Lying for Love Read online

  Fine with him. Time was wasting, and he needed to start the finessing.

  They made their way through the crowd and took their seats. Gina rubbed her stomach dramatically. “Whew. Ate a little too much. I don’t look bloated, do I?”

  Miles leaned in and kissed her cheek before saying, “You’re the loveliest bloated woman here.”

  Gina’s eyes bugged, her mouth dropping open before she burst out laughing and elbowed him in the ribs. “That was…I’m not sure.”

  He winced, rubbing his ribcage. “It was a compliment.”

  “If you say so.” She hopped up. “Getting another drink. Want anything?”

  “Water’s good.”

  “Back in a sec.”

  He was so focused watching her sway her way to the bar it startled him when Davey plopped onto the seat across from him. Davey leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Sooo?”

  “Night’s early.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You’re going to procrastinate until you just don’t do it all.”

  “No. I won’t. Not this time.”

  Davey folded arms across his chest. “Prove it.”

  Miles glanced Gina’s way. She was talking to some guy—smiling and joking with him. Trying to ignore the pang of insecurity or whatever it was, he forced his gaze back to Davey. “When she comes back, I’ll take her out to dance again. Keep your coworker from getting between us this time.”

  “Will do.” He stood, saluted, and wandered back into the crowd.

  Gina was making her way back to him when another slow song played. Perfect. He’d take her to dance and step it up a little.

  “Hey,” she said. She set his glass of water in front of him, her drink next to it.

  Just as he was about to ask her to dance, that other guy popped up next to her and asked, “You ready?”

  She nodded. “Hey, Miles. This is Dan. Tammy’s brother. We’re going to dance. I mean, if that’s okay with you. You are my official date.” She winked at him, not knowing that it damn sure wasn’t okay with him, but he couldn’t very well blurt that out, so he forced a smile and nodded. “Be back in a few.”

  Miles and Dan gave each other the what’s-up head bob, and Miles was sure he hadn’t kept the warning glare from his eyes. What the hell was going on anyway? Gina hadn’t shown interest in dating since he’d known her. And this very night he was going to tell her the truth, this jerk comes outta nowhere and tries to take her from him? Fuuuuck. Okay, it was only one dance, right? He needed to be cool. She’d be back with him soon enough.

  He didn’t mean to watch but couldn’t help it. Dan pulled her in close—too close—and Gina didn’t object. They swayed together, moved around the floor looking as if they belonged together. The knot in Miles’ gut grew, and he had to squelch the urge to break them up caveman-style, punching the guy in the face and grabbing Gina by the hair. So much for being cool.

  It was too much. He took a sip of water, made a face, and headed to the bar for something stronger. Much stronger. His nerves were whacked out, and he needed something to dull it before he did something stupid. Blondie handed him a double whiskey sour. He gagged as he downed it in seconds. The whiskey burned all the way down his throat, hitting the knot in his gut.

  The song ended, and he breathed a sigh of relief, but to his dismay, Gina stayed on the dance floor, boogying with Miles’ new rival. The song was fast with a sexy, thumping beat. Gina swung her hips as the guy moved behind her to do a bump and grind move. It was disgusting. Okay, the only thing disgusting about it was that she was doing it with someone other than Miles. “Another double,” he said to Blondie.

  Miles knew he should focus on something else. Knew he should mingle, eat some cake, maybe even flirt with Blondie, anything to take his mind off the raging jealousy inside him, but it was impossible. He was hypnotized.

  By the time Gina and Dan—or Asshole as Miles had nicknamed him after his third double whiskey sour—took a break, Miles had a buzz. A big one. Gina looked around and waved when she caught his gaze. He strode over and sat across from her and Dan.

  “Dan was telling me…”

  Gina spoke, but Miles couldn’t focus on her words. All he saw was how close another man was sitting to the woman he desired above all others. Why tonight? The night he’d hoped to take her in his arms and kiss her perfect lips.

  How in the hell could this have happened? Because you’re an idiot liar. That’s how.

  “Miles? Hello. Miles?”

  “Sorry. What?”

  Her eyebrows scrunched together. “Are you okay? You look…sick.”

  Sick. Yes, he was sick. Sicker than he could ever remember being. The alcohol mixed with the jealousy, guilt, and disappointment ate at him, churned like a poison inside him. “I’m fine.”

  Her amber eyes scrutinized him. “You sure?”

  A curt nod was all he could manage.

  “Okay, well, I was saying that Dan knows a guy who sounds like he’d be perfect for you.”

  Dan—Asshole—held out a card. “His info’s on here. I’ll let him know to expect your call, if you’re interested.”

  That was it. That guy stealing Gina and trying to match make for him? No. No way. It was too fucking much. Miles snorted and slapped the card away. Asshole glared at him. Gina’s pretty mouth dropped open, snapped shut, and then repeated the process.

  Primal need taking over, he stood, grabbed Gina’s arm, and pulled her up against him. “You’re the only one I want. The only one.”

  When she opened her mouth to, he assumed, ask if he’d gone insane, he crushed his lips to hers. He put all of those months of desire into that kiss. His tongue slipped between her lips, into her mouth, caressing, teasing, demanding she respond, demanding she realize they were meant to be despite his deceit. Demanding her body know his body desired hers and hers alone—certainly not a man’s. Demanding she want him as much as he wanted her.

  God, she felt good in his arms, her mouth open to him, receiving him, and she tasted sweeter than he’d imagined. How he’d held back, waited so long, he didn’t know. She was his—he was hers. She had to feel it now.

  Tightening his grip around her waist, he pulled her closer, pressing his hard cock against her, swallowing her shocked gasps. Her body stiffened beneath his embrace as all response from her stopped and she went deathly still.

  When he dragged his lips from hers, she wedged her hands between them and shoved at his chest until he released her. She stepped back, her hand flying to her kiss-swollen lips, her eyes wide, shock practically oozing from her pores. She just stared at him. He imagined a clock ticking as time passed. One second, tick. Two seconds, tock. Tick tock, tick tock.

  Say something, Gina. What was going through her mind? The urge to grab her and kiss her again burned inside him, but he quelled it, giving her a chance to react.

  Finally, her hand dropped to her side, her jaw working but no words coming out. He saw Davey in his peripheral vision, mouth hanging open. Asshole’s eyes looked as if they might burst from the sockets.

  “You…” Gina finally started but stopped, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them again, they sparkled from the moisture that was close to spilling over her lashes. He watched as her shock quickly transformed to anger, her lips thinning, red staining her cheeks. “All this time…” Her hands clenched into fists at her side. “You were…” She raised her hand as though she’d strike him but let it fall. “Fucking liar,” she spat before turning and running toward the elevator.

  Dan gave him one last bewildered look then followed after her. Good thing he hadn’t given Miles any shit because it would have ended ugly.

  Davey grabbed Miles’ arm when he started to follow after them. “You might wanna give her some space.”

  He suppressed the urge to punch his friend in the face and sank down into the seat, head in hands. He wasn’t usually so violently inclined, but he was buzzed and felt as if his whole world had just fallen apart. “What the fuck did I do?”

/>   Davey sat next to him and patted his back. “Well, that was some deviation from the plan. But mission accomplished. I’d say she knows you’re not gay now.”

  Miles groaned.

  “Want a drink?” Davey offered.

  Miles shook his head. “No. No, if I have another, I’ll be just drunk enough to get a cab to her house and make it worse.” He couldn’t imagine how it could possibly be any worse, but he was certain, if there was a way, his dumb ass would find it.

  Jesus. What the hell had he been thinking? He’d had no right to do that in the first place. He was supposed to soften her up and then broach the subject carefully, not pounce on her.

  Davey gave him a pitying look. “Want me to drive you home?”

  “The party—”

  “I’m over it. It’d be hard to top the scene you just caused. Besides, it’ll save me cab fare.”

  Miles groaned and buried his face in his hands again.

  “C’mon. Let’s get outta here.”

  Chapter 3

  Gina thanked Dan for the ride home, making a quick exit. Any plans of getting her freak on tonight had been squashed by Miles’ revelation. The way he’d kissed her…Had she not been in complete and total shock, that kiss would have curled her toes, burned to her very soul. She’d dreamed about him kissing her like that but knew—or thought she knew—it would never happen.

  There had been so many thoughts racing through her mind as he’d ravished her mouth, so many questions. One of which was maybe he was doing it because he didn’t think Dan was a good choice and that was his bizarre way of scaring him off. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d intervened to remove a jerk from her presence, but never like that. And when Miles had pressed his erection against her, there had been no doubt of where his desires truly lay. Not to mention the words he’d spoken. They kept playing over and over in her mind. You’re the only one I want. The only one.

  As much as she’d tried to come up with another excuse for his behavior—any excuse that didn’t make her best friend the worst kind of deceitful bastard—there was no denying he’d wanted her.

  Why? Why would he lie to her about being gay? It made no sense. She’d thought she despised men before, now…now she didn’t know what she felt. Was that the most ridiculous ploy to get close to her she’d ever experienced? Was it some kind of game to him? Was that what got him off?

  After kicking her shoes off so hard they bounced off the wall, she struggled with her dress’s zipper and immediately thought about how many times Miles had helped her with that task. How many times she’d pranced around half-naked in front of him because she’d thought it didn’t affect him.

  Finally, she worked the zipper down and wiggled her way out of the dress. After tonight, she’d probably never be able to wear the damn thing again without stirring up bad memories.

  Son of a bitch. Why? She flung herself on the bed, not bothering to take her hair down or wash the makeup off her face.

  She turned over, burying her face in the pillow, but quickly snatched it up and tossed it across the room when she smelled Miles’ scent all over it. Earthy, manly, so good.

  Damn him. He was such a big part of her life. His scent on her bed, his favorite coffee cup in her kitchen. He was around so much he even had a spare toothbrush and a pack of razors, along with other toiletries, in her bathroom.

  Jumping out of bed, she decided to gather up everything of his, everything that reminded her of him and throw it away. She ran to the kitchen, grabbed a trash bag, opened the cabinet, and threw his coffee cup in there. Next she grabbed that shitty artificial sweetener he used and dumped it in the bag. Mewz, peeking around the corner, darted out of her way as she ran into the bathroom and threw all of his other items in the bag.

  As she caught her reflection in the mirror, the glint from the beautiful earrings he’d given her caught her eye. That had been such a happy day. She’d been stunned by the gift and had almost felt guilty accepting what she knew must have cost him more than her monthly rent. As she took the earrings off and tossed them into the bag, she promptly burst into tears, slid to the floor, and curled up into a ball.

  * * * *

  The next morning, the ring of Gina’s cell, along with a sandpaper tongue licking her cheek, woke her. Why the hell did her body ache so badly? She stretched, opened her eyes, and realized she’d slept on the rug on the bathroom floor all night. Christ. Her eyes were raw, burning from all the crying.

  She rubbed Mewz’s silky fur, and he let out a meeoowrree-sounding noise. That was his version of “feed me now.” As she pushed up from the floor, seemingly every single one of the muscles in her body ached like hell.

  The sight that met her in the mirror was something out of a horror flick. Tangled hair, black makeup smudges under her eyes, eyes so red someone would think she’d smoked an entire bag of weed. Oh and there were a few strands of black cat fur stuck to her cheek. Lovely.

  She stubbed her toe on the trash bag full of Miles’ stuff and cursed. Not wanting to deal with it just then, she glared at it and scooted it under the vanity.

  Her cell had stopped ringing, but the screen showed a missed call from Miles along with five text messages from him.

  “Gina. Let me explain.”

  “I didn’t mean for you to find out like that.”

  “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

  “Please talk to me.”

  “Gina, please.”

  Tears burned her already raw eyes as she deleted the text messages and the voicemail without listening to it. Then she blocked his phone number. She’d trusted him more than she’d ever trusted another human being, and he’d shit all over that trust.

  They hadn’t been lovers, but he’d managed to break her heart all the same.

  * * * *

  “Maybe I should go over there,” Miles said. He’d stopped by Davey’s on the way to work, hoping for news, something, anything to make him feel even the slightest bit better.

  Davey poured a cup of coffee, set it on the table in front of Miles, then lifted an eyebrow. “If she’s not answering your texts, your calls…I’d give her a little more time to process what happened.”

  “I know you’re right. It’s just so damn hard. I can’t stand not knowing what she’s thinking, feeling. If she hates me…” He rubbed his temples and let the thought hang. He couldn’t deal with her hatred. Deserved or not, it was too much.

  Davey sat across from him and stirred a heaping teaspoon of sugar into his coffee. “It’s only been three days.”

  “It feels like three months. Will you talk to her when you get to work today? Feel her out a little?”

  “In case I didn’t already mention this…Oh wait. I did.” Davey rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee. “She’s pissed at me too. Major cold shoulder.”

  Miles grimaced. “Yeah, sorry.”

  He waved his hand dismissively. “If I wasn’t a sucker for your pretty face, I’d have told her the truth from the beginning, but I didn’t. Not your fault.”

  Miles stood, threw back the last of his coffee, and rinsed it out in the sink. “I gotta get to work.”

  “Me too. I’ll let ya know if she says anything.”

  Miles nodded. “Thanks, man.”

  * * * *

  By Friday, he still hadn’t heard from her and his agitation had reached detrimental levels. Detrimental to his mental health and his job. He’d snapped at more than one coworker during the week and might have told his boss to kiss his ass. Luckily, his boss recognized Miles wasn’t exactly himself and, rather than firing him, had told him to take the day off.

  At first, a day off had sounded good, but sitting at home alone with nothing to do but think of Gina was driving him mad. For the tenth time that morning, he’d had to stop himself from driving to her office and demanding she speak to him. Or getting on his knees and begging. At this point, whatever worked.

  If he'd had any doubts about his deep feelings for Gina, which he hadn’t, but if he had, they
’d been sufficiently dissuaded.

  Needing to do something, he got in his car and drove but made sure to head in the opposite direction from her office. He barely noticed the scenery—office buildings, trees and other cars—whizzing by, but he did notice every single flower shop. After driving aimlessly for an hour, he’d passed at least seven of them. He’d begun to count them after the first two. Finally giving in to temptation, he pulled into the next one he saw and parked. Even if she never spoke to him again, he needed her to know how he felt, his reasons for doing what he did.

  Inside the shop, he’d intended to buy their entire inventory of red stargazer lilies but realized they wouldn’t all fit in his car and he didn’t want to wait for delivery. Instead he bought seven large bouquets, secured them the best he could on seats and floorboards, grabbed a “thinking of you” card, and drove to Gina’s apartment.

  He drove around the parking lot of her apartment complex, making sure her car wasn’t there, then let himself inside with the spare key she’d given him months ago. It was the last time he’d ever use it.

  After several trips back and forth from the car, he finally had the flowers situated in every room of her apartment. Two in the living area, two in the kitchen, two in the bedroom, and one in the bathroom. Grabbing a pen from her junk drawer, he sat at the kitchen table and filled in the card.

  Gina,

  There is no excuse for my deceit, but I didn’t do it to hurt you. The closer we got, the more time that passed, the more I feared telling you the truth even though I wanted to every day.

  I care for you more than I’ve ever cared for anyone, and if I could fix this, I would. But I wouldn’t take it all back because that would mean erasing the friendship we shared.

  At this point, I’m sure you’ll never accept me back into your life but you deserve at least this truth from me. I’m in love with you, Gina. And I’ll eternally regret hurting you.

  Always,

  Miles

  He left the card on the table, her apartment key on top of it. Mewz jumped on the table, mewed and head-butted his hand. Miles scratched behind Mewz’s ears and realized he’d miss the fat furball too. “Be good for Gina, buddy.” He looked around one last time and left. A choking sensation gripped him when he pulled the door closed. He’d left a part of himself inside that he’d never get back.