Page 88 of Reckless Liar

“Mom!” I glanced around trying to ascertain if anyone overheard her.

She gave me a half-hearted shrug. “What? It’s true.”

“That is not true at all, and you know it. Just because she married a woman doesn’t mean that she can’t have children.”

She took a long sip of her diet soda and shot me a disdainful look as if I was the one to make the comment. “Scarlett marrying a woman has nothing to do with becoming a parent. I’m saying that she never seemed like the type who wanted to have children and now there’s no way she’ll accidentally get pregnant, so—problem solved.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“It’s true though, she won’t have a pregnancy scare like you did.”

My mouth dropped wide open in shock. “How did you know that I had a pregnancy scare?”

She glanced over at me. Even in her heels, she was barely eye level with me. “Miriam told me. Did you know that Scarlett tells her mother everything?”

I cursed under my breath. “If it wasn’t her wedding, I’d kill her.”

“No need to murder anyone tonight. Now, I’m going to find your father and remind him he was supposed to bring me those crab cakes I love.” She glanced over my shoulder, a small smile creeping up on her face. “And I get a feeling that you’re going to be a little busy in a minute.”

I turned to find Xander approaching me, frowning. I crossed my arms against my chest staring down at his open hand. “We’re supposed to dance now. Pam’s orders.” I looked behind him to see Dulcie and Troy already together, his hand covering hers and their eyes locked. Scarlett and Emma stood together in the center of the dance floor, performing a beautifully choreographed number.

“I don’t want to dance with you right now,” I said, not meeting his eyes.

He stepped closer, pulling my hand out of the crook of my elbow. “You don’t have a choice. We have to.” When I tried to pull my hand away from him his mouth set in a grim line. “For Scarlett and Emma, An.”

I considered walking away, but over his shoulder I saw Scarlett giving me a quick shake of her head, warning me against refusing him.

I took his hand and he led me out on the dance floor. We stood in front of each other awkwardly before he stepped forward, resting a hand on my hip, and drawing me closer to him. My skin seared under his touch, and I closed my eyes at the sensation, reveling in the pain of it all. I hated how quickly his touch affected me. His mouth was at my ear, his breath warm. “I would have thought you’d bring a date to this.” Xander said as he looked around. “Matt was looking at you.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Matt Hansen who stood at the outskirts of the party, eyeing one of Emma’s cousins who couldn’t be older than nineteen.

“That is disgusting.”

Xander laughed softly and I thrilled at the sound of it. “Yeah, he never really grew out of the sleazeball stage, did he?”

“What about you? You didn’t want to bring a date? I bet Sherie would have come with you if you’d asked.”

Xander tripped a little over his feet at my words. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you.”

I let the words wash over me, trying to decipher the meaning. Was he seeing someone and didn’t want me to be upset or because he still cared for me? I fought to keep the venom in my tone. “Why not?”

Xander’s jaw tightened. “I just didn’t.” He glanced away from me and over my shoulder at Troy. “You know I had to get ready with your boyfriend.”

I frowned at him. “He was never my boyfriend. We only went out on a few dates.”

Xander smirked at me. “So, you admit the last one was a date?”

“No, I won’t. You’re being ridiculous.” I looked up at him and he smiled down at me. “You’re pretty jovial all of a sudden.”

“Troy and I had a couple of shots after the ceremony.”

I pulled back a little, surprised. “Really? That’s not like you.”

He shrugged. “I think we were both a little nervous.”

“About what?” I asked. “You don’t have to make any speeches or anything. The ceremony was the hard part, now it’s a party.”

“No, not that.” He looked down at me and I was stuck in his intense gaze. We continued the awkward back-and-forth dancing that was the height of our dancing abilities. Max was the good dancer; he knew how to lead me into looking capable and even talented after a few beers. I realized it didn’t bother me how terrible of a dancer Xander was. Being in his arms would be enough if it was where he truly wanted to be. I stared down at our feet. My bare toe narrowly missed being stomped on by Xander’s wing tip.

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