Mr. Wonderful Lies (3 page)

Putting my phone down was a little like waking up from dream with a bucket of cold water. Anna and Jared were both staring at me like they thought I needed to be locked up in a padded room.

“You already made plans to meet this guy?” Anna said through her tight-lipped expression. “You weren’t going to mention this to us until you’d already met him in person?”

That had been my plan exactly. But I didn’t figure it was wise to tell her that. “It just happened that way.”

Anna pounced. “You didn’t wonder if maybe he was luring you there for his own reasons?”

She made it sound like Ollie was some weird Internet predator. It made me angry. She didn’t know him. She’d never even spoken to him! “I knew you’d overreact, Anna. I figured I would meet him first, that way if it didn’t work out for some reason you’d never know. Then I wouldn’t be stuck having this conversation.”

Whatever Anna was going to say next never made it out of her mouth. Jared reached over and clamped his hand on her shoulder. He shook his head once and then turned his keen blue gaze toward me. “Look Megan, Anna isn’t trying to be bitchy here, okay? We’re your friends. We’re just trying to look out for you. It’s what friends do.”

I relented a little. I knew he was right. They didn’t know Ollie from Satan. They hadn’t connected with him like I had. I couldn’t expect them to understand. I sighed, folded my hands on the tabletop and wondered what to do next. I hated feeling torn like this. Anna and Jared were my best friends. I never would have gotten through my breakup with Professor Jackass without them. Even before that, Anna had always been there for me.

Anna had started out as my real estate agent. I’d gotten her name through a mutual friend who’d sort of drifted out of our lives since introducing us. But we’d clicked while looking for my townhouse and just never stopped calling each other. We’re a good balance. She’s the extrovert, I’m the introvert. She won’t let me be a hermit, and I’m not afraid to tell her when she starts to turn into a pushy, over-functioning control freak.

“Where and when?” Anna asked quietly, the pushiness receding into genuine concern.

“That cafe about three blocks down from the gym at nine a.m.”

Anna caught and held my eyes. “I’m going with you.”

“What? No way!”

Hurt vied with determination for control of her features. Then I saw her relent. She knew it wasn’t personal. I just refused to take the chance that she wouldn’t interfere, and she knew she couldn’t guarantee that she’d keep her mouth shut.

“Fine. Jared will go.”

Jared and I stared at each other, both of us surprised by the suggestion. I warred with the idea of having the most attractive man I knew witness my very first meeting with Ollie, but my good sense chimed in with a reminder about basic safety and the buddy system.

“All right,” I finally agreed. “But he has to sit across the room and he can’t make it obvious that he’s watching me.”

“Fine,” Anna agreed. “But if he thinks the guy is a total perv, he’s going to kick his ass.”

“Fine,” I said with a nod.

“And no leaving to go somewhere else with him, understand?”

I rolled my eyes. “That sort of defeats the purpose of meeting in a public place.”

“And if he suggests you head for the parking lot to take a ride in his car or get a cheap motel or—”

“Or get in his spaceship,” I finished with a grin. “Yeah, I get it!”

Jared stood abruptly. “You two are impossible, and I still have paperwork to finish tonight.”

Anna glared up at him. “You’ll be there, right? You know which cafe she’s talking about, don’t you? It’s the one right down the street from your gym.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’m not an idiot, Anna, and yes,” he glanced over at me, his gaze hooded. “I’ll be there.”

I offered him a hesitant smile, but the expression on his face gave me a weird jolt in my midsection. Was he really that worried about me? Why? Did he have no faith whatsoever in my judgment?

“See you tomorrow,” he murmured, leaning down and brushing his lips over my forehead.

As always, his scent enveloped my senses in a whirlwind of awareness. I suspected he had that affect on everyone. There’s something very strong and certain about Jared Walker that makes the feminine portion of my brain start thinking about long-term relationships, babies, and forever. But isn’t the essence of what makes a player effective the ability to tweak a woman’s thoughts and emotions and then use those very things to accomplish some secret guy agenda that generally involves getting into our pants?

“Is he dating anyone right now?” I asked curiously. “I don’t remember seeing him with anyone for awhile.”

Anna finished off her martini as we watched Jared push through the front door of Cheeky’s. “Jared has his own issues, Megan. But we’re not talking about Jared tonight.”

I sighed. “Do we really have to do this? I’m getting tired.”

“You told me you never wanted to date again after Professor Jackass,” she reminded me. “I thought I was going to have to drag you kicking and screaming out of that hermit hole of yours. What happened?”

I shrugged. What had happened? “I got lonely I guess.”

“Keep going.”

“I’m turning thirty-five?”

“And?”

“And nothing, Anna. That’s it. I had a plan. You know how I am about my plans. I’ve been living all alone in my house for long enough. I want to share my life with someone special. I think Ollie is that someone.”

It was her turn to sigh. “Just don’t jump into something without looking first, okay? It always feels great in the beginning. That’s because you don’t have to forgive all of those little crappy habits that drive people crazy.”

“You haven’t said anything that isn’t a risk with any new relationship,” I pointed out.

“But it’s worse with this kind of a relationship. You guys are already too close, but it’s the kind of close that hasn’t required anyone to make any sort of compromise. How easy is it to be forgiving when it’s totally impersonal? When there’s no real risk?”

“I thought you’d be happy for me, Anna,” I ventured softly.

She shot me one of her frank, assessing looks. The ones that make other real estate agents and mortgage brokers run for cover. “No, you didn’t. Or you would’ve told me the minute you met him.”

My general response to nervousness is over-preparation, and my first date with Ollie was no exception. I started plowing through my wardrobe at about six a.m. and went through every possible outfit twice before settling on my favorite pair of worn, low-rise blue jeans. I donned a long sleeved gray shirt because there was still a damp spring chill in the air and then layered my favorite short sleeved dark green tee over that because green is lucky. After that I stepped into a pair of thick-soled Docs and grabbed my keys.

I could have dressed up, but the only time I do that is when I meet new clients for the first time or when Jared, Anna, and I go someplace special. I’m not comfortable in dressy clothes. Anna’s the one with the great fashion sense. I prefer nice earth tones and simple clothing you can live in. Like I already said, I’m a big girl, big boned, solid, whatever you want to call it, but I’m happy with it. Sure, sometimes I get a little miffed when some twiggy bimbo makes a comment at the gym, but at least I don’t have to wear a training bra and buy underwear that makes up for the lack of an ass. So even though my clothes aren’t what most people would call sexy, I’m not afraid to wear a pair of snug jeans and a fitted T-shirt either.

I experienced a moment of panic when I looked at my decidedly casual reflection in the full-length mirror before remembering that I’d already told Ollie I’m a pretty low-key girl. His response was that he adored low maintenance. I could have been offended by that, but it had been paired with an assurance that low maintenance was almost always coupled with inner beauty, so I’d let it go. After all, if he didn’t like what he saw, I could always have Jared kick his ass.

I smoothed on the pale lip gloss and examined my brown eyes in the mirror before trying to decide what I was going to do with my hair. People always think curly hair is great. Having it is like being in a love/hate relationship. I have to keep it long because cutting it results in a horrible Little Orphan Annie imitation, but long hair is a pain in the ass. It takes forever to blow dry and even longer if I try to straighten it. So I usually opt for the strangling-it-with-a-towel-until-it-dries-and-then-trapping-it-in-a-ponytail method, but I didn’t want to meet Ollie for the first time sporting a straggly ponytail.

Experimenting with a few options, I finally swirled it around a bit and pinned it up by stretching a clip to the max and anchoring it at the back of my head. If that clip gave up at any point during our date and flew off, I was likely to kill somebody. Nobody said looking good didn’t come at a price.

* * *

I drove to the cafe, parking down the street near Jared’s gym. I entered the café door about forty-five minutes too early and got in line to order. It isn’t really a café; it’s actually a chain of restaurants that masquerade as a café. They serve everything from pastries guaranteed to add thirty pounds per bite to your butt, to sandwiches promising no trans fat and very few calories but containing five different types of cheese. Go figure.

My favorite morning drink is Chai tea. I don’t do coffee. The caffeine does funny things to me, like switching my sleep cycles and turning me into a raving lunatic. So I stuck with tea that morning. There was no sense showing Ollie my psycho side until we were better acquainted.

The café is situated into a couple of different sections, some filled with tables and booths like a regular restaurant and some dotted with cozy conversation areas like a Midwestern version of Starbucks. The vaulted ceilings keep things from feeling claustrophobic and there are plenty of windows. It’s a comfortable atmosphere, and as I scouted for the perfect place to meet Ollie for the very first time I decided I was glad I’d suggested it.

One table appealed to me almost immediately. It was sandwiched between the restaurant section and a clump of overstuffed chairs in the conversation area. There was a small partial wall to one side and a good view of the entire café. Tea in hand, I staked my claim on the table and put my back to the wall.

I’d taken my very first soothing sip of Black Chai tea when I saw Jared.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed him right away to begin with. If I hadn’t been obsessed with finding the perfect table I probably would have. He had stationed himself in an armchair near the windows with a view of the room and the parking lot. Morning paper in one hand, he had a thick mug of black coffee in the other. I knew it was black coffee because he can’t stand any of what he calls
emasculating coffee substitutes
.

It was hard to say what made me more agitated, being nervous about meeting Ollie or being disgusted that Jared’s presence gave me a decided boost in the confidence department. I decided that it was both. Hating how nervous and fidgety I felt, I pressed the cool palms of both hands against the flaming warmth of my cheeks and tried to breathe deeply.

My phone trilled.

Digging frantically through my favorite Lucky brand chocolate chip hobo bag, I finally found my trusty iPhone only to realize that it was a text from Jared.

There was one word on the screen. Relax.

I glanced up from the phone, our eyes meeting across the room. I wished I could be relaxed or at least look relaxed. Jared looked perfect, but he always did.

He’d come directly from work and still wore his slick black athletic pants and simple Addidas running shoes. A black and white Tapout T-shirt completed what Anna and I always referred to as his official uniform. If only the rest of the normal populace could look so perfect in their uniforms. My description didn’t do justice to the way Jared’s chest and arms filled out the cotton of his T-shirt, or the way his casually crossed legs drew the fabric of his pants just tight enough to show that a master sculptor couldn’t have done a better job on the musculature of his legs.

He’d showered before heading down to the café. His wavy blonde hair was still damp and just a tinge darker than usual, curling a bit around his forehead and ears. I’d have bet he smelled like a breath of fresh air. A smile kicked up the corner of his mouth, as if we were sharing a joke.

I idly touched my phone, pulling up a text box without putting much thought into it. Keying in the first thing that came to mind, I ended up with,
“Don’t you have anywhere better to be in the morning?”

I adore texting for the same reasons I liked getting to know Ollie via chatting first. You take all of the complicated stuff out of the conversation equation. No body language, no trying to decipher tone, it’s just words and innuendo.

I could tell the exact moment Jared got my text. He set the paper aside and carefully placed his coffee atop the pile of newsprint before pulling his own iPhone from his pocket.

The slight tilt at the corners of his mouth developed into a full-fledged smile when he read my message. About a minute later I got a response.
“No better place for a knight in shining armor to be when he’s on call.”

I chuckled.
“Knight is too refined, how about caveman?”

“Still in the right place,”
he replied.
“Can’t let some other guy whack you over the head with his club and steal you.”
He raised his eyes to mine and lifted his eyebrows up and down, a goofy gesture he knew was guaranteed to make me laugh.

A muffled gasp somewhere to my left drew my attention. Two women in their mid to late thirties sat with their heads together in deep conversation. I could just glimpse a baby napping in the stroller between us and a toddler scribbling happily on a coloring book beside them. Every few seconds one of them would shoot a secretive glance in Jared’s direction. I didn’t have to be a psychologist to see what was going on.

“You’ve got admirers,”
I texted Jared.

His head came up, doing a quick scan of the room. His posture drew his T-shirt even tighter across his chest and the body piercing on the left side of his chest was clearly defined. There’s something about that tiny detail that makes a girl swoon. We all like a guy whose casual exterior hides a wild alpha male. I hid a smile as the whispering beside me grew less discreet.

“Did you see that?” the one closest to me demanded. “He’s totally checking you out. You should walk by or something.”

“I told you I’m sort of seeing someone,” the other woman said, distracted.

“A guy that gorgeous is worth a second look no matter what else you have going on.”

The single one seemed to consider her friend’s words. “You’re probably right. Maybe I should drop something right beside him.”

“How about falling in his lap? Look at those arms!”

“Mom and kids with single friend preparing to assault you,”
I warned Jared.

His head swiveled around just in time to catch them staring at him. His features clouded briefly before his eyes dropped back to his phone.

“Did I just make contact?”
he wanted to know.

I didn’t answer him. I didn’t have to. At that moment the single portion of the Mom squad jumped up from her seat and walked toward the napkin dispenser half a dozen steps from Jared’s right side as if she had a major napkin emergency.

Grabbing a wad of the brown napkins made from recycled paper, she turned and promptly dumped them in Jared’s lap. Ever the gentleman, he refrained from leaping to his feet in mingled shock and horror. I didn’t even bother to suppress my reaction. I laughed out loud.

“Wow, that laugh is even more amazing in person than on the phone.”

I whipped around, dropping my phone and nearly falling out of my chair. Standing before me at every inch of six feet and a bit more was Ollie. I recognized him instantly from his pictures on Facebook.

A big, bear of a man dressed in khakis and a green-and-white striped polo shirt, his broad shoulders gave way to a bit of a belly which I found charming. His features were simple. A set of dancing green eyes beneath dark brows, a slight crook in a nose that had probably been broken once or twice making some kind of mischief, a full mouth and a dusting of dark facial hair on his stubborn chin. His hair was brown, though bleached lighter from the sun and thinning on top. Ollie wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, but he looked just about perfect to me.

I got to my feet slowly, very aware that I was about to be struck by one of my shy fits that oftentimes leave me awkward and tongue-tied. “Hi,” I managed to say.

A knowing smile lit his face and he put out a hand. I took it willingly, liking the way his big, warm hand wrapped all around my much smaller one. “It’s really great to meet you, Megan Myers. My name is Elliot Oliver, but you can call me Ollie.”

Still unbearably nervous, I gestured to the table. “Want to sit down?”

Nodding, he stooped to retrieve the phone I’d dropped. I froze, realizing that the first thing he was going to see was my conversation with Jared right there on the little touchscreen.

Time slowed as Ollie glanced at the phone. I saw the surprise register on his face before he relaxed and cast a probing look around the room. My teeth settled on my lower lip as his gaze connected with a now disentangled Jared across the room. A millisecond passed before I watched Jared give a barely perceptible nod and return to his perusal of the morning paper.

Ollie sat and handed me the phone. I managed to meet his eyes, figuring the next thing out of his mouth would be something along the lines of goodbye. But he surprised me with a warm smile.

“Smart people always insist on the buddy system. Your brother?”

“No, just a good friend.”

Something strange and fleeting touched his eyes so quickly I couldn’t be sure I’d seen it. Then his expression softened. “Even better.”

“Then you aren’t mad?”

He chuckled. “Of course not. I don’t know you half as well as he probably does, and I know you’re pretty special. I’m glad there are other people out there trying to keep you safe too.”

Right there and then my heart melted into a puddle. Anna had been right to be worried about me. I was so far gone I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to crawl back out again.

“You’re too perfect,” I said, blurting out the first thing that came to mind again. “There has to be something wrong with you.”

His eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Let’s see, I do have a tendency to forget to pick up my shoes. I’m in the habit of leaving a pair at every exit. I’ve been told that drives women crazy.”

I laughed, feeling more at ease with each passing second.

“Oh, and sometimes I ask too many questions.”

“And?”

“I snore?”

“Anything else I should know?”

His face sobered just a bit. “I’m a little too attached to someone I’ve only just met.”

And so was I.