Lie, Lie Again - Stacy Wise Page 0,11

Exclusively,” she added with a grin.

“Good.” His confidence restored, he pulled her close, pressing his body to hers. “I’ll call you later. Good luck with the jog-a-thon thing.”

He tapped the door twice and headed for the street where his car was parked. Riki went in the opposite direction. As she walked down the driveway toward the carport, she glanced at the Taylors’ place. Through the big bay window in front, she could see a shirtless Brandon with Kylie in his arms. Are they dancing? As if feeling her gaze, Brandon looked over and smiled. He took Kylie’s hand in his and waved it, the same way he sometimes did with the baby, and it caused the little girl to explode with giggles. In a quick swoop, he landed Kylie onto his shoulders, giving Riki an unobstructed view of his naked torso. Had he done that on purpose? Did he know the effect he had on her? Kylie gripped one shoulder with her little hand and waved frantically with the other, waking Riki from her daze. She’d literally been staring at him, unmoving. Lifting both hands, she waved back, blowing kisses as though she could see only Kylie. She licked her lips and tasted Chris on them before heading to her car.

Chris. He was her reality. They were exclusive. An official couple. It didn’t matter that she sometimes wished Chris were Brandon. It probably happened with all couples. Chris probably wished she were a Victoria’s Secret angel at times. He could very well imagine she was a different girl every single time they had sex. The point was, she liked him as a person. All the other stuff would come in time. Yes, this was the foundation for a solid adult relationship. She was twenty-five, after all, and it was time to banish the idea of fairy tales.

Fairy tales. She’d just started a unit on them at school. A common element was the monster, and with the way she had been thinking, she’d have to cast herself as the villain, not the princess. She shivered at the thought. That’s not who she was. She held her arm out in front of her and clicked her key fob. The locks opened as if by magic. If only she had a similar clicker for her feelings. She needed to shut them down before they became so big, she lost control.

Riki cheered on her little joggers as they moved around the field. Two of the kids had given up on running and were plucking dandelions from the grass as they strolled along. She shaded her eyes as she watched Jeremy, one of the tiniest kids in her class, run with his arms flapping behind him as though he were trying to break through a barrier she couldn’t see. His mother stood next to her. “My husband has tried to teach him to pump his arms, but he just doesn’t get it.”

“He will.” Riki smiled as she looked on. “He’s a great kid.”

“Yes, he is.”

Riki turned at the sudden sharp tone in his mom’s voice.

Mrs. Tau continued. “Were you aware that he was shamed in class the other day?”

“What? No! When did this happen?”

Her lips formed a tight line. “It was during the nutrition lesson. Apparently, the docent asked what they’d eaten for breakfast. Jeremy raised his hand and shared that he’d had Cheerios.”

Riki nodded, keeping an eye on her joggers. “I remember that.”

“Well, her response could’ve been kinder. According to my son, she told him Cheerios aren’t a good choice because they’re processed. He said he’d added milk, thinking that milk is healthy because that’s what I’ve always told him, but then she went on to lecture him about milk. She actually said if he used cow’s milk, it made things worse, because cow’s milk is meant for calves.” Mrs. Tau turned to Riki. “Unbelievable. I wish he’d told her that her nut milk was meant for nuts, but of course, he would never think to say that. Our nanny said he wasn’t himself all afternoon. I thought he was coming down with something and got out the thermometer, but he ran for the kitchen, where I caught him dumping the entire box of Cheerios into the trash. It was then that he finally told me what had happened. Poor kid. He’d gone the whole afternoon feeling bad. That woman was so focused on delivering her ‘healthy eating spiel’”—she made air quotes with her fingers as she spoke—“that she didn’t bother to check the