Tell Me No Lies Read Online Free PDF Page B

kickstand, but I took the hint. I leaned up against the bike and watched him pace, the phone against his ear. If one overlooked the scruffiness of his facial hair, he didn’t cut too bad a figure. He was broad and well-proportioned, and his body hinted at coiled energy. Had he really been to prison? If so, what for? Too many speeding tickets? A land deal gone wrong? No, it was all simple-minded gossip.
    Of course, I’d imagined my response to him in the diner. I hadn’t really felt anything when he kissed me. Well, not like I did with Julian.
    It wasn’t too late. I could go home, talk to Julian, work it out. I could figure out how to forgive him. Couldn’t I?
    Inside I rebelled. I’d trusted him, and he’d betrayed me. Going back meant committing myself to a relationship that had no future, or a lifetime of living together without being one, like my parents. No. Better to marry Gage temporarily.
    Except first I had to know if he’d really gone to prison and why. If it was for embezzlement, well, I’d watch my funds carefully. If it was for drunk driving, I’d make sure to keep him from the booze if he was driving me anywhere. If it was for murder, well, I’d run for the hills.
    He was coming toward me with a bit a swagger I recognized as his usual gait. There was a spring in his step. “We’ll have to stop for a marriage license, but it’s easy enough. My friend will have everything ready for us at his hotel. Do you have something to wear?” His eyes went to the compartment that hid my backpack.
    “Uh, won’t this do?” I looked down at my jeans. “I didn’t pack a dress.”
    “Not if you want to convince anyone it’s for real. But they have some dresses for rent, and my friend is saving us a room so we can clean up first and stay the night. By the time we get this all taken care of, it’ll be too late to go elsewhere.”
    “We’ll need two rooms then.”
    He gave me that placid stare, and this time it sent heat to my face. “I booked two. Isn’t that what I said?” He climbed on the bike and started the engine.
    “Just one more thing.” I wished I could see his expression better. “People say, uh—did you really spend time in prison?”
    His jaw tightened, and his eyes searched mine. “Yes, I did. Six years.”
    “What for?”
    “That is none of your business.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    O f course he was kidding—I could tell by the smirk on his lips. He’d heard the rumors and was getting me back for using him.
    “Is my record a problem?” he asked.
    “Well, uh, I . . .”
    “I did my time. I paid my debt. You are in no danger from me. I would never hurt you or anyone.”
    Of course you’d say that, especially if you had plans to hurt me, I thought. Wait a minute—what was I thinking? He was joking about serving time, and that was the end of it.
    Or was it? He seemed awfully grim, and a six-year sentence would mean a serious crime.
    “Well?” he asked with a mocking smile. “Are we going?”
    I climbed on the back of the motorcycle without saying a word. Lily would kill me if she could see me now. She’d want me to be absolutely sure of the truth before I went another mile. Yet I’d known Gage for months, and he’d never given me any reason to fear him. Aside from Sadie, he was the nearest thing I had to a friend in Flagstaff—which was really sad if I stopped to think about it.
    Anyway, Serenity trusted him. She didn’t like my dad or even Lily, and she didn’t like Julian. Every time Julian came over with a mount from his father’s stable to ride with us, her ears would go forward, and she would skitter away from his hand. It had become so bad lately that I’d quit asking him to ride with me at all. On the other hand, she liked Gage. That had to mean something.
    I hoped.
    Besides, I couldn’t deny that there was something strangely exhilarating about being on the back of a motorcycle with Gage, rumors or no.
    The ride to Vegas went far too