Innocent Lies by JW Phillips Page B

settled on the back of the booth. The
liquor had gotten to me. I had passed drunk and was sloppy.
     
    “Dylan, is that you?” I heard come
from an older and dignified voice. A voice I knew too well. Mr.
Larry O’Neal, the D.A. that saved my life and helped me get to
where I was, stood over me smiling. I had almost forgotten the hero
worshipping I had for him. His black hair was a tad grayer but he
still had the same amazing magnetism.
     
    “Hello, sir,” I
said as he sat in the booth across from me. I tried sitting up
straight, and rolled my eyes hoping he would quit shifting from
single to double images. Drunk was not how I imagined seeing him
again.
     
    Larry held up a finger signaling a
waiter. “Dylan, I wanted to talk to you about your date
tonight.”
     
    “Ethan?” A small
shiver racked my spine. “You know him?” Of course he did, Ethan
worked for the D.A.’s office.
     
    “Ethan is bad news. Do you have any
idea how many humiliated girls he made believe he cared then threw
them to the side? He has always been partial to redheads
though.”
     
    Ethan’s hand gripped my shoulder
and his body shifted in the booth beside me. His fingers entwined
with mine and tighten. “Larry, why don’t you enlighten her then?”
His voice alarmed me. “After all, if she means nothing to me I
wouldn’t care.”
     
    “Ethan, have you told her about the
recent death of your brother? The details that is?”
     
    “She knows about
that. The details are not necessary.” He said. I rested my head on
his shoulder until he relaxed. No matter the gratitude I had for
Larry, Ethan was mine.
     
    “Listen to me,
Dylan,” Larry said. The air suddenly shifted. An odd sense of power
and anger radiated from Ethan. My heart skipped. Larry’s eyes never
shifted from mine. “Ask him about his family. You might even know
them. You’re too good for him. He only wants you for his needs. He
doesn’t give a damn about you. I don’t believe anyone in his family
even has a heart capable of love.”
     
    Ethan leaned over the table. Their
noses nearly touched. “You’ve had your say. Let this be a warning
to you and yours. If you so much as look in her direction again,
I’ll destroy everything you hold dearest.” He whispered in his
ears. “Give that cute little girl of yours a kiss from her Uncle
E.”
     
    Larry stood up. “Dylan, you’re
smarter than this.”
     
    I watched him walk to the bar and
order a drink. Ethan turned, his eyes searched mine. “That is a
line of crap and you know it? No wonder you hate lawyers. If you
had to deal with anything like him.” He kissed the tip of my nose.
“I do care.”
     
    I nodded and sighed as some of the
tension left my body. That was weird, but at least Ethan didn’t
ignore me. More he showed the passion he had for me. Ethan wrapped
his arm around me and lightly touched my face. “Dance with
me?”
     
    I glanced over at Larry, who was
openly groping a young twenty-something. How could I have ever
worshiped that man? “If I don’t fall first.” I replied.
     
    “I will always
catch you.” He winked and tugged me out onto the empty dance
floor.
     
    The few patronages that were there
had their eyes glued on us. I rested my forehead against Ethan’s
chest. His arms around me were warm and sheltering. The booze, the
anger directed to Larry, and the passion I felt from Ethan went to
my head. He cinched his hands around my hips and pressed himself
against me. The thought of him holding another woman like that sent
my heart racing.
     
    His expression changed to an
almost worshipping state. “You’re all that matters.”
     
    I closed my eyes as he pulled my
hands up and around his neck. His hands trailed back down my arms,
over my waist, and slowly returned to my hips. He nuzzled his nose
into my neck, his tongue run over the sweat beading on my skin when
the first round of nausea hit.
     
    I raced to the bathroom and barely
made it when every drop of the liquor exploded