Fire In Her Lies

Fire In Her Lies

Lola Swain

Copyright 2013 Lola Swain and Pulp Friction Publishing, Inc.

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This is a work of erotic fiction. Any similarities between characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

Lola Swain is a best-selling author of erotica, erotic romance and mainstream fiction. Her works include the wildly popular Ties That Bind Chronicles and the Fifty Shades of Gay series. Lola Swain’s books appear digitally and in print on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Apple and other retailers worldwide. To read additional books in Lola Swain’s catalog, click here for Smashwords.

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For He who taught me that you can only dumb yourself down for so long before it bites you in the ass. Hard.

Table of Contents

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Holy Speculum, Batman!

What’s New, Pussycat?

Invitations: So Much More Than The Paper

Sometimes, Only Another Girl Will Do

Ginger Uses You Won’t Learn From Julia Child

When In Rome

Happily Ever...Huh?

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Have you read the papers? my mother said.

Yes, I said, once or twice.

This was a lie. All I’ve done since the news broke that my mother’s former husband got caught in the scandal stalk him on the Internet.

You should really contact him, Jennifer, my mother said. You know, Colin is very good to you.

"Colin was your husband, mother."

Jennifer, he stopped doing anything for me years ago. You, however...well, darling, if it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t be where you are today.

You’re kidding me, right? Yeah, Colin invested, but I put the time in and do all the work, I said.

My mother has the annoying habit of selective memory.

At twenty-five, I run one of the most successful public relation firms in Manhattan. Sure, my former stepfather bankrolled the initial concept. And I did receive a few clients from his extremely successful advertising agency, but I do all the work and it is not fucking easy. My mother, who was married to Colin for five years, was used to a man financing everything she did. Which wasn’t much.

Jennifer, all I’m saying is you should see him. He’s probably in a bad way and I’m sure it will make him feel better to see you. Out of all his of his stepchildren, he was always most fond of you.

And out of all of my stepfathers, Mother, I was always most fond of him. But you were married to him, shouldn’t you contact him?

And risk Javier’s disapproval? Not on your life, darling. You know how jealous Latin men are, she said.

Um, not really. When will I have the pleasure of meeting your latest conquest?

We’re heading to Madrid tomorrow. Will you come out to Oyster Bay tonight?

I can’t, I have a meeting, I said.

Oh, poo! You know, Jennifer, you are beautiful and terribly smart. I just don’t understand why you’re wasting all of your time on this job.

This job, mother, is my career.

"Fine, career. Don’t you think you should think about finding a man, Jennifer? You’re not getting any younger."

I am only twenty-five! Why on earth are you admonishing me for being an independent, successful woman?

Oh boy, here come the dramatics. Jennifer, I am not admonishing you for being successful. I am asking you to start thinking beyond this job...career. You haven’t had a boyfriend since that Allan Turnberry.

"Alexander, I said and looked out the window of my office overlooking 5th Avenue. Alexander Aimsberry. And he wasn’t my last boyfriend."

That’s right...Alexander Aimsberry. The asshole who dumped you via text.

No, the guy who dumped me via text was John Perrault. Alexander Aimsberry dumped me via his mother.

See? You’ve made my point. You need to start finding decent men, Jennifer. They are out there. If anyone knows this for a fact, it’s me.

That’s probably why I can’t find a man, mother. You’ve taken them all. Actually, I have been thinking about someone lately.

Ooh, someone you have in your sights? Who is he?

"I don’t want to say and risk jinxing it just yet. Hey, did you see the picture of Colin on the cover of the New Yorker?" I said as I ran my fingertips over the magazine.

Oh, I certainly did, my mother said. Other than this whole escort scandal, he looks fantastic don’t you think?

He looks okay, I said and sighed as I stared at Colin’s photograph.

Another lie. He looked fucking amazing.

Look, I have to get moving. If you won’t come out here tonight, will I see you when Javier and I return from Madrid, at least?

Yes, of course. Have a nice trip.

Please try to give Colin a call, Jennifer.

Yes, I’ll try. Good-bye, I said and hung up.

I picked up the copy of the New Yorker off my desk and stared at Colin’s face as I had every hour since the issue came out that week.

What my mother did not know, and probably could never know, is I am in love with her former husband, my former stepfather, Colin James McKenna.

I leaned back in my office chair and put my legs up on my desk as I held the magazine up.

How do I make you want me? I said as I stared at his incredibly handsome, distinguished face.

I rested the magazine against my chest and closed my eyes. I thought of the man who has been a