“I think that in a perfect world you would be able to return to Hope Falls after getting off tour and it could be your safe haven. But this isn’t a perfect world, and I think that the anonymity, low-key ship may have sailed. Your safety is the priority, and that can only be ensured if you have some kind of security in place.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Karina. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving and thank you again for dinner and everything.” Lily quickly waved as she stepped in the doorway of the enormous room before turning to rush out.
“Lily,” Karina called after her before the dark-haired beauty was able to make a clean getaway.
Lily paused, her back facing the trio in the dining room, and for a moment, Eric thought she was just going to continue on through the double doors without looking back. Instead, her shoulders slumped slightly and she turned slowly.
“Come here for a sec.” Karina waved her over.
Lily pulled her shoulders back, put a smile on her face, and walked toward them confidently. Eric had to give the girl props. Pride swelled in his chest, which he knew was completely ridiculous. Her accomplishments had nothing to do with him. Whatever her reason was, she obviously did not want to be here, but she put her game face on and faced it like a champ.
He liked that.
When Lily stepped beside them, Karina began. “You, Lily, are the epitome of the independent woman, so I want your opinion on something. Okay, so here’s the dealio. The paparazzi have been a little more aggressive the last few months—”
“A lot,” Ryan interrupted.
“A lot,” Karina conceded as she continued. “And both Ryan and Eric feel that it’s best if I have a security detail. My issue is that I don’t want those lowlife, blood-sucking leeches to win. Not to sound too much like The Westside Story but this is my turf.”
Karina always made light of situations through humor, but Eric hoped she was actually taking this seriously.
Lily smiled, causing the corners of her eyes to crinkle. Eric thought it was adorable.
“What do you think?” Karina asked sincerely.
“Well, I guess that if someone who loves you”—Lily lifted her hand, motioning to Ryan then to Eric—“and someone whose job is to keep people safe both think it’s a good idea…I would listen to them.”
“Thank you,” Ryan said in exasperation, as if Lily had just made the point he had been trying and failing to make. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Karina looked at all three of them skeptically for several moments before announcing, “Fine, but I don’t like it.”
Ryan picked up Karina in his arms and spun her around as she giggled.
Eric noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lily was taking full advantage of the moment of distraction and using it as her opportunity to duck out. She turned and began moving toward the door.
Her head snapped up and she looked at him with wide eyes as he fell in step beside her.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, stepping aside so she could walk through the doorway before him.
She looked a little nervous but all she said was, “I just need to grab my coat.” Then she turned gracefully and walked down the hall.
Eric planted his feet shoulder-width apart and held his hands behind his back as he waited for Lily in the open, almost cavernous space of the foyer. It was his default stance whenever he just stood. It had been since the police academy.
Carlos and a woman Eric didn’t recognize but had seen gathered around the baby grand piano stumbled into the foyer.
“Helloooo,” the attractive blond-haired woman said with a seductive lilt to her voice as her eyes scanned Eric from head to toe. “I’m Ariana. What’s your name, Officer?”
“Maguire,” Carlos said in a low tone, imitating James Bond. “Eric Maguire.”
Ariana slid closer to him with a predatory gleam in her eyes as she extended her hand. “So nice to meet you, Eric.”
“You too, ma’am.” Eric nodded, not releasing his hands from behind his back.
“I’m ready.” Lily appeared from the hall with her coat in her hand.
Eric was so glad for her interruption he could kiss her. Well, to be honest, he’d had the urge to kiss her since he’d laid eyes on her on the dance floor at Justin and Amanda’s wedding. And that urge had only grown in intensity every moment since then. The fact that she had just saved him from what could have easily turned into an uncomfortable situation, well… That was just a bonus.
Eric stepped towards her and lifted the coat from Lily’s hands, holding it open so she could slip her arms into it. The smell of wildflowers wafted through the air as she pulled her hair out from the back of the coat.
Eric took a deep breath. Damn, she smelled really good. The feminine scent made him want to throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of there caveman-style.
Lily seemed oblivious to his primal reaction to her as she pulled the strings of her jacket around her waist and tied them tightly. Eric had to stop himself from drooling as his mouth watered at her perfect hourglass figure. He had always had a thing for girls with curves. Especially when they were in all the right places like Lily’s.
Still unaware of the effect she was having on him, Lily reached out and gave quick hugs to Ariana and Carlos, saying it was nice to meet them and that she looked forward to working with them. Eric liked observing her interactions with other people. He had always maintained that you really learned the most about people when you saw them in different circumstances with different people. Lily seemed to be a genuine, kind person. The more he learned about her, the more he liked about her.
He said his goodbyes as well, although his were verbal only. As they turned to leave, Eric’s hand automatically rested on Lily’s lower back, and he opened the door and guided her out. As he shut the door behind them, he heard Carlos say, “A gentleman and a policeman. I am officially in love.”
Eric smiled in amusement. That guy really cracked him up.
As they reached Lily’s Jeep, she unlocked the doors using her key fob, and Eric moved in front of her to grab the handle and open the driver’s side door.
Lily’s eyes darted from the door he held open and then up at Eric before widening with disbelief. “Are you for real?”
Looking down at her as the moonlight illuminated her beautiful face caused a stirring inside of him stronger than any he had ever experienced. Her eyes shone brightly and her full red lips glistened in the rays streaming down from the night sky.
“Are you?” he asked reverently, gently tucking a stray hair, that had flown across her face, behind her ear, his fingertips brushing her soft skin. He knew he didn’t really have the right to touch her but he just didn’t want anything blocking his breathtaking view of her beauty.
They stared at each other, neither saying a word. Her shoulders shook as a shiver ran through her, and Eric realized that it was below forty degrees so she must be freezing.
He took a step back. “You better get going.” At the huskiness in his voice, her eyes dilated. He felt her involuntary response shoot straight to his groin. His already snug uniform slacks grew even tighter.
She licked her lips as she stepped up into the Jeep. “Thanks for walking me out,” she said as she reached for the door. Before she shut it, her lips turned up at the corners and she added, “See you around, neighbor.”
If he didn’t know any better, he would definitely say she was flirting. She smiled almost shyly as she pulled away from the curb.
“See you around,” Eric said belatedly as he watched her brake lights turn to head down the mountain.
There was something different about that girl. Lily had a combination of vulnerability and strength that Eric had never seen before. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about it either.
He wanted to get to know Lily. But with what he saw when he looked in her eyes, he knew he would need to take things slow. Really slow. That thought made him want to groan in protest.
Apparently patience wasn’t one of his virtues after all.
Chapter Seven
Lily slumped in exhaustion against the mirrored wall of the rehearsal space at the Community Center. Her feet ached. Her back ached. She could barely lift her arms.
She was in heaven.
This was her bliss. She and Karina had been rehearsing for going on eight hours now, and Lily had gotten to the space two hours early to prepare. She realized she couldn’t remember the last time she had danced for ten hours in one day.
In Sacramento she had taught multiple classes: Hip-Hop, Burlesque, Ballet, and Zumba for kids and adults. She had even taught up to six classes in a day, but by the last two classes, she would admit she was basically phoning it in. This one-on-one choreography did not leave any room for half-assing, and Lily loved it.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Karina jokingly asked as she lifted the water bottle to her lips. “Whatever I did to cause you to want to torture me, I truly apologize, Lily, and beg for your forgiveness.”
Lily leaned forward and laughed then winced as she instantly felt the movement in her sore stomach muscles. She knew that Karina was joking about Lily torturing her, but even Lily herself had been shocked to find out what a taskmaster she was as a choreographer. It shouldn’t really have surprised her though. Lily had always been a perfectionist.
When she was teaching, even doing a private party like she had at Amanda’s bachelorette party, her job was to motivate and inspire. Make the participants or students feel good about themselves and their ability. And she did her job. Well.
As a choreographer, however, her job was to make sure that Karina could get up on the stage and be as prepared as she possibly could be in the timeframe they had. Which, for Lily, seemed short but from what Karina explained was actually ample time. She had sixteen songs to choreograph, and between Karina’s other obligations, they only had fourteen full rehearsal days, which were spread out over three months.
“So when will the other dancers be joining us?” Lily asked.
The plan was to have Karina center stage with two female backup dancers behind her. Since Karina’s movements weren’t as intricate as what Lily had choreographed for the backup dancers, she was hoping that she would be able to start working with them soon.
“Well, one girl I have in mind is on tour with Usher right now, but she will be available in a month, and the other one is already here.”
Lily looked around the room, It was just her and Karina. “Oh, you mean here in Hope Falls.”
“No, I mean here in this room,” Karina stated with a little gleam in her eye.
Lily felt her chest constrict, her mouth go dry, and her stomach start doing flip-flops like it was Mary Lou Retton in the ’84 Olympics. She swallowed to get some moisture back in her mouth, and she placed her hands over her waist and chest to try and calm herself down.
It didn’t really work.
“You want me to dance with you on stage?” Lily’s forced speech came out sounding hoarse.
“Yep,” Karina said as if it weren’t a big deal.
Lily thought she was going to pass out. So many conflicting thoughts were flying through her brain like they were fighter pilots in a battle.
She was scared. Really, truly scared. What she needed to sort out was whether or not that fear had any kind of reasonable basis. She thought that it might just be rooted in the fact that she had had to keep a low profile for so long, basically trying to be invisible, that the thought of being in the spotlight literally, well, just terrified her.
Because of all of the time she had spent in incognito-mode, she wasn’t sure how she would react to having all of those eyes focused on her. Of course logically she knew that they would really all be staring at Karina, but still.
Over the last two years, when her Zumba classes had really started growing, it had been hard for her to deal with at first. In a class of eighty people, that meant that one hundred and sixty eyes were staring directly at her. She had picked up a trick that had helped her deal with the overwhelming sensation of being the central focus of so many people. She hadn’t pictured them in their underwear or anything like that. Nope. Her trick was much simpler than that. In a nutshell, she just never looked at people’s faces while she was teaching. She looked above their heads or at their feet. Lily didn’t know why it worked, but it did.
Her anxiety and fear about being the center of attention, although somewhat justified considering her past, was not really a great reason to pass up on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Still, she needed to sort through the thoughts zooming around inside her head and make sure that if she accepted the offer she would be able to deliver. That she wouldn’t get up on the stage and freeze.
“Can I think about it and get back to you?” Lily hoped that by not giving Karina an answer right away she wasn’t blowing her chances of working with her. She figured that someone with Karina’s status was used to people saying yes. In fact, she was pretty certain that there was even a name for that. They called them ‘yes people.’
To Lily’s surprise and great relief, Karina just smiled, shrugged, and said, “Sure, no worries. Let me know by the end of the month.”
Lily let out a breath of relief just as the alarm on Karina’s phone beeped. Karina pulled the device from her bag and huge smile crossed her face. “Grab your stuff. Rehearsal’s over.”
Lily had no idea why the rehearsal had ended so abruptly but did as Karina instructed. She pulled her iPod out of the base and gathered up her water and towels. She put away the two chairs they had been incorporating in a couple of the routines and picked up the wide strap of her dance bag, pulling it up on her shoulder.
Karina was just finishing pulling on some sweats over her shorts and sports bra when Lily said, “Okay, well, see you tomorrow. Same time work for you?”
“Yes, but we’re not done for the day yet,” Karina said, her eyes twinkling with delight.
Lily was confused. “We’re not? I thought you said—”
“I said rehearsal is over. Come with me.” Karina linked her arm through Lily’s as they exited the room. “We’ve worked hard. Now we deserve a treat.”
Lily really hoped that Karina wasn’t talking about ice cream or even a coffee. She was really trying to stick to her clean eating, but she also knew herself well enough to know that her resolve would inevitably crumble when faced with peer pressure.
“Where are we going?” Lily tried to inquire casually. She figured if she had a heads-up then maybe she could mentally prepare herself for the temptations she would be facing.
Karina smiled a smile that Lily had seen on many magazine covers, reminding her just how ridiculously famous Karina was, before replying, “You’ll see.”
As the two stepped through the double doors that led into the gym, Lily’s confusion grew.
Why would they go to a gym?
“Voila! Our treat.” Karina motioned her head to the opposite side of the gym.
Lily looked down the court and saw four incredibly gorgeous men, two of whom were shirtless, playing basketball. She recognized three of them. She saw Ryan, Karina’s boyfriend, and Ben, who was Lauren’s fiancé—they both had shirts on. Then she saw a really well-built tattooed guy she didn’t recognize, and the other shirtless player was Eric.
Watching as Eric’s muscles rippled in his back as he shot from the free-throw line caused her mouth to go dry for a completely different reason than fear. She felt her lips begin to tingle and a heat spread from her core out through her arms and legs. She could hear her heart beating in her head.
It wouldn’t have mattered if Karina had given her a heads-up about where they were headed. There was no way Lily could have prepared herself for this temptation.
Lily felt her arm being tugged, and it snapped her back to the moment. Her shoes squeaked on the hardwood floor as she and Karina made their way over to a set of bleachers on the right side of the gym. They stepped up to the top of them, sat down, and leane
d back against the cold, hard concrete wall. Lily appreciated the support. Not only was she exhausted but seeing Eric shirtless had made her go weak in the knees, which was apparently her body’s natural response to him. It was odd because she used to think the strange phenomenon was just a saying. Now she knew that it really did happen.
Karina motioned down to the four men racing back and forth in the gym. “So you know Ryan, Ben, and Eric. The other shirtless player is Levi. He just bought JT’s Roadhouse, a bar just outside of town on the highway.”
Lily nodded, trying not to be ridiculously obvious about the monumental crush she had on her neighbor.
“So did you have fun at dinner last night?” Karina asked.
Reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the court, Lily turned to Karina. “Yeah, it was great. I loved meeting everyone.”
Karina smiled and looked back out at the game so Lily followed her lead and did the same. She certainly didn’t need any more of an invitation to watch Eric’s half-naked form as he ran up and down the court.
“Everyone loved you too. Ariana and Carlos were going on and on about how beautiful you are and how flawless your skin is.” Karina paused as she took a drink of water, and Lily felt a light blush rise in her cheeks. It was sweet that the two of them had nice things to say about her, but it was embarrassing all the same.
Karina cleared her throat before continuing. “They also kept talking about how you left with Eric and how chivalrous the whole scene was.”
Lily knew that the light blush that had been on her cheeks was probably now a deep red. Defending herself, she quietly whispered, “I didn’t leave with him. He just walked me to my car.”
Karina nodded, and Lily thought that the subject was officially dropped. Until Karina dropped her follow-up. “So, do you have a boyfriend?”
Lily wasn’t born yesterday. She might be an exhausted, hormone-crazed basket case these days, but she knew when someone was digging. She had found that short, simple answers were the best diffusers of these types of personal inquiry bombs. “Nope.”
Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) Page 6
