Liar by Kristina Weaver Read Free Book Online

about,” I protested. “Let’s talk wedding. This is so exciting. You two are the ones with the big news. My birthday? No way — twenty-three is just a number, and not even a very important one.”
    “Well, you’re going to be my maid of honor, of course,” my mother said, her eyes alight with excitement. “But I wanted to save all that talk for later. Why don’t you tell Frank about your job? I want to hear more about this trip abroad that your company is thinking about sending you on?”
    And there I was, trapped in my world of lies. I hadn’t wanted to get into this, thinking that I could keep the focus on the impending wedding. I let my muscles go lax, easing into the state of being I needed to sound the most natural, and reminded myself that things could be worse — my mother might’ve demanded to see my apartment.
    “Well, my company has asked me to travel to—”
    “—France. There’s a reorganization going on at our branch there, and we need our best people on hand to help ease the transition. Gemma, of course, is a gem — well, you already know that. You’re her mother.”
    I turned in my chair, hardly believing what I was hearing, until I saw it with my own eyes.
    It was Peter Bly. In the flesh. The man who had helped me ring in my birthday last night and into the wee hours this morning.
    I was looking right at him, right into those blue eyes, as he repeated things that he couldn’t have possibly known, lies that I’d been feeding to my mother for whole months. What in the hell was he doing here? I was frozen with fear and shock, not sure what was going to happen next, not sure what I even wanted to happen next. There was no good way this was going to end. It was too twisted. Too many tangles of lies. I’d been caught at last, but certainly not in the way I’d expected it would happen.
    “I wasn’t aware that there was a branch in France,” Frank put in, frowning.
    “Well, it’s not a branch — yet,” Peter said smoothly. “More like an impending acquisition. We’re expanding, you see. Doing very well, thanks to the caliber of people we have on staff, like Gemma. She’s very dedicated.”
    “You could’ve told your old man that you were snapping up companies in France,” Frank grumbled, standing to shake Peter’s hand almost resignedly. “Well, Gemma, I see you already know my son. Peter, meet my soon-to-be wife, Lydia.”
    “Well, hello, Peter,” my mother said. “I had no idea that yours was the business my Gemma has been working for this entire time. How funny — and what a small world.”
    “It certainly is a small world,” Peter said, winking at me before taking the empty chair beside mine. “My apologies for my late arrival. Traffic in this city can be a bear. My car was stuck at a light for what had to be a full five minutes. I don’t know how you deal with all this congestion, Gemma.”
    I opened my mouth to reply and nearly yelped. Peter’s hand was resting on my knee, much like the touch I’d given him at Citrus Meridian the night before, the touch that had let him know I was very much interested in having more of him for my birthday celebration.
    “I just… It’s just a part of living here,” I said, trying hard not to shudder as his fingers crept up my thigh, gripping it. I thanked whatever merciful deity that had helped me pick out this outfit that I’d picked out these tuxedo trousers. A skirt would’ve undone me.
    “Gemma was so eager to leave our small town,” my mother said, giving me a disapproving look before laughing. “Look at her, though. I was so nervous for her, and she is absolutely thriving. I just can’t believe you work for Frank’s son. Is that going to be strange, ethically?”
    “Absolutely not,” Peter assured her, his fingers ranging even higher, tickling my inner thigh through the fabric. I fought the urge to squirm, or worse, moan. “It’s like keeping the business in the family.”
    I realized with a jolt that, though