Lie to Me (36 page)

"Yeah, that's what it looks like," he says. "Why?"

"Because I want it to be our bedroom." I look up to see this gentle smile on his face. A thought occurs to me. "You like red right? Oh man, I should have asked. I mean, 'ours', right? I should have asked. I can go back, get a different—"

"Shh," he says, and gives me a not so quick kiss. "I love red."

"Marcus," I say. I can hear the nervousness in my own voice. "It's not just about the paint."

"I know,” he says. He’s smiling, still. “Tell me."

Oh God, why is this so hard. I'm trembling. It's like I can feel this wonderful future just ahead of me, and all I have to do is not screw it up, and I am terrified I will choke. I'm terrified that I will say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, and the universe will punish me for it and take him away again. It’s so crazy. So I do the only thing that's ever helped when I feel like this: I look into Marcus' eyes.

And I see it all there. I see everything. I see how much he loves me.

"I want you to live here," I say. "I want this to be our home."

I can't quite say the rest. I can't quite say, please make me your wife. I'm not brave like he is, but oh man, I will take what I can get. And what I get is Marcus' smile, bright and big, and his strong arms squeezing me tight.

"I can do better than that," he says. He quickly kisses me on my bewildered forehead, and then shouts loud enough for Dill to hear, "Yo, Dillinger! It's time!"

It's what now?

"Be right there!" Dill yells back up.

Marcus must see my look of confused panic. He laughs.

"You know how I've been helping Dill with his homework?" Marcus asks.

I've always been skeptical of this. NASA couldn't help Dill with his homework, but Marcus and Dill have spent a lot of time at Dill's computer. I figured bonding is bonding.

"Yeah," I say. I'm wary.

"I haven't been helping him with his homework," Marcus confesses. I suppress a smile. "He's been helping me with something."

Oh, God, they've been plotting.

Just as my mind is spinning with all of the things these two could come up with together, Dill comes running in at that little boy speed, only this time he's carrying Marcus' laptop. I have to stop myself from lecturing Dill on running around with someone else's computer, but it's easy to do once I see how excited the little man is. Dill is actually bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, grinning from ear to mischievous ear.

"What have you done?" I say. I almost don't want to know.

"C'mere," Marcus says, leading me over to the tarp covered bed. We all climb on top of it, Dill lugging the laptop along and setting it up in front of me.

"We made you a special game," Dill explains while he boots everything up.

"You did what?"

"You'll see," Marcus says.

"You have to play it to the end," Dill says, running the program. "I'll help if you want."

I open my mouth in mock shock. Like I'd need help. "Little booger," I say, and put him in a quick headlock before giving him a kiss on the top of his head.

Dill doesn't even complain about the kiss.

Something is definitely up.

I watch the computer screen while the game loads. It's got rudimentary graphics and music stolen from other famous videogames, which makes me smile. Dill did most of it himself then, and he did it quickly. But the puzzle is something different. My little character has to collect all these puzzle pieces with strange patterns on them and arrange them in a particular order, making what looks like a square with almost a barcode design on it. It's not too hard, but it's not easy, either.

Dill is smirking.

Finally I get the last piece, and then the music starts to change. Haltingly. Clumsily. But undeniably.

It's Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.

I cover my mouth with my hands, afraid to speak.

The square has floated up off the ground in the little simulation, and now it's rotating around, like a Rubik’s cube, until the weird stripy patterns start to form letters.

It says, I LOVE YOU. MARRY ME.

"That's from Marcus," Dill says helpfully.

I look at Marcus, who's already looking at me. I can't look away from those eyes. I can't look away from the past that I see there, that past I wanted to run away from, and how, in Marcus' eyes, it's changing. It's all leading up to this. It's not something I need to run away from, or leave behind. It made me. It made him.

It made us.

"Dill, the ring," Marcus says. His eyes don't leave mine as Dill shoots out of the room, running at full speed. I can hear the little man rummaging around in his room, which, I'll be honest, has got to be the worst place to keep an engagement ring in the history of engagement ring hiding places.

But all I really see is Marcus.

Marcus, smiling.The corners of his beautiful, light green eyes crinkling, the dimple in his cheek deepening, the light shining on him. In him. He's happier than I've ever seen him. He pulls me toward him, his big hands gentle and strong, and then he touches the side of my face, so softly, so tenderly.

"I love you," he says, only this time it's a hoarse whisper.

I put my hand on his chest and grip his shirt, because I need something to hold on to. I feel like I'll blow away in the face of this, like I'll open my mouth and find my voice is gone, like I'm so happy that I'm afraid to speak.

"Lie to me," I finally say. "Lie to me, Marcus. I don't think I can handle this much happiness."

Marcus kisses me slowly, softly. I can always feel him in his kisses. It's reassuring, strong, loving.

"I'm not going to spend my life making you happy," he says, pulling away just enough that he can see my face. "I don't want to raise Dill as my own." He kisses me again, and I can feel the tears start to fall. "You don't make me a better man, every day, just because you let me love you." This time when he kisses me, I am crying, my tears wetting his face, his lips. "You aren't my whole heart."

"Marcus," I sob, burying my face in his neck. I can't help it. If I'm ever going to get over the feeling of being overwhelmed when good things happen, it will be because of him, but this is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm falling apart.

"No,
you
are the best thing that's ever happened to me," I say, as though he's been reading my thoughts. He probably has.

"Is that a yes?" He's holding me now, comforting me, and I bet he's trying not to laugh at the same time. It grounds me, reminds me that I am kind of funny when I'm being serious. I love him for that, too.

"Oh my God, yes!" I say, clutching at his chest. "Please, yes."

I force myself to push off his chest, and hold his face with both hands, looking directly into his eyes. I want him to see what I saw. I want him to know.

I think he already does.

"Yes," I say again, and this time I kiss him.

The only thing that gets me to stop is Dill.

"Guys, that's gross," he says.

Marcus and I break apart laughing, and Marcus wipes the tears from my cheeks. Dill's standing right next to us now, fidgeting with a little blue box in his hands.

"You let him hold on to a Tiffany's ring?" I say, wide eyed.

"Were you going to look for it in his anime collection?" Marcus asks.

"It was my idea," Dill says, smiling again. He loves being right. "Can I do it?"

Marcus looks surprised, and then incredibly proud, looking at Dill. I feel it too, that swell in my heart. Dill wants us to be a family.

"What do you think, Lo?" Marcus asks.

I put my left hand out, grinning at both my boys. "I think somebody better ring me quick, before I lose my mind."

Dill grins and rips into the box, as eleven year old boys do, and I kind of laugh while I cringe, because, well, I should have seen that one coming. Marcus holds my hand. And just like that, Dill slips a giant freaking diamond onto my finger, Marcus holds me tight, and we have the beginnings of a family. Our own family.

"Are you going to cry?" Dill asks.

"Yes," I say, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice. "So?"

I expect Dill to roll his eyes, but instead he smiles, pushes his shaggy hair out of his eyes, and looks up at me kind of sheepishly.

"I guess it's ok this time," he says with a shrug.

"Oh yeah? C'mere, tough guy," Marcus says, and hauls Dill up for a one big monster hug, Marcus' giant arms encircling us both while Dill laughs and squirms away. And even though there's this slippery, mushiness-averse eleven year old telling us to stop being so lame, there is a moment when I know that I have something real. Something solid. Something that can't be taken from me.

I look at Marcus, and I know he's the one who's given this to me. He’s given me this feeling, this sense that I'm connected to more than just Dill, that I really belong in this world. That what connects me to the people I love—to Marcus, to Dill, to Maria, to Shantha—is stronger than anything else this universe can hope to throw at me, and that I don't need to live in fear that it will all be shattered at any moment. He’s brought that back into my life.

He makes me safe. And I make him whole. And together, we're finally what we're meant to be.

THE END

Thank you! I hope you loved Marcus and Harlow's story as much as I did. These two burrowed their way into my heart and just would not leave. I'm going to revisit them in the next book in this series, Brison's story, which will come out in 2014. If you want to get an email alerting you when my next book is available, you can sign up

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for my new releases list, and I’ll send you an email letting you know as soon as my next book is available.

Also? If you liked this book, go ahead and lend it to a friend. There’s no DRM for just that reason, so g’head, go nuts. :) It’s one of the best ways to find new books, and there’s nothing better than a recommendation from a friend.

And, if you have a moment, please help others enjoy this book too by
leaving a review
and letting them know what you liked about
Lie To Me.
I think it helps other readers choose which books are right for them, and I learn something with every review, too. If you do leave a review, shoot me an email with a link to the review at
[email protected]
and I’ll send you an advanced review copy of my next book. I send out those ARCs to my review team in exchange for an honest review, hopefully about a week or so before the book comes out. (Though sometimes I get my butt kicked by deadlines!)

If you want more romance in the meantime, you can check out my
Club Volare
series of sugarkink erotic romances for something lighter and a little, um, kinkier. :)

And finally, if you’re on
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Goodreads
, come say hi! I’d love to hear from you. :)

 ‘Til the next book,

Chloe

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Oh, who am I kidding, this is about big ol’ thank yous.

A giant, enormous thank you to my family, because, well, they put up with me when I’m writing. I honestly don’t know how you do it, but I’m very lucky that you do. I love you.

Another giant thank you to Alicia and Danielle, for also putting up with me when I’m writing and when I’m losing my mind because of it. You are both amazing friends, and I know exactly how lucky I am to have you both in my life.

A big thank you to Liz at Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews for all her hard work and hand holding while we set up that blog tour, and also for just being generally awesome and fun to email with at all hours of the night. And finally, thank you Ann Marie, for that last minute beta read!

And finally, a big thank you to the real life Shantha, for being an amazing person.

I am very grateful to all of you. :)