Deception Read Online Free

straight.”
    What the hell had happened to him?
    Courtney popped a piece of gum in her mouth. Maura loved this woman. She was tough and didn’t take shit from men. She’d called off her own wedding after she had walked in on her intended groom in bed with another woman. Courtney had auctioned off the entire wedding on the internet, down to the dress and ring. She’d given all of the money to the children’s hospital, a most generous act in light of the fact that Bailey said she’d raised over two hundred thousand dollars.
    Just then Julian walked in, observed them at the counter, and then walked to the fridge.
    “Look at the time. I gotta jet. Don’t forget what I said, love.” She patted Maura’s arm and winked at her before she left the kitchen.
    Maura’s stomach growled and so she started in on her food for the second time. She was curious and desired to know more about Julian. She could always google him, but she’d rather have him trust her enough to tell her what lurked in his past.
    Julian stood across from her with a beer—the same beer she had. “So now you’re drinking my beer.”
    Shit . “I didn’t know it was your beer, Julian. Trust me, had I known it was yours, I wouldn’t have drunk it even if I’d been in a desert dying of thirst.”
    “What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Just tell me where you buy it and I’ll get the next case.”
    He pulled a shrimp from the foam container and held it between finger and thumb. “Are these David shrimp?”
    “How should I know?”
    “Where’d you get it?”
    “Crazy Cajun.”
    His eyes went wide, “you live in my home and drink my beer. The least you could do is make sure you support my business.” He tossed the shrimp down with disdain.
    She placed her head in her hands and pressed thumbs into her brow. A stress headache was beginning to develop. She hopped down from the stool, took the carton of shrimp, and threw it into the trash along with the beer.
    “Maura?”
    She gathered her purse and crossword and fled the room. She heard him calling her, but she didn’t want to look at him anymore and wanted to speak with him even less. She wasn’t giving up, she just couldn’t deal with him right now.
    Ear buds in her ears, she lay on the duvet cover in the mint-colored room listening to an Indy play list and thinking about her predicament. Alan came to town once or twice per month. The house had two bedrooms: Bailey’s and hers. Whenever Alan came he slept in the bed with Maura. He also demanded sex. Sometimes the sex wasn’t aggressive or brutal, but sometimes it was just that. He’d threatened her job, he’d threatened to cease paying for Bailey’s dialysis, and he’d threatened to evict her from the little home on the basis of violation of the rental agreement. To her mind she hadn’t violated the agreement, but she knew he could make anything happen.
    Truth told Maura would have slept with Alan a hundred times over in order to provide Bailey with the treatment she had needed. What did that make her? Maybe she was the whore Alan had referred to.
    She recalled the day Julian had come to the university and escorted her to lunch. With his sincere attentiveness she’d liked him instantly. He’d been a southern gentleman—holding doors open and asking what music she preferred. They went to a sweet Italian restaurant where they’d shared calamari and tiramisu. Then he’d been there for her when Bailey had fallen into a coma. He’d been gentle and kind when she’d cried into his chest—his hard, masculine chest.
    A knock at the door preceded Bailey’s voice, “Hey Maura, how goes the home search?” Bailey had entered the space and injected it with fun energy. Maura smiled.
    “I found a few nice places. I hope to hear back from them soon.” Bailey wore a bikini top and shorts. The same thing she’d worn almost every day since her surgery. She was taking the terms rest and rehabilitation to a new level.
    Bailey sighed.