Page 30 of Lily
Sam swatted her on the ass, and Lily's mouth snapped shut.
"Oh!" she gasped, her hands going to cover her ass. "You're no fun."
"And you're just another 'but' away from the corner."
Lily scowled but turned and stomped toward the stairs. "Fine," she tossed over her shoulder when she was well out of arm's reach.
"Thin ice, little girl," Sam called after her, and Lily bit back a yelp at the stern tone in his voice. It was like a lightning bolt that went straight to her clit. She nearly turned back and protested more for the sake of forcing Sam's hand in a punishment and that unnerved her. She had never desired to have a Dom's hand on her ass, much preferring a cuddle instead, but Sam had her wanting things she had never wanted before. She rushed into the room she had slept in the night before to find her dress laid out from the night before.
"Oh rats," she sighed when she realized she would have to wear her clothing from the night before. She hoped it didn't smell too much from the night's performance, but when she went to touch it, she was pleasantly surprised to find that it was clean. She raised it to her nose and sniffed it to find that it was freshly laundered.
"Sam," Lily whispered, staring down at the now clean dress. He had done her laundry so that her dress would be clean and fresh, if a little daring for a work shift, but at least she wouldn't have to wear dirty clothing. Lily felt herself warm toward him more, and she couldn't wait to thank him for what he had done. She dressed quickly and rushed back downstairs with her list in hand.
"You did my laundry," she said, clutching her list to her chest. "Thank you!"
"Of course. Couldn't have my girl wearing dirty clothes, and you didn't have anything else with you."
"I didn't think through my plans last night," she sighed, thinking about her list. She hadn't been able to bring the bag she had considered packing.
"Why were you looking for somewhere else to sleep?" He nodded at the paper she was still clutching to her chest. "I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say that it has something to do with what's on that list?"
"You would be right, and we both know why I wanted to get away from my apartment. My roommates are a nightmare. I'd had enough, and you coming to find me couldn't have happened in a more perfect way."
"It did work out nicely," he said, holding out his hand for her list. "Show me your list, hmm?"
She handed it over to him and gave him a tight smile. "I made it earlier."
Sam rubbed a hand over his jaw as he read over her list. "Performing. New apartment. Find a new job. Sleep." He frowned and held up the list. "Sleep? You weren't sleeping."
"Well, no, I thought that was evident by my eagerness to go with you."
He cracked a smile. "That is true. You were nearly renting a serial killer's lair when I found you."
"And it would still be preferable to my apartment."
"And this list, these things are goals that you'll let me help you with?"
"Well, yes, and the nice thing is you've already helped me with the sleep part," she told him. "And I performed already because I just, it was too hard before, but I did it last night."
"You did," Sam told her. "And I'm very proud of you for doing it. You were amazing."
She gave him a shy smile. "Thank you, and that's two of my four goals, but that leaves the big ones."
"New apartment and a new job."
"Yep, those would be the ones." Her shoulders dropped just thinking about the monumental tasks in front of her. "When I made that list, I was desperate to change everything, and I don't think I was really going over how much time I would need for this. New jobs and new apartments just don't fall out of the sky."
"No, but they do exist," Sam told her. "We can work on it even if it takes more than a day, but why were you so desperate to change things?"
"It's complicated," Lily muttered, not wanting to bring up Trent, not when she was with Sam and things were so perfect. Not when he'd just had her in his arms and had kissed her silly. "It's nothing."
"It doesn't sound like nothing." Sam folded the list and put it in his pocket. "I'm going to keep this list, and we can circle back to it later, but I want you to explain the need for change. That's important, and before you start trying to get out of telling me, I want you to remember my rules, little girl."
Number Three. Honesty.
She swallowed hard. "About that—"
"Honesty, Lily Bell."
