Liar For Hire

by Tressie Lockwood

  Janessa reached across the table to touch her sister’s hand. “You haven’t been there since he died. You don’t have to do that, Lachelle.”

  “It’s time. Besides, I miss the guys. I’ve been avoiding any hint of the police for fear of cracking my heart open again, and enough is enough. I’m stronger than that.”

  “Good for you. If you want, I can go with you.”

  “No, let’s go back for that dress you were looking at. You can wear it to the office and make Declan fall at your feet. Matter of fact, we should try to find something that will have him drooling and remembering what you looked like the other night with nothing on.”

  “Lachelle, you’re impossible.”

  “You know I’m right.”

  “Hey, I didn’t disagree. Let’s go.”

  Janessa sailed across the room, fully aware that she looked amazing. The dress she wore was designed with her in mind. Just enough leg peeked through the slit in the side of the skirt. The heels were a bit more than she was used to, but she had walked in them until her ankles ached and her toes throbbed.

  Several male heads turned in her direction, but she didn’t allow her gaze to settle on anyone other than her target. His business partner thought he might be in bed with a rival and wanted proof. Declan had been following the man for several days, but had turned up nothing.

  Janessa decided it was time to turn on some feminine charm. She stopped before an African American man in a dark suit as he raised a glass of champagne to his lips. While he wasn’t exactly handsome, he wasn’t hard on the eyes, certainly not since he had money and brains. Janessa hoped his partner was mistaken.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling. “I saw you standing over here all alone and I had to come over to introduce myself.”

  Of course, he wasn’t alone. Two other men stood with him, but Janessa knew her statement made it sound like all she could see was him. She played to his ego and was rewarded when he abandoned his friends to move to a quiet corner to talk to her.

  “Lamont Montgomery.” He held out his hand, and she placed hers in his. “You are?”

  “Janessa.” She left out her last name. What did it matter if he thought he was about to make a conquest tonight, one he might or might not call in the morning? “Before I get too excited, I’m not stepping on your lady’s toes, am I?”

  She pretended to scan the attendees at the party for a girlfriend giving her the stink eye.

  He chuckled. “I’m between relationships right now. Why don’t I get you a glass of champagne and we can get to know each other?”

  “Don’t you want to know if I’m seeing anyone?”

  “If you are, I’ll let him know he lost out. But, Janessa, girl, there’s no way you don’t have a crowd of guys climbing over each other to get to you. You’re beautiful.”

  She touched his arm. “Aw, you’re sweet. Thanks.”

  As they spoke, she happened to catch sight of Declan on the other side of the room. They had agreed he didn’t need to come tonight. She would do her thing, but here he was. Thinking he didn’t trust that she could handle it annoyed her, that is until someone familiar stepped out from behind him.

  Janessa caught her breath. Roxie in a dress skimpier than Janessa’s stood next to Declan.

  Roxie handed Declan a glass of dark liquid and sipped one of her own. Janessa guessed right away that the two of them drank soda. Declan drained the glass, and Roxie covered his hand with one of her own. She said something to him and laughed. He shifted his gaze from Janessa to Roxie and nodded. The two turned and moved out of Janessa’s line of sight.

  “Have you lost interest already?” Lamont teased.

  “Me? No, of course not.” Janessa put Declan and Roxie out of her mind and dumped all of her efforts into getting Lamont to open up to a total stranger about his secret business deals.

  Well, she laid the groundwork for him to spill, and hopefully she could get the information before he grew impatient to get his hands on her.

  Chapter 10

  Janessa’s eyes hurt as well as her head. She’d popped a couple of pills, but so far they hadn’t kicked in. She hated having to go in to work, feeling the way she did. But someone had to dredge up business or they would never get out of the red.

  For the millionth time, she considered dissolving the business. Either that or she could change the scope.

  God, I don’t know what we do any more.

  The elevator dinged, and she stepped forward, almost bumping into her receptionist. “Ouch, Monica. What are you doing?”

  Monica harrumphed, but she did step aside to allow Janessa the right of way. “I was going to take my break.”

  “I’m late but not that late.”

  Her receptionist was so prickly Janessa guessed something happened. Her first thought was that Declan made the woman an indecent proposal. But since Monica liked him, she couldn’t imagine that throwing Monica into a snit. Then again, maybe Monica offered, and Declan turned her down. She could see that driving Monica to want to get some air.

  “Janessa, this office isn’t big enough for the both of us!”

  “Whoa, I think you better calm the drama. If you’re trying to pick a fight with me—”

  “Not you.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. Janessa looked too, but she didn’t see anyone. Her office door was closed, and so was Declan’s. Although she did notice a shadow moving behind the blinds on his window. So he was in. No surprise there.

  Janessa spun Monica around and got her moving toward her desk. “Look, it’s too early for me to decipher your hysterics. Either spell it out or… I don’t know. Just spell it out. What’s got you wound up?”

  “That woman! Tell me she’s not going to work here, Janessa. She came waltzing in with Declan, talking about she’ll be here from now on. Then the two of them disappeared into his office and shut the door. A few minutes later, she comes back making demands like I’m her secretary. She has the wrong one, Janessa!”

  “Oh, really?” Janessa’s stomach dropped. She didn’t have to ask for a description of the woman in question. She knew exactly who it was.

  When she threw Declan’s door open, it was too late to tell herself not to go storming in there acting like the jilted lover. She found Roxie sitting on the end of Declan’s desk, showing off her legs. Either the dress she wore was super short, or she’d hiked it up higher when she sat down. Roxie leaned back, giving Declan an opportunity to view of her perfect form.

  “What’s this?” Janessa asked, another regret at the tone of her voice. Why couldn’t she sound like she didn’t give a crap?

  Declan stood. He breathed deep for some reason, looking her over from head to foot. She never paid attention to this practice of his until now. He did that a lot—breathed in deep through his nose—when she saw him for the first time in a day. Who knew if it meant anything.

  “Nessa, you remember Roxie from the other night?”

  “Sure.” Janessa stuck her hand out to shake Roxie’s and was left hanging. “You’re visiting Declan? Are you his cousin or something?”

  She looked back and forth between them for confirmation of their connection.

  Roxie snorted. “Of course not. I’m Declan’s fiancée.”

  “Say what?”

  “Roxie, don’t say that,” Declan warned her.

  “Why not?” The model pouted. She slipped off the desk and threw herself into Declan’s arms again, pressing close and looping her arms around his neck. “It’s true. We discussed it.”

  “I…” he began.

  Janessa thought she would throw up. Declan married? While she didn’t exactly hope something would work out between them, him being single and not even looking for someone had been somewhat of a relief for Janessa. Now, this heifer was saying in just a few nights of knowing each other, they were talking marriage?

  “Well.” Janessa’s voice came out raspy before she cleared it and lifted her chin. “Congratulations.”

  She spun on
her heel and marched out. On the way to her own office, she passed Monica. Her receptionist tried to engage her in conversation, but Janessa kept moving.

  “You might want to look into getting another position, Monica.”

  The receptionist squeaked in alarm. “You’re firing me? Just like that? Over her?”

  Janessa stopped cold. She tried to calm her raging emotions. “No, sweetie, I’m not firing you. I shouldn’t have said it like that. All I meant was, look out for yourself. I want to be sure you’re taken care of, because all this here”—she gestured to encompass the entire office—“is going away.”

  The emotions threatened to erupt, so she hightailed it into her office and shut the door. Her eyes burned worse, and the headache morphed into a migraine. Aches raged from the base of her skull to the back of her left shoulder. She knew that meant stress.

  She put her head down on her desk and cried as softly as possible. Flattening a hand over her mouth, she mourned Declan’s loss. With each passing moment she sat alone and miserable, she realized that Declan wasn’t going to follow her into her office and try to explain. He didn’t care. Her friendship meant so little to him that he didn’t mind her learning that he was getting married in some offhanded way, a way that he knew would hurt her.

  When she pulled herself together, she started organizing papers and files. The decision she wrestled with at various times was clear at last. She would dissolve the business the very second she could manage it. There would be a financial loss because she would have to break their lease right in the middle of the contract. Maybe she could recoup some from selling off equipment.

  A gentle knock on the door captured her attention. She had no wish to see or talk to anyone. “Not now please.”

  The door opened, and Declan strolled in. Thank God she’d already cleaned up her face and looked less like her whole world had come crashing down.

  “I said ‘not now,’ Declan. I’m not in the mood.”

  “We need to talk.”

  “There’s nothing to discuss. Well, other than the fact that I’ve decided to dissolve the business. If you want to keep it going, you’ll have to buy my half. It will take me some time to speak with my lawyer and accountant to work out the particulars.”

  “Nessa.”

  She mentally patted herself on the back that she could keep looking him in the eyes while she discussed what amounted to the dissolution of their friendship. Because that’s what the ending of their business relationship would lead to. She just knew it.

  “Meanwhile, I’ll finish up our current case. I made great progress last night. I don’t expect it will take long. He was really into me.”

  Declan’s countenance darkened. For the first time she realized he wasn’t as smartly dressed as usual. The collar of his shirt was wrinkled. It might be the one he wore the day before. His tie was askew, but that could have happened with Miss Thing hanging all over him.

  “You’re not going to go so far as to sleep with him, are you?” Declan demanded. “I can tell that’s he’s touched you, but not—”

  He clamped his lips together. She blinked.

  “How can you ‘tell’ he’s touched me? I mean, we sat close, flirted and teased some, that kind of thing but nothing more. How would you know one way or another? You ran off early with Roxie. Not that I care what you do with her. She’s your fiancée after all.”

  “As to that…”

  She held up a hand. “Not my business. What were you about to say before? You can tell Lamont touched me but not what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, say it. Don’t be shy now. You’re all in my business and have opinions about what I do with my body. Say what’s on your mind.”

  He clenched his teeth together.

  “You were going to say you know I didn’t sleep with him. How would you know, Declan, unless you followed us? Is that it?”

  “I didn’t follow you.”

  “You think I don’t know about the times you ran my dates off?”

  His eyes widened.

  “Oh yeah, I knew. One guy had the nerve to demand that I call off my attack dog. He said we would have had fun, but I’m not worth it if he gets hurt.”

  Declan frowned. “Which one said that?”

  “Why do you want to know, so you can straighten him out?”

  He appeared sheepish. “I only wanted to keep you safe. Some of those men were predators.”

  “That’s a harsh word.”

  “What other word should I use for a man who would lie to a woman to get her to sleep with him?”

  “You’re one to talk about liars.”

  They stared at each other, neither giving an inch. Everything inside her wanted to end this argument and to go back to the way things were. She knew he did everything he could to protect her.

  “At first it infuriated me to think you felt like I couldn’t take care of myself, that I needed you to sort my dates out before I could trust them. I felt like you were patronizing me.”

  He started to speak, but she held up her hand.

  “Then I came to the conclusion that you weren’t looking down on me like I can’t take care of myself. You are my friend, and I know you care, Declan. I have good qualities, and I’m strong. The same goes for you. I don’t have to look at your help and see it as you think you’re better or stronger. I can simply accept it for what it is. That’s why I’ve never said anything.”

  “I should have talked to you more. It wasn’t my right to run them off.”

  “True.”

  “I apologize.”

  She shook her head. “You’re not sorry, but I will be more careful if you’re not there. I’m not going to automatically trust some guy I don’t know. It makes sense, as a woman, to vet people I meet on line.”

  “Good. I’m not leaving you.”

  Her heart ached. “Declan, don’t say anymore. I have a lot to take care of this morning and over the next few days.”

  He dropped into the seat on the opposite side her desk. The man could be so stubborn.

  “I waited until you finished crying before I came in.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. “E-excuse me? I wasn’t…”

  “Who’s lying now?”

  She busied herself rifling through the filing cabinet behind her desk. It meant she could turn her back to him and he wouldn’t see the shock and embarrassment on her face. Not that she hadn’t cried in front of Declan before. He’d held her many times over the last decade and talked her off many emotional cliffs.

  He moved around the desk and leaned on it. From the corner of her eye she took in his thighs, hidden behind his slacks but still so very muscular and attractive.

  Jeez, get a grip, Janessa.

  Roxie waited for him in his office, she reminded herself. The woman who looked like a supermodel and knew it, the woman who had intimate knowledge of Declan that Janessa would never have.

  “Well, I was quiet. There’s no way you heard me cry unless you stood at the door with your ear pressed to it.”

  He grinned. “I have good hearing.”

  “Whatever.”

  He grew serious. “I want to tell you something.”

  Her stomach cramped. The tone of his voice told her she wouldn’t like what he intended to say, but avoiding it would torment her. She might as well hear it and get it over with. “Go ahead.”

  “This will be hard to accept, but it’s the truth. What I’ve always known from the beginning when I first met you is that I can never be with you.”

  Chapter 11

  For an instant he thought she would collapse. His heart cracked a little. No, he couldn’t afford to think of it like that. Of course he cared about her, but think of it as being in love…

  Who said anything about being in love?

  He chided himself mentally, wishing he could take back the harsh way he told her they could never be together. Up until today, he had avoided anything that looked like he was interested in her as more than
a friend. Sure, there was always chemistry there, but he maintained his distance.

  Then he crossed the line when they made love in that hotel. But he’d known what he would do even at that time. He made the decision to give in to his feelings for her because he knew where he was headed.

  While he had made a career out of lying, he needed to tell Janessa the truth. Not all of it, but enough so she wouldn’t hurt too badly. He considered how their friendship would change and the possibility of her telling him she never wanted to see him again. The thought kept him mute while he got a grip on himself.

  “I can’t go into detail, Nessa, but there’s something about me that…” He wrestled with the way to explain without giving away too much or making her think he was insane. “…that you can never accept.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. Her hands trembled. “You’re broken, right?”

  His eyes widened. “How did you—I mean, yes. Emotionally.”

  She glared.

  “Like I said, I can’t go into detail. Suffice it to say some years ago when my parents were still alive, I made a decision that caused a bunch of people their lives. I can’t forgive myself, and I can’t bring them back.”

  “Oh God, Declan. That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.” She hugged him, and he allowed himself to hold onto her for a bit longer than necessary. The strawberry scent of her shampoo tickled his nostrils, along with her natural aroma. Everything about her teased his senses.

  When he thought he would lose control, she drew back and looked into his eyes. For several moments, he dreamed of what it would be like to make her his mate—that is if he were normal.

  I mean wife.

  He considered it while she stroked his cheek and spoke softly, offering sweet words of comfort. She was his undoing. He imagined that if they were husband and wife, they wouldn’t live much different than they did now. Laundry together, meals, time in each other’s company.