The Lie (Paperback)

He Bootstomped My Heart Ten Years Ago and Wants a Second Chance…

It’s been ten years since Texan Tycoon, Blake Montgomery, broke me.

I still haven’t forgiven him.

My heart may not be the same, but I’ve got my life together—until he comes barging back in.

Blake is determined to do anything to win me back.

If only I could forget him or stop comparing him to every man I date.

i can't forgive him.

I don’t trust him.

And the main lie that broke us, wasn’t even his lie.

But he wasn’t full of truth serum back then either.

This requires second chances on so many different levels.

Why are the men who wreck us the hardest to resist?

Blake Montgomery

Ten Years Earlier

The knock on the door sent a cold shiver down my spine. It was like I knew my life was about to change. I thought about not opening the door, but there was another knock.

More bad feelings surged through me when I opened it. "Sherry, you shouldn't be here."

Sherry had tears in her blue eyes and was holding something in her hand. "I'm pregnant. It's yours."

My mouth went dry. No, this cannot be happening.

Sherry and I were engaged to be married. Not because either of us wanted to marry the other, but because she was a Rockman and I was a Montgomery. Upon birth, our parents planned our wedding so the largest merger of wealth in Texas could occur.

And times were getting harder in Texas. Competition amongst the wealthy was increasing. No matter how much Sherry or I told our parents we did not want to marry each other, it wouldn't change our fate.

"Blake, are you going to at least let me in?" Sherry asked quietly.

I opened the door wider. "Sorry. Come in."

Sherry nervously stepped in.

"It was a mistake, Sherry. I was so drunk I don't even remember it," I rattled off.

It was the truth. A few months ago, I had called Sherry to inform her that I was telling my parents that there was no way I was going through with this wedding. They would cut me off—I knew it—but I was in love with Laura.

It was the wedding announcement in the paper that started it all.

Laura had stormed into my house with tears in her beautiful brown eyes and threw the paper at me. "You're engaged?"

My gut had dropped. "Let me explain."

"Explain? Explain that you've been fucking me for almost a year and telling me you love me and you're engaged?" she hurled at me through tears.

I grabbed her shoulders. "Sweetheart—"

"Don't call me your sweetheart!"

"Please, listen to me. Let me explain,” I cried out. “I don't love Sherry. She doesn't love me. We don't want to get married.”

Laura picked up the paper and shook it in my face. "Then why is there a wedding announcement?"

"Our parents planned it. They want to merge our wealth."

Her head snapped back. "What are you talking about?"

I swallowed hard. "I come from one of the richest families in Texas."

Laura stared at me through tear-filled eyes. "So you've just been lying to me this entire time about who you are?"

Cringing at how bad this sounded, I quietly admitted, "I guess you could say that. I'm sorry."

My heart bled as I watched her brown eyes fill with more tears. "Why would you lie to me, Blake?"

I quickly blurted out, "You don't understand how they are. I've been trying to tell my parents that there will be no wedding before I even met you."

More rage and disgust filled Laura’s eyes. "Then why haven't you?"

I sighed. "It's not that easy. But I will—tonight. I’ll go to my parents and tell them. I'll be cut off, but I'm not marrying her, I promise you that."

Laura stood frozen.

Cautiously, I stepped forward and pulled her into my arms. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let things go this far. You're the only woman I've ever loved and ever will. I'll make this right—I promise you."

And I had meant to keep my promise. But I decided I needed a little bit of liquid courage to face my parents, and after a few drinks, I decided that I needed to tell Sherry that I would not be marrying her.

Sherry came over, and we both drowned our sorrows in liquor about our family situations. Well, I thought we were both drinking.

After blacking out, I woke up next to Sherry. Both of us were naked under the covers. I panicked. I had never cheated on anyone, and had no desire to cheat on Laura.

Sherry promised me she wouldn't say anything. I told Laura that I’d informed my parents, needed to get out of Texas for a bit, and we had spent two glorious weeks fucking each other's brains out in Cabo.

Except for my guilty conscience hanging over my head, I thought I had gotten away with it.

The plan hadn't changed, and I would tell my parents the wedding was off. I just needed some more time. There was no way I would marry Sherry. I only wanted Laura.

Sherry looked at me with pissed eyes. "Yes, I know it was a mistake. But now I have to bear the consequences of that mistake."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Stop being a dick. "I'm sorry. I'm in shock."

"What are we going to do, Blake?" Sherry stared up at me, frightened, with more tears in her eyes.

What are we going to do? My heart was about to beat out of my throat, and my stomach was flipping.

Sherry stepped closer to me. "Our child needs both of us, a mother and a father."

Our child.

I snapped my head up at her. "You know I would want to be in my child's life.”

She looked at me with her lip shaking. "And you know how they are."

They meant our parents.

And she didn’t have to say anything else. Unspoken words said it all.

Our parents would never allow me to be in my child's life if I wasn't married to Sherry. If I didn't marry her, I would be cut off. Whenever Sherry or I had tried to tell our parents we didn't want to marry each other, we were both warned. We knew they didn't only make threats.

No, they took action.

If I were cut off, I would never know my child. I would have no money to fight them in court, and I would have a child in the world who was fatherless.

So I made the hardest decision I’d ever made. It was a decision that would haunt me. I knew when I made that decision that I would never forgive myself or be happy again. Happiness didn't exist without her.

My heart broke before I broke Laura's.

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