The Lies We Lived by Brittany Ann

He was a perfectionist, addicted to her imperfections.
She was a mess, needing to feel worthy.
Both of them were liars.

Hayes Mitchell, retired Air Force pilot turned bounty hunter, was second in command at Red Snake Investigations. For the last decade, he’d spent his days chasing other peoples’ problems instead of facing his own. On the outside, he was fine. On the inside, he was numb.

His life hadn’t been perfect, but perfection was what he craved.

That all changed when Margo stuck her black acrylic nail into his chest, threatening to kill him if he didn’t save her best friend. Two years later, he woke up tangled in her lilac sheets, the taste of hope lingering on his tongue. She’d made him feel alive again. But when she moaned another man’s name in her sleep, he knew she had never been his.

It was all pretend, a lie drenched in spiced rum and lust.

Margo Bennett, Astoria’s favorite barista turned bartender, was trying to rebuild her life after everything crumbled around her. Now, at nearly thirty years old, she was about to graduate. Things were looking up. Then Hayes stalked up to the bar for a drink and took her breath away. With his dark green eyes, deep voice, and broad shoulders, he was hard to resist. He oozed perfection and she wanted to taste it.

He would never be hers, but for now, she could pretend.

When she woke up alone, all the progress she’d made in her life disappeared along with the bounty hunter. The sting of him leaving was almost too much, a cross she didn’t have the guts to bear. She ignored the memories of his rough hands and soft praises. To keep her new life intact, she had to go back into her past, entangling herself in a web of dangerous lies that only Hayes could save her from–if she’d let him.