Lie to Me

by Natasha Preston

  Note to self: don't jump into the stream.

  "I'll give that a miss then."

  "No way. Next summer, you're getting in with me."

  A smile tugs at my lips. "You just want to see me in a bikini."

  "Yeah." Laughing, he kisses the top of my head. "When we have kids, we'll have to bring them here."

  My heart leaps ... and then kind of hides. He said the words so casually, like he was telling me what he had for lunch.

  So, he's, like, really all in. More in than me because I haven't moved past our stunning outdoor boho wedding yet. But I have a feeling it's not going to take me long to catch up.

  Two kids. Or maybe three.

  Bam, I'm there.

  He kisses the top of my head again, still running his hand through my hair. "I love you, babe," he whispers as the sun shines down on us.

  "I love you, too," I breathe.

  We stay like that for a while, not talking but not needing to. After a while, the breeze starts to overtake the heat coming from the sun, so we get up and head back to the house, ready for everyone to arrive. Judy and Harrold are there when we enter the kitchen.

  "Hey," Harrold says.

  "Savannah, there you are, darling." Judy dashes around Harrold and opens her arms.

  I manage to put my empty glass down before she reaches me.

  "Hi, Judy," I say, hugging her back. "I found the Prosecco. You sure meant it when you said you'd grab a load of bottles."

  She pulls back. "I never joke about alcohol, darling."

  "Hi, Mum. I'm fine, thanks," Kent says sarcastically.

  Judy ushers us into the living room with drinks, and then she and Harrold cook. When Heidi turns up, we outnumber Kent and get to put on a chick flick.

  Although he hates the movie, he hasn't moved from my side. His hand is playing with my hair and massaging the back of my head. It's the most blissful distraction. Sighing, I lay my head on his shoulder and curl into his side.

  I feel him smile against the top of my head as he kisses me.

  "Dinner's ready!" Judy announces shortly after the movie finishes.

  "Good, I'm starving," Kent says, getting to his feet. He bends over, takes my hands, and pulls me up. "Come on, birthday girl, let's get you fed before you get hangry."

  Falling against his chest, I squeeze his hands. "I do not get hangry."

  "Oh, yeah, you do." He presses his lips to mine, but before things can get out of control, which they often do, I back away.

  "Come on, put her down," Heidi says, laughing on the way past.

  "I don't want to," he replies, wrapping his arms around my back, so I can't move.

  Laughing, I push onto my tiptoes and kiss him again. "I'm getting hangry," I warn.

  "All right, I'm letting go." He does, but then he takes my hand, and we walk into the dining room. They have a table in the kitchen, too, but so far, I've not eaten at it.

  I take a seat between Kent with Judy and Harrold at the ends. Heidi sits opposite me.

  "This all looks ... like a lot," I say, eyeing the six dishes in the middle of the table.

  Kent and Heidi laugh.

  "You can't have a small pre-birthday dinner, darling," Judy says.

  "No, you can't have a small pre-birthday dinner," Harrold teases, lifting his glass to his wife.

  I wonder if this is how me and Kent will be one day. I see a lot of similarities between his parents and us already. Let's hope so because they're close, and they always have each other's backs.

  "How are you feeling about being another year older?" Judy asks, ignoring Harrold.

  "Er, fine, I think."

  "Of course you are. You're still in your early twenties," Heidi pipes in, pouting.

  "Time to find a husband, darling," Judy tells her daughter.

  Heidi rolls her eyes. "I don't need a man, Mum."

  "No, but it would be nice."

  "For me or you?"

  Judy smirks. "Me. I want grandbabies. Lots of them."

  Kent tenses beside me. He has nothing to worry about because, although we want children, it's a long way off. I'm so not ready to be pregnant.

  I turn to him. "Breathe."

  He gives me a look. "I'm fine."

  "No, you weren't," I reply, digging in as everyone else does. "You were freaking."

  "You were freaking," he mutters in reply.

  "Good comeback."

  "Eat, Savannah. You're becoming even more impossible."

  I dump a spoonful of mashed potatoes on my plate and catch Judy watching us with tears in her eyes. I reach out and put my hand over hers, making her take a deep breath. A silent understanding passes between us. I won't break his heart.

  28

  Kent

  Savannah is still asleep beside me. She's only the second woman I've had in my room back at my parents'. I thought that Freya's memory would be everywhere in here forever, but the second Savannah stepped over the threshold, Freya disappeared.

  Savannah's chest rises and falls softly, the back of her head resting on my chest.

  Last night was amazing. She's never said much about being part of my family after I blurted it out a while ago, but I know she truly felt it last night. The way she kept looking at me and then at my parents and sisters made my heart swell. I don't care that she never wants to talk about her family anymore--maybe she will want to one day--but I'm not going to wait for it or waste another minute with worrying what happened. She's mine, ours, now, and that's all that matters.

  She stirs beside me, and then two grey eyes flick open. "Morning," she whispers.

  "Happy birthday," I reply. "How does twenty-three feel?"

  Frowning, she replies, "Hmm, same."

  "Yeah? What if I give you your first birthday present now, and we see how you feel after that?"

  "Savannah! Are you awake yet?" Heidi shouts from outside my door. "Happy birthday, hon!"

  Sighing, Savannah sits up. "Thanks. I'll be out in a minute, Heidi."

  I grip her arm. "Wait. No, you won't."

  "Your sister is calling me."

  "Go away, Heidi!" I yell.

  "No, it's Savannah's birthday, and we're ready to start the festivities."

  "Well, we're not."

  "Oh my God," Savannah snaps, whacking my chest. "I'm not having sex with you when your family is waiting downstairs for us."

  "Why not?"

  "That was rhetorical, yes?"

  "Breakfast is almost ready," Heidi says. Her voice is muffled, like she's right against the door.

  Fucking family.

  I close my eyes and groan. "We should have stayed at mine and driven here after sex."

  "Come on. Get up, sunshine. It's clearly time to celebrate my birthday."

  My eyes are still closed, but I feel the mattress dip as she rolls out of bed.

  "Can I at least give you your present before we go down?"

  "Kent, we're not having sex!"

  I flick my eyes open. "I mean, your real present."

  "Well ..." she says in a flirty voice as she saunters around the bed toward me. She's still totally naked, so I can't guarantee I won't get carried away. "That you can do."

  Reaching into my bedside table, I pull out the shoebox I stashed there yesterday. "Okay, so I didn't really know what to get you, and Toby and Max just kept suggesting sex toys, so ..." I hand her the box, and her eyes widen in fear. "There are no sex toys in there, Savannah."

  Shrugging her shoulder, she replies, "Shame."

  "What? You were just scared."

  "Of what they would suggest, not of you picking some things. I have faith that you wouldn't get some double-ended dildo and expect us to use it."

  Flopping back against the pillows, I laugh. "That was Toby's suggestion."

  She rolls her eyes and climbs back onto the bed. "Of course it was." Lifting the lid, she drops it on the quilt, and her breath catches in her throat. "Kent. Oh, wow. This is ..."

  She clamps her mouth shut and looks up at me f
rom the box. I've not known her too long but long enough to know a few of her favourite things. Believe me, I've been paying attention.

  Inside the box is a voucher for a spa day with treatments included since she said she'd love to do that. It's for two, and I'm hoping she's going to want to take Heidi. There's also her favourite dark grey nail polish and light-pink lipstick, a DVD of Twister--which she told me was her favourite movie when she was a teenager--a new iPod since hers is ancient, a Tiffany bracelet that she and Heidi were gushing about in a magazine when I was fitting the storeroom out, Haribo, and Dolly Mixtures because those are her favourite sweets.

  Her eyes zone in on the smaller pale blue box. "Kent ..."

  "Just open it, Savannah."

  She lifts the lid. "How did you know?"

  "I'm observant." Even when I thought I didn't like her, I was watching. Everything she said or did, I remember. I guess I should have figured it out sooner.

  "I love it. All of it."

  Her grey eyes gloss over like she's fighting emotion. It feels fucking great, I have to say.

  "You're welcome."

  "You didn't need to get me so much, but thank you for not going ridiculously crazy."

  I playfully narrow my eyes. "It wasn't easy," I tell her. "I want to give you the world."

  "Kent," she breathes, shaking her head, "I just want you."

  I lean over and kiss her because, fucking hell, she's amazing. "Are you ready for your birthday breakfast?" I ask against her soft lips.

  She sits back and takes the bracelet out of the box. Slipping it onto her wrist, she nods. "I am now. I'm looking forward to seeing what your mum's done, but I'm concerned that I won't be able to eat it all."

  I get out of bed and reach for my clothes. "Oh, you definitely won't be able to eat it all."

  No one would be able to. Mum could cater for eating contests, and they wouldn't be able to finish it.

  She looks over her shoulder and grins. Her back is to me as she stands to get dressed. But, right now, she's naked, and her soft, lightly tan skin is begging to be worshiped.

  I love it when she's like this. It's not even just the fact that she's naked; it's how confident she is while she struts around in her birthday suit. It's sexy as hell.

  Bending down, she scoops up her bra.

  I squeeze my eyes closed. Jesus. "Any chance you want to be extra late to breakfast?"

  With a laugh, she spins around and covers her breasts with the damn bra. "No, your mum is an awesome cook."

  "Hey"--I frown--"I'm an awesome fuck."

  Savannah shakes her head in discouragement, but she doesn't disagree. She can't because we both know I'm killer in bed. All the scratch marks on my back prove it.

  "When we get back to mine, I expect you to provide me with a lot of birthday orgasms. Right now, we have things to do."

  She slips on a pair of jeans and a top, and I do the same. I tug socks onto my feet in a huff. We might have had sex twice last night, but I want her again, and it's going to be ages before we're alone.

  I want to spend the day making her come.

  "Kent!"

  Looking up from her arse, I mutter, "What?"

  "Let's go down."

  Right. I round the bed and hold out my hand. "Sorry, I got distracted."

  "I like you getting distracted." She presses her body against mine and rises on her tiptoes until we're the same height. "I love knowing that you're desperate to get inside me, and I love it more when you have to wait. Makes you way grabbier when we're alone."

  "Way grabbier?" I repeat, smirking and pulling her flush with my body.

  Her cheeks blush. "Yeah."

  "You like when I'm grabby, huh?"

  "A lot. It makes me so hot when you can't wait. The second we're alone, and you slam me against a door or wall or tug my clothes off ... yeah, I like that."

  I clear my throat as my dick swells in my jeans. "Right. Well, after that, I don't think you'll be disappointed later."

  She backs away, putting a foot of distance between us. "You never disappoint, Kent. Let's go eat our body weight in food. You're going to need a lot of energy."

  I follow her out of my room and onto the landing. "Oh, baby, you're the one who's going to need a lot of energy."

  I'm so fucking excited right now. I watch her walk down the stairs, knowing how today is going to end, and I just want to press fast-forward. My heart thumps as she looks over her shoulder on the way down. She's fucking beautiful.

  We enter the kitchen, and I see Mum has outdone herself again.

  "Wow, this looks amazing," Savannah says, her eyes wide as she takes in the food on the kitchen table. "I thought last night's dinner was big."

  "This is how birthdays are done, babe."

  She turns to me, smiling. "We're eating here?"

  "Yep, closer to the coffee."

  My mum always goes way out for birthdays. And Christmas. And Easter. And Halloween.

  The table is full of freshly baked pastries, stacks of toasts, platters of bacon and sausages. She has bowls of beans and rosti potatoes, mushrooms, and a warm plate of fried eggs.

  There will be seven of us for breakfast, but there's enough food for double.

  "Happy birthday, darling," Mum says, turning from the fridge and embracing my girl in a hug that's probably preventing her from breathing.

  Savannah hugs her back though, a smile warming her face. "I can't believe you went to so much trouble, Judy. You didn't have to."

  Mum lets her go and waves her hand. "It was no trouble. Come and sit down."

  I take Savannah's hand and lead her to the seat next to mine. My parents are creatures of habit, so we all have our usual places around the table. Thankfully, the chair next to mine has yet to be claimed.

  My dad, Brooke, and Freddy wish Savannah a happy birthday, and we dig in. There are so many choices, but I waste no time in making a mountain of greasy food on my plate. Savannah is a little more reserved in her selection than me, but she puts more food on than I would have thought.

  She's either very hungry or being polite.

  "So, after breakfast, we'll go for the walk, have lunch at the pub, and then on to something else," Mum says, spooning beans onto her plate.

  Heidi nudges her arm. "Mum, Savannah might not want to do that."

  "Right. Of course. I forget that she's not been with us the whole time."

  Yeah, that's how I feel, too.

  Savannah looks up at Mum over the sea of food in the middle of the table. "No, I'd really like to. Kent has told me all about your birthdays, and I don't have any traditions, so I'd love to experience yours."

  Mum beams, her glossy blue eyes shining. "Wonderful. That's settled then."

  I wonder what her birthdays were like. If she's not close to her parents, did anyone bother celebrating her life while she was growing up? I've always had over-the-top shit every year, and as irritating as it got, especially in my teenage years, I'd rather have a big fuss than nothing at all.

  "I'm so glad you're here," Brooke says. "We will make up for every year you've had without tradition. Literally. Mum is way OTT."

  "Hey!" Mum says, laughing. "You love birthdays and holidays at home."

  Brooke widens her eyes at Savannah. "Wait until you see her at Christmas. It's like a grotto in here."

  "I can't wait. I love Christmas."

  "That's good. You definitely can't be a grinch around my mother," Heidi adds. "Now, hurry up and eat, so I can give you presents."

  Savannah looks to me for help. She's not used to having a lot of attention or being showered with gifts, but I shrug because she's ours now, and she's just going to have to get used to it.

  29

  Savannah

  Today has been the best birthday ever, and it's only two p.m. Kent's family is awesome. Their birthday traditions are designed to make the birthday person feel super special. I don't think there is anything his parents wouldn't do for their children.

  They would never betr
ay him.

  I've been accepted as one of them, and they already treat me like one of the family. Being part of something again makes my heart warm. It's lovely to be around people who care so much about each other.

  Before everything went to shit with my family, we were like that. We spent a lot of time together. We made a big deal out of each other's birthdays and took holidays together.

  Most of my friends hated family holidays when they were teens, but I loved them.

  I never would have thought we'd be here now.

  Mum hasn't even tried to call me. She must have gotten my number from Simon unless he wanted to talk to me first. I wonder if he'll get Mum to call next and let her try. I don't really want to think about the possibility of her having my number but not wanting to call.

  I think my lack of communication over the last three years speaks for itself. I don't want anything to do with them ever again.

  Kent takes his card from the server and slides it into his pocket. He insisted on paying for lunch for me and his family. Even though he has plenty of money, I hate him constantly spending it on me.

  "Thank you," I say, trying not to be difficult.

  He grins triumphantly. "You're welcome."

  If it wasn't my birthday, I would have pushed harder to pay at least part of the bill. Not that it would have gotten me anywhere.

  Simon never let me pay for anything, and back then, it didn't bother me. It was what I was used to, just how we did things, but now, I have money of my own, and I want to pay my way.

  And the fact that I hate him now has probably changed my views on women paying.

  "Kent hasn't had to pay for a birthday lunch in years. It was definitely overdue," Heidi teases.

  "You've never had to pay for a birthday lunch," Kent counters.

  Brooke adds, "We're waiting for her to get the cats."

  "I'm not going to be an old spinster!"

  "Keep telling yourself that," Kent says.

  I stand with everyone else. "She has Toby."

  "Ha!" Heidi points at Kent. "I'll marry your friend if I have to."

  "You will not," he replies, turning up his nose.

  "I have to deal with you sleeping with my friend. Why shouldn't you have the same?"

  Kent folds his arms. "Do you know where Toby has been? Because I do."

  "Does Savannah know where you've been?"

  Laughing at Kent's death glare to his sister, I grab my bag. "I don't think I want to know where he's been."

  Kent's parents walk out of the restaurant, shaking their heads in amusement. We follow, filtering out behind.