Believing Lies (23 page)

“Yes and no.” His tone was extremely curt, borderline rude.

Oh my God! He’s pissy because of my dress
. I liked that my backless dress had an effect on him. It gave him a taste of what he was missing.

“What about the dress? It looks good,” Conner said, confusion coloring his face.

Sophie started to laugh again. “Adam would you like to explain to everyone the reason for your reaction to the dress I bought Sienna . . . or maybe show them?” Her words were clearly meant as a challenge.

“You’re evil,” he said to her, an amused smile suddenly appearing on his lips. “I should have known right away that you were behind this.”

“Hey!” Conner protested.

She patted his hands “Don’t worry, Babe. It’s a compliment.”

All of the sudden, loud yelling came from the direction of the dance floor. I turned my body to see what was happening. From what I could tell, it looked as if some guy had spilled a drink on another guy.

“Holy shit! Now I get it, Korbell,” Zach called out.

I whipped back around to find Zach getting the stare down from Adam. Zach didn’t seem fazed by it, and asked, “Sienna, would you mind turning around again?”

Cassie didn’t like not having all of the attention on her. “It’s just a dress, boys,” she insisted. “Like, put your tongues back in your mouths.” A sneaky grin etched her face. “Speaking of mouths, let’s do these shots.” She tapped her lips a few times before saying, “I think maybe body shots are called for.”
Body shots?
She just met these guys two seconds ago
. “Sophie, why don’t you and Conner show us how it’s done,” Cassie said smoothly.

Conner chuckled. “I have to get back to the bar, but I could spend another minute if a body shot’s involved. What do you say, Babe?”

Sophie replied by standing up and placing a lime wedge to his mouth. He bit down just enough to hold it between his teeth. She tilted his head to the side, ran her tongue up his neck, and salted it. Even holding the lime between his teeth, you could see he was grinning and enjoying every second.

“Cheers,” Sophie said, holding her shot glass in the air momentarily. She then proceeded to oh-so-slowly lick the salt off his neck before taking the shot. She grabbed the back of Conner’s head and pulled his mouth to hers. She bit the lime from his mouth and took it into her own, giving him a sweet lip-lock in the middle of the exchange. Courtney and Cassie let out a catcall. I was smiling from ear-to-ear. I loved how in love they were.

“Gotta get back to work now. I’ll find you in about an hour,” Conner told Sophie and gave her a final peck on the lips before leaving.

Courtney grabbed her shot and lifted it in the air. “Anyone joining me for a regular shot?”

Zach raised his brow. “Are you telling me you don’t like the body shot idea? I’m hurt.”

Courtney counter-raised her brow. “If you want me to lick your neck, it’ll cost you at least a few dinners and maybe a movie.”

Zach let out an amused laugh. “Then you’ll lick my neck?”

Courtney leaned toward him. “May-be,” she answered, drawing out the word. “Would you like to take a regular shot with me? Before you answer, I don’t shoot tequila with training wheels.”

“My kind of girl.” He tinged his glass to hers, and they downed their shot and slammed the glass down at the same time.

“I, for one, liked the body shot idea,” Adam said silkily. “What do you say, Princess?” I could feel his gaze upon me.
Do not look him in the eyes. Stay away from the beautiful, brown eyes
. I looked him in the eyes.
Crap. Failure
. I was transfixed. His eyes crinkled at the edges, and his mouth turned at one corner. I wasn’t sure what angle he was playing, and I was getting sick of my warring feelings. My inner vixen was screaming,
Hell yes! Give me the saltshaker
. But the other, wiser side of me was screaming,
Hell no! Do not go down that rabbit hole again. Keep your distance
.

“Stop calling me Princess,” I demanded, completely avoiding the body shot offer.

“Okay.”

“Huh?” My eyes widened in shock.

His face gave nothing away. “I said okay. If that’s what you really want.”

I was speechless. I hadn’t actually expected him to agree. I met his eyes and answered with a bold-face lie. “Yes. That’s what I want,”

He regarded me. “As you wish. I won’t call you Princess because that’s what
you
want. But you should return the favor by doing a shot with me, because that’s what
I
want.”

“I’m not in the mood for shots tonight. I’m going to go get a beer in a minute,” I half-fibbed. I really did want a beer, but I also really wanted to take that shot.

“You sure about that answer?” he probed, brow cocked.

“Absolutely,” I replied much more firmly, but had little resolve backing the word.

“I’ll do a body shot with you, Adam,” Cassie chirped. She was practically bouncing in anticipation.

He turned his attention away from me and toward my new arch nemesis. I couldn’t see his expression, but I could hear his response. “Oh, I’m sure you would, Connie.” His tone was a mixture of his own arrogance and a touch of seduction.

“Cassie,” she quickly corrected.

“Right.” He leaned on the table “Who’s going first then, Carly?”

“It’s Cassie, silly. I’ll go first.” She winked at him. Was she really going to do a body shot with someone who kept calling her the wrong name?
Are all girls this stupid around him?
No wonder he’s screwed so many bimbos
.

Courtney jumped into the conversation. “Cassie, I think you should just take your shot without involving Adam.” Courtney was a true-blue friend, trying to prevent me from having to watch Cassie do a body shot with him. The breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, exhaled.

“Why?” Cassie questioned, looking irritated by her friend. “Sophie did her body shot. It’s, like, totally my turn now.”

“Um . . . Adam has really bad cold sores,” Courtney blurted out loudly.

All other conversation at our table ceased. Adam instantly shot Courtney a “what the fuck?” look, and she froze like a deer in headlights. I couldn’t help it, I laughed so hard I snorted. I clamped my hand over my mouth, but muffled sounds escaped through my fingers. Adam glared at me, and his expression was severe enough to end my giggles.

Cassie was leaning around him and staring at his lips intensely. “I don’t see any cold sores.”

“Because I don’t have any.” Adam was clearly unamused.

Cassie ran a bright green fingernail down his chest. “I don’t really care if you do, hot stuff.”
Who the hell talks like that? Turbo sluts—that’s who
.

“Hey, Sienna, I’ll go with you to get your drink now,” Sophie threw out there as a lifeline.

The anger and anxiety I felt must have been apparent on my face. By the heat I could feel rushing to my neck, I was sure it was blotchy and red. Should I stay and watch this horror show, or should I dodge out? I needed to get used to seeing him with other girls, right?

“Okay, Casey. I’m ready when you are,” Adam said to Cassie, in what I thought was a seemingly bored and detached voice. But that was probably just wishful thinking on my part.

“My name’s Cassie, remember?” She shrugged. “Never mind, Casey’s close enough.” She picked up the saltshaker and lime.

“Barstool!” I shouted. I was done trying to put it in a sentence. I was one-wording it now.

Courtney and Sophie both repeated me, yelling the word loudly.

Cassie was oblivious. “Good idea,” she told us. Since she was a shorter girl, even with heels on, she kneeled on her barstool, so that she was eyelevel with him.

Adam glanced in my direction, his eyes daring me to do or say something. I tried my best to return his gaze blankly, pretending I didn’t give a shit. For a split second, he looked disappointed.

Cassie grabbed Adam’s shirt and pulled him to her. I watched her run her tongue along his neck after placing the lime between his teeth. I almost vomited. Had there been more alcohol in me, I think I would have. I wanted to look away, but my masochistic eyes were glued to the scene unfolding. She salted his neck, took her shot, and licked off the salt in one long lick.
At least she didn’t linger
. I braced myself for the worst part. She brought her face to his and went for the lime. My gut plummeted to the floor, and I clenched my fist so hard that I was sure I’d find deep fingernail indentations on my palms. I held my breath as I watched her bring her mouth closer to his. As soon as her teeth were on the lime, he jerked back without letting their lips touch.
Thank you, sweet baby Jesus!

Cassie was taken off guard and almost lost her balance on the stool, righting herself just in time. She got down off the stool and gave Adam a pointed look. “That, like, wasn’t as much fun as it could’ve been. Your turn now.” Her arms were crossed over her chest, pushing the girls almost out the top of the bustier style shirt. “I promise I won’t give the lime up so easy,” she said coyly.

Over my dead body!
“It’s my turn,” I stated, jealously lacing my words. This was a really bad idea, but I couldn’t stop myself.

Every single one of our friends turned their attention to me, but my attention was only on Adam. His tongue was gliding along the inside of his lower lip, and his eyes were slightly squinted, making it seem as if he was trying to figure out my motive. This wasn’t just a bad idea. No, this was the dumbest idea in the book of dumb ideas. I quickly looked past him at Cassie. The girl was shooting death lasers at me. Dumb idea or not, it was kind of worth it just to see her reaction.

Adam leaned in close and lowered his voice. “Are you saying you want to lick my body?” My breath hitched, and he noticed. “Jealousy looks good on you, Princess.” My eyes widened, and his lips curled up into a satisfied grin.

“You agreed to not call me that anymore.” I decided to let the rest of it go since I knew he was baiting me. For once, I wasn’t going to bite. Plus, although I hated to admit it, even to myself, he was spot on.

“I thought maybe you changed your mind.”

“Only about the shot,” I replied with a slight tremble to my voice.

He looked a little sad, but I was probably just imagining it because a second later his eyes were full of mischief once more. He shifted his body, so that he was mere inches from me. Handing me the salt, he tilted his head. Suddenly the entire bar faded away, leaving just him and me. I couldn’t do this. It was too close, too soon. But I refused to fully back out either. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. So I found a middle ground. Quickly grabbing his wrist, I unfastened the leather cuff with wobbly fingers and placed it on the table.

“That’s cheating. Don’t you think?”

“My shot. My choice.”

Just the feeling of his wrist in my hand shot tingles up my arm. I very quickly licked the inside of his wrist, salted it, and then put the shaker down next to his cuff. Taking a deep breath, I brought his wrist toward my mouth a second time.

“You forgot the lime,” he said matter-of-factly just before I was going to lick off the salt.

I exhaled. “Right.” I put the lime in between his teeth a little roughly. His chuckling and smirking at me were not making this easier.

Cassie’s shrill voice cut in. “Adam, you’re still taking your shot off me. So you should, like, hurry up, Sienna.”
I’m going to karate chop that girl in the throat if she doesn’t back off
. Adam pulled his wrist from my hand and took the lime out of his mouth.
That did not just happen! I’m being ditched for her?
I didn’t know which hurt more, the blow to my heart or the blow to my ego. Regardless, both got a hard sucker-punch.

Adam picked up his shot, drank the tequila, and set the empty glass upside down right in front of Cassie. “Change of plans.” He turned to me and placed the lime I’d given him back between his teeth.

I heard Sophie shout out a “Burn!” aimed at Cassie. I couldn’t help but smile.

Within seconds, I could hear Sophie and Cassie exchanging bitchy remarks, but I zoned out of whatever was taking place between them. I needed to get this over with. Once again, I took his wrist. I licked off the almost dried salt and took my shot. I felt the familiar heat of the liquid as it flowed down my throat. He bent down his head to let me take the lime. My heart was beating straight out of my chest as his mouth got closer to mine. It felt as if we were moving in slow motion. I had to move faster. Fast was definitely the key here. I quickly closed the distance and went to snatch the lime with my teeth as swiftly as possible. I bit into the sour fruit for only a nanosecond before the lime was stolen back by Adam. It was completely inside of his mouth, and his lips were on mine. With a quick motion, his arm snaked around me and pulled my body close, his hand burning into my bare back. Even with a lime wedge in his mouth, he was kissing me expertly.

My lips knew his lips. My body knew his body. It was hopeless to try to make them think otherwise. Every cell in me was on fire, and I wanted him in every way possible. Common sense went out the window. I didn’t care who was watching or what mess would follow. For now, I was going to kiss this man as if it was the last thing I’d ever do. And that’s exactly what I did until he broke away.

Adam discretely removed the lime and brought his mouth so close to my ear that his lips brushed them when he spoke. Softly enough that no one else could hear, but loud enough that I wouldn’t miss it, he said, “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel that. If I slipped my hand under that tight little dress right now, I bet I’d find you’re wet and ready for me.”

I pushed away from him. “Asshole!” I spit out vehemently, while slapping him across the cheek with all the force I could muster. I didn’t wait to see his or anyone else’s reaction. I just stormed off, seeing red.
How dare he? What a cocky motherfucker!

I weaved in and out of the crowd as fast as possible, knowing that Sophie and Courtney may be hot on my heels. I was so preoccupied with my getaway, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and literally ran right into someone. Arms wrapped around me and brought me to a firm chest. I was engulfed by a familiar scent of aftershave and cologne, and I immediately recognized the gray men’s dress shirt that I’d purchased at Christmas time. Without having to look, I knew the shirt’s sleeves would be rolled up and the owner of the shirt would have dark blond hair and hazel eyes. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around Trenton’s waist and held tight for several moments.