Page 18 of Lilly
Chapter Five
Lilly
It’s beeneight weeks since my night with Lucas, and I haven’t seen him since he walked out of his hotel room that morning. Some days I think it’s probably for the best, but others, I’m less convinced. I barely know him, so how I miss him is beyondme.
He’s making it hard to forget him though. Not only am I in his private space multiple times a week, but he’s kept up the food deliveries. I’m grateful because I never have time for breakfast, but I’m confused by it all. He won’t let me forget him and I’m starting to hate him a little for it. He can swan off wherever it is he disappears to and hide from me, yet I’m stuck here cleaning his damn toilet and making his bed. And as if that isn’t bad enough, he’s showing me he’s thinking of me. Well, that’s how I see it, anyway. If he didn’t care and had forgotten about me, he would have stopped,surely?
I managed to convince Dec when I spoke to him that the date was a disaster, and it must have worked because thankfully, he hasn’t mentioned it again. He was so excited I’d put myself back out there that I felt bad for missing out the finer details of the evening, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t really want to know that I had a one night stand with my boss. He might be happy oversharing his many conquests with me, but I’m not comfortable doing thesame.
Connie has been on at me to visit her and Noah since she got home from the hospital. Up until now, I’ve managed to make every excuse under the sun. I’m desperate to see them both, but I don’t know how it’s going to affect me. I’m hoping I’m strong enough to be happy for her and be able to look at him with the love I should, but I’m still worried. My excuses of working and uni have run dry, so I pull my boots on and head towards the village they live in. Connie is well aware I’m putting it off, although she never comes out and says it. She knows everything, and I know she understands, but she is right: I need to put all that behind me and move on. I can’t let it hold meback.
The house looks gorgeous as I pull up. Towards the end of last year, Emma asked me if I’d help out with Fin’s house. It was the perfect distraction I needed at the time, and the perfect project I needed for my final uni year. I couldn’t have been more grateful. The house was a mess, but after a few months of hard work, it’s almost as good as new. All the features are back to how they would have been when it was first built, the floors stripped back to reveal the stunning wood hiding under years of dirt, and the walls fresh andbright.
Connie is already in the doorway with her little bundle of joy in her arms as I get out of thecar.
“Lilly, it’s so good to see you. Come here,” she says, holding out her free arm so she can wrap it around myshoulders.
I don’t get a chance to get a look at Noah, because Connie spins around and heads for the house, leaving me no choice but to followher.
When I get in the living room, I see she has lunch all ready for us. It was only an hour ago that a bacon sandwich appeared in Lucas’ room, but the sight and smell of Connie’s homemade soup and fresh bread makes my stomachgrowl.
I take a seat on the sofa as Connie places Noah in his bouncer. I get the impression she’s making every effort she can not to force him on me. I know as a new mother it must be killing her not to shove him under my nose so I can tell her how cute he is. I’m beyond grateful for herthoughtfulness.
“You look really good, Lilly. You’ve put some weight on,” Connie comments as she hands me over a tray. “Why have you just gone brightred?”
“Oh, have I?” I ask, trying to pass it off as nothing. The fact I’ve put some of my weight back on makes this whole thing with Lucas worth it, I think. My jeans are no longer hanging off me and I look less ill. “Noreason.”
Connie gives me a curious look before demanding I spill it. I give her some of thetruth.
“So he just randomly sends you food for noreason?”
“Yeah, prettymuch.”
“Your boss, who you say is an epicdickhead—”
“I’ve never said that,” Iinterrupt.
“Okay, so you’re too polite to use those exact words, but that’s what you meant.” I can’t exactly argue with that, so I let her continue. “So, as I was saying, your dickhead boss has suddenly started sending you food while you’re cleaning his room. I call bullshit, Lilly. It sounds like he wants more than his room cleaning, if you know what I mean,” she says with awink.
Why do I have to have such pale skin? I can’t hide even the smallest ofblushes.
“OH MY GOD,” Connie squeals. “Youhavecleaned more than his room, haven’tyou?”
I drop my head in my hands and groan. I’m starting to think her shoving Noah in my arms would have been less painful thanthis.
“Lilly, come on, I need details. The last you told me about this guy was that he was a slick Rick with a fancy suit and a bad attitude. How did you end up falling into bed withhim?”
I lay it all out for her. It actually feels good telling someone the whole story. Taylor only knows bits and pieces, and I haven’t told Nicole anything—she has too much of her own stuff to deal with without me landing my drama on her. She sits and listens to the whole sorry story and bites her tongue until I’vefinished.
“Oh my God, he sounds hot, Lilly—fancy pants businessman by day, bad boy in the sack by night. On a more serious note though, I can’t believe you had a one-night stand with your boss. That is so unlikeyou.”
“I know. I still don’t know what came over me, other than thewine.”
“Or Lucas,” she interjects with a laugh that makes me blush again. “Sorry! So, anyway…what are you going todo?”
“No idea. I’ve thought about handing my notice in, just getting away, but I need the money and I really haven’t got the time to be worrying about starting something new. Plus, I’m almost at the end of my course and I’ll be looking for a design job soon enough. I just need to stick it out for a few months. With a bit of luck, he’ll stay in the shadows and I won’t have to worry abouthim.”
“But you will, because you’re cleaning his room and picking his fucking dirty underwear up off the floor.” I don’t mention that he’s too much of a neat freak for that to ever be one of myjobs.
