Lie to Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Alex. And he’s anxious to see you again.”
    He wanted to see Alex too. “Tell him to drop by my hotel.”
    “I will.”
    He found himself staring into her gaze as she stared back. Damnation! What she did to him; what the hell she did to him…
    “Mom?” A child’s hostile voice called from upstairs. That derailed the spell.
    “Miles, Dad’s here and he’s coming to see you!” she called as she pushed her body against the door, ready to leave him alone with this child.
    “There’s no daddy! It’s a fake! My daddy was a drunk!”
    Damian winced. Oh, great. This would be just great. He only hoped his experience with Reese’s kids would help him over the roughest spots.
    “Miles!” Casey sounded horrified. She gave Damian an apologetic look.
    Damian swallowed hard and waved her away. “I’ll handle this,” he whispered.
    “Faker!” Miles yelled again from upstairs. “I don’t want to see whoever you are! Go away!”
    As disheartening as the words were, Damian’s heart contracted. His son. His beloved son. Miles had every reason to hate him.
    Damian heard jumping from upstairs. The thudding pounded against his skull. He looked at Casey.
    “Miles, enough! Behave!” Casey shot Damian a sympathetic smile.
    “No, Dad can’t be here!” There was a pause, then another loud thud. “Grandpa Michael says he was no good anyways!”
    That did it. Damian started ascending the staircase.
    “Good luck,” Casey whispered to him and he heard the door shut behind her as she left.
    From the top of the staircase came the harsher slamming of a door. “I want Mom!” He heard the boy’s muffled voice.
    Damian cringed, but continued to the landing, then knocked on the door. At least his son wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. It was a vast difference from Reese’s unusually well behaved kids, but he could deal with it. “Miles, let me in, please. It’s me—your father.”
    “You think I’m dumb enough to fall for that?”
    Damian tried to twist the doorknob. Locked. “It’s me. Really.” What now? “I can show you my driver’s license!”
    An eternal pause kept Damian emotionally off balance. Would the kid ever let him inside? Casey certainly hadn’t exaggerated about the boy being difficult. Not that he could blame Miles.
    “Miles?” he managed to remain poised, at least on the outside. “It’s been a long time. Will you at least let me see how much you’ve grown?”
    To Damian’s surprise, the door swung open and the cutest little boy on earth stood there, looking up at him with the biggest blue eyes he’d ever seen. Short for his age, he had longish towhead blond hair, perfect features, and dimples and wore a red flannel shirt and blue jeans. A toe peeked through one of his white socks. Damian felt an instant and intense rush of protective love for this little human being, and broke into a grin that almost split his face. This child—this little boy—his son—the child who’d resulted from the love between himself and Casey. Awed in his presence, he could barely breathe
    Enamored, Damian bent down to lift Miles, but the child twisted away and ran into the apartment. “Don’t touch me!” He threw himself on a sofa, in the fetal position, face toward the cushion. “Did Uncle Sam pay for you to fake it? I hate being rich. You can pay people to lie!”
    Damian dropped from his fatherhood cloud and reality slapped him down as he remembered the chore that lay before him—winning back his little boy. He stepped into the apartment and shut the door. He took in hardwood floors, sparse, inexpensive furniture, and a living room attached to a small kitchen. His attention refocused on the little fireball buried on the couch. He pulled out his wallet and opened it to his driver’s license. “Look, son,” he said, keeping cool.
    Miles lifted his head long enough to glance at him from halfway across the room. “Don’t call me son! Fake ID! Liar!” He buried his face in the cushions