The Perfect Deception Read online

  “Something like that.”

  “I still can’t get over you being with someone like her.”

  “That’s what Sherri said. Is she the other reason why you’re calling?”

  “Yes and no. We barely talked in Virginia. I wanted the chance to really catch up. It wasn’t until we were together at Thanksgiving that I realized how long it had been since I’d seen you, and that Sherri’s baby brother is all grown-up. You’re my main reason for calling. But since you mentioned it, your sister and I got the same impression about your friend.”

  “She told me how y’all felt about her. Hold on a minute.” He swapped calls. “Hey, baby.”

  “Where are you, Nate?”

  Jessica’s light and flirty voice put an instant smile on Nathan’s face. “On my way home, ready to shut out the world and spend time with you.”

  “I’m ready for you, too. And I have a surprise.”

  “Oh really? What?”

  “Ha! Good try. It’s a surprise, silly, but I think you’ll like it.”

  “I can’t wait. Hold on, Jessica. Let me end this other call.” He switched again. “Renee, I need to take this.”

  “No worries. We’ll talk later.”

  “All right. Good-bye.” After choosing a bottle he walked to the counter, once again tapping the screen. “Baby, you there? Hello?”

  She wasn’t. Nathan paid for the wine, returned to his car and sent Jessica a quick text. Even with rush hour traffic, he was home in ten minutes.

  It had been a busy week since the Thanksgiving celebration in Virginia. For Nathan and the consulting firm where he was employed, it was time to wrap up cases for the year and handle all the business that could be concluded before December 23rd, when the entire firm shut down for the holidays. His boss, Broderick Turner, had been increasing his responsibilities for the past three months. Nathan relished the challenge, but it was time to unwind. He’d put in a grueling twelve-hour day and was looking forward to a quiet evening of takeout, movies, a bottle of wine, and good loving from the woman he’d not seen all week. He placed a food order with instructions that it be delivered in an hour, stripped off his clothes, and headed to the shower.

  Is that my doorbell? Nathan turned down the gushing showerhead and cocked his head toward the door.Another sound of the chimes had him turning off the water and reaching for a towel. No more than five minutes had passed since he stepped in the shower; too early for either Jessica or the food to have arrived. Curious, he looked through the peephole, then opened the door.

  “You’re early.”

  Jessica untied the belt wrapped around her waist. The coat fell open. Besides high-heel boots she wore nothing but a smile. “I couldn’t wait.”

  The temperature was dropping but Nathan heated right up. He stepped back and dropped his towel. “Well, come on in.”

  Their “greeting” took almost an hour, leaving just enough time for a quick duo shower before the food arrived.

  After he donned PJ bottoms and she the top, they went into the dining room. “Hope you’re hungry.”

  “Starving.”

  “Can you grab the wine? It’s on the kitchen counter.”

  “Sure.”

  He pulled lasagna, garlic bread, and salad from the bags. She returned with the bottle and two glasses. They made their plates and dug in.

  Jessica swirled a piece of bread in the thick sauce. “This is delicious, Nate.”

  “I agree.” He licked his fingers. “Tastes almost as good as you.”

  The look she gave him was filled with love. “I missed you.”

  “It was a busy week. I’m glad it’s over.”

  “Did you finish everything you wanted?”

  “No. It’s going to be crazy until Christmas.”

  “I just hope it doesn’t snow anymore.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it. I believe another cold front is supposed to move in next week.” He reached for more salad. “Maybe we should move to Vegas, where Renee lives. She told me it was eighty degrees over there.”

  Placing down her fork and picking up her napkin were Jessica’s only outward displays of her inner angst. “When did you talk to her?”

  “Today,” Nathan said around a forkful of lasagna. “I love the spicy sausage they add to this dish. Do you think you can make this, baby?”

  “Maybe, if I cooked.” She took a sip of wine. “I didn’t know you and Renee were so close.”

  “I told you she is my sister’s BFF. I’ve known her since high school.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Jessica shrugged. “I just didn’t know you guys talked, that’s all.”

  “We normally don’t. She heard about the weather and called to see if I was okay.”

  “How thoughtful of her.”

  Nathan paused, reaching for his own wineglass. “Do I detect a little jealousy?”

  “Would you think less of me if I said yes? I trust you, but her calling you has me feeling some kind of way. I don’t have the best track record with women, or with men who have them as good friends.When we met, it was clear that she didn’t like me all that much.”

  “Baby, you have to understand something. She and my sister are used to seeing me with loud, aggressive women. Women who are more like Renee.” He reached over and ran a finger down her cheek. “You’re quiet—reserved, is how Sherri described you. It’ll just take them a while to adjust to your personality, that’s all. Once they get to know you, I’m sure they will love you just as much as I do. Well, probably not that much, but they’ll understand why you’ve stolen my heart.”

  Jessica reached for her wine and relaxed against the chair with a satisfied smile. “Is that what I’ve done?”

  “Right out of my chest, and I’m not even going to file a police report. Because you’re the sexiest thief I’ve ever met.”

  Placing down her glass, she walked around to Nathan’s side of the table and sat on his lap. “I really want the acceptance of your family and friends,” she said, placing kisses on his cheek, chin, and mouth while grinding against his burgeoning erection. “But knowing you love me is what’s most important. You mean the world to me.”

  Nathan reached beneath the pajama top and tweaked her nipple to hardness. “Don’t worry about them, baby. You’ve got this.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Bright sunlight crept between the blinds. The day lived up to its name. Nathan ran an errant hand across the bed, seeking warm flesh. A cold sheet greeted his palm. His eyes popped open.Then he remembered. Jessica left earlier to go home, take a shower, and put on that which was delightedly missing when she showed up Friday night. He lazily pulled the cover over his naked torso, watching a mental replay of the love they’d made using different positions and almost every room. There’d been plenty of women in Nathan’s life, a couple of them continued to call even now, long after the romance had ended. But when it came to giving pleasure, all of them together didn’t match one Jessica Bolton.

  Just as he decided to roll out of bed and take a shower, his phone rang. He checked the ID and pushed the speaker button. “Good morning, Mom. How’d you know I was planning to call you?”

  “Because you’re always planning, just don’t get around to doing it too much.”

  “Aw, Mom . . .”

  “Just teasing you, Son. Good morning. I hope it’s not too early.”

  “Never for you. How’s life in North Carolina?”

  “I’m blessed, honey. Just returned from the eight o’clock service with Constance. The pastor was on fire today!”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it. And you said with Ms. Riley?”

  “Yes, she’s back here checking on her house. You know she decided to rent it out instead of sell it, said she might move back some day.”

  “She was a great neighbor and is a good friend. But I’m sure she’s enjoying her family in St. Louis.”

  “Oh yes. There’s nothing like grands and great-grands to make us smile.
Of course, where some are concerned I’m still waiting.”

  “You have Aaron and Albany. You’ll always be a grandmother even if I never have kids.”

  “Hmph. Speaking of Sherri’s kids, have you talked to her?”

  “No, not this weekend.”

  “Well, she’ll be calling you. They want the family down to the island for Christmas.”

  Nathan got out of bed and reached for his bottoms, considering what his mother had said. He’d only visited the Bahamas once since his brother-in-law had bought his sister a house there. “That sounds great, Mom. Let me talk to Jessica and see if she can get the time off.”

  “How is your girlfriend?”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Tell her I said hello. She seems like a nice girl.”

  “We’re going to brunch in a bit. I’ll be sure and tell her.”

  He and his mother talked for several more minutes and when the call ended, he decided to call his sister.

  “Hey, Sis. I hear that for Christmas we’re Bahamas bound.”

  “So you can make it. That’s great, Nate!”

  “Yes, our office shuts down until after the New Year. I just have to make sure Jessica can get off.”

  “Oh, she’ll be coming with you?”

  Nathan barely paused before he answered. “Of course.”

  Jessica paired skinny jeans with a cream-colored mohair sweater. Her shoulder-length hair hung loose and she wore no makeup. Looking at the clock, she realized it had taken her less than an hour to shower and dress.

  Still at least thirty minutes until Nate comes over. Let me check my mail.

  She walked back to her condo, flipping through several pieces of mail. Coming to one postmarked from North Carolina stopped her in her tracks. Sissy’s letter! She hurried to her door, throwing down the other pieces of mail as she entered, and ripped open her sister’s letter.

  Jessie! Good to talk with you the other day, as always. It’s been months, but I’m still pinching myself that we are able to talk again. I thought you’d never get away from that controlling asshole. How long ago was it he changed your phone number so I couldn’t reach you . . . six, seven years? Crazy how life has kept us separated for so long. But if we work together on this idea I have, that’s all about to change.

  Hmm . . . nothing so far. Sissy’s second paragraph detailed an incident that never happened. Confusing, until Jessica again tried the code. The average person would see a silly childhood story, but using the system Sissy had created, Jessica began to decipher the message within the message—the huge favor her sister needed that only she could do. Her jaw dropped, along with her stomach. To call this favor huge was a huge understatement. She stared at the paper in disbelief. What the hell?

  She read the entire paragraph again, then focused on the sentences where the real reason for Sissy’s letter was deftly hidden.

  Speaking of snakes—remember when I had to help our skittish neighbor catch and kill that snake? Remember the one who got blamed? Bobby caught and put it on the porch, blamed me, then lied. “She put it here!” I wanted to slap him. So full of it. Didn’t matter. I adored him anyway. So hot! Can still see him sweat and get dirty playing with his cousin out behind the old coot’s yard!!! To him I was just a kid. But he was my secret crush. Good old Bobby Smith. Wonder whatever happened to him. He’s probably got several kids and a few exes by now. Ha! But that was one gorgeous man.

  Jessica clenched the paper as she walked to the couch and sat. Surely there’d been a mistake. Perhaps Sissy forgot the numerical sequence to create the secret message. Maybe I forgot how to read it. Wishful thinking; Jessica knew this wasn’t true. When she was nine and living with a foster family in the countryside, then fourteen-year-old Sissy moved nearby. Jessica had been surprised and thrilled to see her at the local store. In a strange twist of fate, Sissy had been placed in a group home less than three miles away. Even stranger was the initial reluctance and final refusal of the foster mom to let them visit each other. That’s when Sissy suggested writing letters. She quickly created a code and taught it to Jessie. Only half a dozen letters passed between them before Jessica was caught with the foster mom’s biological son, Dennis, and abruptly moved to another home. Though lost long ago, those letters were special. Neither would ever forget that time, or the code. Sissy had made what she needed done very clear.

  Jessica stood and paced the room. How on earth can I do this? But considering that the end result would be her sister’s freedom. . . how could she not?

  The day she’d found Sissy’s contact information online and sent her an e-mail had been nerve-racking. The day she’d gotten a response had been the happiest one in a very long time. They went from e-mails to phone calls and enjoyed short, rare chitchats for almost a year. That all changed when Jessica’s controlling and possessive ex-husband broke into her inbox and read their exchanges. She still bore a small mark above her eye from that night’s “discipline.”

  In a rare act of defiance, she had gone to the public library, created a fake Facebook profile and sent her sister a friend request. When Sissy found out about the physical abuse, she encouraged Jessica to end the marriage and said she would help. Two weeks later Jessica was living in Atlanta, and a few days after that they’d reconnected by phone. That’s when Sissy first alluded to needing a huge favor. And that’s when Jessica said she’d do it. To refuse never crossed her mind.

  Returning to the couch, she read the letter a final time. The coded message made everything clear, just as Sissy said it would. The cryptic statements made during their phone conversations now made sense, the reason for secrecy obvious.The request caused Jessica to view everything that had happened since the Facebook friend request in a different light: the push from Sissy to leave Edwin and the money to do so, her suggesting Atlanta for relocation, the planned meeting with Nathan. Was all of that done because of what was in the letter, to put Jessica in her debt?

  “Of course not,” Jessica whispered. Sissy would never use me like that. She walked to her computer and opened a Word document. After a general greeting and small talk mentioned simply to throw off the nosy, letter-reading guards—Jessica got to the point.

  Funny, the story about Bobby. The holidays have you feeling nostalgic. I can’t wait to take a break. Work has been very hard, impossible really. I don’t like the situation. But sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to do. I guess now is one of those times. So I’ll try and enjoy a little R&R, then after New Years, unfortunately, it will be back to work.

  She ended the letter abruptly, a part of her heart already breaking.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Did you suggest a background check on Jessica to Sherri?” Nathan was so chagrined that he’d reached past small talk for the heart of the matter.

  “Hello to you too, Nate. And here I thought you were just calling because you loved me.”

  Renee’s voice was way too cheerful for Nathan’s mood. “Answer my question.”

  “Yes, but only indirectly. I was telling her about a recent situation where I should have done some checking, then jokingly suggested that you do one on Jessica.”

  “When she called me she wasn’t laughing.”

  “I’m sorry if putting that in her head upset you. But is it such a bad idea? Maybe I watch too much Investigation Discovery, but how much do we know about the people we meet? Unlike the old days when we either grew up with, went to school or church with, or were introduced by someone who knew our whole family, we don’t know who we’re meeting now. I wouldn’t think twice if someone wanted to check me out. I have nothing to hide. And with what happened to Sherri and Randall—”

  “This isn’t about what happened to my sister. Or to you. This is my life. And I don’t appreciate y’all interfering.”

  Attitude met its match. “Dang, Nate. It was just a suggestion. If you don’t feel like it, don’t do it!” Then in a softer tone, “I can understand your being upset. That’s your girl. But Sherri is like a sister t
o me. That makes you family. I’m always going to be concerned about both of you, and Miss Elaine, too.”

  Nathan took a breath and loosened his hold on the steering wheel. “Sorry for going off on you. I know you care. But I’m frustrated. It’s been a couple years since I brought one of my girlfriends around the family. In one day, a matter of hours, you and Sherri have formed all of these opinions and suspicions when what I need is for y’all to be as happy for me as I am for myself.”

  “You’re right, Nitpicky. I’ll back off.”

  Nathan chuckled, low and deep. “Wow, I haven’t heard that nickname since I was what, sixteen or seventeen years old?”

  “Sixteen, and on the way to your first prom, remember?”

  “Right. You and Sherri had come down to visit.”

  “And you were determined to not have one hair, thread, or kerchief out of place.”

  “Please, girl. You know I was styling in that double-breasted.”

  “Nobody could tell you otherwise! Looking like Wanya Morris.”

  “Those brothers in Boyz To Men wish they had it like I did.”

  “Getting invited by a senior when you were just a sophomore? Yes, you had swag, even back in the day, Mr. Nitpicky.”

  “Girl, you’re a trip. And even though I want you to mind your own business and stay out of mine . . . I know your actions are because you care.”

  “All of us single people are looking for love, Nate. I hope you’ve found it.”

  “Thanks, Renee. Hey, how well do you know the Vegas club scene?”

  “I know a little bit. What age group are we talking?”

  “The grown and sexy crowd, thirty and older.”

  “I’d have to think about that. Most of the clubs here, especially those on the strip, cater to the younger, twenty-something crowd.”

  “I’ve helped one of my clients develop a successful club here for those I just described; mainly R & B music with some old school thrown in, an excellent specialty bar, and gourmet hors d’oeuvres. He’s thinking about expanding.”