Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) - J.C. Reed Page 0,29

he was here.” He caught my doubtful look. “Or that Kaiden had you followed.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, shaking my head. “Kaiden? I thought his name was Kade.”

“Kade is Kaiden’s nickname.” He blinked at my cold expression. “What?”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because it’s the truth,” he said. “Trust me when I say I had absolutely no idea he was here.”

I laughed. I was ready to trust him all right. “He’s your accomplice.”

“Accomplice?” His eyebrows rose ever so slightly at the word. “That’s a big word for my brother, particularly since he always had my back.”

“I don’t think there’s one more suitable, considering he’s probably the guy who called you. Did he send you the pics that had our faces circled with a red marker or will you pretend you don’t know who did that, either?”

“The pics?” Confusion crossed his features. “You know they were from your stepfather, right?” His eyes narrowed. “And what phone call are we talking about?”

I swallowed hard as I realized that I had just blurted out the truth.

“Did you go through my phone, Laurie?” Chase asked slowly.

For a moment, I just stared at him. Of course, I could just deny it, but what was the point? The things he had done were so much worse.

“Not on purpose,” I said. “It rang, and I assumed it was my phone so I picked up.”

I eyed him carefully, not sure why I felt guilty when it was the truth. Besides, I had every reason to be angry at him, not the other way round. There was no way I’d feel bad at stumbling over something that had helped me realize the whole fake marriage was a sham.

Talk about irony.

Oh wait…

“Are you trying to change the subject right now?” I asked. “Because I can tell you it’s not working. I—”

He pressed a finger to my lips, cutting me off. “I believe you.” He cocked his head, his lips twitching. “See how easy it is? That’s how I want our relationship to be—trusting and forgiving, with a sprinkle of hope.”

Sprinkle of hope.

Who talked like that?

“Let me guess, you want the whole ‘agree to disagree’ crap, too?” I asked, my voice oozing sarcasm.

He smiled. “Wow, you’re reading my mind now.”

I stared at him, unsure if it would get me into prison if I slapped him real hard.

God, I had never been one to condone violence, but just this once…just really hard…

“You’re obnoxious, you know?” I said.

“Yeah. I get that one a lot.”

I shook my head, and, at last, his smile died.

“Okay.” He sighed. “How about this, I need you to believe me. Is that better?”

I frowned. “If that’s your attempt at saying sorry and at worming your way back into my trust, you’re wasting your time. You know why they say never trust a liar? You lie once, you lie again, and before you realize it, you have created a whole bunch of them, not knowing what’s true and not, and it all goes down the drain, because no one believes them anymore. Tell me one good reason why I should believe you, Chase?”

“Point well taken,” he said. “I admit I don’t deserve your trust. I married you for selfish reasons. I can’t deny it started that way, but now—” He paused, letting the last word linger heavy in the air. “—now that we’re married, I want a chance to explain.”

I shook my head, my head reeling from his words.

“Wow,” I said at last. “You’re unbelievable. That’s the shittiest reason I’ve ever heard.”

“I know.”

I looked up to meet a glint of amusement in his eyes. His face was clean-shaven, his mouth soft. His lips looked deliciously kissable. My pulse sped up at the thought of kissing him for the sake of it. Just to be close to him one more time.

His lips twitched and his gaze lingered on my mouth for a bit too long, as though he could read my thoughts and had a few of his own.

I sighed. “Chase, when I say you’re unbelievable, it’s not a compliment. What you did is despicable.”

God.

What was it with this guy and his ego?

“I know,” he said again. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. So, do you want an explanation or what?” Judging from the way his fingers tapped on his thigh impatiently, it really had to be important.

I shrugged. “There’s no point in fighting it anymore.”

“No, there isn’t. Not if you don’t want me pestering you for the rest of your life.” He gave a short laugh and his