Tell Me No Lies

by Fiona Marsden

  Tell Me No Lies

  Brizvegas Billionaires Book 1

  Fiona M Marsden

  Copyright © 2019 by Fiona M Marsden

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  With thanks to author Wendy Marcus,

  Amy Andrews of Word Witchery,

  Also the anonymous judges of RWAus

  All of whom gave their time and expertise to make this a better story.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  1

  “I was promised a geek, Jimmie. Why haven’t they delivered?”

  The young receptionist smirked in response. “Maybe they were all out of stock.”

  “Oh, very funny.” Harriet jabbed at the keyboard, but the screen didn’t respond. “We can’t do a thing until the system is back on-line. If the newsletters don’t go out, next month’s fundraising program will be impacted. Not in a good way.”

  She squirmed in her chair, unaccountably restless. Releasing a puff of air from the corner of her mouth to shift an annoying strand of hair, she keyed in the command to shut it down one more time. She could do this. She’d been doing it for years even though being the computer tech wasn’t really part of her PR duties.

  Resting her hands on the edge of the desk she breathed in slowly, then out. Keep calm and…oh, bollocks. Now she sounded like one of those stupid internet memes.

  Jimmie leaned over the desk, his lank, black hair falling around his thin face. He was a good kid, always ready to see the best in any situation. She couldn’t remember if she’d been the same at his age. But so much had changed for her at eighteen. Nearly seven years.

  Shaking her head, she pulled her wayward thoughts back to what the boy was saying. “Gary said the computer people should be here any time. Apparently, the guy had to go to the U. S. at the last minute for some big government agency and we dropped off the radar.”

  She smiled up at him with a cynical twist. “As always, the non-paying charities slip to the bottom of the pile when it comes to service. If this company decide to upgrade the whole network, it would make an enormous difference. We just don’t have the money to do it ourselves. Donations are down again this month. Too many charities competing, and client services are our priority.”

  “I don’t think it was like that. I heard Gary say their head honcho rang up personally from the United States to apologise but he had no one else to send. They said he likes to keep a close eye on these projects.” He grinned. “Maybe you’ll get your geek after all.”

  Three hours later Harriet gave up, shutting down the system. She’d have to pull it apart to see if something was loose. Usually she enjoyed delving around in the guts of a computer. But today…not so much. Maybe it was all the talk about computer geeks. Bringing back other memories she preferred to keep locked away.

  Memories of another time when she’d watched someone else probing the mysteries, his normally shy stammer smoothing out as he expounded on what he was doing, forgetting she was a girl. His girl.

  Hunching her shoulders, she stared at the blank screen. Today hadn’t been any different to the last gazillion days since she started working at LearnAble’s headquarters. Coming up two years, ever since graduating with her degree in marketing. It was a challenge she relished, working to raise the profile of the small community organisation.

  Adults with a disability didn’t have the same cuteness factor as children and people without experience often didn’t know how to relate to an adult with an intellectual impairment. Finding employment for the clients as trainees in local businesses, even with a support worker, required a lot of public education and promotion but she’d found it deeply satisfying working with the team here.

  So why this restlessness? Why this edgy feeling, like a storm might break at any moment? A glance out the window showed nothing but clear skies and the tall buildings of the city centre. The bright purple of the ancient Jacaranda trees growing in the front of the building fringed the bottom of the second-floor windows.

  Springtime in Brisbane. No, not going there. She’d promised herself, promised her parents, not to let herself wallow in regrets, the might have been. She’d already cost them so much. Had failed them in the one most important thing. Sucking in a breath she picked up the screwdriver, instructing Jimmy how to move the CPU up onto the desktop. No…regrets…ever.

  Losing a wife was easier than finding one. Lucas Hall hadn’t thought about the logistics when he’d left her behind seven years ago. He’d assumed finding her would be simple. If it ever became necessary. Knowing how to find people was part of his skillset. People didn’t fall off the grid these days. They were more likely to be diving in through social media and the numerous other ways an individual could leave a digital footprint.

  It had taken a year for a viable Harriet Emerson to show up, right under his nose, on an application for funding for an insignificant charitable organisation. He’d been looking in all the wrong places. Neither had he been trying very hard. He could have left it to the lawyers but for some idiotic reason, he wanted to see her first, before putting things in motion. Probably should have left it to the lawyers.

  When the name popped up on his screen, his heart had given an unwelcome thump. Lucas couldn’t be sure it was his Harriet, but statistically, with such an old-fashioned name, the combination with the surname, it was highly probable. His Harriet. Had she ever been that?

  Glancing around LearnAble’s chaotic reception area there was no mistaking the purpose of the organisation. Much of the clutter was equipment for people with a disability. Shelves were stacked with a jumble of books, boxes with medical illustrations and computer software. On the walls were posters advertising services and over by the reception desk a wheelchair and several bathroom aids took up space.

  He recognised some of them from his mother’s recent illness, before she went into the nursing home. She’d loved Harriet. Which only went to show what a good actress his ex was. Or his mother’s snobbishness.

  Somehow it was hard to imagine the haughty girl he remembered from their last meeting in this environment. The girl she’d pretended to be maybe. Intelligent, loving, sweet as his grandmother’s cannoli. But that girl had been an illusion. Sometimes he wished he’d never had to know the truth. The lie had been…perfect.

  He couldn’t help smiling at the young man who seemed eager as a puppy to welcome his team. The lanky youngster looked like he might burst with excitement, but Gary Dean, the CEO, quelled him.

  “Thanks, Jimmie, you can go now.”

  Jimmie’s head dropped, and he scurried across the room to hover by the reception desk. Lucas watched him go curiously.

  The prospectus said LearnAble assisted young adults with a disability to transition into work and social spheres, but it wasn’t until the lad reacted to his boss’s reprimand that he considered the young receptionist might also have a disability.

  Lucas introduced the beaming Gary to his team and stood listening with half an ear to the man’s eulogising. He’d heard it all before, but he preferred the satisfaction of a job well done to the kind of plaudits the man seemed to think were acceptable. He was here to replace the orga
nisation’s ageing computer network as part of his company’s charitable arm and maybe find someone he’d been searching for since his arrival back in the country.

  Gary seemed to think it necessary to give everyone a blow-by-blow of Lucas’ entire career. All seven years of it. At least he hadn’t delved into his university and school years. No, he’d done that too, bringing up the awards won and the scholarship to UCLA for his doctorate. Once Lucas would have curled into a ball of embarrassment, but he’d learned to let it go over his head, keeping a polite smile on his face.

  Jimmie still hovered, and Lucas watched him lean over the counter to talk to someone out of sight. A low voice responded, and he glimpsed blonde hair as the speaker raised her head above the curved barrier at the front of the desk. Everything else faded as he focused on the conversation, trying to identify the female voice.

  “Mr. Hall?”

  Lucas turned back to the CEO. “I’m sorry, you were saying?”

  “We don’t have a tech person on staff, unfortunately. Our marketing manager is experienced in maintaining computers and has done a wonderful job so far. But even she can’t stop the march of progress.”

  “Your marketing manager?”

  “Harriet Emerson. She’ll be the liaison with your team. If anyone knows the ins and outs of the system, she does.”

  His stomach lurched and he swallowed. It would be too simple to find her on this first foray. Her name on the organisation’s prospectus had brought him here. He hadn’t expected it to be so easy. Or to affect his balance like this. He steadied his breathing, hoping his heart would follow.

  “I look forward to working with her.”

  The man gaped and rushed into speech. “We didn’t expect you here personally, Mr. Hall. Lucas. I’m sure Harriet will work well with whomever you designate.”

  On the other side of the room, Jimmie laughed and murmured something, and the blonde head bobbed up again.

  A well-modulated voice, tinged with humour, carried easily as the woman responded to whatever was said. “So, where is this famous geek, Jimmie? I’m dying here, or at least the computer is.”

  Lucas stiffened, controlling the surge of adrenaline that threatened to derail his carefully cultivated facade. Smiling grimly, he looked down at the CEO.

  “I’ll certainly be involved, Gary. It’s good to come down out of the ivory tower and see how an organisation like this is run.” He raised his hand to stop the man from protesting further. “Please excuse me, I think I see someone I know.”

  Lucas strode across the room, drawn by the laughter. He’d heard that voice, that familiar chuckle, before. The laughter stopped abruptly as Harriet Emerson looked up at him, mouth open as she sat at the desk, slender hands resting on the case of a dismantled desktop computer. Something flashed in her eyes, darkening them. Shock? She recovered quickly, her mouth stretching into a wide smile, showing even white teeth.

  “Good grief, Jimmie, the geek is none other than Lucas Hall. What a blast from the past.” She extended her arm, obviously expecting him to shake her hand. Jimmie watched the meeting wide-eyed so Lucas bit back the harsh words on the tip of his tongue. This was neither the time nor the place.

  It irritated him when she remained seated, so he had to reach over the counter to take her hand. Still the princess, even after all this time.

  She returned the grip confidently, her cool fingers wrapping around his. “Long time no see, Lucas. I’m sorry if I was rude. I’ve been fighting with these computers for days. I think they heard you were coming and decided to throw in the towel.”

  Withdrawing his hand, Lucas flexed it, disturbed by the contact and even more so by the casual greeting. As if she didn’t remember how they’d parted. Of course, she had an image to maintain in front of her work colleagues. She was good at that. Maintaining an image.

  All the same, it was hard to hold onto that long-ago memory with the reality of Harriet Emerson in front of him. He had to force himself to look beyond the beguiling face that had captured his unsuspecting heart seven years ago. To remember the rude awakening when he found she was just another rich girl out for a good time and none too pleased when things didn’t go to plan.

  Yet her smile now was almost too broad, too practiced. It didn’t reach her eyes, which watched him warily.

  With a mental shake of his head, Lucas moved back to his team, sending them to another job in the neighbouring suburb to fill in a couple of hours. He hadn’t planned on staying beyond a quick reconnaissance, but Harriet Emerson had a lot of explaining to do. If that meant playing the technician for an hour or two, he was up for it.

  He smiled at Jimmie who still hung over the counter, watching. An audience wasn’t ideal, but he could work within those parameters. Pulling up another office chair, he moved it next to Harriet where she sat in front of the problem computer. She skittered away using the wheels of the chair and he compressed his lips. That pose of casual friendliness was just that, a pose. He’d very much like to see her away from the uncritical eyes of her work colleagues.

  As his fingers moved among the components checking connections, she explained in a business-like manner what she’d done so far, her fair head close to his as she recited the long list of issues they’d had with this particular computer. He was aware of her oddly familiar, light floral scent. Her soft straight hair brushed against his shoulder and his groin tightened.

  It had been a long time. Too long. And now it was too late. He wasn’t here for that. Firming his jaw, he refocused on the computer, looking for potential weak spots.

  It was all too familiar, bringing back other memories he’d thought forgotten but apparently were only suppressed. This computer was similar to one he used while doing his masters at university. Many an evening the younger Harriet had watched him tweaking and upgrading until she was just as familiar as he’d been with the insides of a computer.

  With her intelligence and wealthy background, the last place he expected to find her was in an office job in a tiny charity. Hands resting on the case, he fixed her with a hard look. “I thought you planned on television journalism, Harriet. Travelling the world, working your way up to a position in current affairs.”

  She shrugged, stirring the long hair and sending another wave of her scent his way. “Plans change. You adapt to circumstance.”

  He moved uncomfortably, suddenly aware of shadowed cleavage as she bent forward. She was thinner than he remembered, but she’d always been finely boned. He’d liked that about her. How easy it had been to pick her up, carry her. He closed his eyes as memory flowed unbidden. Harriet, laughing as he carried her up the stairs of the old Queenslander and tossed her onto his bed. Pain tightened his chest and he beat it down with anger.

  “You mean you didn’t have what it takes, don’t you? After all your big words when you dumped me.”

  Harriet blinked to hold back unexpected tears at his sudden attack. She’d known he’d be mad if they ever met again, knew she deserved his fury. But his surprise appearance hadn’t allowed her time to adjust. To formulate a plan. She’d fallen back on her customary breezy veneer, but he’d poked and prodded at it with sharp eyes and blunt tongue, revealing its lack of substance.

  Her instant recognition of Lucas Hall surprised her in one way. She remembered him as a rangy student in jeans and t-shirt, wearing a leather jacket. His night-dark hair was always too long and invariably messy from running his hands through it. This civilised stranger in the tailored suit with neatly cropped hair and elegant hands, clean of motorbike grease and oil, was a whole different ballgame.

  But there was something in his eyes she couldn’t help but recognise. The bright green was cooler, more reserved, but now and then a flicker of something caught at her memories.

  She saw his throat work below the fashionable two-day old scruff on his strong jaw. He swallowed noticeably, his expression suggesting a bad taste in his mouth. Quickly, she turned to Jimmie, her voice husky as she struggled to hide her unruly emotions.


  “Do you think you can run over to the café and pick up a coffee for Mr. Hall and a hot chocolate for me?”

  She rummaged in a purse on the desk, handing over a large denomination note. “Do you still take your coffee black, Lucas?”

  “Yes. No sugar.”

  Jimmie vanished in the direction of the lift and Lucas smirked “I’ll give you marks for efficiency in disposing of the audience.”

  “I had no ulterior motive. He usually gets morning tea around now.”

  “He seems keen to do your bidding. You always had a knack for inspiring devotion?”

  “Inspiring…? I don’t know what you mean.” Of all the things he could accuse her of, she’d not expected that one.

  “Gary spent a lot of time singing your praises.”

  “You think I’m pretending to be some kind of plaster saint? You have to be kidding.”

  “Is it such a stretch?”

  “Considering the money I’ve saved the organisation, I’m not surprised Gary raves. He’s a bit like that. You probably noticed already. But that’s all. He’s married with a family. Which he raves about, given half a chance.”

  “Is there anyone?” His gaze dropped to her bare hands as he spoke. She looked down, aware the way she twisted them together gave away her inner turmoil. He’d always been able to read her body language. Back when they’d been together he’d been quick to comfort her, soothe her nervousness. Like before her school exams, and the ballet concert. He’d been so kind. This time he was armoured. Would use his knowledge against her.

  She pulled her hands apart, rubbing them against her thighs. Why did it matter to him? “What’s with the third degree, anyway? My personal life is none of your business.”