Love and Lies

by Duffey, Jennifer

  Eric harrumphed and glared at Logan.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “Nothing at all, just taking in the sights. Did you enjoy dinner?”

  “You know I did. Now quit acting like this.”

  “I'm not acting like anything,” Eric retorted.

  I shook my head and turned away from him. I didn't want to deal with him acting like a child. If he wanted to pull the jealousy card, then he could spend the night alone. “Lose the jealous routine. Green doesn't do anything for you.”

  Sage strutted on stage, and Alec jumped up to dance. When Alec did a bootie shake that would put most girls to shame, Sean, Logan, and I burst into laughter while Eric sat with his head tilted to the sky.

  “Alec, hun, your gay is showing. Put it away please.” I looked up at him and smiled.

  “No way. I'm so not going to miss out on this opportunity. I need someone to dance with. Get your cute little butt up here with me.” Alec reached for my hand.

  I shook my head. “I'm having fun watching you.” I looked to Sean. “Get him to dance with you, that's why you brought him, isn't it?”

  Sean looked in my direction, his eyes wide with terror.

  “And if he doesn't want to, I'm sure there's a whole crowd of people out there just waiting to dance with a hottie like you.”

  “I can't argue with that. But, I'd rather not go into the sweat-fest going on down there.” Alec looked toward the main stage where thousands of people gathered grinding against each other. He moved to sit on Logan's lap.

  “Whoa tiger, slow down. You're barking up the wrong tree here. Go sit on your boy's lap.” Logan pushed Alec away.

  “I'm gonna go get a drink and head closer. You guys coming?” Eric asked.

  I shivered and rubbed my arms as a slight breeze blew through the park. The temperature had dropped after the sun set, and I'd forgotten my sweater.

  When I stood, Eric wrapped his arm around my waist to pull me in close. He quickly rubbed his hand up and down my arm to warm me up. “You cold?”

  “Yeah, a little. Maybe they have some hot chocolate.” I chuckled, knowing there wouldn't be hot chocolate anywhere around. This was a concert not a campfire.

  We got our drinks and headed to the middle of the crowd. Alec finally talked me into dancing, and I tugged Eric along. Logan quickly found a girl to dance with, but his face was still grim as he watched me with Eric.

  I heard Alec and Sean talking a few feet away from Eric and I.

  “Look at Logan rockin' out. Who knew he could dance like that? The guy's got some moves. Look at the way he's spinning that chick. She's eating it up,” Sean commented.

  Alec looked at Sean with his eyes wide, followed by a look of appraisal. “You ready to get those sexy jeans dirty?”

  Sean looked around the park then at Alec. “What do you mean? Oh, no way. I'm not dancing.”

  “And keep that sexy away from everyone? I think not.”

  “I guess it wouldn't hurt to dance a song or two.”

  A wide grin spread across my face. Eric tilted his chin to look at me. “What's made you so happy?”

  “I was just listening to Alec and Sean. They're too cute.” I wiggled my hips and swayed my arms above my head in time with the music. Eric tugged me to his chest, my back pressed to his front. We danced like that through a song and a half before he said anything else.

  “I’m sure they’re happy.” Eric kissed the crook of my neck. I'd do just about anything to have his mouth on my skin. Every time his touch heated my body better than a strike of lightning.

  “Sean is the first one I would consider an actual boyfriend. But don't say that to Alec. He'll go psycho bitch on you.”

  “Okay. I won't say anything.” The song switched to a slower tune. I burrowed closer to Eric, turning in his arms so I could lay my head on his shoulder. It was nice being close to him.

  He leaned down close to my ear. “You look hot tonight. Why do you stick around with all of us?”

  “Because I can.” I shifted out of his hold. I bent my head back and pointed up. “Look...fireworks.”

  “Fireworks? They weren't supposed to have fireworks,” Logan murmured. He had ditched the girl at some point and made it over to the four of us.

  “Well, then I guess it's a surprise ending.” I looked back at him as the fireworks lit up his eyes. Logan turned his head to an angle, our faces nearly touching.

  Eric hugged me tighter. Then slid his fingers down the side of my face. His touch ignited flutters in my stomach, and I gasped.

  “Carissa...I, well…” He didn't finish talking. Instead, he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me closer.

  The sound of a throat clearing broke the ice that held me in place. I jerked away from Eric and stuck my tongue out at Alec.

  “If you two are done, I'd like to get a shirt or something before we go.” Alec stood behind me, his hands in his pockets. Behind him was Sean, pressed back to chest, his hands rested on Alec’s shoulders.

  “Yeah, can we go?” Logan took off toward the vendors selling T-shirts. I caught a glint of sadness in his eyes before he turned around.

  “What was that about?” Alec grunted.

  “As if you couldn’t figure it out.” I wound my arm around Alec’s waist.

  While the guys waited in line to purchase their shirts, I walked across the park in search of peace and quiet. A small stone footbridge crossed over the lagoon off to the side of the concert area. Standing in the middle of it, I looked into the depths of the murky water. Far enough away from the crowds, I could hear the night sounds: locust singing to each other, frogs croaking, and water swishing as fish and other creatures swam downstream. Time passed slowly while I waited for the guys to come back to me. My feet hurt from the heels, so I sat down with my back against the cold stone and closed my eyes.

  “Princess, it's time to go home.”

  I smiled at the voice in my ear. “Not yet. I'm too tired.” I mumbled, still asleep. I readjusted, and tingles shot up my leg. “Ow.” My foot had fallen asleep as well, and now it felt like tiny little ants were crawling all over me.

  When I lifted my head, Eric was squatting in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. “Are you going to be ok walking back to the car?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I'll be fine.” I tried to reassure him, but as soon as I stood, I wobbled. Logan took my elbow to steady me and narrowed his eyes in a look of disbelief. At the same time, Eric looped his arm through mine. One on each side, they walked me back to the car.

  “She okay?” Sean asked.

  “She's just tired.” Alec shrugged his shoulders walking faster to catch up to with us.

  * * * *

  As soon as we piled in the car I gave way to the tug of sleep. The drive from the city back to home was long enough for me to take a catnap. Eric kept his hand on my thigh the whole time. A soft stroke across my cheek awoke me, and I looked out the windshield to see the front of my apartment building. Eric had come to my side of the car and squatted down next to me, the door still open, letting in a cool breeze.

  “Come on, princess. Let’s get you to bed.” He stepped back to give me room, but as soon as I stood, he lifted me into his arms, shut the car door, then carried me up to my apartment.

  “You don’t have to carry me, Eric. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  Eric smacked the top of my thigh. “Hush. I want to carry you. Tonight was more fun than I’ve had in years, I’m glad I found you, Carissa.”

  My head became too heavy to hold up, so I rested it on his shoulder, nuzzling against his neck. “Mmm. Thank you for coming with me. I think it was the best birthday ever.”

  We didn’t say anything else until we stood in front of the door. Eric knocked, and I said a silent prayer that Annabelle was home. I didn’t want him to put me down to search for my keys. Being in his arms, held close, protected but not smothered, I began to understand how good it could feel. It would be easy to fall in love with som
eone like Eric.

  Fortunately, my roommate was home and opened the door for us. Eric nodded a greeting as he moved past Annabelle headed straight to my room. I puzzled over the thought of love, and realized that I wasn’t scared of it. Eric had an effect on more than my body. He scrambled my thoughts, made me believe I could have love without feeling smothered or ending up like my parents.

  He pulled the covers back on my bed, laid me down, and touched my forehead with his lips before leaving. The last words I heard were his whispered, “Good night, princess.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The next morning I woke with a smile on my face. Having Eric tuck me in the night before was definitely something I wanted to repeat over and over. Except, I wanted him next to me. I pulled out the shirt I'd bought at the concert. It would go perfect with my Marc Jacobs jeans. It was a fitted baby blue T-shirt with a lemon yellow music staff and notes screen-printed across the chest.

  Dressed and ready to get out of my room, I grabbed my phone and my messenger bag off the bedside table. Mom and Dad never would have let me go to a concert with only my friends.

  Mom. The mystery behind her phone call a few weeks ago still hadn't been solved. Before I realized what I was doing, the phone was pressed to my ear, ringing.

  “Hello?”

  “Mom.”

  “Oh, Carissa. How are you, sweetheart?”

  Hmm. That was a first, Mom actually asking me how I was. When they made their monthly call it went more along the lines of “Carissa, dear. It's that time again. Is there anything you need? All of your classes are going well, yes?” I would answer and the call would be done. No chitchat, no how are you. Pure business.

  “I'm okay. How are you?”

  “Very busy. Your father recently acquired a new client and is the process of designing a brand new line for the upcoming season. Is there a specific reason you called? I was in the middle of party planning.”

  And there was the mom I was used to. Her party was far more important than me. She wanted to get right to the point. I gave a long, drawn-out sigh. Fine. I'd go with her wishes. Again.

  “You called a few weeks ago. I thought maybe something was wrong because it was after your monthly call. Remember?”

  “Yes, I believe I do. It was a mistake on my end. I meant to call Georgia and tell her not to come in for the day. She was with the cleaning service.”

  “Mom, don't lie to me. You don't talk to anyone at the service. That's Sheila's job, and we both know it. This is important to me.”

  “Once I tell you, you must promise never to repeat it again. More than likely you will be unhappy, but you need to pull up your panties and be an adult.”

  “Get to the point.” Now I was in a hurry.

  She was right on both accounts, I would be mad, and I needed to be an adult. But she had to tell me what was going on first.

  “A young man who was working for us called that day.”

  I had no idea what that had to do with me. So what if a young man called them. She’d said something similar though the last time. She’d received a phone call. I realized that the calls had to have something in common, but the what still alluded me

  “He was supposed to check in.” I didn’t know why I said that. As soon as I said it, I knew that’s what the call had been about. For a moment I worried my stomach was going to revolt. I hugged myself, trying to push away the worry. This whole situation wasn’t right.

  “Yes, how did you know? No, never mind. That's not important and I need to get back to my planning. Anyway, he called to quit. He told your father that he liked you and didn't want the security detail anymore. Of course, that wasn't part of the contract or a very professional decision. Eric needed to learn that when it comes to business transactions and contracts, you are not allowed to back out whenever you please. Ethan offered to replace him with another person or he could maintain his position. Either way we refused to leave you unattended.”

  Unattended. What the hell? At nineteen years old, wouldn't it be expected that I could take care of myself, make my own decisions? Mom had just told me I needed to act like an adult, yet they didn't even want me without a bodyguard. A secret one at that. Eric, she’d said. That was bullshit. But getting into it with my mother would do me no good. I'd learned that early on.

  “Eric as in Eric Byrne?”

  “I believe that is his last name, but we know I’m not all that good with names. You’ve met I presume.”

  Oh, we’d met all right. Except, wouldn’t she have known that if he was working for them? She should have. I hoped that this was all a mistake.

  I told myself Eric didn’t work for them. The call Monty overheard had been a misunderstanding. The two incidents had nothing in common. They couldn’t. The idea that any one was working as my secret bodyguard infuriated me though.

  “Eric chose to stay on. Is that why you called, to see if he was doing his job?”

  “Yes. Ethan said it would be good to check on him. But when you answered, I couldn't bring myself to tell you. So I didn't. He called me the next day with his weekly check-in. Ethan said the fact that he called without prompting was proof enough he would uphold his contractual obligations.”

  I hated that Mom made me question everything I knew about Eric, but that didn’t overrule my need to know.

  “But then he called back and quit. Right?”

  “I don't believe so, no. We still hear from him every week. Wait, I haven't spoken with him lately. I'm sure he's called your father though. Eric wouldn’t repeat the same mistake twice, and Ethan would have told me if the arrangements had changed. Anyway, that's why I called. Now I really must go. Goodbye, Carissa.”

  “Bye, Mom.”

  She didn't hear me because I spoke to dial tone. But I didn't care.

  Not ten minutes later my phone started ringing again.

  “Hello?” The number on caller ID was unknown, and my voice was rough.

  A female voice responded to my greeting, “Eric asked me to call and invite you to dinner at the diner down from your apartment.” Her voice was robotic. It sounded like she was reading off a card. An odd request, but I had to see what Eric was up to.

  As I approached the front of the diner I noticed a plethora of flowers all around the entrance. There were reds, yellows, oranges, and purples. Every color of the rainbow. It was breathtaking. When the door opened and the bell chimed, the smell of hamburgers and French fries wafted through the air. My stomach growled.

  Eric sat at a table in the corner of the diner. He didn't look up when I walked in. His nose was stuck in a book. It was funny, at least to me, that Eric was a book freak. Around other people, he tried to portray that he was a badass. I guess he felt like he couldn't let his guard down or he'd get hurt. But when he was with me, he let the walls down.

  The chair made a screeching noise as I pulled it away from the table. Eric peered over his book. He nodded toward the drink sitting closest to me. “It's Dr. Pepper.” Then went back to his book.

  I didn't look at him, but I took a drink anyway, in hopes it would help the scratchiness in my throat, still tight from the emotion after talking to my mom. Dr. Pepper was my favorite, although I tried to only drink it on special occasions. Caffeine and I were not good friends.

  “What are you reading?” My voice was shaky. Eric didn't answer. “Eric?”

  He looked at me. “Hmm?”

  “I asked what you were reading.”

  He closed the book then sat it on the table. “Oh, just something I picked up earlier. I'm glad you came.”

  “We need to talk,” I said.

  “Talk about what?”

  “Oh, I don't know. Maybe what arrangement you and my parents have. Then we'll talk about why you're working for them.”

  Eric sputtered, and his brow furrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I wanted to believe him, but a sliver of my heart cautioned me not to let all my walls down just yet. Something wasn’t right. Ma
ybe Mom had his name wrong.

  “Are you sure? Because I called my mom and she mentioned something about a young man who worked for them. You see, she called me on the first day of the semester. The only time they call me is the fifth of the month. So I have to assume this young man is here at school with me. Today, she let it slip that his name was Eric, but he hasn’t called and checked in.”

  Eric scrubbed his hand down his face. “I’m not working for your parents, princess.”

  Maybe, he wasn’t working for my parents, but I still wasn’t convinced he knew more, but wasn’t saying.

  I looked again at the flowers and my mind wandered. They were simple, not extravagant, but someone had taken care of them. The realization that Eric would do that for me, if I’d let him, settled in my chest. He’d already taken care of me at the concert, listened to me without judgment when I told him about Igor. Damn my mother for her manipulation skills. Eric hadn’t given me a reason to doubt him, but my parents had more than once. I owed it to him to be more understanding, give him the benefit of doubt.

  “Do you think we’re going too fast? I mean, we haven’t known each other that long.” I would try to trust him more, but I couldn’t rid myself of the suspicion completely. The coincidences were too great. Time. I needed to time to figure it all out.

  “Why would you say that? Are you unhappy, Carissa? I thought things were good.”

  “They were, I mean are. It’s just…I don’t know. This conversation with my mother is messing with my head. Could be that I just need a couple of days to clear it all up.”

  Eric released a long sigh. “That’s understandable. Do what you need to do. But please, before you make any decisions about us, there is something I should probably tell you.”

  What? Had he been working for them after all and now that I wanted time to think he was going to tell the truth? Regardless that I knew my mouth gaped; I couldn’t make it close.