Loving Your Lies (42 page)

My breath caught in my chest. I jerked my
hand back from him. Not taking his arm away from his face yet, he
reached down with his other hand. And slowly ran his palm over my
naked thigh in the direction of my bum.

“Yep, definitely female,” he purred.

In panic, I held his hand in place. “Move
another inch, Hunter, and you’re a dead man.”

“Matthews?” Surprised amusement filled his
chuckle. Unlike me, he seemed relaxed enough.

A strange heat rose from my gut to my head
as I studied his hand on my bare skin. Wearing nothing but jeans
and a black wrist watch, he looked more like a guy from the many
posters on the walls of Caroline Davis’ bedroom than the boy I knew
from school.

I felt awkward for not letting go of his
hand on my leg, but I was too scared he’d continue the path he’d
started if I did.

“Tell me, Matthews,” he said as he dropped
his arm to the pillow and tilted his head to study me with warm
eyes. “Why do I have you in my bed, when I’m not allowed to touch
you?”

“I didn’t know there were strawberries in
the soda,” I whined.

His brow furrowed, his lips pursed. “Come
again?”

Jeez, did he not realize that he was still
holding my leg, and how very uncomfortable—and excited—it made me?
“Someone was getting me sweet soda all evening.” My voice shook
slightly. “I didn’t realize it was the wine cooler you meant when
you said—”

“—not to touch the strawberries,” he
finished for me, closing his eyes. “Damn, I told her not to punch
it too much.”

What? The wine cooler? I was pretty sure I
had a tad too much of that stuff.

A frown creased Ryan’s brows as he looked at
me again. “Sorry, I don’t remember much of the night after I
carried you up here. Am I in trouble?”

Considering I still had my clothes on,
nothing had happened during the night. “As far as I remember you
were pretty drunk yourself. So I was quite safe from you.”

A smirk played around one corner of his
mouth. “I’m afraid my time of numb indifference is over.” His thumb
had started drawing small circles on my skin. “So, unless you’re up
for some trouble
now
, would you mind moving your leg?”

My eyes widened at his seductive threat.

“What? You know you’re not the ugliest girl
in the world.”

***

You can read the first half of this book for
free at Piper’s website.

http://pipershelly.com/play-with-me/

A huge thank you to:

Silvia Federer, my best friend in the world,
for listening to my endless ramblings about my writing endeavors at
our weekly coffee-rounds, especially when writing and reading were
so not her thing; Daniel Fellsner, for believing in my project from
the first moment and encouraging me with brotherly advice; And to
my creative critique partners: Zrinka, who hung in there with me
from the first to the very last page. Lynda—I’m so glad I met you,
girl. Danyelle and Mary, my first beta readers. And, of course,
Melissa; thank you for your enthusiasm and our invaluable
brainstorming sessions.

And finally, my love and gratitude goes to
Johann, my amazing husband, and our wonderful son, Kevin. I know
you two had to share me with my imaginary friends way too long, and
I can’t promise you that it will ever change for the better. But
without your patience and support, this dream would still be just
that. A dream. Thank you for helping it to come true. I’m grateful
every day that you’re part of my life.

About the Author

PIPER SHELLY prefers blue to green, spring
to winter, and writing to talking. But then she prefers writing to
almost everything else. It helps her to escape from a boring world
to something with actual adventure and romance in it, she says.
Even when she’s not crafting a new story, you’ll see her lounging
with a book in some quiet spot. She was 17 when she left Vienna to
live in the tranquil countryside of Austria, and from there she
loves to plan trips to anywhere in the world. Two of her favorite
places? Disneyland and the deep dungeons of her creative mind.

Please visit her website at
www.pipershelly.com
or
write to
[email protected]

She would love to hear from you.