All the Pretty Lies Read Online Free PDF

melting into the heat of his
eyes. I knew there was something between us. Well, I’d hoped. Hoped
I wasn’t imagining it. But now I know I wasn’t. It’s there, staring
out at me from behind his hooded midnight eyes. Blatant and
unabashed, he wants me. And I want him, too.
    “You need to walk out that door and never
come back.”
    My heart stops. Of all the things I thought
he might say, this came out of nowhere. “What?” I ask in a small,
uncertain voice.
    “You need to leave. And don’t look back.”
    I scramble to recover. “But…but what about
the rest of my tattoo?”
    “I’m not talking about your tattoo and you
know it.”
    “Then what are you talking about?” I
inquire, playing dumb to save what’s left of my crumbling
pride.
    “I’m talking about you. And me. This.
Us.”
    “There is no us.”
    “There will be in about thirty seconds if you
don’t get the hell out of here.”
    “What if I don’t want to leave?” I’m
confused. Is he saying that he wants me? Or that he wants me to
go?
    “I’m not asking.”
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why do you want me to go?”
    “Because guys like me change girls like
you.”
    “Girls like me?”
    “Innocent girls.”
    “What if I’m not that innocent?”
    His lips quirk in a wry grin. “Oh, you’re exactly that innocent. I can practically smell it on you.
Sweet, pure, untouched. And, if I’m being honest, I’d like nothing
better than to taste that on the tip of my tongue.”
    “Then what’s stopping you?”
    I watch him wrestle with…something. “I don’t
have the time or the inclination to get involved in ruining someone
else’s life.”
    “What makes you think you’d ruin my
life?”
    “Oh, trust me. I would.”
    “But—”
    “But nothing. For tonight, I’ll be the good
guy you need me to be. Whether you know you need it or not. I’m
asking you to leave, Sloane. But I promise you— promise
you —that if you so much as darken my doorway again, I won’t let
you walk back out again.”
    I’m torn between heady elation and harsh
rejection. “Hemi—”
    “Go, little girl,” he says softly. “Go before
I change my mind.”
     
     

CHAPTER SIX- Hemi
     
    A persistent buzzing wakes me. I swat toward
the sound and hear my phone clatter as it hits the floor. With
bleary eyes, I lean over the side of the bed to look down at it. I
have to blink three times before I can focus on the lighted screen.
I note two things. Number one, it’s only fifteen minutes until
eleven. It’s too damn early for anyone to be calling me. Everyone
that has my phone number knows I work at night and sleep late in
the morning. Number two, it’s my older brother, Reese. Wanting an
update, I’m sure.
    I curse under my breath when my head pounds
as I lean over the side of the bed to reach for the phone. I roll
back up quickly, throwing an arm over my eyes as I slide my thumb
across the screen to answer it.
    “What?”
    “You’re still in bed?”
    “Hell yes, I’m still in bed. You know I don’t
get in until after three most nights.”
    “You’ve got more than seven hours already,
you pussy. You’ll be fine.”
    “I didn’t go straight to sleep, asshole.”
    “Damn, you’re grouchy. You must’ve been
drinking.”
    Reese has always complained that drinking
makes me pissy. I guess maybe he’s right. I feel like I could drive
my fist through a solid steel wall.
    “What do you want?” I ask, ignoring his
observation. Lucky for him, he lets it go.
    “Just checking on…things.”
    “’Things’ are fine. No change.”
    “Are you any closer?”
    “You say that like it’s easy to get close to
these people when it’s anything but easy. They’re naturally
suspicious. It’s what they do, who they are.”
    “And I’m sure you don’t inspire
confidence as a trustworthy guy.”
    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    “You ink skin. You’re a step up from a
criminal in some people’s eyes.”
    “Oh, right,” I say drolly.