I made up some ice waters and found a spot next to Lilli on the couch. It had been such a beautiful day taking pictures together, and I was happy to just sit there in silence with her if that was what she wanted to do.
“Did you tear up when you turned around? You’ve got some serious acting skills. You even had me believing those tears.”
I didn’t have the nerve to tell her the tears had been one hundred percent real. Her beauty had literally overcome me at that moment.
“Hey, it should make for a good photo.”
“Hell, yeah. Those photos are going to be so convincing that Ashley will sign the papers for you right away.”
“I hope so.”
I reached for her hand and held onto it for a minute before she pulled away to drink from her cup. The passion and connection between us were still there, but Lilli was pushing it away. She didn’t even look at me as she sipped her drink, and we waited for the groceries. In fact, Lilli didn’t seem to be there with me at all. Instead, she was far away in her thoughts.
When the grocery store delivery person knocked on the door, it was a relief to have something to do. I jumped up, opened the door, thanked him for the delivery and handed him a tip before bringing the bags into the kitchen.
“They actually deliver ice cream? How do they get it here without it melting?”
“Just like we do when we buy it at the store, they hurry.”
I pulled the vanilla ice cream out and set all the extra toppings along the counter. I had literally clicked every single thing they had in their ice cream section. We had chocolate syrup, caramel, cherries, sprinkles, whipped cream and some sort of chocolate shell that got hard after you poured it on. It was a better ice cream bar than any fast food joint I’d ever seen.
“Oh wow, I’m taking this dress off and eating it all. Do you have something I can wear?”
“I’ve got some T-shirts up in my room. You’re welcome to wear any of them.”
Lilli hurried up the stairs and must have slid out of her dress in record time because she was back downstairs in less than five minutes. She had on a white T-shirt of mine and a pair of my sweatpants that were barely staying on her.
“Nice pants.” I laughed as she tried to pull the string as tight as possible. “Let me help.”
I pulled the string tight and then rolled the waist of her pants down twice so it was a little bulkier and would stay up. My hands lingered on her hips, and I waited for her to look up at me so I could kiss her, but she was strategically avoiding my eye contact and even started to load her ice cream into a bowl.
“This looks so delicious. I can’t wait.”
“Me either. It’s been ages since I’ve had ice cream.”
“Not me. It’s basically one of my food groups.”
We each loaded up a bowl and added our favorite toppings before returning to the couch. I pulled off my tuxedo coat and shirt and just sat in my undershirt while we ate. At least Lilli was turned toward me this time, but there was clearly something going on.
I wrestled with whether I should ask her or not. Finally, I decided that I didn’t want to ruin our day by asking if there was anything wrong. She would tell me when she was ready.
When we had both finished our ice cream, I took our bowls to the sink, and Lilli followed me. Her happy glow was gone as she stood on the other side of the kitchen.
“So you won’t be needing me to come with you to Jacksonville anymore, right?”
“Is that why you look so sad? Hell, you can come with me to Jacksonville anytime you want. I just didn’t want you to feel obliged to keep helping me. You’ve done so much already.”
“Well, once you show Ashley the pictures, she will agree to let you have Izzy. We can break up, and you can go back to your normal life.”
“Is that what you want?” I asked as I moved over and stood next to her.
“Um, if it’s what you want.”
“I’d like to see you again. Outside of this crazy arranged marriage,” I joked.
“You would.”
“Yes. I wanted to date you long before this whole mess. Lilli, you’re a great girl. I really can’t imagine any other woman being willing to put up with this mess.”
“Yeah, they probably would have told you that you were crazy.”
She was right. No other woman I’d ever dated would have pulled this whole thing off as well as Lilli had. There was no fighting. She hadn’t caused any big commotion, except the fun little soda incident. But then again, Lilli didn’t strike me as the sort of woman who thrived on commotion.
“I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t want to keep seeing you.”
“No, you didn’t. I’m sure I was just getting too much into my own head. I’m glad we straightened it all out, though. ”
Lilli reached for the whipped cream and opened her mouth as she squirted a dollop onto her tongue. My body instantly reacted to the sexual way she licked her lips and swallowed the rich cream. Now, this was the Lilli I’d grown to know.
Chapter 17
Lilli
I liked teasing Devin. It was fun to play around with him, and I suddenly felt like myself again after he cleared up where we stood. For a moment, I had thought he wasn’t going to want to hang out anymore after things were straightened out with his daughter.
“I’m going to put this whipped cream all over your naked body if you tease me like that one more time,” Devin said.
I couldn’t resist, and I sprayed the cream into my mouth and pushed one of my fingers in as I sucked on it. I sexually licked my finger and then moved my tongue around my lips as I did my best to tease him some more.
“I’m sorry, not sorry,” I teased.
“It’s on now,” Devin said as he took the whipped cream from me with one hand and then leaned over and picked me up.
He bent me over his shoulder and held onto my ass as he walked up the stairs with ease. He didn’t take them two at a time, but he still moved rather quickly for a man who was carrying an entire human over his shoulder. I giggled all the way up the stairs and even more so when he tossed me onto his big bed.
It was plush, and I bounced when I landed, but I hardly had time to feel the fabric beneath me before he was pulling on my sweatpants. They slid off quickly and easily though since they really were his pants.
Devin then moved to my T-shirt and tugged on it playfully as he moved it up and over my head. He left it connected to my arms as he pinned them above my head and then grabbed the can of whipped cream.
“You see this bottle?”
I nodded my head yes as I smiled up at him.
“All of it, every last drop is going to be licked off your body.”
“You’re going to have a tummy ache if you eat all of that.” I laughed.
“I’m doing it,” he said as he sprayed a large amount over each of my breasts and then started licking it off.
It tickled as his mouth moved around, and he alternated between sucking and licking the creamy dessert off of me. It wasn’t nearly as erotic as I’d imagined it would be. But I was happy to go along with the game.
He sprayed more on my nipples and then made a cute little design like a bikini bottom.
“A dissolvable bikini,” he said as he let go of my arms and admired his work. “I’m going to eat it now.”
Devin didn’t waste any time and quickly had my dissolvable bikini licked off of me and was drawing another design on my stomach with the spray. He made a star and then licked it off. He drew a heart and then licked it off. But by the time he was finished with the entire can, he had slowed down to barely moving.
“You have a stomach ache don’t you?” I teased as he fell back onto the pillows.
“Oh, God yes. I’m going to pay for all this junk food tomorrow. I never eat this much sugar.”
“I’m going to climb into that giant swimming pool you have in your bathroom. Someone got me all sticky. You’re welcome to join me,” I said as I gently kissed him.
“Yep, I’m coming. Just give me a second to let my stomach settle.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
I playfully waved at him as I stood naked in the doorway to the bathroom. I left the door open and found some bubbles to put into the bathtub, but it was nearly twenty minutes by the time the bathtub had finally filled up.
“Are you coming?” I asked as I went to the doorway.
But Devin was sound asleep in bed. He was still in his tuxedo pants and white shirt, and he looked absolutely exhausted. I left him to sleep while I climbed into the deep tub and relaxed in the warm bubbly water.
I could have stayed in there for hours, but I was getting tired too and wrapped myself in a towel, then climbed into bed with him. I didn’t feel tired at all, but within ten minutes I had fallen asleep in Devin’s arms and stayed there all night long. It was an extremely early evening for us but perfect for catching up on our sleep.
***
On Thursday, I skipped work to go hang out with Anna. I’d been telling my parents I was with her a lot lately, but I hadn’t actually seen her in over a week. We’d talked and texted as usual, but I needed to work through something that was on my mind a lot.
“Are we walking or running?” I asked when I got to her house.
“Um, walking. Why do you even ask me?”
“How’s your relationship with the hot neighbor guy?” I asked jokingly.
Anna didn’t seem to see the humor in the question, though, and she went on a long rant about every interaction the two of them had had over the last week. She was dramatic and upset as she tried to analyze each encounter.
“I saw him on Saturday, and he didn’t even look up from Clyde. I thought he was ignoring me, but then on Monday I saw him, and he waved to me. I don’t know what sort of games he’s playing, but it’s not cool at all.”
“Maybe he really didn’t see you?”
“Whatever,” she said without even justifying it as an option.
“Well, I am having a lot of second thoughts about what’s going on with Devin.”
“Oh, you mean lying to his daughter and her grandparents?”
“Yeah. I haven’t been able to sleep for the last few days. What if Izzy does move out here with Devin? I’m not going to be at his house. I’m going to be the girl that lives next door with her parents. Izzy is old enough to figure this all out, and it’s making me sick.”
Anna and I walked out of her house, and she instantly looked over at Jason’s house to see if he was there. Her little crush on him was growing, and I knew there was no stopping her. She was going to have that man whether he knew it or not. Anna always got what she wanted.
“So stop seeing the guy. Break it off. Come out with me and the girls this weekend.”
“And I feel horrible about lying to Ashley. She’s already going through so much, and if it were my daughter, I’d be so angry if someone lied to me like Devin is lying. He has to tell her the truth or things won’t be good. I don’t know how to tell him that, though. He thinks if he tells the truth, he will lose every chance of getting Izzy to come live with him.”
“Okay, so I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a minute. You don’t know how much I love playing the bad guy,” Anna said with an evil grin as she rubbed her hands together. “I don’t know that Devin is any better than your ex.”
“What? Yes, of course he is. Devin is a nice guy. He’s never yelled at me. He has my best interested at heart in everything he does. Look at the friggin car he got me. Come on, how can you even say that?”
“Look at how easily he’s willing to lie to the mother of his own child. He’s basically showing you that he’s willing to do absolutely anything as long as it serves his best interest.”
Her words sat so heavily on my heart because they rang true. I honestly didn’t think that Devin wanted to keep going with the lie, but the fact that he was continuing it was huge. Maybe Ashley wouldn’t care about any of it. She was going to have her hearing in a month or so, and she probably would decide that Izzy should be with Devin anyways. The marriage thing wouldn’t have even needed to be said. But now he had continued with the lie and had to lie more and more to prove it was a truth when it absolutely wasn’t.
“I see what you’re saying. I don’t think he’s always out for himself, but I can see how it looks really bad. That’s probably why I have been awake thinking about everything the last couple days. I don’t know what I can do about it, though. It’s all in his hands now.”
“You can refuse to go along with the lie anymore,” Anna said definitively.
“I could do that.”
“Lilli, I can see that you’re falling for him. I don’t think he’s good enough for you, but if you really want something true between the two of you, then you have to tell him how you feel.”
“I’ve said that I don’t like it.”
We walked down toward the path at the river’s edge. Anna took a moment to look around and see if she could find Jason, but his car had been gone from the driveway, so he wasn’t going to be walking on the trail.
Together we walked silently as I tried to think through everything that was going on. I wanted to see Devin again. I really liked him and had such a good time when we were together. But if he brought Izzy back to his house, and she thought I was going to be her stepmother, I just couldn’t handle the disappointment it would cause her.
Not that she would be looking forward to hanging out with me or anything like that. But we got along, and she probably would be a little excited about having someone around that could help her with her hair and buy cute clothes with her. Coming to stay with just her father was a totally different thing, and she should be told the truth before coming.
“You need to be firm. Clearly tell him you won’t be able to see him if he insists on keeping up this lie.”
“Never see him?” I asked as I let the thought sink in.
I wasn’t sure I wanted that either. I liked Devin, and I did want to see him. I just wanted the lying to end. It was too much for me. I wasn’t a liar. I didn’t like it, and I finally decided that Anna was right. I couldn’t keep seeing Devin if he was going to go forward with the lie.
“Yes, you have to stand your ground.”
“You’re right. I don’t like it, but I’ll never stop thinking about the lie when I’m with him. Even if it were years down the road, I’d still know that he chose to continue lying to his daughter, ex and all their family.”
“I know you Lilli – you won’t be able to forget it. Let him go. It’s his life. He can choose what he wants to do, but you need to be true to yourself.”
“Wow, we are getting deep today.”
“I’m always here for the deep conversations. You come see me anytime you want.”
“Thanks doctor Anna,” I teased. “Can we run a little now? I’m itched to get my endorphins going.”
I started jogging in place, and Anna reluctantly joined me as we took off slowly down the path. Her arms were wobbling at her side, and she looked like she was falling apart as we ran. It was no wonder she didn’t like to run – she did it so terribly that she was making it harder than it had to be.
We only went for about ten minutes and then turned around and ran back to Anna’s house. I wanted to have her there with me when I called Devin and told him how I was feeling.
“Do you think I can tell him over the phone?” I asked.
“Sure, but it would probably be better in person. Everything is better in person,” she said with a wink.
“I’m not sure I’ll be strong enough to tell him in person. He’s so damn sexy.”
“I’ll go with you if you want.”
“Ugh. Yes, I want, but I guess I’ll just have to do it on my own. Damn, this being a grownup thing is getting harder and harder.”
“You can do it. You’re getting stronger and stronger. I saw how you were with your ex when you broke things off with him. And you are ten times stronger now. Just imagine how things will be
when you meet the love of your life?”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
The problem I was having was that I did care a lot for Devin. I just hated the circumstances of what was going on with his daughter. I still liked him a hell of a lot. If we could figure out how to make things work, I was totally open to it. But I knew myself, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep seeing him with the lie hanging over both of us.
“Okay, so go straight over to his house. Is he home? Do you want to call and see? I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
“I think I’m just going to go straight to his house, hope he’s home, and then tell him what’s on my mind. If I wait too long, I’m going to lose my nerve.”
“Perfect, get going. Head over there right now,” Anna said as she practically pushed me out her door. “Call me after it’s done. I want to hear all the details.”
Her pushing me out the door did the trick, and I started jogging over toward Devin’s house. I used the five-minute run as an opportunity to think of exactly how I wanted to tell Devin. The more I thought about it, the more I solidified what I would say to him.
When I got to his door, I knocked loudly and then looked inside to see if he was there. The problem with him always parking in his garage was that I couldn’t tell if he was in his house or not.
I waited for a good minute, and then I rang the doorbell and knocked again. This time, I heard footsteps inside. My heart raced as I readied myself to tell Devin how things were going to be.
“Lilli,” he said softly as he opened the door. “What a perfect surprise.”
I stood there unable to get any of the words out of my mouth. I knew what I wanted to say; I’d practiced it on the run over there. But I couldn’t find the words when I needed them. Instead, I stood there looking like a crazy woman as I blankly stared at him.
“Come in. Let me get you a drink. It’s a little hot out to be running today, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” I managed to mumble as I sat on his couch.
“What’s up? I thought you were working today.”
The Baby Package Page 58