Lily's List (12 page)

“Wonderful.” Her inner muscles tightened
around him and he groaned and laughed at the same time.

As much as he wanted to stay like this, he
knew they had to move. Someone could come along at any time. For
all he knew they were on private property. “We’ve got to move,
sweetheart.”

She mumbled something he couldn’t make out,
but began to shift position. Carson helped her sit up and held the
condom tight as he slipped out of her. He immediately missed the
warmth of her body against his. Grabbing a tissue from a box on the
console, he removed the condom and cleaned himself up. He pulled up
his boxers and zipped his jeans.

As he rummaged around the truck for his
shirt, he noticed that Lily had been busy as well. She had her
slacks on and was shaking out her blouse. Reaching out, he took it
from her and helped her put it on. Then he buttoned it. When he was
done, he looked at her.

Her skin was flushed, her hair tousled and
her eyes bright. “I didn’t plan for our first time to be in my
truck, but I’m not sorry it happened.”

She stared into his eyes for the longest time
and he began to wonder if maybe she did regret it. That notion made
his gut clench. Finally, she smiled at him. “I’m not sorry
either.”

He leaned over and kissed her swollen lips.
This time it was gentle, with none of the earlier desperation. Even
though he’d just had one hell of an orgasm, he still wanted
her.

He forced himself to release her and then
tugged on his shirt. He took the time to button the garment and
tuck it in, more to give him time to settle than anything. When he
was done, he started the truck, backed out of the sheltered woods
and got them back on the main road, headed for home.

Chapter Nine

Lily could hardly believe how much her life
had changed in such a short span of time. Two weeks ago she was
living her calm, normal life working at the shop and writing in her
spare time. Now a lot of her time was taken up with Carson—either
thinking about him or actually being with him.

A week had passed since their shopping trip
and it was Wednesday once again. They’d spent the rest of the day
together last week. As if their frantic lovemaking in the truck had
released all the pent-up sexual tension between them, the rest of
the day had been almost low-key.

They’d made love again, but this time in her
bed and very slowly. Carson had lingered over every square inch of
her body, touching and tasting her everywhere. And she’d gotten to
do the same in return. Her favorite moment had been when she’d
taken him into her mouth, showing him that her talent didn’t just
extend to hot dogs.

They’d had supper several more times and
talked daily. They hadn’t made love again, but Lily had plans to
change that. She smiled as she carried her empty coffee cup to the
sink. It was already lunchtime and she’d written the morning away.
Unfortunately, Carson hadn’t been able to get today off, but she
was hoping to see him later tonight. She had her outfit all picked
out and laid on her bed. It was time to try her hand at a
striptease and finally use that can of whipped cream that was
languishing in the back of the refrigerator.

In the meantime, she had a half hour to
change and meet her friends at one of their favorite restaurants
downtown. Both Emma and Annabelle had been insistent. They’d barely
talked in the past two weeks, which was unusual for them.

Her plans for later tonight dominated her
imagination as she changed her clothing, pulling on a pair of brown
corduroys and a cream-colored pullover. It was early October and
the air had a slight nip to it. Not that Lily minded. She loved
this time of year.

She grabbed her purse and car keys and
hurried out of the house. Luck was with her when she reached the
downtown shopping district and found a parking spot just down from
the restaurant. Her friends had already arrived. Annabelle and Emma
walked toward her as she climbed out of her car.

Lily slung her purse over her shoulder and
locked up before giving them a quick wave. She’d known both ladies
for several years now. They’d met at a business function and had
quickly found that they enjoyed each other’s company. From there,
friendship had blossomed. She felt lucky to have them in her
life.

“Hi.” They waited for her on the sidewalk as
she fed money into the parking meter.

Annabelle stared at her and Emma tilted her
head, peering at her quizzically. “What?” she asked. Was her makeup
smudged?

“I’m not sure.” Annabelle continued to stare.
“There’s something . . .”

“You look different somehow.” Emma shook her
head. “I can’t quite pinpoint what it is.”

Lily shrugged even as she felt her cheeks
heating. “I haven’t done anything different.” Now that was a fib.
The last two weeks of her life had been very different.

“You look happier, better rested. You’re even
carrying yourself differently when you walk.”

“That’s it,” Emma agreed with Annabelle’s
assessment. “You’re giving off more of a sensual vibe.”

“It’s a man, isn’t it?” Annabelle was the
quietest of the three, but she was a very astute woman. “Have you
been seeing someone?”

Lily inwardly cursed her friends. “Yes. No.”
She felt flustered now. “I don’t know.”

Emma laughed and hooked her arm through
Lily’s. “It’s a man, all right. Come and tell us all about it.”

As they started walking toward the
restaurant, Lily found herself wishing that her cell phone would
ring and she’d have to run to the shop to handle some problem. But
a floral emergency wasn’t likely, at least not one her staff
couldn’t handle.

Annabelle must have sensed her unease because
she paused as she held the door of the restaurant open. “You don’t
have to talk about it if you don’t want to. No pressure.”

The knot in Lily’s stomach began to relax.
“Okay.”

Emma squeezed her arm in understanding and
the three of them went inside and settled at a table in the corner.
Lily knew the restaurant’s soups were incredible, their home-baked
breads and rolls to die for. She ordered the vegetable soup and a
turkey sandwich on rye bread, then tugged at her sweater and stared
out the window as her friends ordered their lunch.

She saw Carson immediately. With his broad
shoulders and blond hair, he easily stood out on the sidewalk. He
was with two other men, both tall and good-looking, and they were
walking this way. The bottom dropped out of Lily’s stomach.

“Lily?” She swiveled back around to face
Annabelle, praying the men would keep on walking by the restaurant
but somehow knowing they wouldn’t. “Are you okay?”

Grabbing the glass of water the waitress had
placed on the table in front of her, Lily gulped too fast and then
started to choke and sputter. Emma thumped her on the back and
Annabelle just looked concerned. Lily felt like a total idiot when
she placed her glass back on the table. “I’m fine.” She cleared her
throat. “Just went down the wrong way.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” The words came out a bit harsher than
she intended and both women just stared at her. Sighing, she rubbed
her forehead. She could definitely feel a tension headache brewing.
“I’m sorry. I’m just not myself today.”

“No problem.” Emma patted her arm. “We all
have days like that. It’s allowed.”

Before Lily could think of something to say
to ease the tension, the door of the restaurant was pulled open,
letting in a draft of cool air and the sounds from the street. She
didn’t even need to look over to know that Carson had just entered
with the two other men. They were also going to come over to their
table. There was no hope for it. The two men he was with were Mike
Sloan and Tucker Martin, Annabelle’s and Emma’s husbands.

What should she say? How should she act? She
wasn’t exactly ready for the world to know they were seeing each
other. Her fingers curled into tight fists and she forced herself
to relax. She didn’t need to say anything really. Just be polite
and keep things simple. A sense of calm descended upon her.

Mike saw his wife immediately and started
toward the table. Tucker was only a step behind him, his eyes on
Emma. Lily glanced at Carson, not quite able to read his
expression. She glanced away and took a slow breath, trying to calm
the pounding of her heart.

“Hey, honey.” Mike leaned down to kiss
Annabelle before addressing the rest of them. “Ladies.”

“What are you doing here?” Annabelle’s cheeks
were flushed with pleasure.

“We’re just picking up some lunch to take
back to the job site. Tucker’s working on the electrical and Carson
is checking out the place so he can give me a quote on the
landscaping.” Lily knew that Mike’s company had recently begun
renovating an apartment building in the downtown area. She’d known
he would be working with Tucker because Emma had told her. It
should have occurred to her that Carson would have a hand in the
landscaping. After all, the three men had done business before.

“Lily.” Her gaze flew to Carson. Was it just
her imagination or was there an edge of anger to his voice?

“Hi, Carson.” She smiled at him and then
greeted Mike and Tucker as well. She was glad when Tucker asked
Emma a question because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
She didn’t even hear the question, she was so caught up in her own
worries.

“You ladies enjoy lunch.” She jerked her head
up just in time to see Mike turning away. Tucker was already on his
way to the lunch counter to pick up their order, but Carson was
still standing beside the table, watching her.

She thought he might say something and she
tensed. Instead, he just nodded curtly to them and followed Mike.
He didn’t even turn back to look at her. She knew because she
watched him.

Feeling her friends’ eyes on her, she
plastered a smile on her face. “Our order is here.” Saved by the
waitress. She took a bite of the sandwich, but it tasted like
sawdust in her mouth. Forcing herself to chew, she swallowed and
picked up her spoon to try her soup. She could tell that both women
wanted to question her, but they held their peace. Gradually, the
conversation moved to safe topics.

Lily was never so glad to see a lunch end.
The food was as good as always. It must have been. Her friends had
raved about it. To her, it had all been bland and tasteless and it
now sat like a lump of lead in the pit of her stomach.

Usually she cherished the time with her
friends, but today she felt raw and emotional. She sensed that her
actions had hurt Carson and that hadn’t been her intent at all.
She’d just been caught off guard and hadn’t known how to react.
She’d make it up to him later, she promised herself.

After her friends had both extracted her
promise to meet them again next week for lunch and to call them if
she wanted to talk, she hugged them both and headed back to her
car. She might take them up on their offer soon if she couldn’t
figure things out on her own.

She knew she was acting irrational. On one
hand, she knew she had fallen in love with Carson. On the other,
she wasn’t sure their relationship would last. She did know they
couldn’t go on this way much longer. Soon, she’d have to lay her
cards on the table and let the chips fall where they would.

But not tonight.

Tonight she just wanted to relax and enjoy
her time with him. A little voice in the back of her head told her
that it might not be as easy as that. “Of course it will be,” she
answered herself aloud as she drove home. “What man doesn’t want
sex with no strings attached?”

The little voice whispered that Carson wasn’t
like most men.

• • •

Carson was in a foul mood by the time he
knocked on Lily’s back door at seven o’clock. He’d gone home after
work to shower and change, but it hadn’t improved his temperament.
Truth to tell, he’d been in a nasty mood all afternoon—ever since
he’d met Lily at the restaurant and she’d acted as if she barely
knew him. He knew it shouldn’t hurt. Knew he should have expected
it. But that didn’t change the way it made him feel.

For a brief moment he’d been tempted to drag
her out of her chair and kiss her senseless in front of everyone
there. He’d refrained. Barely. The only thing holding him back was
the thought that he might lose her if he did.

He snorted. He didn’t have her now. Not
really. Sure, they were sleeping together, but he wanted more than
just sex. A lot more. Determined, he pounded on her door again. He
heard the sound of her footsteps hurrying toward the door and then
it was tugged open.

Lily appeared flustered, her hair was
tousled, her cheeks pink, and she was wearing a pale blue bathrobe
that covered her from her neck to her feet. The silky material was
belted tight around her waist, and she clutched at the lapels with
one hand. She was also wearing more makeup than she usually did.
Her eyes were dark and smoky. Her lips a deep red.

Carson almost forgot he was angry with her,
she looked so delectable. He wanted to strip off her robe and see
what, if anything, she was wearing beneath it. As she stepped away
from the door to let him in, the material parted. She twitched it
back into place, but not before he’d had a glimpse of a long,
shapely leg.

The door closed behind him and he could hear
the clock on the wall ticking in the silence that lay between them.
The sound of their breathing was unusually loud. His boots thumped
heavily on the floor as he strode to the table and pulled out a
chair. “We have to talk.” He motioned to the chair and she stared
at him quizzically before padding to the table. As she sat, he
caught a whiff of fresh flowers and soap and knew she wasn’t long
out of the shower.

He pulled out the chair across from her and
lowered himself into it. Lily didn’t look at him right away, so he
took a moment to soak in her presence. When she raised her head,
cocking her stubborn chin at an angle, he was struck once again by
her sheer loveliness.