Trust Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t out there with some other woman, then what could he possibly be doing? All the early morning s, all the late nights in the office. They didn’t have the same routine they used to have. Maybe he just needed space?
    Piper checked her phone. “Look, I have to take off, but you should think about what I said. Ask him,” she implored. “He just might surprise you.”
    Poppy forced a strained smile and stood to give her friend a hug goodbye. “Thanks for lunch.”
    “Thanks for getting me out of the apartment,” Piper returned. “Tate is driving me nuts. He’s such a bear to be around when he’s closing in on a deadline, but he pays me in sex, so I can’t complain.” Poppy laughed. “Call me if you need anything—a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen…someone to help hide the body.”
    After promising to call, Poppy watched Piper leave then gathered her coat and purse and followed suit. She had never been one for eating alone. She was halfway down the block when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Taking it out, she thumbed the screen and frowned when Felix’s name popped up. He refused to text her, and always insisted on calling just so he could hear her voice. She used to think it was sweet, but at the moment it was nothing but inconvenient. She didn’t want to talk to him. She was actively avoiding anything having to do with Felix Sinclair.
    Last night, after feigning an orgasm, she had left him tied to the bed while she pretended to go eat dinner. The truth was she hadn’t been all that hungry. After catching him lying to her—at least she was fairly certain he was lying—she had to get away from him. While he shouted for her from the bedroom, she curled up on the couch with Bo and cried herself to sleep. She awoke a couple hours later to a quiet house. When she’d gone upstairs, creeping into the bedroom, she found Felix passed out cold. His arms were still bound to the bedframe and every inch of his beautiful, perfect body was bared to her.
    Asleep, he looked s o calm and innocent. She had a hard time believing that he would hurt her, but there was just too much wrong with his story for her to see an alternative. Felix’s behavior had been off for a while. What other explanation was there? He had to be seeing someone else.
    Still, she kicked herself because she couldn’t just leave him like that. Untying him, she carefully lowered his arms to his sides and drew the blankets up so he wouldn’t catch a chill. Even if he was stepping out on her, she couldn’t deny her need to take care of him. She loved the bastard.
    Having gathered a change of clothes, Poppy chose to sleep on the couch that night. She woke early the next morning and rushed out the door before Felix had the chance to come looking for her. The meeting with Piper bought her an hour, but now she needed to figure out how to fill the rest of the day, because she wasn’t ready to face Felix. Not yet.
    Her chest ached as she hit ignore. The phone immediately started vibrating in her palm. Gripping it tight, Poppy walked through the open-air mall, brushing shoulders with other shoppers in her haste to get to some place quiet and secluded so she wouldn’t be on display when she started bawling her eyes out.
    The phone buzzed again and again. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone? Couldn’t he understand that she was ignoring him?
    Taking a seat on an empty bench tucked beneath a young ornamental tree, Poppy stared at her phone. She wasn’t going to answer. She wasn’t. But what if he was worried about her? She didn’t want him thinking something bad had happened to her. But she couldn’t stand to hear his voice right now, even though it was the one thing she craved most at that moment.
    Touching the screen, she started texting . I’m fine. Be home later .
    Felix texted back immediately . Answer your phone.
    Chewing the inside of her cheek, Poppy told herself that was never going to happen. Even through typed words, she could