Page 12 of Irresistible Love

“Oh, that’s right!” William said. “Your brother’s a singer! I had forgotten about that. And your other brother is still playing football, correct?”

He nodded. “He is, but he’s already thinking about what he wants to do when he’s no longer playing. I’ve been helping him with his portfolio so he’ll have a healthy income when he retires. I was considering…”

“No shop talk, remember?” Lily reminded him with a smug smile. “And you never really expanded on what’s going on with you other than the evasive, ‘not particularly.’ So…?”

He took another bite of his dinner before responding. “I moved into a great place last year—a condo right in the middle of the downtown district. Great views, concierge service…I was a first-time homebuyer, so it was kind of exciting.”

“Wow! That is exciting!” she said. “Good for you!”

“What about you?” he asked. “Are you thinking of staying in Charlotte or do you want to live somewhere else?”

“I guess it depends on where the next dance gig is. I’m pretty open to moving to wherever the opportunity is.”

“There are plenty of opportunities here in Charlotte,” William chimed in. “My assistant Sara was telling me how they are always looking for dance teachers for her daughter’s classes. She’s a single mom and the hunt for finding a dance school with teachers who stay has been a bit of a struggle. You should consider that, Lily. We would love to have you home.”

“Oh, um…”

Noah saw the way she squirmed in her chair and knew this was probably yet another family conversation he shouldn’t be part of. So he went for another change of subject and silently prayed dinner would be over soon so he could talk business with William and then get the hell out of here.

“Did Mrs. Montgomery take off on time for her trip today?”

THREE

She was in the guesthouse,and honestly, it stung.

Oh, her grandfather was very diplomatic and downright charming as he pretty much steered her out the back door of the main house and down the path to the guest one after Noah left, but still…

He claimed he was taking a page from her parents and having someone come in to do some work on the upstairs of the house while her grandmother was gone, but something wasn’t sitting right with her and she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

As she roamed around the space that was going to be her home for the next month, it was hard to be disappointed. She always loved the guesthouse and it definitely didn’t suck to have so much space for herself. It only had one bedroom, but the rest of the space was open and airy and had a coastal vibe to it. The pool and hot tub were literally steps from the front door, but considering winter wasn’t quite over yet, she knew she’d only get to utilize the hot tub.

“And that doesn’t suck either,” she murmured as she unpacked. That’s when it hit her—she’d shipped all the rest of her stuff to her parents’ house. Cursing, she grabbed her phone to see if she had Mrs. Hamilton’s number so she could give her a heads-up. Otherwise, she was going to have to head over there tomorrow to see if anything arrived.

And then figure out how to get it all here since there was too much going on over there.

Groaning, Lily collapsed on the sofa. “Why did I think it was a good idea to come home?” What she wanted more than anything was to talk to her mother, but it was around 3 a.m. in Rome right now, which was where they were. “This is what I get for being such a stubborn brat.”

And yeah, she really regretted not talking to her mother more recently. It was her own foolish pride that kept her from doing it and now…lesson learned.

She only allowed herself to wallow for a few minutes before going back to her task of unpacking. Tomorrow, she’d deal with finding the rest of her stuff and moving it over here temporarily.

By the time she climbed into bed, she was exhausted.

And when she woke up the next morning, she was only slightly less exhausted.

Fortunately, it was a Saturday and she was hoping to go up to the main house and see what her grandfather was doing today. Maybe they could go to lunch and then over to her parents’ house to see about her stuff—which reminded her…

Rolling out of the bed, she walked over to grab her phone and finish looking for Mrs. Hamilton’s phone number. Instead, she paused and looked at the reminder of the voicemails from her mother. By her calculations, it was three in the afternoon in Rome and decided to finally call her back.

“Lily!” her mother said, answering after only one ring. “Oh my goodness! Where have you been? I’ve left a bunch of messages and texted you and…”

“Mom,” she said with a small laugh, “I’m really sorry about that. I just…I wasn’t in a good headspace these last few weeks. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, though. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, sweetheart…what’s going on?”

It was such a simple question, but it led to an emotionally complex response. “I’m not healing,” she sobbed before telling her about the physical therapy and the appointment she had with her doctor earlier in the week. “It was pointless for me to stay in Miami, so I packed up and came home. I wanted to surprise you, but…”

“We weren’t there,” she replied miserably. “Oh, Lil…I don’t even know what to say! Where are you staying? I hate that we weren’t there for you!”

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