First to Lie: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Unraveled Book 1)

by Marie Johnston

  A peculiar need rode me. Like one night might not be enough. Perhaps it was knowing she’d curse and despise me later, and I wanted to play as long as I could.

  I broke away to take her keys. After I settled a flushed Mara into the passenger seat, I jogged around to the driver’s side and moved the seat back so I could fold my frame inside.

  Mara’s hand was on her lips like she couldn’t believe the wattage of that kiss. I’d admit, she would receive a gold star for kissing.

  “Was that the appetizer?” Her luminous eyes reflected the city lights.

  I ignored the tightening in my gut at her guileless expression. She was a con artist and I planned to con the con. She had targeted an old man with a bad heart, and maybe she’d slept with him, maybe she’d strung him along. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t worried about being compared to anyone, much less my father. We’d been nothing more than colleagues since I was a teenager. It’d been years since I’d felt like I even had a dad.

  Shoving those thoughts away, I flipped the car into drive. “Where we going?”

  Chapter 2

  Wes

  She rattled off her address. I thought my father would’ve set her up in better accommodations. It was in an older part of town. Not dangerous, but quaint.

  Thinking of Sam with her, I put more pressure on the gas. It should be a turn-off, but she was so adorable. Is that how she’d done it? And how many other men had handed over money and property they’d worked hard for? Sam had literally worked himself to death.

  I would make sure she knew what it felt like, give her a taste of how a duplicitous relationship felt.

  “Whoa, Ensign.” She peered over her shoulder. “Ease up on the warp speed. Getting pulled over will only delay us and I want to see what you’ve got.”

  Her statement alone had me slowing down. A chuckle slipped out. “What did you just say?”

  Her grin was pure wickedness, her eyes flashing with mirth. “My store is a comic book and gaming shop, didn’t I mention that?”

  “F’real?” I feigned surprise. “So you’re all up on your Star Trek knowledge?”

  She tilted her head, her gaze speculative. “I’m not the only one.”

  My grin faded. “I’m a nineties kid. Of course, I’ve watched the series.”

  “Oh, I see.” She folded her arms across her chest, a smile playing over her lips. “You go to a swanky club, dress sharp, so it’s not cool to display your inner fanboy?”

  Actually, that was really accurate. “Nailed it.”

  She leaned close and whispered into my ear, sending shivers straight to my painfully hard cock. “Once I’m done with you, you’ll be screaming for me to beam you up and begging me to wield your lightsaber.”

  My brows shot up and my foot twitched to stomp on the gas. “I’m going to test you on that.”

  “Oh, right here.” She pointed to a small house that wasn’t any larger than my walk-in closet.

  Like the other tiny, square houses on the block, hers had peeling, powder-blue Masonite siding. I’d call the dwelling and its yard tidy but not something she made a priority.

  “Ignore the seventies chic. I’m going to paint it next summer if I have the time or money.” She climbed out of the car muttering, “I can’t seem to have both at the same time.”

  “You live here alone?” I didn’t know why I’d asked. She’d hardly keep someone under the same roof while playing my dad.

  “My mom moved out last year.” She trotted to the door, but her voice didn’t match the bounce in her step.

  Her tone seemed melancholy as she spoke of her mom, whereas mine would have been resentful if I’d talked about my mother.

  She let me in with a promising smile. I’d have taken her against the door, but the decor stalled me as soon as I entered.

  Scanning the room, I didn’t know where to look first. Every time I spotted something of interest, another bauble caught my eye. “You have the whole Star Trek crew in action figures?”

  “You’ll have to be more specific.” She laughed and shut the door. “I just got the remake’s crew. Can’t go wrong with the latest Captain Kirk.”

  My gaze swung to the coffee table stretching in front of a threadbare couch. On it was a line-up of familiar characters wearing black pants and a mix of red-and-gold shirts with com badges. “I haven’t seen the new movies.”

  The action figures coaxed unwanted memories to the surface. Sam’s broad smile as he brandished a two-foot replica of the Enterprise. Binge-watching whole seasons on the weekends. Making each other laugh by talking like Captain Kirk. I stuffed them back down. Figured Sam would turn his fanboy tendencies on a woman when he’d left me behind at warp speed after the divorce.

  “Seriously?” She stepped out of her shoes and the flash of leg was enough to tear my gaze off her toys. “I have old Spock, new Spock. Old Kirk, new Kirk. They picked excellent actors for the remake, in my opinion.”

  With her heels off, she was even shorter. Not quite petite, but a perfect size to lift and thrust into. As I examined her toys, my mind surprisingly turned away from sex.

  “Maybe I’ll watch them sometime.” With Sam gone, would I still have the same animosity toward films we’d used to enjoy together? Nothing Trek had graced my screens since the turn of the century.

  She closed the distance between us. “What about the new Star Wars? You had to have seen that? I think everyone in the world has.”

  Star Wars. I clenched my jaw but forced myself to relax. “I saw Episode I with my dad.” The next episode I’d seen by myself…because Sam had decided spending time with me was a waste of time. Said those very words after I had called, asking why he hadn’t shown. Getting sent to an out-of-state boarding school had almost been a relief.

  By Episode III, I’d given up on the things that’d bonded me with Sam and concentrated on college. It’s not like I hadn’t known who Anakin would turn out to be.

  Her hands skimmed up my shirt front and stopped at the top button. My mind embraced sex again. She pulled in her lower lip to chew. A nervous habit, or meant to be provocative? I’d never seen a girl do that, but then they usually had so much shellac on their lips it stained their teeth. It was hard enough scrubbing the stuff off my skin, and I’d heard the housekeeper’s curses about bleaching red tint out of my collars. Or waistbands.

  I waited for her to undo each button, then tugged on a ponytail, earning a flush from her. “I’m going to keep your skirt on when I fuck you.”

  Pupils dilated. She liked that idea, and how I said it.

  “I was expecting a crappy night.” She dragged his shirt out of his waistband, slipped each button free. “I thought I’d be so steaming angry that I’d turn into She-Hulk.”

  Her touch drove me into a single-minded spiral of need. The extra layer of deceit must be fueling my libido. Had to be, my response to her was off the charts.

  “I’m your consolation prize.” Mentally, I snickered. She’d wanted the strip mall, then she’d wanted to confront me, but she was going to strip naked for me instead.

  I dipped my head and licked the rim of her ear, delighting in her shiver. Good. I’d make sure I had the upper hand, that I didn’t lose my head as soon as she fisted my cock.

  Tipping her face back, her lips curled in a lazy smile. “Now show me what I’ve won.”

  We stood in the middle of her living room, with only a lamp in the corner on. I checked to make sure the front drapes were drawn. Not because I cared if anyone saw my bare ass pounding into her. Anyone seeing her body on display made me want to envelop her in a cape and fly her away.

  I wrapped my hands around her waist to draw her closer, needing her closer.

  A faint buzzing sound caught my attention. I frowned. Was that a phone?

  She groaned and pressed into me. “I’m going to ignore it. If it’s important, they’ll call back.”

  Capturing her lush mouth, I proved to her I was grateful for her decision. The wine still flavored her lips, along
with her unique, intoxicating taste and the promise of amazing sex. I bunched the hem of her skirt up. Maybe I’d take her fast and hard, relieve the pressure, then spend some time playing with her body.

  Her eager response only encouraged my plan.

  The vibrating continued. With a frustrated huff, she pulled away.

  “Sorry.” Her cheeks were flushed and her nipples strained against her shirt. Better than any centerfold I’d ever seen.

  While she located her purse and dug around inside, I willed myself not to shove my hand into my pants. My shaft pressed against my waistband and I wanted so badly to find release inside Mara.

  She answered the phone and turned her back on me. “What? Yes, yes. Do that and I’ll meet her there.”

  She hung up and stood unmoving, her head hanging and her shoulders drooping. Genuine disappointment curled in my belly. She’d gotten bad news and the fun was over. When she spun toward me, she wore a false smile.

  “I…have to cut the night short.” She shrugged, sadness and worry etched in her features.

  I refused to acknowledge the tiny bit of worry for her creeping in.

  “I’m sorry, Sam.”

  My dad’s name slapped me in the face and reminded me why I was in her place. “Is everything all right? Your store?”

  She shook her head. “It’s not the store worrying me tonight. Family emergency.” Pushing her bangs off her face, she looked around, then down at herself. “I’ve gotta change clothes. Oh, you need a ride back to the club.”

  I could offer to call an Uber, aka my driver, but I was reluctant to part ways so soon. I wasn’t done with her, on many levels. “Only if it’s on the way. Where are you going?”

  “Twin City Medical.”

  My brows shot up. A hospital. Normally, I didn’t care about his hookups’ personal lives, but Mara was different. I needed to know my target. Learn her weak areas. That was it. Not because I was curious about anything to do with her.

  “Go change.”

  With a grateful smile, she rushed to the back of the house. I buttoned up my shirt and grabbed her keys. Her phone lay where she’d left it and the lock screen wasn’t yet showing. Snatching it up and punching in my number, I called myself, then entered my contact info.

  Almost too late, I realized I’d typed Wes.

  “Sam. Fucking Sam,” I muttered as I corrected it and added Smith for a generic last name in case she tried looking me up.

  “Did you say something?” Mara trotted back down the hall

  My hand fell limp at my side, barely clasping her phone. She wore soft jeans that molded to all of her curves and a red “Bazinga” T-shirt. Her gaze fell on her phone in my hand and her brow furrowed.

  “I’ve got my contact info in here for when you want to claim your consolation prize.” I jingled her keys. “I’ll drive you to the hospital and call a ride from there.”

  A myriad of emotions ran across her face. Disbelief, regret, relief. “Of course, I want what’s mine.”

  She just missed the mark for playful flirtation and her body language spoke of urgency. I cocked my head in the direction of the car and she charged out the door.

  We were back on the road. I was hard and throbbing, but as Mara’s tension filled the air, my sex drive waned.

  “So what’s going on?” I glanced over at her staring out the window, fiddling her thumbs in a solo game of thumb war.

  She turned her worried gaze on me. “My mom. She has some medical problems and spiked a high fever. My guess is pneumonia again.”

  Again? I’d had pneumonia maybe once in my life. What did people say to news like that? My mom would cackle and list the reasons the recipient was deserving of their misfortune.

  “Hope she’s okay.”

  “Thanks. She usually gets better, but I always worry if this’ll be the time…” Her attention focused back out the passenger window.

  Was her mom the reason she’d marked my dad and targeted his money? Didn’t make it right, but— No. No softening.

  I let her drift off. Specific knowledge was what I was after and I wanted to get it myself. She’d already proven she could worm into someone’s life enough that they’d dedicate a portion of their fortune to her. No way would I trust another person getting close to her, if I could even get past telling a private investigator my personal business.

  I’d do this myself. Sam had as good as abandoned me after the divorce, but I couldn’t help but feel protective toward my father. Whatever I had done to drive Sam away, I could make up for it by figuring out why Mara would play with an old man’s emotions.

  Mara

  I waved at Sam as he drove off.

  He’d showed me where he was going to park my car and he would lock my key inside. I had my fob. I’d offered to stay with him until his Uber arrived, but he’d told me to get to my mom.

  My responsible side asked why I had trusted him with my keys. If he stole my car, I could grunt out the deductible and use insurance to buy more reliable wheels. If Sam took it on a joyride and crashed it, well, that’d fit my night perfectly. I sighed and trudged down the corridor toward the emergency room. The nurse from the living center had reported that Mom’s breathing was growing more labored. From experience, we both knew nothing short of a hospital stay would help.

  Smiling at the girl manning the ER desk, I introduced myself and was shown back to Mom’s room.

  The quiet bustle of the emergency room always surprised me. TV shows made it look so chaotic, so…urgent. But nurses worked quietly at the counter that circled the middle of the ward, doctors studied charts at pods with screens and keyboards, and any employees and patients in the halls went straight for their destination with little commotion. Once in a while, I’d hear a moan from a patient’s room, but even that was rare.

  Stillness and warmth encompassed me as I entered the room. The square, white, all-too-familiar space was like any other, except for the suites where patients were curtained off. I dreaded when Mom was put into one of those. Made it all seem more serious.

  In the time it’d taken me to get here, the ambulance had already delivered their patient and left. Mom lay resting. I doubted she was asleep with a nasal cannula in and a blood pressure cuff strapped around her arm. An IV ran to her other arm.

  I pulled a chair closer and sat.

  “Hey,” Mom breathed. “Sorry to disrupt your night.”

  I gave her a reassuring smile. “Oh, you know my Friday nights are never exciting.”

  I didn’t allow my thoughts to settle on Sam and his sparkling blue eyes and broad shoulders. Mom would sense my disappointment and she had more things to worry about, like getting better.

  A knock on the door interrupted us a moment before a guy, not much younger than me, entered. He had a ready smile and wore gun-metal gray scrubs.

  “I’m here to take Wendy Baranski for an X-ray.”

  I knew the routine. “That’s her. Do you need me with?”

  “No. Hold the room down for us and we’ll be right back.”

  I sat back while they rolled the entire cot to X-ray. The quiet hadn’t unnerved me when it had been just the two of us in the room, but alone, I couldn’t stand it. I numbly surfed through the crappy cable offered by the hospital and waited.

  The rest of the night went by with the familiar blur of doctors’ reports of pneumonia, treatment plans, admitting her for a hospital stay, and settling her in.

  I checked the time, deciding whether I should catch a few hours of sleep in an ungodly uncomfortable chair or head home for a few hours before work.

  “Oh my gosh, Mara.” Mom’s eyes barely stayed open. She was going to sleep soon herself. “Go home and get some rest. I know how busy Saturdays are for you.”

  “I can always call Chris to man the store.” If he was around. My only full-time employee had a life, too. Maybe. Likely a movie to see, at least.

  “I’m just going to sleep all night and day. You know how this goes.”

  Yeah. I did. Whe
n Mom had been sick last week, I’d worried that it would result in this. “I’ll stop by after work, okay?”

  Mom nodded, already drifting off. I leaned down and kissed her cheek, the burn of tears igniting behind my eyes. I neared the doorway and stopped to brush off my cheeks before entering the wide hallway, where nurses darted back and forth.

  God, this sucked. Nights like this reinforced my decision to put Mom in a nursing home, but it didn’t assuage the guilt any. Even though Mom had urged me to do it, claiming she didn’t want her daughter’s life to be burdened with caring for a parent’s basic needs.

  More tears rose. I often thought I should’ve soldiered on, but I’d seen how hard succumbing to severe multiple sclerosis was for her. Twenty-four-hour care was required and I couldn’t provide it. At least I’d secured the money to pay the bills for it.

  Chapter 3

  Wes

  I tapped another golf ball across the green. The white, dimpled ball swirled around the hole and dropped in without hesitation.

  “Sick.” My friend Flynn thumped his club against the ground. “I think you come out and play instead of working all day.”

  Rapping my club against Flynn’s, I strode past him to let my friend have his turn.

  For me, there was no play in the workday. A man didn’t keep his millions by jacking around instead of making money.

  Flynn was the same, it was why he teased me constantly. Equally focused on his own business, he respected my time and space but also kept me from getting lost in my own head.

  I dropped my club in the golf bag. Saturday rounds of golf with Flynn comprised much of my rare time away from work. Might as well get in a full day of play before the course closed for the season. The gray sky promised dropping temperatures as the afternoon grew later.

  Flynn put his ball and overshot. He swore and glared at the offending green. “I’ll beat you at this yet.” He settled in for another shot. “Have you notified Sam’s piece of ass her reckoning has come?”