The Truth in Lies (The Truth in Lies Saga) (12 page)

Drew looked out over the water’s edge.  A slight hue of pink shaded his cheekbones.  “I backtracked to where you couldn’t see me.  You intrigued me, so, I kind of watched you from a distance for a short while.”

Thump
, went my heart.  “You watched me?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he murmured.  “So who was it?  On the phone, I mean?”

I scrunched my face, trying to think back to that day.  So much had happened since that day, that a single phone call didn’t seem very important to remember.

“I think it was my mother,” I answered, still not entirely sure I was right.  “She has a habit of calling me at the most inopportune times.”

Drew’s head fell back in a deep laugh.  “Don’t they all?”

Seeing him laugh, invoked a smile on my face.  He had the most wonderful laugh.  So, vibrant and full of life.

“Why’d you want to know?”

“No reason, really.  I was thinking about that day, and was curious.”

“A lot has changed since that day,” I said.

“That’s for sure,” he agreed.  “But it remains one of my favorite days.”

“Really?  Why?”

“Because it was the day you entered my life,” he answered.

I smiled and nudged him.  He nudged me back, mirroring my smile.  “Thanks, Drew.  I really am a lucky girl to have a friend like you.”

His smile faltered for a moment.  We stopped walking.  The sounds of children playing and the water flowing over the beach surrounded us.  Sunlight sparkled through his light brown hair, revealing shades of red and gold mixed in it.  Staring in my eyes, he tenderly brushed his fingertips along the line of my jaw.

My body felt like a firecracker factory that had been set on fire.  The butterflies that resided in my stomach and the hummingbirds that lived in my chest collided together to make a swarm of tingles forcing their way through my body.

Then without warning, Drew’s deep impressionable stare turned into a mischievous one. 

“You call yourself lucky?” 

I nodded.  “I’d say so – OH!”

Suddenly, I was being lifted off the ground and tossed over Drew’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  The earth started to spin.  At least that’s how it felt, for Drew had started to turn around and around in circles. 

“Put me down!” I screamed, banging my hand against his back.  One hand wasn’t enough though, so I dropped my shoes to the ground in order to beat him with my fists.

Drew laughed hard as he continued to spin.  “Drew, I swear to all that is holy! Put me down!”

“Okay.  You asked for it.”

With that, Drew flung me through the air.  I slammed into the gulf.  The cold water crashed over me, sending horrible chills throughout my entire body.  I thrashed my arms, forcing my head back to the surface.  I came up, gurgling and screaming, “Andrew!”

Drew buckled over in laughter at the sight of me. 

Shivering from both shock and cold, I flailed my arms and legs erratically.  “What the hell’d you do that for?” I demanded through the clatter of teeth.

“Because I’m a bad wittle boy,” he mocked.

I swam to the shallowest point I could before reaching the shore.  Two could play this game.  I extended my hand to him, forcing him to roll his pants legs up and move out into the water to help me.  Drew being the gentleman that he was, didn’t hesitate.  He reached out and took my hand.  With one solid tug, I pulled him into the cold water with me.

His head came back up in a rush.  He spit water out of his mouth while pushing his wet hair from his eyes.  “Damn it, Mickie! Do you realize how much this suit cost?”

It never occurred to me how much his suit was worth.  Furthermore, I didn’t even take into the consideration that I was still wearing his jacket.  Revenge was all that was on my mind.  Now having the cost brought into light, I felt horrible and guilty.  I covered my mouth and gasped.

 
“I’m so sorry, Drew.  I’ll replace it.  I’m so…”

The sound of Drew’s laughter filled the air, sending birds flying off of the piers.
 “Gotcha!”  He dunked my head back underwater.  I flailed against his force.  

When he released me, I rushed back to the surface, gasping for air.  I cupped my hands, throwing water at him.  “I was about to cry.  I can’t believe you,” I screeched.

Drew lifted his hand in front of his face, blocking the water the best he could.

“Cry over a suit?  That’s silly.  It can be replaced.”  Drew winked at me and took my hand in his. 

“It’s not silly.  It’s considerate.”

“You’re adorable.”  His kind words reverberated inside my chest.  “Let’s get out of here before we both catch pneumonia.”

“Good idea,” I agreed, following him out of the water back to the warm sand.  My body shook from the chill in the air and my wet clothes.  The arms of his jacket had unrolled during our stint in the water.  I pulled the waterlogged jacket off, and handed it back to him.  He picked up my shoes and handed them to me. 

We ran all the way back to the restaurant, laughing uncontrollably.  Drew kept his arm wrapped around me as best as he could while we ran.  I knew he was trying to keep me warm, but since we were both soaked, it didn’t help.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket, praying the key fob still worked.  I pressed the button to pop the hatchback of the Prius, grateful when it unhinged.  I pulled out two towels and handed one to Drew.  He rubbed it over his head and down his arms.

“You keep towels in your car?” he inquired.

Pulling my now transparent t-shirt away from my body, I ran the towel underneath it over my wet skin.  “Always.  This is Florida.  You never know when you’ll need them,” I replied, through clattered teeth.

“Good point.”  He pointed between us, laughing.

I leaned down and rubbed the towel along my legs.  He moved closer to me, wrapping his towel around my shoulders.  His long fingers enfold around my arms, rubbing the towel against my skin. 

“We need to get you out of those wet clothes,” he whispered.  His full lips mere inches from mine.

Captivated by his lingering stare, I whimpered, unable to speak. 

“I’d hate for you to get sick because of my childishness,” he added. 

He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face, placing it behind my ear.  A trail of heat ignited along my skin, as his fingers trailed lengthwise down my jaw. 

“I’ll be okay,” I managed.  My head was spinning.  Having him so close was intoxicating. 

He leaned in closer to me, his lips mere inches from mine.  The sweetness of his breath, now sated with salt water breezed warmly over my face.  “Mickie,” his voice grew husky.

I closed my eyes, my stomach tight with anticipation.  Every fiber of my being wanted him to kiss me.  I ached to feel his lips pressed to mine.  Sure, I knew it was wrong, but I simply didn’t care.  My body stiffened as his fingers dug into
the flesh of my arm.  Then his mouth brushed across my forehead.

My heart dropped in my chest.  The feelings I had were completely one-sided.  He was with Olivia, and here I was throwing myself at him.  I opened my eyes to see his face contorted in anguish. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he released me.

He took a few steps back.  “No, you’re right,” I said, running my fingers through my hair.  “We both need to get out of these wet clothes.”

He nodded and smiled, but the smile never reached his eyes.  “Thank you for today.  I’ll text you later.  Okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered, forcing yet another smile.

He walked around me, and opened my car door.  I slid into my seat, wincing as my door closed behind me.  Once the engine came to life, I cranked on the heater.  The hot air hit me in the face, reminding me of how cold I really was. 

My heart ached as I pulled out of the parking space.  I glanced over the street, checking for oncoming traffic. 

Before turning out into the street, I checked my rearview mirror.  Drew stood where I had left him, rubbing his hands over his arms.  He turned around as if he were about to head to his vehicle.  Instead he shoved his hands through his wet hair, and buckled over before jolting back up.  He kicked his foot, his jaw clenched tight, as he shook his head.  Then he walked to his car and climbed in.  The brake lights glowed, and I took that as my cue to turn. 

With a heavy heart, I turned onto the circle, and headed home, hating myself for what I had just done.

Guilt settled in
during my drive home.  I’d nearly kissed Drew.  This was bad.  And to make matters worse, it was my fault.  I put him in a bad situation.  It pained me to know that I could’ve hurt him and Olivia.  Had it not been for Drew pulling away, I could only imagine what would’ve happened. 

But he did pull away, thus proving what my heart already knew.  All the feelings I felt were one-sided, which is how it should be.  I should’ve been the one to apologize, not the other way around.   

I slammed my palm down on the steering wheel.  “God, how could I be such a moron?” I screamed at myself. 

Tears pushed against the back of my eyes.  It took every ounce of force in me to fight them back.  I didn’t deserve to cry.  Drew had never been anything but nice to me, and there I was, puckered up like a sixteen year old girl about to get her first kiss. 

“Stupid,” I chastised myself.  “So stupid!”

It was a little after four when I arrived at the condo.  Olivia typically got off work around five, so I figured I’d be safe to get inside, clean up
, and start dinner before she arrived home. 

I pulled into the parking garage, only to have all my hopes shattered.  There sat Olivia’s car parked in her assigned spot.  The weight of the day pressed down on me, along with the weight of my wet clothes. 

I parked my car and made my way to the elevator.  For once, I didn’t have to wait ten minutes for it to open.  Of course, it was the one time I actually wanted to wait for it.  As the elevator took me to the fourteenth floor, I rested my head on the wall.  My eyes fluttered shut, and the memory of Drew’s expression as he pulled away from me replayed like a bad record over and over in my head. 

Contemplating the consequences of my actions, I pushed myself off of the wall when the elevator doors opened.  I dawdled along the hall, feeling yet another weight on my chest.  Olivia.  Not only was I sure I screwed up my friendship with Drew, but I was going to have to face her.  Sure, nothing happened, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want it to.  God, I was a horrible friend. 

The sound of the lock unhinging caused me to feel nauseated as I opened the door.  As I stepped into the apartment, I noticed Olivia, sitting on the couch, wearing a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top, looking through a magazine. 

She glanced in my direction, hardly noting my entrance.  “Hey,” I called out, laying my purse down on the hall table.  It had been a good thing that I left it in my car before going into the restaurant or it and my cell phone would have been ruined by my afternoon swim.

Nothing.

Absolute silence.

If ever I was given a cold shoulder, this would have taken the cake.  She was mad at me, and I could only assume as to why.  Either Drew already told her what kind of jerk I was, or she was upset over me having lunch with him.  Either way, her silence said it all.

The only thing I could do was give her space.  I walked back to my room and stripped out of my semi-dry clothes.  Once unrobed, I rubbed a fresh towel through my hair and slipped into a pair of flannel pajamas.  The warm fabric against my skin eliminated the remainder of the chill I was still experiencing.  With my favorite gray wool socks covering my feet, I padded back into the living room to face the music.

She steps out into the wild, staring the ferocious lion head on
, I amused myself.

Olivia hadn’t budged the entire time I was gone.  She flipped the page of her magazine. 

“Liv?”  Guilt ridden, I approached her.

“How was your day?” she asked.  Her icy dissonance chilled me to the bone. 

I sat down on the couch next to her.  She thumbed through the new edition of Vogue without so much as a glance in my direction.  “It was okay.  We missed you though,” I included.

“Oh
, really?  You missed me?”  She slapped the next page over, her teeth clenched in anger.

“Of course we did,” I replied in defense.

“So much that you neglected your cell phone all day?”  She slammed the book closed.  Her black eyes were hard and vicious.  Her long thin nose snarled as she took in my appearance.

“I left my phone in the car.  I’m so sorry, Liv.  You know I’d never ignore you.”

The tension in Olivia’s body loosened up a little.  “What did you and
asshole
do today?”

I sighed in moderate relief.  “We went to Tommy Bahama for lunch, and please don’t call him that.  He means well.”

She tossed the magazine onto the coffee table.  “Are you actually siding with him?  You’re my best friend, and you’re taking his side?” she bellowed, her arms flapping wildly as she spoke.

“I’m not siding with anyone.  But you’ve got to admit that was skimpy, even for you.”

Her hands landed on her legs with a loud smack.  When I reached for her hand, she snapped it back.  Her chest rose and fell, and I all but expected her to slap me.  It wouldn’t have been the first time she got overzealous.

“How dare you agree with him,” she snarled.

“Liv, you know I thought it was cute. You just needed to add something to it like a skirt or jeans to complete the outfit.”

She stared at me in disbelief.  “Seriously?  It’s a dress!” she snapped.

I raised my hands in defense.  “Okay, okay!  It’s a dress.”  I pulled my legs to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.  My head fell to rest on top of my knees.

“Thank you,” she grumbled.  She rotated to where she was slouching against the arm of the couch, facing me.  “I’m not mad at you. I think it’s crappy that you take his side, but I’m not mad.  I’m mad at him for being a chauvinistic pig.”

“I’m not taking his or your side,” I huffed.  “I just don’t understand the purpose of the dress, and I don’t think he meant to be chauvinistic.”

“Whatever,” she snapped, rolling her eyes.  “And yes he did.  I mean he went all…all…” Olivia lifted her hands and shrugged her shoulders.  Even though the word wasn’t coming to her, I knew exactly what she meant. 

“Neanderthal?” I suggested with a chuckle.

“God, yes!  That’s exactly what he did.”  We laughed at my proper description of Drew’s temper.  “I half expected him to drag his knuckles and clobber me with a club over a silly dress.  Funny thing is, he’s never acted that way before,” she continued.

“Who knows, but what I want to know is, why did you wear that dress to work?  It looks more like something you’d wear to a club.”

Olivia twirled a piece of her long dark hair around her finger.  “Okay.  Can you keep a secret?” she giggled.

I gave her the best ‘
are you serious’
look I could muster.  Secrets were my specialty.  If I was told something in confidence, I would carry it to my grave if need be. 

“Stupid question,” she agreed, sniggering.  “I wore that dress today because I knew he was planning on asking me to lunch.”

“How?” I questioned, remembering what Drew said at the bar.

Olivia nibbled on her thumbnail, her eyelashes batting, and a coy smile crinkled the corners of her lips.  “A little birdie told me,” she cooed.

I quirked an eyebrow.  “What birdie?”

Her eyes flashed mischievously at me as she leaned in and whispered, “You know his secretary, Holly?”

Oh, yeah, I knew Holly all right.  While I might not have ever met her, I have heard her scream at Drew through the phone enough times to know I didn’t like her.  Holly was one of those loud-mouthed women who thought the world owed her because she had a vagina.  Drew complained about her frequently, but refused to fire her because she was the best at what she did.

“Yeah, I know
of
her,” I stated.

“Well, you see, I’ve sort of gotten to know her pretty well lately.  I’ve taken her to lunch a couple of times; taken her shopping…you get the gist.”

Yep, I got it loud and clear.  She was buying her friendship.  Common Olivia move when she wanted something.

“Last night she phoned me and told me that Drew asked her to clear him a spot for lunch.  When asked why, he told her he had plans to take us out.”

“Us?” I asked, confused.  “If he had plans to take
us
out, that still doesn’t explain the reason for the dress.”

Olivia laughed and patted my hand, looking at me like I was an ignorant child.

“Sweetheart, I figured once he saw me in that dress, he would forgo lunch and take me home.  No offense.”

“None taken,” I muttered, disgusted by her approach.  “Food for thought, though, I get the vibe that he’s more a ‘leave things to the imagination’ kinda guy,” I coached, recalling what he had told me.

“I don’t think so.  He seems to enjoy the lingerie I wear to bed.  Or at least he used to.”  She wiggled her eyebrows.

I rubbed my hands over my face, forcing myself to remain seated.  I wanted to run, far and as fast I could.  “There’s a difference,” I coached.  “That’s in private.  Wearing that dress in public took the privacy out of the situation.”

Olivia shrugged.  “I have to do what I have to do to get the man to notice me.  I swear he’s gone all prudish.”

“Liv, he spends the night here all the time.  You can’t tell me you two don’t have sex.”

“It’s going on three weeks since he last touched me,” she blurted out vehemently.  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was someone else.  But thanks to Holly, I pretty much have a connection to his entire life calendar.”

“Liv!” I exclaimed.  “That’s low, even for you.”

“I had to know if he was cheating on me, Kenz.  You don’t know how it feels to be lied to.”

Drew wasn’t the type to cheat.  I could have told her that without having to snoop into his life.

“All couples go through lulls.  It’ll pick back up again.  You’ll see,” I said.

Olivia slammed herself back into the couch.  She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.  “This is ridiculous.  We haven’t been dating long enough to go through a lull,” she sighed. 

I bumped her shoulder playfully.  “You really like him, don’t you?”

“What’s not to like?  He’s rich.  He’s handsome.  He’s got all the right connections.  He’s absolutely perfect.”  She nudged me back.

“It’s more than that, though, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure.  I guess,” she shrugged and turned on the television, flipping through the channels.  “Is he coming over here tonight?”

My heart seized in my chest.  “No,” I said flatly.  It was probable that he would steer clear of me after I practically threw myself at him.

“Good.  I don’t want to change.”

I shook my head, recalling Drew’s comments about never being able to dress comfortably around Olivia.  “Liv, have you ever considered letting Drew see you like this?”  I waved my hand in front of her.  “He might like knowing that you’re human.”

Olivia turned her head, her mouth dropping like a large-mouthed bass.  “You’ve got to be joking.  There’s no way I’d allow any man, especially one of Drew’s caliber
, to see me like this,” she huffed, rolling her eyes at me.  “I swear, Kenz, there are times you can be so obtuse about men.”  She chuckled and returned her attention back to the television.

Agitated by her insinuation, I opened my mouth to tell her what I had almost done, but my mind stopped before I said anything.  Instead, I snapped it closed, and crossed my arms over my chest.  Since there wasn’t a kiss, why should I get Drew in trouble?  Plus, Olivia would fly off the handle if I told her, especially with their current lack of int
imacy.  It was better that I kept my almost mishap to myself.  Olivia laughed at something she saw on T.V..  I focused my attention to the reality show she was honed in on, and allowed myself to get lost in the show with her. 

We ordered a pizza for dinner, and I tried to eat, but the mere thought of food made me ill.  Thankfully, Olivia didn’t seem to notice my uneasiness.  As we finished eating, Olivia’s cell phone rang.  She leaned over and checked the caller ID.  “It’s Drew,” she announced.  “I’ll take it in my room.”

I readjusted my position for the umpteenth time during the night, tossing her a nod of acknowledgement. 

“Hello,” she answered.  She was off the couch and heading toward her room in a matter of seconds.  The walls rattled when she shut the door behind her, leaving me alone with my thoughts and guilt. 

I sighed and got up from my seat, taking the pizza box to the kitchen where I bagged up the remaining pizza and tossed it into the fridge.

After tidying up the place, I grabbed my cell phone from my purse and sat back down on the couch.  I glanced over the missed calls.  Olivia was right.  She called me a few times.  So had Jared.  I was shocked to find that Nate had tried to call me as well.  It had been weeks since I had spoken with him.

Switching to my text messages, my stomach knotted to see one from Drew. 

I just wanted to say thank you again for a wonderful day. I had a great time. Now I get to ruin it by calling Olivia and getting my ass reamed.  It was worth it though.

My heart fluttered in my chest.  He didn’t hate me after all.  I hadn’t ruined our day together.  Everything would be okay.  I wouldn’t allow myself to get caught up like that again.  He was too dear to me to allow my stupid hormones to jeopardize our friendship.