CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

BLAKE

After leaving Lily, I return to the office.

Mrs. Park makes reservations for me at my favorite restaurant, L’Artusi. My family loves eating there. I’ve never brought anyone there with me. It’s special to our family.

Just like the last couple of days, I can’t concentrate on work. Time moves slowly. I cut out of work at five-thirty and hit the gym before getting ready to pick Lily up. I need to release some pent-up energy. While I’m lifting weights, I can sense someone behind me. I lay the weight down and turn around. Both of my brothers are grinning ear to ear like the jackasses they are.

I barely glance at them. "Do you guys need anything?" I return to my weights and ignore them. That doesn’t stop them.

Rob says, "What do you think my big brother is up to? Didn’t he work out with us this morning?"

"Yes, he did," Noah replies.

Rob stage-whispers, "I don’t know, but word around the water cooler is that my big brother has a date tonight."

I want to kill Noah, since he knows exactly what is going on and is just egging Rob on for fun. I’ve had enough. I drop my weights and turn to glare at both of them.

"Enough."

I glance at my watch. I have to get ready for my date, so I grab my towel and water bottle, then look over at my brothers.

"I would introduce you to her, but I’m afraid you’ll scare her away."

I leave it at that and rush off to my place to get ready.

* * *

My driver, Ben, is waiting for me beside the car when I walk out of the building. I don’t have to give him Lily’s address since he drove me there earlier today.

I realize as we near her place that I should have gotten her some flowers. I don’t want to come empty-handed. We are only a couple of blocks away when I notice a flower shop ahead.

"Ben, pull over."

He barely stops before I hustle out of the car. Need to hurry. Don’t want to be late. I look around the flower shop. There are too many selections. Believe it or not, I’ve never been in a flower shop before, but it looks like a flower bomb blew up in here. I can’t decide what to get Lily. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I remember now that all my flower selections for my mom went through Mrs. Park.

A nice older lady walks up to me. She has a grandmotherly vibe about her, with gray hair and an apron that says Flower Power on it.

"Can I help you?"

"I need some flowers for my date. I don’t want roses." I always think roses are impersonal. I think Lily would like something with color.

"I just made up a few arrangements. Maybe you’ll like one of them."

She leads me to the back of the store to a table where several arrangements are arranged in vases. I like one in particular. It has tulips in a variety of soft colors. I thought about the arrangement of lilies, but that’s too easy.

I pick up the vase of tulips. "I like this one the best."

I hand it over to her. She rings me up, and in no time, I’m back in the car.

I’m knocking on Lily’s door with ten minutes to spare. The door opens, but it is Jenny who gestures to me to come in. Bummer.

"Don’t worry, she’ll be right out."

Jenny encourages me to step further into the room. I have the flowers clutched against my chest when I hear footsteps and see Lily coming down the hall. She takes my breath away. Her little black dress is simple and shows off her curves and long legs. Her hair is pulled up, showing off her long neck and beautiful face. She’s not overly done up with makeup, just enough to highlight her features. I think she is the most gorgeous woman. I almost forget to speak I’m so stunned by her. I finally remember the flowers.

"You are gorgeous. These are for you." I hold the flowers out to her. She takes them, and her smile gets bigger.

"Thanks, I have never been given flowers before. I love them."

She adds some more water to them before setting them on the end table next to the couch. She hasn’t taken her eyes off the flowers.

I have to remember to get her flowers a lot more often. They make her happy.

"We need to get going."

She drags her eyes off the flowers reluctantly. She is cute, being so happy about a bunch of flowers.

"Okay."

She allows me to guide her out of the apartment and into the backseat of my car. I slip in beside her.

"Did you have a good day at work today?" she asks me.

"Couldn’t concentrate. I had something on my mind that was distracting me."

Her phone goes off. She glances at it and turns it off.

"If it’s important, you can answer it. I don’t mind."

"It isn’t."

Her eyebrows drop like she’s trying to decide something. She takes a deep breath.

"My ex. He keeps calling me. He’s even stopped by to talk. I told him to leave me alone, but he won’t."

"The guy was sleeping with your sister. You left him at the altar. What would he have to talk to you about?"

I look at her. She doesn’t look happy.

"Does he want to get back together, after everything?"

"Yeah, I don’t understand. He acts like nothing is wrong between us."

She looks so upset. I hate seeing her like this.

I pull her close. She smells so good, flowery but not overwhelming, just a soft scent.

The guy might be nuts. I feel bad for her. I’m thinking that Lily is just now realizing how crazy her ex is.

The car pulls up to the restaurant. We have to table this discussion until later. I help Lily out of the car and place my hand on her lower back. Her dress dips down at the back, so I’m touching her smooth, soft skin.

We walk into the restaurant; our table is waiting for us. They seat us immediately in the back corner. It has the most privacy, so we shouldn’t be disturbed. We take our seats and are given menus.

I lean toward Lily. She’s on my right.

"Everything is good. You can’t go wrong."

She looks the menu over.

"Do you know what you want?" I sip my water.

"Lobster pasta."

"Good choice. Do you want some wine?"

Her mouth turns into a frown. She is so cute.

"Not a wine drinker, huh?" She shakes her head. No problem.

The waiter approaches and takes our order. I choose the steak pizzaiola. It’s my favorite dish here. We sit back and get to know each other. I have a good time finding out more about her. We skip over anything related to the wedding or her sister.

By the end of the meal, I know I should take her back to Jenny’s, but I have to ask.

"Would you like to go back to my place?"

She bites that bottom lip of hers again. And that really turns me on.

"If you don’t want to, that’s fine," I tell her.

I’m not going to push her. I don’t say another word on the subject when we leave.

We walk out of the restaurant and get back inside my car before she speaks.

"I would like to go to your place, but only to hang out."

I understand what she means right away—no sex. I will take her any way I can get her.

"I’ll call Jenny and let her know."

She turns her phone back on. It dings several times. She scrolls through messages.

"Is that your ex texting you?" I don’t think she’ll say yes.

"He doesn’t give up."

No, he doesn’t. He actually seems a little off. A little obsessive.

I can’t help overhearing her talking to Jenny. The most I can get out of it before she hangs up her phone is that the crazy ex came to the apartment looking for her again.

"I think you should stay at my place for a while. Your ex won’t be able to get close to you there."

"I don’t think that’s necessary. He won’t hurt me."

I look into her eyes. She truly believes that, but I’m not convinced. Whether she wants to or not, she needs to stay at my place for her own protection and my peace of mind.

Anyway, it’s where she belongs.