Rules about Lily (6 page)

Jared had his first three dates today and Lily tried not to think of what was going on between the women or current woman and Jared. It was after lunch by the time she got into her office and any hopes of avoiding Jared today was shot when he came into her office. He seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, whistling nonsense and fussing with a very feminine scarf that he had tied around his neck.  She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight he made; he looked like an undecided gay decorator.

“Take the scarf off
Jared; it’s not your color.  It’s mine anyway, I was looking for that yesterday but couldn’t find it anywhere.” He took the scarf off and tucked it in his back pocket. “Hey, that’s mine. You gave it to me and you can’t take it back.” Jared pretended not to hear her.

“Why don’t you come and get it?” He challenged softly. His eyes took in the blue skirt that showed off her legs and the blouse that showed the roundness of her breast and failed to hide the protrusion of her erect nipples. Jared’s body went stiff with a need that hadn’t fully subsided in days.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, I’ll just get it later.” She caught the look in his eyes and quickly went around the owner’s side of the desk and sat down. She had started to perspire as the images in her dreams met the man from her dreams.

“How did the dates go Prince Charming?”  She held her breath waiting for his answer.  He groaned in disgust as he flopped down in her spare chair and looked at her suspiciously.

“You found women like those on purpose to torture me didn’t you?”

“What are you accusing your fairy godmother of my dear prince?”

“The first one tried to eat me and the second one could barely look at me without blushing. I should have checked that mailing list a bit closer. I’m afraid to know what tonight might bring or rather whom it’s going to bring. I don’t know if I can survive two weeks of this, especially when I already know who it is I want.” He stared at her pointedly.

             
Lily fought the urge to pat her hair into place, a nervous gesture that Jared was aware off. She had done nothing but drink in the sight of him since he had come in the room and felt uncomfortable with the forming mix of friendship and sexual tension. Jared didn’t seem to be bothered but it at all. It appeared that she was the only one that had been unaware of the masculine appeal that had been in front of her for the past twenty-two years. He was the same man he had always been but was suddenly so much more to her.

             
“I would love to be a fly on the wall tonight; I hear that Babs is a real treat.” She giggled like a girl with a secret.

“Well, now it’s my turn to be the wish granter.  I want you there tonight.” He sounded like he boss again, giving orders and expecting them to be obeyed.

“But, I have a date tonight.” She protested, more due to the tone of his voice than his request.

“I know, if you have to, you can bring what’s his name along” He wasn’t happy about the prospect.

“You know very well that his name is Brian and besides you need to be concentrating on your date and me on my date. A double date will be a huge mistake.” Jared knew she was right because the first time he saw Brian slide his hand off of the table to touch any part of Lily he would probably try to stick him with a fork. He was not giving any man a chance at his woman.

“It will be fine, just tell him that you had no
choice that your boss demanded it and besides, I need a familiar face tonight. I feel like I’ve been conducting interviews or being interviewed since I woke up.”

She shook her head in resignation. “OK”

“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven.” He turned to leave the office like it was a done deal.

              “Not so quick mister. My date will pick me up at seven and we will meet you at the restaurant.” She had to draw the line somewhere.

“Oh yeah, your date. I forgot for a minute.
“He looked sheepish.

“Sure you did” She didn’t believe that for a minute.

His expression grew serious again as her stared at her.

“Don’t let him touch you Lily. It won’t go well for him tonight if I think he’s tried to sample what belongs to me. I’ll play out this game you insisted on but don’t think for a minute that the same rules apply to you.” Lily swallowed hard. She had never heard Jared speak like that before, not about anything or anyone. He left no doubt that he considered her his possession, guarding her jealously. He didn’t intend to share her with anyone.

Chapter 15

A few minutes after she closed the door to Brian she had to open it to the furious pounding of Jared. She knew there would be a confrontation about the dinner and consequent disaster but she had hoped that it would have waited until tomorrow or next week or even forever but no such luck for her.

“You
don’t have to break the door down, you have a key remember?” The best defense was a good offense, right? She stepped back to let him in the house. He had no right to be so intimidating with that black scowl marring his beautiful features. Brian had been a perfect gentleman all evening and Jared had treated him like an invader, Lily like she was invisible and Babs with tolerance. Then he totally confused her with his hands off attitude but only for a little while. She knew that he was just saving it up for when he could get her alone.

             
“Where is he?” he asked furiously.

             
“Where is he who?” she felt like an owl.

“Your little friend from tonight, Brian” he made the name sound like a dirty word. She didn’t know what made her push him even further.

“Oh Brian, he’s in the bedroom getting undressed.” She responded with a taunting calmness. She barely finished the statement when Jared pushed her aside and was making his way down the short hallway.

             
“Jared no, I was only kidding. Brian dropped me off at the door and left, he didn’t even come in for a drink.” She trailed behind him hurriedly and bumped into his back as he came to an abrupt stop in the doorway of her bedroom. His eyes scanned the contents of the room and he seemed satisfied that no one could be hiding in the shadows. He turned and backed her up against the wall on the inside of her bedroom, spreading his long legs so that he was closer to her height and looked her in the eye with the dangerous glitter of his own.

             
“This thing between us is nothing to play with Lily; I would have really tried to hurt that man if he was here tonight. I know things are strange between us right now but it will work out, it has too. I want you too much to let you go and you can stop any idea you have about moving to Dallas or to Brian or anywhere else.” He bent his head even further to lay his lips along the soft spot under her jaw. He inhaled deeply and muttered something about beans.

             
“Jared, what are you talking about?” How could he be talking about food when she could barely remember to breathe properly? Like every other time he touched her, she went from normal to totally turned on instantly.

             
“What kind of perfume do you wear?” his hands continued to travel, with his lips caressing her hairline finally stopping as he buried his face in her hair and sniffed again.

             
“I don’t have on any perfume, why?”

             
“Then what in the hell are you wearing that smells so damn good, maybe if you stop wearing it we can slow down this insanity. I think I’m addicted to it.” By now her arms were around his neck and she stood on tiptoes to get closer to him, he solved that problem by plastering her body against his and lifted her easily off her feet. Lily wasn’t aware of being moved, only when her back touched the coolness of the bed sheet did she come back to awareness and answered his question.

             
“I don’t use anything, that’s just the way I smell and I don’t think I can change that.”

“Then we’re screwed because it makes me loose my mind.”  He fused his mouth to hers as his right hand slid up the length of her thigh and under her dress and paused as he caressed unexpected bare flesh. He stopped to look at her in surprise.

              “A garter belt Lily, I might not have made it through dinner if I knew this is what you had on under this damn dress.” He muttered huskily.

             
“I thought you hated the dress, you didn’t say anything about it all night.” Her disappointment was reflected in her eyes and voice.              He scoffed at her words.

“Hate
it; the damn thing has been driving me out of my mind with jealousy all night. Red looks fantastic on you and your breasts have been on display to everyone. I wanted to cover you up with the table cloth and now all I want to do is tear it off of you and throw it on the floor.” His hands had never stopped moving and the dress was unzipped and being eased down her body. She shifted her hips to help in the removal of the offending garment and felt herself catch fire anew at his in-drawn breath.

             
Jared felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of Lily in her lingerie, not in a million years would he have thought she would be wearing this delicate piece of witchery. He had never before given any thought as to what she wore under her clothes but he may never watch her walk across the floor again without fantasizing about what she wore underneath. He slid his index finger between the elastic of one belt strap and her thigh and stroked upward from mid-thigh to the edge of her lacy panties and back down to the delicate hook holding the pieces together.

He disassembled the front clasp and then the within seconds had the back half undone. He spent several long minutes playing homage to every inch of exposed skin from high inner thigh to her instep as he eased the sheer silk stocking down her left leg.  Both of them were breathing raggedly as he came back up to start on the right leg. Every muscle in Jared’s body twitched with a fever that soared higher than any level he had ever reached before and he had serious doubts that he would be able to continue for even five more minutes before he started ripping at clothes in an attempt to plunge into her.

              Lily felt no fear or concern, only heat and heard nothing but her own moans that sounded like it came from some far off place to echo in her ears. Her lower body throbbed and rolled with an instinctive rhythm that Jared recognized and responded to instantly. He withdrew abruptly and stood at the side of the bed to remove his shirt, his eyes never leaving her flushed body. His hands froze at his belt as he heard the intrusive knock at Lily’s front door. Lily sat up as he stilled and heard the knock as it came the second time.

             
“Damn it not now. “ He looked at Lily and seriously contemplated continuing and to hell with the unwanted visitor.

             
“Hello Lily, is anyone home? It’s Brian” He identified through the door. Lily saw the fury color Jared’s cheekbone and made a hasty attempt to intercept him. She cut him off as she reached the door to the bedroom by grabbing on to his shirtsleeves and digging in her heels.

“Jared
please, Do not embarrass me by bowing up like a pissed off tiger, Brian doesn’t even know that he has interrupted anything. I’ll talk to him for a minute and it will be fine. Please.” She implored again.

             
“Five minutes” he conceded bluntly. “And Lily, don’t let him touch you, I’ll be listening.”

She nodded as she made her way to the front door, wrapping herself in a floor length terry robe that was a gift from the spa that she and Ava attended. She opened the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind her and gaining a small amount of
privacy; if Brian found the move odd he didn’t question it.

             
“Brian, what are you doing back here, did you forget something? She was polite but extended no obvious invitation.

             
“Actually, I forgot two things. The first thing I forgot was to ask you out again, I had a great time with you tonight and was wondering if you were interested in doing it again, but this time alone, without the bruiser bodyguard.” Lily cringed inwardly, knowing that same bruiser was listening to every word. All three people waited for her answer and Lily didn’t know what to do. There was no obvious reason not to accept the invitation, she did have fun with Brian and had a chance at a real relationship as opposed to this craziness that she and Jared had fallen into. On the other hand the primitive, possessive side of Jared had reared its head and showed no sign of abating and Brian didn’t deserve to get hurt. If she were honest with herself she would also admit that she was reluctant to give up the addictive pleasure that Jared doled out.

             
“That sounds fine, I would love to.” She took the plunge and committed to another date.

“And the other thing you forgot?” Brian grinned, oblivious to the danger that stood close by. Brian took a single long step forward and tipping her chin upward with a forefinger, kissed her goodnight. His lips were warn and firm, with sure movements that at any other time for most women would have been pleasurable and the beginning to something further but Lily couldn’t spent any time exploring any feeling that might have come from it. Her only thought was that five minutes must surly be up and Jared always kept his word. She broke off the kiss and put a hand to his chest, stopping any further contact.