The Truth in Lies (The Truth in Lies Saga) (8 page)

I laid down my fork with a sigh.  “What do you want to know?”

“This isn’t the Spanish Inquisition, McKenzie.  If you don’t want to talk about it, just tell me.”  Jared sound offended by my reaction.

I reached over and wrapped my fingers around his wrist.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he muttered.  “I know you’re hurting.  I only want to help.”

“I know you do, my friend.  It all started last night,” I began.  That’s when I spilled my guts to him.  No gory detail was left out.  That was the nice thing about Jared; I could tell him everything and he wouldn’t judge me.  He’d simply listen.

Once I finished with my tale, he reached over and squeezed my hand.  His golden eyes bore into mine, and a determined expression surfaced. 

“Now, you know that I hate agreeing with the wicked witch, but she’s right.  You can’t doubt yourself.  Having heard all of this, I think you did the right thing.”

“It feels right, but it doesn’t.  Does that make any sense?”

Jared nodded; a tender, knowing smile tilted his mouth.  “Yeah, it does.”  He patted my hand once more before returning to his sandwich.  Through a mouthful of salami, a mischievous grin broadened over his mouth.  “Now, about this Drew guy.”

My fork fell from my hand, having been caught completely off guard.  I swallowed hard.  “Um, what about him?”  My voice filled with trepidation.

Jared swall
owed his bite. “You said he gave you his number?”

I nodded once.

“Just like that?”  He snapped his fingers.

I shrugged.  “He was just being nice.  Nothing more.”

“Right,” he said with a hint of sarcasm dripping from his tongue.  Placing his elbows on the table, Jared linked his fingers together in front of his face, analyzing me.  “Guys don’t give their numbers out to girls they feel sorry for.”

My palms
turned sweaty, and as my breathing intensified, I felt the need to defend Drew’s actions.  “He’s a divorce attorney.  I’m sure he gives his card to a million people a day.”

Jared took a drink of his cola.  “I know, but you’re not married.  So, therefore, you’re outside his clientele.  Gutsy move on his part is all I’m saying.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I deflected.  I pushed my salad away, feeling my stomach churning again.

“Nothing,” he proclaimed.  “I just find it odd that he gave you his number like that.”

“I think he was just being nice.”

He picked at the bread on his sandwich, pressing the soft dough between his fingertips.  “McKenzie, you always see nothing but the best in people.  Just be careful.  That’s all I’m saying.”   

There was finality in his statement that warned me not to press the matter further.  Taking heed to the warning, I picked up my fork and began toying with a cherry tomato. 

Momentary silence encompassed us.  Jared took a massive bite of his sandwich, almost too big for his mouth.  A little dollop of mayonnaise caressed the corner of his mouth, so, I took my napkin and dabbed it from his lips.

“You had something right there...” I pointed out, the telltale sign of my shyness painted my cheeks, indicated by the warm influx of my blood.

“Thanks,” he breathed.

“Well, look at what the cat dragged in,” rang a voice I hadn’t expected to hear.  There stood Drew dressed in a dark gray suit, with an odd expression on his face.  

“Drew?”  The cracking of my voice was humiliating. “What are you doing, I mean, uh, hi,” I stammered.
 

Jared muttered under his breath, “So this is Drew. Hmm.”  The sound of his snarky chuckle grated on my nerves.  “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”
 I nudged him in the ribs, beseeching him to hush.

A smile appeared on Drew’s lips.
 While he looked genuinely happy to see me, there was something about his eyes that screamed he was upset.  

“It’s good to see you too, Mickie.”  Drew turned his attention to Jared.  “And you must be Nate.  I heard a lot about you last night.”

Jared appeared stunned for a moment.  Regaining his composure, he shook his head with a small smile.  “No, I’m Jared,” he replied.

Nervously, Drew’s fingers curled into his hair.  His eyes dropped to the floor then cut back to me.  I shrugged sucking my bottom lip between my teeth as my face scrunched tight.

“Yeah, um, Drew, this is Jared Christopher, my friend and work colleague, and Jared, this is Andrew Wise.  Olivia’s…”

Drew offered his hand to Jared.  “…Mickie’s new
friend
,” he inserted for me. 

Jared stood from his chair, extending his hand to Drew.  It appeared as if there was a momentary power struggle between the two men as they shook hands; both staring each other directly in t
he eyes with a determined look on their faces.    “Pleasure to meet you,” Jared said.

“Likewise,” Drew responded with a lift of his eyebrow. 

As they released hands, Jared plopped back down in the chair beside me.  Drew leaned forward, resting his hands on the chair in front of him. 

“Are you doing okay?” Drew asked me, concern inundating his tone.

Humiliated by my behavior in front of him at Olivia’s, I determined that lying to him was better than revealing the truth. 

“Yeah.  I’m much better.  Thanks for asking,” I stated with false sincerity, picking at the cuticle on my thumb.

“Are you sure?” he challenged.

My brow furrowed as I tried to make sense of his question.  Habits are often hard to break, and an old one of mine resurfaced, as I contemplated his inquiry.  Pressing my cuticle to my teeth, I pulled the skin away from my thumb causing myself to bleed.

Through the twinge of pain from the ripping of skin, the thought occurred to me.  “Liv told you, didn’t she?”

His smile faltered.  “She did.”

I sighed placing my head in my hands, mortified by what he must be thinking of me.

“I’m going to kill her,” I hissed.

“Don’t be angry with her,” Drew said.  I caught a glimpse of his eyes.  For an attorney, he seemed to be struggling with keeping his emotions from showing. “She’s simply worried about you.”

I nodded with an exasperated sigh.  “I know.  I guess she told you everything?”

“Enough,” he replied, his voice low, almost as if he were challenging me to demand more, yet knowing he wouldn’t give me what I sought.  I was beginning to think that evasiveness was a common place occurrence for this man.

A young waitress approached us, standing silently next to Drew.  He cocked his head to the side and smiled.

“How’s it going, Amy?”

Amy’s muddy brown eyes were dulled by the amount of heavy eye shadow she was wearing.  Her overly painted lips burst into a huge grin at Drew’s acknowledgement.

“Not too bad.  Is Gavin joining you today?” she asked.  Her excitement in seeing Drew had me near laughter
, yet, there was a twinge in my chest of something else.  This girl knew him.  Better than I did apparently.  I wasn’t too sure how I felt about that.

Drew looked down at me, his lips twitching into a playful smirk.

“Sorry, it’s just me.”

A flash of disappointment crossed Amy’s face, but she didn’t skip a beat.  “Would you like your usual?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Here or to go?”

Drew turned to Jared and me.  “Would you mind if I sit with you?”

Heat flooded my face as Jared extended a hand toward the
empty seat.  “By all means, please do.”

Drew pulled the chair out.  His stance and demeanor was to the point of gracefulness as he slid into to it.  “For here, please,” he requested.

Amy nodded and darted off toward the kitchen.  Jared and I stared at Drew expecting an explanation.

Drew turned to me and smiled.
 “I come here a lot.”

“I see that,” I teased, gently nudging Drew’s shoulder with the palm of my hand.  “And it looks like you and Gavin have a fan club as well.”

It was odd how comfortable I felt with him.  Being near him made all of the numbness disappear.

Drew grabbed my hand and looked deep in my eyes.
 Hummingbirds began twittering around in my chest again, leaving me breathless and enraptured by his smile.  The way his eyes crinkled around the edges, and his dimples became exposed with the spreading of his full lips would drive any woman to swoon.

“Jealous?” he teased.  My eyes cut to him.  A playful smile burned his lips and mischievousness tickled his eyes.

I swallowed hard.  My mind felt like mush.  The inward struggle of my own silliness raged inside my head.  I didn’t know this man.  There was no way for me to be jealous.  But I was indeed jealous of anyone that knew him better than I did.  I cleared my throat.  “You really are one arrogant son-of-a…”

“Here’s your sandwich, Drew,” Amy interrupted me.  She placed the plate down in front of him with finesse.  Drew looked up at her and smiled.  “Wow!  That was fast.  Thanks, Amy.”

Amy giggled.  I rolled my eyes at her flirtatious giggle.  “My pleasure, Drew.  I kind of started it when I saw you standing outside the window.”  

“Well, it looks great,” Drew said.

Pleased by his acknowledgement, she skipped off in an almost a childish manner.  Once Amy disappeared, Drew returned his attention back to me.  “As you were saying…”

“I believe I was calling you an arrogant son-of-a-bitch,” I stated with a nonchalant air.

Drew laughed hard.  “You think?”

“I don’t think, I know.  Besides, why would I be jealous?” I pulled my hand away and wiggled my eyebrows at him, reinforcing his laugh.

“That’s a good question,” Jared included.  I caught a glimpse of the all knowing smirk plastered on Jared’s face.  I hated that smirk.  It always meant trouble for me.  

Drew picked up a half of his sandwich and took a bite, completely ignoring Jared’s comment.
 He glanced over at my plate and scowled.

“Mickie, you do realize this is a sandwich shop, don’t you?” Drew asked through a mouthful.

“What?” I exclaimed.  “I like the salads here.  They make the best in town.”

“But it’s rabbit food.
 You’re human.  Humans eat meat.”  Drew gave a manly grunt causing me to laugh.  Once again, I was laughing around him.  It occurred the night before as well.  All these months, since I’d lost my baby, I thought I would never laugh again, yet, a few minutes around Drew, and I’m rolling in it.

“Thank God someone agrees with me,” Jared piped in.

“Does she always eat like this?”  Drew questioned.

“Not normally, but it’s like she’s afraid of me knowing her sandwich type.
 I keep trying to get her to order one, but she simply refuses.”

“Women.”

“Tell me about it.  It’s not like I haven’t seen her chow down a Big Mac before.  I just don’t get it.”

“Excuse me, fellas, but I’m sittin’ right here, ya know?”
 

The reason I didn’t order a sandwich was because my sandwiches are just like eating a salad.
 I always order a veggie sandwich.  I loved eating meat, but cold cuts on bread never appealed to me.

Drew and Jared bega
n to laugh.  “Have you noticed that her accent gets thicker when she gets aggravated?” Drew insinuated.

“Just wait.  This is only beginning,” Jared assured him.

“Good,” responded Drew.  “I happen to like her accent.”

“My accent isn’t that strong.  Jeez!” I noted.

“Sweetheart, you can’t hide those Texas roots.”  Jared took sip of his cola. 

The rush of heat flooded my face.  I couldn’t believe he was antagonizing me like this.

“Texas?  What part?” Drew asked.  He sounded generally interested.

“I was born and raised in Amarillo.”

“How’d you end up in Florida?” he inquired, munching through his food.

“I went to Florida State, and fell in love with the ocean.  How about you?  How did a
Yankee
end up down here, in the south?”

Jared laughed hard at my boldness.  “Be careful with this one.  She’s a spitfire,” he warned Drew.

“I can see that,” Drew said.  He chewed through the bite he had taken.  “As you obviously know, I was born and raised in Boston.”

“Yeah.  So, you went to law school here I take it?” I inquired.

Drew looked down at his half eaten sandwich.  His smile faltered for only a second.  “I went to Harvard Law like every other man in the Wise family has.”

I nearly choked on my drink.  “You went to Harvard?”

Drew caught my eyes.  “Yes ma’am.  So did Gavin, although, my marks were much higher than his.”

“Well, if it wasn’t school, then what led you here to the fair city of Sarasota?”

Drew picked up his napkin, swiping it over his mouth.  “Many reasons, but the main one was my father opened a branch of the family firm here.  He put Gavin in charge.  A couple years after graduation, I decided I needed a change of scenery, so I followed him.”

The look on Drew’s face told me there was much more to that story than he was telling.  But being one with my own battle scars, I figured it was better to leave well enough alone.

“Did Andie go to Harvard too?”

“Only the men are required to go to Harvard.  She was the lucky one.  Andie attended Julliard.”

“Julliard?” Jared questioned.

“Andrea is Andy’s twin sister.  She’s a ballet dancer on Broadway,” I explained.

Without looking, I could feel Drew cringe at the nickname.  This was becoming more fun with each passing second. 

“Ballet?” Jared breathed.  A dreamy smile lighted his lips and a dazed look clouded his eyes. 

“We just lost him,” I teased.

“What do you mean?”  Drew’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Jared
loves
the ballet.”

“Really?” Drew snarled.

“Absolutely,” Jared countered, horrified by the expression on Drew’s face.  “How could you not love it?  Ballet is graceful and refined.”

“It’s bloody boring, that’s what it is,” Drew protested.

“Boys! boys!” I exclaimed, raising my hands between them.

“What, sweetheart?” Drew asked.  “We’re just having a healthy debate here.”

“Exactly,” Jared agreed.

I laughed at the expression on both men’s faces.  “Whatever you say, fellas.”

Dropping my hands, I returned to my salad.  Drew and Jared relaxed in their seats, each working on the remainder of their food.  The sounds of other patrons’ conversations haloed around our now quiet table.  The lunch rush was in full swing.

Breaking the silence, Drew pushed his empty plate toward the middle of the table.  “Mickie tells me you’re a music therapist?” he inquired of Jared.

“That’s right,” Jared replied.

“She told me a little about it last night.  It sounds very interesting.  How does it work?”

Jared proceeded to explain to Drew about music therapy as we continued to enjoy our meals.  I was very aware of Drew’s presence next to me.  To say I wasn’t bothered by it would have been a lie. 

I couldn’t begin to tell you what Jared was saying, since I was entirely focused on Drew.
  All thoughts of Nate had disappeared; replaced by the feeling of warmth radiating from the man dressed in an expensive suit, sitting next to me.  I tugged gently at the collar of my shirt, hoping Jared didn’t see how Drew’s closeness was affecting me.  

“Very fascinating.
 It’s been said that music tames the savage beast.  It sounds to me, that you have also found away to use music to tame the mind as well,” Drew stated.

“That’s my thoughts exactly.
 Music therapy is a great tool for these children.  We’ve seen vast improvement in how they respond to social interaction because of it.”

I smiled at Jared’s enthusiasm.
 His nephew suffered with a severe form of autism.  Having to watch his sister struggle with raising a special needs child caused Jared to really reach out to her.  Because of his nephew, he gave up a promising career in the music industry.  That was why he was unwilling to sell his music.  He threw himself into his work, much like I did, but it was his passion for music that drove him further.  

Jared took the last bite of his sandwich and stretched.
 “If you two would excuse me for a moment, I need to visit the little boy’s room.”  He stood up from the table, patted my shoulder and smiled, before heading to the men’s room.  

The silence between Drew and me was overwhelming.  Amy arrived back at the table with the bill.  Before I could reach for it, Drew had a credit card in his hand, and handed it to Amy.

“Since I crashed the party today, lunch is on me,” he said.

“Thanks, and just so you know, I’m not mad at Liv.  I’m used to her blabbing everything to the world.  It would take a miracle for her to keep a secret.”

Drew chuckled softly.  “She does have a habit of telling everything, doesn’t she?”

“More than you realize,” I said, thinking of my conversation with her and Morgan.

“Are you okay though?”  Softness filtered through his tone, his eyes peering at me to match.  Once again, I felt comfortable talking to him.  His eyes told me he understood where others might not.

“Not really.  I keep thinking I made the wrong choice.”

“If you did, you’ll find out quickly.  Life has a funny way of putting us on course to correct any mistakes we might’ve made.”

“Talking from experience?” I asked.

“More than I care to admit.”  He twirled his napkin around his finger.  “I know you feel alone right now, but you’re not.  You have Olivia, and from the looks of things, you have Jared too.  Lean on them.  That’s what they’re there for.”

“They’re both very good friends, but they have their own lives to lead.  They don’t need me snotting all over them when I break down over my own stupidity,” I whispered.

“Then you have me for that.” 

I stared at him incredulously.  “You barely know me.”

“And yet I feel as if I’ve known you my whole life.  You still have my number?”

My heart leaped into my throat.  I felt the same way about him, and to hear him confirm the same feelings was all too exciting. 

Amy returned with Drew’s receipt.  He completed the tip portion, and from what I could see, he left her a sizable donation.  When he was finished, I reached over and took the pen from him.  On the back of the copy receipt, I wrote down my phone number. 

“I would feel more comfortable if you called me though.  I hate feeling like I’m intruding.”

I pushed the receipt toward Drew, along with the ink pen.  He reached for the piece of paper.  Our fingers touched momentarily sending that wonderful feeling coursing through my veins.  He smiled acknowledging the feeling was mutual.

I watched as he folded up the receipt and placed it in breast pocket of his jacket.  “I can respect that.”