Page 11 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

I put my hand on my forehead. Sleeping pills had never worked well on me. I’d sleep for a few hours and then wake up restless. But I had slept for almost 24 hours straight.

The knocking had stopped. I was curious if he had decided to just leave the package. Or maybe there’d be a note for a redelivery date. I stood up on one leg and hopped to the front door.

All that sleep had given me more energy too. I felt like going for a run. If only I hadn’t ruined that for myself. Just thinking about not seeing Ben again made me want to cry. It was like I was an addict and he was my drug. How could I see him again? Get a wheelchair and roll down the street to the lawn he mowed? I needed to think of a way. That one encounter would never be enough.

I opened up the door and it was as if I had conjured him to life. I blinked. No, he was really there. Ben. I placed my hand on the doorframe to steady myself.

“Addy, where are your crutches?”

Addy. I held back a sigh. How many times had he groaned my name in my dreams last night? How many times had he whispered in my ear? Or kissed my lips? God, he had just asked me a question. What had he said?

“Addy?”

The daydreams disintegrated as I saw a group of women walking in the distance. The gawkers I called them. Catty women who never took the time to get to know me. Gossiping witches. And they were coming this way.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed.

He lowered his eyebrows in the sexiest way possible. God, I didn’t have time for him to look sexy right now. They were coming!

“I promised you lunch.” He held up the takeout bag in his hand.

The aroma made me drool. It smelled like everything I never ate. Greasy, delicious fries were most likely in that bag. My stomach growled. “And I told you not to come!”

He smiled out of the corner of his mouth like I was amusing to him. “And I decided not to listen.”

He wasn’t supposed to come back. He wasn’t supposed to be this sweet. He wasn’t supposed to ever be more than a daydream. My eyes darted back to the women. They were drawing closer. They were probably already staring at us. Talking. No.

I grabbed the front of Ben’s t-shirt and pulled him into the house. His chest collided with mine and he had to grab my back so that we both didn’t topple to the floor.

The aroma of grass and all things manly filled my nose, making me pause in the middle of my plan to hide him. We stayed pressed together with the door hanging open for the whole neighborhood to see. A public display I couldn’t bother to care about when I was in his arms.

“Well, hello to you too,” he said and tilted his head down to look at me.

His ocean blue eyes were so gorgeous that it almost hurt to stare at them. If I stood on my tiptoes, our lips would only be a fraction of an inch apart. What the hell am I doing right now? I let go of his shirt and slammed the door shut.

“You shouldn’t have come,” I said as I hopped back into the living room and pushed the curtains to the side. The gawkers were walking past. One of the women turned toward the house and I quickly drew the curtains closed. This isn’t happening. I could already hear the rumors. The damage was already done.

“Addy?”

I turned to stare at him. He had clearly asked me a question and I hadn’t been paying attention again.

“If you don’t tell me where your crutches are, I swear I’m going to carry you to the kitchen.”

I laughed.

The foyer was dark, but his smile could light up any room. The realization that he was in my house again made me bite the inside of my lip. What was I supposed to do with him?

I eyed the bag in his hand. Right. Eat. I held my head up high. “I don’t need crutches or for you to carry me.”

“Whatever you say.”

I waited for him to move out of my way. I didn’t need him, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to stare at me hopping around on one foot.

“Well…the kitchen is that way.” I pointed behind him.

“I want to make sure you don’t fall,” he said and waited for me to pass.

God he was infuriating. “We’ve already had this conversation. I’m not 80 years old.” I hopped past him as fast as I could manage.

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