Page 93 of All the Ugly Things
Which was why I didn’t bother slowing my steps as I exited the elevator, headed straight for her apartment Sunday afternoon. Knowing Lilly worked Friday and Saturday nights, I waited as long as I could to stop down. I couldn’t stop thinking about her or the kiss I gave her that still lingered on my lips.
It wasn’t even a kiss, but the way she leaned into me when I pressed my lips to her cheek, barely grazing her soft flesh and the way she reached for me… it’d taken everything I had in me to step away from her on Friday night. More effort not to hop in my truck to follow her to Judith’s. To spend the rest of the night trying to convince her all the reasons why she should give me a chance.
I already dropped a bombshell into her hands when I left. I hadn’t intended to say anything, but she deserved as much honesty from me as I could give her.
I wanted to know about her weekend. Make sure everything went okay with giving her notice. Hell, I wanted to sit next to her on the couch in her apartment while she studied just so I could watch the way her brows tugged in and she chewed on her cheek when she concentrated, or the way she tugged at her ponytail when she was frustrated. All things I’d already picked up on from watching her work at the diner.
Besides, Sunday was Sunday family dinner and while I’d dropped hints about the kind of crazy family I had, I wanted her to see it in action.
I knocked on her door, shoving aside the lingering doubt of whether this was a good thing, or questioning if I was pushing her when I promised I wouldn’t. Was spending time with us outside of work pushing? Probably.
Didn’t change a thing for me. I wanted her to get to know Dad, see the kind of dad he was to us. Mostly, I wanted her to see and learn that even though she didn’t haveherfamily anymore, she could still find one, always, at Dad’s table.
Also, he was getting anxious and antsy to get to have her really know him. When Dad wanted something, I happily broke my back to give it to him.
She opened the door with a sleepy look still in her eyes, hair untamed and down, and promptly stole my breath.
It had probably been years since anyone told Lilly she was beautiful, but she was the most angelic woman I’d ever seen. Wide, surprised blue eyes blinked slowly and she rested against the doorframe.
“Good morning.”
“It’s two in the afternoon,” I said, rocking back on my heels and giving her my arrogant smile. Her gaze always stuck on my mouth longer in a way the rest of me enjoyed.
“I didn’t sleep well. Do you want to come in?”
I did. “Love to. Why didn’t you sleep well?”
She covered a yawn and closed the door behind me. Shuffling toward her small kitchen, she went straight to the one-cup coffee maker while pushing her fingers through her hair and lifting it into a mess at the top of her head.
“No real reason. What brings you by?” She barely glanced at me while she reached for a cup and grabbed a coffee pod.
I missed you.
The force of my thought made me suck in a deep breath. With the way she approached me, one step forward, two steps back, with one hand always held out to keep me away, I doubted that truth would sit well with her.
I was thinking about you.“I was wondering if you gave your notice at Judith’s,” I said instead.
“I did.” She took a sip of her coffee. Pale round lips closed over the rim of the mug and she closed her eyes, savoring that first taste. “My last night was last night.”
“What? Why?”
Lilly’s still sleepy, but large blue eyes rolled to the ceiling before meeting mine again. “Because it’s a diner, not a corporation. People don’tgivetwo weeks’ notice, I guess.”
“That’s not right. How will you get paid?”
“I was planning on calling Brandon to see if I can start a week early.”
As soon as she mentioned Brandon, I was already reaching to my back pocket, pulling my phone out.
She grabbed my hand, stopping me. “Don’t.”
“It’s a phone call.” What the hell was the harm?
“And I can handle this.” She pressed her lips together and brought her coffee to her mouth, glaring at me over the rim before she took a sip.
“But—”
“Don’t.”
