Seduce Me (Austin Singles 1)

My thumb came up to my mouth, and I started chewing on my nail. “I don’t think I can take that risk.” As I lifted my eyes up to them, they pooled with tears. “If he said no, I’d lose everything.”

Terri dropped to her knees and took my hands. “Oh, honey, he’s not going to say no. Deep down Tucker really cares about you.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “You don’t think he’ll say no?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Turning over her shoulder, she looked at Lily. “What about you, Lily?”

When Lily looked up from her phone, she frowned. “Um. I think being honest with him is the best thing you could do. If you’re not, this could turn bad really quickly.”

“Is everything okay, Lily?” I asked.

With a heavy sigh, she looked at me. “Yeah. Sorry. Um listen, I’ve got to run, honey. But I agree with Terri. Just tell him the truth.”

Quickly walking over to me, she kissed me on the cheek. I reached up for her arm and looked at her. “Promise me you won’t say a word to Tucker about this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh God, Charlie. You’re going to ask me to lie to my brother?”

I stood up. “No. I’m just asking you to not share what I shared with you this morning. Let me handle this my way.”

“This is not going to end well if you keep the truth from him. I can’t watch you hurt him again.”

Terri agreed. “I’m with Lily on this one, Charlie.”

My heart sank. I knew if I told Tucker the truth, he would turn down the idea. I’d hurt him too much for him to ever do anything for me. I had to do it this way. It was my only hope of keeping control of my father’s company and following through with my promise to him. I had to seduce Tucker and make him see he could trust me again. The irony of me trying to get the man to trust me while I built our relationship on a lie wasn’t lost on me. A strange pain in my chest hit me, but I pushed it away.

“I don’t have any other choice,” I whispered.

Lily’s shoulders sank. “You do; you’re just too afraid to pick the right one.”

GINA LEANED AGAINST the kitchen counter with a smug expression on her face when I walked back into the kitchen from my room.

“You’re still here?” I asked, pulling out the orange juice.

“What in the hell did you ever see in that woman?” she asked.

I ignored her.

“I mean, the way she was hanging all over you when I walked up.”

“I’m pretty sure we were both hanging all over each other, Gina. What else do you need? I’m not really in the mood.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I took it out to see it was Lily.

Traitor. She’d come and picked up the enemy.

Lily: Charlie freaked because Gina told her she was your girlfriend.

Charlie thought you were about to cheat, and that’s why she bolted.

What in the hell?

My angry gaze lifted from my phone and landed on Gina. She had the nerve to smile.

“You fucking told her you were my girlfriend?”

Her smile dropped.