#1 Lie
Page 28
“So you hired Dave to be your boyfriend and then fell in love with him?” Liz looked at me with a mix of awe and surprise. “Girl, here I’ve been wasting my time picking up men at parties when really I should just be setting up auditions. I think I might have found my new approach.”
My body shook as I laughed, glancing at my boyfriend who was walking toward us with his brother Nick. “Yeah, maybe don’t take dating advice from me. I think our story is more of an example of what not to do.”
“Jessica.” Nick smirked, throwing an arm around me because he knew it pissed off his brother. “I can’t say I’m surprised you decided to settle down with a Larsson, pity you picked the wrong one.”
I gave him a quick squeeze before moving toward Dave. “I think you’ll find, I very much picked the right one.”
“Funny how she had the same opportunity to date you and never bothered.” Dave shrugged, not taking Nick’s bait. “You might have also noticed that she picked me for the acting part and the relationship, pretty much proof of my superiority in all areas, little bro.”
While parts of our history still made me cringe, we didn’t try to hide it either. Why bother? The truth eventually always came out, and there was no way to keep track of which version everyone knew.
So there was only one version—the one we were both living.
“Maybe Liz and I should date?” Nick winked at my friend, blinding her with his famous flirty grin.
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Nice try, Larsson. But I am sworn off actors, too much ego. I need to find me a regular guy, someone who isn’t going to act like a diva because I’m more successful than him.”
“Not all of us have egos,” Dave added, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a kiss. “But we can’t help it if we’re amazing. I mean, I could have started my own cult down in Shreveport. Still not convinced it isn’t a good idea.”
Liz laughed. “And I rest my case.”
“Nah, Liz is right,” Nick agreed. “You can’t have two famous people.”
“You can’t have two famous people for what?” Katrina joined us, followed by Matt. Then again, there weren’t many places he wouldn’t follow her and it was adorable how smitten they were with each other.
Katrina no longer lusting after my boyfriend made the situation easier. It wasn’t like I needed help making things awkward, so that was a positive.
“Liz and Nick need to find “regular” people to date because apparently two famous people doesn’t work out. Egos,” I explained, grinning at Dave.
He laughed, kissing me on the neck and not caring who saw. “Yeah, it was my big ego that you fell in love with.”
Liz smirked, pointing at Dave. “See what I mean, he’s just like the rest of us.”
The plan had been to have dinner and drinks before heading to Eric’s. Dave had already told his family, so at least it wasn’t going to be a huge surprise, but I wasn’t sure if they were all going to be as accepting as Nick.
Roman didn’t seem to like anyone, so I wasn’t expecting much from him. But Eric and I had always been amicable, so the last thing I wanted was for him to believe . . . I don’t know, that I’d manipulated Dave?
“Your table is ready.” The hostess smiled with a wave of a hand. “We have you set up in our private dining room, we wouldn’t want you disturbed while you’re enjoying dinner.”
“Gotta love the perks.” Nick grinned, following the hostess as we continued through the restaurant toward the back.
While I hadn’t requested the private dining room, with three recognizable faces in our party, I guess it sort of made sense. Not that I was complaining, but in a city literally filled with celebrities, we’d managed to have dinner other times and never needed the extra precautions.
Maybe it was an ego thing?
Who knew.
Regardless, I was determined to enjoy a relaxing evening with friends before obsessing about the rest of Dave’s family. As much as I would love to pretend I wasn’t nervous, my new vow of honesty had meant I’d stopped lying to myself.
The hostess stood at the doorway and smiled. “Here you go.”
If anyone else thought it was odd that she was directing us to a room and dumping us, they didn’t show it. Each of them stepped inside ahead of us, like it was the most natural thing to do. And not that I’d expected someone to personally seat us or anything, but I’d assumed she would have at least walked us to our table and maybe taken a drink order.
“Could you have picked a place any more pretentious?”
My body froze at the sound of Roman’s voice.
Dave didn’t miss a beat, putting his arm around me as he guided me through the door. “Well, in order for us to invite you, we needed to find an establishment that allowed pets. No offense, Lauren.”
“None, taken.” The petite brunette standing next to Roman smiled.
Roman laughed, slapping his brother on the back. “Well, if anyone would know a place that served the finest canine cuisine, it would be you.”
And if it had just been Roman and his girlfriend in the room, I might have been able to recover.
But, no.
No. Such. Luck.
“I have to say, I’m a little offended.” Eric tipped his head to the two of us. His look turned serious as he leveled his stare at me. “I have an Academy award and you still casted him as your pretend boyfriend? It’s because I’m blond, right?” His mouth edged into a grin.
“Jesus.” I managed to squeak out, feeling the air return to my lungs. “I swear you guys are killing me.”
Dave flipped his older brother off. “Big shot, you wouldn’t have stood a chance. That role was mine, I owned it.”
Tia, Eric’s wife, slung her arm around her husband as her lips twitched into a grin. “It’s totally because you’re blond.”
“I thought we weren’t seeing you until later?” I anchored my hands on my hips, raising an eyebrow as I ignored Dave and addressed Eric. There were so many blinding Larsson smiles in the room at one time, I was positive the earth was going to tip off its axis.
“Your boyfriend was worried being at my place would be intimidating.” Eric rolled his eyes. “It’s sort of cute how protective he is.” He reached across and tapped his brother on the shoulder.
“You did this for me?” I turned to face Dave, praying like hell I didn’t cry. It was one thing to be emotional in private, but to ruin my makeup and get all blubbery in front of an audience wasn’t cool.
He nodded, pulling me in for a kiss. “I told you, the two of us side by side, Jess. It’s how it’s meant to be. Friends, family—yours or mine. I love you.”
The faint sound of collective awws in the background were drowned out by the beating of my heart.
“I love you, Dave Larsson. Kiss me.”
“Always.” He dropped his lips on mine, in front of everyone and gave me the best kiss of my life.
Not hard to do when he was the love of my life, and the Best. Kisser. Ever.
THE END
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I HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE to thank, the acknowledgements probably need their own book. This one was tough. It still is, and without you all, it wouldn’t have been written. Thank you—those words seem so meager but alas, they’re all I have. I adore and love you all without question or limit.
To my family, Gep, Jenna, Liam and Woodley—you are my superpowers, making me capable to do all that I do. I strive to be yours.
Thanks to the rest of my family, especially my mum who didn’t laugh at me when I wanted to make pasta sauce live on Facebook. It has nothing to do with this book but is indicative of what she has to put up with having a daughter like me. Shenanigans are worth it in the end, thanks for your ongoing support.
Thank you, my support crew. Calling you just friends is an insult, you’re family. Hugs!
My agent, Kimberly Brower from Brower Literary an
d Management—Thank you.
MK, you are a rock star. You can beta a book like no other. #Respect.
Hang Le—Ninja. Covers, teasers, badassary in general, you do it all with such talent and grace. A million thanks, and then a million more.
Thank you so very much to my editor, Nichole Strauss from Insight Editing. I didn’t think we were going to get there with this one, but you manage to get the best out of me. I’m eternally grateful for your patience, understanding, and talent, but mostly for your kindness.
Christine Borgford—from Type A Formatting—you are a superstar. Love working with you. Thank you so much for your beautiful hand and making my words look pretty. I adore you.
Special thanks to my proofreaders MK, Danielle K, and Rosa. You find those pesky mistakes every time.
Thank you to all my author friends, you make “coming to work” so much fun. It’s a solitary existence but knowing you are in my corner makes all the difference. We seriously need to see each other more, I miss you all so much.
Thank you a MILLION times to all the bloggers and reviewers! The love you give me and my books is priceless. Whether you’re new to the T Gephart train or you’ve been with me from the start, I am grateful for the support.
To the T Gephart entourage, as always, many muches of thanks. I don’t regret that it’s not a street team, we have so much more fun discussing general silliness than just talking about my books.
And of course, my last and grandest thanks is always to YOU, the person reading this book. Thank you for supporting me, loving my words, characters and worlds, and allowing me to keep doing it book after book. Every time you buy, share, review, tell someone about it, or read my books—an angel gets its wings. Not really, but it gives me mine. Full disclosure, I’m not an angel.
T GEPHART IS A USA Today and International bestselling author from Melbourne, Australia.
With an approach to life that is somewhat unconventional, she prefers to fly by the seat of her pants rather than adhere to some rigid roadmap. Her lack of "plan" has resulted in a rather interesting and eclectic resume, which reads more like the fiction she writes than an actual employment history. She'd tell you all about it, but the statute of limitations hasn't expired yet. But all those crazy twists and turns have led her to a career she loves—writing romantic comedy.
When she isn't filling pages with sassy and sexy characters with attitude, she's living her own reality show in the 'burbs of Melbourne with her American husband, two teenage children, and her fur child—Woodley.
She loves adventure, to laugh, travel, and strives to live her life to the fullest.
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The Lexi Series
Lexi
A Twist of Fate
Twisted Views: Fate’s Companion
A Leap of Faith
A Time for Hope
The Power Station Series
High Strung
Crash Ride
Back Stage
The Black Addiction Series
Slide
Sticks
Stand
#1 Series
#1 Crush
#1 Player
#1 Rival
#1 Lie
#1 Muse (Oct 2018)
Standalones
The Fall
Train Wreck