Page 27 of The Player Penalty
“Sorry. This is Lily. Lily, this is Matteo.”
Lily finally looks up, and that earlier shine in her eyes returns. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Again?” Matteo asks.
Lily only stares.
I don’t typically worry about competing for women with Matteo. His wavy black hair and bright blue eyes are a miracle on their own, but I do plenty well. It’s amazing what confidence and a professional racing career will do.
“I’m Lily Webb—Pete Webb’s daughter. We met before,” she says and glances at me.
“His surprise party,” I say, and hope Matteo says nothing inappropriate.
Matteo’s eyes flicker with recognition. “You’ve grown even more beautiful. Come back and cheer me on. Please,” he says to her. Matteo claps a hand on my shoulder. “Bring her out one night. We’ll have fun.”
∞∞∞
“You want to get coffee?” I ask once we’re back in my car. It’s late, and there’s an early flight waiting for me, but I’m not ready to take her home yet.
“It has caffeine.”
She limits her caffeine intake. I had forgotten. “How about herbal tea?”
At her assent, I head to Java Joe’s, the world’s tackiest coffee shop. “You want to go inside or stay in the car?”
Lily picks the car, and we wind up at the same park I took her to several months ago. At this late hour, it’s empty, with only one other vehicle in the parking lot. Probably a pair of teenagers making out in the backseat, if they even do that anymore.
Lily rolls down her window halfway. “What did he mean about bringing me out? Bring me out where?”
“Have you been wondering about this the entire time?” Her silence answers the question. “We go out drinking together sometimes, that’s all. It means he wants you to join us.”
“Yes, but why?”
“You have great legs, Lily. Smoking hot long legs that disappear into those short skirts you wear. Men notice, believe me.” Some of Lily’s outfits are completely inappropriate for the office, and she doesn’t realize it. Technically, the only dress code atRMSis to wear something, and she could probably flaunt that one if she wanted. Being Pete Webb’s daughter has some advantages. “I notice.”
The wheels in her head are turning; it’s like watching a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. “He wanted to flirt with you.” That means he also wanted to annoy me.
Lily doesn’t respond, choosing to look out her open window at the teenagers engaged in an old-fashioned make-out session.
Her silence grows, and I wonder. Apart from me, she doesn’t have many friends, and she still lives with her father at twenty-three. Lots of women could have given Matteo an easy compliment to signify their interest, but she’s sitting beside me, still reflecting on a two-minute interaction.
“Lily, are you….?” Her necks snaps at my question, and our eyes meet. There’s nothing in her body language to give it away, and I already know the answer to my question. “Have you ever had sex before?”
Silence.
“Have you ever had a boyfriend?”
There’s a bite in her voice when she responds. “I’ve never had a date or been kissed. Apparently, there’s an order of events with these things.”
“It will happen,” I say, knowing it’s a feeble response.
“It happens when you stop looking, or so I was told. I spent weeks sitting on my front porch, pretending that I stopped looking, and he never showed up.” My soft laugh dispels some of the tension in her. “Do you remember your first impression of me?”
I still feel shame over it. “First impressions don’t determine entire relationships.”
Her eyes flash, and I wonder what memories appeared in her head. “For the longest time, it never bothered me. Staying busyhas never been my problem. It’s why I’m good, or at least good enough, with so many things.”
There is truth in that. Lily regularly surprises me with what she knows or can do. She plays chess but knows minimal strategy. She once spent six months obsessively painting until she grew bored. Pete taught her about cars, so she’ll occasionally drop some tidbits about them.
