It Started with a Lie (Truth and Lies Duet Book 1) Read online

  “You’re probably right, but something about complications makes me all sorts of turned on.”

  I laugh. “I can’t disagree there, I guess.”

  “I’ll be drinking whiskey at my place tonight at ten. Naked. Be there. Naked.”

  “Awfully demanding for someone who already got hers,” I retort.

  “And I won’t even care if you stay the night.”

  “What is this, Tess?” I ask, my voice softening a little as I turn away from Viv in some futile attempt at privacy. “Why are you asking me to do this?”

  “It’s just for fun, I swear. I don’t want something serious, and I know you don’t, either.”

  “Promise?” I ask.

  “I promise.”

  I blow out a breath. “Not a word of this to anyone.”

  She laughs. “You, either. This is just two people getting theirs in secret.”

  “Fine. Text me your address and I’ll see you tonight.”

  “I don’t have your number,” she says. “It’s why I called your office.”

  I give her my number even though a tiny voice somewhere way in the back of my head tells me not to.

  “Oh, one more thing,” she says.

  “What?”

  “Bring whiskey.”

  I laugh, and as soon as we hang up, I look over at Viv. “I assume you signed some sort of NDA?”

  “A non-disclosure agreement?” she asks. “I did for your brother. Not for you.”

  I sigh and open the NDA file on my computer I’ve always had my secretaries sign. I change a few names, print it, and set it down on her desk with a dramatic sweep of my arm.

  “Don’t worry, Brian. Whatever that was...it’s not my business and I wasn’t listening.”

  I give her a tight smile. “Be that as it may, it’s a matter I need kept private, and a good businessman doesn’t leave anything to chance.”

  She nods, reads it over, finds that it’s all standard legalese, and signs with a flourish. She writes something next to her name and then hands it back to me.

  “Thanks,” I mutter as I grab for the paper. It’s stuck, though, as she holds firmly onto her end.

  “I’ll hand this over on one condition,” she says, leaning over her desk to hold tightly to the paper and giving me a shot right down her shirt.

  It takes everything in me not to shift my eyes down there.

  I didn’t think she had it in her, to be honest. She’s a feisty one, and a traitorous part of me likes that in her. She holds my fate in her hands. I need to know what we talk about stays between us. I need to know Jason and Becker can go on doing their jobs without worrying I’m not doing mine. And I guess I need Jason to believe I’m dating Viv, no matter how repulsive the idea sits with me.

  “What’s the condition?” I think of all the possible things it could be, from cutting my travel expenditures to getting Viv her own corner office, but I’d have never guessed her actual condition.

  “You deal with the fact that I’m your boss and you stop treating me like dirt. And if you can’t do that, as I wrote next to my signature, then this contract is invalid. I hold no loyalties to you, and I won’t hesitate to out all the lies you’re telling your partners.”

  “I can make an attempt at being a little nicer,” I say.

  “Don’t make an attempt. Just do it,” she hisses, and truthfully she’s a little scary like this. I can’t stop myself anymore. My eyes dart down to the creamy globes hidden beneath a silky bra. I play it off like I’m looking away from her since she’s more or less scolding me, smoothly averting my eyes to the floor on my pass by her tits.

  I ignore the pang in my chest at the perfection I saw there, and I finally say softly, “Okay. Fine.”

  She hands over the paper, and the two of us return to our respective desks to get back to our respective work.

  Something changed in that little exchange, though. Somehow she went from this monster trying to take over my business to an actual human being who’s here to help me.

  I don’t want her help. But I’m starting to think I do want her.

  Jason walks through the door just as I’m filing the NDA in the only drawer of my desk with a lock. He collapses into one of the chairs facing my desk, greeting Viv with a hello on the way. She smiles at him smoothly, and I wonder why I don’t get the same treatment.

  Maybe because I don’t give it to her.

  “Are you two busy tonight?” he asks.

  I glance over at Viv as part of the act like I’m checking with my girlfriend whether we’re busy. She’s shooting me a look that clearly says no to whatever he’s asking, and I clear my throat. Technically I have plans tonight, but I’m sure Tess wouldn’t mind if I had to postpone the evening because of business. “What do you have in mind?” I ask before I answer his actual question.

  “Ever since the wedding, I’ve been thinking about Tess. I thought we could grab some drinks, just the four of us.”

  Tess.

  I glance at Viv again, and I see the light of understanding dawn there.

  Shit.

  I’m caught. She just overheard a phone conversation with a girl named Tess. It’s too coincidental for a fairly uncommon name. I’m sleeping with my best friend’s ex, and he wants to get back together with her and go on a double date. And Vivian, my pretend girlfriend who I actually loathe, looks like she knows everything.

  This can’t be good.

  “Vivian has plans tonight, right Vivian?” I say.

  Jason’s head swings in her direction. I try to shoot her a look of desperation, but she ignores it as she shakes her head and smirks at me.

  “Nope. Free as a bird.”

  I shoot her a glare before Jason turns back to me.

  “Great, then,” Jason says. “I’ll set something up with Tess. Let’s do dinner, too. Jack’s Steakhouse at eight?”

  “Fine.” I keep my focus on the papers in front of me rather than on my friend. I’ve perfected the act of manipulation, yet he knows me better than most.

  “While I’m here, can you send me the analytics report on Timber Ridge?” he asks.

  I click a few buttons on my computer and attach the file to an email to him. “Done,” I say.

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know when I touch base with Tess.” He leaves, and I blow out a breath.

  “Same Tess, I take it?” Viv asks quietly once he’s gone.

  “Would there have been any other reason I had you sign an NDA?” I shoot back.

  “You mean aside from the fact that you’re out of money and I’m part of the cover up?”

  I clench my jaw tightly, and I feel an angry tick working my jaw. It’s not worth getting into another round with her when I’ll have to play nice with her tonight, so I keep my mouth shut.

  A text comes through from Tess not five minutes later.

  Tess: You agreed to a double date?

  Me: I was backed into a corner.

  Tess: How awkward. I didn’t know you were seeing someone.

  I glance at Vivian, those milky white hills still peeking out the top of her shirt. I need to get laid, and despite knowing it’s a total betrayal to my best friend, I write her back.

  Me: I’m not.

  Tess: Then are we still on for afterward?

  I only have one condition to that. I absolutely refuse to sleep with her if she has any intention of getting back together with my friend. I have to draw the line somewhere, and I will never be party to cheating. Not after what happened with Kendra.

  Me: Are you getting back together with Jason?

  Tess: Nope.

  Me: Then we’re still on for afterward.

  chapter fourteen

  I pick Viv up from the front of the Westin so we arrive for our “double date” together. A weight of guilt presses on my chest as I realize all the lies I’m telling the guy I call one of my best friends. It’s not just the relationship with Viv, or the fact that I’m sleeping with his ex...it’s his livelihood. I’m fucking up the ve
ry thing we quit our jobs in Chicago for, the very thing we moved to Vegas for, the very thing we put all our hard-earned savings into. I didn’t set out to hurt the guy, but at this point, I’ve got so many lies stacked up I don’t even know how to keep them all straight.

  Once Viv fixes FDB and goes on her merry way, life will be back to normal.

  It’s just my luck that goddamn Vivian has to look like a fucking goddess as she waits in front of the hotel. She’s wearing a dark red lipstick that makes her lips look bigger, and my mind first goes to the most obvious place: what they’d look like wrapped around my cock.

  She slides into the front seat and I breathe in her soft, flowery scent. She’s wearing a modest black dress that could go either way in terms of dressy or casual, but she looks like an elegant queen in it, and I hate her a little more for it. She’s not showing enough skin in my humble opinion, not that it matters—but if I’m trying to get my best friend to buy that she’s my girlfriend, it sort of does matter. I normally wouldn’t date someone like Viv, so we’re going to have to come up with some reason why the two of us are together.

  Rather than telling her how lovely she looks once we’re on the road, my first words to her are, “How’d we meet?”

  “Uh, your brother hired me to fix your company. Remember?”

  I huff out a sigh of exasperation. “I mean in our little pretense.”

  “Oh.” She’s quiet for a few beats, and then she says, “Online.”

  I shake my head. “I wasn’t looking for commitment when I ran into you. Jason wouldn’t buy online. It would have to be out somewhere. A work event or a bar. Something like that.”

  “So basically you work and drink?” She laughs. “What kind of person am I fake-dating?”

  “The kind who works and drinks. You’re a little more uptight than the woman Jason’s used to seeing me with, so let’s say a networking event.”

  “Uptight?”

  I sense the indignation in her tone with just that single word. “You know what I mean.”

  “No, actually, I don’t. Care to explain?”

  I glance over at her. Her arms are folded over her chest defensively and her brows are raised at me.

  “I just mean you’re a workaholic like me,” I say, poorly covering up my word choice. “Look, we don’t have much time to kill to get our stories straight. We met in February at the Ellsworth Creek Luncheon. You were at my table and we just got to talking.”

  She sighs, and I’m not sure if it’s in agreement or not. I don’t bother to ask.

  “I asked for your number and called you later that night because you were so intriguing. The rest is history.” I hit the brakes for a red light.

  “Why don’t you just tell him the truth?” she asks softly.

  I glance over at her, but I look back at the road when I answer. It’s my single vulnerable spot, and she just pressed it. “Because I can’t admit my brother’s coming to my rescue again, okay?”

  My tone comes out rougher than I intend for it to, and the two of us are quiet for the remainder of the short ride. Once I pull into our parking space, I feel the guilt press more heavily, but I leave it behind me as I get out of the car.

  I spot Tess’s yellow hair first, then Jason sitting beside her. They’re already at a table.

  I grab Viv’s hand as we walk toward them to make it seem like we’re an actual couple, and her small hand is ice cold in mine. I have the sudden urge to wrap my arms around her to warm her up, and I have no idea where that thought comes from. I fight against it with everything I have, just as I fight against the urge to squeeze her hand before I let it go.

  I fight even harder against the urge to pull it into mine again once we’re seated and the introductions have been made.

  “Good to see you again, Tess,” I say, pretending like the last time I saw her was at Becker and Jill’s wedding.

  “You too. You guys hear from Becker about the honeymoon at all?” she asks.

  “I last saw Tess at our friends’ wedding,” I say to Viv. She smiles and nods, playing the part, and then I say, “Beck sent a few emails checking in, but otherwise he’s pretty much been off the grid.”

  “Good for him,” Tess says. “So how did you two meet?” She directs the question at Viv, as blunt as ever, a firm reminder as to why I like to fuck her but wouldn’t want anything more than that. I wonder if Tess recognizes her from my office the other day.

  “At a luncheon,” Vivian says with a smile, and I can’t help but hang onto her words. “He slid into the seat next to me and talked my ear off the whole time.”

  Jason and Tess both laugh at her assessment while I pretend to join in on the fun with a fake smile. I’m riding a weird line here—acting like she’s my girlfriend for one person at this table while I don’t really want the other one thinking I’m in a committed relationship with someone. I take a sip of water since the whiskey I ordered isn’t here yet, and then I say, “She was just so intriguing I couldn’t help myself.”

  Viv glances over at me with a fake smile, and I wonder if either of the two of them catch it.

  I doubt it, though. We’re pretending we’re on the love side of the razor-thin line, but passion is passion whether we’re talking about love or hate.

  “How did the two of you meet?” Viv asks Jason and Tess.

  They glance at one another and burst into laughter. “Long story,” Tess says, “but actually one of my best friends, Reese, used to date Brian.”

  Viv raises an eyebrow as she looks in my direction. “Reese as in Mark’s wife Reese?”

  “You know Mark?” Jason asks. I appreciate my friend for asking since he knows the history of my sordid relationship with my brother.

  “Not really,” Viv says smoothly. “Just what Brian has told me about him.”

  Jason raises an eyebrow and lets out a low whistle. “Must be really serious if he told you about his brother.”

  Viv glances over at me, and I pull out a smooth answer that’s vague enough to make everyone at the table happy. “I trust her.”

  * * *

  I’ve got whiskey in hand when I knock on Tess’s apartment door a little before midnight.

  After the stress of what was just supposed to be a night out with friends, I’m ready for something to help relax me.

  Putting on the act with Viv was harder than I thought it would be. I found myself torn between hating her because of why she’s here and wanting to get to know more about her.

  She didn’t say much during the meal, but she didn’t have to. Tess is one of those people who steals the conversation, so we let her. It took the attention off us, and because of that, it also meant we didn’t have to keep lying. Not out loud, at least.

  When Tess opens the door, she’s naked as a jaybird, and I push all the random thoughts of wanting Viv that’ve been plaguing me all day to the back of my mind.

  I don’t want her. She’s the opposite of what I want. She’s straight-laced and boring and intrusive. She’s buttoned-up and high-necked and proper.

  The hot, naked girl opening her door and immediately lunging for the bottle of whiskey in my hand with the promise of no commitment?

  Now that is what I want.

  I hold it just out of her reach, and I step into her apartment as I slam the door behind me. She arches a brow at me, and I grin.

  “I held up my end of the bargain,” she says. “I said I’d be naked.”

  “Before we get started here, I just want to reiterate sleeping together again doesn’t mean anything.”

  Her brows draw down. “No shit, Fox. Now hand over the whiskey.”

  I laugh.

  “Jason never finds out about this,” I say. Even though she told me she’s not getting back together with him, I just want to verify he won’t get hurt if we do this again.

  I shouldn’t be here. My conscience is trying to tell me not to do this.

  But I’m here, and she’s naked. Lust wins tonight, no matter how wrong it is.

&n
bsp; She nods. “Who was that girl tonight?”

  “Does it matter if this is just casual?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “You’re absolutely right.” She grabs the whiskey out of my hands and unscrews the cap. She helps herself to a shot directly from the bottle before passing it back to me. I chug more than my fair share, slam the bottle on the counter, wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and pull the very naked Tess against my body, my eyes right on her gorgeous tits through the entire process.

  “You ready to get fucked?” I ask, my voice husky.

  “I’ve been ready all day. Sitting through dinner was torture.” She doesn’t mention she was sitting with my best friend, and I don’t mention I was there with someone else, either. She doesn’t say a word about whether she might get back together with him, and instead, she reaches a finger down to her pussy. When she pulls it out, she pushes it into my mouth. “See?” she asks, her lips pouty and her voice sultry as I taste the very wet tang left behind on her finger.

  Jesus Christ.

  I twirl my tongue against her finger for a beat before I pull it out from between my lips. My mouth crashes down to hers as I guide her hand down to my very erect cock.

  She moans when she feels how hard I am, and then she grasps me over my pants. I grunt into her mouth as I thrust my cock against her hand. I’m horny as fuck after dealing with the woman taking over my office for the last few days. I’ve been putting in so many extra hours I haven’t had much chance for the sort of relief I’m about to get, and thinking about Viv and her perfect breasts isn’t helping matters.

  And there she is again in my thoughts. I let her linger there for a beat as I recall her sweet floral scent. I let myself pretend just for a second it’s her touching me, that we’re in my office together and the door’s closed and we can do whatever we want. I realize I don’t really know a single thing about her apart from the fact that she’s from Los Angeles. I don’t know why I suddenly want to know more.

  When Tess reaches her hand into my pants and starts stroking my cock, I draw the line. I push Viv out of my head because even though this is just a casual fuck between friends, Tess deserves to have me here with her...and Viv doesn’t deserve to have me defile her, even if it’s just in my head and even if I want to bend her over my desk after I spend some time luxuriating in those perfect, creamy tits.