Tell Them Lies (Three Little Words Book 3) (15 page)

Liz smiled. "Not all day, no. There's a lot of other job requirements, but I do love reading, and it's good for me to stay abreast of the new releases coming in. Every month we update our employee recommendation section, and we each have to read a newer book and write up a small card as to why we think people should read it. Kind of like homework, I guess."

"Yuck," he said decisively, which earned him a pinch of the ear from his mother.

Carol rolled her eyes at her grandson, but there was so much affection behind the gesture that Max grinned.

"So what was your recommendation last month?" Maggie asked. "A romance, I'm guessing."

"No, actually. It was about a sociopath and the woman he becomes obsessed with, how he manipulates their relationship through her social media. He eventually turns her away from all of her friends, she's almost forced to fall in love with him."

"But it's not a romance?"

"Absolutely not. He ends up killing her. But the book is so cleverly written, and you only get his point of view, so you almost can't help but feel sympathetic towards him. And why he felt so heartbroken, so viscerally wounded when she wouldn't return his affections anymore. From the standpoint of character consistency, he really didn't have any other choice but to do it."

There was silence at the table, no one even chewed. From her peripheral, she could see Kieran smother a grin.

"Oh," Maggie finally said. "Well. That sounds interesting."

"It wasn't my usual type of book, that's for sure. But it came highly recommended, so I gave it a shot. And honestly, it stuck with me for days afterward. The way the author made this truly reprehensible person seem, well, understandable. And funny. That's the true testament of strong writing to me."

Everyone was quiet again, and then Maggie took a shaky breath.

"What's wrong, ma?" Kieran asked quietly, the first real contribution he'd had during the meal.

"Oh, just being maudlin." Then she smiled at Liz. "You're just so smart, honey. And beautiful. And kind. It makes a mother's heart almost crack with happiness."

All Liz could think, seeing Maggie look at her with such an obviously thrilled expression was
she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know, how can she not see that we’re faking this?

Liz almost jumped out of her seat when Kieran wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. Turning her head towards him, she was surprised at how sad he looked. At how his dark eyes traced over her face.

"She is definitely all those things." Then he leaned in, eyes searching for permission, and brushed his lips over hers when he must have seen the acceptance. The whole meal he'd been sitting next to her, not even the tiniest touch, so just that small kiss was a burst of sunshine against her lips, warming her from the inside out. The collective sigh around the table was almost enough to restart Liz's heart beating.

Almost. Because as soft and sweet as the kiss had been, his lips tasting like the plum sauce on his moo shu pork, it left an unsettled feeling somewhere in Liz's stomach.

A
ll but slamming
the bedroom door behind her, Liz propped her hands on her hips and faced Kieran, who was sitting on the bed and scrolling through something on his phone like it held the secrets of the universe. His eyes briefly lifted and he nodded in greeting.

Nodded. In greeting. Like she was some random person that he was passing in a store. Except when she'd
actually
passed him in a store he'd attempted to get her life story out of her. Her tongue felt raw from the way she'd bit down on it the last two hours.

Kieran's cousins kept giving her looks when his mood stayed quiet well after dinner. He didn't participate in the game of cards for the evening, excusing himself to go upstairs about thirty minutes earlier. And it wasn't her place, she kept reminding herself, to pick and nag at him around his family. Besides, Liz had never fallen into that cliche female trap of ‘
What are you thinking? Are you sure you're not thinking something? Is there something wrong with me?’

So bite her tongue she did, but now? She definitely unclamped her teeth.

"So. Would you like to explain why your sum total of spoken words for the day is around twenty one? Typical is somewhere around sixteen thousand per day, the study I read, at least, so you're definitely dragging down the average."

At first he didn't look up from his phone, just clenched his jaw and pulled in a deep breath through his nose. But thankfully, for his own health and wellbeing, he set the phone down on the nightstand and crossed his arms over his chest while he met her gaze from across the room.

"You weren't around me for at least four hours today during the bake-fest. I think you could give me the benefit of the doubt and round me up to about two hundred."

The dry tone in which he spoke matched the slight humor in the way he narrowed his eyes, and Liz dropped her arms, moving to sit on the bed near his feet.

"What's wrong?"

"So you wouldn't believe that I just didn't feel like talking much?"

Liz shook her head, and he lifted one side of his mouth in a wry smile.

"Of course you would be observant, too."

She shifted so that one leg was bent under in order to face him. "What does
that
mean?"

Kieran ran a hand down his face and then hooked it around the back of his neck while he stared at her. "For the first time during all of this, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells."

Thrown by the subject change, Liz leaned forward and rested a hand on his jean-covered leg. "Because of your mom? She seems really happy."

"Not my mom. You."

Pulling her hand back into her lap, Liz watched Kieran's eyes track the movement. She swallowed against a suddenly dry throat at how tormented his eyes were when they met hers.

"Obviously you know that I heard you this morning." Liz nodded carefully, her heart thudding in her chest. He shifted up a bit and braced his elbows on his bent knees. "I've never heard you talk like that about me. Because while I may not know everything about you, I
know
that you were telling the truth. Do you know what that did to me? Hearing you describe my voice? How I terrified you? Knowing that I was not the only one who felt something shift inside when we met?"

Goosebumps pulled up the skin on her scalp, each hair tightening in place at the words that came out of his mouth. Because no, he hadn't been the only one. Even if she hadn't known it yet, he'd set something loose inside her that night, that
feeling
that had been bottled up and ready to burst. He unlocked it. And the fact that he’d felt it too? Her poor heart almost couldn’t handle it, and it thrashed violently behind her ribs in a pathetic effort to try.

"Kieran--"

He held up a hand, eyes blazing. "I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would start spewing some really unmanly shit about what I thought about
you
that night. I was afraid that if I touched you and didn't have
complete
control over myself, that I would drag you upstairs, lock this door and not let you out of this bed for the next couple days. And you, you deserve better than that."

She couldn't breathe. Her whole body vibrated, like Kieran had just pumped lightning through her nervous system. His hands gripped together like they were the only thing holding him back from reaching out to her. And still, she was completely and totally frozen, her mind nowhere near caught up with what he might be saying.

"Deserve better than
you
?" she whispered, heart cracking open in her chest. "Is that what you mean?"

It was his turn to be silent, but after a few long, charged moments, he nodded once. Liz leaned closer to him, until she could feel his hard, uneven exhalations on her face. All the blood in her veins roared into a boiling mess.

"That, Kieran? That is the biggest load of
bullshit
I have ever heard."

A
ll he did was stare
. Gawk. Gape. Whatever word might have been appropriate for that situation. Kieran stayed frozen in his spot on the bed, mere inches away from where Liz was still holding his stare. And truly, she could understand why he was shocked. She'd never sworn in front of him. She never really swore at all. And not only that, she was aiming it at
him
, because really. It was bullshit.

"So all of a sudden, you don't think you're good enough for me? Really?"

He ground his jaw together, making the muscle pop at the hard edge. "It's not like we've ever discussed it, Liz. You and me, together, who deserves what. We've never talked about us
at all
. Because it's all an act, right?"

It was an unequivocal challenge, in his words, in his eyes, all over his body. It was in the way he held his shoulders stiff and his spine snapped straight.

Brave. Just be brave
, she chanted over and over and over in her head. Warriors and soldiers were brave. She was just... her. But all it took was exhibiting courage in daunting situations, right? That she could do.

"It's not all an act for me," she admitted quietly, holding his gaze. Raising her hand, and shifting her weight so that she was balanced on her knees, she cupped his jaw.

His eyes, so deep and dark and fathomless, flitted around her face, like he was looking for how much truth her words held. It was so easy to want to just fall into them, lose her breath and fall out of consciousness into whatever those brown irises held for her.

"No?" Oh, his voice. It went straight down her spine, like someone poured the richest alcohol down the bones holding her straight.

Her thumb brushed against the stubble on his cheek, loving the way it prickled against her sensitive skin. “No."

The point of his chin tipped up, but the look in his eyes told her without any confusion that this would all be on her. Every initial move, every step forward would have to be her decision. Instead of Murphy's Law, it would be Liz's Law. And for every reaction she felt towards Kieran, she fully expected an equal reaction from him.

Leaning the last few inches between them, Liz touched her lips to his, lingering just long enough that they both moved to deepen the kiss. Then she pulled back.

He followed. She smiled.

He pushed off the bed and surrounded her with his muscled arms, the heat from his skin searing into hers. His mouth covered her own, and she opened fully for him. The slow, sinuous motion of his tongue against her own made her moan shamelessly, arching against him where she was pinned to the bed.

The way his hips pressed into hers, the hard length of his body felt bold and inescapable. His hands, his wonderful, rough hands dug under her shirt and gripped the skin around her ribs. Her hands, frantic and uncontrollable, held his head so that he'd never take his mouth away from hers. They'd just have to learn how to breathe from each other's mouths, because Liz might never let him release his lips from hers ever again.

"Liz, Liz, Liz," he chanted between kisses, in between his lips skating down her neck. She gasped, digging her hands into his shoulders, the feeling of his muscles bunching and shifting made her skin hum.

When he pulled away to look at her, she wanted to weep at the distance between them. It was too far. Too much. But then he smiled that ridiculously sexy little half smile, dragging his thumb along her bottom lip while he did it.

"This is what you want?" His other hand skated across her waist, on the skin between her jeans and her shirt.

Leaning up onto her elbows, she slid her hand up his chest and around his neck. "You. You are what I want."

The answering smile he gave made every single part of her body tremble in anticipation. Carefully, so carefully, he pulled her shirt off over her head, tossing it to the floor without looking away from her. It was like his eyes couldn't take her in fast enough, the simple blue cotton of her bra felt like satin and lace against her skin, the way he was looking at her. Like he wanted to devour her from head to toe. And she wanted to do the same.

Sitting up, she pushed up his torso, taking his plain white cotton shirt with the movements of her hands. Once it cleared his head, he lowered on top of her again, dropping kisses down her sternum, between her breasts and stopping to dip his tongue into her belly button. The sound he made raised goose bumps on her arms, it sounded so... so hungry. Biting kissing went across her stomach while he unhooked the button of her jeans. Her fingers dug into his scalp like he was the only thing acting as her gravity.

And that seemed more and more likely as her head spun and her skin tingled. It didn't even seem possible that it could feel like this with someone, especially someone who not that long ago had seemed so opposite of everything she’d wanted. Pulling his face back up to hers, Liz whimpered into his mouth, an apology for ever thinking that they might not mesh. And oh, they meshed.

The rest of their clothes disappeared, she wasn't entirely sure how, since all she could focus on was his lips and his tongue and his hands everywhere on her body. It was like he'd imbued himself on every inch of her skin, so that she'd never be rid of him. She exploded twice before he ever pulled protection from his pants, and still, he held back.

Until she wrapped her arms around him and flipped their positions, her legs straddling his hips.

"No more waiting," she whispered. And finally,
finally
, he listened.

O
ne of Kieran's
hands followed the curve of her spine where Liz was practically comatose on the bed.

"Favorite ice cream?"

Liz giggled into the pillow, turning to look at him. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Seems weird I don't know, given where we met and all."

One of his rough-skinned fingers dipped into the dimples on her lower back and she shivered. His lips followed, placing kisses across her lower back.

"You can't laugh."

"I would never laugh about ice cream," he said, mouth still skimming over her skin. With a smile, Liz turned onto her back, making sure to keep the sheet covering her body. When Kieran pouted, she laughed.

"Chocolate."

"Hmm?" His eyes were fixed on where the top of the sheet covered her chest, and she pushed at his shoulder.

"Ice cream? That's my favorite. Plain old chocolate."

He drew back. "Seriously? Just chocolate?"

"Yup."

"Huh. I would've guessed vanilla."

Liz gasped and Kieran burst out laughing. She covered his mouth with her hand, then with her mouth, lingering for a few long moments. Just luxuriating in the feeling of small intimacies. Something she hadn't had in a very long time.

"You're so rude," she whispered against his lips. "People are probably sleeping. And there's nothing wrong with vanilla."

Kieran chuckled, tucking her into his side. "'Course not, angel."

Liz smiled into his shoulder, taking a deep inhale of his clean, spicy scent. Then they just talked. About everything. They laughed into their pillows so nobody would hear them, kissed for long, drawn-out minutes and drifted hands over each other's skin just because they could.

"She never brought it up, but I know that my arrest caused her a lot of financial issues." His voice was so quiet, like if she'd been even a few inches away from him, she might not have heard. They'd moved on to more serious topics, because the darkening skies and quiet house almost demanded it of them. "That was about the same time she got a second job. And never once did she make me feel guilty about it. How many parents would have acted like that?"

Liz hummed, pressing a kiss to the skin above his heart. "Probably not many."

"What about your mom?" he asked, breathing deeply into her hairline.

She shifted, feeling a twinge of soreness in between her legs, and even though he couldn't see her face, she felt the blush cover her cheeks. Settling her hand across his stomach, she drifted a finger down the middle of his abs, the separated muscle twitching every time she made a pass over them.

"We have a good relationship. We're not close or anything. She wasn't the mom that I sat and told all my stories to. And, I don't know, my parents aren't the type to risk much, I guess. If you get a steady paycheck, and you can pay your bills, there's not much more you'd need from life."

"Ahh," Kieran said, smoothing a hand down her back and settling it on her hip. "That explains a lot."

Liz lifted her head, meeting his eyes for the first time since they'd collapsed in a post-orgasmic heap on the bed. "Explains what?"

"Explains why you're hesitant to start something new."

"I know," she agreed. "And I hate saying it, because they're good parents, really. But they never pushed me to do more. They were proud when the lowest grade I got in high school and college was a B plus, but they didn't expect it of me. Never told me it was okay to aspire for things beyond what I had. And I don't mean physical stuff. I don't need a huge house or a lot of money. But doing something that you feel passionate about, feeling emotionally satisfied in your work, I don't think they've ever experienced that."

"That's too bad. Because that feeling? That kicks ass."

It was so obvious he meant that, not only because she'd seen him completely in his element at his gym, but just how he looked at her when he said it. It made it easier to keep talking. "What's so hard for me is that I consider myself an optimist, in all things. With my friends and their lives, with love, in finding the good in just about every situation. But career? My ability to take that leap? I think I'm a pessimist in that one thing. And that's a terrible thing to be negative about."

The words hung between them, and Kieran didn't respond right away, just stroked his hand against her skin slowly and methodically. That drag of his skin against hers was more soothing than just about anything she'd ever experienced. She closed her eyes, soaking up the small affections he so easily gave.

"You just need the right thing to inspire you." He turned and nuzzled into her neck, blowing loud kisses against her throat until she was giggling breathlessly and trying to press him away. "And I think I know just the thing to do it."

Then his kisses changed, and her breathing was out of control for a completely different reason.

W
hen Kieran peeled
his eyes open, the brightness from the sun about blinded him, so he scrunched his eyelids shut again. Damn it, they'd forgotten the curtains again.

Not surprising, what with all the ridiculously amazing sexy things happening last night. Turning his head away from the window, Kieran opened his eyes again and grinned at the way Liz was sprawled next to him. She was still naked as the day she was born, all that flawless pale, ivory skin laid out before him, just begging for him to touch every inch of it. And he had.

Oh yeah, he had.

Every male in the history of the world had probably felt like this at some point in time. Like you could climb Mt Everest with your bare hands and then jump down with your eyes closed, landing perfectly at the bottom. Indestructible, basically. Because man, that night had been just the best ever.

Ever.

In her sleep, Liz mumbled quietly and then quieted again after turning to her side facing away from him. Briefly touching the ends of her hair where they fell by his arm, Kieran shook his head in amazement. How was she so perfect? Letting the silky strands fall from the tips of his fingers, he carefully rolled out from under the sheet and had to search a bit to find his boxers. Ah, of course, they were buried underneath her jeans.

Snagging his sweats from his duffel, Kieran crept from the room and damn near skipped down the steps in search of coffee. Maybe he'd bring her some. And maybe she'd be so grateful that they'd have rounds four and five.

The grin came back across his face while he was pouring steaming, fragrant coffee into one of the mugs that was sitting out on the counter. He was taking his first sip while he turned to see who was awake, and his Aunt Carol was sitting at the table with something that could only be described as a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Good morning," he said, taking the seat opposite from her.

"That it is, nephew. A good morning, indeed."

Setting his mug down and meeting her direct stare with one of his own, Kieran lifted an eyebrow. "Got something to say?"

That lifted her face in a smile. "Hey, just let me be jealous that someone's getting some in this house."

He choked on the swallow of coffee he had in his mouth, almost dying when it attempted to come back up his nose. Pounding on his chest when he could finally take a breath, he gaped at her. "Seriously, you cannot say stuff like that to me. I'm your
nephew
. That's forbidden."

Pushing away from the table and standing, she patted him on the head when she walked by. "Yes, then just imagine how I felt as your aunt, hearing it happen in my guest room. I will now have to burn the sheets, Casanova."

Kieran sank his head into his hands and groaned. The whole indestructible thing was most definitely gone. And it got worse when he looked up to see his mom walking into the kitchen. There was not enough coffee in the world if he was about to have the same conversation with her.

"Don't worry, I didn't hear a thing," she assured him, like she could read his damn mind. So freaky when she did that.

"Well, thank the Lord for small favors."

"Amen to that, my son."

Watching her sink carefully into a chair, and wince while she did it, was enough to wipe away any of the euphoria he felt when he'd woken up next to Liz.

"You feeling okay, Ma?"

She waved him off, like she always did. "I'm fine, I'm fine. My bones are just hurting a bit more than usual, but I think that's old age as much as anything." They both knew she was lying, but he respected her enough not to disagree. "Now, I'm not going to hassle you about gettin' with your girlfriend under my sister's roof--"

"And thank you for that, because I would probably huddle up and die," he interjected.