Lie to Me Read online

  Lie to Me

  By

  Angela Verdenius

  (Gully’s Fall series bk 3)

  (BBW Romance)

  Copyright 2014 Angela Verdenius

  Photo courtesy of Mnogosmyslov Aleksey | Dreamstime.com

  Cover by Angela Verdenius

  ebook Edition License Notes

  No part of this book may be reproduced, resold, copied or given away in any form without prior consent of the author & publisher.

  All characters and towns are figments of the author’s imagination and bear no resemblance to any person living or deceased.

  Table of Contents

  Glossary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Bio

  Other Books by this Author

  Glossary

  I found that some overseas readers were having difficulty with the Australian slang, so I thought a list of the slang I’ve used will help while reading the following story. If I’ve forgotten any, I do apologise! Also, you’ll find some of our Aussie words have different spelling to the US. Interestingly enough, as I’ve grown (gracefully) older, I find a lot of our slang is bypassing the younger generation, so if a young Aussie says they have never heard a certain word, don’t be surprised! But trust me, I’ve used these words all my life growing up, and so have a lot of my family and friends. Does that make me an older Aussie? Heck yes! LOL

  Cheers,

  Angela

  Australian Terms/Slang

  Ambos - ambulance officers

  Arvo - afternoon

  Barbie - BBQ

  Beaut - beautiful, awesome, great, wonderful

  Bewdy - as in ‘awesome, great’

  Biccies - biscuits. The same as cookies

  Bikie - biker, person who rides motorcycles.

  Blinkers - indicators on a car.

  Bloke/s - man/men

  Bloody - a swear word ‘no bloody good’, in place of ‘no damned good’

  Boofhead - idiot, simpleton, etc. It’s an insult, though sometimes we use it as a term of affection. It depends on how it is said and meant.

  Boot (of a car) - trunk

  Brown nose - currying favour, sucking up. Has a cruder description, but let’s not go into that here. Means the same thing!

  Budgie smugglers - men’s bathers, small, brief and tight-fitting

  Buggered - many Aussie use it as a slang word for ‘broken’ (it’s buggered), ‘tired (I’m buggered), and ‘no way’ (I’m buggered if I’m going to do that). Just some examples

  Bung/Bunging - as in ‘bunging onto something’, putting on something (bung veggies on a plate, putting veggies on a plate), usually in a careless or ‘easy’ manner.

  Cark/carked - die, died.

  Chemist - pharmacy

  Chips - in Australia we have cold crunchy chips form a packet, or hot chips known in some countries as French Fries

  Crack a tinnie - open a can (of beer)

  Crash cart - resuscitation trolley in a hospital or medical setting - used for life threatening situations such as cardiac arrest

  Dander – temper

  Dill - silly, idiot

  Doona - like a padded quilt that fits inside a cover and lies on the bed. Can have the warmth of two, three or four blankets, etc.

  Donger - penis. Also another meaning is a place people sometimes sleep in, such as ‘dongers’ on mine sites.

  Dunny - toilet. When used in the terms ‘built like a brick dunny’, it refers to something built solid, unmoveable.

  Firies - fire fighters

  Flog -steal

  Garbo/s - the person/s who drive and/or load garbage onto the garbage truck.

  Gee-gees - horses

  Giggle-box - TV, television

  Got his/her/their goat – annoyed him/her/them

  Hoon/s - person/people who indulge in antisocial behaviour. Great explanation in Wikipedia

  Iced coffee/chocolate - a milk drink flavoured with chocolate or coffee

  Jumper - sweater

  Local rag - local newspaper

  Lolly - sweetie, candy

  Loo - toilet

  Lug - face

  Milo - chocolate malt drink. Can have it hot or cold. Yummy!

  Moosh - slang for face/mouth

  Mobile phone - cell phone

  Mozzie - mosquito

  Mug - face. Also a cup (just to really confuse you )

  NAD - No Abnormalities Detected

  Nong - idiot

  Nooky - sex

  Paddy wagon - four wheel drive police vehicle carries four police in the double cab and has a filled-in imprisonment section in the back to place prisoners.

  Panadol - paracetamol, similar to Tylenol in the US

  Pav/s - Pavlova/Pavlovas - best dessert ever!

  PCYC - Police and Citizens Youth Club

  Pedal Pushers - three quarter pants/knickerbockers

  Porking - having sex

  Primapore - sticky patch with a pad in it, a medical dressing

  Pub – hotel

  ‘Pulling your leg’ - to tease someone, have fun at their expense

  Quack – derogatory term for a doctor

  RAC - Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia. Covers insurance, holidays, loans, etc

  Red backs - poisonous spider, black in colour with a red stripe on its back.

  Rotty – Rottweiler breed of dog.

  Rubbers – condoms

  Sack - bed - as ‘in the sack’ meaning ‘in bed’

  Servo - service station

  Shag - sex

  Sheila – female

  Slab – carton of beer.

  Smoko - morning tea and afternoon tea break

  Snaggers - sausages

  Soft drink - soda, fizzy drink

  Sparky - electrician

  Sprog - baby

  Spuds - potatoes

  Stiffy - erection, boner

  Tea - some people call the evening meal dinner. In my family, we’ve always called it tea, as in breaky, dinner and tea, or breaky, lunch and tea.

  Thongs - worn on the feet, same as ‘flip flops’

  Tickled pink - delighted

  Tim Tams - a brand of Arnott’s Biscuits. Yummy!

  TLC - Tender Loving Care

  Toastie - toasted sandwich

  Togs - bathers, swim suit

  Torch - flashlight

  Toot - toilet

  Trackie daks - tracksuit pants

  Tucker – food

  Twat - female genitalia

  Twistie – a brand of cheese-flavoured snack food – very yummy!

  Undies - underwear, underpants, panties, jocks

  Ute - small truck

  Vegemite - most Aussies find this spread yummy, many non-Aussies find it too salty. Here’s the hint - if you ever have Vegemite, use it spread thinly, never thickly!

  Wacky baccy - marijuana

  Wanger - penis

  Wanker - idiot, also someone who masturbates

  Waterworks - crying

  Whopper - a lie

  Yamaha & Suzuki - ‘brands’ of motorcycles.

  ‘Yanking your chain’ - teasing

  You wally - silly

  Chapter 1

  “Dee!”

  Lazily, Dee up looked from the magazine she was reading to the window.

  “Dee!” A flurry of furious knocks sounded from the back room door below.

  Hmmm. Putting the magazine down, she got up from the sofa and ambled across to the window, drawi
ng the curtain aside to peer down. The bull-nose veranda met her gaze but she waited.

  “Deidre Miller, I know you can hear me! I know you’re inside! Come down right now!”

  Like that was an invitation she wanted to accept. Leaning a shoulder against the window frame, she waited, a small smile playing around her lips.

  Sure enough, after another flurry of knocks, a tall, broad-shouldered figure backed out into the yard and looked up. That dark blue gaze locked right on her, those sinfully seductive lips tightened and a muscle jumped in that square jaw.

  Ryder Montague was furious, and all that fury was aimed right at her.

  She gave him a little finger wave.

  Ryder’s hand shot out, his finger pointing at her and then jabbing towards the door. “Now, Dee.”

  She pursed her lips in feigned thought.

  “Now.”

  Okay, he was a little madder than normal. Good thing it was a Sunday morning and everything was closed, or every shop owner and their customer would be out gawking. Though maybe not, because Ryder, no matter how mad he was, would never make a spectacle of himself.

  Pushing the window up higher, Dee flicked the catch on the flywire frame and pushed it open. Leaning her forearms on the windowsill, she drawled, “Something wrong?”

  “Oh yeah, something’s wrong all right, you little witch. Open the damn door.” Steam was practically pouring from his ears.

  “You sound a little upset.”

  “By God, Dee, you open that bloody door right now or I swear I’m going to kick it in!”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t make me climb up there, Dee. I’m not kidding.”

  “So are you going to climb up or kick the door in? You seem a little indecisive.”

  “Dee!”

  “Geez, you need to relax, Ryder. Didn’t you get any morning delight from your latest shag?”

  He actually grabbed the veranda post with seemingly every intention of climbing.

  Oh boy, he wasn’t just furious. He was - well, was there a word for it? She doubted it. “Okay, okay! I’m coming down.”

  After shutting and latching the flywire screen, Dee dropped the curtain and walked across the lounge and out into the little foyer, passing the sideboard she’d inherited from her grandmother. Going down the stairs, she trailed her hand lovingly along the smooth, wooden banister, just as she’d done hundreds of times since she’d bought the newsagency and the flat above it six years ago.

  Her own boss, her own business, her own flat, her own life.

  And right outside her back door, the man with whom she’d grown up, had known since childhood, and was intent on possibly ripping her head off. There were other things she’d rather he do, but she doubted today was going to be the day.

  Reaching the end of the stairs, she saw his figure looming in the stained glass that filled the top half of the door. The glimpses of his face did not look promising.

  Opening the wooden door, she paused with one hand on the security screen handle, the other on the key, her gaze on the man glaring through at her.

  Man, Ryder was one heart-stopping, good-looking bloke. Apart from the bad-boy handsome face, he had unruly thick, black hair that always seemed roguishly dishevelled. A lock fell over his forehead making her fingers itch to brush it back, or better yet, twirl it around her finger.

  Not happening.

  However, she could dream, just as she could look, so she did, her gaze travelling over him appreciatively.

  The town’s resident paramedic and heartbreaker, not to mention player, was bare-chested. Dee feasted her eyes on his chest. Good God, the man was built, all hard swells and peaks. Tattooed right on his left pectoralis was some kind of weird-arsed sun thing, a black circle with wavy lines coming out from it. The tat itself was fairly mundane in her opinion, but what those wavy lines did to his pec was criminal. They traced the swell, hugged the mound of muscle, one tendril curling right above a brown male nipple. A small hoop pierced his right nipple. Man was a total bad boy.

  Her gaze slid lower. He was dressed in running shorts which showed off a six pack many other men would envy and long, muscular legs. His feet were spread firmly, sneakers planted on the pavement.

  “Jogging?” she guessed. “Or just in a hurry to see me?” Amused, her gaze slid upward to meet those glittering, dark blue eyes. “My heart's pounding at the thought.”

  “Open. The. Damned. Door.”

  “You know, Ryder, I’m having second thoughts. Letting a raging lunatic into my place doesn’t really appeal to me.”

  Leaning forward, he bared his teeth.

  “Opening to a rabid lunatic also isn’t on my ‘to do’ list.”

  “You’re at the top of my ‘to do’ list.”

  That made her heart flutter for all of about two seconds. What he meant and she wanted were two entirely different things. With a sigh, she turned the key and pushed the handle down. “Come on. Get inside before you stroke out.”

  The door was whipped from her hands and before she knew it Ryder was storming inside, making her back-pedal so fast that her back hit the wall before she even realised it. His hands smacked against the wall right beside her ears as he bent down to glare at her.

  Blinking, she registered several things at once.

  One, the heat from his body was delicious. Two, his scent - a combination of clean male, sweat from jogging, soap and deodorant - made her inhale deeply. Three, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine he was ready to ravish her rather than rip her head off.

  That last thought had all dreamy thoughts fleeing, her protective walls going back up. Arching one brow, she met his gaze coolly.

  Ryder could be intimating - he was all male, all alpha, all sex on two legs with a great body and a sinfully handsome face, and in a job that just screamed ‘man in charge’ - but she’d known him since they’d been crapping their nappies and fought over toy soldiers in the sandbox, so she wasn’t intimidated at all. Curious and titillated, yes, but scared? Yeah, not happening.

  “So, what’s up?”

  “What’s up?” His gaze narrowed. “What’s up? Is that all you have to say for yourself?”

  “Pretty much.” Man, she enjoyed the way he leaned closer. That way she could breathe him in without him seeing her sucking in his scent like an oxygen-starved idiot.

  “I had a date last night.”

  Bummer. Her delight dimmed a little at the reminder.

  “We had a nice time.”

  Great. Just great.

  “We went back to her place, started kissing, things were really going well.”

  Translation: He’d had his tongue down her throat, his hands in her panties, and a hard-on. Wonderful.

  “And you’re telling me this, why?” She poked him on the chest with one finger. “Unlike you, I’m not into hearing about others’ sexcapades.”

  His gaze burned. “Her phone rang and her answering machine came on. It was Yvonne.”

  “You had a threesome with the bimbo and the town slut? I thought you were done with Yvonne? Haven’t you ploughed that particular crusty crutch already?”

  “And there it is.” His nostrils actually flared.

  Her other brow rose in query. “There what is?”

  “Someone spread the rumour that my crutch was crusty.”

  Dee looked blankly at him.

  “Yvonne was warning Jaci that I had an STD!”

  “You have an STD? I’m not surprised. Jesus, you’ve been shagging your way through every willing female above eighteen and under seventy since you were fifteen.”

  “Dee,” Ryder snarled, “Yvonne’s exact words were ‘his morning wood has dry rot.’”

  Ahhh. She blinked again, only this time innocently, or as innocently as she could manage. “No, really? How awful for you. Have you been to the doctor?”

  Grabbing her hand where it still hovered above his chest, Ryder slammed it up against the wall. As furious as he was, he was still careful to ensure his
knuckles hit the wall and not hers, not with the way he gripped her hand, making her heart leap in combined thrill and enjoyment as he leaned in closer, so close that she could feel his breath on her lips.

  Oh Jesus, she was going to slide down the wall into a puddle onto the floor. His scent, his heat, his so-much bigger, stronger body bowed over hers making her almost giddy.

  “Those words,” Ryder growled out, a vein in his temple starting to throb, “are pure Dee venom.”

  “You’re blaming me for your STD? That’d be a miracle.”

  “I’m blaming you for spreading the bloody rumour!”

  She sighed. “I didn’t spread any rumour.”

  “You told Yvonne-”

  “I told her nothing.”

  His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  “I was merely talking to Del-”

  “Ah ha! You and that trouble-making cousin of yours! I should have guessed!”

  “Jesus, Ryder, you’re going to have a heart attack. Calm down.”

  “Calm down? You made me look a fool!”

  “Not quite.”

  “Not quite? Not quite?” He was almost nose to nose with her now, the fury making sparks in his eyes. “You better have a bloody good explanation for this, woman, because if not-”

  “Just settle down.” Placing her free hand on his chest, she shoved.

  Like that would work. She rolled her eyes when he didn’t shift an inch.

  “What the hell is the eye rolling for?” Ryder was practically breathing fire.

  “No reason. You want this explanation of what really happened?”

  “It’s what I’m here for.”

  And wasn’t that a shame? But fantasies aside…

  “Look, I was talking to Del about an article on STDs in a magazine. I just happened to mention that someone probably had some dry rot in his morning wood. Yvonne must have overheard it.”

  “You said something like that in your shop?”

  “Actually, it was in Del’s shop.” Dee paused. “I’ve said worse about you in my shop.”

  He ground his teeth. “But you just had to say it in front of Yvonne.”

  “Hey, I was just conversing with my cousin, I had no idea the town slut was hovering around behind one of the dress racks eavesdropping and getting the wrong end of the stick.” Dee smiled. “And I don’t mean the morning wood.”