Secrets & Lies (Roughshod Rollers MC 3)

Screw him.

My ex was more of a wife beater than a bad boy, and I’m never going back.

But that means I’ve got to be careful.

I can’t let anyone get close. Especially not Ted.

The Promise

Lydia Burns…so damn gorgeous…

My heart stops a beat whenever I see you,

You are the girl of my dreams,

And I’ve always loved you.

So what, if you don’t know it already!

So what, if I have to break all the rules to make you mine!

Coming Together

I always wanted my first time to be perfect,

And with someone with whom I could spend my entire life with.

But work seldom gave me a chance to go out…

Who knew that heading to a childhood friend’s wedding might just be my first meeting with Mr. Right!

Amanda

The waiter glanced at the empty seat across from me at my table as he filled my water glass for the second time. I straightened the fork on the linen napkin in front of me and sighed, putting my hands in my lap. The restaurant was full, and there were people waiting at the front for tables. I felt slightly uncomfortable sitting there without ordering anything, but I wasn’t quite sure what was going on yet. I stopped the waiter before he left my table and requested a glass of chardonnay so that at least I wouldn’t be sitting there empty-handed. I was supposed to be meeting my best friend Lindsey to go over some wedding details.

Lindsey had been my best friend since before I could remember. We had grown up together and continued our lives in the same place, Los Angeles, California. We were LA girls and that would never change. Lindsey had met her fiancé Jordan Smith at a happy hour event at that very restaurant, and it was all history from there. I liked Jordan a lot, and the two of them fit together so perfectly. At times it made me jealous, but then I remembered what kind of assholes that men could be.

In any case, Lindsey was supposed to be there to talk about her upcoming wedding. I was the Maid of Honor, and the big day was only a month away with about a thousand things to get done. I loved her, but sometimes, it was like she thought these things would magically get solved if she just ignored them. The wedding planning had started out with a bang after her engagement, but the closer we got, the more exhausted I could see her getting with it all. We were all at the point where we just wanted the wedding to be there. I reached in my purse and pulled out my phone, which was buzzing wildly.

“Where are you?” I whispered with irritation.

“I’m so sorry, Amanda,” she said. “I have a photo shoot going on, and I thought it would be over, but things are taking way too long. I don’t think I can make dinner today. We will reschedule really soon.”

Lindsey was one of those girls with the perfect body, perfect complexion, and curves in all the right places. She was not just a could-be model but an actual one. She lived a luxurious life, and it always made me giggle seeing her on different ads through the city. She was so goofy in real life but so serious when it came to her job. I sighed and took a drink of my wine.

“It’s alright,” I said. “Call me when you’re done, and we’ll reschedule.”

“Thank you,” she said sweetly. “I love you to pieces. I gotta go. The photographer is coming back.”

I hung up the phone, and my smile quickly faded away. I tried to be understanding, but I was a little irritated. I had been sitting there on my own for over twenty minutes. I looked around, feeling my stomach grumbling and decided why not just eat there. I was already sitting there. I flagged the waiter down and whispered to him.

“My guest is not coming,” I said. “I’m going to stay, but I’ll move to the bar to free this table up for someone else.”

“Very good, ma’am,” he said with a smile and nod. “I’ll have your check transferred over.”

“I’m very sorry,” I said, standing up and grabbing my clutch off the table.

r /> “It’s really no problem,” he said kindly, leading me to the bar. “It happens a lot.”