Beloved Liar (The Reed Rivers Trilogy 3)

I chuckle. “It doesn’t work that way. That money belongs to the banks now. It’s theirs.”

Georgina mutters something expletive-laden under her breath that makes me smile even wider. “All right,” she says, her voice brimming with resolve. “As of this moment, I owe that same exact amount of money to you. I don’t care how long it takes me, I’m going to pay you back every cent, with interest.”

Oh, how I’ve missed this back and forth with my beautiful fireball. I’ve only been without her for a matter of days, but it feels like years. “You know I won’t accept a dime from you.”

“I’m not giving you a choice. I’m going to Venmo payment to you every month, on the first.”

“Which I’ll decline with the push of a button.”

“God, you’re impossible! Do you have any idea the trouble you’ve caused me?”

“Trouble?”

“With my father! He saw that email and freaked out. He was like, ‘How did you get your hands on a hundred thousand bucks, Georgina Marie?’”

“Did you tell him about me?”

“Of course, not! I told him that same cancer charity from before came to the rescue again. But he didn’t believe me this time. He barely believed me last time, regarding the pay-off on his condo. He was like, ‘Tell the truth, Georgie. Where is all this money coming from? Did that same jerk who sent you the expensive stationary bike also pay off your student loans?’”

Admittedly, knowing that Georgina’s father thinks I’m a jerk isn’t optimal. But, hey, at least, Georgina told him about me. And, even better, she’s talking to me again. Which means I can now see a path forward to convincing her to take me back. “Ah, so your father knows of my existence?”

“Only because I couldn’t avoid telling him where I got the Peloton.”

“So, what did you finally tell him about the loans?”

“That I’m secretly working for a drug cartel.”

“What?”

“That was a joke. I wish I could have told my father that. Telling him I’m working for a drug cartel would have been preferable to telling him I fell head over heels for the asshole CEO of River Records, and that, unfortunately, that asshole sneaked off and had sex with a movie star, and now thinks he can buy my trust and affection by paying off my student loans.”

Okay, I realize a whole lot of what Georgina said wasn’t good for me. Particularly, the part where she’s still convinced I had sex with Isabel. Also, it’s not ideal she called me an asshole. But I can’t focus on negativity when Georgina started her diatribe with the amazing words: I fell head over heels for the CEO of River Records. During our magical week together, Georgina and I never said we were “falling” for each other. We said we felt “addicted.” And that we were “crazy about” each other. We said we liked each other “so damned much.” But we never once said “I’m falling for you”—which, of course, is a close cousin of “I’m falling in love with you”—which, in turn, is only one tick shy of “I love you.”

“So, how’d you explain the loan getting paid off, if you didn’t say you were a drug mule?”

“Well, since my father wasn’t buying the cancer charity anymore, I told him the head of River Records is an eccentric billionaire who loves doing random acts of kindness. Which is actually kind of true. So, I told him you’d paid off my student loans, along with the student loans of Zasu, the other reporter working on the special issue.”

I scoff. “And he bought that?”

“No. He’s not a moron. Don’t insult my father’s intelligence.”

I laugh. “You’re the one who told him the lie. Not me.”

“I’m his daughter. I’ve been insulting my father’s intelligence since I was sixteen and putting pillows under my covers to make it look like I was in bed, fast asleep, when I’d actually sneaked out a window to go to a party.”

I chuckle heartily. “You were Ferris Bueller. Oh, God. Please tell me you know that reference.”

“Of course.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘of course’ when it comes to you and pop culture references. Did you put pillows under your covers a lot, little Miss ‘Sneaky’ Ricci?”

“Probably, like, ten times. And it always worked like a charm. Until it didn’t. Hoo-boy, the day I finally got caught wasn’t a good one.”

I laugh, and so does Georgie, which then makes every cell in my body electrify with excitement. Hope. Love. “I’m not a billionaire, by the way.”

“Huh?

“You told your dad an ‘eccentric billionaire’ paid off your loans. I’m not a billionaire. Give me twenty years and I will be, though.”

“You’re a millionaire, though, right?”

“About five hundred times over.”

“Why are you correcting me on this? Isn’t it ‘on-brand’ for the world to think you’re a billionaire?”

My stomach tightens. “I’m not ‘on-brand’ with you, Georgina, and you know it. I’m just me.”