The Lie by Natalie Wrye (primary phonics books .txt) 📕

too much. I am always thinking. Plotting. Planning. Organizing. Never resting. Never going with the flow. Never letting myself just…be. So, yes…” I whisper, throwing a leg over him, my bare thighs straddling the smooth fabric of his slacks. I kiss near the corner of his lips as he sighs, sinking myself onto his lap. “I think we do have to do this. Because if I wait another second, I think I might explode. All the feeling I haven’t been doing will just release…”

Andrew groans, and I grind my hips into the center of his slacks, finding a delicious friction there. I rub the underside of my panties against his growing erection, and I have never felt more in control—in the right way—in my life.

I put my lips near his ear, pulling slightly with my teeth, not recognizing the heat in my own voice.

“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” I mumble, letting my hair fall over my eyes and blocking out the dim lights inside the limo.

But now here I am. On top of him. I don’t know if I’m even moving. I’m just letting my body do what it wants. My chin rests in the crook of his neck. I could stay here forever.

I slide my hand up his thigh, until I find the spot I’m looking for—the hill of hardness underneath his pants. Andrew’s eyes widen and a grin spreads across his face.

He shifts seductively beneath me. “Anne,” he whispers. “Not here.”

I arch a brow. “I’m not the kind of girl who’d take advantage of a man in a vulnerable state.” I slide my hand up his chest, pressing hard enough that I can feel his heart beating. It’s steady, almost as if he’s daring me to push further.

I take the dare.

“I’ve got an idea.” I slip out of my seat, reaching for the button that operates the privacy screen between the driver and us. The screen slides up.

My heart races with the new sense of power I feel. The limousine smells of Andrew’s cologne and aftershave and something else, something that I can’t even put my finger on—something that’s distinctly him.

And I can’t wait to have all of the distinctly him in my mouth.

I start to slide towards my knees, loving the look of complete shock in Andrew’s eyes as I lower my body down his when suddenly the limo jerks side to side.

As if avoiding something in the road.

Car horns blow around us, a symphony of blaring beginning as the driver tries to right the vehicle.

“Whoa. My God. What was that?” I cry out, looking up at Andrew, who looks tense—grim lines taking form on his handsome face.

“I’m not sure,” he says. He glances at me and then over his shoulder. “It looks like the limo is going through some sort of…” He looks at me, blue eyes intense.

“What is it?” I ask, my voice sounding small even to my own ears.

I look around the limo, wondering what the hell is going on. That’s when I notice it.

“My God.” My hands shake as I stare out the window.

“What?” he asks, looking around, worriedly. “What is it?”

My hands dart to my mouth and my eyes widen. “The tires,” I say, looking out at the street we ride bumpily over. I am not sure what I am seeing, but it is horrifying, nonetheless. “Andrew, look out the window!" I cry out, sounding terrified. “The tires! They’re coming off!”

He turns and looks at me, confused. “What do you mean?”

I point towards rearview window of the limo where the black rubber rolls behind us, bouncing haphazardly like a death loop in slow motion. A thread of fear weaves down my spine. “Andrew, why is there a tire coming off the limo?”

“I don't know!” He turns and looks out the window, frowning as he sees the limo driver struggling to keep the vehicle on the road. “I don't know but stay close!” he shouts, trying to be heard over the loud car horns around us.

The brakes screech. A loud whooshing sound as metal is torn. The screams. The cries. The shattering glass.

It isn’t until seconds later that I realize that the screams and cries are my own.

And I wait. Wait for that inevitable crunch of metal as the limousine bobs and weaves with us in it, sliding from one tireless rim to another amongst a cacophony of chaos.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I don’t focus on anything else but the man in my arms.

It’s only seconds later that I realize the limo has stopped…and the crunch of metal I’m expecting never comes.

The limo settles haphazardly on a curb, smoke rising from its undercarriage.

“It’s okay,” I hear across my hair. “It’s okay.”

It’s Andrew.

And I can’t bring myself to look at him.

I’m scared that if I do, I will crawl over him again as I had minutes before—all to be close to the stubborn ass of a man I’ve been telling myself I can’t want, a man that not seconds ago, I’d been terrified I could lose.

A thought that filled me with more fear than anything I’ve ever felt.

When I finally open my eyes, I find Andrew gazing down at me, the same quiet look on his face.

The look that says he’s trying to figure out what I’m thinking.

And I know that he’s not going to like my answer.

“I can’t do this,” I finally say.

“Do what?”

“This. Pretend anymore.” The new woman without restraint takes over my mouth, moving it to his. I kiss him slowly, pulling back.

“You once asked me what I want. I know what it is. I want to start over… Starting now. I’m going to sell the bar… Sell The Alchemist, once and for all.”

Chapter 15

ANDREW

Recovering from almost dying isn’t as easy as I thought.

The mental exhaustion I feel after handling the responding police, the tow truck and the taxi that ultimately brought us back to the estate had me damn near drained, dragging my ass, and—more importantly, Nancy's—up the stairs to the second level of the