Rules of Lying (Jane Dough Series) by Stephie Smith Read Free Book Online

chest. They probably thought I had robbed the doctor’s examining room and was making my getaway.
    I decided I didn’t care if I hit concrete. No matter how much it hurt, I was getting out of there. I didn’t know if I could go to jail for fleeing a doctor’s office out the window, but I wasn’t sticking around to ask. I switched my weight to my arms and dangled for a moment. Then I let go—at the same instant that someone caught me and swung me to the ground. I turned around on shaky legs expecting to face a security guard, but that wasn’t what I saw.
    He was drop-dead gorgeous, early thirties, and more than half a foot taller than me, with broad shoulders and thick, dark hair that was curling a little onto his collar. He had the most amazing gray eyes, and they were sparkling with humor. I took in his long white coat and the name tag that said Dr. Bryan Rossi.
    Great. Now I meet a young, good-looking doctor.
    He smiled, revealing one sexy dimple. My knees gave out and I stumbled. He caught me again, but this time he didn’t let go so fast.
    “You aren’t trying to get out of paying your bill, are you?” He sported a curious grin.
    “Certainly not!” I did my very best to sound indignant. In my experience that worked when you wanted people to mind their own business. At least it worked when other people did it to me. He let me go, and I straightened my clothes and myself in an attempt to look like anything other than a woman who had crawled out a second-story window and rolled to the ground. “In fact, I’ll pay them double if they’ll take my name off the roster and forget I was here.”
    The grin grew wider.
    “I’m serious. And don’t worry about the bill. They’ll get their money. They know where I live.”
    I turned on my heel and strode off with as much dignity as I could muster, considering I’d lost one of my shoes. It was my favorite pair of sandals too, but I was so glad to get away without further humiliation that I told myself I didn’t care.
    When I got home I went straight to the bathroom, tore off my clothes, and stood under the pulsating shower massage until what seemed like bedtime. I put the unfortunate incident out of my mind. Tomorrow would mark my first full day working my butt off to get my property in conformance, and that meant I needed a good night’s sleep.
    As I was getting out of the shower, it hit me that in spite of all I’d been through at the doctor’s office, I hadn’t gotten any blasted medicine for my rash or herpes or whatever it was.
    Dang!

Chapter 5
    I was jarred awake by an insistent doorbell. I slid out of bed and staggered, sore in places I didn’t know I had. Criminy. How was I going to whip my yard into shape when I was so out of shape myself?
    I pulled on clothes that I grabbed off the floor and peeked out the peephole to see my sister Nicole, who’s two years older than me. When we were kids we passed for twins. We had the same dark blond hair and blue eyes, were the same average height and build, and wore the same clothes. While our faces have changed, most physical characteristics still match, except for our hair. My dark blond was a little longer than shoulder length and when not in a ponytail, pretty much hung as it pleased, while Nicole’s, a golden blond, was styled in a becoming, angled bob.
    Nicole was wearing a pink rayon two-piece jacket and dress that cut across her knees. Her low-heeled matching pumps and shoulder bag completed the ensemble, making her look every inch the respectable young lady ready for church even though she was headed to her job as project manager for a local technology firm.
    I did a quick downward sweep of my own attire. A blue-and-purple-striped pajama top with a mustard stain in the middle. Green and white polka-dotted pajama bottoms that I’d pulled on inside out. No one would mistake us for twins now.
    I thought about going back to bed, but Nicole would never let me get away with that. There is an interesting