Lie Next to Me Read Online Free Page B

layers and caramel highlights. With your bone structure, it will look fabulous.”
    “That sounds perfect, Benny,” Adalynn said.
    “What do you think, sweetheart?” he asked.
    “Sure. That sounds great.” I smiled.
    Two hours later and Benny was finished with my hair. He turned the chair around and I gasped when I saw myself in the mirror.
    “Oh my God, Rory. You look fantastic,” Adalynn said.
    “Well?” Benny asked.
    Tears began to form in my eyes as I stared at myself. “It’s beautiful.”
    Benny helped me out of the chair and led me to another section of the salon. “Take a seat here, sweetheart, and Joey will be right with you.”
    I looked at Adalynn as she sat in the chair across from me. “What’s going on?”
    “You’re getting your makeup done.” She smiled.
    Joey walked over and introduced himself. Adalynn said he was the best makeup artist in all of California. Once he was finished, I looked across at Adalynn, who had tears in her eyes. “You look gorgeous.”
    As I looked in the mirror, I stared at the girl staring back at me. I desperately wanted to cry happy tears and Joey knew it because he told me to look up at the ceiling so the tears wouldn’t fall and I wouldn’t ruin my makeup.
    “You’re gorgeous. You’re a natural beauty and you don’t need makeup, but with it, wow, all the men better watch out.” Joey smiled.
    “Thank you, Joey.”
    As Adalynn and I walked out of the salon, she put her arm around me. “You look simply stunning. You’re a beautiful woman and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Now, let’s go buy you some clothes.”
    I was grateful to her for doing this for me. I felt like a charity case and I hated it. I’d always been a charity case. My aunt always led people to believe that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find a job. So, Stephen and I were always given hand-me-downs and people looked at us with pity.
    Adalynn grabbed the clothes that I tried on in the dressing room and took them to the register.
    “I don’t know about this, Adalynn. It’s really expensive.”
    “Listen to me, Rory. Ian is buying. He doesn’t care. The man has more money than he knows what to do with.”
    “What exactly does he do?”
    She looked at me with surprise. “He hasn’t told you?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know a thing about him. All I know is that he has money.”
    “Well, he certainly is rich.” she smiled. “The thing about Ian is that he’s a very private man. He likes to talk about business and not his personal life. We’re close friends and there are still things I don’t know about him.”
    “He likes women,” I said as I looked down.
    “Yes, Ian likes a lot of women.”
    “He brings a different one home almost every night,” I said.
    Adalynn looked at me and tilted her head. “You aren’t falling for him, are you?”
    “No, of course not. Even if I was, and that’s a big if, a man like Ian Braxton would never be interested in me.”
    “Of course he would, Rory. You’re a beautiful woman and you’re kind. Yeah, maybe you’re right. The women Ian seems to go for are total greedy bitches with sticks up their asses.” She laughed.
    I laughed with her as my side started to hurt. I placed my hand on it and sat down in one of the chairs.
    “Are you okay?” she asked.
    “I’m fine. I’m just a little sore.”
    Adalynn took my hand and helped me up from the chair. “Let’s get you back to the house so you can rest.”
    As we walked through the door and into the house, Ian was coming out of his study. He stopped in the middle of the room and stared at me. He looked at me as if it was the first time that he’d ever seen me.
    “What’s wrong, Ian? Cat got your tongue?” Adalynn smiled.
    Ian cleared this throat as he walked over to where I was standing. When he cocked his head, the corners of his mouth curved up slightly. “Rory, you look amazing.” He brought his hand up to my hair and took a few strands between