Taking Him (Lies We Tell) Read Free Page A

all this hostility come from? Was it the alcohol? Shit, this was so the wrong night for her to suddenly get pissy with him. He didn’t have the patience for it. Making an effort to stay calm, he said, “Why get a taxi when you have a perfectly good truck waiting to take you home?”
    Ellie eyed him. “Vin sent you, didn’t he?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Yeah, actually it does. I’m not some teenager out past curfew you have to ship home, you know.” She fiddled with her gun. “I’m an adult and have been for some time.”
    Oh Jesus. He’d had a full-on fucking day and his mood had not been improved by the discovery of an invitation to his brother’s wedding sitting in his mailbox. He was already unsettled by the prospect of a family get-together and a drunk Ellie was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now.
    Hunter glanced down at his watch. Christ, it was nearly one thirty. “Adult or not, it’s late and I need to get you home. So get in the bloody truck.”
    Her eyes widened at his tone. Then she folded her arms. “No.”
    Slowly, Hunter pushed himself away from the chair. Briefly debated picking her up, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her. Discarded the idea. Someone would probably call the cops and he’d be done for kidnapping or some shit like that. Of course he could leave her here, but that would never be an option. Ellie Fox was precious, not only to him but to Vin as well, and he’d be damned if he’d leave his best friend’s little sister drunk and alone, no matter how obnoxious she was being.
    He narrowed his gaze at her. “Get in the truck, little girl.”
    “Oh my freaking God! Did you just call me little girl?”
    “Yeah, I did. If you insist on acting like a child, I’ll treat you like one.”
    A look of outrage crossed her face. “A child? I am not a—”
    “It’s one in the morning, you’re drunk, you’re being difficult and you’re wearing a slutty outfit. I’m not leaving you here.”
    “A slutty outfit?” She sat bolt upright in her chair. “My costume’s got nothing to do with—”
    “Like I said. You’re drunk. In a bar full of freaks. Wearing a slutty outfit. Give me a lecture about your right to wear whatever the hell you want another time, okay? I’m here to take you home and that’s what I’m going to do.” He folded his arms. “So be a good girl and go get in the truck.”

Chapter Two
    A hot flush crept up Ellie’s neck. Hunter stood opposite her, all dark and sexy, a hard look on his perfectly sculpted features, a look he never normally gave her. A look that for some reason she found insanely hot. Which only made her angrier.
    Sliding her feet off the table, she pushed herself up and out of the chair in a sharp movement. Only for the ground to shift unexpectedly under her feet. She stumbled and a warm arm curved around her waist to steady her, a familiar, spicy smell engulfing her. A smell that was all Hunter. A combination of the woody scent of his aftershave, worn leather and sun-warmed skin. Reminding her of all the days and nights she’d spent as a kid with him looking after her, reading her stories, playing games, watching TV. Helping her with her homework. Distracting her from the depressing reality of having a mother who more or less lived in mental health institutions, a father who’d disappeared from her life when she was still a baby and a brother who was struggling to keep their tiny family together.
    Hunter, who’d always given her the attention she’d never gotten from anyone else. Who’d made her feel loved and cared for. And who would never see her as anything more than a child.
    Angrily she jerked herself away from him, struggling to retain her balance. “Go away, patronising jerk,” she muttered. Part of her—the drunk part—badly wanted a fight but the more sensible—and more sober—part whispered that perhaps a crowded bar wasn’t the best place for it. That perhaps she should do what he said, at least