Bad Liar (The Reed Rivers Trilogy 1)

Holy shit. My mind is racing and my heart pounding. I want to say yes, despite all the “good girl” reasons I probably shouldn’t. And not simply for the chance to give him Alessandra’s music in private, but because... holy hell, I want to have sex with this sexy, arrogant man! But, unfortunately, that’s a moot point because I truly can’t leave my shift early.

“Sorry, I can’t leave early,” I say, pouting. “I wish I could.”

Reed’s face perks up. “Is that true—you genuinely wish you could leave early and come home with me? Or did you say that simply to be polite?”

I bite my lip, realizing I’ve just given up the ghost. “I wasn’t being polite,” I admit. “I’d genuinely love to leave early and go to your house tonight, but I truly can’t. I guess we’ll just have to get together after you get back from New York. It’s too bad, but unavoidable. I won’t get out of here until around two thirty, and it sounds like you have to get to the airport pretty early tomorrow.”

Reed’s jaw muscles pulse. He takes a long gulp of one of the drinks I’ve laid before him and shakes his head.

“What time do you have to leave for the airport?” I ask hopefully, on the off-chance we could make tonight work.

“Five, at the very latest.”

I grimace. “Yeah, tonight definitely won’t work, then. We wouldn’t get to your place till three, and then you’d have to shove me out the door at four thirty. No, thanks. I’m up for a meaningless good time with you tonight, no strings, but, still, that’s way too big a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am for me. At least for our first time.” I slide another drink across the bar and hold my breath, hoping Reed will try to convince me I’m wrong. But, no, Reed remains unusually quiet, looking deep in thought.

“Are you going to New York for business or pleasure?” I ask, simply to break the awkward silence.

He takes a sip of his drink. “Both.”

I force myself not to frown at that answer. Both. Surely, the personal “pleasure” part of Reed’s trip will involve him hooking up with a gorgeous woman. Or two or three. Probably some glamorous model or actress. Shit. It’s suddenly dawning on me: if I don’t go home with Reed tonight, due to time constraints, and he then flies off to New York to party with rock stars and fuck supermodels this entire week, he’s going to forget I ever existed. And where will that leave my lady-boner? With blue balls, that’s what.

But, more importantly, what would that mean for Alessandra? If I miss out on sexy times with Reed, because I wasn’t willing to subject myself to a lightning-fast one-night stand, I’ll cry into my pillow at the lost opportunity for a night or two. But I’ll live, and eventually find myself another hottie to screw. A hottie as sizzling as Reed? Not bloody likely. But, still. I’ll survive. But if I miss out on the chance to quite possibly make my stepsister’s lifelong dreams come true, simply because I didn’t want to rush some no-strings sex with Reed, I’d never forgive myself.

Out of nowhere, Reed lets out a tormented sigh. “Okay, look, Georgie. There’s no way in hell I can wait a full week to get you alone. I respect everything you’ve said about not wanting to rush things tonight. In fact, I couldn’t agree more. You’re not a woman I want to rush anything with, believe me. I want to be able to explore every nook and crevice of your body for hours and hours.”

I blush. Whoa.

“But I wasn’t kidding: waiting a week might physically kill me.” He looks at a clock on the wall, so I turn to look, too. It reads a few minutes until eleven. Reed says, “What if you could get off tonight in an hour—at midnight? That would give us over four hours together. Still, not enough, but certainly better than the alternative. What if I could arrange that, and promise you won’t piss anyone off by leaving early and won’t miss out on a single dollar of tips. Would you say yes to doing that tonight—to being my naughty Cinderella at the stroke of midnight?”

He’s rendered me speechless. Confused. Frozen. Turned on.

Smiling like a shark smelling blood, Reed leans forward. “If I could arrange all that at the stroke of midnight, my sexy Cinderella, would you say yes? Would you say yes to letting me take you to my house to do every filthy fucking thing imaginable to your gorgeous body for four non-stop hours?”

Hell yes. That’s what I’m thinking. Hell to the freaking yes, Reed Rivers. Do all the filthy things to me. Bring it. But that’s not what I say. No, somehow, I manage to keep a straight face and reply, “No, I don’t think I’d say yes to an offer like that.” Much to my delight, Reed’s face falls. Which is when I lean forward, lick my lips, and say, “You should already know me better than that by now. If given an offer like that, then I’d follow your explicit instructions from the lecture. I’d say exactly the thing you told me to say to you, whenever opportunity came knocking. I wouldn’t say yes to you, Mr. Rivers.” I wink. “I’d say, ‘Yes... yes... yes.’”