Lies That Bind by Barbara McMahon

Author:Barbara McMahon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

JACK WATCHED April savor the shrimp, fascinated by the rapturous delight on her face. Ever since they’d arrived, the other diners were watching her, men and women alike. To his surprise, she seemed completely oblivious to the attention. What made this woman tick?

“Tell me something about April Jeffries,” he said.

“What’s to tell. I model clothes, I live in Paris. While I’m here, I want to find my roots.”

“Tell me about your marriages.” He was curious about the kind of men that attracted her.

She frowned. “Not a subject I want to discuss.”

“Humor me. I’m interested.”

Her look was assessing. He could almost see the deliberation going on in her mind. She took another shrimp, dipped it into the butter and ate it.

“Billy Bob Thompson was the darling of Jackson High. He was the quarterback on the football team, which went to the state championship games two years running. His daddy owned the Chevy dealership in town. Proud as punch over his boy. God, that boy was built. Tall, broad shoulders, sandy blond hair. I had a chip on my shoulder when I had to leave Maraville and move to Jackson. But Billy Bob pushed right through and claimed me as his girlfriend. Nothing serious, just parties and fun.”

Jack had a picture of the good ol’ boy she was describing. And he didn’t like him a bit.

“Then I turned eighteen and finished school. Do you know the foster-care system ends when a person turns eighteen? Doesn’t matter if they have a place to live or a job. They’re turned loose and have to fend for themselves. Now, a lot of people can do that, but it scared me to death. Eliza and I were talking about this earlier. She was scared, but her foster parents were really supportive. Imagine how it feels being alone in the world.”

“Is that one of the reasons you want to find your parents?”

“Not so much now. Billy Bob proved to be a lifeline. He offered, I accepted. The first six months were a whirlwind of fun. But after a while, fun got tiring—at least for me. As far as I know, he’s still partying up a storm.”

“Don’t you keep in touch?” He suspected there was more to this chapter of her life, but he didn’t need to push. He’d get what he was after sooner or later.

“No. I filed for divorce and feelings ran high. Jackson is not a place I’d want to visit again. Anyway, I took off for New York.”

Jack could picture the small-town, Southern teenager in New York. She was lucky she had ended up so successful. He wasn’t sure he could have faced that city at eighteen or nineteen.

“So New York’s where you met the Frenchman?” he asked.

“Jean-Paul Sartain. Sexiest man alive. And he knows it. I was so flattered by his attention. He’s the reason I have my career. Took me to Paris, polished me up and pushed me to accept that first assignment.”

“Nice man,” Jack said, not liking this guy any more than Billy Bob.

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