Lying Hearts (Small Town Lies 1)

“How about we call it a day? We will leave this alone and go see Ethan, remember?”

“Can I meet you there?” she asked. “I just need some time alone, and I want to call Marely and see why this place got a thumbs up.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t like the idea of you being by yourself.”

“I’ll be here, so will London,” Oliver said.

Yeah, that didn’t make me feel any better. Not even a little bit.

“What?” London shouted over the music, deafening her ears. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” I said.

“What?” she yelled again.

“No—” oh, for fuck's sake. I made a spinning motion with my finger and told her to turn around and get back to work.

She nodded and danced her way to the mural she was painting on the wall. I wasn’t too sure what it was supposed to be yet, but I was sure it would be great.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Luna said. “Five minutes, okay? That’s it. Nothing is going to happen.” She kissed my cheek and pushed me out the door. “You’re going to have to leave me on my own at some point. Might as well start now.” She sounded like she found this funny.

It wasn’t. I was scared something was going to happen to her.

And I wasn’t going to leave her.

“Make your call in the car. You aren’t staying here,” I said, not budging. I wasn’t going to leave her here. Fuck that. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen and whether it was my paranoia or my gut telling me to get her out of here. I was going to listen to myself. “I’m serious. I will not leave until you are by my side, Moon.”

Her face softened, and the hard lines surrounding her mouth vanished with the pet name. I knew I had her. “Fine. You win this round, Mr. Moore.”

“I’ll win every round, you just wait and see,” I said.

She just shook her head, grabbed her things, and pushed Oliver and London out the door, who was still listening to music, but got the drift of what was happening because she danced her way to her car.

“Bye babe. She’s weird today. I’m going to ride with her.” Oliver leaned in and kissed Luna’s cheek. “Text me about Ethan.”

“You aren’t coming?” she asked.

“No, it’s a family thing, babe.”

“Thanks, Oliver.” It meant a lot to me that he’d respect my family’s privacy.

“Anything for you Moore brothers.” Oliver winked and skipped down the sidewalk until he looped his arm through London’s.

I opened up the passenger side door for Luna as she locked the doors to her boutique. As she walked toward the truck, she stopped and checked her surroundings like she could feel someone watching her. Just a half a block away was the remains of Kathy’s and Rocky’s; then she looked across the street toward the corner candy shop, then the one-screen movie theater that had been there since the early 1900s, and then her eyes fell on me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “Let’s go Luna.”

She hurried toward me and jumped in the truck, almost slipping on the ice that had formed on the ground. I ran around the front of the truck, slipping on the same sheet of ice, but caught myself with my good hand, and slung myself toward the driver’s side door. The tires skidded over the ice for a few seconds without traction before they finally got us out of the parking spot and on the road.

I could breathe easier when we were away from the heart of town. There was nothing there, but we both felt off…

“Easton, I’m scared,” she said.

“I know, baby. I got you, though. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I swore. I didn’t care if protecting her killed me. Luna was worth every breath in my lungs, and if she needed life, I’d give her my own.

I turned on the radio to ease the tension in the cab, but the damn emergency broadcast system still played the same message. I flipped the Bluetooth on and switched to the playlist on my phone. The country song didn’t drown out the chatter of Luna’s teeth. She was terrified.

Five minutes later, we drove over the one-way bridge. If a car was coming from the other direction, whoever got there first had to pull over. It was a wooden bridge that had been there for fifty years, and it crossed a small river. Usually, I didn’t think twice about it, but right now, I hated driving over it. It swayed, and the tires bumped over every piece of wood.