Read Online Deceiving The Groom by Lisa Shadow - Free Book Online Page B

brain. The churning in his stomach dropped. Damn… He really had blown things with Claire. She would see him back in Hopetown? She hoped last night wasn’t too hard on him?
    What had he done? They had separate flights and he knew she had her meetings, but why wouldn’t she say goodbye? He scrunched up the paper and threw it across the room. This was beginning to feel like a theme.
    Liam slid his legs out of bed and padded naked to the bathroom. He needed a cold shower, maybe then things would make a little sense.
    The steady jet of cool water helped ease the fog in his head.
    He wiped the condensation from the mirror and lathered his jaw and neck with shaving cream. Picking up his razor, he leaned towards the mirror. He slid the razor down his cheek in one clean swipe. His gaze caught on a shadow on his forehead.
    Liam rinsed the razor under the tap then leaned closer. A bruise the size of a quarter marred his forehead just above his right eyebrow. He ran his finger over it. It was tender but didn’t hurt. His chest panged. Shit. What the hell happened last night? 
    A faint ringing snapped him out of the examination. He wrapped a towel around his waist and strode back into the bedroom, snatching his phone from the bedside table.
    “Hello?”
    “Mr. Channing?” The female voice that answered was unfamiliar.
    Liam wiped at the shaving cream dribbling from his neck with the back of his hand. “Yes.”
    “This is Linda, manager at Hopetown Bank.”
    Liam frowned. His purchase of the bank had just settled a week ago. Why would she be calling while he was out of town?
    “What can I do for you, Linda?”
    Her throat cleared softly at the end of the line. “Well, I hope I’m not disturbing you, this is a courtesy call.  Do you know if you are in possession of all your credit cards?”
    Liam’s brows drew together. “I believe so.” He slid open the drawer of the side table and peered inside. His wallet was not where it should be.
    “Mr. Channing, we’ve had some anomalies register on our system, and well…your account has been overdrawn.”
    Liam glanced across the room. “I think you’re mistaken, Linda. My accounts can’t be overdrawn.”
    The wallet had to be somewhere. His pants and shirt from the night before rested in a heap on the armchair. Holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, he went to the pants and stuffed his hand in the back pocket. The cool leather of his wallet met his fingers, its weight a relief in his palm when he dragged it out.
    “This one appears to have a limit of ten thousand dollars.”
    Liam mouth drew to the side and he opened his wallet. The only card he had with a limit was the petty cash card for the office, and he never used that. He ran his fingers over the cards, nothing was missing, but…his work credit card not in it usual place. What had he been doing using this last night? It was still a black blur.
    This is why he never drank to excess.
    Liam took the phone in his hand again and held the offending card up to inspect. “Linda, can you tell me what the purchases were for?”
    “Certainly, Mr. Channing.”
    Linda rattled off a list of purchases. He’d paid for an insane bar tab, a heinous casino tab, but the last charge Linda rattled off caused him drop the credit card.
    “What!”
    He hadn’t intended to yell, but he heard the cringe in Linda’s voice when she replied. “That’s three thousand five hundred dollars at Marcie Bloom Bridal.”
    His heart ricochet off his ribcage like it had been shot from a pistol. “I don’t understand.”
    “Are you saying that you did not authorize this purchase?”
    Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. The underside of his wrist smeared shaving cream from his cheek. “I can’t remember…” He breathed in and his eyes snapped open. “Claire!”
    “Pardon?”
    Liam chuckled and his hand fell from his face. The explanation was clear. “It’s alright Linda, I know what happened. My date is a wedding dress designer,