A Family Affair: The Wish: Truth in Lies, Book 9 Read Online Free PDF Page A

emotions that left a person thinking about despair and missed opportunities did not settle well with him. He was fine when those emotions had to do with someone else, because he was a fixer and he could fix problems. Just not his. “I’m fine. Sorry.”
    “What about you?” she asked. “If you could have one wish, what would it be?”
    Now there was a question. Unfortunately, he didn’t have an answer, not a good one. He could tell her anything, lie or truth, and she wouldn’t know the difference, but he didn’t want to do that, so he shrugged and said, “I’m not much into wishing. I’m more of a make-it-happen kind of guy.” The raised brow and tilted head said she wasn’t settling for that. After, he’d always wonder how this woman got him to spill the truth he kept well hidden from everyone, even those closest to him. “If I could have one wish it would be to stop planning every second of my life. Just once, I’d like to live for the moment and in the moment. Spontaneous. Alive.” He held her gaze. “Free.”
    The smile she gave him said she liked his answer. “That’s beautiful.” Her smile spread as her gaze slipped from his eyes to his nose, his chin… “Beautiful,” she murmured.
    He cleared his throat and shut down the jolt to his crotch. Now why did Bree have to go and look at him like she wanted to touch him? Damn it, they were having a decent conversation with a little bit of heart and truth thrown in. Why’d she have to go and sex it up and ruin everything? That’s what happened when a guy helped a woman with a sad story who had one too many glasses of wine. She thought he wanted to rescue her, thought he was something other than a guy trying to be decent, like maybe he was a knight and she was the princess. Yup, wine did that every single time. But then again, good manners had gotten him into more than one predicament, usually involving a woman. His sister said it was his boyish charm and blond good looks that attracted women like bees to honey. Yeah, that’s what he wanted to be—a bowl of honey. His brother said Adam was too nice to people, especially women, a habit that sent the wrong message, especially to women. But this one had seemed different; this one had acted like she really did just want to share a meal. Hadn’t she warned him she wasn’t going to sleep with him? Was that a ploy because she was going to sleep with him?
    “Adam?”
    Women. He’d never figure them out.
    “Adam?”
    Her voice pinged his brain, shot from one side to the other. He rubbed his temple, dragged his gaze to hers. “Yes?”
    Those full, pink lips spread into a wide smile as she lifted a hand and pointed at the end of the booth where their waiter stood holding two platters. “It’s crab time.”

2
    T he man was definitely a looker with a heap of charm, and from the way he talked and the fancy words he slipped in now and again, he was educated, too. A looker with charm and smarts could be dangerous to a girl’s common sense. Good thing Bree had no interest in men, especially not strangers. Why, she didn’t even know Adam’s last name, or anything much about him, not whether he had a brother, sister, dog, ex-wife. Heavens, he could have a current wife. She slid a quick gaze to his left hand. No ring. That meant next to nothing. She nibbled on a piece of crab, savored the sweetness of it. Married men didn’t always wear rings, or if they did, they had the habit of slipping them off during the times they didn’t want to be married. Is that what Brody had done? Or had he worn the ring because his marriage and his wife meant so little to him? Oh, if she could have one more conversation with that man, she’d find out a lot, beginning and ending with the tales of his scoundrel cheating. Bree snatched a roll, bit into it. The dang man would probably lie about that, too. Some men were plain deceitful and others weren’t. She glanced across the table at Adam as he lifted a forkful of crab and