Page 46 of Tempting as Sin
She said, “I need to…I need to call her back. And Hailey. What did I justdo?”The phone had stopped ringing, but she still wasn’t looking at him. She was adjusting her dress, touching her hair with trembling hands. Looking like a woman who’d been loved hard, her lipstick kissed all the way off, her mouth a little swollen, her hair coming out of the knot. Looking confused, though. Looking distraught.
“Lily,” he said. “No worries. It’s all good.”
“No,” she said. “I shouldn’t have.”
“Right,” he said. “I’ll go.” He ran a hand through what was left of his hair. “Bloodyhell.”
He used the back door. And tried not to think.
Lily turned, put both palms flat on the table, and breathed.
What was she doing? Nothing smart, that was what. All she’d wanted was for Rafe’s hand to keep moving, for him to slide it all the way up her thigh andtouchher. She was so wet. She was aching. She needed to comenow.
She was an idiot.
She grabbed her purse from the table, found her phone inside it, and called Paige back.
“What the hell is going on?” Paige asked.
“Yeah,” Lily said, and wished the word hadn’t come out so unsteady. “That’s pretty much what I said.”
“I mean, Jace has a great big smile on his face,” Paige said. “Sohe’shappy. I came home at five this morning after a hard night, and what did I do? Did I ask him to hold me while I fell asleep in his arms? Did I ask him to make me eggs? Nope. I jumped his bones. We didn’t make it out of the doorway. He did me up against the wall, and then on the floor. He literally tore my clothes off. It was amazing. And then we went to bed, and hedidhold me, because of course he did. I woke up an hour ago and went to find him, and what happened then? Did we have a loving, sweet talk over coffee? Nope. We did it in his office chair. It’s really nice. It rocks. Ask me how I know.He finished me off on his desk, by the way, andwow.He rocked my world two times over, and I have a feeling he’s planning to do it again. He is a happy man. But then I thought, once I was in the shower and got some blood back to my head again—what’s going on here? Maybe I’m pregnant and haven’t realized it yet, but I’m having some massive hormonal shift. Not to mention extra blood flow to my genitals.”
“Really?” Lily said. “You think? Oh, Paige, that’s great.”
“What?” Paige asked. “No. Of course I’m not. I had my period a week ago. Probably exactly like you. Jace and I are still in the talking-about-it stage. I’d have told you if we’d decided.”
“Oh. Well, I hope so,” Lily said. “But obviously, he’s going to be your husband, so it’s normal that you’d turn to him more, and I—”
“Stop,” Paige said. “Just stop. And tell me why my fiancé is still wondering what hit him. It’s you, isn’t it? It’sneveryou. Even when you were married, it wasn’t you.”
“Yes,” Lily said. “I noticed. Thanks for reminding me.”
“That’s why I didn’t figure it out,” Paige said. “Who is it? What are you doing? Why didn’t you text me this morning?”
Silence, and then Paige said, “Wait.”
The word hung there in the air for two seconds. Three. And then Paige said, “Rafe.”
“Rafe what?”
“He’s been there a coupledays.And, baby—you know that he’s been in the news, right? Jace says he’d never have hurt anybody, but it doesn’t look good.”
“What doesn’t look good?” Lily asked.
“His old girlfriend. He sounds pretty…well, if Jace didn’t swear it wasn’t true, I’d have said he could be abusive. The video’s all over the place.Well, it is if you look at Hollywood gossip. It’s why he’s up there in Montana at all. And you didn’t like him at all before, even though you tried to hide it.”
More silence, then Paige said again, “Wait. Wait. What was that guy’s name that you met when you were down here? The one you bailed on? I just figured it out. That was Rafe’s new part. Clay something.Thatwas why that name sounded so familiar when he mentioned it. And ofcoursehe was that hot. Baby, no. Why didn’t youtellme?”
“Congratulations,” Lily said. “You should take that detective test.”
“OK, first, you’re never snarky, and second, you know I have another year to go before I can. Lily—he’s a star. He’s anactor.”
“Yes,” Lily said. “I noticed. I got it. I need to get back to work. I have a lot going on. A kid, a dog, expansion plans…a lot. Redecorating. Lots going on.”
Paige said, “What? Lily…”
Lily said, “Back to work. Call you later,” and hung up.
