Praise for Beautiful Liar
Passion, tension, pain, and healing make Beautiful Liar a beautifully written novel that truly captures your heart and soul. –Liz King, Romance Addiction
The emotions and passion consumed me; at times it got so hot I swear my kindle was going to overheat. Beautiful Liar will melt your heart and imprison your soul. -Tabby’s Tantalizing Reviews
Beautiful Liar broke me and shattered me before putting me back together again, piece after tiny, little piece. One decision, one secret, one beautiful liar. -S.K. Hartley, Author of Finding You
The author has written a real feeling story with genuine characters, humor and hot sex. The sex scenes in this book were intense, and left me saying whoa! There are other times I found myself laughing at loud. – Morgan Jane Mitchell, Author of Sanguis City
Other Titles by Glenna Maynard
Beautiful Strangers, book one of The Masquerade Series
Blackened Heart, a companion to Beautiful Strangers
Beautiful Lover, book three of The Masquerade Series, Release TBA
I’m with You, Release TBA
Beautiful Liar
Glenna Maynard
Beautiful Liar
Copyright © 2013 by Glenna Maynard
This is a work of fiction. Names characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual people, alive or dead, business, establishments, locales or events is entirely coincidental. Any reference to real events, business, organizations or locales is intended only to give the fiction a sense of realism and authenticity.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying), recording, or otherwise – without prior permission in writing from the author.
Acknowledgements
I want to say a huge thank you to all of my author, blogger, and Twitter friends. You guys are truly amazing. To my BB, Liz, Morgan, Rachel, Saoching, and Sofie I am so grateful for all of you!
To my amazing family thank you for always supporting me in all that I do. To Tessa, your friendship through the years has meant more to me than you will ever know. And thank you for inspiring the nickname pumpkin.
Brett thank you for loving me and pushing me to follow my heart and continue on this crazy journey.
Prologue
This can not be happening, I tell myself as I stare at the one word that changes everything, POSITIVE. NO! NO! NO! My dad will kill me! Why didn’t I listen when Marla told me to go on the pill! Brody leaves for college in two weeks.
“TWO WEEKS!” I stomp my foot in protest like it can change the fact. The fact that I have ruined my life! What am I going to do? I can’t tell Brody something like this, not when he is about to live his dream.
Playing college baseball has been all he has talked about since we were seven. I can’t, I won’t ruin this for him. I just graduated high school, I can’t be a mom. I will call Marla she will know what to do. Marla is my mother, she resides in Miami Florida.
She has been living there since I was nine, I usually spend one week every summer with her, and the rest of the year I live with my dad in West Virginia. My parents divorced because my mom had a drinking problem and my daddy refused to live that way any longer.
“Darby, if you love this boy, let him go. You will come live with me and we will do this together. I know I haven’t always been the mom you have deserved. Don’t you worry about Jim either; I will set your daddy straight. If you don’t want this baby, there are other options”
Two weeks later, I have made my decision. I know what I must do. This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to face. I have loved Brody as long as I can remember. He deserves to have his dreams come true. If I don’t end this now I know how he will react. He will be like every other ass backwards person in this town.
He will give up his college scholarship for a job in the coalmines to support me and our baby. I can’t doom him to my daddy’s fate. And sometimes the way Brody acts when he drinks scares me. I don’t want to raise a baby in an environment like that. One where the father resents the child and the mother, and turns into a raging alcoholic, I grew up that way. I will not bring a child into that kind of existence.
Brody is coming over later tonight to say goodbye before he leaves for the training camp he is required to participate in. I was disappointed, but now I know it’s better that he won’t be here. He can never know I am pregnant. His family would just think I am trying to use him as my meal ticket out of this town. The scouts say he has a real shot at going pro.
I’m not ready to be a mom and can’t bring myself to have an abortion. I just can’t do that, especially when there are people in this world who would give anything to have a baby. Adoption is my best choice and Brody will never have to be aware of any of it.
I can feel the vibration from his stereo as pulls his pickup into the driveway. That boy is going need hearing aids by the time he hits thirty.
I observe him from my living room window as he makes his exit. His brown wavy hair hangs right above his ears. He appears anxious, wearing a Louisville Cardinals t-shirt, kaki cargo shorts, and flip flops. Then it hits me, this is the last time I will see him walking up to my door. This is one of my last nights living in this house. How am I going to live my life not seeing the faces of the two men who mean more to me than anything in this world?
Marla set Jim straight alright, after a very heated phone discussion and good ear chewing for me, daddy finally agreed that it was best I live with mom, if this was my choice. I have always been a daddy’s girl long as I can remember. The disappointment in his voice when we had our talk was bone chilling. I shudder at the thought and continue to gaze out at Brody as he makes his way up the long, winding walkway. Brody is tall and lean, but very muscular. He takes a lot of pride in his appearance.
I am going to miss the way he smiles at me, like I am his forever. The way he massages the tip of his earlobe when he is uneasy. Or how he sticks his tongue out to the side when he getting ready to connect his bat with the ball in anticipation. The goofy lopsided grin he gives to the crowd watching from the stands when he hits a home run. You see not only is he my boyfriend, but he has always been my confidant as well, so keeping something so life altering from him is so tough. My whole life has revolved around this one boy. I can’t believe I am about to give him up, and my one dream, to be with him always.
He doesn’t even bother with the doorbell and lets himself inside. That boy has been doing it ever since he was allowed to ride his bicycle over to my house after school. Not like my dad is ever home to notice. Poor man has worked his whole life to take care of me. Before I came into the picture he had thoughts of becoming a doctor.
But he put his life aside for mine and I know that he has regrets. Don’t get me wrong, I know my father loves me. Albeit I think he would have been just fine waiting a few more years before I came into the picture.
Brody wraps his arms around my waist and snuggles his chin into the crook of my neck, giving me little kisses. I am not much shorter than him. My hair is long, sun kissed blonde, and naturally wavy. I am slim, with not much of a bust. I have always been athletic. I was captain of the dance team.
I turn to face him, and his green eyes are mirroring my own. They are gloomy too!
“Come on, I suppose I promised you a ride on a Ferris wheel. This is my last night home for awhile, and I want to have a few drinks with the guys before I go away.” They always hold a senior fair for the graduating class, in a way it is a final send off; it always reminds me
of the movie “Grease.” But my life isn’t a movie and we aren’t “Danny and Sandy.” Our happily ever after won’t exist after tonight.
As promised he takes me on the Ferris wheel first. It is an older one with deep bucket seats and the sun has started to set. We are stopped at the very top. The bucket seats gently rock, making my nerves spike. I don’t think we will fall but I can’t help it when the thought crosses my mind. A small giggle escapes my pursed lips. Brody pulls my face close to his. Caressing my tongue with his own, he sighs.
“I am going to miss tasting your lips everyday.” He brushes his thumb over my bottom lip, tracing the outline of my mouth, with his eyes closed. We play a few carnival games and Brody wins me three stuffed bears. He takes my prizes to his truck, giving him the opportunity to have a beer with a few of his friends. Leaving me to my own thoughts for a few minutes, I don’t know how to do this. Should I cause a scene and humiliate him? Or should I make him jealous with another guy? I shrug the thought away. I can’t do that to him or myself. When he comes back I can tell he’s been drinking in the parking lot with his buddies. His eyes have that glossy look to them. I don’t like when he gets this way, he acts ignorant.
After we ride a few more rides he takes me out to the woods for a walk. I am biting my nails, I feel like I may throw up the corndog I just devoured moments ago. He backs me up against a tall pine tree. Brody places his hands on both sides of my face, keeping me in place. He slides his fingers under the spaghetti straps of my white tank top.
“Darby, you know this isn’t goodbye, it is only for a little while.” He lays small kisses down my throat. I suck in a deep hissing breath. The tenderness of his mouth, envelopes me so much I almost forget he is talking between kisses. “Next year after”-smooch- “you graduate”-nibble-“beauty school”- smooch-“Well that’s what I want to talk to you about.”
He stops kissing me and lifts my chin to meet the seriousness of his expression. My heart is in my throat. Please don’t let him do what I believe he is about to do! Then my worst fear is confirmed as he goes down on one knee.
“Darby I have loved you my whole life and I am going to continue loving you the rest of my days. Do me the honor and say you will marry me!”
I take a side step away from him and brace myself for what I need to do, it’s now or never!
“Brody, I love you more than I probably will ever love anyone in my life. But there is something I have to tell you.” The tears start to leak from both of our eyes. He knows I am about to stab him in the heart, but I have no choice.
“I’m not going to school. You know how I used to say I wanted to travel and be a model. Well I am going to stay with Marla. You know she lives in Miami and it is a great city to get my foot in the door. Plus she asked me to come. For the first time in my life, she wants me there. And she said she would help me with modeling. She knows an agent and everything.”
“Darby, you don’t mean it, any of it. You love me! What about our plans? You were going to go to beauty school and move to Louisville with me once you graduated. It is all we have talked about for months!” Brody has tears of anger. It is killing me to hurt him like this, but I want a better life for him. I owe him so much better than this but it is all I can offer him.
“Brody, those were YOUR dreams! Not mine! That life you had planned isn’t the life I WANT! I don’t want to be trapped in a small town life.” I turn away from him, the damage that just flashed through his eye’s is about to tare me down.
“You’re lying, Darby! I know you wouldn’t do that to me, to us. What’s really going on here?” He seizes my arm with force.
“I’m not. I am moving in with Marla. This is the last time you will see me. I’m sorry!” I knee him in the groin, forcing him to let me go. I run off through the woods as fast as I can. I stumble a few times, but manage not to trip. Getting to the opposite side of the fair I spot a girl who lives on my lane, and hitch a ride with her. Brody shows up at the house an hour later beating on the front door. He pounds his fist so hard, he split his knuckles. I call his younger brother to come make him stop before he breaks his hand or someone calls the law. I can’t deal with him when he gets drunk and angry. He has never hurt me, but it only takes one time for someone to go over the edge.
A piece of me died that night. I spent all of my life building him up just to tare him down in the end.
One week later I moved to Miami Florida with Marla, my mother. Brody is hundreds of miles away living his dream. My heart is crushed. Mother had to have her number changed and made private to stop his calls. But that didn’t stop the emails and no matter how much I have tried, I can’t bring myself to delete my account. It’s my last link to him and what should have been.
In time he will move on and forget all about me. And I will think about him for the rest of my life……
Chapter One
Almost three years have passed since I have seen Brody, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. My son, our son haunts me with his memory daily. He is so much like him in every way. From the color of his hair down to his toes, he looks like his personal mini me. I had every intention of giving my baby up for adoption, but once he was placed in my arms I knew I just couldn’t give him up, ever.
This day is always bittersweet. Today is Aiden’s birthday. And with each passing year I feel guilty, that I have robbed my precious boy of his daddy.
He turns two today, and I intend to make it his most excellent one yet. I won’t be getting to spend as much time with him after I start my new job. I just landed a job as a hostess at a new club, The Masquerade Club. They just recently opened their doors in South Beach. I heard after some singer featured the original club located in Nashville, in his music video, they turned it into a franchise and opened up clubs in Miami, and New York City.
I normally wouldn’t even consider working in a club like this one, but my mom has pancreatic cancer and things are stretched. We need the money and they pay well. It will only be part time to start; at least I have my job at the gym as a zumba instructor.
After I had Aiden, I came across an ad in the paper for a gym, Beach Bodies, in need of an instructor to teach zumba and strip tease. I have plenty of experience in dance; I was captain of the dance team in high school. One day after my last class for the day had ended I was approached by a gorgeous beast of a man. He gave me his card and told me he would love for me to dance at the club he manages, The Masquerade Club.
His name is Turner Mathews. He clearly takes care of himself. Standing at 6 ft 4 and weighing a good 215 all muscle, with a nice tan complexion he is pleasing to the eyes. His eyes were roaming all over my body as I stood considering his offer. “I will give it some thought.” I winked at him. My word, what is wrong with me! This man is offering me a job and I start flirting with him. He continued to gaze at my body, like he was undressing me right there on the spot.
I felt exposed but not uncomfortable by it, like I normally would when men check me out. I returned his gaze and drank him in. His hair was dark black, peaked in a faux hawk, and he had a smoldering pair of sexy grey eyes. I could have gotten lost in them for days. He broke me out of my trance when he started speaking again.
“What is it that you do exactly, other than standing here looking beautiful and teaching dance classes?”
He was charming, the word beautiful rolled off of his tongue like velvet. How could I not blush at the way he was looking at me, like a slice of pie he was ready to devour? Men do ask me out all the time, but none have caught my eye. I mean I am distracted, but I’m not dead to the looks of men.
“What you see here is pretty much it, exciting right? So what is it you do?”
“I told you I am a manger; we could use a few more dancers. You really should come by sometime, let me show you around.”
He laughed and then he just had to bite his lower lip and lick it.
I stood there like a mute, unable to speak. There was something about the way he bit that lip, and the way his
tongue circled his mouth. I suddenly felt parched and, took a drink from my water, covering my awkward pause. Was I just imagining this man grabbing my face and thrusting his tongue down my throat?
“Or I could take you out sometime.”
“I’m flattered obviously, but I’m not looking to get involved with anyone right now.”
“Hey I get it, but I’m not asking to marry you. I just want to get to know you better, as friends, no pressure. I am new to the area and just looking to meet new people. So pumpkin, what’s your name?”
“Pumpkin,” I mumble to myself. It’s then that I catch him staring at my breasts. I can feel the blush creeping up my cheeks.
He leans in close and whispers, “don’t take this the wrong way but your tits look like perfect pumpkins. In fact I think I will just refer to you as pumpkin tit’s that is unless you decide to tell me your name.”
The level of red my cheeks are right now has to be a solid ten. What was he asking? Oh right my name. “Darby,” I answered in a giggle. What in the hell? This guy has some real nerve or no filter. But I find that I like it. A lot! A man this big of a flirt should come with a warning label. Caution: Bites his lip and licks his mouth in a seductive manner. So fucking sexy it is a sin. Has the capability to make you forget your own name. Gives cute pet names to strangers that makes you want to get down on your knees and beg him to call you by it one more time. A man like this is dangerous. He has the ability to destroy a woman like me. It scares me and excites me all at once. And the way he is smiling at me right now tells me he knows every thought I am having about him right now. Yeah he knows he could push every single one of my buttons and hit the right spot. And that is exactly why we can never date.
Beautiful Liar (The Masquerade Series) Page 1