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“I want you to want to go. If you don’t want to, we can go somewhereelse.”“Why?”His laugh was short, subtle, and silent. “No reason.”What was going on with him? If he wanted to fake a honeymoon toconvince the world we were real, he’d just say so.“Then shoo.” I pushed him away. “Go put on something normal.”He lingered long enough for his gaze to brush against every inch of myexposed skin, then he went to his room to get out of his stuffed shirt.OceanofPDF.com
2 2E L L AThe auditorium at the school for performing arts was huge and packedwith parents, friends, and the odd Hollywood agent looking for a diamondin the rough. Logan looked like one of the latter in jeans and a blue poloshirt that made his eyes look supernatural. Even in normal clothes, he stuckout like a sore thumb.“What?” I said as we sat with our programs.“What, what?”“You’re jumpy.”“Not my usual crowd.”“You mean regular people?”“In what world are you regular, Estella Papillion?”“Shush, you.” I slapped him with my program. “I can see normal fromwhere I am. I can talk to normal about normal problems. You’re a satellitelooking at dots and blobs.”“Metaphorically interesting, yet objectively incorrect.”The lights went down.“The thing about being a satellite is you think you’re looking at the bigpicture,” I whispered. “But it’s just the weather.”“You push that analogy any further, you’re going to send it out of orbit.”“They’re starting.” I put my fingers to his lips, and he surprised me bypushing my hand against his mouth to kiss my middle and ring fingers.Though I’d experienced Logan’s affection before, that touch wasdifferent. It wasn’t a thing in itself, done to be seen, with its own beginning,middle, and end. It was a flirtation. A promise of more. An aperitif beforethe best meal you ever had.
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CROWNE OF LIESCD REISSOceanofPDF.co
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CONTENTSPart IChapter 1Chapter 2Cha
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OceanofPDF.comPART I
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Dad came in and shut the sliding wo
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“Mind your business, twerp,” By
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Thank God. Thank fucking God.“Tha
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She tapped the edge of her wine gla
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the bride. Boom. You’ll make a hu
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“But it won’t be perfect.” I
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“You look tired.” She lifted he
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“It was. Were you late for work?
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“No, no.” Tap tap on the keyboa
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4L O G A N“I think we should win,
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“No drug arrests.”“Right.”
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The white wall had a single, seven-
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5E L L ALeaving Logan in the workin
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“Why?”“Sugar?” I called.“
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“Right. So, where do we start on
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“Imagine if you married me.” He
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“That’s not enough?”“No. It
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6L O G A NOne minute, I had her. Th
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“You’re saying you have a histo
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“Dad.”He looked at his watch be
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I waited for my father to congratul
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I put down the container. My Blind
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“Fine,” I said, pacing the leng
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Jean-Claude came out of the closet
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Logan sat in the chair across from
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“Haven’t tested it without a co
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She jerked her mouth away, but I he
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“I’m not spending the next five
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Was I?I wasn’t made of stone. I w
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1 0E L L AI was married.Not just ma
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Non. Again. Non. Again. Non. Again.
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With the speed of a criminal unencu
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—I’m sending Loranda to getyou.
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She was not to smile at Caleb Hawki
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We walked up to the rooftop togethe
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She held out her right hand and the
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1 2E L L AMy quickened heartbeat st
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“Eyes on the prize.” He spun me
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I gasped. “No feelings. It means
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“Here.” Reaching toward my pant
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The bathroom door opened, and Ella
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“That thumb taste good?” she as
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I took my wife’s hand and pulled
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1 4E L L AIn the suite’s living r
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“Good morning.” He hit the ente
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in the fence from my window, so I g
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When I felt him get under the cover
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me, the harder I sucked. If I wasn
Page 106 and 107: They existed as a soreness where I
Page 108 and 109: “Olivia says she knows your new w
Page 110 and 111: “Don’t you dare,” she objecte
Page 112 and 113: “How long will it take?”“As l
Page 114 and 115: 1 6E L L AAs I changed into jeans a
Page 116 and 117: “Nah,” he said. “I’ve done
Page 118 and 119: Colton pointed his fork at each of
Page 120 and 121: “I’ll cream you after lunch,”
Page 122 and 123: to journals under a pen name. I did
Page 124 and 125: outstretched for his wife as if she
Page 126 and 127: about who ran Crowne. He was concer
Page 128 and 129: One year, separate rooms. Functiona
Page 130 and 131: commercial space, so I’m not allo
Page 132 and 133: As if I was being honest with mysel
Page 134 and 135: Logan’s face was tense, waiting f
Page 136 and 137: PART IISIX MONTHS LATEROceanofPDF.c
Page 138 and 139: outside our marriage, I could barel
Page 140 and 141: that time of day added a level of c
Page 142 and 143: I checked the stock ticker.Maybe it
Page 144 and 145: Malibu was a wreck of traffic at lu
Page 146 and 147: without the sex. She asked for noth
Page 148 and 149: “I can’t be the only one mainta
Page 150 and 151: 2 1E L L A“Talk to me,” Logan h
Page 152 and 153: “But… I thought the Collective
Page 154 and 155: Alone with the Big Blank, I pried o
Page 158 and 159: Or I was imagining it.It was possib
Page 160 and 161: He hadn’t shaved before we went o
Page 162 and 163: how to get there, but he looked com
Page 164 and 165: I pressed the tape to alert the dri
Page 166 and 167: He opened his lips to answer. To ag
Page 168 and 169: “Yes, what?”“Touch me.”He p
Page 170 and 171: “Fuck me. Please.”“Are you be
Page 172 and 173: 2 4L O G A NWhen our sticky bodies
Page 174 and 175: I didn’t want to hurt her, but I
Page 176 and 177: “No, you’re not.”“Wanna try
Page 178 and 179: A dress form in my size sat in the
Page 180 and 181: The door closed behind me as he cal
Page 182 and 183: “So,” Logan said, staring at me
Page 184 and 185: 2 6L O G A NElla and I had things t
Page 186 and 187: “Sure.” She put in two more pie
Page 188 and 189: shredded and fringed with the loose
Page 190 and 191: 2 7E L L AShredding my father’s d
Page 192 and 193: the night. They took down streetlig
Page 194 and 195: “I thought you were being modest.
Page 196 and 197: “Of course you did,” she called
Page 198 and 199: say I was a little disappointed wit
Page 200 and 201: “Can I stay here?”“Of course.
Page 202 and 203: “Sorry, yes. I know, Ella.”“D
Page 204 and 205: 2 8L O G A N—I’m going home—N
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I hoped she’d tell me more so I c
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“That was the reason you got into
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With a knowing smile, she swung the
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“You’re in luck.” I craned my
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want that?”“Do it. Take me.”I
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“Say something!” I cried.“Com
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refrigerator. Then Colton had come
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“You mean, a little different? Or
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The anniversary party wasn’t a te
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“I have no idea,” Ella said.“
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wrong of me to work so hard to not
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look my family in the face. Nothing
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where the soil is rich. And sometim
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I didn’t want to be this way, and
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Shit.I had the desire to reach out
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3 3E L L ALogan and I were on oppos
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grabbed a glass Liddy had filled.
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I lifted my glass and picked up a l
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“No, but it’s what we both need
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“I’m leaving too.”He looked a
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My father hadn’t cleared the mias
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I looked at my watch. My meeting wi
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“Can you meet him in the middle?
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“Me neither,” his lawyer grumbl
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“I’m trouble, you know.” I gr
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into the elevator with her arms wid
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E P I L O G U E T W OE L L AFrogtow
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“Yes,” Logan said, taking my ha
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“Let’s talk about Dante,” Col
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Or maybe you’re curious about Byr
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A L S O F R E E I N K I N D L E U N
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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T SBefore
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