A Lie for a Lie (All In 1)

She blinks a few times, maybe a little shocked, and wrings her hands. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine. You seem upset.” The circles that I noticed under her eyes yesterday are even more pronounced, like my appearance in her life has caused her to lose sleep. I don’t like that idea, but I guess I can understand. I haven’t been sleeping all that great either.

“I didn’t expect you to show up here after yesterday.” She tugs at the end of her braid.

“Can I take you for coffee—or hot chocolate?”

“I can’t, I have to . . . I-I have an obligation,” she stammers; the hand-wringing ratchets up a notch.

Eden appears out of nowhere, laden down with jackets and purses. “Actually, I can handle your obligation for you.”

Lainey gives her a meaningful look. “You really don’t need to do that.”

“It’s no big deal. I can totally handle it.” She hands Lainey her purse.

“I’d like to at least change first and check on . . . things.”

“You look beautiful just the way you are, but if you want, I can drive you home. We could even pick up coffee and go to your place if that’s easier for you.”

“No!” she shouts and then lowers her voice. “I mean—I need to clean. And I live just across the street. There’s a coffee shop next door. I can meet you there in twenty minutes.”

“Okay, sure.” I assume she’s being all sketchy because she doesn’t want to run into the guy she’s dating in her building. A coffee shop isn’t ideal, especially since I don’t have a ball cap to hide under, but I’ll take whatever I can get here.CHAPTER 16

HEY, BABY

Lainey

I am going to kill Eden. Okay, that’s untrue. I can barely manage killing a spider, but I’m going to be very annoyed with her for at least the rest of today. I take several deep breaths as the elevator counts down the floors to the lobby.

I would really like to be less anxious right now. My palms are insanely sweaty. Actually, a lot of parts of me are sweaty. I check my reflection in the surrounding mirrors, making sure the concealer I dabbed under my eyes is blended in properly. This morning I got into the elevator and realized it was still smeared in a line—like those black lines football players have, except it was flesh colored.

The elevator doors slide open, and I step into the lobby, murmuring hello to people getting on. And, of course, one of them happens to be Walter. Instead of getting on the elevator, he lets everyone else pile in and pulls me into a hug.

Through the window across the lobby I can see RJ, hands jammed into his pockets, watching the exchange with narrowed eyes. I release Walter first and take a step back, which makes him take a step forward. He’s weird about personal space.

“You look nice—are you going somewhere?” Walter fingers the end of my braid, which also puts his hand close to my boob.

I glance toward the window again. RJ’s face is practically pressed up against it, and if he had superpowers, I would bet that laser beams would be shooting out of his eyes right now and Walter would be minus a hand.

“Just coffee with a friend.”

“Lucky friend.” He gives me an exaggerated wink. “Will you be around later? Maybe I could come by and we could watch an episode of Jeopardy! together.”

“Oh, um, can I take a rain check? I’m not sure how long I’ll be out, and I haven’t been sleeping all that well the last few nights.”

His smile drops. “Sure, of course. You can call if you change your mind. I have a bag of sweet-and-salty popcorn and some of that special mint hot chocolate you’re always drinking.”

“That sounds nice.” I push the elevator button for him. “I’ll call you later.”

“Sounds great.” He leans in and kisses me on the cheek before I can run away.

Thankfully, the elevator dings.

RJ is waiting outside the front doors for me. I glance over my shoulder, relieved to see that Walter is already in the elevator. He lifts his hand in a parting wave at the same time as RJ pulls me in for a brief hug. Walter’s smile slides off his face like an egg off a nonstick pan as he disappears behind the elevator doors.

“Friend of yours?” RJ asks, obviously referring to Walter.

“Yes. He is.” I adjust my purse. I want to tack on that it really isn’t any of his business, but I refrain.

“Does he work in IT or something?”

I frown. “How did you know that?”

He smirks. “Lucky guess.”

“Walter is nice. Not everyone is built like a Greek god and gets to be a celebrity.” As if I need to stroke his ego. Based on everything I’ve seen in my internet searches—which is all I have to go on, since I have no idea where the lies end with him—he and a good percentage of the female population of Chicago know how amazing his body is. I push past him and head for the coffee shop next door. I know the baristas here, and there are always a lot of regulars, so it feels like a safe space.