Truth or Lies? by A. Gomez (book club recommendations txt) 📗

“I see how he looks at you. It’s as if he’s undressing you mentally. I don’t like it.” His grip visibly tensed on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.

“That’s probably because he is,” I said as a matter of fact. Josh whipped his head to look at me, surprised by my response. “He’s only behaving this way for your benefit. Now that he sees you’re in the picture, he’s probably jealous or angry that I may be giving you what he wants.” My voice dropped and I looked out the window.

“And what does he want?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“He wants the same thing you want. The same thing every man wants. Sex. My virginity. He wants to be the first one with me.” I scoffed at the thought. A painful memory surfaced and I shook my head at how stupid and naïve I was. “A couple of years ago, Doctor David had me convinced he loved me. He was kind, loving, attentive and he would tell me he loved me. I wasn’t waiting for a proposal, no; I just wanted to wait a little longer. I wanted a meaningful relationship. I wanted to be sure. But when he finally got it through his head he wasn’t going to get the prize he so coveted, at least not anytime soon, he turned tail and ran. Ran straight in between the legs of nurse Ginger. She hates me for some reason,” I offered. “I don’t know what David has told her or tells her about our past or about me but she positively hates me,” I mused. “So, you see, I absolutely and categorically know what kind of man Dr. David Summers is.” I eyed Josh. He was stone faced, giving away nothing. He was very quiet. His knuckles looked more relaxed.

“Turned tail and ran,” he repeated, trying out the words, it seemed. “Is that a Southern phrase?”

“I reckon,” I answered, grinning with my most Texas twang accent. He chuckled. “So, that’s the short version of the story. Did I answer your question? Do you have more?” I half smiled, still uncertain how I felt about David.

“A virgin, huh? So, how old are you?”

“I’ll be twenty-five this month. How old are you?”

He raised his eyebrows, his eyes bulging. “What the what? How did you manage to stay a virgin this long? And you’re so young to be a doctor.”

I laughed, saying, “It just kind of happened. I didn’t plan it or anything like that, it’s just what happened.” I continued, “And as for having my Ph.D., well, I suppose it’s because I swept through all my schooling early and at an accelerated pace, hence my graduating early and getting into graduate school at a very young age. I’m technically supposed to be an intern at Cook County and still working to complete some clinical hours but the psychology department needed someone bilingual, and Pam and the department were so impressed with my scores and grades they hired me with the condition that I work strictly under Pam while I study to get my license. She has to oversee everything I do and I have to make sure I run everything by her.”

“Isabel, with your brains, beauty and your virtue still intact, I’m surprised every man in that hospital you work at isn’t beating down your door.”

“Yeah, me too.” I gave him a wry smile and we both laughed.

“You didn’t answer me about your age. Are you going to tell me?” I inquired.

“I just turned twenty-eight this month.”

“Happy belated birthday!” I said, surprised our birthdays were in the same month. “When was it and how did you celebrate?”

“It was the day we had our car accident and I didn’t get to celebrate because of everything that has happened since then.”

“Oh, Josh, I’m sorry! And I was so awful to you on that day! How can I make amends?”

“Have pizza and beer with me on your sofa again. And we can look for a game on TV. I can’t think of anything better than sharing that with you.” He smiled his boyish grin.

“Done. But on one condition: we get into our PJs for this,” I said smiling.

“Duh, is there any other way?” he said, giving me a crooked smile.

We got to my house with plenty of daylight still out. Josh called Davis to let him know we were approaching. I supposed my house was where Davis disappeared to when he and Stems left the hospital. Oh, and I saw Agent Allison Stems on my porch. So, they were both here? I still couldn’t get used to the fact that I needed protection from some faceless sex traffickers that might want to kill me. But I supposed after seeing Jill in that hospital bed, I should be on my best behavior and listen to Josh. I got my purse and bag and stepped out of the truck and waited for Josh to come around. He looked alert and vigilant, his eyes scanning everything. We got to my house and walked in together. Samson was there, jumping with excitement, ready for his walk. I said hello to Stems before I headed to my study and she casually mentioned they’d already let Samson out back. I thanked her. She just smiled. I dropped everything on my desk and decided to deal with paperwork later. I decided to come back out to the living room and say hello to Davis too since I didn’t see him. When I got there, Josh had already sent them away and was closing and locking the door. Huh, I guessed he wanted to get going with his mini birthday party celebration. I noticed a garment bag and a little suitcase next to the sofa. Those must be the things he needed to get when he left this morning.

“Hey, why did they