Page 102 of First Lie Wins

“And I’ll be here.” I move in close, wrapping my arms around him.

He buries his face in my neck and peppers me with kisses. “Want me to pick up some steaks on the way home?”

“Hmmm, that sounds good. There’s a ton of squash and zucchini we need to eat so we can grill those too. The neighbors run from me now.”

Ryan laughs. “That’s what happens when half of the backyard is a garden and we have to palm veggies off on everyone.” One more kiss and then he mumbles against my lips, “Try to be a good girl while I’m gone.”

Laughing, I say, “I’ll try but I make no promises.”

He leaves and I watch him drive away until he’s out of sight.

I top off my coffee and head to the small home office I created for myself out of one of the guest bedrooms. It takes a few minutes to settle in and get everything powered on. Devon created this space, and we take every precaution.

I place the call on the secured line and Amy picks up on the first ring. “Morning,” she says, although she still sounds half asleep. She kept her same first name but now goes by the last name of Porter as well. I guess I wasn’t the only one looking for a connection with someone else.

“Morning,” I say back, as I log on to the King Harvest fans message board. The alert box pops up, showing there are new messages, while the first few bars of the chorus of “Dancing in the Moonlight” plays over my computer speakers.

“Two new messages,” I tell her.

I hear Amy yawn and then she says, “Open them up and let’s see what they’re looking for, Miss Smith.”

It’s my favorite part of the morning.