Bad Liar (The Reed Rivers Trilogy 1)

A faint smile lifts the corners of Georgina’s indignant mouth, like she thinks she’s dealt me a death blow with her little speech. And, once again, I find myself fighting not to smile. Holy shit, she’s fucking adorable. Irresistible. Feisty. Glorious. Oh, how I wish she could sing, even a little bit. Because the girl’s got star power in spades, in a way truckloads of wannabe actresses and models and pop stars would kill for. “Everything you’ve said is exactly right,” I reply. “Especially the part about you being CeeCee’s employee, not mine. In fact, I wouldn’t have agreed to this arrangement if it created any kind of employer-employee relationship between you and me.” I lean forward, my eyes on fire. “And do you know why I didn’t want you as my employee, little Georgina?”

Her chest rises sharply. Her nostrils flare again. She shakes her head.

I smile. “Because I never fuck my own employees.”

Georgina’s lips part with surprise at my obvious implication, left unsaid: but I have no problem fucking one of CeeCee’s.

“Well, news flash,” she says, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not going to fuck me, either, no matter whose employee I am.” She leans forward, cutting the distance between us in half. “And do you know why you’re not going to fuck me, Mr. Rivers?” She’s close enough for me to see the caramel flecks in her hazel eyes. To smell her shampoo and moisturizer and toothpaste. “Because. I. Don’t. Fuck. Assholes.”

I can’t help smirking at her bald-faced lie. “Well, so much for you fucking C-Bomb, then. That’s a relief.”

She clenches her jaw, clearly annoyed, but says nothing.

I cock my head. “So, that’s your clever way of telling me, yet again, that I’m an asshole?”

“Seems like a logical deduction to make from what I just said.”

“Well, that’s an interesting interpretation. Between the two of us, I think any reasonable person would say you acted like a far bigger asshole the other night than me.”

Her eyebrows furrow sharply. “Are you high? You were a colossal dick to me, Reed.”

“Oh, really? Huh. I didn’t tell anyone to fuck off and die. And I’m certainly not the one who had a demo in my pocket the entire time we were flirting. Just a boner, which certainly doesn’t qualify as a hidden agenda.”

“Ha! You want to talk about hidden agendas?” she booms, her glorious temper rising and reddening her cheeks. “Every word out of your mouth that night was a lie, designed to get you into my panties. You think it’s not a hidden agenda to pretend to give a rat’s ass about what a woman says, to pretend to care about having a conversation with her, for the sole purpose of ‘seducing’ her? I know you’re a hundred-and-five and all, but we kids these days call men like you ‘fuckboys,’ Reed. And it’s not a compliment.”

“Getting you into my bed wasn’t my hidden agenda, Georgina. It was my expressly stated goal. I explicitly told you, straight-up, I wasn’t interested in dating you. Only seducing you. Maybe you ‘kids’ today aren’t familiar with the art of seduction, so let me translate for you. The entire purpose of it is getting to the fucking part. So, please, enlighten me. Tell me, what was I hiding from you that night? Name one fucking thing.”

She opens and closes her mouth, at a loss for words.

“I thought so,” I say, leaning back in victory.

“Okay, Mr. Rivers. Listen up, you arrogant prick. I’m going to explain what happened the other night, once, without leaving anything out. And then I’m going to move on and never speak of this again, because I’m already sick to death of the stupid topic.” She takes a deep breath, apparently trying to keep her temper under control, and every cell in my body strains with desire for her. “I wasn’t using you that night, Reed. I was genuinely, sincerely, outrageously attracted to you, from the first second I saw you. I assure you, I wanted to get ‘seduced’ by you, every bit as much as you wanted to seduce me. And, for the record, yes, I was fully aware ‘seduction’ was a euphemism for ‘fucking.’ Aware of and quite thrilled about it.”

I’m breathing deeply. Trying not to let on how intoxicating she is to me—that she’s already won me over, and then some.

“To be honest,” Georgina continues, crossing her arms. “I bet I wanted to have sex with you, even more than you wanted to have it with me. Because, heck, you can have sex with anyone in the world—just by snapping your fingers, Mr. Big Shit Music Mogul. For you, banging some nobody student-bartender isn’t a big deal. Just another Thursday night. But, for me, getting ‘seduced’ by Reed Rivers, going to his fancy house in his fancy car, was a very big deal. And before you call me a gold digger, I’m not. Why would I care about your money, when I was in it for nothing but one night of sex? But who wouldn’t feel swept away by you and your glamorous life? You made me feel like I was in a movie. I haven’t slept with that many guys in my life. And certainly never anyone as experienced and exciting and dashing as you. I’m not saying I gave a shit about you, personally, okay? Even as we were driving to your house, I wasn’t sure I liked you. But one thing I was positive about: I sure as hell wanted you to do filthy things to me—with absolutely no strings attached, I might add—simply for the fun of it.”