Chapter 11
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I would never have dreamt about lying to my sister.
Back when we were children, and right into our late teens, we were inseparable. And although I was her younger sister, Maya never pushed me to the side.
She taught me everything while our mother chased the highs of her career.
How to tie my shoelaces, what shade of lipstick matched my complexion, the best places to sneak into the house without being seen after a party, how to lie without blushing, how to flirt with boys, and how to tell when they liked you back.
Freaking hell, without Maya’s encouragement, I’d have never agreed to a date with Daniel in the first place.
She was there every step of my relationship.
She listened to me ramble on and coached me on how to play it cool when Daniel called me for a second date.
She was the one who squealed down the phone in excitement when I told her about the first time we had sex, and who held me while I cried uncontrollably the first time we fought.
My big sister used to be my best friend.
Over the course of a year, we dwindled from best friends to sisters right down to strangers who shared the same DNA.
And although my mother played a significant role in that, I knew she wasn’t entirely to blame. Maya had made her decision; she had picked Daniel over me, and by fuck it was a bitter pill to swallow.
No one seemed to realize I didn’t just lose my ex in the breakup.
So, there was little wonder why it felt like there was a massive neon ‘liar’ sign directly above my head that only Maya could see.
If Elliott felt the same, he didn’t give it away, keeping his arm cemented around my waist as we approached my sister and my ex.
“Livi, what a pleasant surprise.” Maya air-kissed my right cheek. “I didn’t realize you weren’t working today. I would have called and invited you to lunch with us.”
A bare-faced lie.
“There’s always next time.” I forced a tight smile.
The last time the two of us had lunch together was the fateful day she told me about her true feelings for Daniel and hoped I’d understand.
Let’s say my understanding resulted in the glass of water that I tossed at her head right before my lunch reappeared so horrifically on the table being the reason I was banned from eating at Frolics.
“And you must be the man Livi’s been keeping secret from everyone.” Maya turned her attention to Elliott. “How strange that she’s been hiding you away.”
“I had my reasons,” I interjected.
My sister arched a perfectly sculpted brow. “What reasons?”
“Unfortunately, the evening I planned to share the news, I was seeing someone with everyone, and I was a little blindsided by your latest news.”
At least she had the grace to look somewhat uncomfortable, even if it was only for a fleeting second.
My spine was likely to snap from the tension. “I didn’t want to steal your thunder.”
“How decent of you.” Her feline eyes trailed between the two of us. “Are you going to keep standing there or are you going to introduce us, Livi?”
“Oh, right, yes.” I fumbled over my words. “Maya, this is Elliott, my…The guy I’ve been dating... He’s, you know, my…”
“Boyfriend,” Elliott finished my sentence with an easy-going smile. “We’re still getting used to the official titles, aren’t we, Peaches?”
I nodded too quickly for it to look at all natural.
Oh, freaking hell, what was wrong with me?
Keep it together, woman!
“Took me a long time to convince your sister to go on a date with me, never mind agree to make it official. I knew I had my work cut out for me with someone as stunning as her,” Elliott continued, “but she’s worth every bit of the effort.”
The flat of his thumb trailed along my hip bone. The material of my skirt did nothing to protect me from the heat searing into the very spot he touched. It was a small gesture that I assumed was meant to be soothing, yet it kicked every cell in my body into overdrive.
Without thought, I leaned into him, relishing the way my body slotted so perfectly against his.
He smelled good too. Like leather-bound books and fresh-brewed black coffee, that I couldn’t resist inhaling deeply every time I caught a whiff.
Who knew faking it could feel so freaking good?
Fucking hell, get it together.
“Uh-huh.” Maya’s brows knitted together. “Well, it’s nice to finally put a face to the photo Livi shared.”
“And it’s an absolute pleasure to finally meet you,” Elliott offered with an easy-going smile. “Livi has told me so much about you, I feel like I know you already, oh, and your fiancé too.”
Maybe it was my mind trying to protect me, but somehow, I’d forgotten about Daniel hovering like a spare wheel.
He was always the quiet type, never self-imposing, happy to drift into the background, everything that my sister shouldn’t have been attracted to.
“Oh yes, how could I forget?” Maya laughed lightly. “Let me introduce you properly to my darling Daniel.”
Her darling Daniel. Hers.
My stomach churned, the acidic taste of bile and iced tea burned the back of my throat.
With his hands buried deep in his jeans, his signature flannel shirt and brown boots, his Montana Bears baseball cap, and shaggy blond hair, Daniel looked the same as he did the day I met him.
Except the usual softness in his dark hues wasn’t quite how I remembered.
From beneath his baseball cap, Daniels’ gaze remained locked and loaded on one person.
Elliott. Or more specifically, on Elliott’s thumb that continued to roll along my hip bone like it was the most natural thing in the world.
It didn’t feel natural, but it didn’t feel wrong either.
“Good to see you, Liv,” Daniel said gruffly without looking at me, “and what did you say your name was?”
“Elliott.”
“You got a surname?”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
Daniel’s left eye twitched faintly.
Maya cleared her throat. “At least dinner shouldn’t be too awkward now you’ve met myself and—”
“Liv’s never mentioned an Elliott before. Ever,” Daniel interrupted my sister—brave man, very brave man. “How exactly did you two meet?”
The air shifted. Elliott’s arm tensed around me, his fingers molding against my waist. Neither of us spoke, my own heartbeat picking up an extra octane as I tried to string together a believable lie.
Anything that didn’t involve me, an emergency room, and a panic attack.
Shit, shit, shit.
Think of something.
Daniel’s attention finally flicked to me. No matter how much I told myself not too, I couldn’t stop myself from meeting his gaze and letting all rational thoughts tumble from my mind.
I used to love the way he could read every single one of my emotions from a single glance, like I was a book written solely for him.
A book he ripped in half and threw into a bonfire.
Now, I hated it. I hated him looking at me like that, like he still had the right to.
“Through my brother, Jaxon,” Elliott’s voice pulled me back. “He’s the one who pushed us together when I moved to New York. Between him and my sister-in-law Evelyn, they played matchmaker.”
“Your brother is Jaxon? As in Jaxon Dade of Dade Diamonds?” Maya asked excitedly.
“That’s right.” I shifted my attention and forced myself to focus on my fake boyfriend. “After I organized Jaxon and Evelyn’s wedding parties, we’ve stayed in touch.”
Sort of.
I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Jaxon, never mind spoke to him, but his wife, Evelyn, ran in the same circles I did. Not to mention, she owned one of the largest book publishers in New York and always asked me to organize her author events.
So, not a complete bare-faced lie, just a slightly edited version of the truth.
“And like Elliott said, when he moved here, Jaxon gave him my number,” I continued.
“He told me Livi was well out of my league, which, look at her, of course she is.” Elliott smiled down at me, bringing the little flutters in my stomach out of their semi-permanent slumber. “But he thought we’d hit it off, and well, the rest is history.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed beneath his cap’s brim. “You don’t say. Odd that Jaxon Dade, a man infamous for not caring about anyone, would care enough to set the two of you up.”
“Hush, darling, this is wonderful. Think how many doors this will open for us.” Maya’s lips spread into an excited grin. “Wait until mamá hears you are dating a Dade brother! She is going to lose her mind.”
Shit, I hadn’t thought of that.
Maybe I didn’t have to worry so much about my mother believing my white whale of a lie. The second she discovered that Elliott was related to Frederic and Jaxon, it’d be music to her ears.
After all, the Dades were in her words ‘good stock’. Perfect for appearances, and something she’d love to brag about to everyone in her social circle.
“Right, well, we have reservations, Daniel darling.” Maya offered me another cheek air-kiss. “We shall see the two of you on Thursday.”
“We can’t wait.” Elliott leaned down to rest his lips on the top of my head. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
He was a little too good at this whole faking it thing.
Shudders ran through my entire system that I barely managed to hide as that freaking thumb of his resumed tracing the outline of my hipbone.
“Oh, and Livi, don’t forget your binder,” Maya called over her shoulder. “I want to make a couple last-minute changes to the engagement party, and I have a couple thoughts about the wedding too.”
Of course she did. My dear sister was turning into a classic bride-zilla.
Then again, did I expect anything less?
Watching them walk out of the store, it struck me harder than a baseball bat that it wasn’t just my mother or Maya I had to concern myself about convincing.
Right before he disappeared from sight, it was impossible to miss Daniel’s jaw muscles twitching uncontrollably when he took one last look back at me.
A look that told me one thing for certain.
He didn’t believe my lie for a second.