No Simple Lie (McQuaid Brothers #3)

by Samantha Christy

He guides me out the door of the courtroom as dozens of eyes watch. Only one set of eyes shows any hint of sympathy. Benji, my dead husband’s brother, is shaking his head. He knows this is wrong.

“You want me to stop begging for my son’s life? You expect me to sit back and accept the fact that my son—the baby I carried for nine months, fed from my breast for eighteen more, bandaged every cut, kissed away every tear, and read to sleep every night—has just been ripped away from the one person left who loves him.”

What I said is true. Travis isn’t their grandchild.

I look at the ground, feeling like I’m betraying Brian in the worst way. “I promised Brian I’d never tell anyone. He was ashamed he couldn’t get me pregnant. He felt he would come off as less of a man. And he was sure his parents would never welcome me into the family if I was pregnant with a child that wasn’t his.”

“Brian made all the arrangements. Knowing him, he burned the records. He never wanted anyone to know Travis wasn’t his biological son.”

love you, baby. Remember those words. Remember them even if you can’t hear me say them. Remember this hug. Because even if I’m not there to tuck you in, I’ll be hugging you. I’ll be in bed at our apartment, and I’ll hug my pillow. And you’ll be in bed at Grandma and Grandpa’s, and you’ll hug your pillow, and it’ll be like we’re hugging each other. Promise me, Travis. Promise me we’ll hug every night.”

“But you’re—”

“Three times your age and a complete stranger?”

“Well…...

“Tucker McQuaid. I’m from Calloway Creek. I live with the world’s finest woman who makes me a better man every time I look at her. I have four grandchildren about your age. And it kills me to think if any of them were ever in a situation like yours, that nobody would be so kind as to stop and help. And I take my coffee with a splash of cream.”

“Dakota Daniels. I’m from right here in New York City. My husband died two years ago, and his parents have wanted custody of my son ever since. Today…” I hiccup and swallow. “Today they finally got it.”

“Dude, it’s opening day. Not to mention April is the best month for sports. I mean MLB, NBA, NHL, not to mention the NFL draft and The Masters. You’re telling us you aren’t going to bet a single dime on any of it?”

“I know the woman who was broken and left in pieces on those courthouse steps. I know the mother who was so distraught she fell to her knees. And I saw the son who loves that mother as much as his next breath. If you agree, I’ll get you moved right away at the company’s expense. And I’ll issue you an advance on your salary that’ll be enough to pay off the lawyer. Then I’ll help you find a new one. One who will win your case and reunite you with Travis.”

Dad shakes his head. “I’m not sure what had you barging in here.” He looks at the door. “Ahhh, now I get it. She’s your shiny new toy and you don’t like to share.”

“You entitled mother fucker. She’s not anyone’s toy.”

“One day you’re going to end up in jail if you keep groping the employees.”

He laughs. “Don’t you know by now we’re untouchable? All those dollar signs behind our names, it makes us kings.”

“That’s disgusting.” I reach for the door. “You—you’re disgusting. Don’t ever touch her agai...

You’re nothing more than a talking head. A piece of shit. And I’m embarrassed to be your son.”

“I don’t like houseguests.” Translation: I don’t want the beautiful woman of my goddamn wet dreams whose business I was all up in mere hours ago to sleep in the bedroom next to mine with only four inches of drywall between us.

“Mason Lawrence. He used to play for the Giants back in the day. Took them to the super bowl. One of the best quarterbacks the franchise had ever seen.”

Crossover character

As I step back and watch, I accept what I’ve tried so hard to suppress. I think I’m completely head-over-heels for the rat bastard.

I like the way she’s changed things. I want her in my space. I want her everywhere. At a stop sign, I scrub a hand across my jaw at the epiphany. Because, mother fucker, Angie was fucking right.

“Doesn’t mean he's not a toad,” Ava adds then turns to Maddie. “And you… seriously? Tag was even worse than Hudson before you came along. All it takes is one good woman to turn a man around.”

Crossover character

Ava wipes her tears and turns to me. “Dallas Montana is the middle brother of three. His family owns a winery just outside of town. Phoebe is… was… his wife. And, oh my God.” She chokes up. “DJ was only six months old.”

Holy shit

“Because I practically begged her not to go to the city today to see whoever the fuck she goes to see every other week. Because we kissed last night. And because I decided she’s the only damn woman I want to be kissing.” I step through the back door, shake my head, and admit to them what I haven’t even been able to admit to myself. “Because I think I’m in fucking love with her.”

A million things I was going to say race through my head, and I can barely put two words together. Because when I look at her, I know what I told my brothers is one-hundred-percent true. I’m in love with her.

“Your grandfather told you to stay away. That makes me forbidden. Until a few minutes ago, I was your patient. Double forbidden. Is this all about the chase?”

I just need to know up front so there aren’t any misconceptions. I don’t want to have to buy a can of black paint after joining the I fucked Hudson McQuaid club.”

“Fine. I like you, Dakota. And I’m not looking for just another romp in the hay. I’d like to explore the opportunity for… more.”

“More?”

“Yeah, you know, dinner, movies, holding hands and shit like that.”

Ironically, however, she is the only female in the tri-state area who doesn’t want the same thing. How fucking poetic. I finally find the girl of my dreams and all she wants is to be my fuck buddy.

I crawl back into bed, punch my pillow, and fall asleep dreaming of the dancing girl next door. Only in my dreams, she dances with me. And in my dreams, she wears white.

Dakota looks up and immediately her smile falls. She knows I know her secret. She knows she’s been deceiving me. She knows she’ll have to explain.

I still want her. I want the single mother next door. Her and her secrets. Her and her baggage. Her.

“Grammy and Grandpa say I’m going away to school. It’s school where you sleep there. Daddy went there, and so did Aunt Bethy and Uncle Benji.” Boarding school. I sigh. They’re planning on sending Travis away to boarding school in the fall. When he’s only five? How could they claim to want him so badly and then turn around and ship him off for someone else to raise?

“Tell me you want more. Tell me we’re not just neighbors. Tell me I’m the only man you want to touch. Tell me you feel alive when we’re together. Tell me your head spins and your vision blurs when you see me.”

“Tell me you fucking want me as badly as I want you, Gator Girl.”

“You want me to tell you I think about you all the time? That I wonder if you’re thinking about me? That I can’t breathe when I see you because the feelings inside me take up all the space in my lungs? That I feel guilty because I’ve only known you for months and have emotions I didn’t even have with my own husband? Is that what you want to hear?”

“Dakota, I’ve spent the last decade bedding women for sport. It’s a harsh reality, but it’s true. When you’re someone like me, a guy with a fat trust fund and a billionaire grandfather, women come out of the woodwork. They all want one thing, though. Money.”

“With you it’s different. We had something before you knew I was a McQuaid. It might not have been much, but it was a connection I’ve never experienced. And it’s funny, because I was sure you knew who I was when you moved in. I was positive my grandfather would have warned you away as he did me with you. I can’t tell you how nice it was when I found out you had no idea who was living next to you. It felt so normal to banter with a woman who wasn’t after my bank account. To think what you were feeling for me was because of me and not my name. Not my portfolio.”

No matter how much Pappy warns me away; no matter what Dakota says about moving too fast; no matter what I think about how screwed up it is that I’ve turned into my lovesick brothers; one thing is true… I’m in love with the woman next door. I’m in love with Gator Girl. Dakota Daniels. Travis’s mom.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” She waves a hand around my front porch. “A place like this must come with expectations.” She sneers at my barely covered thighs. “Expectations you seem all too eager to fulfill.”

“You need to stop lying to Travis or we won’t allow him here.”

“Please tell me how I’m lying.”

“You told him he would be living here. And that you’d get a dog. And he could go to a sch...

“Oh, I’m the one who’s lying? Patty, you told him I was sick for Christ sake. And that he’d be...

“How could you claim to love Brian as much as you did and then spread lies about him being incapable of fathering children? The truth is, you wouldn’t. You made up an elaborate story to try and hold onto Travis. Do you really expect us—not to mention a judge—to believe you and my son conspired to force us to allow you into the family by having a child that wasn’t his? I’d say it’s more likely you got knocked up and tried to pass the child off as his so you wouldn’t have to give up the lifestyle that came with him.”

“First of all, I believe he most certainly is a Daniels, something I don’t need a test to confirm. He has Brian’s hair. His eyes. And if by some twist of fate he’s not, well… it’ll all be worth it to see a lying, manipulating tramp like yourself suffer.”