“Whoa there. Put down your whip, Taskmaster. I need to take five. We haven’t had a break in six hours.”
Lily looked at her watch and realized that Karina was right. They’d been dancing straight for six hours.
Well you know what they say. Time flies when you’re having fun.
Karina stretched her arms and legs out as she lay flat on her back on the floor. “Oh, I would kill for a hot oil massage.”
The second Karina said the word “massage,” Eric’s face popped into Lily’s head. The way his fingers had worked out her stiff back on the dance floor last night had been heavenly. All day, snippets of their dance the night before kept popping into her head.
His touch. His smell. His voice. His neck!
She still had no flipping idea what in the name of God had come over her when she’d begun kissing Eric’s neck in the middle of the bar. Her only reasonable defense was that she really had honestly forgotten where they were. Just like when they’d been in the parking lot after they’d gone to lunch at Sue Ann’s and she’d momentarily lost herself in the feeling of being surrounded by him.
It seemed that whenever Eric was around, Lily just got swept away in Ericland and forgot that there was an entire world existing around her. He had such a strong, engaging presence that it was easy to get sucked in and pulled under his spell.
Case in point: agreeing to go to his parents’ anniversary dinner with him. She’d had absolutely no intention of doing that. But as soon as he asked she’d started flirting with him and said yes.
Maybe she was just overthinking the entire situation with Eric. She would only be in town a couple more months, and even though her lease wasn’t up for five more, she would be gone out on tour for most of the last three.
A feeling of loss and sadness washed over Lily at the thought of leaving Hope Falls. Not only because of Eric—although, let’s be honest, he was the main reason—but also because of all the amazing people she’d met and the actual physical town itself. She didn’t think she’d ever grow immune to its charms.
And then there was Shadow. Her handsome boy. She didn’t know what she would do without him sleeping beside her. Last night, when Eric had told her that he needed to leave to go to work, she’d asked if she could have Shadow again. He’d agreed, and Lily had given him her extra set of keys so he could let Shadow in so he’d be there when she got home.
In the past when she’d come home after dark, she’d always have to search every room, look in every closet, and turn on every light in the house before she felt safe. But last night, the second she walked in and her four-legged house guest jumped up happily to greet her, she didn’t have even a miniscule amount of fear about going farther inside. She’d known that if anything had been wrong Shadow would have known and warned and protected her.
Lily knew that she was getting too attached to Shadow—and Eric, for that matter. She knew the signs. It hadn’t happened to her since she was a kid, but that didn’t mean she didn’t recognize the warnings.
She just didn’t know how to stop it. To her, the feelings she was having reminded her of being on a runaway train. She couldn’t pull up the brakes—they were gone. Steering to another track wasn’t an option because the controls were shot. At this point, Lily felt like her only choice was to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
With that epiphany in mind, she asked herself, Would it really be that bad to just have some fun with Eric while I am here?
Her time here was temporary, so any kind of fling she had would have to be just that—temporary. Just because she knew that a relationship was out of the question with Eric didn’t mean she couldn’t have a hot and heavy affair with him while she was in town. Temporarily. If she just kept that point in the forefront of her mind then maybe, just maybe, she could protect herself.
“Boy you sure got quiet over there. Penny for your thoughts?” Karina rolled onto her stomach and rose up to rest on her elbows. “Unless you’re thinking about Eric, then hell, I’ll give a cool hundred for your thoughts. You two were so hot out on the dance floor last night that I’m surprised that dance didn’t get you pregnant. You even had me blushing, and FYI, I’m not a blusher.”
Lily’s face heated from Karina’s observation.
“Looks like you are though,” Karina smiled. “So spill. Inquiring minds want to know.”
Lily took a deep breath. Even though she and Karina had only known each other a short time, they had spent a good portion of that time isolated in a room together, so she felt like they’d grown somewhat close. And yes, it was also a fact that Karina was “Karina Black,” but she’d always treated Lily like a friend. So she decided to try and open up. A little.
“I like him.” Lily took another breath before adding, “A lot.”
Karina just stared at her blankly. Then she flatly said, “Yeah. No kidding.”
Lily was confused. “Isn’t that what you were asking?”
“No, I wasn’t asking you to confirm the obvious,” Karina clarified. “I was lookin’ for a little juicier stuff than that. Like, are you guys together, dating, friends with bennies?”
“Oh, I guess dating. I’m going with him to his parents’ anniversary dinner tonight.”
“Good.” Karina smiled broadly. “I admit I was hoping for ‘together’ but dating’s good too!” Checking her watch, Karina hopped up off the floor, apparently having caught her second wind. “Speaking of dating, since we both have hot dates tonight, we better call it a day so we can go get beautified.”
Lily happily agreed, grabbing her bag and shutting everything off in the room.
As they walked out, Karina slipped her arm through Lily’s. “Soooo what are you wearing tonight?”
“I haven’t decided.” Excitement bubbled up inside of her at not only the thought of dressing up but also at the fact that Eric would be seeing her all spruced up
“Me either,” Karina explained, narrowing her eyes before widening them as though a light bulb had just turned on in her head. “Ryan does tend to like a backless dress though, and if I play my cards right, I might be able to get that massage after all.”
The girls both chuckled, but Lily knew that it didn’t matter if Karina wore a potato bag. Ryan would happily give her a massage.
Hmm. Must be nice to have a guy that devoted to you.
They stepped outside and Lily shivered instantly. She really had to remember to bring clothes to change into next rehearsal, because if she kept going to her car in sweaty clothes, she was going to catch a cold. Just as that thought popped into her head, she sneezed, causing her eyes to shut. When she opened them again, there were a lot of bright flashes going off in her face. People were screaming Karina’s name and asking her questions.
“Stay calm,” Lily heard Karina say under her breath.
What the…? What is going on?
Lily squinted and began blinking in an attempt to clear her eyes of the dark black spots the blinding lights had caused. Within seconds, she and Karina were surrounded by two very large men who were acting like human shields as they ushered them through the chaos.
She was vaguely aware of a door opening, and the next thing she knew, she was seated beside Karina in the back seat of an impressive SUV. They were driving out of the parking lot, leaving behind the mob that had appeared out of nowhere. The two men in the front seat were alerting someone of what had just happened. Lily didn’t know if it was the police or just more security.
Karina turned to Lily. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I mean… I think so,” Lily answered truthfully, still trying to get her bearings. “That all happened so fast!”
“That’s how it usually is,” Karina said with a note of sadness. “It sucks.”
Lily nodded in agreement.
“Don’t get me wrong. I totally understand that it’s part of the job, and I love my job, but can you imagine what it feels like to never know if someone is waiting in the bushes or if at any moment you will be in a circumstance that’
s completely out of your control?” Karina asked as she gazed out the window.
Even though Karina obviously meant it as a rhetorical question, the sad fact was that yes, she did know. She knew exactly what that felt like. But unlike Karina, the people waiting in the bushes didn’t want to take Lily’s picture; they wanted to kill her.
Lily felt a deep vibration on the top of her thigh. It took her a second to realize that it was her phone ringing. After pulling it out of her bag and seeing that, even though it wasn’t a number she knew, it was a Hope Falls area code, she answered.
“Are you all right?” a deep voice said from over the line.
“Eric?”
“Yes, it’s Eric,” he said quickly. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Lily wasn’t sure if he was just calling to check and make sure if she was still going on the date tonight, but if that was the case, he sure seemed overly panicked about it.
“We just got a call that you and Karina were attacked by about forty paparazzi outside the Community Center.”
“Oh yeah, we were. I mean, no, we weren’t attacked, and I’m not sure if there were forty or not, but we got out of there and we’re both fine.” Lily included Karina, knowing that Eric would be worried about his friend.
“Good. I’m headed home now. Tell Karina’s security detail to stay with you until I get there,” he instructed.
“Eric, no. You don’t have to leave work. I’ll be fine by myself. They wanted pictures of Karina, not me.”
His words came out slow and measured. “Tell them to wait.” And then he disconnected the call.
“The protective ones are the good ones,” Karina said, obviously having overheard Lily and Eric’s conversation. “Frustrating sometimes, but good.”
Lily didn’t know if what she’d said was true or not, having absolutely zero experience with a protective man in her life. But she did have to admit that it sure felt nice.
Chapter Eighteen
“Dammit, Shadow.”
Eric looked down to see dog hair all over his black slacks. He’d told the dog to sit, but he’d jumped up on Eric anyway and left evidence of his misbehavior behind.
“Hey, Lily, do you have a lint brush?” Eric called out. He could run next door and grab one but it had just started snowing so he’d rather not.
Her voice came from her bedroom. “I think so. Check the cabinet beside the stove.”
Eric’s shoes squeaked as he walked across the tiled floor of the cheery kitchen. As he opened the drawer, it hit him that when Judge Pattinson had lived there, the décor had not been much different but the space had felt darker and much smaller, cramped even. Eric didn’t know if it was just because Lily brought a light of happiness with her everywhere she went or what, but with her residing there, the home now felt light, cheery, and cozy.
“Did you find it?” Lily’s asked from behind him as he heard heels click-clacking on the kitchen floor.
Turning to face her, he held it up. “Yep, right here—”
He was conscious of his mouth falling open, and he was almost scared that his tongue was going to roll out onto the floor and his eyes were going to pop out of his head like a cartoon character.
Lily looked so perfect that it was almost unreal. His eyes raked up and down the length of her again and again. With every scan, something else caught his eye.
Her hair fell in soft waves down around her face. Her skin looked even more flawless than usual. Her full lips were a subtle shade of red that made Eric’s heart skip a beat as the blood flowed down to his more southern regions.
And then there was her dress. She wore a simple black scoop-neck dress that contoured to every line of her body, displaying her womanly curves in all their glory. He was having a hard time taking it all in.
“Do I look okay?” she asked as she spun around in a circle, her fluid movement allowing him for the first time to see the back of the dress. Or, he should say, the no-back of the dress, which scooped down to her tailbone, leaving her back completely exposed.
He had been accused of being an ass-man, a tits-man, and a leg-man, and he’d always argued that he was just a body-man. Until this very moment, Eric did not believe that he’d discriminated when it came to women’s bodies. But as his eyes followed the sleek, sexy slope of Lily’s spine from the base of her neck down until it dipped in before her tailbone and flaring out at her ass, he knew he was a back-man. Or at least a Lily-back-man. Because what he saw before him was hands down the sexiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
She turned back around all too soon for his liking and asked again, this time with a little shakiness in her voice. “Do I look okay? I can change if this is—”
“You look fucking beautiful,” he said in awe.
The corners of her lips twitched and turned up in a shy smile. “Thank you. You look very handsome yourself.” Walking closer to him, she reached up and took the lint brush from his hand. “Just a little hairy.”
She rolled the brush down the side of his leg where Shadow had jumped on him.
She stood back up eyeing her handiwork. “There. Perfect.”
“Yes you are,” Eric said. He wasn’t trying to be cheesy or even feed her a line. To him, she was perfect.
“I’m not perfect,” she said with a small shake of her head in dismissal as she moved past him to put away the lint brush. He had a feeling that he’d once again put his foot in his mouth, but this time, instead of insulting her, he’d complimented her.
Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her. Without any hesitation, she spun around in his arms and curled her fingers around his biceps. The feeling of her soft skin under his thumb as he slowly circled her bare lower back sent a carnal ache deep inside of him.
He watched as she licked her luscious, full lips, and his dick jumped in his slacks. “I want to kiss you so bad right now.”
A playful smile crossed her lips. “Really? We’re not even by the door, but okay I’m game.”
Leaning down so they were mere millimeters apart, his lips brushing hers, he spoke. “You know, if I kiss you right now, we won’t make it to my parents’ party.”
Her breath was hot against his mouth as her fingers gripped his arms. “We won’t?”
Every kiss this past week, every touch, every look, felt like it had been building up to this moment. He knew if he just closed the miniscule gap between them heaven waited for him on the other side. All he had to do was press his lips to hers, skim that dress off of her body, and drive himself so deep inside of her that they wouldn’t know where he began and she ended.
Summoning more self-control than he’d ever thought he possessed, he dropped his arms and stepped away from her. “We better go.”
Looking a little dazed, she nodded, turning to get her coat, which meant he saw her back in all of its glory once again. He had no idea how he was going to keep his hands off of her. But since he was sure that his parents and the entire town were going to be watching him, he knew he better keep his hands to himself. Well, he’d try at least.
---~---
Lily gingerly lowered herself into a metal folding chair that was lined up against the wall of the gym in the back corner. Her muscles were so sore that she honestly wasn’t sure she could make it back out of the chair now that she’d sat down. She’d been at the party for almost two hours and she didn’t know how much longer she could be here without starting to crouch over and walk like a ninety-year-old. Maybe Karina was right and they had overdone it.
Rolling her neck from side to side, she looked at the huge, blown-up pictures hung on the walls around the room. They were all of Eric’s parents, starting from before they were married. It was a beautiful thing to see two people who had been able to stay in love for over forty years.
Slipping her foot out of the eight-inch heels she had worn in hopes to look cute, she rolled her ankle in a slow circle. Then she pointed and flexed her toes to try and stretch them out.
Note to self: Do no
t wear high-ass heels after you’ve spent twelve hours dancing.
Not that she regretted her decision to wear them tonight. No siree! Not. At. All.
The reaction she’d received from Eric in her kitchen had been worth every ounce of pain and discomfort this dress and these heels were causing her. He had looked at her with so much heat that she was surprised she hadn’t spontaneously combusted.
“So I see you took a page out of my playbook and went backless.” Karina sat down beside Lily. “Hoping to get your own massage action later? Maybe at the hands of our newly appointed, smoking hot police chief?”
Yes!
“Maybe,” Lily answered coyly.
Karina’s face brightened at Lily’s admission. “I knew it! I definitely think you can make that happen. That man has not been able to take his eyes off of you all night. And I’ve noticed your little peepers seem to be scanning his way more often than not as well.”
Lily bit the inside of her mouth. She knew for certain that Eric wasn’t working tonight. He’d pulled four doubles this week and finally had the night off. She wasn’t really a make-the-first-move type of a gal, but with her time in Hope Falls being limited, she really didn’t want to waste even one night they could have together.
“Karina, is this the choreographer you’ve spoken so highly of?”
Lily looked up to see a very distinguished-looking woman. She was tall and rail thin, and she wore her hair in a braid that fell down her back. “Yes, it is. Grandmother, this is Lily Sotelo. Lily this is my grandmother, Renata Blackstone.”
Lily began to stand but must have had a pained expression on her face because Renata said, “Oh no, don’t get up, dear. I just wanted to come by and thank you for taking over the seniors’ class. I heard there was quite a lot of tomfoolery going on as well as a medical emergency and you handled it all with class and grace. I’m always thrilled when my Karina chooses to associate with individuals such as yourself. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You too.” Lily waved as the woman walked away. Turning to Karina, she whispered, “Okay, I realize that she said lovely, complimentary things about me, so why do I feel like I just got in trouble?”
Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) Page 15