Page 15 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

The squeak of the bottom step let me know he was coming. But I didn’t look up. I was scared to fall. Not down the stairs. I wasn’t scared of bumps and bruises. That had never been my problem. I was scared of falling for him when I had no right to fall. Not again.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight as he lifted me into his arms. I thought that not seeing him would make it easier. But maybe that was worse. Feeling. One of his hands had slid slightly underneath my tank top. I could feel his callused hands against the softness of my skin. The contrast made me stifle a sigh in my throat.

I didn’t open my eyes until he set me back down in one of the kitchen chairs. He had pulled out an ice pack for me. And next to that was a casserole of some sort. How long had I been in the shower?

Before I could ask him, he lifted up my foot and cradled it in his hand. He wrapped the ice pack around my ankle and let my foot rest on top of his thigh. Any thoughts I had about casseroles came careening to a halt. It felt like I could feel his heartbeat pulsing through my heel. Or maybe it was my own heart racing uncontrollably.

“Have you been icing this?” he asked as he gingerly rotated the ice pack. “It will heal faster if you ice it.”

“I fell asleep right after I got home yesterday. But

I iced it before I fell asleep the second time.”

“Right.” He shifted the ice pack again. “I forgot, you said you slept a whole day straight.”

There was suddenly an awkwardness in the air. Did he feel it too? His face didn’t show it. But he did look like he was thinking. Where did his mind wander? I wished I could be in his thoughts. I wish I consumed them like he consumed mine.

He ran the pad of his thumb along the inside of my ankle. “How is the pain level? Did you want some Advil or anything? I could still take you to the doctor if…”

“No.” Absolutely not. “But Advil might be nice. I have some on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet.”

“Let me go grab it for you.” He placed my foot on the chair he had been sitting in and disappeared down the hall.

I almost told him where the bathroom was, but then I heard the squeak of the hinge of the medicine cabinet. He must have already looked around while I was in the shower. The thought made my pulse increase even more than his touch. What else had he found? God, why had I let him in my house? I looked down at my ankle. I knew why I welcomed him in. It wasn’t the women walking by on the street. It was because I liked his hands on me. I was playing with fire. I needed to send him home.

“Got it,” he said. His footsteps sounded in the hall. “Took me a minute. I’m still not used to seeing the new extra strength bottle.”

“I don’t have extra strength…” my rebuttal died as he handed me the bottle. Weird. I didn’t remember ever picking up extra strength. I liked the candy coating on the outside of the original. I must have bought them on one of my off days. My fingers wandered to the side of my head. No. Not off days. That’s what the doctors would say. It was the medicine they gave me that made me forget. It made me have off days. And now I’d always be on. I felt my face flushing. I’d always be turned on if Ben was around.

“You must have grabbed these by accident then,” he said. “I can pick you up some of the original if you’d like.”

“No, no. That’s okay.” He had already done quite enough for me. I took the bottle from him and unscrewed the cap.

He watched me as I swallowed the pill and chased it with a sip of water. It was unnerving when he watched me. I cleared my throat as I lifted the aluminum foil to get a look at the casserole he had made beneath. I didn’t remember buying this pan either. But then again, my memory was clearly fuzzy. I felt more alert without my prescriptions. Or maybe I just didn’t realize I had that pan because I rarely cooked.

I leaned forward and inhaled a whiff of the casserole. Mmm. Definitely lasagna. Even though I had just devoured a hamburger and fries, my stomach growled again. Apparently one meal didn’t make up for three missed ones. “Landscaper and chef? That’s an impressive pairing. You’re a man of many surprises.”

He laughed and sat down beside me, pulling my foot back on his lap. “No, I wouldn’t call myself a chef. Your friend just dropped it off.”

“My friend?” My voice sounded strangled. What friend? I had no friends in this godforsaken neighborhood.

“Yeah. Must have been the one you called the other day. She seemed nice enough. Asked if you were feeling better.”

“What was her name?”

“I think it started with a K.” He scratched the back of his neck as he stared at me. He lowered his eyebrows slightly at the horrid expression on my face. “Or maybe not. It could have started with a C? No?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Regardless, she was nice. She had blonde hair…”

He was searching for something else to say. But all I could think about was the fact that he had answered my door. To a stranger. No. This can’t be happening. “You talked to her?” I buried my face in my hand. It felt like my whole world had teetered and was about to tip.

“Yeah. I told her I was helping you out while your ankle healed.”

Panic raked through my body. There was only one blonde nosy enough to stop by my house. Freaking Charlotte Hallady. I wanted to tell him to leave. To get the hell out of my house. I wanted to yell and scream and throw things. But the damage was already done. I swallowed down the lump in my throat. The action made a weird squeaking noise.

“Addy, what’s wrong?” He moved one of his hands off my foot and placed it on the side of my knee.

“You can’t answer my door to strangers while I’m showering upstairs. Do you have any idea how that looks?”

He smiled. “She’s hardly a stranger. She said she was your friend…”

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