Lucky Liar

by Mallory Crowe

But there was a little thing called respect that he needed to learn. Apparently he got up ridiculously early and headed back into work, without saying a word to her. Even though he’d sent Thomas to help take her shopping to find a dress for tonight, he hadn’t called or texted her at all. His only communication had been through his loyal assistant. And now here she was, showing up at a stranger’s party, alone, with no idea of when Wade was actually going to get there.

  The only information he’d given her—through Thomas, of course—was that he’d try to get there as soon as possible. As she spent more time with Thomas, she started to understand why Wade was so comfortable with her being in his presence. It was becoming more and more apparent that taking her out and seeing her try on different fancy dresses wouldn’t sway him in any way. She was pretty sure she and Thomas were looking for the same thing in a partner. Namely, a penis.

  In an odd way, it made her a lot more comfortable with him. She felt less and less as if he were some starchy employee of Wade’s and more like he was just… a nice guy. Smart too. He knew a lot more about the ways of the social elite than she did.

  He’d picked out a perfect dress shop to go to. At first, she gravitated toward very conservative high-neck and leg-covering dresses. When Thomas told her that wouldn’t do it all, she’d gone the total opposite direction until a swimsuit would probably offer more coverage than the tight and short dresses she was trying on.

  Finally, he got her closer to the middle. The dress was more risqué than anything she thought she’d wear, but it did it in a stylish way. The fact that the price tag had four digits before the decimal definitely helped make it seem rich. The dress was a bright red, with a high neck and cap sleeves, except the outer layer of the dress was a geometric lace pattern that was completely see-through. There was a band around her breasts, and a skirt portion underneath that went most of the way down her thighs and stopped right before her knees. But a portion of her lower leg, her midriff, and her shoulders were all bared through the lace. After they’d purchased the dress, Thomas had taken her to a department store to get a makeup tutorial, which of course led to her buying every single product.

  So even though she might be completely out of place, at least she knew she looked good. Thomas hadn’t been able to get her to a hairstylist, but she had gone simple with her hair, pulling it back into a slick, basic updo.

  She figured the dress and makeup were enough. She didn’t need to be making any statements with her hair.

  This party was being held on an oversized yacht. She had a hard time believing she would even be able to get on the boat without Wade. As though they would take one look at her and know immediately that she didn’t belong. She took a deep breath and clenched and unclenched her fists. For right now, this was her job. She had to put herself in uncomfortable situations, pretend that she fit in. She promised Wade that she would help him, and she was getting paid a lot of money for doing it. She could handle this.

  Surprisingly, there wasn’t really any form of security at this party. She was able to walk right up the dock leading onto the boat, with no one giving her more than a curious glance.

  She wondered how many parties she should’ve been trying to slip into in her past. There was a whole secret life she’d been missing out on because she was afraid of silly things like trespassing laws. As soon as she reached the deck of the boat, a server approached her with a tray of drinks. She was well aware that in her position she couldn’t afford to get plastered, but loosening up a little bit wouldn’t hurt. She smiled a thank-you at the server as she took a glass and tipped it back gently.

  The high-powered dark-red lipstick didn’t even smudge the glass. She knew this stuff was expensive, but it was worth every penny. She glanced around the deck of the boat and looked at all the glamorous people. Thomas had been spot-on with the dress choice. There were definitely some women wearing a lot less, and some were wearing a lot more. She seemed to slide right in the center and looked very fashionable while she did it. According to Thomas, sheer things were trendy. She would have to take his word on it, because she was no fashionista.

  She tried to figure out where she should go to hide. She didn’t want to strike up any conversations with strangers until Wade was there to be her safety blanket, but she couldn’t exactly go hide in the bathroom the whole time. There had to be some way she could look busy and—

  “Zoe, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

  Zoe turned around and was confronted with a breathlessly handsome man she’d never met before. He was taller than her, with curly brown hair that was probably naturally darker but appeared lightened from lots of time in the sun. His large biceps pushed at the sleeves on his casual white linen shirt. Why was it that men could always get away with dressing so much more casual than women could? And they never even had to wear heels. It was completely unfair.

  She tried to think of the best way to not make an ass of herself. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before.” She was sure in the future she’d have a hard time keeping track of Wade’s friends, but for now, she was so new to Wade’s circle it was pretty easy to know she wasn’t crazy. She’d never seen this man before.

  “Not officially, but I’ve heard a lot about you. My name is Leo West. I’m from Birdsville as well.”

  He had to be kidding. What were the chances she’d run into somebody else from Birdsville? “You’re from Birdsville. You’re serious?”

  “Yep. Your husband and I were actually friends.”

  Then it clicked in her mind. “Ahhh. You’re one of those friends, right? The Lucky Lions or whatever.”

  “You’d be surprised how little luck had to do with it.”

  Something about his tone rubbed her the wrong way. Who the hell was this guy? He had no idea what would surprise her and what wouldn’t. “Well, you seem pretty lucky from where I’m standing.” Maybe it was his amazing genetics. Maybe the gift of rich parents and knowing the right people to get invited to such a fancy party.

  “Oh, you wouldn’t believe all the dirty deeds I had to do to get here.”

  She wasn’t sure that meant he was lucky or he wasn’t. She was pretty sure his only point at the moment was trying to make her feel uncomfortable. “Mr. West, if there’s something you want to say to me, I suggest you come right out and say it.”

  “You’re direct. I like that.” He looked her up and down appreciatively, and she had a feeling he liked a lot more than just her directness. “Wade has a dark past. We all do. You should watch out for that one.”

  “I think it’s too late for that,” she pointed out.

  “That’s right. I heard you already know about his darkest secrets.”

  Zoe’s eyes widened. She knew exactly what he was talking about. It was about Wade’s father. “What do you know about that?”

  “I know everything about it. I was there.”

  Did that mean he participated too? “Doesn’t that mean I should be afraid of you as well?”

  “You should be afraid of everybody here. You’re just fresh meat to these people.”

  “That’s funny, because right now my instincts are telling me to be afraid of you.”

  Instead of being affronted at that, Leo seemed amused. “That’s good. You should probably trust your instincts.”

  “West,” said Wade with a disapproving voice.

  Zoe didn’t turn around to see her husband. She simply raised an expectant eyebrow at Leo. What was he going to do now?

  “Hello. Long time no see,” said Leo.

  “And I figured it would be even longer,” said Wade. “What are you doing here?”

  “Shane said you were looking to get the group back together. I figured since I was in town, I’d say hi.”

  “I didn’t say anything about getting together with you. Apparently I should’ve been more specific with Shane. You and I don’t reconnect. Ever,” said Wade in no uncertain terms.

  All of a sudden, Zoe felt very much like an intruder here. “You
two have fun with all this. I’m going to go find some more alcohol.”

  She turned away from them and tried to digest what she learned. Had she learned anything? Whatever had been going on between Wade and his father had to do with more than just Wade. If Leo was involved somehow, did that mean Shane was as well? She didn’t know why it surprised her so much. Sure, she kind of knew Shane, but she more knew he existed. Not him as a person.

  This was one more reminder that she couldn’t let her guard down around Wade. It was so easy to forget how little she knew about him. How dangerous he could actually be.

  She weaved through the crowd, looking for any restroom. There had to be one around here somewhere, right? Maybe she could hide in there until she figured out what she was going to do. She’d somehow convinced herself that he couldn’t possibly be a killer. That he was, for the most part at least, a decent man. What if she’d been fooling herself? What if she’d put herself right in the line of fire? All these old fears that she pushed aside by getting into this stupid arrangement came back in full force.

  Zoe turned in the first door she saw, but it wasn’t the bathroom. This was a bedroom, and from the looks of it, this was the master suite. She turned to leave, but at that moment, Wade pushed the door open and walked inside, blocking her exit. Zoe tried to get around him, but he moved to stop her. “Hold on, we need to talk.”

  “Oh, now you have time to talk to me. That’s rich.”

  He frowned at her. “Are you mad at me?”

  For fuck’s sake. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush. “Look, I get how this is supposed to work. I know you’re going to be distant and work way too much. But today? I arrived here alone, and I don’t know anybody, and I’m immediately accosted by people who know who I am who I know nothing about. You couldn’t even bother to call me at any point?”

  “You know what I’m dealing with. It’s not just an average day at the office. Someone is stealing from me.”

  “I get it. If anybody else had told me they lost millions of dollars, I would’ve felt terrible. But that’s a drop in the bucket for you. What would be life-ruining for some people is a bad day at the office for you.”

  “You know the entire reason I went through with this sham was because of this deal I just lost. As of right now, I have no use for you.”

  He said the words just to hurt her, and they struck hard. She already felt as if she didn’t belong and that she could be kicked out at any moment. She didn’t need him validating those fears. “That’s one.”

  “One what?” he bit out.

  “That’s the one and only time you can use that against me. If you want to end this right now, tell me. If you’re going to threaten to kick me out on my ass every time I stand up to you, just tell me to leave now.”

  “What would you do if I left you? As of today, you don’t have a job. Would you really let your mom suffer just because you can’t carry through with the promises you made?”

  That was it. She reached out and slapped him. Hard. His face barely jerked, but she could see the anger flash in his eyes as his jaw tightened. But she wasn’t about to apologize. “Threaten my mother one more time and you’ll be getting a fist in your face. I understand that you wanted your father dead, but the idea of me not having my mother is the worst thing I could possibly imagine.”

  Something snapped in his eyes. He took a step forward, and she instinctively took a step back. “We agreed my father’s off-limits.” The words sounded harsh, as though he wanted to say a lot worse but was struggling to control himself.

  “I’m sorry, but the fact that you might be a murderer isn’t off-limits. It’s kind of necessary information.”

  Wade advanced again, and this time he didn’t stop until Zoe’s back was against the wall. “I think we can agree that you got a pretty sweet bargain here. I make all of your goddamn dreams come true, and I ask so little in return. Is it really that hard to not accuse me of being a murderer?”

  “That depends. Are you a murderer?”

  Zoe tried to read the emotions running across his face, but it was so hard. An odd mix of anger, sadness, and even a hint of betrayal.

  His hand shot out and grabbed her neck, an odd bastardization between gentle and threatening. “Tell me you trust me.”

  “How can I trust you? I don’t even know you.”

  “You trusted me enough to take my money. You trusted me enough to sign that stupid contract. So now, tell me to my face. Do you trust me?”

  She knew it would be so easy to lie and get this over with, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she looked up and met his eyes. “Here’s a better question. Do you trust me? Tell me the truth.”

  “I’d never talk to anybody about this. Ever.”

  “Well, if you’re going to break your rules with anybody, shouldn’t it be me?”

  “If I’m going to break any rules with you, it’s going to be this one.”

  And then he was kissing her. It was so unexpected that Zoe stood there frozen for a moment. She didn’t kiss him back, and she didn’t punch him, what she probably would’ve done if he’d tried this a few minutes ago. He was warm, and strong, and, damn, he was tempting.

  Zoe forced herself to wrench her face away from his. “What are you doing?” It was a stupid question. Obviously she knew what he was doing. But somehow logical thought tended to leave her whenever he was close by.

  “I’m breaking the rules. It’s fun. Try it sometime.”

  “People like me aren’t allowed to break the rules. We don’t get warnings—we get consequences.”

  “You’re not a person like you anymore. You’re a person like me.”

  He brought his hand to her face, and this time he gently touched her, cupping her cheek and running his thumb back and forth along her bottom lip. “Why don’t you test the limits with me?”

  Test the limits with him? He could take her to the farthest edge, and once they got there, he’d pull her right over. He was a bad idea, and she’d known that the moment she propositioned him. The moment she started to consider blackmailing him. This man was bad luck all the way around.

  “You’re a bad idea,” she accused. But then she closed the gap between them and she was kissing him too.

  She was immediately pushed back against the wall, anchored only by Wade’s body. She felt desperate. Desperate to get this over with, desperate to make it last longer, desperate to get all of Wade’s clothes off. She worked at the buttons, sure she was going to embarrass herself as she fumbled her way around. But some lustful demon seemed to overtake her, and the buttons came undone one by one, melting like butter in her hands. Once his torso was free, she splayed her fingers across his toned, muscular chest. Well, Johnny had certainly never looked like this.

  “Like what you see?” asked Wade breathlessly.

  “You can’t just be modest for a minute?” she muttered even as her fingers continued pressing lower and lower.

  He grabbed her thighs and spread her wide as he pushed himself against her core. “Does this seem like the time for modesty to you?”

  Zoe’s eyes fell shut as a little tremor of pleasure coursed through her. Oh God, she hadn’t realized how much she needed this.

  Before she realized what he was doing, his hand pushed between their bodies to cup her mound. Zoe’s eyes shot open as his fingers worked their way inside the line of her panties and ran along her opening.

  “I love how wet you are already,” he murmured against her ear.

  A mixture of embarrassment and heat filled her at his words. She didn’t know why she would be embarrassed. How dare she get wet for him while they were clearly about to talk? But she just wasn’t as used to this as he probably was.

  His thumb brushed over her clit as a long finger pushed easily inside her. Zoe gasped for air, and her nails bit into his shoulders. She expected Wade to be quick and to the point, wanting to get inside her as quick as possible, but he was proving her wrong, instead obviously focusing on her
pleasure.

  He stared at her intently, his breath coming quicker and quicker as she started to lose control. Soon his hips started to move in rhythm with his fingers, as though he was imagining a different part of him sliding into her wet heat. And then all she could do was hold on tightly as she fractured into a thousand little pieces. The only thing that brought her back down to earth was she leaned forward, and his teeth bit into her neck, just hard enough to hurt the slightest bit.

  “I told you it would be good,” he breathed against her neck.

  She really wanted to make another retort about his modesty, or lack thereof, but words were just too hard right now. Instead, she gripped the soft fabric of his shirt, tugged his head back up to her, and kissed him again.

  She liked kissing him. Every time they had a battle of wills, she never seemed to have the upper hand. The only time she truly seemed to catch him off guard was when her mouth was on his. Considering the orgasm that had just wracked her body, the consequences of kissing him didn’t seem as bad anymore.

  The problem with kissing Wade was that it was addictive. Just a taste of him was never enough. Soon enough she found herself wanting more and more.

  She reached between their bodies and tugged his belt. Although she managed unbuttoning his shirt like a pro, she found herself fumbling around with the black leather. Luckily, he reached down to help.

  In half a second, his belt was undone, and his pants slipped down to the ground.

  If anyone walked in on them right now, she was sure she’d look ridiculous, but she didn’t have much time to worry about it. All of a sudden, his cock was right at her entrance. She barely had time to gasp in anticipation as he slid all the way home.

  Zoe’s head fell back as she was certainly pulled to the brink.

  She barely had a chance to get used to his size inside her before he started to move.

  “I can’t wait,” he said with a shaky tone between his haggard breaths.

  It seemed to be the closest thing to an apology she’d ever heard from him. He wanted to go slower but just couldn’t wait. It was hard to believe that she could push a man like Wade to the edge of his control, but she couldn’t think about that any longer. Because he was rubbing against her just the right way, stroking all of her pleasure points seemingly at once. Instead, she closed her eyes and bit her lip as a second orgasm ripped through her. He wasn’t far behind as he squeezed her so hard that if she wasn’t coming around him, she was sure it would’ve hurt. Then all she could do was hold on to his shoulders as she shuddered to catch her breath.