A Family Affair: The Wish: Truth in Lies, Book 9 by Mary Campisi Read Free Book Online

wanted to say to her and how he wanted to present it. It shouldn’t be that difficult considering he’d spent a good part of his adult life playing with words: interpreting, analyzing, sometimes even manipulating them, depending on the cause and the situation. Lawyers consumed words like oxygen; it was part of who they were and if they were good at it, the words and the end result appeared effortless and natural.
    Adam talked for a living and had a talent for it. Before he moved to Chicago to work with Roman, he’d been a partner in a California law firm where talking and negotiating were his specialty. Why then had he needed extra time to prepare for a talk with a woman he barely knew, who used words like hightail and kit and caboodle ? He should be able to handle her comments and objections on the subject they needed to discuss with the same level of calm and common sense he employed with other people in his personal and business life. Except Bree wasn’t like other people. She possessed a sweet innocence and a vulnerability that made him want to protect her. That sounded ridiculous since he’d just met the woman and knew more about Roman’s dog than he did about Bree. But there was something about her that made him trust what she said, even the nonsensical comments she’d tossed in now and again. He might not know her whole backstory, but he’d figured out she’d been cheated on, probably by a husband, and she didn’t much trust men right now.
    Why the hell had he ever agreed to that kiss? He should have stayed in the hallway, ignored the sultry voice and smile that promised the kiss would be better than molten chocolate lava cake, sweeter, too. Damn it, he knew better, and yet he hadn’t been able to resist the invitation. One kiss led to two and two led to touching and touching led to the bed… Adam dragged a hand over his face, wished he could rewind the last several hours and pause it right at the point where he told her he was leaving…and he was still in the hallway…
    “Hey, what’s going on?” Roman sliced through Adams thoughts, eyed him a little too closely. “You’ve been distracted since you got here.” A smile inched around the corners of his mouth. “Late night?”
    If he only knew. Adam shook his head. “Just got a lot on my mind.”
    “Huh. Does this have to do with California?”
    He meant Sara . “No, not California.”
    “Good. So, did you find another location that could be as appealing as California but without the difficulties?”
    Code for Have you found a woman you could care about who isn’t married, engaged, or otherwise involved, and who isn’t your sister-in-law? Roman was getting very good at dropping messages in the middle of statements. Adam had taught him well, or maybe Angie had taught him, though that didn’t seem as likely. Angie was a straight-up, no-fuss kind of woman who preferred high tops and the truth to heels and a half-baked version of what might or might not be the truth. She was perfect for Roman who sometimes got caught up in fashion and other people’s feelings. Adam never should have told the man his real reason for leaving California, but how was he to know his friend would make it his personal mission to find him a woman who wasn’t Sara?
    “Adam? Is that a yes?”
    As if he’d answer that question. Give Roman a hint of anything that smelled like a potential relationship and Mr. Matchmaker would be all over it, asking too many questions, recommending restaurants, drawing up itineraries, as though Adam had never been on a date before or been involved with someone. He’d had plenty of dates and he’d been involved with lots of women—sophisticated, beautiful, educated. Most of them wanted more than a dinner, a trip or two, and a nice piece of jewelry. Most wanted a piece of him, his heart and his commitment, and those were things he’d never been willing to share—at least not with any of them. Sara had been different. Her, he would have