Protecting Lily

by Flockton, Nicole

  7

  Grayson sat in the same chair he’d occupied the previous two days and observed Lily as she flipped over yet another page. With only being the two of them in the building he had no need to get up and move around. Observe the happenings of the office. He supposed he could take a walk around the outside perimeter of the building to ensure no unsavory characters were hanging around. The only problem with that was, he would be leaving Lily alone inside and he didn’t like that idea too much.

  She sat back and tapped the pencil against her lips. At least that was better than tapping it on the table. It drew his attention to her lips. Lips he wouldn’t mind tasting again.

  “Was this on tonight’s to do list?” he asked has he got up and walked over to her desk.

  Lily looked up. Her gaze appeared vacant to him, as if she wasn’t totally aware of where she was and who she was with. “Huh?”

  Grayson nodded toward the pad in front of her. “What you’re working on, was it on a list? From what I’ve observed you don’t make a move without it being an item on your to-do list.”

  Her gaze cleared and seeing the anger sparking in the depths Grayson wished for the vacant look again. “I don’t go through life with a list telling me when to cross a street. When to get a cup of coffee. Or when to come into the office. Thank you very much. Sometimes inspiration strikes and when it does there’s no point ignoring it. If I ignore it then I lose it.”

  Lily moved her neck side to side and before he could think clearly, he was behind her chair. His hands on her shoulders gently massaging the tight muscles. His body burst to life at the sound of the soft groan she made. Her head fell forward and he took advantage to run his fingers up and down the column of her neck. His movements soft and soothing as he manipulated the tight muscles. The more he touched her the more he wanted her. There was no way they would be interrupted if he sampled her lips again.

  Grayson moved his hands away from her neck and rested them back on her shoulders.

  “Why did you stop? That felt so good.”

  His answer was to drag her chair out and pull her to a standing position. Even though he’d only be working on her neck, it seemed her whole body had relaxed. He tightened his arms around her, and as hers crept around his back, he knew he was lost.

  He didn’t care if he was about to break everyone of his unwritten rules of security work, again.

  He smoothed away the strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail, cradling her skull he angled his mouth to take hers. The moment their lips touched he knew this was what he’d been wanting to happen since he saw her sitting in her car.

  Grayson shifted Lily in his embrace pulling their bodies together until nothing, not even the finest piece of lace, could come between them. It only took a simple step before he had Lily’s desk at her back and another little thrust of his body to have her lying on the wooden surface.

  He trailed his lips down her throat, nuzzling the area where her neck and shoulder joined. Lily’s fingers dug into his back. He wanted to feel them on his skin. His lips went back to kissing her as his hands shifted to where her top met her pants, slipping underneath the soft fabric he brushed against her belly. The muscles quivered beneath his fingertips. Encouraged he pushed her top up until he reached her bra. Wanting to see if she wore her own designs he halted his assault on her lips and stood up. He grabbed the back of his shirt and whipped it over his head before encouraging Lily into a sitting position.

  Her hands landed on his bare chest. He closed his eyes as her fingers danced over his flesh. When her lips closed around his nipple he bit back a groan. He opened his eyes, looking down at the way Lily’s tongue circled his areola. His cock strained against the zipper of his pants, begging to be released. The thought of sinking into her softness almost had him coming right then.

  He needed to slow things down. He needed to think. He needed to touch her. Grayson gently pulled her head away from his body and grabbed the hem of her top. With quick movements he had it up and over her head. The air whooshed out of his chest at the sight of her breasts lovingly confined in two lacy red cups.

  “Oh Lily, who knew you liked to wear racy colors.”

  Lily laughed and before he knew it she’d reached behind her and released the clasp on her bra, pulling a strap down one shoulder then the other. She balanced the lace confection on the edge of her finger.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Mr. Bodyguard.” She reached out, encircled his hands with her fingers and gave a tug. “Now come here.”

  He didn’t need to be told twice. His lips possessed hers again while his hands cupped her breasts. His thumbs brushed her nipples. Her body shuddered beneath his.

  God, how he wanted her.

  “Stop.”

  His brain didn’t register the word. Surely she couldn’t be telling him to stop. Not when she’d been the one to pull her bra off.

  “Grayson, stop.”

  Her hands pushed against his chest and the hazy fog of desire clouding his thought processes cleared.

  “Fuck.” He moved away from her. “Sorry, Lily. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “That’s not why I stopped you, your phone rang.”

  Grayson shook his head. “What?”

  Lily grabbed for her bra, putting it back on. He lamented the loss of seeing her beautiful breasts. “I said your phone rang.”

  As if on cue, his phone started ringing again. Grayson stomped over to where his jacket was, the phone tucked into the internal pocket. Whoever was ringing him had to have a fucking good reason for calling. If Lily hadn’t stopped them he would’ve been sinking into her right about now.

  He picked up his phone and saw Ash’s name flashing on the screen. His anger cooled. If Ash was calling him this late then it had to be important. “Hey, what’s up.”

  “Hey Storm, I’ve got some good news.”

  “I like good news.” He’d like to continue seeing Lily half naked, but as he turned around he saw she’d put her top back on and was collecting up the notepad she’d been working on.

  Playtime was over. It was probably just as well. Ash’s call was the reminder he needed. He had complications in his life and a woman, as high maintenance as Lily was, didn’t fit in it.

  “I’ve got a location on Wayne.”

  Grayson stilled his movements. “You better not be shitting me.”

  “I assure you I’m not. You kept Wayne on the phone long enough for me to be able to triangulate a ten mile radius of where Wayne called from.”

  This was the first Grayson knew about his phone being tapped. “You’re tapping my fucking phone?”

  His former team mate chuckled. “Of course I am. Take the emotion out of this, Storm. You’d do exactly the same thing if the roles were reversed. It would be the first thing you’d do. You’d be tracking my calls in the hopes of getting leads.”

  Grayson blew out a breath. “Fine, you’re right. Sorry.” He walked over to where his shirt had landed and picked it up. “So where is the bastard.”

  “He looks to be closer than you think. He’s in New Jersey.”

  “No fucking way? You mean he didn’t take a hike to some exotic location. The guy is dumber than I thought.”

  “He sure is and why you ever went into business with him is still a mystery to me.”

  “Yeah I know but it’s complicated. We go way back.”

  “You do know that mixing emotions and business are not a good idea. Someone always gets ripped off or burned.”

  Ash’s words were a timely reminder for Grayson as he again connected gazes with Lily. She pointed toward the door, indicating she wanted to leave. He held up his hand to stop her. There was no way he was letting her leave the building by herself.

  “Look, I’m on a job at the moment, but I’m heading home. I’ll call you when I get there and we can work up a plan of action on what our next move will be.”

  “Fine, I should be up for a while longer.”

  “Later,�
� Grayson said as he disconnected the call.

  He put his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and slipped his shirt back on. He thought he heard a groan and swiveled around. Lily’s face immediately turned a pretty shade of pink and he smiled.

  “Sorry about the interruption.” He strolled over to where she stood by the door.

  “It’s fine.” Lily looked down and then cleared her throat. “It’s umm. Well it’s probably for the best that your phone did ring. I mean, you know, seeing as you’re an employee of mine. I make it a rule not to get involved with employees. Makes life unpleasant when it ends. If you know what I mean.”

  “Sure, but the difference is I’m not really an employee. I’m an independent contractor so the rules are different.”

  Why he said that he had no idea. She’d repeated what he already knew. Plus Lily had just given him an out.

  “Semantics. It probably shouldn’t happen again.”

  He heard the doubt in her voice. The probably a dead giveaway she wanted it to happen again. He stepped into her personal space.

  “You do know if my phone hadn’t rung we’d be –” he inclined his head toward her desk. “—over there naked and you wouldn’t be saying it was a mistake. You’d be crying out my name begging me to take you again and again and again.”

  “You wish. Now I need to go home to bed.”

  “Is that an invite?”

  “Don’t be an ass, Grayson. You’re not like that.”

  Grayson laughed, impressed that she called him out on being an ass, because he was being one with his juvenile comment. He had no plans to let her know she affected him. “That’s not what you said when we first met. I can be an ass, Lily. Don’t forget that.”

  “Believe me I won’t. Now can I please leave?”

  He could push it a bit more. Suggest she wanted to finish what they’d started but he didn’t want to. Not when he was wavering between wanting her and remembering the no engagement with clients rule he had.

  “Let’s go.”

  She walked out of the office in front of him. Grayson took the time to admire her ass. As much as he wanted to deny it, getting involved with Lily was a bad idea. Problem was, he wanted her. And he wanted her badly.

  8

  “You have a big night or something?”

  Lily jumped at the sound of Rita’s voice and sloshed her coffee all over her hand. “Dammit Rita, give a person a little warning before you sneak up on them.”

  Rita pulled tissues out of the tissue box on the corner of Lily’s desk and handed her the wad. “You looked directly at me when I walked in. I figured you saw me.”

  “I did?”

  Rita laughed. “Oh honey, did you finally go out on a date with one of your online men?”

  Lily would’ve liked to have been able to tell Rita she had. But if the truth been known, since the hot kiss, not to mention the heavy fondling session she and Grayson had shared three nights ago, the thought of going on a date with another man had been the farthest thing on her mind.

  She hoped she could put Rita off by bending the truth a little. Give her the impression she was still interested in hooking up with someone who’d pinged her with a let’s-do-coffee email. She’d checked her inbox the day after she and Grayson had worked late and found she had over thirty emails. After looking at the first ten it dawned on her that even though all the guys were good looking and seemed like nice guys. She compared each and everyone of them to Grayson. Wondering how they’d look in black jeans and a black leather jacket he’d worn. Sadly, she hadn’t been able to picture it. Disgusted at herself she’d shut down her email and hadn’t bothered contacting one or looking at it again.

  “If I did, telling you would be the last thing I do. You’d have me wedding dress shopping before I know it.”

  “Nah I’d at least wait till after you’ve had two dates.”

  Lily inwardly groaned when Rita hopped up on the edge of her desk and peered closely at her.

  “Tell me, Lil. What put that dreamy look you had on your face when I walked in here?”

  “I did not have a dreamy look on my face. I was thinking about the collection, you know the one that we’ve got happening in a couple months. The one that’s going to give you a nice Christmas bonus.”

  “Nope, not buying it. In all the years we’ve worked together not one of your collections or even one of your past relationships has given you this, I don’t know, soft glow you’ve got about you. As if you’ve been thoroughly kissed. Which I know you were the other day with Grayson.”

  As much as she tried to hide it, Lily was unsuccessful in holding back the rosy color she knew was seeping into her cheeks.

  “Ha I knew it!” crowed Rita. “So who is it? It has to be a guy from that online site you signed up on. I know it can’t be Grayson. Even though I suggested you guys should have a fling after walking in on the both of you. He’s way to intense for you. He’d crush you. Come on, Lil, you can tell me. I swear—” Rita drew a cross over her heart with her finger “—I won’t tell a soul. I’m so glad you took the plunge and joined that website. It’s going to be the best thing to ever happen to you.”

  Oh God, what had she created. She had to put a pin in this or Rita would really be rushing out to buy wedding magazines for her. And what the hell did she mean Grayson would crush her? She wasn’t like the flower she shared her name with. She didn’t wilt without any water or attention. Lily was the opposite. She thrived on lack of attention. Hadn’t she spent her whole life growing and succeeding without the nurturing a loving family gave its kids?

  “Stop it, Rita. I’m not dating anyone.”

  “No, you’re far to busy working late on designs aren’t you, Lily?”

  Lily’s head snapped toward her office door when she heard Grayson’s voice. He had his arms crossed over his chest, the same chest she’d touched the other night. The same chest she knew was as rock hard as it looked. The same chest she wanted to see and touch again.

  His stance was anything but casual and relaxed. He looked ready to go into battle. She could imagine him in fatigues with a gun clutched in his hands. Damn, he was every bit the Seal he’d been standing in front of her. His eyes looked darker than normal, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think there was anger lurking in their depths.

  How long had he been standing there? Had he heard them talking? Did he think she was dating someone?

  “Grayson.” Her voice broke and the son ended on a high note. She cleared her throat. “How can I help you?”

  He stalked into the room and stopped beside Rita. A slight incline of his head acknowledged the other woman. “I need to talk to you, in private.”

  Lily wished she was standing and not sitting as Rita looked between her and Grayson a couple of times, trying to work out what caused the undercurrent of tension currently swirling around the room.

  “Interesting. Very, very interesting,” she murmured before turning and giving Grayson a wide smile. “Not a problem. I’ll leave you to it. I’ll even close the door.”

  Lily braced herself for having verbal barbs thrown at her the moment the door closed behind Rita.

  Instead, Grayson picked up the red glass apple paperweight she had on her desk, a souvenir from her first trip to New York as a teenager. She’d known then this city was where she was going to live. And it made sense to base her lingerie company here too. New York was fashion central.

  His finger caressed the round shape and Lily couldn’t stop the bolt of desire from igniting within her as she remembered the way his finger had traced her areola. Her nipples responded by hardening against the lace of her bra.

  He placed it back on her desk and looked directly at her.

  Ready. Aim. Fire.

  “An online dating site, huh? Now that’s original. Any luck yet?” He spoke the words softly, almost casually as if he was inquiring with his best friend about his dating habits.

  Lily rolled her eyes. “What business is it of yours what I do after
hours? I don’t have to report to you.”

  Before she had a chance to breathe she found herself in Grayson’s arms.

  “It’s my business because not three days ago you were in my arms. You were kissing me. You were begging me to take you on this very desk.”

  “I was not begging you.”

  “You want to test that theory?”

  His lips descended on hers, cutting off any response she may have tried to give. His kiss was hard. Demanding, Evocative. And she wanted more. More of him. She got up on her tiptoe and wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, her fingers threading into his hair.

  Their tongues met, tangling together. She gasped against his lips as his hands crept under her shirt and up until they hit her bra strap.

  Lily pulled away, putting a little distance between them so she had access to his jacket. In seconds she had it undone and pushed it off his shoulders before starting on his shirt. His fingers had deftly unhooked her bra and he was also undoing the buttons on her shirt. Moments later they were both topless. Her hands roved over his chest, reacquainting herself with the dips and contours of his muscled body. Grayson’s mouth found one nipple, swirling his tongue around the engorged tip.

  She threw her head back, his hands holding her as his mouth caressed her breasts to the point of pleasurable pain. Her panties were wet and she wanted to be taken hard and fast on her desk. She wanted his cock to plunge in and out of her. She wanted to find a release she knew she’d only ever find with Grayson.

  “God, I want you, Grayson. I want you deep inside of me.”

  He released her breast with a pop and looked at her. His eyes cloudy with desire, but there was also a clarity about them too. The desire cleared from his eyes, like a wintery fog when the sun’s heat burned it away.

  “Now tell me you don’t beg.” He took two steps away from her, turned around and reached for his shirt.

  * * *

  Grayson heard Lily’s gasp and felt like the world’s biggest asshole. He couldn’t explain the fury that had fired to life within him when he heard the two friends talking about Lily going on dates. A sense of ownership he’d never felt before took hold of him.