by Amy Brent
Lily looked a bit thinner than before, but still gorgeous. Her hair was cut just a bit shorter and curled around her shoulders, moving with her. I remembered what it had felt like to have my hands in it. She smiled and laughed in what seemed like the right places, but something was missing from her eyes. I reached for my beer as someone walked over to her, hugging her with one arm over her shoulder as she looked back with a smile.
It was the boyfriend I’d met at the office. Was Murphy mistaken in thinking she was single? Was she back together with Brian? I watched them carefully as they talked casually, but they didn’t act like lovers or enemies.
When Lily stood to go to the bathroom, I excused myself and followed her. I planted myself in the hallway where she’d be certain to see me. When she came out, she bumped into me because of the crowd of people rushing both the men’s and women’s bathrooms. “I’m so sorry . . .” Lily’s voice drifted off as she looked up and met my eyes. “Landon.”
“I saw you come back here and wanted to say hi,” I told her as she licked her stained lips and stared at me. “Murphy says you’re doing well at his firm. He enjoys you.”
“It’s a great firm and just as successful as yours. It’s a pleasure to work there, just different.” Her face fell as she looked down at the floor, and I reached out to touch her soft skin, lifting her eyes to mine.
“How are you?” I asked her as our gazes locked.
“I miss you,” Lily admitted, and I cupped her face with my hands. I could do this and anything else I wanted to her since we were no longer working for the same company.
“I saw Brian here. Are you with him?” I asked her directly, and she shook her head.
“We talk when we come across one another, but no, we’re not. He’s mentioned getting back together a few times, but I keep telling him no,” Lily said as envy flooded my veins. “He doesn’t know why I ended things. I think it would change his feelings.”
“Are you seeing anybody?” I demanded, my face closer to hers as people bumped into us.
“No, Landon. I meant what I said about needing space. Adding someone else to the mix wouldn’t do anybody any good,” she said sadly as she gave me a disappointed look. “Are you?”
“Not seriously,” I assured her, slowly sliding my hand down to take hers before pulling her away from the bar and bathrooms to a more private corner. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.” I pushed her against the wall gently before I kissed her hungrily, hearing her moan as she melted into me. The time apart seemed to fade as our lips went right back to the familiar passion.
“You’ve slept with someone?” Her voice in a moment apart broke my heart for a moment as I slipped my hands into her hair and stared into her eyes.
“Nothing matters except for this moment, Lily. I was lost without you,” I promised her as she blinked at me for a moment. “I want to see you again, Lily. I want to be a part of your life again.”
We were kissing deeply again when hands yanked us apart and I looked into the angry face of Brian.
“Who the fuck is this, Lily?”
“You remember from my old firm, right? This is Landon,” she said as her face flushed a dark pink.
“Your boss,” Brian said, looking from her face to mine.
“Former,” Lily reminded him, trying to steer him away from the truth.
I saw the moment it clicked in Brian’s mind when he turned to give her a dark look before walking away. I pulled her against me as a cry reached my ears. “Baby, it’s okay.”
“He knows. He figured it out, and he knows,” Lily said in shock as she looked up at me. “I never wanted to hurt him, Landon. He was trying so hard with me, and I never wanted him to find out what was happening.”
“He’ll be okay once he’s had some time to recover,” I promised her, remembering the way he had looked at her. It had been filled with hatred, making me worry.
I led her out of the bar once she said good-bye to Jasmine and her boyfriend, quiet as I held her hand and led her to my car. I drove her right to my place without offering an alternative, and she came along in silence.
We ended up in the bedroom right away, stripping our clothes off as we made up for the last few months of no contact. I kissed Lily all over her body, teasing her about how I was going to fatten her up a bit with some good meals while we worked it off in other ways. Lily laughed and held my hair tightly as my tongue lapped at her sweet pussy.
It was like being home when I sank inside her, even with the condom on. I sensed she had her guard up given my vague confession early, but we were going to talk about that once she was finished screaming my name again.
Lily
I fell against the bed as my body pulsed with my release, breathing in and out. I resisted letting him pull out of me, but Landon moved slowly, tying off the condom before he tossed it into the trash. “I have missed that so much.”
“I have too, despite your thinking right now,” Landon said as he looked into my face. “I am a man, and sometimes we try to fill a void, Lily. It’s idiotic on our parts and solves nothing. I knew you were the only woman I wanted.” His words didn’t make me feel much better since I couldn’t bear the idea of sleeping with another man. Brian had tried several times after the breakup, but I always turned him away. I knew he was angry and hurt now after catching me making out with my former boss, as I’d told him there was nobody else. I wasn’t stupid enough to think it looked like the first time between Landon and me. We were well versed.
“I just couldn’t want another man,” I admitted after a moment. “The idea of it hurt so much, even when it was someone familiar trying.”
“Brian?” Landon asked with a dark gaze. I nodded. “He’s not going to let you go that easily, Lily. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about him.”
“He’ll be okay. He just needs to adjust,” I said, even though I felt uneasy as well. Brian had never displayed violence toward me, though I’d seen him get into a few fights at parties with other guys over nothing. It wasn’t frequent, but still . . . I wondered if he was capable of hurting me.
Brian had asked if there was someone else when we’d broken up. I’d always told him no, to spare him the pain involved in my confession. I hadn’t wanted to lie to him, and the guilt had plagued me, but I’d done it to protect him. Now he knew everything.
“I can keep you safe,” Landon said as he leaned down to kiss my neck tenderly, making me smile.
We both worked a lot but usually met up afterward to have dinner somewhere and stay the night at an apartment together. Everything was great with Landon and me. I still had my insecurities and worries, but I tried to focus on the way he treated me.
Landon confessed that he had pinned Marilyn down and she’d admitted they hadn’t slept together that night. She’d tried, but he was unresponsive given his state of mind. He then got her fired once all the partners realized she was trying to get ahead by using each of them. It wasn’t unheard of in any business, but none of them were willing to stand for it. I remembered the way Landon and Marilyn had looked together on the couch, and I shuddered every time. She had seemed too comfortable, and now that I knew he’d been drunk, the image in my head made sense. She wanted Landon, and that was her chance.
Landon admitted that he got her fired because of the way she’d acted with the knowledge of us. When I left, it couldn’t hurt anyone, but she was a known gossiper, and the gossip was often unkind. Marilyn was out to hurt people with her words and would have made it out to be much worse than it was. Landon didn’t want my reputation to be ruined in any way and thus pushed for her termination, with the help of several other partners.
Landon preferred to stay with me every night for safety as much as love, but he had a conference to go to for a long weekend before the holidays. I assured him I would be fine and made plans with Jasmine to have dinner. He left, and I spent Saturday decorating my apartment before dressing to meet her at a place nearby.
The restaurant was
new and modern with sleek tables and mood lighting all around, which made me smile. We were seated and ordered drinks as Jasmine looked around slowly. It was dark, but you could see who was sitting at the tables and the bar, and she was a naturally curious person. Her eyes were wide when I looked at her after reading a text from Landon. “What?”
“Brian is at the bar.”
I shrugged.
“He’s looking right at us, Lily. I think he might have followed us or something.”
I slowly turned my head to look, not willing to make eye contact but admittedly curious. Brian was at the bar, staring intently at me, but I was more surprised by the woman beside him.
“Marilyn,” I whispered as I turned to look at Jasmine again. “How did he meet her? What’s going on?”
“I recognize her now. I was so focused on Brian that I didn’t even see her.” Jasmine sipped her Cosmo as she gazed thoughtfully at me. “That can’t be good.”
“Maybe they just hooked up. It can’t be malicious, can it?” My skin burned knowing that Marilyn probably had a lot of information that would make me look even worse than I already felt. I also knew she liked to embellish things.
“I hope so,” Jasmine replied before she looked down at the menu. We decided to have a good dinner even though he stared at me the entire night. I tried to keep things normal, but I saw the concern in Jasmine’s face even though I kept the conversation light.
I left in a rush with my friend following me, turning left to walk down the street. I breathed in the cold air for a few moments as Jasmine caught up to me and wrapped her red coat tightly around her body. “I am supposed to stay with Mike tonight. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” I said, thinking of the three locks on my apartment door. I had gotten Brian’s key back when he moved out, so that didn’t concern me . . . unless he had decided to be a creep and make a copy. “I can stay at Landon’s.” He gave me a key the first day we got back together, and I knew I would feel safer there.
“Perfect. Isn’t he asking you to move in there?” Jasmine asked, and I smiled.
“Every chance he gets.” I wasn’t ready yet. It had only been a month since we’d gotten back together, and I was wary of jumping in so fast, particularly after living with Brian under the wrong circumstances. I was enjoying dating and being able to sleep together through the night and wanted to take time for everything else. I knew this was real with Landon, and we didn’t need to rush it.
Jasmine and I parted ways, and I took a cab to Landon’s place, smiling at the doorman as he held the heavy glass door for me. I walked over to the elevators, and as I waited I heard my phone chime. I opened the text on the elevator and read that Landon was just getting back to the hotel after a night of drinks.
When I told him that I was headed up to his place, Landon asked why.
I was explaining when another text came through. It was from a strange number, and I stared at the attached picture for a long, silent moment. There was no mistaking the couch from Landon’s cottage in Belize, but what had my attention was the joined bodies. The picture was taken from the woman’s point of view, but I’d never taken any pictures of us and I did not have the olive skin this woman had. I heard the ringing of the elevator door and glanced up to see that I was on Landon’s floor. I made my way to his door, unlocking it and closing it right away before I locked it again. I walked to the couch and sat down, examining the picture.
My phone rang, and Landon’s face appeared on the screen as I blinked my eyes and answered it. “Lily, what’s going on? Why are you at my apartment?”
“I . . . well, Brian was at the place we had dinner with Marilyn of all people, and I think I just got uncomfortable. How would they know each other?” I asked as he sighed on the other end.
“I have that fucking conference tomorrow, so I can’t leave.” Landon was in Chicago for this trip, and I knew it would be a huge hassle for him to go back and forth over this. “Does he have a key to your place?”
“He gave it back to me, and there was nothing wrong when we broke up. I hope not,” I said as I looked around the spacious room.
“I am calling your landlord tomorrow, Lily. He’s going to change the locks. Or else you could move in with me?” I heard the plea in his voice as I dropped back against the cushions of the couch. “I love you, and I want this to be forever.”
“I know you do,” I said as I smiled in the dim light of the lamp.
“I’ll call him myself tomorrow.” I loved the alpha tone in his voice, even if it was tinged with disappointment. We’d discussed my moving in and giving up my space, all of which were honest conversations.
“Thanks,” I replied, the picture weighing heavily on my mind. “There’s something else. I’m going to send you a picture.” I made quick work of it, and I heard him curse on the other end. “Do you know what this is, Landon?”
“I know what it fucking looks like. Where did you get this?” he demanded, and I stilled at the tone of his voice.
“I don’t know the number," I admitted, and he cursed again.
“I was drunk, Lily. I know that, but I don’t remember sleeping with her. I know when I’ve done that,” Landon said, forgetting one main point. It was the reason he’d been tested before going anywhere near me without a condom.
“You don’t remember anything, Landon. Maybe this did happen,” I said with resignation as I closed my eyes. It always went back to this and the pain it caused. He took it all on his shoulders, but he didn’t realize I felt my own guilt for walking away from him. I had tried to explain that, but he tended to blame himself, something we were working on.
“I’ve repeatedly apologized for this, Lily. Can’t we put it behind us and just focus on us?” he asked softly, the hurt evident in his voice. “That wasn’t me. All of the cottages were similar, and I wouldn’t doubt if she fucked her way through half of it, assuming it’s Marilyn sending it.” That seemed obvious, considering the background and her being seen with Brian. She could have gotten my number without him, but that was the most obvious answer.
“You’re right. It doesn’t matter, Landon.” I was pretty drunk from dinner, and by this time I was exhausted as well. “I am going to crawl into bed. I miss you.”
“Lock all of the doors and sleep well. I’ll be home in a couple of days. Stay there if you want,” he offered, and I smiled weakly.
“I just might do that.” I loved the view in the morning, and it was just as easy to get around from here as it was from my apartment.
“I love you, Lily.”
I responded by telling him that I loved him as well before ending the call and checking all the locks. I walked down the hallway to the bedroom before I realized that my phone was on the couch, but that might be best with what had happened tonight. I was safe here even if the apartment did feel a little lonely without Landon here with me. I slipped off my dress and took one of his T-shirts out of the dresser to slide over my skin, needing him close.
I curled up in the big bed, hugging a pillow as I wondered what the hell was happening to me . . . to us. I just wanted to be with the man I loved without complication. We’d started off on the wrong foot, but I’d redeemed myself inside my heart by changing my life.
Now I wondered if being honest from the beginning wasn’t the better plan.
Landon
I paced my hotel room after I ended the call, furious about the photo. Sure, it had been taken on a couch that was the same color as mine in the cottage and it was a man and a woman in the act of sex. There were no faces in the photo to identify anyone, but I knew how wasted I had been that night. Getting to this point with Lily would be tough, much less with any other woman on the planet. I dropped into bed and examined the picture a little closer, feeling sick that Lily had been exposed to this.
Brian and Marilyn were on my shit list now, and I considered ways to warn them to leave her alone. Even Nadine hadn’t been this bad, and she was a demanding bitch.
I hated that I didn’t
remember what had happened, but I always felt a certain way after I was inside Lily. I’d felt it earlier in the day but not when I woke up with Marilyn on the couch. I’d felt nothing but hungover, sick, and broken that morning, making me think I couldn’t even get it up enough to penetrate anyone that night. I never even had one-night stands when I was too drunk because it was a waste of time. The ones recently were only done when I was wasted enough to let go and attempt sex—nothing at all to brag about to my friends. I needed to find out the truth, but I didn’t know how to go about it.
I kicked off my pants that were already loosened, as I’d been hoping for a little phone action with Lily before I went to sleep. My shirt was already off, and I looked down at my cock, which was at half-mast, with a sigh. Nothing was going to happen tonight, so I decided to sleep off the few drinks I’d had and just go to sleep. Lily was safe in my apartment for tonight, but I had to find a way to get her to move in with me. I wanted it anyway, and we were going strong. Her past with Brian was just that, and we had a new start ahead of us.
Asshole.
I slept fitfully that night, waking up when my alarm went off for the breakfast meeting. I tried to call Lily, but I got her voice mail and told myself it was a weekend. She could sleep in since she wasn’t at a conference.
I met up with the other partners and joined them at a table for the event, sipping coffee as I glanced around at their faces. I wondered if I couldn’t press them for information, given that Marilyn no longer worked for the firm and we all shared a dislike for her. After this conference, we could get some lunch and drinks, and I could start up a conversation.
I struggled through the various speakers, taking notes on what was on my mind while reminding myself to look at the notes of the others at a later date. I was not here today, and I kept thinking of Lily. I was relieved when the event ended and we were dismissed, knowing we were done with business. I wasn’t flying home until the morning, though, as I’d made plans for dinner with some local attorneys last week when things were fine.
