Page 20 of Never Less
Our conversation goes on, and I watch as Liliana slowly relaxes. Char, being the welcoming host she is, manages to slip into the conversation that she was invited to last year’s New York Fashion Week. That unleashes a flood of questions from Liliana, and I smile at her enthusiasm.
“I was worried she wasn’t enjoying herself,” John murmurs to me after a half hour of fashion talk, and I realize he got up and is standing right next to me.
I shrug. “You know how it is. Everyone likes to be included, and she’s a little out of her element here.”
John smiles. “Char is good at that. Including people, I mean.”
“She is.”
My heart squeezes as I watch her and Liliana together. There’s a reason Charlotte prioritizes making others feel welcome. Her own family rejected her over her love of a good, caring man. She had to find her own support system, although she was never truly alone. John was always there.
When her family realized their mistake years later, it was too late. Charlotte wanted nothing to do with them, and she didn’t need them anymore. Her life is full of people who’d never abandon her like that, and I’m glad Liliana is getting to experience a small slice of that.
The music switches to an upbeat song, and Lori sashays her way across the patio, her eyes on Charlotte. “You know what time it is, girlfriend.”
Charlotte groans playfully. “Always keeping me on my toes, aren’t you?” She stands. “Come on, Liliana.”
“What are we doing?” she asks.
“What do you think?” Lori shoves her wine glass into my hand. “Dancing, darlin’!” Grabbing both their hands, she hauls Charlotte and Liliana into a near-empty part of the patio.
John and I watch while they move to the music. For a second, I think about joining them, but then I stop myself. Putting my hands on Liliana would be a level of temptation that’d be too difficult to resist, even in front of my friends.
Even when she’s my son’s girlfriend.
Even when I should know better.
Once the song is over, the girls don’t stop. John leaves my side and puts his hand on Charlotte’s waist.
“You mind if I steal my wife away? Anniversary dance and all.”
Lori pushes Charlotte into John’s arms. With all her attention on Liliana, she spins her around. Liliana’s skirt flares out, and satisfaction blooms in my chest at her flushed cheeks. As she dances and laughs with Lori, she looks so full of life. So happy. It’s the first time since she and Nate arrived that I’m not worried about her.
After a minute, Lori catches my gaze. “You ready?”
“For what?”
Lori twirls Liliana around again, but this time, it’s in my direction. Before I know it, the only woman I can’t touch is in my arms, her fingers splayed across my chest. She looks up at me with wide eyes, as surprised as I am when I lock an arm around her waist.
Dammit.
My pulse picks up at having her so close. When Lori plucks her wine glass out of my hand, I barely even notice, save for the fact that I’m able to run my fingers through Liliana’s hair now.
I don’t. No matter how much I want to, I can’t.
But I won’t leave Liliana hanging, either. So I start moving to the music, grateful that this song is much slower than the last. Liliana follows along, her body swaying in time with mine, and I slide my hands down until they’re resting on her hips.
Liliana’s lips are parted, and she hasn’t looked away from me since Lori twirled her into my arms. It feels so right to have her against me like this, even if it feels wrong at the same time. Her body fits perfectly against mine. Too perfectly.
And the way she’s looking at me… god, what I’d give to be able to take her into my bed tonight and kiss her until that pretty lipstick is smeared and her eyes are watering from too many orgasms.
“Dad? Lily?”
At the sound of my son’s voice, Liliana goes rigid in my arms. I step back, not too quickly but not too slowly. It was just a dance—we weren’t doing anything wrong—but the longer I let my hands linger on Liliana’s waist, the more the suspicion in Nate’s eyes will grow.
“Nate!” Charlotte rushes forward just as the song ends, closely followed by John. “There you are. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course. Happy anniversary. Levi and Matt told me about your Italy trip. You had fun?”
