by JA Low
“Look, I can give you…” Looking at my cards, I try to find something that might sweeten the pot, but then there’s a loud banging at the door. We both freeze while the banging continues.
“Stay here,” Luke tells me protectively as he rushes over to answer the door.
Cold air rushes inside as soon as the door is open.
“Lilly. We need Lilly. There’s been an accident.” I can hear a man’s voice calling out.
Jumping out of my chair, I rush to the front door and see Alfie Tate, Alistair’s youngest brother.
“Alfie, what’s going on?” Worry courses through my veins. Has something happened to Lauren and Alistair in Africa?
“Nan’s had a fall. There lots of blood.” His face turns pale at his words.
“Is she conscious?” He nods his head. “Okay, let me grab my stuff. I’ll meet you there,” I tell Alfie before rushing around the cottage finding my boots and a jacket.
“I’ll come with you,” Luke adds, grabbing his jacket.
I look up at him. “You don’t have to.”
“I can drive,” he adds.
“Fine. Let me grab the first-aid kit, and let’s go.”
We head out in the snowstorm and carefully make our way over to the Tate’s farm. I can see the smoke billowing out of their chimney, the bright glow of the lights on at Nanny Tate’s cottage. Grabbing my kit from out of the back of Luke’s 4WD, I head on down the snowy path and open the wooden doors.
“Lilly.” Margaret, Alistair’s mom, wraps her arms around me. “Thank you so much for coming in this weather. Doc Finnigan is on holiday.” Her eyes widen over my shoulder as Luke walks in behind me. “Oh my…” I can see her taking in Luke’s form behind me. Glencoe isn’t used to seeing someone as exotic as Luke around these parts.
I stomp my feet a couple of times shaking off the snow from my boots, the sound bringing Margaret back to the present. Quickly, I shuck them off and follow her to where Nanny Tate is currently sitting on the kitchen chair. There’s a nasty gash on her forehead, and blood dripping down all over her nightgown. Bernard, Alistair’s dad, is cleaning up the bloody mess on the kitchen floor.
“Lilly Simpson,” Nanny Tate calls out. That’s good she’s still coherent. “I told them not to fuss.” She looks around at her family. The woman is almost ninety, but age doesn’t stop her from being independent.
“I know, but I think it’s better to be safe, don’t you think?” I say walking over to her.
“Oh my… I must be concussed because I see the handsomest man I’ve ever seen in my almost ninety years…” she smiles, “… and I’ve seen many.”
Her attention is being pulled to where Luke stands in the doorway—naughty little thing.
“This is Luke, he’s a guest at the cottage.”
“Buona serata, signora Tate. Have a good evening.” Turning on all of his Italian charm, I think I heard all the females in a radius of one hundred yards collectively sigh.
“Oh… he’s Italian.” Nanny Tate fans her face. “You know they say Italians are the best lovers,” she whispers that last bit to me making me laugh as I begin to clean up her wound.
“Ma,” Bernard chastises his mother, but I can see a smirk on his face.
Nanny Tate waves him off. “He’s a vast improvement from that horrible Englishman she was dating.”
“Nanny Tate!” Now, it’s Alfie’s turn to tell Nan off, and I laugh.
“You know, I’m English, too.”
Nanny Tate simply shakes her head. “We consider you one of us Scots. You’ve spent more time up here than down there,” she says with a little disdain for London. Even after a couple of millennia, the rivalry between England and Scotland is still very much alive.
“It looks like I’m going to have to give you some stitches, Nanny Tate. I promise they won’t hurt at all.”
“Sweetheart, I gave birth to that boofhead over there with no drugs, and he was a nine-pounder.”
“Ma,” Bernard moans with a smile.
“Why do you think I only had one child. If they had vagina tightening back in my day, maybe I’d have had more.” The room erupts into hollers at Nanny Tate’s use of the word ‘vagina.’
Turning my head to check on Luke, I see him leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a big grin on his face.
I use numbing cream around the wound.
“Sweetheart,” Nanny Tate calls out to Luke. “Would you mind holding my hand.” She holds out her thin hand to him.
“I’d be honored, signora.” Giving her his megawatt smile, he takes her hand and gently kisses it.
“Such a gentleman.” She swoons. “Lilly, did you see that?”
“Yes, I did.” I smile at her as I prepare everything for the stitches.
“You know our Lilly is single and a very successful doctor,” she tells Luke.
“Si, I have heard.”
“She’s a catch.”
“I can tell,” he adds.
“She’d be different than the normal women you have dated.” Those shrewd eyes glare at him, and Luke seems surprised at her comment.
“Ma, stop matchmaking,” Margaret groans.
“Lauren’s now married off. Why can’t we marry off Lilly, too?” Nanny Tate seems a little surprised that this hasn’t been done yet.
“I’m sorry, Lilly,” Margaret apologizes.
“Signora,” Luke addresses her. “Lilly and I have just finished complicated relationships.” Nanny Tate’s eyes go wide at his honesty. “It’s not our time yet.”
He said yet?
Wait! What? Concentrate on what you’re doing, Lilly.
Nanny Tate’s eyes narrow as she takes in Luke’s words. “I think that’s fair, I like your honesty, young man.” Wow! That is high praise coming from her. “Don’t let those glossy models distract you from something genuine,” she advises him.
Luke gives her a large smile. “I’m starting to see what you mean, signora.”
Laugh lines appear around Nanny Tate’s eyes as she smiles so widely.
“All done,” I state, finishing up my handiwork. “And it won’t even leave a scar,” I let her know while packing up my stuff. “Someone should stay with her overnight, though. Keep an eye on her because she doesn’t seem like she’s suffering from any concussion...” especially with her shrewd line of questioning, “… but we can never be too careful.”
“Thank you so much, Lilly.”
The Tate family all hug me—this is the family I wish I had. They’re warm, loving, and supportive.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Signora Tate.” Luke bends down and kisses her on the cheek.
“Careful, boy, we don’t want Nanny to have a heart attack.” Bernard bursts out laughing after he says it.
Luke stills for a moment then realizes it’s a joke.
Margaret pulls me off to one side. “Lauren filled me in on what’s happened with Rob. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think I am. He wasn’t the one for me.”
“You deserve better, sweetheart. Just remember that.” Margaret gives me a warm, motherly hug, and I let her, sinking into her softness. My eyes well, but I shake off my emotions. “Are you okay staying in the cottage with this gorgeous stranger?” she questions me.
“Yeah, he’s a good guy.”
“Handsome, too.” Margaret eyes me suspiciously.
“Yes, he is.”
“Well, I hope you have fun.” She winks at me. How does she know?
“It’s only for a month,” I tell her.
“Sometimes when you least expect it, fate has other plans.”
Oh, good God, not her too.
“You ready?” Luke places his hand at the small of my back. Margaret hugs him farewell while her husband rolls his eyes with a grin.
“Now, call us if you need anything,” Margaret calls out to us as we make our way back to the car. Luke opens my door, then walks around to his side. Margaret gives me a thumbs up when she sees that gesture, and
I simply shake my head and laugh.
“They are lovely,” Luke tells me as he puts the 4WD into gear and heads back up the snowy highway to our cottage.
“They are good people.”
“Not many people seem to like your ex?” he questions.
“I know. I always thought it was because he was English. Now I realize it’s because he was a dick.”
Luke chuckles at my statement.
“You seem to have won over the women… being all Italian.” I wave my hands around at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, don’t you play coy with me. You amped up all your sexy Italian-ness for the ladies.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He grins, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Oh my God, yes, you do.” Slapping his thigh with my hand, I then put on a fake manly Italian accent and pretend to be him.
“I don’t sound like that.” He rolls his eyes at me, but his smirk is firmly in place.
“You know exactly what you do to women. I bet you use it to your advantage in business as well by charming the pants off them.”
He shakes his head. “I never sleep with a client.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t charm them in other ways,” I tease him.
“It worked on you.” Luke looks over at me, and there’s heat behind his chocolate eyes.
“I seem to recall that I was the one who made the first move,” I remind him.
“Seems that you, too, are equally as charming.”
His words make me smile.
14
Lilly
As soon as we walked back into the cottage and into our bubble again, we were ripping off our clothes. Honestly, I have never wanted to sleep with someone as much as want to with Luke. I mean, the man’s a sexy Roman god, and any woman would be jumping him every chance they got. When he talks dirty in Italian, I’m done for.
I’m not going to let my mind run away with me this time. I don’t want to be that girl trying to find a meaning behind every single compliment Luke gives me. I want to be the carefree, no-strings-attached kind of girl.
Most booty calls don’t live with you. That’s right, inner me.
Usually, you can separate sex and the more domestic stuff because you aren’t together all the time. But when he does things like clean up after I have cooked dinner—watching him scrub the dishes has never been so erotic—yes, that’s when I know I’m losing my mind. I must have cabin fever.
Rolling over, the space beside me is empty. Opening my eyes, it seems Luke is already up.
Stretching my super tired muscles, I slide out of bed and relieve myself before joining him.
“Buongiorno, bella, Good morning, beautiful,” he calls from the armchair beside the fire where he’s playing on his phone. “You slept in.”
My eyes widening at his comment. “Why? What time is it?” I search around with my eyes for my phone which must be still in my bedroom.
“It’s 11:36.”
“Wow! I never sleep in that late.”
Luke reaches out and pulls me into his arms, I snuggle into his chest.
“That’s because I keep you exhausted most nights.” He kisses my head.
“That you do,” I hum against his hard chest.
I’m going to miss this when it’s all over. It’s been a week. One whole week, but it feels like a lifetime. New Year’s Eve is coming up, the start of a new year with so much possibility and so much expectation. My new year is going to be looking a hell of a lot different than I thought it was going to be.
One, I’m halfway across the world.
Two, I’m single.
Maybe it’s a good thing.
I can now concentrate on what I want to do with my life without outside influences. I’ve always done what my parents wanted me to do, except going to Africa. Well, they were totally fine with it once Rob told them he thought it was an amazing idea, and that it would look good on the resume. Then, they thought it was a fabulous idea, but only because Rob agreed to it. They would’ve fought me all the way if he didn’t want to go, and I’d have given in. My parents and Rob would have all pressured me into doing what they wanted, and because I’m so worried about disappointing everyone, I just give in. That bullshit has to stop here and now. This new year is going to be the year of Lilly, and it’s going to be all about my needs and wants.
“There you go lost in your head again.” Hearing the smile in his words, I sit up in his arms, then turn and look down at him, at his gorgeous face.
“Can we be friends when this is all over?” My question causes his mouth to fall open and his head to fall back in surprise. “When you have to go back to Italy.”
A frown falls across Luke’s face, and his body tightens. “Do you not want to sleep with me anymore?”
“Oh, God, no.” Leaning down, I give him a reassuring kiss. “While you’re here, I still want to sleep with you.” His shoulders loosen slightly as the tension ebbs from his body. “But I mean when you go back to your normal life. I don’t want to be a stalker or anything, and I totally understand if you want this to be a holiday thing, and…” I trail off because I’m rambling.
“Take a breath, Lilly.” Luke finally smiles at me.
“Sorry, I…”
“You want to be Facebook friends?” he asks.
“I guess to start with, but…” Dammit! I’m not finding the right words here. “I just like you for you.” His eyes widen. “You have a gorgeous shell, but honestly, I like talking to the man inside that shell. Hanging out… I mean outside of the sex.”
“You do?” He seems surprised, so I nod my head in agreement.
“Look, I don’t want to cramp your style because I know you have a lot of women after you.” He rolls his eyes. “You know it’s true.” I give him a small smile. “It’s almost a new year, and I’ve decided that this new year is going to be all about me, probably for the first time in my life.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“I don’t know. I feel like we have both grown as humans the past week, you know? I know you left a long-term relationship, and so did I, both of them riddled with cheating. And maybe my sister was right, fate did lead us here to be together and to heal each other.”
“You think that’s what’s happening?” His voice seems a little skeptical.
“Yeah, I do. I feel like you have made me stronger, more confident in myself. Rob took that away from me, and I didn’t realize how much until being here with you.” A small tear falls down my cheek which Luke rubs away with his thumb.
“Lilly…” My name is a whisper on his lips.
“I’m being silly, I know.”
He shakes his head. “Crazily enough, I understand.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. For the first time in who knows how long, I’m able to breathe, relax, put myself first without worrying about repercussions.”
“Not to sound too corny, but it’s like we’re both on a journey.”
Luke’s hand wraps around my neck and pulls me closer to him, his lips feather-soft against my own. “I’m so glad to have met you.”
“Me, too.”
He kisses me ever so softly. “I’d like us to be friends.” His statement stings just a little.
What did you think he was going to profess his undying love for you after one week? Geez, inner me can be savage.
“I don’t think I want you out of my life.” His kisses turn heated. Oh my!
Before things can turn any hotter with his hand under my sleep shirt and his fingers plucking at my nipples, my phone rings. Groaning, I run into the bedroom to grab it. My stomach sinks when I see who’s calling. Mom and Dad.
Shit! I suck in a deep breath and try to calm myself, try and channel some of that newfound confidence I had only a few moments earlier.
“Merry Christmas, guys,” I answer the phone happily.
They sent me a text wishing me, ‘Happy greetings,’ and that was it.
“Christmas was days ago, Lilly,” Dad chastises me.
“We just got off from a distressing phone call from Rob’s parents, Lilly. Care to explain?” Mom questions me, and I’m on speakerphone, so this isn’t good.
“Did you hear the news that Lauren and Alister got engaged?” I attempt to change the subject to something a little lighter.
“Yes. It nice to see one of our girls is doing something right,” Mom adds.
Wow! That barb stings. I screw up my nose as tears begin to well in my eyes.
Keep it together, Lilly.
“I can’t believe you left your fiancé in Africa… without telling him,” Dad adds incredulously, the disappointment dripping through his comment.
“So, what version of events did Rob’s family give you?” Fuck Rob and his pompous family, this is not my fault. “I mean, someone just doesn’t pack up and move halfway across the world if they are in a happy relationship, do they?”
Silence falls between us all.
“Rob indicated he is very much in the dark,” my father adds.
“Well, let me enlighten you both.”
“You don’t have to take that tone with us, Lilly. We’re the ones upset here.” Mom adds.
Oh, for fuck’s sake, my blood begins to boil.
“Let me tell you about Vivian, the French nurse who I caught him screwing behind my tent.” Mom gasps down the line. “Or what about Francesca, the Italian nurse, or Lala, the Spanish nurse… oh, and then there was Darla, the American soldier. Who else was there?” I tap my finger against my chin. “Oh, that’s right, Jana, the Australian refugee worker. I know there were more, but honestly, I think that’s enough, don’t you?”
“Don’t be so crude, Lilly,” my father yells at me. “Robert comes from a good home. He’d never do something like that.”
“Why the hell would I make it up?” I raise my voice at his disbelieving tone.
“If it were true, surely you would’ve said something earlier, sweetheart,” Mom tries to placate me.
My raised voice must have alerted Luke to my argument because he’s standing looking utterly concerned for me. Just seeing him there gives the strength I need to continue, “You made sure you raised a woman who wouldn’t say anything. You raised a woman that even though her entire world was crumbling around her, that her heart had been ripped out of her chest, that she was utterly humiliated on a daily basis knowing the entire camp knew her fiancé was fucking every woman with a pulse, that she’d take it with a fucking smile on her face. Any of you know the reason why?” Before they get a chance to answer, I state, “Because she was so damn scared to disappoint you both.”