A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire, #1) Read online

  Garrett shoved open the door to go outside so hard it slammed against the side of the building. Maybe some fresh air would clear his head.

  Parker pushed her hurt feelings from Garrett’s abrupt departure aside as each of the men gave her a hug and welcomed her to the team. She knew they were curious about the partial information their CO had given them but they didn’t pry. Risner told her when they met this morning that it was up to her regarding how much information she wanted to give them.

  They all made their way out of the building to where a car was waiting to take them to the military airfield, chatting amicably about what was going on in each other's lives. Garrett was noticeably absent, and Parker had a brief moment of panic that maybe Garrett was so pissed he decided to find another ride to the plane.

  As soon as they all got settled in the SUV, Garrett showed up out of nowhere and slid into the only available seat left—the one right next to Parker.

  He slammed the door closed, and with his arm hanging out of the open window, smacked the side of the car twice to signal to the driver everyone was ready to go.

  Cole sat in the front seat and chatted with the driver while Austin and Brady joked about a bar they went to the previous night in the seat behind Parker and Garrett.

  Garrett stared straight ahead and didn’t even glance in Parker’s direction. She knew because she had been glaring right at him ever since he got into the car. Parker wasn’t going to be some shrinking violet and pretend like everything was fine. They were going to talk, and he was going to have to come to terms with everything quickly. Parker was about to do the most important thing she had ever done in her short life, and she wouldn’t be able to concentrate if she had to also deal with Garrett’s attitude at the same time.

  “Are you just going to ignore me the entire time we’re working or is this a temporary thing? I’d kind of like some advance notice so I can make note of it on my calendar,” Parker said sarcastically in a low voice that only Garrett could hear.

  “Since you seem to have all of the answers, Ms. Parker, how about you decide when I should forgive you for being a sneaky bitch and get back to me on that.”

  Garrett clenched his jaw and continued to stare straight ahead. He was definitely not having this discussion with her right now in a car filled with their team. It was none of their fucking business.

  Of course Parker wasn’t one to take any of Garrett’s crap lying down, and he should have known that before he even opened his mouth. They’d always had a volatile relationship, knowing exactly how to get under each other’s skin and what buttons to push.

  “Wow, a sneaky bitch, huh? You don’t beat around the bush do you? For your information, McCarthy, not everything I do revolves around my desire to piss you off. My life has been complete and utter shit lately, and I finally have a chance to do something good. I have the opportunity to find out why Milo was lying to me and hiding things and fighting with me every opportunity he could. I can finally know why a week after he left I called the caterers and the church and they told me that Milo had canceled the wedding the day he left without saying a word to me. You have your guilt about all of this, Garrett, but so do I. So ease the fuck up on the silent treatment and give me a God damned break.”

  Parker folded her arms across the front of her and scooted away from Garrett, turning her head to stare out of the window at the landscape rushing by.

  Garrett still didn’t speak but it wasn’t because he had nothing to say to Parker. He was just in too much shock. Milo canceled their wedding the day he left? Garrett couldn’t wrap his head around that information. Milo told him everything, and granted they hadn’t spoken much in the weeks prior to Milo’s departure to the Dominican, but Garrett assumed he was just busy with wedding preparations. He was having a hard time believing that Milo would do something like that. He knew Parker wasn’t lying about this, but it just didn’t make any sense. Milo couldn’t wait to marry Parker. The day he had told Garrett his plans was still clear as day in his mind.

  There hadn't been any available seats at the bar so Garrett grabbed a table when he got to Shooters. Milo had called him earlier in the day and said he had some news that he needed to tell Garrett about. He was hoping Milo finally got that promotion to Lieutenant that he had been gunning for. Garrett knew the Navy was everything to his friend, and he wanted to see him succeed.

  Milo, Garrett, and Parker always went to Shooters when they had good news or needed to celebrate. They went there when they signed the lease to the first house the three of them bought together, they went there when Garrett graduated from Seal training and again when he had been given a promotion, and they went there when Parker’s first photo had been published in a national magazine. It was definitely time for them to be there for some good news from Milo. Parker was currently in New York for a few days doing a photo shoot, so it looked like it would just be a two-person celebration today.

  While Garrett waited for Milo, he ordered them each a beer. He was almost done with his by the time Milo showed up.

  “Dude, sorry I’m late. I had to stop by the store and pick something up, and it wasn’t quite ready yet,” Milo explained as he slid into his seat and took a big gulp of his beer.

  “So what’s going on man? What’s the good news?” Garrett asked when Milo put his glass back down on the table.

  Milo reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, black velvet box and slid it across the table to Garrett.

  Garrett couldn’t miss the huge smile plastered all over Milo’s face. He looked happy and excited, and Garrett was glad, but he looked quizzically down at the small box.

  “What’s this?” Garrett asked, scooping the box up in his hand.

  “Just open it,” Milo said, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

  Garrett laughed at Milo’s exuberance and flipped open the box. Nestled inside was a platinum solitaire engagement ring. Before Garrett could control it, his face immediately fell. He always knew that this moment would come. He knew it after Milo arrived home from their first date, and he had to listen to his best friend rattle on and on about how perfect she was.

  He knew it every time he watched the two of them together holding hands, laughing, and kissing.

  Garrett knew it and prepared for it, but he thought he’d have more time. More time to get used to the idea that his best friend was marrying the girl of Garrett’s dreams.

  Before Milo got suspicious of Garrett’s behavior, he put on a brave front and made a joke.

  “Milo, did you ask my dad’s permission for my hand in marriage first? Because I can’t say yes if you didn’t follow the proper protocol.”

  Milo laughed and snatched the box out of Garrett’s hand. “You’re such a dick, McCarthy! So, what do you think? Parker will say yes, right? I mean…fuck, she wouldn’t say no, would she? I want to marry her so badly it freaks me out a little.”

  The sad fact was Garrett knew without a doubt that Parker would say yes.

  “Quit being such a pansy. You know Parker will say yes,” Garrett said with a roll of his eyes.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to ask her to marry me. I mean I can believe it considering I just dropped 5k on a ring for her, but I just can’t believe this is really it. Did you ever think getting coffee that day in college seven years ago would lead us here?”

  If you had asked that question to Garrett the day they met Parker, he would have absolutely believed this was where they’d be. However, he had pictured his role in that particular fantasy a little differently than Milo did.

  Garrett hadn’t said a word the entire car ride to the airfield. Parker gave up trying to figure out Garrett and his moods a long time ago, so as soon as the SUV parked, she jumped out of the vehicle without a word to him. She said her piece and since they’d be stuck with each other indefinitely, he knew where to find her if he wanted to say anything else to her.

  Garrett watched Parker exit the car and walk with the other men toward the pla
ne parked on the tarmac waiting for them to board.

  He knew they needed to hash this out, but it could wait. He grabbed his bags from the back and followed everyone else to the steps of the plane.

  The most important thing right now was the mission, and Garrett needed to remember that. It was going to be hard enough putting on the show they would need to once they got to the Dominican. They needed to talk things out before then or this whole thing would blow up in their face if Garrett and Parker couldn’t act the part. Garrett had a feeling Parker was going to lose her shit when he explained to her exactly what role she would be playing once they touched down.

  A sick, twisted part of him was thrilled at the prospect of doing this, but Garrett knew without a doubt this whole charade was going to cut him in two. Garrett knew it would change his friendship with Parker. He could even lose her forever once this was over.

  No matter how much he denied it to himself, this lie they were going to have to perfect would ruin him when he had to go back to his regular life without her. It would tease him and taunt him and remind him of what he never had the courage to take. It would be dangled in front of him for a short while and as soon as he got comfortable, it would be snatched right out of his hands.

  They took their seats on the plane and prepared for take-off. Parker was surprised that Garrett sat down next to her. She figured he must have felt the need to torture her with the silent treatment through the flight. Well, she’d show him. Parker was a woman after all. She had perfected the art of the silent treatment.

  Everyone buckled their seat-belts while the crew member went through her monotonous list of safety instructions. Parker pulled the dossier out of her bag and began to flip through it to familiarize herself with what exactly she would be pretending to do once she got there.

  Obviously “pretending” to be a photographer wasn’t going to take any brains. She could do that in her sleep. She almost did do it in her sleep. Parker hoped Garrett practiced his interviewing skills for this. There was no way in hell she was going to do it for him this time, especially with the way he was treating her.

  She had numerous assignments in the Dominican over the years and knew the safety precautions she needed to take when traveling over there, so she was already familiar with that information.

  Parker quickly skimmed through that portion of the dossier until something caught her eye: a change to the country’s law since her last visit there four years ago.

  “Women traveling to the Dominican for work-related purposes always need to be accompanied by a male chaperone. In order to avoid complications or difficulty, it’s best for a woman to travel with her husband. Dominicans frown upon women traveling to their country with any male that is not her significant other.”

  Parker laughed a little at their old-fashioned ways and thanked God that she was an American living on U.S. soil and didn’t normally have to deal with such sexist standards unless traveling for work.

  Then all of a sudden it hit her. Parker was going to have to be someone’s wife during this assignment. How had she missed that tidbit before? Obviously, her brain wasn’t functioning at maximum level with everything that went on since yesterday. She glanced quickly around the plane at Austin, Cole, and Brady and wondered which one she was going to be playing house with while Garrett was busy doing his tech stuff. Her gaze came back around and landed on Garrett. Parker didn’t like the devious smirk that was on his face.

  “What?” Parker asked him irritably.

  Garrett shrugged. “Just wondering how your reading is coming along.”

  The plane started to taxi down the runway, and Parker let the dossier drop into her lap so she could clutch onto the armrests. Parker was a white-knuckled flier. She was fine once they were up in the air but this whole taxi business and the anticipation of wondering if the plane would explode as soon as they got up to full speed made her want to scream. You would have thought as often as she had to fly for her job, the fear would have lessened now, but unfortunately it hadn’t.

  Garrett knew how much Parker hated to fly so he figured he might as well do something to take her mind off of her fear.

  “My reading is coming along fine. I just find their backwards customs pretty amusing.”

  Parker squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath as the plane went full throttle and the nose began tipping up towards the sky. She felt the slight bump as the back wheels came up off of the ground and her ears popped as they rose higher and higher.

  “I feel bad for whichever one of the guys has to pretend to be my husband though. I hog the covers and talk in my sleep,” Parker joked.

  They were finally airborne so Parker opened her eyes while Garrett remained silent.

  The look on his face said it all, and if they weren’t twenty-seven thousand feet above the ground right then, Parker might have seriously considered opening the door and jumping out.

  “So sorry you have to work on our honeymoon, Mrs. McCarthy.”

  Chapter Five

  Parker’s views on marriage were sketchy at best. She knew she wanted to settle down, have a family, and live the American dream—but not at the cost of losing herself so deeply in someone that she’d struggle to breathe, to function, and to remember who she was.

  Most people would assume that Parker loved with her whole heart and soul, just like her parents did. They poured their entire beings into each other. Where one ended, the other began. They completed each other’s sentences, thoughts…lives. They slow danced in the kitchen when they thought no one was looking, they cuddled on the couch to watch the evening news, and they never went anywhere without the other.

  She grew up watching them, studying them, wishing that someday she would love and be loved like that. Just like any young girl, Parker daydreamed of meeting her prince and living happily ever after with her one true love. She dreamed of falling so deeply in love that books and poetry on the subject would never come close to describing the feelings she held.

  But dreams were meant to be broken and wishes turned to smoke, fading away into the sky on a gentle breeze. Parker was seventeen years old when the sky turned dark and the clouds opened up to rain on her dreams. A crucial time in any young girl’s life: that moment when you were no longer a little girl and so close to becoming a woman, when you fell in love for the first time and hoped it lasted forever. Parker had never expected to spend her senior year in high school watching her mother fade away. She had never thought she would miss her senior prom to say one final good-bye to her family, her innocence, and her silly childhood dreams about love and forever.

  Parker always looked back on the day she buried her mother and wondered why she didn’t just save everyone a lot of time and energy by burying her father right along with her. He had stopped living the day her heart stopped beating. He loved her so deeply, so all-encompassing that he couldn’t survive in a world without her. What her father never understood or cared about was that Parker’s heart was broken as well. She was a young girl without a mother and knew she'd have to complete the rest of life’s journeys without her advice and guiding hand. She needed her father to comfort her, tell her everything would be okay, and show her that life would go on, that she would one day feel happy again. He was the pillar of their small family, the one she looked up to, the rule-maker, and the strength behind every decision she made.

  The day they had buried Parker’s mother was the last day her father really spoke to her with anything other than contempt in his voice. As the mourners walked away from the cemetery, Joe Parker took one long, last look at his daughter, his little girl and said, “I can’t stand to look at you. You remind me too much of her.” She stared at her father’s retreating back and knew it was time for her to grow up and stop believing in fairytales.

  For eight more months they had lived under the same roof, never speaking except in anger. Parker had postponed starting college until the winter semester to stay home and try to pull her father out of his depression regardless of his p
rotests and hateful words. He took a leave of absence from the police force and spent each and every day drowning in a bottle of whiskey. He stopped eating, caring, functioning…the more he drank, the more he hated his daughter. The more she tried to help him, the more he screamed and told her he wished it would have been her that died instead of the love of his life.

  For two hundred and thirty-three days, her father sat in his recliner, staring at her mother’s picture, telling her how much he loved her, adored her, and couldn’t live without her. Parker would come home from work to find him talking to that picture; she would wake up in the middle of the night to find him whispering words of adoration to an eight by ten glossy.

  The night before she finally left for college, she came downstairs at two in the morning after hearing a noise, only to find her father curled up in the fetal position hugging the picture to his chest and sobbing about love and loss and misery. In that moment, standing in the doorway of the living room watching her father, once the strongest man she knew, now broken and out of his mind with misery, Parker vowed to never love like that. She swore she would never let someone take so much of her heart and soul that it would wither away to nothing once they were gone. She gave up on the dream of finding someone to consume her mind, body, and soul. It only ruined you in the end. It only left you broken and unable to live.

  When Parker got to college, she worked hard, made friends, and went on dates with boys that held similar interests as her. She never let them get too close, never let them see all of her; she held them at a distance and made sure they always knew where they stood with her. Parker wouldn’t play games with anyone, and she wouldn’t make promises she couldn’t keep. The decisions she made never mattered the first few years. She was content, never worrying that her heart was in danger. No one threatened to make her second-guess her decision or think that she might have been wrong about her choices. The men she had met never made it past a few casual dates and a handful of sleepovers. No one threatened to break down her walls until the day she met a pair of best friends over coffee.