The Upside of Love

by Sandi Lynn

  I felt sick, but I couldn’t let Luke know I read it. I needed to get my insecurities under control and maybe talking to Dr. Blakely wasn’t such a bad idea.

  “Okay, babe. I’m off,” Luke said as he kissed me goodbye and grabbed his phone from the counter. “Have a great day at the studio and I’ll see you later.”

  “Bye, baby. I love you.”

  “I love you too,” he said as he walked out the door.

  ****

  I stepped into the studio, turned on the lights, and took in a deep breath. The door opened and, when I turned around, there was a hot guy standing there.

  “Hi, you must be Lily. I’m Cameron Cole.” He smiled as he held out his hand.

  “Hi, Cameron, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for meeting me here today.”

  “No problem. Thank you for getting in contact with me. So, this is going to be a photography studio?” he asked.

  “Yes, and if you’ll follow me, I’ll explain my vision to you.”

  We talked for almost two hours and then he took measurements. I told him my ideas. He gave me some of his, which were great, and things I didn’t think of, and then he told me he could start tomorrow.

  “Thank you again, Cameron. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You’re welcome, Lily. Enjoy the rest of your day.” He smiled.

  I had so much to do and many supplies to order. Cameron said it would only take about a week to do what he needed to get done, so I got online and ordered the equipment and supplies I needed for the studio. I looked at the clock and it was lunchtime. I decided to go by the bar and tell Luke that Cameron was going to start tomorrow. When I walked in, I saw Luke sitting at a table, eating lunch with a woman sitting across from him. I instantly felt sick.

  “Hey, Lily.” Maddie smiled.

  “Hi, Maddie.”

  “Luke is right over there.”

  “Yeah, I saw him.”

  I walked over to the table, and as soon as Luke saw me, he stood up and gave me a kiss.

  “Lily. What are you doing here, babe?”

  “I thought maybe we could have lunch together, but I see you’re already eating.”

  “Cody, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Lily. Lily, this is Cody, my new assistant.”

  She was pretty. Too pretty. The kind of pretty that would make any woman extremely jealous having her working so closely with their husbands or boyfriends. Her short, brown hair looked perfect on her and she had piercing green eyes.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Lily.” She smiled as she held out her hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you too.” I smiled with such a fakeness I thought my face was going to fall off. “I don’t want to interrupt you. So I’m just going to get going.”

  “No, babe, stay. Have lunch with us,” Luke pleaded.

  “No. That’s okay. You two have a lot to discuss. I should have called you first,” I said as I walked towards the door.

  I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It felt like my airways were constricted and I was unable to breathe. I pushed the door open and as soon as I stepped outside, Luke took hold of my arm.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Please, Lily, stay and have lunch with us.”

  “I don’t want to. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

  “It’s because of Cody. Isn’t it?”

  I put my hand on his chest and stared into his eyes as I softly spoke. “Listen to me. You go finish your lunch and show Cody the ropes. That way, you’ll be able to get back home to me quicker.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “More than sure.” I smiled.

  He softly kissed my lips and then walked back inside. I pulled out my phone and dialed Dr. Blakely.

  “Dr. Blakely’s office. This is Camille. How can I help you?”

  “Hi, Camille. It’s Lily Gilmore. I need to see Dr. Blakely as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, Miss Gilmore, let me see what her schedule looks like. She has an opening at one o’clock.”

  “I’ll take it and I’ll see you then.” Click.

  I looked at my watch and saw it was twelve fifteen, so I decided to walk down the street to Starbucks. As I was standing in line, I heard someone call my name.

  “Hey, Adam.” I waved.

  I took my sandwich and coffee over to his table and sat down. “Are you studying?” I asked.

  “Yeah. For some weird reason, I study better in a Starbucks setting.”

  I laughed. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “I’m good. How are you?”

  I shifted in my seat as I bit into my sandwich. “I’m okay.” I smiled. “The contractor is going to start work on the studio tomorrow morning. So I can’t complain.”

  He sat there and stared at me, knowing I wasn’t telling him something.

  “Anything else? I can tell something’s bothering you.”

  “It must be your counselor instincts, right?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “It’s just me being stupid about something. Luke hired this beautiful girl to be his assistant and I’m having some issues with it. I just walked in on them having lunch at the bar and nearly had a panic attack and had to get out of there. I have an appointment with my therapist at one o’clock.”

  “It’s understandable for you to have certain fears about that, considering what you’ve been through, but Luke is a great guy and I have a lot of respect for him. He would never cheat on you.”

  “I know he wouldn’t. That’s why I don’t understand why I feel the way I do.”

  “You’ll figure it out, Lily. Just take things one day at a time. You’re going to be so busy with your new studio that you’re not going to have time to give that girl a second thought.”

  “You’re right.” I smiled as I looked at my watch. “I better get going and you better get back to studying. Thanks for the talk.”

  “You’re welcome, Lily.”

  I got up from my seat and walked back to the bar parking lot to get my car. As I approached, I saw Luke around the front, showing off his motorcycle to Cody. I already hated her. Knots began to form in my stomach. I turned down another street that led to the back of his parking lot because I didn’t want him to see me. I hopped in the Explorer and drove to Dr. Blakely’s office.

  8

  Luke

  I could already tell that Cody was going to be a life saver. She really seemed to know her stuff. Lily looked very uncomfortable when she walked over to the table and I thought she was pissed when she saw us eating together.

  “How long have you been dating your girlfriend?” Cody asked.

  “About seven months.” I smiled.

  “And how about you?” Lucky said as he strolled in.

  Cody smiled and shook her head. “Let’s just say that I’m in between boyfriends at the moment.”

  “Perfect. It just so happens that I’m in between girlfriends.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Cody. He’s living with a woman and she’s having his baby.”

  She looked at him in disgust. “How dare you,” she said.

  “What? We have an open relationship. She sees other guys all the time. In fact, we’re having some people over for dinner tonight. Why don’t you join us and you can meet all of our friends.”

  “Are you going?” she asked me.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. Thanks for the invite, Lucky. I look forward to it.”

  I sent Cody to the office to start on some paperwork and then I grabbed Lucky by the arm.

  “What the fuck, dude? How could you invite her? Why would you invite her? I told you that Lily isn’t comfortable with this situation.”

  “Relax, bro. Lily will be fine.”

  I rolled my eyes and went into my office. I didn’t know if I should have told Lily that Cody was going to be there tonight or not. Fuck Lucky for putting me in this position. I went about my day and made sure I left th
e bar early enough to go home, shower, and change before the clusterfuck of the night was going to start.

  ****

  When I walked through the door, Lily was sitting at the table on her laptop. I walked up behind her and softly kissed her neck.

  “It’s so good to be home.”

  She cupped the back of my neck with her hand and tilted her head to the side, so I had better access to her soft skin.

  “It’s good to have you home.”

  My hands cupped her breasts and squeezed them tightly. I wanted her and I wanted her now.

  “Stand up, Lily,” I said.

  She did as I asked and I lifted her shirt over her head and unclasped her bra, throwing it onto the floor.

  “Luke,” she moaned as I took her breast in my mouth.

  I unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them down, along with her panties, as my tongue slid down her torso and to her clit. Her moans became louder as I pleasured her with my mouth. She was swollen and about to come.

  “Don’t stop, Luke. I’m going to come!” she yelled.

  I flicked my tongue around her clit before softly sucking it and plunging my fingers deep inside her. That was all I needed to do to send her over the edge with an orgasm. Her fingers tightened through my hair as she gasped and moaned with pleasure. I stood up and took off my pants as she lifted my shirt over my head. She wrapped her fingers around my cock and stroked me as I passionately kissed her. There was no more time to waste. I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around me. I put her up against the wall as I thrust inside of her, never breaking our kiss. I moved in and out of her rapidly until I was about to come. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I wanted nothing more than to release myself inside her. Her moans excited me. I loved knowing that I made her feel so fucking good. One last deep thrust and we both came together. As I buried my face into her neck and tried to catch my breath, she told me how much she loved me.

  “I love you, too, babe.” I smiled as I looked at her. “Don’t you ever forget it.”

  She released her legs and I carefully set her down. As we were in the bathroom getting ready to go to Giselle’s, Lily told me she went and saw Dr. Blakely.

  “How did it go?”

  “It went well. She pointed out a lot of things to me that I really never thought of.”

  Do I or don’t I tell her about Cody? Damn Lucky. “Lucky was in the bar today and he invited Cody to dinner at Giselle’s tonight.”

  She stopped putting on her mascara and stared at me through the mirror. “What?”

  “I tried to stop him, but you know Lucky; he doesn’t care and he doesn’t listen.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay? You’re not going to yell at me?”

  “Nope. It’s not your fault and she seems like a nice girl. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to get to know her better since she’s going to be working with you every day.”

  “You’re amazing.” I smiled as I kissed the side of her head.

  “Yeah. I know.” She winked.

  ****

  Lily

  An uneasiness settled inside me. Dr. Blakely said that Luke wasn’t Hunter and I needed to remind myself of that. She also told me that if I ever wanted to be at peace with what had happened, it would be a good idea to talk to Brynn and Hunter and get my feelings out. I wasn’t so sure about that. I was afraid that I’d murder both of them if I saw them face to face. Brynn still sent me text messages every once in a while, asking for my forgiveness. I never replied back. I just hit the delete button. According to my mother, the two of them were still together and, as far as I was concerned, they deserved each other. Luke and I arrived at Giselle’s house fifteen minutes late.

  “It’s about time,” she said as she hugged me.

  “Sorry. Luke kind of had me pinned to a wall.”

  “Oh my. I can’t wait to get that kind of action on again. It’s kind of hard right now with the large baby bump and all.” She laughed as she rubbed her tummy.

  Luke walked right over to where Sam was standing, talking to Cody. Gretchen walked up to me and hooked her arm around mine. Giselle did the same and they walked me outside on the patio.

  “Who the fuck is that Cody chick and why is she here?” Gretchen asked.

  “Luke’s new assistant and compliments of a douchebag named Lucky,” I said as I looked over at Giselle.

  “He’s an asshole. You already know that,” she said.

  “I saw Dr. Blakely today and she said a few things that helped. So, I’m trying not to think about how gorgeous Cody is and how she’ll see my boyfriend more than I do every day.” A tear started to form in my eye.

  “What are the three of you doing out here?” Luke asked as he and Sam stepped out the door.

  “Having girl talk. Would you care to join in on our birthing conversation?” Gretchen asked.

  “Um. No. I think we’re good. Right, Luke?”

  “Yeah. We are totally good. Go back to talking and we’ll see you inside.”

  The three of us laughed. “So, did you find out the sex of the baby?” I asked.

  “The answer is in that big box in the living room. I brought in a bunch of blue and pink balloons to the doctor’s office and I had the nurse find out the sex of the baby and then put the appropriate color balloons in the box. So, when we open the box, we’ll all know at the same time.”

  “What a fabulous idea. I’m so excited. Let’s find out now.”

  “After dinner. It’s almost ready. In fact, we should get back inside.”

  I noticed that Luke and Cody were talking alone. I walked over to where they were standing and made sure she knew he was mine. I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder. I was staking my claim.

  “Hey, babe. Are the three of you done with your conversation?”

  “Yes, we are, and it’s almost time to eat, so we better sit down.”

  I was on alert as to where Cody thought she was sitting. Next thing I knew, Lucky took hold of her arm and led her to the seat next to his. Luke and I sat down and he poured me a glass of wine. I smiled and thanked him with a kiss on the lips. Giselle kept looking at me and rolling her eyes as Lucky fed Cody his lines of bullshit. Once dinner was over, we all gathered into the living room and sat down, except for Giselle and Lucky, who stood in the center of the room behind the box.

  “Okay. Is everyone ready to find out what gender our kid is?” Giselle asked with a smile.

  Lucky carefully ran the box opener across the top and a bunch of pink balloons came out. Lucky hugged Giselle and everyone screeched and clapped, but I thought Luke was the loudest when he stood up and yelled, “YES! THANK YOU, GOD!”

  Gretchen and I ran over to Giselle and hugged her tightly.

  “Dude, what the hell was that for?” Lucky asked Luke.

  “Paybacks. You’re having a daughter and there will be guys exactly like you trying to get into her pants.”

  “The hell they will. My daughter isn’t allowed to date and I will protect her against guys like me.”

  I looked at Lucky and smiled as I hugged him. “Congratulations on your baby girl. May you have many sleepless nights when she’s a teenager.”

  “You two are mean people,” Lucky pointed out.

  Giselle was so excited that she was having a girl that she could barely stand it. Luke and I decided it was time for us to leave because he needed to be at the bar early in the morning and I had to be at the studio.

  9

  Lily

  Two weeks later…

  The studio was finally finished and everything was set in its place. Cameron did an amazing job and I couldn’t be happier. I hung up Rory’s picture of her and the girls and a few of Charley that I’d taken. Giselle and Gretchen stopped by a lot and helped me organize things. In just a few short days, the doors would be ready to open.

  Later that night, Luke got home from the bar later than usual. When he walked in, I could instantly tell he was in a bad mood.

  “Wha
t’s wrong?” I asked as he walked over and gave me a kiss.

  “Just a bad day, babe. The liquor order didn’t show up today, the dishwasher broke, and the toilet overflowed.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He threw the cap on the counter and looked at the box that was sitting on the table.

  “What’s in the box?”

  “Pictures I took when I left Seattle. I just took it down from the closet shelf. I haven’t opened it or looked in it since I first arrived in Portland and had them developed. I was going to see if there were any pictures I could blow up and put in the studio.”

  “Great idea, babe. Do you mind if I open it?”

  “No. Go right ahead. I have to brush my teeth real quick. I’ll be back in a second.”

  I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. When I walked back into the living room, the pictures from the box were scattered all over the table and floor and Luke stood there and did nothing but stare at me. I stopped dead in my tracks because suddenly I got the feeling that something was wrong.

  “Luke, what is it?”

  The look on his face was one of pure anger. It was a look that I’d never seen before.

  “Luke! What’s going on?”

  “It was you,” he said with a low voice.

  “It was me what? What are you talking about?”

  He held out a picture to me. I walked over and took it from him and gasped when I saw the couple sitting at the table. It was Luke and Callie. Tears immediately filled my eyes as I looked at him.

  “You were the woman who gave us the tickets to Aruba. It was you. The night Callie was killed was the night that we were on our way home from the airport from Aruba. The trip YOU gave to us.”

  I began to shake and I felt like I was going to pass out. “Luke. I—”

  “You what, Lily? Answer me one question. “Did you remember me when you saw me?”

  “NO! Of course not. I would have said something. You didn’t remember me?”

  “I thought you sort of looked familiar, but I blew it off when I found out that you were Johnny’s daughter. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe that I—”

  “That you what? What exactly are you saying?” I yelled as tears poured down my face.