Hewitt: Jagged Edge Series #1 (9 page)

When he finally looked at me, he said, "We better go before they find out we’re missing."

Peter backed away, pulling down my gown. If I weren’t so utterly confused, I would have been pissed. Taking the ends of the straps hanging below my breasts, I reached around my neck and fastened the clasp. I had finally realized what was happening. For whatever reason, Peter just blew me off. This was not going to work. "Do you mind explaining what just happened?"

Picking up my clutch from the floor, Peter graciously handed it to me, saying, "This was a mistake, Lilly. I shouldn't have brought you up here."

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who wanted us to try again and now you're saying it was a mistake." My body was fuming. Never had any man pulled away from me right in the middle of sex.

"You're right, Lilly. I'm sorry. Maybe we need to step back," Peter said, running his hands through his hair.

"This is fucking unbelievable. I'm out of here." I was beyond pissed. How could I have been so stupid to think that this time things would be different between us?

Turning the lock on the door, I left Peter stewing in his thoughts. My head was spinning. There was no way I was going to wait for the elevator to arrive and chance Peter attempting to stop me. My feet kept walking as I pushed open the door to the stairwell. It didn't bother me that I was wearing five-inch heels. All I wanted to do was say my goodbyes and leave.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lilly

Half-way home, I was finally able to calm down. I could have kicked myself for letting a man get to me like that. I never should have agreed to take another run at our relationship. The cab I took from Tetralogy pulled up to my building forty-five minutes later. Even though Dylan was upset that I was leaving so early, the excuse I gave her about not feeling well seemed to work. I told her I would get with her tomorrow and maybe we could do lunch or something. For right now, all I wanted was to drink until I was numb and passed out.

After changing into something more comfortable, I went to find my bottle of vodka. I poured a good portion in a glass of ice and started on my journey to oblivion. I was well on my way when I heard a knock at the door. Stumbling from the couch, I opened the door without looking to see who it was. There he was, standing in front of me, looking like he had been through the wringer. His tie was undone and hanging around his neck. His tuxedo shirt was no longer crisp, but still looked good on him nonetheless. He was holding his jacket over his shoulder with his index finger. When I looked in his eyes, I could see something dark was hiding beneath them.

"What do you want, Peter? You made it perfectly clear that we were done," I said, slurring my words.

"I don't know, Lilly. All I know is that I can't stop thinking about you. No matter how dangerous it is for you to be with me, I can’t stop," he said with his green eyes fixed on mine.

As I lost my balance, Peter grabbed me around the waist to steady me. “Get your hands off me, Peter. I don't need you.” Even though this wasn't true, I couldn't let him know how I truly felt.

"Lilly, you're drunk. Let me help you."

"I don't need your help." I must have drunk a little more than I should have, because no sooner than I said those words, I began feeling light-headed. The whole room began spinning faster and faster until I lost focus.

Peter must have taken me to my room. When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the white ceiling. I wasn't sure what time it was, but Peter was sleeping on the small chair I had in the corner of my room. He couldn't have been very comfortable considering his body was contorted in such a way that he looked like a badly-made pretzel. My stomach began to rumble and I could feel the onset of my hangover beginning. Unable to hold the bile rising in my throat, I scrambled out of bed to my bathroom. The minute I hit the toilet, the contents of my stomach spilled into the white bowl.

I could feel my body begin to get clammy as dry heaves began to set in. Standing, I made my way to the sink and splashed some cold water on my face. Looking in the mirror, Peter was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed at his massive chest. I grabbed the washcloth hanging on the hook and wiped my face off. By the time I looked up, he was gone. I quickly brushed my teeth and headed back to bed. As I was climbing into bed, Peter reappeared with a glass of water and two pain relievers.

Handing them to me, he said, "Take these. It will make you feel better."

When I had the tablets down, along with the glass of water, I looked up to him and said, "Thank you," before I crawled back under my covers. The last thing I wanted was for Peter to see me this way. More than that, I hated the fact that I liked him taking care of me.

~****~

The morning came in with a crash. My head was pounding and my mouth felt like a dust storm had made its way inside. Rolling over, I could see that it was 9:00 a.m. At least I hadn't slept the whole morning away. When I got out of bed and did my thing in the bathroom, it occurred to me that I could smell the aroma of coffee. I knew that I was too drunk to have remembered to set the timer on the coffee maker, so it only meant one thing, Peter was still here. Pulling up my panties, I headed to the kitchen.

Peter was behind the counter, cooking what looked to be eggs. Walking up to the counter, I asked, "Why are you still here?"

It just about knocked me over when he turned around and smiled at me. "I thought I would make you my signature hangover breakfast. It's been known to cure the worst of all hangovers."

"You don't need to do that, Peter. I'm not sure I could eat anyway. Just coffee is good enough for me," I say, pulling up a stool while I watched him flip the eggs over without a spatula. Even with a massive hangover, I was well enough to take in the view of his backside. It was a sight I would never get tired of. Turning towards me, Peter placed a cup of pure heaven in front of me along with my favorite creamer. I didn't know what was more embarrassing, the way he was looking at me or the fact that he knew I was staring at him. Taking a sip of my coffee, I kept my head lowered. It wasn't until he started talking that my attention was drawn back to him.

"Lilly, about last night," he began. "I owe you an apology. I don't want you to think that I don't care about you. It's just that I have so much shit to deal with. It's not fair to you to wait until I do."

"What's the difference, Peter? You're still blowing me off and I get it. I'm a big girl," I said, finishing the last of my coffee.

"Don't be like that Lilly," he said, walking around the counter to where I was sitting.

"I need to take care of this. I'm telling you this because I care about you. If it was anyone else, it wouldn't matter," he said, cradling my cheek in his hand.

Peter was leaning towards me and I couldn't let what was about to happen, happen. Turning my face, I said in the best voice I could muster. "Goodbye, Peter."

The way he looked at me told me that he wasn't expecting what I said. Standing, I headed back to my room, locked the door, then slid down to the floor and let the tears fall. It had to be the fact that I was still hung over, and feeling like shit that made me an emotional wreck. At least that was what I was telling myself.

After wallowing in my self-pity, I pushed myself from the floor and headed to the shower. I needed to get it together. Stripping from my t-shirt and panties, I turned the nozzle to the shower just as my phone began to ring. In all my nakedness, I walked back to my bedroom to grab my phone.

"Hey, girlfriend,” I answered, seeing Dylan's happy face appear on my screen.

"Hey, yourself. I was just checking to see how you were feeling today. I thought maybe you might be up for lunch," Dylan asked.

"Yeah, that would be great. Where would you like to meet?" I asked, hoping it was nowhere fancy. The way I was feeling, I was in no mood to get all dressed up.

"I thought we could grab a sandwich at that little bistro I like so much."

"Perfect. How about I meet you there at one?" I suggested.

"You gotta date."

After I hung up with Dylan, I headed back to the bathroom where the water in the shower was still running. Climbing inside, I began feeling the warmth of the water. It's amazing what a nice hot shower can do for a woman in mourning.

~****~

Dylan was already waiting for me when I arrived at the bistro. I was surprised to see that little Isaac wasn't with her. Paying the cab driver, I stepped from the car and headed toward her. I needed to do something about my lack of transportation. I sold my car when I moved to Paris. There was really no use for it with me being gone and unable to drive it.

As we entered the small restaurant, we were greeted by a young waiter. He led us to a small table in the corner. I ordered a Reuben sandwich while Dylan ordered her favorite grilled chicken on Panini bread. I had never been here, but the atmosphere was inviting. It's no wonder this was Dylan's favorite spot. While we were eating our conversation went back and forth between Isaac, the new gallery, Dylan's successful grand opening and how I was feeling.

"So how are things between you and Peter? You guys seemed to have disappeared at the same time last night," Dylan asked.

"Peter is Peter. And there is nothing going on between us, at least not anymore," I said.

"Why? I thought things were going good between you two," Dylan questioned.

"Yeah, like I said, Peter is Peter. Too many secrets. He keeps telling me he has stuff to deal with, but he won't let me know what it is. Until he can, I can't be with someone who hides things," I said regretfully. "So how are things at The Castle? Any new sex positions or toys I needed to know about?"

"Lilly, I know you don't agree with our lifestyle, but it is what makes us happy. When Rade controls me, it's like nothing I can ever explain. I trust him. He would never do anything to hurt me," Dylan confided.

"Well, I just don't understand the reason behind the whole BDSM scene."

"Lilly, you can't tell me that you haven't thought about being tied up or blindfolded during sex," Dylan whispered, leaning over towards me so no one else could hear.

"No, not really." I, of course, lie. Sometimes I did think about it, giving a man complete control over me. When I'm with Peter and he holds my hands above my head, all I could think about was the way he made my body feel, knowing he was controlling my pleasure.

"Well, don't knock it until you try it, Lilly. It isn't what you think."

Leaving the restaurant, I began to think about what Dylan said about giving over control to a man in the bedroom. It was something that I only fantasized about, but never really followed through with. All I could think about was what could happen if things went bad. I remember back when Dylan first went to The Castle. Even though Rade had nothing to do with what happened to her, I couldn’t even imagine what she went through, being tied to a spanking bench and taken without the ability to fight back.

The driver pulled up to my building, pulling me out of my thoughts. Paying the driver, I moaned to myself as I gave him a twenty. I really needed to buy a car.

Even though it was Sunday, I felt like I needed to get some work done. I didn't want to stay in the apartment, so I decided to go to the gallery and check on how things were going with the remodel. Grabbing yet another cab, I headed out.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lilly

Arriving at the new gallery, I could see that the guys were busy working away. I requested that they work around the clock to get the gallery up and running. Unfortunately, that meant working on Sundays. I wasn't a slave driver normally, but I was so far behind on my target opening date that I had no other option but to request that they work on Sundays until the remodel was finished.

My heart sang as I looked up. Over the double glass doors, the sign 'Séduire Art Gallery’ appeared in beautiful silver lettering. I hadn't expected the signage to be here so quickly, but it was now official. My dream of owning my own gallery was coming to life. As I pulled the door open, I could see men working on putting down the new flooring and adding the extra rooms which would be my office and a small conference room. If everything went as planned, I would be able to open the new gallery in a couple of weeks. Taking a look around, I could also see that the banister leading to the second floor had been replaced with a wood and brushed silver one I had chosen. Everything was coming together. I could now see the showroom area taking shape. I was very pleased with the way things were going.