but he’s not completely against it, either.”
    “A little protective, huh?”
    “Yes, I suppose so.” Unwanted emotions lingering over from her childhood began to stir and she paused, giving them a mental smack-down. “Seems lately that he’s been trying to make up for my childhood, so he tries to make everything perfect in my life.” Everything materialistic, anyway.
    “Can he do that?”
    Which one? Reconcile her childhood or compensate accordingly now? She didn’t care to talk about either, but then