Page 101 of Ly to Me

Lyra didn’t miss a beat. “Bless your heart, and your mouth, with that tone.”

Jamie started rummaging faster, hauling up a blender and a few pans like they were his saving grace. At least he had the mental capacity to keep his trap shut until he reached the front door. “I will figure all this out, and when I do, I’ll be keeping my half of the facilityandits profits.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lyra said cooly. “You keep on trying for that one. When Carver makes a bet, he sees it through.”

Ice slid through my veins at the hollowness of those words, the depth at which they sought to prove how ruthless I could be.

The pain I’d caused her all from a stupid fucking bet.

The house turned silent, only the sound of Jamie’s truck starting back up and haulin’ ass from the driveway filling in some of the quiet.

Pushing back some of Lyra’s hair from her shoulder, I pressed my lips to her neck. Her skin flooded with goosebumps, but themoan I was waiting for came out muffled, and when she let out a heavy sigh, I knew it wouldn’t be long before she’d tell me to stop or to go fuck myself.

“Carver, you have to explain somethin’ to me if this—if medefendingyou—is goin’ to uphold and be believable.”

I swept my lips down and murmured against her skin, “Thank you for that.” My fingers shifted down, teasing the hem of her shirt. Her back arched, forcing her ass against my cock. “I’ll have to reconsider the duration of your edging session.”

“Car, I’m serious.” She pried my fingers from her body and turned to lean against the counter, facing me. Teeth worried her bottom lip, her brows pinched together pensively. “I don’t get it,” she finally got out.

“Don’t get…what?”

“I don’t get how you own a bar that seemed pretty busy, and a facility—one of the top in the state—”

“Oak Heart is the top in the state,” I clarified. “But, as you were.”

Her head cocked ever so slightly. “Why’d you need to get married to get more money? Don’t you have enough to buy Jamie out? You don’t exactly live frivolously. I thought maybe you had another…obligation?”

“Obligation?”

“Yeah, you know.” She fiddled with her cuticles, then forced her hands to her sides. “Like, maybe you owe an enormous debt to someone from gambling, or have another woman you’re floating. I don’t know, but…you grinnin’ like that at me isn’t making me feel any better about this.”

I crooked a finger over my lips. “And how do all those ideas floatin’ in your head make you feel?”

Her eyes darkened. “If I had a man I was sendin’ money to, fucking on the side, when our agreement clearly said wecouldn’t, then, I’d be…” Her cheeks turned pink and she fixated on her toes. “I reckon I’d be mad.”

I let her sit with that for a second until she met my eyes. When she did—when those fiery chestnut eyes held mine, I caved. “There’s no one else, Ly.”

“Are you really that bad at business, then? Cause—”

I choked on my laughter. “It’s not that, either. Jamie was kept on because of my disinterest in the finances, but he only does that for the facility.”

“So…the bar? Where’s the profit in keepin’ it if you needed your parent’s—” She paused, a hint of sadness drifting through her eyes. “If you needed the funds from that will, like you said,” she amended. My throat worked as I tried hard not to think about the night they’d died and how I’d spent years blaming her for it.

“C’mon. I wanna show you somethin’.” I stretched my hand out in the space between us.

She did a half-eye roll. “If it’s more of your edging shit, then no.”

I smirked. “Right now, I just want to show my wife what I do with the funds I get from the bar.”

“You can’t just tell me?”

“Nah. Think this is best to see yourself.”

“Is it a strip club?” she teased as she took my hand, threading our fingers together. “Or a ridiculous assortment of other barn animals? I think your rooster is lonely, and if he finds out you’re keepin’ some friends from him, he’s going to start pecking on the windows instead of just screechin’ through ’em.”

“Dick has Bee and the other horse. They’re like three peas in a pod. And I have other animals, you just haven’t seen them much. They spend a lot of time out in the pasture.”

“Wait.” She froze. “You named your rooster Dick?”