Read Online Believing Lies by Rachel Everleigh - Free Book Online Page A

his muscled torso, and it was sexier than I had imagined. It was an intricate pattern of solid black lines and curves. Most would refer to it as a tribal tattoo, but for me, it was like an abstract piece of art painted on his skin.
    Once I was in shallow enough water, I tipped to the side to get out of the tube with the intention of walking the rest of the way. What I hadn’t factored into my genius plan was the vacuum my wet butt had created in the tube. Instead of gracefully dismounting, the tube stayed attached to me. I flipped completely over, my head and legs under the water while my ass was sticking up through the middle of the black donut. I swallowed a mouthful of murky water before the inner tube finally popped free from my butt, and I came sputtering back to the surface.
    Mortification would be an understatement to how I felt when I saw Adam and Conner clutching their stomachs, dying of laughter. To add insult to injury, my traitorous cousin was right next to me with her head back, laughing to the point of tears. I had two seconds to decide my next move. I went for the most “mature” route and used both of my arms to scoop under Sophie’s tube and flip her over. I burst out in laughter when the same exact thing I’d just experienced also happened to her. I no longer cared that they’d been laughing at me because once I saw Sophie’s butt upside down in the tube, there was no denying that it was absolutely hysterical. She came to the surface quickly, and I was punished with a huge splash directed at my face and a few choice words from her mouth. We both looked like drowned rats as we walked out of the water.
    “Smooth moves out there, ladies,” Conner commented as he took Sophie’s tube from her and set it on the sand by his feet. He turned to me and added, “Thanks for giving me a direct look at her beautiful behind.”
    I chuckled as I put down my tube and wrung the water out of my hair. “No problem. I live to serve.”
    I’d almost forgotten about my own blunder, but Adam quickly reminded me. “If you wanted to show me your butt, Princess, you could have found a sexier way to do it.” He took off his sunglasses and pierced me with his gaze. Oh wow . I had forgotten how brown his eyes were. “Hmmm . . . Why don’t you turn around and try again without the inner tube,” he suggested and then winked at me.
    I flushed crimson from head to toe, and considering the little bit I was wearing, there was no hiding it. S tupid fair skin .
    “What’s up with the winking?” I tilted my head to the side and gave him my most seemingly baffled look. “I can’t tell if you’re just cocky, if there’s something in your eye, or if you have some kind of chronic eye twitch that causes your lid to spasm. If it’s the latter, you might want to consider seeing a doctor about it.”
    “I like a challenge, so keep it up.”
    He put his aviators on, and although I could no longer see his eyes, I could feel them assessing me from behind the lenses. Dammit . He knew he affected me, and I could tell by the smug pull on the right side of his mouth that he relished the fact.
    I was going to nip this in the bud right now. “Although your colorful commentary is oh so fun, the question remains—why are you even here?”
    “I didn’t know the beach was invitation only.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I just wanted to spend some time in the water.”
    I was so done with this little back and forth game he had started. “Great. Have fun swimming. I’m going to suntan, so don’t let me hold you up.”
    I started to turn toward our towels when I saw the look of disappointment painted on Sophie’s face. I’d forgotten about her and Conner while I was sparring with Adam. In the moment, I hadn’t considered that Tough Love Sophie would never leave me alone today, and I’d accidentally put a kibosh on her spending time with Conner. I suck .
    I needed to fix this for her sake, so I said to all three of them, “Never