Page 32 of Never Tell Lies

"Keira Larson," she shook his hand. "I've heard so much about you." I glared at her. Mr Tell threw an amused look at me. I studiously ignored him and sipped my coke.

"Is that so? Any of it good?"

She laughed. "Almost none of it."

"Almost? What's the good part?" I stared as he smiled at her, a real, honest-to-God smile that reeked of false charm. There wasn’t a sliver of sentiment behind that smile. Keira gave him an innocent shrug.

"She likes you." Oh god, Keira. I put my head in my hands, trying to drown out the sound of his chuckle.

"Well, Keira, I think you and I are going to get along great. Do you mind if I join you?" I glanced up, trying to figure out this new mask he was wearing. This definitely wasn't the man I knew.

"No, not at all. In fact…" She pushed her chair back.Don't you dare, I thought. But it was too late. "I think I'm going to see a man about his phone number." I glared at her but she trotted off to see snooker table guy, who looked like he'd just struck gold.

Mr Tell took up the seat she'd just vacated and settled himself in front of me. He seemed to take up all of my vision when he was around, like my eyes weren't big enough to see anything else. It was an overwhelming feeling.

"So, you like me." His beautiful face contorted into a satisfied grin, his mask now bearing no resemblance to the affable one he'd worn for Keira.

"Don't. If you think you can charm your way out of what you did last night then you're way off. Other people might let you get away with behaving like that but I won’t."

"Because you're different." He gave me an appraising look, his gaze lingering where my fingers were wrapped around my mum’s necklace.

"Different from what?"

I wasn't sure but I thought I heard him murmur,"everything."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. I have something for you." He reached into his pocket, produced a red velvet box, and placed it on the table between us. I eyed it suspiciously until he opened it for me, revealing a beautiful pair of diamond stud earrings.

"What are these?" I asked carefully, my gaze glued to the twinkling stones. I'd never owned anything so decadent.

"They're to fix whatever happened last night." I looked up at him, his face so beautiful it gave these stones a run for their money.

"An apology?"

"Yes, if you want to call it that," he said with a shrug that had my pleasure at the gift souring in my gut. I pushed his pseudo apology back across the table.

"Diamonds don't apologise, Mr Tell, people do."

He stared at me as if I'd just grown an extra head. The small, seemingly inoffensive box sat between us—a bomb that might go off any second. "They're yours, Lola."

"I don't want them.” I wanted a real apology.

Yes, he was beautiful and yes, he blew my rationality temporarily out of the water sometimes, but I was never going to let a man get away with batshit behaviour and just welcome him back for the price of a pair of earrings.

He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, his shoulders hunching and broadening, the muscles moving smoothly under his perfectly tailored suit. I was quietly aware of the many women in the bar who were staring at us. At him.

He reached for my hand but I snatched it away and sat back in my chair, putting as much distance between us as possible. I did my best to shut him out, to let him see that he wasn't going to win this one, and when he let out a small sigh, I felt certain I'd won.

"Alright." He picked up the rejected red box and returned it to the safety of his pocket. I felt a weird sense of relief once it was out of sight. "Lola, it was wrong of me to come to your home and cause a scene in front of your family. It won’t happen again." He trailed off, his brow knotted as he seemed to search for the right words.

"I need you to know that if I'd known your son was there I never would have caused a scene like that, I swear to you." It wasn’t quite an apology but he looked so sincere I couldn't hold onto my anger.

"Okay," I whispered. "But Ryan isn't my son, he’s my nephew. My half-sister, Natalie, is his mother.” I couldn't be sure but I thought I could detect a hint of relief in his face.

A silence settled between us for a moment before he broke it.

"Why did you stand me up last night? That's the third time you've run from me. You barely answer my texts, you don't take my calls. Why?"