Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(40)

“I’m not making this up.” Desperation clawed at him. “Okay, I know I should have told you sooner. I waited because I needed to know how you felt about the necklace before I asked you to help me get it back.”

“Help you get it back?” Her eyes widened. “First you make up this outrageous lie, then you want me to help you take the necklace away from me?”

“Chloe, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“Stop. Just stop!” She pressed her fists against her temples. “I don’t know what game you’re playing or why, but how dare you come here, sweet talk me, seduce me, and then try to use me.”

“I didn’t seduce you,” he said as if she’d slapped him. “I was the one who tried to stop last night.”

“But you didn’t stop, did you? You made sure you got some before you dropped this bomb on me.”

“What?” he drew back. “Okay, I realize I didn’t handle this well, but if you’ll just calm down—”

“You need to leave. Now.”

“All right.” He held his hands up, hoping to placate her. “I’ll go, but I’ll be back with my proof. Then we’ll discuss this rationally.”

“I don’t want you to come back,” she growled at him. “I never want to see you again.”





Chapter 11





Chloe wanted to hit someone, preferably Luc, but she couldn’t allow herself the luxury of giving in to anger. The inn had a dining room full of guests who needed breakfast.

Normally she loved helping with the organized chaos in the morning, but the clatter of the kitchen made her head pound each time she rushed in to grab a tray for the buffet. Her frazzled nerves must have shown, since Aurora cast her several questioning glances. The cheerful chatter in the dining room proved an even bigger challenge as guests asked for advice on how to spend their day when the forecast called for thunderstorms.

Any other morning, she would have enjoyed suggesting a visit to Bishop’s Palace, or the glass pyramids at Moody Gardens. Instead, she had to struggle to answer the guests’ questions at all, earning even more odd looks from Aurora’s husband, Chance, who was pitching in to help with breakfast service as well.

She wanted to escape. But how? She didn’t think she could stand returning to the cottage to face memories of last night.

Last night had been so magical. She’d woken up this morning thinking she’d finally found a man she could trust enough to let down her guard a little. And then she had… only to learn she’d hooked up with an illusion. Who knew what other whopping lies he’d told her? Maybe everything he’d said was a lie, even his claim to have founded a successful gaming company. She knew Vortal existed, since she’d seen Luc and AJ playing it, but that didn’t mean Luc owned the company.

Well, finding out would be easy enough, she realized. All she had to do was sign online and do some investigating.

She glanced around the dining room to gauge how close the guests were to finishing. A few had already left, so she bustled around the big communal table clearing their dishes. Unfortunately, with the approaching storm, most of the guests seemed content to linger.

“Kelly, is that your old charm bracelet?” one of the women in the girlfriend weekend group asked. “I thought you lost it.”

“I did.” The woman named Kelly held out her arm to display her bracelet. “But this morning I was digging through my purse and found it lurking in the bottom.”

“That would be Marguerite,” Chance said.

“Your ghost?” Kelly’s eyes widened with more flirtation than surprise. Chloe had caught the woman eyeing Chance with appreciation, but couldn’t blame her. Blond and tall, he had a runner’s physique. His clean-shaven face had a boyish appeal, especially with the wire-rim glasses.

“Yep.” Chance nodded. “That’s her most common trick. Helping people find something they’ve lost. Over the years we’ve had guests find car keys, reading glasses, even a wedding ring once. It means she likes you.”

“Why do you say that?” Kelly asked.

“Trust me, you’d know if she didn’t.” Chance chuckled, talking about the ghost with an ease that seemed at odds with his conservative manner. As a former banker, he made the perfect partner for impetuous Aurora, both in business and in life. “The guests she doesn’t like frequently check out early because something happened to freak them out.”

“I thought she was supposed to be a friendly ghost.” Kelly pressed a hand to her chest.

“Oh, she is,” Chance assured. “My son says Captain Kingsley is the one responsible for the weird noises and bad dreams. Apparently, if Marguerite doesn’t like a guest, Captain Kingsley makes him leave. We’ve asked my son to please ask Jack to stop running off our guests, but AJ just rolls his eyes and says he’ll try. Apparently, our resident sea captain isn’t much interested in following orders.”

“Your son has conversations with ghosts?” Kelly’s eyes went round.

“All the time,” Chance told her.

“Oh, how delicious.” Kelly’s friend shivered. “A pirate ghost.”

“Privateer,” Chance corrected, with a quick look over his shoulder, clearly hoping neither ghost was around to take offence. “Captain Kingsley’s a little sensitive about the term ‘pirate’.”