A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(3)

He just stood there staring at her. If he spoke right now it would probably come out as a squeak or mumbled nonsense. As soon as she had stood up, all of the blood rushed from his head right to his dick.

She was wearing a pale blue bandeau bikini top that tied around her neck and matching bottoms. He only knew they matched because the white wrap-around skirt she wore was wet and see-through as it clung to every inch of her hips and thighs, grazing just above her knees. He watched her brush her hands against her small, firm stomach and it was starting to irritate him. His hands itched to reach out and do it for her, to touch her skin and feel her warmth.

Dangerous territory. He had no business thinking those things. She was his friend and she deserved better than his habitual dirty thoughts.

“Quit your bitching, Parker. It’s your birthday. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t take you out to celebrate?”

“Oh, I don’t know. How about a good one? I hate my birthday. You know that. All that fuss just to be one day closer to death. It’s idiotic.” She huffed as she finally gave up on removing the offending sand from her skin.

Garrett sent up a silent prayer for that until she untied the flimsy, wet scrap of material from around her waist and started to wring it out into the sand.

He didn’t know what was worse, staring at her bikini bottoms and skin through the haze of wet material or having her stand in front of him practically in her underwear with all that bare, golden skin showing, talking to him like it was no big deal.

Because it was no big deal, he reminded himself. It wasn't like he had never seen her in her bathing suit before...or her underwear for that matter. But that was a mistake. It was over a year ago, she was drunk, and really, it could have happened to anyone.

“You know why we’re doing this,” Garrett said softly, cocking his head to the side as he forced himself to look at her eyes and not any lower.

She hated when he looked at her like that, with those bright blue eyes the same color as the ocean that made her melt. How many times over the years had she needed to force herself not to run her hands down the side of his face when he had looked at her like that? Too many to count, that was for sure. Sometimes she wondered if he knew the power he had over her and did things like that just to see if he could get a reaction out of her.

Parker pictured herself cupping his cheek in her hand and smoothing away the sadness. As quickly as the image appeared, her chest constricted with guilt when his words broke through her errant thoughts.

“He took you out to dinner on your birthday every year, even if he had to do it with you kicking and screaming,” Garrett said with a smile to soften the blow he was sure his words brought. “It’s my duty as your friend and his to carry on that tradition, especially this year.”

Especially this year, especially this year... The words repeated on a loop in her head.

It still didn’t seem real; the first birthday in eight years spent without him. He’d been gone for six months, and she still woke up every day expecting to hear him walk through the door, laugh outrageously loud at something stupid, or get snippy with her when she asked him where he’d been all night.

She wasn’t going to let those dark thoughts mess with her mind. Not right now. And definitely not tonight. She’d spent too much time already lately wondering “What if?” and thinking about all of the things she could have done differently. Her guilt that most of those feelings revolved around the man standing next to her than on the one she’d given her heart to took up too much residence in her mind and her heart as it was.

Garrett was hurting too. He’d spent the past six months being her rock and making sure she remembered to eat, shower, work, and anything else she forgot to do when the memories and sadness threatened to overwhelm her. He needed her to be strong for once, and she was determined to do just that. Even if it meant she had to celebrate her birthday.

“Fine. But I draw the line at strangers crowding around the table singing ‘Happy Birthday’ like a bunch of jackasses.”

“Deal.” Garrett laughed.

They turned and made their way across the beach and up the stairs to her condo talking about birthdays past.



<> ~ <>



An hour and a half later they were seated at a back corner table at Sorrento’s just finishing up their meal. Sorrento’s was a small, family owned restaurant on the outskirts of town. The tables were covered with green vinyl and the booths with red leather. Pictures of Italy and old Sicilian families littered the walls and the white, silk carnation covered in dust in the center of their table had seen better days. Garrett liked to tease Parker by calling her favorite place a “hole in the wall.” Luckily, the amazing food made up for the less than perfect atmosphere.

Parker was wiping the corner of her mouth with her napkin as Garrett sat watching her.

His best friend was gorgeous. There was no denying that. If it was possible, she was even more beautiful than the first day he met her, and he was stunned stupid when he laid eyes on her all those years ago in the coffee shop just off campus.

After a quick shower at her condo when they had got back from the beach earlier, she had let her naturally wavy hair air dry. The auburn waves had golden highlights from the sun and hung down past her shoulders.

He watched as she used her fingers to sweep her long bangs out of her eyes at the dinner table. Garrett always had the urge to do that for her. How many times had the three of them, and some random hook-up he’d found, been out to dinner over the years when his hand would raise on its own accord to smooth the hair away from her face? One time he even had to pass it off by quickly signaling the waitress for another drink.