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Love, Lies and Compromise: Love, Lies and More Lies, #2
Love, Lies and Compromise: Love, Lies and More Lies, #2
Love, Lies and Compromise: Love, Lies and More Lies, #2
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Love, Lies and Compromise: Love, Lies and More Lies, #2

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It only takes one lie to ruin a relationship . . .          

She broke his heart years ago and now Kennedy is back in his life again.  Jake Hastings has no idea what she is up to but he knows it has nothing to do with her wanting to be a companion to his dying father.  So what the hell does she want?

            In spite of him knowing she is a liar, a cheat and possibly a thief he can't keep his hands off her.  He still loves her, no matter her faults.

Kennedy Parker hates lying to Jake but she has no choice.  If she doesn't help the local sheriff, who is also her ex-father-in-law, get what he wants then she could end up behind bars. 

When Jake catches Kennedy snooping around his home, he fires her, but not before she finds what it is she came for.  However, after examining the damaging evidence that might prove her ex-husband was a murderer and her ex-father-in-law covered it up she knows she can't protect them.  Even if it means she could go to jail as well.

And yet if Jake discovers her ex-husband was the one who murdered two members of his family, their love will be lost a second time.  This time forever.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherDEBBY CONRAD
Release dateAug 19, 2016
ISBN9781536518559
Love, Lies and Compromise: Love, Lies and More Lies, #2
Author

DEBBY CONRAD

DEBBY CONRAD has been spinning tales since junior high school when she would force her younger sister and a few close friends to listen to her fantasies and dreams.  Back then she had no idea her silly tales would end up in print, or that her later dream of becoming a novelist would come true. Debby lives with her husband in Erie, Pennsylvania, has two grown daughters, three grandchildren, a Chihuahua and a miniature Dachshund who does not like being ignored while she writes.  Thank you for reading my novel CHANCES ARE.  It is the first book in the Chance At Love series.  If you would like to read more stories about the sexy Bolinger men, please be sure to visit my web site for more information.  Also, be sure to sign up for my mailing list.  www.DebbyConrad.com 

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    Love, Lies and Compromise - DEBBY CONRAD

    1

    Kennedy Parker locked up the Blow and Go—the hair salon where she worked as the assistant manager—and was about to go pick up her daughter when she saw the sheriff’s car pull into the strip plaza. Her ex-father-in-law cut the engine in a spot designated for handicapped parking, even though he wasn’t handicapped. She supposed it didn’t matter much as the other shops had already closed for the night. There wouldn’t be any customers coming to the plaza until morning.

    The sheriff got out of his vehicle, hitched his uniform pants high on his waist and walked slowly toward her. Like his son Gavin, he was a tall lanky man, with the same intense blue eyes and dark blond hair. Although Ben Parker’s hair was now streaked with gray. The first things she’d noticed about Gavin Parker back in high school were the way his blue eyes twinkled when he looked at her, and the way he dragged a hand through his straight dark blond hair when he was nervous. But those eyes no longer twinkled and had been replaced with a coldness she couldn’t quite describe, let alone understand. Yet he claimed to still love her.

    Even though Gavin’s father frequented the shop once a month for a trim it wasn’t normal for him to stop by just to say hello. So what could he possibly want? She tried to read him in the cool moonlit night, staring at him long and hard. Then her stomach dropped. Had something happened to Sydney? Ben? What is it?

    I wanted to talk to you alone. He did not make eye contact, which wasn’t a good sign. Can we go inside for a chat?

    Is it Sydney? she asked, ignoring his request. I was just about to come pick her up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays her daughter went to the Parker house while Kennedy worked late. Sydney was thirteen, almost fourteen, hardly in need of a babysitter. But Kennedy didn’t like the idea of her daughter home alone all those hours by herself. She was smart enough to know Sydney would be talking on the phone or watching TV rather than doing homework or studying. This way, with her grandmother to supervise, her school assignments would at least get done. And she’d eat a healthy dinner rather than munching on junk food all evening. Ben, you’re scaring me.

    Sydney’s fine. Please, Kennedy, let’s go inside.

    She turned and placed her key in the lock, opened the door and flipped on the lights. She didn’t head for the reception desk the way she normally did when she entered the salon but instead dropped into one of the wood straight back chairs in the waiting area. Ben, tell me what’s wrong.

    I need a favor.

    I don’t understand. Sydney’s okay?

    Of course. She’s with Sylvia. They were making stir fry earlier.

    Kennedy tried to relax, set her tote bag on the hardwood floor beside her feet and took a cleansing breath. Tell me what you need.

    He tugged his pants up by the waist. You know I’ve kept your secret for fourteen, correction, almost fifteen years now.

    She swallowed thickly. She owed Ben. For a lot of things. If not for him she would be in prison right now. But sometimes he pissed her off. Especially when he reminded her of her past. Like now. You don’t need to remind me of that. What is it you want?

    Mayor Hastings had to step down recently for health reasons. Word is he doesn’t have long to live. Maybe a few weeks, a month or two at the most.

    She had no idea where Ben was going with this news. She didn’t even know the mayor, although she knew his son Jake. Very well, or at least she had when she was seventeen. She knew who Randy Hastings was, yes, although she had never met the man. But from what she did know about him she had come to realize he was nothing more than a big bag of wind. He seemed to have a lot of influence over the people in Red Ridge, Kentucky. In the city and in the county. Because of the minute size of Red Ridge—population less than twenty thousand—the mayor oversaw both. He was constantly on the news, flapping his jaw about one thing or another. He would yank his own chain about how he singlehandedly had cleaned up a corrupt town and made the streets safer. What a crock of shit! Red Ridge had never really been corrupt or at least not in the fifteen years she had lived there.

    She looked up at Ben. What does the mayor dying have to do with me?

    He has something. Something that could ruin me, my family, other good people in this town. And now that he’s dying he called to threaten me. Threatened to expose my secrets.

    Waiting for him to elaborate she tried to think of what it was the mayor could possibly have and why Ben was coming to her about it. Then it hit her. He’d said he needed a favor. Was she supposed to get this something for him? And just how was she supposed to do that? I’m sorry. I wish I could help but I doubt there’s anything I can do. She reached for her bag and pushed out of the chair.

    Sit down, Kennedy. His voice was gruffer than usual.

    Kennedy remained standing and stared up at him. She refused to be intimidated. She was no longer a frightened seventeen-year-old girl. She was an adult now. A mother.

    Sit down, he said again, more firmly this time. I’m not asking for your help. I’m telling you, you are going to help me. He rubbed at his jaw and paced the small room before stopping in front of her. His ruddy face told her he was stressed out, worked up. Your brother is up for parole next month.

    She glared at him, finally seeing where this was going.

    I could be a great influence at the parole board hearing. I was the one who arrested him. Remember?

    How could she forget? She’d never forget that day as long as she lived.

    Then again, maybe Jordan deserves to rot in prison for a few more years.

    She tried not to show any reaction and finally sat down, not because Ben had ordered her to, but because she didn’t trust her shaky legs and knees to support her any longer. Jordan had been in prison for most of his adult life. He’d paid his dues. He deserved a chance at making a life for himself. The same way she had been given another chance. It wasn’t their fault they’d had a shitty father. That’s not fair.

    Ben barked out a laugh. Hah. Nobody ever said life was fair. Do you think it was fair that my daughter Katherine died of a drug overdose at the age of fifteen?

    Of course she didn’t think that. But she didn’t bother responding. Ben was on a mission. She had never seen him so angry. Except for maybe when she and Gavin had broken the news about their impending divorce. He’d called his son a coward and told him he hadn’t tried hard enough to keep the marriage going.

    While that was partly true, hell they had both been kids when she had discovered she was pregnant with Sydney. Ben had insisted they get married. She and Gavin had just graduated from high school. What the hell did they know about marriage and raising a child? Although she had seemed to mature and figure out the parenting job way faster than her ex-husband. Gavin had been more interested in going out to party with his friends than he was in making their family unit work.

    She’d understood that at the time and had given him some space. Until he’d started cheating on her, that is. That was something she couldn’t forgive no matter how many times he’d apologized and begged her to come back to him.

    I still don’t know what it is you want from me. But I assure you I am not going to steal for you. No matter what kind of guilt trip you’re trying to put me on. I’ve turned my life around. I’ve kept my nose clean. I’ve been a good mother to Sydney. What more do you want from me?

    You used to be pretty close to the mayor’s son.

    Uh, oh. She shook her head back and forth. I resent whatever you’re implying, Ben. It sounds like you’re trying to pimp me out.

    He raised a hand. Calm down. It’s nothing like that. You just need to get close to him again. And then when the moment is right, you strike.

    Was he deranged? Whatever favor he wanted could obviously cost her her freedom. No, Ben. I won’t do it. No matter what it is. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—risk going to prison and losing her daughter.

    Oh, I think you will. Because if you don’t, I’m definitely going to go to jail for a very long time. And I’m not about to go down that road alone. I’ll be taking you with me for sure.

    W hat the hell does he need a companion for? Jake stared at his sister Eden like she was crazy. Dad’s dying for Chrissakes. If it were Jake who was dying he’d probably just want to be left alone. But not Randy Hastings. He wanted to be entertained during his last days on earth.

    But a companion? What the fuck!

    No one wanted to be around his father when he was healthy and expecting to live another thirty or forty years. Now that he was dying he had turned into a royal pain in the ass, so much so Jake couldn’t think of anyone who would want to endure that kind of torture.

    He leaned his hip against the kitchen counter. He supposed he sounded morbid but it wasn’t as if his father had ever given a damn about anyone but himself. He was the most selfish prick Jake had ever known. All he cared about was being on top. He boasted daily about how he had been Red Ridge’s mayor for more than two decades now. Yet during all that time Jake couldn’t think of one good thing the man had done for the town, or the county, for that matter.

    What’s wrong with the Hospice nurses? Aren’t they company for him?

    Dad says they’re boring. He wants someone to play cards with him, tell him a joke or a good story. Maybe sketch his portrait.

    Sketch his portrait? Why the hell would he want a self-portrait? He thought for a moment then concentrated on Eden. Can’t you do it? You’re funny, and you know how to play cards. Although he had no idea if Eden could draw. Take some art lessons.

    Eden shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing with her movements. Oh, no you don’t. I have a job.

    Well, so do I. I have the farm to run.

    I know that. And my boutique is just as important to me as the farm is to you. That’s why I put the ad in the paper. I know you don’t want to be the one to sit with Dad all day any more than I do. And he and Gabe haven’t gotten along since Mom and Marcus died. So Gabe can’t sit with him either. That would be disastrous.

    It wasn’t fair of Jake to put this on Eden. Randy Hastings was his father, not hers. Although Randy was the only father Eden had known the past twenty years. Eden’s mother Reba Cavanaugh had been Randy’s second wife. She and her brothers Gabe and Marcus had come to live with them when she was ten, Marcus fourteen and Gabe six. Then after a few short years, Eden’s mother and Marcus were killed in a hit and run accident. His father had seemed to be devastated though Jake clearly remembered they hadn’t been getting along prior to the accident. They were always fighting about Marcus who was always in trouble and had a serious drug habit as well. In fact Reba had threatened Randy with divorce on numerous occasions because of the way he was treating her son. But as earth shattering as those deaths were to the family it hadn’t taken Randy long to find a replacement for wife number two. The minute Reba was buried dear old dad had found another girlfriend, moved her and her teenage son into the house and announced they would be married soon.

    Jake shook his head. All that was beside the point. Listen to us. We sound like ungrateful spoiled brats. Dad is dying and we’re squabbling about having to spend time with him. Although he was riddled with guilt he still didn’t change his mind and volunteer. Who is this woman coming for the interview anyway?

    I don’t know. Gabe set up the appointment with her over the phone. All I know is that she should be here any minute.

    And where is little brother this evening? Gabe was twenty-six, ten years younger than Jake. But Jake had always called him little brother, probably always would.

    He had a date. Eden made a swish movement with her hand. He met some girl at the drag races last weekend and invited her out for dinner tonight.

    How convenient. I don’t know the first thing about interviewing someone for a position like this.

    Just pretend you’re interviewing someone to work on the farm.

    That’s totally different and you know it. I’m used to asking questions about their experience working with horses. What the hell am I supposed to say? How many dying people have you entertained? This was absurd. He needed a drink. Pushing away from the counter he went to the bar and poured himself a single malt scotch. He turned to Eden. Would you like one?

    Yes, but I think I’ll pass. I need to stay focused. I have an early appointment at the gym in the morning. She flexed her muscles just as the doorbell chimed. I’ll get it. Finish your drink. Eden left the kitchen and headed down the hallway.

    Jake wondered what type of woman had answered Eden’s ad? Someone older? Perhaps the grandmotherly type? Or was it some college girl trying to earn some extra cash to pay for tuition or books?

    Curious, he made his way down the hall when he heard Eden talking to someone who sounded more like an old friend rather than a stranger. When he caught a glimpse of the dark haired beauty standing in his foyer he froze. Kennedy Quinn. Or Kennedy Parker, rather. His heart skipped a beat. What the fuck was she doing here?

    Kennedy felt Jake’s presence even before she’d seen him staring her down. His jaw was ridged, his lean, rock hard body on high alert as if he could attack at any moment. She licked her dry lips and tried not to let him get to her. After all, she didn’t want to be there any more than he wanted her there.

    Hello, Jake.

    He didn’t answer. Instead he tossed back the amber liquid in the glass he was holding and then set it on the table in the foyer.

    It was Eden who spoke. Jake, look who it is. You remember Kennedy, don’t you? Although you probably haven’t seen her in quite a few years. Eden glanced between Jake and Kennedy before rambling on again. Kennedy was two years ahead of me in high school, so that means she would have been four years behind you. She paused when her brother didn’t say anything. I’m sorry. Maybe you two never met. I had just assumed . . . She scrunched her brow and looked from one to the other for confirmation."

    Oh, we’ve met, Jake said thickly. What are you doing here, Kennedy?

    Jake! Eden admonished her older brother with a scowl. Where are your manners? Kennedy is here about the companion job.

    The job has been filled, he said, this time looking at Kennedy with deep set gray eyes she remembered all too well. Thanks for stopping by.

    Kennedy wiped her sweaty palms on the legs of her jeans. She’d known this was not going to be easy. But since she had come this far she wasn’t about to run out the door with her tail tucked between her legs. It was a total shock seeing that ad in the paper and knowing Ben was blackmailing her. Being a companion to Randy Hastings seemed like the best way to get whatever Ben wanted her to steal. Or at least Ben had thought so when he’d pushed her to apply for the position.

    Clearing her throat, she forced a smile. Jake hadn’t changed in nearly fifteen years since she’d last seen him. He was simply an older version of the young man he had been back then. He wore his dark hair cropped closely to his head. Five o’clock shadow dotted his face and jaw, giving him a bad boy look. Even though he was thirty-six, hardly a boy anymore. Those gray eyes penetrated her, dredging up memories of their lovemaking. The things they had done to one another. The things he had taught her since she was a virgin when they’d met. She wondered if he was thinking about the same things.

    She knew he was dating someone. Chloe Masterson was a regular at the salon and had bragged recently that she thought Jake would be proposing soon.

    You couldn’t have filled the position that fast. It was only in the evening paper and I called immediately after seeing it. Your brother said I was the only one who had inquired.

    Like I said, the job has been filled.

    Eden pushed a hand to Jake’s chest. Stop it! I don’t know what got into you, but I’ll handle this. Then she turned back to Kennedy. Please come in and sit down. She led the way to a sitting room and Kennedy followed. She sensed Jake was right behind her.

    She didn’t belong in a house like this. It was the grandest of any that she had ever set foot in. Which wasn’t surprising. Many of the Kentucky horse farms had beautiful mansions to go along with their acres of rich pastures. But this one was sheer elegance with the shiny hardwood floors and all the white pillars. She took in the marble mantle above the fireplace and the rows of bookshelves. After taking in her surroundings and noticing the large mahogany desk in the corner she realized this room must be the library. She didn’t have a library in her four-room bungalow in town.

    Carefully, she sat down on a caramel colored leather sofa and tried not worry that her jeans could be infested with hairs from the shop. She noticed Jake standing in the doorway, glowering at her.

    Can I get you anything to drink? Eden asked.

    Kennedy shook her head. No. Nothing. Thank you, Eden. Jake’s sister was a regular at the Blow and Go. They chatted quite often at the salon. But Kennedy had never once, in all the years Eden had been a patron, asked about Jake. And with him living way out here in the country she had never run into him in all these years either.

    Eden sat in the chair adjacent to the sofa. Well, as you probably already know our father has been battling lung cancer the past few years. But the damn disease is finally taking over. The mayor doesn’t even have the strength to get out of bed some days. Yet he’s asked for a companion, someone to share interesting stories with him, someone who might enjoy playing a little poker.

    Kennedy’s ears perked up. I know how to play poker, although I haven’t played it in years. And since I’m the assistant manager at the salon I have lots of stories to tell. Lots of juicy gossip too, she added with a wink and a smile before casting a glance at Jake who was still frowning at her from the doorway.

    I don’t think my father wants to hear about how your father and brother were bank robbers.

    Kennedy sat up tall and faced him with all the strength she had. How do you know? Just because you couldn’t handle that news doesn’t mean your father won’t find it interesting that my father had been robbing banks from the time I was a baby.

    Until he got caught and shot to death.

    Kennedy tried not to tear up over his cruelty. She’d cried enough over the years even though Charlie Quinn had risked her and her brother’s safety and wellbeing for his own gratifications. Well, I’m sure the mayor remembers the story well, but he might find it interesting to hear it all over again.

    I doubt it.

    Eden raised her hands in front of her. "Okay, Jake, that’s enough. I really don’t know what the problem is here but I happen to like Kennedy and I trust her. Don’t judge her based on mistakes

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