Beautiful Liar by Lexie Davis Page B

deep, so fast. It’s not just lust. Not for me. I fell for you
and I fell pretty damn hard.”
    “You
don’t know me.”
    “Yes,
I do.” He felt Noah watching him until Tanner finally looked over. “Your smile
is the sexiest thing about you. You’re hard-working, passionate man who is
afraid to get hurt. I am. too. It’s why I date men for money. Everything has to
be spelled out for us. Black and white. But when we’re together the colors start
blurring the lines and there’s this huge gray are we can’t define. We don’t
want to define it, or at least I don’t.”
    “What
do you want?” Tanner finally met his eyes.
    “I
want to explore it. To see where it goes and what come of it.”
    Tanner
licked his lips. “And the lies?”
    Noah
glanced away. “Tell me what you want me to do. I can’t make you trust me, but I
can try. I want to try.”
    Tanner
lay back on the sand and stared up at the clear blue sky. He didn’t want to
push Noah away. He was right. This gray area wasn’t something he was used to.
He didn’t like people who lied. He dealt with it every day, and every single
time, things would have been so much easier if the person had simply told the
truth. Things between him and Noah would have been so much better if he had
told him who he was from the beginning.
    “If
you don’t feel the same way, please tell me.” Noah turned toward him. “I need
to know.”
    Tanner
stared at his lover. “What’s with the tuxedo?”
    Noah
glanced down and snorted. “I went on a date.” He lifted his head to meet
Tanner’s gaze. “He was fascinated that we dated. Thought he was real special
that he had me. I came highly recommended to him.”
    Tanner
could hear the guilt and regret in his voice. He could see the discord he felt
toward his job.
    “Did
you fuck him?”
    “No.”
Noah shook his head. “I didn’t even stay for the meal. He was really pissed and
is probably filing a complaint with my employer.”
    Tanner
found himself believing him. He pushed up on his elbows. “What do you want,
Noah? Why are you here?”
    “I
want you.” Noah held eye contact for what felt like a long time. “I want to be
with you. Only you. I don’t want to go out with other men. I don’t want to have
sex with other men. I want you. I love you.”
    Tanner
reached out and pulled him to him for a kiss. Yeah, he wanted that, too. He
tried so fucking hard to push it all away, but it lingered under the surface.
In such a short time, Noah had etched his way underneath Tanner’s skin and he
couldn’t just get rid of him.
    Tanner
let him go and Noah smiled at him. “How the hell did you find me here?”
    Noah
laughed. “Begged your production director. Then paid off the cabbie to tell me
where you lived. He said he didn’t know for sure, but gave me like five houses
it could be. I went to each one. I might be arrested later because I think one
of the homeowners thought I was a creeper.”
    Tanner
shook his head before letting out a rough chuckle. “I can only imagine.”
    “I’ve
missed you.” Noah smoothed his hands along Tanner’s thigh. “I don’t think you’d
believe how much.”
    “Come
on.” He stood and held out his hand for Noah. “That tux looks ridiculous on
you.”
    “Yeah,
well, I felt even more ridiculous at the restaurant. People know me now. They
know about us. Are you okay with that?”
    Was
he? Tanner didn’t like secrets too much because like lies, they made things
complicated. He walked with Noah to the house and let him inside.
    “I’m
fine with us being in the open. I’m not okay with you lying about anything to
me.”
    Noah
turned toward him ready to apologize again and Tanner pressed his finger to his
lips. “It’s for future reference. Right now, you need to take that ugly tux off
and I’m going to grill us some hamburgers.”
    They
parted ways and Tanner found himself feeling instantly better. That was
something he couldn’t quite shake about Noah either. Just simply being