Page 5 of Lie with Me
“If I’m ‘lucky.’“ I also use air quotes.
“When don’t you get ‘lucky’?” He jabs at me.
“Are you implying something?”
“Yes. If the shoe fits, sluterella.”
“I thought we were friends?” I pretend to sound offended.
“We are. Real friends tell it like it is.”
“I like sex. What’s wrong with that?” I argue.
Philly looks at me petulantly. “Ninowould say nothing.”
“Nino has nothing to do with this.” I bristle.
“Tell him that.”
“I will.”
“Brave girl.”
I NONCHALANTLY WALK OUT THEcoffee shop, knowing Tara is watching me. I shove my hands into my pockets and drop my head, trying my damnedest not to let her see the excitement on my face.
Fuck, I forgot how cold New York is in December. I’m freezing my balls off even with a layer of ColdGear and a hoodie.
Tonight seems like a world away. I know I shouldn’t expect anything, but I can’t stop the anticipation. I’m so hard up for her; I need to go jerk off just from the brief contact we shared in the coffee shop. All I kept picturing were her legs wrapped around me—my hips and my head. Jesus, she makes me as horny as a teenager. I need to get a grip and figure out how not to think about her every second for the rest of the day. I finally hail a cab a few blocks down from Jo Jo’s. We barely pull out onto the street when my phone rings. My stomach actually drops. The last person on earth I want to talk to is Kayne, and every time I get a call, my palms actually sweat. If he finds out why I’m here, I’m dead. Plain and simple. He will kill me slowly and painfully and then bury my body somewhere no one will ever find it. I am positive of this. The only two people supportive of me spending time with Tara are Ellie and, obviously, Jett. We didn’t flash the fact we were sleeping together in Hawaii, but it was clear to everyone there was an attraction. It’s not like being with Tara is simple. There are factors working against us. Mainly theage difference. Ten years. Geography doesn’t help, either. We live on opposite sides of the country. She’s still in college, and I work for an independent contractor who takes the law into its own hands. She has no idea who I really am or what I really do.
I didn’t take sleeping with her lightly, either. I never planned to let it happen, especially when I had both Kayne and her father shooting me death rays every time I looked in her direction. But Tara pursued me, and I could only ignore what I was feeling for so long. She may be young, but she knows what she wants, and she wanted me. I didn’t realize spending time with her was going to have such a lasting effect. But it has. Hopefully, by the end of this weekend, I’ll finally be able to snuff out the flames of desire and—as Jett said—fuck her out of my system once and for all.
“Hello?” I answer the unknown caller.
“You come in to my city and don’t even let me know.” A raspy voice comes through on the other end.
I smile. “I had some business to take care of first. Besides, I never know which city is yours at any given moment. I know better than to keep tabs on you.”
“You were always smart.” One of my oldest friends chuckles on the other end of the line. “By the way, your business is cute.”
I look out the window immediately. “Where are you?”
“Around.”
“Close enough to spy on me?”
“That’s what I do. That’s what we both do.”
I wonder how long Slade watched me stalking the outside of Jo Jo’s this morning. I watched Tara for nearly two hours, waiting for the perfect moment to approach her.
“Towers Hotel. Room 363,” I tell him.
“I already know. See you in twenty.” Then the line goes dead.
I OPEN THE DOOR TOa man dressed in all black. Black sweatshirt, black jeans, and a black baseball cap.
He tilts his head up and smiles, allowing me a glimpse of his cunning hazel eyes. The left one slashed with a long, deep scar.
I step aside so Slade can enter. We clasp hands like the old friends we are and get comfortable in the living room of my sky-top suite.
