Page 9 of His to Cherish
Stop it, fucker.
“Oh man,” Grant laughs, slapping my shoulder. “You really have it bad, man.”
“This is news to you?”
He shakes his head, still chuckling, oblivious to the way I’m glaring at him. Or maybe he’s just too amused by my pain to care.
“Listen, man,” he says, turning to face me fully. “I think it might be time for you put it all out there with Lilly.”
I could tell him that she’d tried to do that very thing a few hours ago, but what good would it do? He’d just call me a fucking idiot for turning her down. Grant has always thought I was overstating the potential problems in me trying something with her.
“I can’t do that.”
He rolls his eyes. “Such a drama queen. Youcando it.” He slaps a hand on my shoulder. “You just look her in the eye, like this, and say Lilly baby, I fantasize about dressing you like a school girl and spanking your ass. You up for it?’”
I shake his hand off. “Yeah, that would go over so well.”
He studies my face for a long moment, some of the amusement finally leaving his. “Have you ever considered that your sweet little Lilly might not be as innocent as you think?”
My body immediately goes rigid. “What the hell does that mean? If someone is spreading shit about Lilly’s sex life?—”
He rolls his eyes again. “Jesus, dude, chill out. I’ve never heard anyone talk about your girl like that. All I’m saying is that you and Lilly never really talk about your sex lives, either.”
“Because my sanity requires I pretend she doesn’t have one.”
He laughs. “Fair enough. But if you don’t talk about it, you can’t really know what she might be into.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I’ve known the woman for years. I see the kinds of guys she goes out with. I’m pretty sure I can safely say she’s not into the whole Daddy Dom scene.”
He shrugs. “But what if she is?”
I’m starting to get pissed off. “She’s not.”
“How can you be sure?”
I throw my hands up in the air, at the end of my patience now. Yeah, coming here tonight was a huge mistake. “Why are you pressing this?” I ask. “You know Lilly, too.” Not as well as I do, of course, but we have all hung out. “What has ever given you even the slightest impression she might be into this?”
His eyes lock with me, a shit-stirring grin spreading across his face. “The fact that she’s standing across the room right now.”
“What?” I yell it so loudly that several heads turn in our direction. Grant takes hold of my shoulders and turns me to face the bar. Sure enough, there’s a woman standing there, staring around the room with wide eyes. I would know those eyes anywhere.
“What the hell is she doing here?” I snap. “How the hell did she get in?”
He shrugs next to me. “Maybe you should ask her that.”
“Oh, I’m going to fucking ask her.” The waiter chooses that moment to return with my second scotch. I ignore his apologies for the delay, plucking the glass off the tray and downing the entire thing in one gulp. I have a feeling I’m going to need the burn of liquor to keep my head on straight.
“Don’t freak out, man,” Grant says, but I brush him off, already striding across the room toward the bar. Seriously, what in the hell is she doing here? How does she even know this place exists? You can’t just walk in here off the street. It’s a public night, but you still have to have a pass?—
And then I see something that turns my rage to ice in my veins. Lilly isn’t alone. She’s talking to a man, some bastard I don’t know in a suit, and he’s leaning toward her to murmur something in her ear. He has his hand on her back. He’s fucking touching my girl. I can barely see straight I’m so pissed off.
“Dude,” Grant says, more forcefully now as he hurries to keep up with me. “You have to calm down. You go over there freaking out like this and you’re going to scare her.”
Good,I think to myself, narrowing my eyes at my best friend. Maybe she needs to be scared. Maybe she needs to understand that this isn’t the kind of place to mess around in. That I’m not the type of man to mess around with.
I think it’s time my girl learned a few important lessons.
LILLY
