Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Oh, how you lie.”
Okay. Fine. He’d been jealous. So what?
“You hid it well at first. If I’d sensed it sooner, I’d have broken it off with her quicker.” Shay sobered. “You know that, right? You know I wouldn’t date someone you were interested in?”
“I’m not interested in anything but changing this subject.”
“Tell me you know I wouldn’t have touched her if I’d seen you were so into her,” Shay persisted.
“Okay, three things. One, I’m not as into her as I think you believe.” Deke sounded convincing even to his own ears. “Two, even if I was, I’d have been in no position to expect you to stay away from her, given I made a promise to Dayna. Three, yes, I do know you’d have kept your distance from a woman if you thought I had more interest in her than you did. Now, if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer to talk about something else. How’s your mom? I heard she had a fall.”
Shay stared at him, his lips pursed. Finally, he sat back with a resigned sigh. “Fine, we’ll change the subject.”
Between sips of their drinks, they talked of general things. Shay occasionally tried circling back to the topic of Bailey, but Deke was having none of it, so the other male eventually relented. Once their mugs were empty, they exited the coffeehouse and then said their goodbyes.
Deke had taken two steps toward his apartment building when he heard someone call his name. Half-turning, he found a petite brunette speed-walking in his direction, a huge-ass smile of excitement on her face.
She stopped in front of him. Human, his nose told him. “I came to surprise you. I was going to head to your building, but then I saw you from across the street and, gah, this is nuts!” She slapped her hands on her reddening cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re right there.” She moved as if to hug him.
“I know you?” he asked, almost taking a step back.
She blinked, her body tensing, her smile faltering. “I … What?”
“Do I know you?” He didn’t believe so. He was good with faces, but nothing about hers tickled his memory. He didn’t recognize her scent either, and neither did his cat. Yet, she was looking at him as if they were well-acquainted.
She cleared her throat. “Deke, it’s me.”
“And who is me?”
A frown slipped over her face. “Are … are you trying to be funny?”
“No.”
“I know my hairstyle is different—I went to the salon yesterday—but you can’t not recognize me.”
“From where?”
Her mouth flattened. “My pictures, obviously.”
Okay, now he was beyond confused. He turned to fully face her. “What pictures?”
Her hands fisted at her sides. “This isn’t funny, Deke.”
“No, it ain’t,” he agreed.
“What game are you playing?”
“Woman, no joke, I don’t know you. I have no clue how you could know me.”
Her nostrils flared. “It’s Maisy.”
“I don’t know any Maisy.”
Red flags of anger stained her cheeks. “There’s no way to not know someone you’ve been in a relationship with for the past three months.”
He felt his head jerk. “What the fuck?”
The anger began to melt from her expression as a glint of confused panic entered her eyes. “You’re Deke. Deke Hammond. Right?”
“Right.”
“You’re thirty-five. You like hiking. Hate bad food service. You have two brothers—one older, one younger. Right?”
His nape prickled. “How do you know all that?”
“Because you told me. It was you. It has to have been you.” With an unsteady hand, she yanked her phone out of her purse, tapped on the screen a few times, and then held it up. “Look. That’s you.”
Recognizing the social media profile on the screen, he went to confirm it, but then something caught his eye. His brows snapped together as a shocked anger flamed to life in his belly. “The fuck?”
“What? What is it?”
“That isn’t me. Same name, same pictures, same general info. But it’s not my profile.” The posts weren’t his. Someone was clearly posing as him online. “Son of a bitch,” he breathed.
She stared at him, horror making her jaw drop. “Oh, God. Your … your voice sounds different, but I didn’t think anything of it. Most voices sound different over the phone.”
Sensing she was going to bolt out of mortification, he said, “Let me get this straight. You’re in an online relationship with this person here?”
She shoved a hand into her hair. “You—they—contacted me through this profile. We connected. We grew close … Why would someone do this?”
“I don’t know.” But he’d goddamn find out. “Let’s go somewhere and talk. I’ve got questions I’m gonna need to ask you.”
“Come on, Bailey, really?”
Pausing scribbling on the sheet of paper tacked to the office corkboard, Bailey looked at the grizzly shifter who was stalking into the room. “What?”
Corbin gave her an incredulous look. “You’re actually signing the petition to have you fired?”
“I’m feeling left out.”