Loving Lily (8 page)

"Yeah.
 
Tourism is a big part of the local economy.
" He
ushered her around a cluster of gossiping women.

Lily smiled
faintly.
 
"It would be pretty even
without the crowds of people
. "

He looked
around, trying to imagine it.
 
"In
the summer, everyone comes for the hiking and shopping.
 
In the winter, it's skiing.
"
He
shrugged.
 
"It's always a
little crowded
. "

"And no one
knows who you are?" she asked, stopping to smell a display of candles set
outside one of the shops on a table.
 
The
owner winked at Matt from inside the shop, raising his eyebrows at Lily.

Matt
surreptitiously gave his old high school classmate the finger.
 
"Uh, no.
 
I mean, the locals know who I am, but it's not
like I'm going to put out a sign telling everyone I write books. "

"Because
the last thing you want is a mob of fans trampling their way to your door
. "
Lily grinned up at him, seeming to have shaken some
of the worry she'd displayed when Alex had given her the bad news about his car.
 
He wondered how she was able to just put
it aside like that,
then
he noticed her fingers
nervously twisting the strap of her purse.

Ah
, he thought, not surprised.
 
He shuddered dramatically in response to her
statement.
 
"Exactly," he said,
and resumed walking.
 
“I don’t know what
I’d do with hordes of rabid readers.
 
It’d be bad, though. ” He chuckled.

"So, um,
you want to come in?
For tea or coffee or something?"
Lily asked when they reached the front gate of the bed and breakfast.

Matt carefully
hid his relief.
 
"Yeah, I'd like
that
. "
Was it his imagination, or did she relax
a little when he'd replied?

A few minutes
later, she unlocked the door to her room and flicked on the light.
 
A soft glow came from the two lamps near the
bed.

"I think I
saw a coffee maker around her somewhere," she said, dropping her purse on
the table near the window.

Matt caught her
arm as she turned around.
 
"Lily
. "

She went very still.
 
"You can tell I'm freaking out,
can't you?"

He smiled and
stroked a hand through her hair.
 
"I
know we've just met, but I'll stay if you want me to
. "

She sighed
heavily, pulling away.
 
"I'm really
tired.
 
I don't know what to do.
" She
began walking up and down the length of the room.

He watched her
pace, knowing exactly how she felt.
 
"Here, sit down on the bed
. "
He pulled the chair tucked against the wall up to
the bed.

She looked at
him skeptically.

He held up his
hands.
 
"Trust me
.
"

She narrowed
her eyes at him, but she walked over and sat down.

"Kick off
your sandals," he said.
 
"Lean
back against the pillows
. "

"Why?"

She was
suspicious.
 
He didn't blame her.

"I promise
I won't do anything you don't want me to
. "
He
sat back, palms up, waiting for her to make a decision.

She toed off
her sandals.
 
"Fine, they're off.
 
Now what?"

"Relax.
 
I promise this won't hurt a bit.
" Matt
smiled and reached for the lavender lotion on
the nightstand.
 
"Give me your hand
. "

She frowned,
but did as he asked.
 
"What are you
doing?"

He squirted
some of the lotion into his hand.
 
It
smelled like summer.
 
"I'm going to
massage your hands.
 
Then, if you're
still feeling too stressed to sleep, I'll massage your feet, too. "

She stared at
him.
 
"Are you for real?"

He laughed,
reaching for her hand.
 
"Trust me
. "

"You keep
saying that," she muttered skeptically.

He began to rub
the lotion into her palm, but otherwise didn't respond.
 
Her posture eased as he ran his thumbs over
the thick muscle at the base of her thumb.
 
She sighed.
 
He massaged into her palm, then down to the
tips of her fingers, one by one.
 
She
relaxed even more.

"You're
really good at that," she murmured.

He shrugged.
 
"I do this for my mom sometimes.
 
She says it’s soothing. "

She sighed again,
slumping a little.
 
He was glad he'd made
her sit up near the headboard where she could lie back against the mountain of
pillows on the bed.

He reached for
her other hand and repeated the massage.
 
She closed her eyes, relaxing into his touch.
 
As he worked the sweet-smelling lotion into
her skin, he slowly became more and more aware of her as a woman: her soft hair
sliding over her shoulders, her generous breasts, her strong thighs under his
forearms.
 
He shifted his weight, not
wanting to call attention to the erection he couldn't control.
 
He didn't want to scare her off.

"I feel a
lot better now," she said, eyes still closed.

"Will you
be okay tonight?" he asked, running his fingers up her arm.
 
She didn’t pull away.
 
He took advantage of her trust to smooth more
lotion over the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist up to her elbow.

"I think
so," she said.

He sensed the
worry lurking under her calm.
 
"I
can stay until you fall asleep, if you want me to
. "
He didn't know if it was appropriate or not, to offer to stay on the first date.
 
They barely knew each other.
 
How would she know she could trust him?

Her eyes opened.
 
Matt stilled, hands still wrapped around
hers.
 
Her gaze was luminous in the low
light, her soft brown irises dark and mysterious.

"Will
you?" she asked tentatively.
 
"It feels like too much to ask, after
everything you've done already
. "

Matt sensed her
reticence.
 
"I would be happy to
. "

She looked at
him and he fought to remain motionless.
 
His cock was so hard it hurt, but he ignored
it.
 
She needed his protection.
 
He desperately wanted to give it to her, and
if she knew how beautiful he found her, she would probably kick him out.
 
His heart thumped faster the longer she stared
at him.

"Okay,"
she finally said, nodding.
 
"Let me
change into my pajamas
. "

Matt let out a
shaky breath, hoping she couldn't tell how relieved he was.
 
"Sounds good
. "
He let go of her arm and watched her head to the bathroom.

When she
emerged five minutes later, face scrubbed clean and pink, she held her robe
closed, arms tightly clutched around her breasts.

"I would
never hurt you," Matt said, turning slightly in the chair.
 
He hoped the bed hid the arousal he'd failed
to subdue while she was in the bathroom.
 
Even the sounds of her brushing her teeth and
washing her face had his body reacting more than it ever had to any other woman.

She let out a
breath and climbed into the bed, still in her robe.
 
"I know
. "
She slid under the covers.
 
"It's a
good thing the air conditioning works so well in here," she muttered.

Matt laughed.
 
"If you hand me your robe, I'll hang it
up for you
. "

She put a hand
over her face.
 
"Oh my God, I'm so
embarrassed
. "

"Why?"
He shifted again, reaching up to pull her hand down.

"You must
think I'm such a wimp," she said, face flushed.

He snorted.
 
"Yeah, no.
 
I think the exact opposite, actually.
" He
kissed her fingertips.

"You can
go, if you want to
. "
She tried to pull her hand
away, but he wouldn't let her.

"Relax.
 
I'll stay until you fall asleep, and then I'll
go.
 
Okay?" He stroked his thumb
down her palm, willing her to relax.

She closed her
eyes, a tiny wrinkle of tension between her brows.
 
It occurred to Matt that she was probably
around his age, but she seemed so cheerful most of the day, he'd just assumed
she was young.
 
"How long were you
married?" he asked.

She looked at
him, tilting her head on the pillow.
 
"Ten years.
 
Why?"

He smiled.
 
"I confess
,
I
was trying to guess how old you are.
 
You
look so young—"

Her laugh cut
him off.
 
"I'm forty.
 
Very much not young.
"

He shook his
head.
 
"That's not old.
 
I'm forty-three.
 
That's old.
 
I have the grey hair to prove it.
" He
pointed to his temples.

She rolled her
eyes.
 
"Oh please, it just makes you
look even more handsome
. "

"You think
I'm handsome?" he asked, happy that he'd managed to distract her from her
worries.
 
"Wow.
 
Women usually think I'm a dork. "

She lifted her
eyebrows.
 
"You?
A dork?
That’s ridiculous.
"
Her
eyes ranged over him in a way that had his cock twitching.

God, she was
going to kill him.
 
He kept up the
massage of her hand, pleased that she didn't seem to notice him doing it.
 
"I am too a dork," he said, just to
be annoying.

It worked.
 
She sat up a little and pointed at him.
 
"You are the opposite of a dork
. "
Her robe gaped open, giving him a fantastic view of
her cleavage.

Damn, she's
unbelievably gorgeous and she has no idea
, he
thought, tearing his eyes away before she noticed him staring.
 
The edge of one nipple tantalized him.
 
"
Nuh
-uh,"
he said, carefully keeping his arousal out of his voice.
 
"I like reading science fiction.
 
I write thrillers.
 
I freak out in crowds. "

She flopped
back down, shaking her head.
 
"You're putting me on
. "

"Nope.
 
All those things are true. "

"Whatever,"
she waved her free hand indifferently.
 
"You have too many muscles to be a dork.
 
Biceps like that invalidate your
dorkery
. "

He choked.
 
"What?"

"You heard
me
. "

He stopped
running his thumb over her palm to look down at himself.
 
He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
 
Well, except for the erection that won't
freaking
go away
, he thought, exasperated.

"Don't be
silly," he said, resuming his massage of her hand.

She yawned.
 
"Whatever," she said again.

He smiled to
himself.
 
"Go to sleep, Lily
. "

She did.

Chapter Four

Lily woke up
slowly, stretching as the morning sunlight streamed across the bed.
 
She'd slept well.
 
She'd slept so well that she felt more rested
than she'd been in months.
 
When she
opened her eyes, her gaze landed on the empty chair next to the bed.