Love, Lies, and Deception Read online

  By L.P. Dover

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  Amazon Edition

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  Love, Lies, and Deception

  Copyright © 2013 by L. P. Dover

  Editor: Melissa Ringsted

  Cover Artist: Regina Wamba

  Formatting by JT Formatting

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Recommendations

  The man in front of me wasn’t the same man I thought I knew. The once warm eyes that stared back at me many times before were now cold and detached … empty, no remorse for what he’d done. How could I have not seen it before?

  Was I that blind, and so oblivious to the danger that was hidden inside of him? Obviously I was, but now it was too late.

  “Spring break, here we come!” Emily yelled, tossing her bags out the front door of our apartment. It just so happened that her boyfriend decided to walk through the door at the exact same moment. With an agitated look on his face, Justin reared back and let the hot pink duffle bag fly past him. Emily covered her mouth with her hand to mute the snicker that escaped her lips at the look of surprise on her his face.

  “Shit!” he growled, pinning a lethal stare at my roommate and long-time friend. “What is it with you and throwing things? This is why I never buy you anything breakable.” His lips were set in a firm line—making him appear angry—but the Hawaiian shirt and goofy hat was all I could focus on. It took all I had not to laugh at him.

  Emily bit her lip, trying hard to keep from smiling, and threw her hands exasperatedly into the air. She exclaimed, “What? I didn’t know you were gonna be there! Next time, don’t charge in here without looking around in caution first. You should know better. Geez ...”

  Not giving Justin any time to speak, she huffed and bolted into her room to grab the last of her things, sashaying her hips the whole way. Her yellow sundress swirled around her thighs, and even though Justin was frustrated I could hear his appreciative sigh.

  Shaking his head, he watched her walk away with a slow growing smile forming on his face. “There’s never a dull moment with her, is there?” he asked, laughing.

  With a sly grin on my face, I said, “Never, but after almost two years of dating her, surely you’re not surprised … are you? You knew what you were getting into when she threw your Oreo delight right back at you that day in the cafeteria.”

  His laugh radiated through the room. “Yeah, you’re right. Her fire was what attracted me from the very beginning. I’m surprised she didn’t slap me after I laughed at her.” He paused for a moment and shook his head. “She let me have it, didn’t she?”

  “Yeah, she did.” I laughed. “Those were good times. To be honest, though, I think she actually was aiming at you with her bags. It’s kind of hard not to miss you with that shirt on.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” he muttered. “And if you think my shirt is bad, wait till you see Kristian’s.”

  “Ugh … I can only imagine. You are both going to embarrass us aren’t you?”

  Justin chuckled and winked at me. “You know it.”

  Groaning, I turned around and headed back to my room. “All right, I’ll be right back. Don’t you guys leave me,” I warned him.

  “Like Kristian would let me,” he shouted as I walked away.

  Emily was singing her heart out when I went past her room, and it made me smile. We’d been best friends since junior high, always trading clothes and talking on the phone for hours on end. We were both tall, but she had shoulder-length, strawberry-blonde hair with natural waves while mine was chocolate brown and straight. Her bright blue eyes stood out against her pale features, while my green ones were more subtle and exotic, or at least that was how Emily always described mine.

  We connected instantly on that first day of school when I knew no one and she was the only one kind enough to befriend me; we were thirteen years old.

  Her home life growing up was one of despair and heartache. After being abused as a child, she spent most of her young years counting down the days until she could leave and move out on her own. When my older sister started college and moved out, Emily came to live with me for a while during high school, working a full-time job, before moving into her own apartment.

  My parents loved her as one of their own, and didn’t mind that she stayed with us. They were sad to see her go when she decided to get her own apartment our senior year in high school. I thought my life was perfect until a little over a year ago a tragedy of my own took everything I loved away from me.

  A drunk driver sideswiped my parents on the interstate and made them lose control of their car, causing it to flip. What made it worse was that it was their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Emily and my friends were all that kept me sane; I haven’t been home since their funerals.

  Justin, however, had been a savior to both Emily and me. I met him first, considering we had a class together back then, and was instantly drawn to him. His quirky attitude and fun-filled nature helped distract me from my loss, and eventually helped me to live life again. His warm brown eyes, sandy blond hair, and athletic body would get any girl swooning, but it was his boyish smile and generous heart that won Emily over when I introduced them … eventually.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t start out like that. I still remember the day it all began; he wasn’t paying attention and spilled his Oreo delight down the front of her shirt in the campus cafeteria before I had the chance to introduce them. To this day, she still never lets him live that down. I enjoyed listening to them banter back and forth about it.

  Glancing around my room, I noticed my phone charger still plugged into the wall. I can’t forget that, I said to myself. My sister would have a fit if she couldn’t get in touch with me while I was gone. Unplugging it, I slipped it into my duffle bag and threw the bag over my shoulder.

  My room, with its earthy green walls and bedspread, would be neat if it was
n’t for the stack of books strewn haphazardly on my bed. They were my usual bed partners on most nights, and I never went to sleep without at least cracking one of them open.

  Emily made me promise that I wouldn’t study while we were gone, so reluctantly I left my books where they laid. Checking myself in the mirror by my closet, I rolled my eyes at the sight of the skimpy dress Emily made me wear. Love her heart; she bought it for me especially for spring break because she said she was tired of seeing me in T-shirts and jeans. The only good thing about the dress was that it was a light emerald green and it brought out the green in my hazel eyes.

  She insisted that I wear it on the plane so that when we got to Fiji I’d be looking good and ready to party. Honestly, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about looking good. I just wanted to relax and enjoy the beaches when I got there; maybe do some snorkeling. We didn’t have long before we graduated college and I wanted to enjoy the time off before having to get a job full-time.

  Turning my bedroom light off, I shut the door and joined Justin back in the living room. His fingers were flying fast on his phone, and I knew he was probably trying to beat my high score on Bejeweled Blitz.

  “Beat me yet?” I teased him.

  “Not yet,” he remarked, biting his lip and staring at the screen. “But I’m not far.”

  Emily came back into the room and rolled her eyes at Justin, who wasn’t paying attention to her. She glanced at me and smiled mischievously. “This trip is going to be epic. We need to find you some hot guys to hook up with while we’re there. I’m sure there’ll be some nice looking cabana boys for you and maybe for me if that one …” she said, pointing to Justin, “… keeps playing on his phone the whole time.” Winking, she bounced over to Justin, gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and sauntered out the front door. I could hear her flip flops snapping against each stair as she descended.

  Justin finally put his phone away and chuckled. “She’s delusional if she thinks I’m going to let her hook up with a cabana boy. I doubt she wants to see how jealous I can get.”

  Adoringly, he watched Emily through the open door as she began loading her bags into his SUV. There were still several more of her bags waiting by the front door that needed to be taken down. Hopefully, Justin’s car would hold all of our things, and if not I was going to accidentally misplace some of her bags. She wouldn’t know until it was too late.

  She’s going to have one hell of a luggage fee when we get to the airport, I thought. I only had one large suitcase and a bag slung over my shoulder because I was determined to cut my usual packing in half to avoid that fee.

  “I’m sure she’d get a rise out of watching you get jealous over her. She lives off of drama, Justin. You know that as well as I do. She also may be a little excited because of what happened the other day.”

  “What happened?” he asked curiously.

  Sighing, I bit my lip. “I broke up with Jason a few nights ago.”

  Justin’s eyes went wide and he smiled. He opened his mouth to speak and quickly closed it. He finally said, “Wow, Marissa. I’m shocked you finally had some sense knocked into that thick skull of yours. Your boyfriend was a complete douche. I never liked him, even when I tried to for Emily’s sake. What made you decide to break it off?”

  It was hard breaking up with Jason, but we slowly grew apart over the years. I wasn’t in love with him anymore, and I hadn’t been for some time. Hurting him was not something I wanted to do, but I knew I had to. He wasn’t happy about it, but he at least sounded like he understood my reasoning for breaking it off.

  “Things started fizzling out with us a long time ago. It was time for me to buck up and do what I needed to do. Besides, we never saw each other anyway. I’m sure the long distance stuff works for some people, but it just wasn’t for me, not since I was the only one trying. I guess I just got tired of it.” Sometimes I wondered why I even tried keeping us together when deep down I really didn’t care anymore.

  Justin sighed and pulled me into his side, draping his arm over my shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you finally got some common sense. You’re the smartest girl I know, but I was beginning to question your intelligence on men.” I scoffed and pushed him away, making him laugh. “Do you need help with that?” Justin asked, looking down at my huge suitcase.

  I waved him off. “No thanks. I think I can handle it. Besides, you’re going to have your hands full with all of Emily’s stuff there,” I said, pointing to her mountain of bags.

  Groaning, he gazed down at her things and started picking them up. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  Following him out the door, I rolled my luggage onto the landing of our third floor apartment. We’d lived at that apartment complex for the past two years, but before that we stayed in the co-ed dorms on campus at ASU. Appalachian State University had been my home for the past five years, and it was almost over, but I was ready for a new adventure. This was my last spring break before I graduated with a biology degree, and headed down to Wilmington to get my master’s in Marine Biology.

  Until that time came, I planned on enjoying my haven in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina for as long as I could before moving to the hot, sandy beaches of Wilmington. I locked the door to the apartment and put the keys in my purse before trudging over to the stairwell. Carrying my huge suitcase down the three flights of stairs was not going to be fun.

  Taking a deep breath, I grumbled hesitantly as I made my way down the stairs, trying desperately to keep my suitcase from knocking loudly on each step. When I made it to the second floor, I let out an audible sigh of relief, but that relief was put on hold when my foot slipped on the last step … making me sail forward, screaming the whole way.

  I waited for the impact of the fall to hit me, but instead of landing on the ground, I fell into the bare-chested arms of the guy who lived below us. His scent engulfed me, and it took all I had not to move closer and breathe him in. This was the same guy who made my blood ignite like fire every time he set his hypnotic blue gaze onto me. Embarrassed, I could feel the heat flooding my cheeks, and I was afraid to look up.

  Why did I have to be so damn clumsy? I scolded myself. The muscles flexed in his arms as I held on to his smooth biceps, and when I realized I was still holding onto him, I swiftly let him go, regaining my composure. I’d always wanted to talk to him, but I never had the guts to approach him.

  “I am so sorry,” I breathed, sweeping the hair out of my face and finally meeting his eyes. I had never felt so humiliated in my life. Well, except for the time I got drunk, ran into a tree, and broke my nose.

  His light brown hair was damp with sweat, most likely from the run I knew he had just taken, and his clothes were stuck to his skin, accentuating his taut muscles. He liked to run every day and there were times I caught myself watching him through the window of my bedroom when he would take off through the trails out past our apartment complex. I’d often wanted to ask him if he would mind my tagging along with him since Emily hated to run. Not even my close friend, Kristian, liked to run.

  Like an idiot, I gazed mesmerizingly at my neighbor. He had an amused smirk splayed across his face when he asked, “Are you okay?” He trailed his eyes down my body before they strayed to the large suitcase resting haphazardly on the steps. “You’re not moving out are you?”

  “Yes … no, I mean yes I’m okay,” I stuttered, straightening my shoulder bag and biting my lip. “And no I’m not moving out. My friends and I are going to Fiji for spring break. It’s our one last big hoorah before we all graduate and head our separate ways.” Not knowing what to do, I extended a trembling hand out for him to shake. Oh, how lame is that? I thought to myself after it was too late.

  “I know we haven’t really spoken before … I’m Marissa Chase,” I announced nervously, hoping he would take my hand and not leave me hanging.

  He paused for a moment, staring at my outstretched palm, as if contemplating something. Okay, this is awkward. I was about to pull back my hand when he reach
ed out and took it in his solid grasp. Almost immediately, sparks flew up my arm with the contact, making me shiver.

  “Alec Holden,” he replied slowly, almost hesitantly.

  It seemed as if he didn’t want to tell me his name, but the thought quickly disappeared when he gripped my hand tighter. With a smile on his face and still holding my hand, he continued, “Fiji is amazing, by the way. I went there last year to surf with some of my buddies from California. You should try to learn while you’re there.”

  I gaped at him incredulously. “Yeah, right. I’m the most uncoordinated person you could ever meet. I’d probably get swallowed up by the waves.”

  He smirked. “I seriously doubt that. I think you’d do better than you think.”

  “Yeah, well, you don’t know me very well. Trust me, you’d think differently if you hung around me.”

  His laugh was smooth and seductive. “I’m sure you could say the same thing about me. Other than surfing, I can be pretty uncoordinated, too.”

  Relaxing at the sound of his voice, I realized I was staring at his mouth, watching his lips move. His voice was deep and soothing, just like what I imagined a caress from him would feel like. I’d seen him clean and maintain his motorcycle with gentle hands and often wondered what it would be like if he put that much care in his touches.

  His hand was warm and firm as he shook mine, strong and confident; definitely an alpha male. The touch of his skin and his intense blue gaze sent shock waves down my body, and I instinctively clenched his fingers tighter, earning me a smile that had my knees buckling. What the hell was wrong with me? It was not the time to be having thoughts about another man when I just broke up with one.

  He was just a guy, so why couldn’t I breathe right with him in front of me? I’d never felt this nervous around someone before, not even when I first started dating my ex-boyfriend, Jason. Alec’s body screamed sex appeal, and he smelled amazing, even if he was sweaty from running. My ex had been all I had for so long; he was comfortable and safe, except now I was free to explore other possibilities. The thought was exciting, but I didn’t think I would start in on someone so soon.