Believing Lies Read online

  I found tattoos to be extremely sexy. Trenton didn’t have any, but I didn’t mind. He was more than handsome without any ink. It was just that he was a more refined, borderline-preppy-style of hot. He hated tattoos, claiming they were for morons who wanted to ruin their skin. I didn’t have any tattoos myself, but only because I’d never felt strongly enough about a particular image to permanently put it on my body. I had always figured I’d get one in the future, but with Trenton’s strong opinion about tattoos, I probably never would.

  Since Barstool Guy’s back was to us, Sophie must have been talking about the bartender. “Bartender?” I asked, turning back to her.

  “Oh yeah. The guy talking to him is a little sexier, but the bartender is the one my eye is on. He looks like a hot boy-next-door who is secretly naughty. I like to bring out a boy’s naughty side.”

  “The other guy has his back to us, so how do you know that he’s sexier than Cute Bartender Guy?” Does she have X-ray vision now?

  “His back was to us when you looked, but I got a good eyeful before that,” she replied with a smirk.

  I was curious about Barstool Guy, but only because if she found him to be sexier than Cute Bartender Guy, he must be really sexy. “Glad you got to see the full show, but back to the bartender. How the hell do you know he’s naughty? Since you’ve never even met him, am I to believe that you can figure this out by just looking at him?” I leaned back in the booth and crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t buy it.”

  “I have a naughty radar that has never been wrong,” she answered, wiggling her eyebrows.

  I laughed. “If you’re so sure of your radar, I dare you to go tell Cute Bartender Guy your theory and see just how ‘naughty’ he is.” I put my fingers up in mock quotation marks.

  “You’re on. One naughty bartender coming up.” She began to scoot from the booth just as our waitress returned with our drinks. Sophie seized the opportunity. I saw her glance at the waitress’s name tag before asking, “Hey, Lorna, you don’t happen to know if the hottie bartender is single, do you?”

  Lorna smiled. “You mean Conner? Yes, he’s totally available. He’s a super nice guy too. I’m surprised that he’s still on the market. You should really go talk to him.” This girl seemed to think highly of him. Wonder why she doesn’t go after him herself? Whatever the reason, she wouldn’t encourage Sophie if she had any interest in him.

  Lorna left us, and Sophie asked me, “Are you going to be okay if I go talk to him?” I could tell she was giddy with excitement to go meet the mystery bartender.

  “Of course. If I recall correctly, I was the one who dared you in the first place. I’ll just check Facebook on my phone until you come back.” I pointed my finger at her. “You have to swear that you’ll come back when the food comes.” I gave her my sternest look. “You know I hate to eat alone.”

  “Gotcha. Wish me luck.”

  “You don’t need luck. You have a naughty radar. Remember?”

  She rolled her eyes at me and stepped out of our booth. After she walked away, I quickly moved to her side of the booth to get a good view. I watched as she strutted to the bar with a little extra swing to her hips. When she reached the two guys, she instantly struck up a conversation. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Sophie began to laugh. This was like a little personal reality TV show for me to enjoy—except it was on mute. Wish I at least had closed captioning.

  Suddenly, all three of them looked my way, and I was busted eavesdropping. I quickly turned my gaze away and rummaged through my purse until I found my phone. I started to bring up Facebook when I noticed a body standing at the end of my booth. Barstool Guy was no longer on his barstool, but rather he was sliding into the other side of my booth. Holy sex on a stick, Batman! Sophie was dead wrong. Barstool Guy wasn’t just sexy. He was downright sinful. I’d guess he was about six feet tall, and the white T-shirt that was doing wonders for his back when he was at the bar was now straining against a toned chest. On his wrist was a black leather cuff with a silver buckle. He was fairly built, but in a lean kind of way. Close up, his black hair seemed even darker. Everything about this boy’s body and style screamed to my inner vixen, but it was his face that took the cake.

  My gaze met his mischievous, dark-brown bedroom eyes, and I was pretty sure I stopped breathing. It was as if our eyes were locked and the rest of the room stood still. Why was this guy staring at me? Why was I staring back at him? Most importantly, why didn’t I want to stop?

  I mentally slapped myself and shifted my eyes, breaking the contact. What had come over me? Yes, this guy was wickedly delicious, but I had a fiancé! For that reason alone, I shouldn’t have been ogling him. Sienna, be real. A blind nun would have her panties melted by this guy.

  I was pretty sure that common courtesy dictated that a person should ask instead of sitting down uninvited. So what the heck he was doing sitting across from me in the first place was the real question of the day. Sophie knew I was engaged, so she wouldn’t have sent him over by me . . . or would she?

  “Excuse me? Can I help you?” I asked the sexy stranger, with a bit of edge in my voice.

  He put his elbows on the table and leaned in toward me. A sly grin pulled up one corner of his mouth. “Why yes, you can. I decided since your friend has stolen away my friend, we should become friends.”

  Wow. His voice sounded like gravel and honey. Snap out of it. It’s just a voice. I raised my eyebrows in skepticism but remained quiet while I contemplated a way to get rid of him. Maybe if I say nothing, he’ll just go away. Hold on, did I really want him to leave? Yes . . . No . . . Maybe?

  “Adam.” The word stopped my internal monologue.

  “Huh?” It was the only reply I could come up with at that moment.

  “Adam. It’s a name. My name to be exact.”

  I stared at him blankly. It wasn’t my smoothest moment, but I was taken off guard.

  He cocked his head slightly. “Now this is the part where you tell me your name.” He stopped leaning on his elbows and relaxed into the booth seat.

  “Not interested,” I replied with a hard stare that was meant to accentuate my point.

  “Peculiar name,” he said, unruffled.

  “Ha-ha. Very funny,” I caustically retorted. When I didn’t say anything else, he stretched his arms in the air, brought his hands behind his head, and then relaxed even further into the booth. I was floored. Doesn’t this guy take a hint?

  I looked toward Sophie for help, but she was sitting on a barstool talking to the bartender, her back to me. I was going to have to get rid of Adam on my own. Since hints weren’t working, it was time for the direct approach. “Look, I appreciate you stopping by and all, but I have a fiancé, so you’re wasting your time.” There, take that and mull it over, Mr. Sexy Man!

  He remained lounging in the booth, face unreadable. “Someone’s pretty confident about herself.” My eyes bugged out of my head. The nerve of this guy! “I clearly told you when I sat down that we should become friends. I didn’t ask for more.” His hands came out from behind his head and rested on the table as he sat up straight. His eyes narrowed as if he were assessing me and I was coming up lacking. “Do you assume every guy wants more with you, Princess?” I sputtered, unable to form a reply. “For your information, I noticed the golf ball sized diamond on your finger when I reached the table.” He chuckled lightly to himself. “Now that we got that out of the way, are you ready to become friends?”

  Surprise colored my face. I felt like a real putz. The guy was just being nice, and the egotistical side of me assumed he was hitting on me.

  I smiled politely. “I’m sorry. Let’s start over.” I held out my hand. “Sienna Trudeau.”

  He smiled in return, and it was so breathtaking that I was momentarily as giddy as a tween girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Fiancé. Fiancé. Fiancé.

  “Now that’s more like it. Adam Korbell. Nice to meet you.”

  He shook my hand, and tiny goose bumps raced fr
om my palm to my shoulder. He looked at my arm, and I saw what appeared to be confusion, or maybe shock, in his eyes. I promptly released his hand and put my own back in my lap. What just happened? I’d never had a physical reaction to someone’s touch like that. I wondered if he’d felt it as well, but hoped that he hadn’t.

  An awkward silence hung in the air, and I prayed Sophie would come back soon. My prayer was somewhat answered when Lorna returned with our food. Now Sophie had no choice but to return, and then Adam could go back to the bar.

  Lorna seemed flustered when she saw Adam sitting across from me. She tried to be nonchalant, but the red blotches on her neck gave her away. I had a good suspicion that the reason she wasn’t interested in Conner was because of Adam.

  “Hey, Adam, I thought you were eating at the bar.” A bit of irritation seeped through the waitress’s tone. “Your food is up now too. I’ll bring it to the bar for you.” Oh yeah, hit that one on the head. She was into him big time, and she undoubtedly wanted him away from me. I wished she was as observant as he was and would notice my engagement ring. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel threatened.

  “Thanks, Lorna, but I think Conner is enjoying talking to—” He looked at me to fill in the blank.

  “Sophie.”

  “Right. So I have a better idea. Please take Sophie’s food to her at the bar and bring mine here. That way Conner and Sophie can continue to get to know each other better.” I gave Lorna credit for trying to hide her emotions, but I caught the brief look of disdain she shot me before covering it with a curt smile. Adam leaned his body toward Lorna, her face brightening at the gesture. He lowered his voice and cocked his thumb in my direction. “Plus, this one can’t seem to stop undressing me with her eyes, and it’s too much of a turn-on to leave now.”

  The blood drained from my face. Lorna was briefly speechless, and I could see the anger in her eyes.

  “Whatever, Adam,” she hissed. She pretty much slammed my plate down in front of me and left with Sophie’s food before I could say anything in my defense. I watched as she brought it to Sophie and said something to her.

  Sophie turned on her stool to look at me and mouthed, “Thank you.” She appeared to be so happy that there was no way I would make her come back now. It looked as if I was stuck with Adam for a lunch-mate instead.

  I focused my attention back on him and glowered. “Why the heck did you tell our waitress that I was undressing you with my eyes? Now who is full of himself, huh?” My voice raised another octave. “I thought you understood I wasn’t interested! I’m an engaged woman, so you can’t say shit like that. Especially when it’s not true!”

  He gave me that half smirk again. Stupid smirk on a stupid boy. I let out a deep huff in frustration. He didn’t reply because Lorna chose that instant to bring him his food.

  “Thanks. I don’t need anything else,” he told her before she could even ask. “But I think Sienna could use another drink, if you don’t mind?” His words were directed at Lorna, but his eyes stayed on me. A tiny part of me was flattered, but most of me was appalled at how rude he was to her.

  Lorna looked at me, daring me to ask her to fetch a drink. “No thank you, Lorna. I’m actually fine. The food looks great.”

  She gave me a curt nod and told us to “Enjoy.” Her lips may have said enjoy, but her eyes said, “I should have spit on your burger.” Spinning on her heels, she stormed off.

  Adam started to add ketchup and mustard to his burger. Is he not going to answer me? As if he’d just read my mind, he replied, “To answer your previous question, I said that to Lorna because she can’t get it through her head that I’m not interested in her.”

  “Why not?” I asked incredulously. “She’s gorgeous.”

  “True, but psycho trumps gorgeous.” Ouch. That was a harsh thing to say about her. “Sorry to drag you into it, but I didn’t think you’d freak out.” He took a huge bite of his burger.

  “I didn’t freak out,” I shot back defensively then hesitated. “Okay, maybe a little, but that was kind of a jerk move,” I said as I put ketchup on my burger.

  He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m kind of a jerk.” Well at least he’s honest. Adam pointed at my burger. “No mustard?”

  My nose curled up. “Yuck. Mustard is disgusting. You couldn’t pay me to eat the stuff.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. I’d rather poke my eye out with a fork than eat mustard.” As I said that, I picked up my fork and pretended to poke my eye with it a few times.

  “You’re an interesting girl.”

  I set down my fork. “Why? Because I don’t eat mustard? It’s not that uncommon. A lot of people don’t like mustard.”

  He laughed to himself. “It’s not just that . . . Never mind. Eat up.”

  Instead of trying to dissect his meaning, I gave up and took another bite of my burger. It tasted really yummy. Just like Adam. My internal monologue needed to put a sock in it.

  We spent the next half hour eating and talking. I discovered that, like Sophie and I, Adam and Conner were students at the university and were our age. Adam told me that he and Conner grew up here and had been friends since kindergarten. Adam attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point up until last semester. Conner had moved out of the frat house, which he’d been living in since his freshman year, so that he could be Adam’s roommate.

  I informed him that Sophie and I were cousins and best friends. I told him that I’d lived in the dorms before moving in with Trenton, yet had always thought it would’ve been fun to have lived with Sophie. But she hated dorm life, and I’d wanted the dorm experience, so we never did.

  Adam said that the house they rented was just up the road from The Turning Point, and that he came in to eat today because Conner had texted him that it was slow at work and to come keep him company. I explained that Sophie and I were here because I’d spent a stressful day wedding planning and needed to unwind.

  He finished his last fry and took a drink of his beer. “Let me get this straight. My best friend made me come in here to keep him company and then ditched me for a pretty redhead. Meanwhile, you came in here to de-stress with your cousin and instead got stuck with a tall, dark, and handsome stranger. Quite the turn of events.”

  I noticed Sophie was walking back my way. “I don’t know about the handsome part, but you surprisingly did help me de-stress . . . so thanks. And it looks as if Conner and Sophie may have hit it off, so maybe we’ll bump into each other again sometime.”

  Adam looked over his shoulder as Sophie approached and then turned back to me. “It seems our time is up, Princess. But as you said, maybe we’ll bump into each other again. Who knows what the future will bring?” He stood up, said goodbye to both of us, and went back to his original barstool.

  Sophie sat down. “So?” I asked. She was trying not to smile, but her lips were upturned despite the effort.

  “He was really nice. He’s going out tonight with some friends and asked me to come with.” Her smile broke free.

  “I’m happy for you. Maybe this one will be the keeper, and next year we’ll be planning your wedding.”

  She let out a bark of a laugh. “Unlike you, I have no desire to get married yet.”

  “You never know. The right guy can change everything. Did he at least pass the last name test?” I asked. In ninth grade, Sophie dated a boy whose last name was Smofee. I’d teased her so bad, taunting her that she would be Sophie Smofee if they ever married. She dumped him the next day. Ever since then, she refused to even think about dating a guy whose last name was something she wouldn’t want as her own. She declined a date with a seriously hot guy last week because his last name was, unfortunately, Hymen.

  “He passed. His last name is Vance. Not only is it not bad, but I actually like it.”

  “I agree. It’s a good last name.”

  “Anyway, sorry about leaving you for so long. Was his friend okay? He seemed pretty nice, but I hope it wasn’t too awkward for you.”
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  “No worries. He was fine.” More than fine, but I wasn’t about to admit that to Sophie. I didn’t even want to admit that to myself. “Ready to go?”

  “Yep. All set.”

  Chapter Three

  I dropped Sophie off after lunch and then went home. I changed into a pair of jean shorts and a tank and decided to tidy up the apartment before Trenton got home from his job at his father’s accounting firm.

  I chose to vacuum the living room first. I wasn’t a big fan of how this room was decorated, but Trenton loved it. Everything was very masculine—especially the large gray couch and the enormous flat screen on the wall. There wasn’t a single photo or anything personal. In my opinion, it really needed a feminine touch. Even though I had moved in four months ago, almost all of my stuff was still boxed up and sitting in the guest room. I had a few framed photos of us together that I’d make sure to unpack tomorrow.

  Just as I turned off the vacuum, I heard my phone go off. The display read Trenton’s name and showed a picture of me kissing him on the cheek.

  “Hey, you. Are you on your way?” I asked.

  “Sorry, baby. I’m actually running late. I won’t be done here for about two more hours. Are you hungry? I could pick up food for us on my way home if you don’t mind waiting.”

  “No problem. I just had a late lunch with Sophie, so I would prefer to wait. How about Chinese?” I hated to cook, so takeout sounded awesome.

  “Sure. The usual for you?”

  “You got it.” I always ordered sweet and sour chicken.