Chapter Thirteen
With the dinner rush over, Lily took a moment to stretch out the kink that was sitting right between her shoulder blades. Three more hours to go. Though those hours would be at a much slower pace, mostly pie and coffee with only a few late comers looking for dinner. Her feet appreciated that fact.
Mrs. Potter hadn’t been much help with the sleep walking thing – once she’d put her hearing aids in and Lily had been able to explain the situation. The older woman hadn’t had any experience with much more than her son talking in his sleep. But the stories Mrs. Potter had shared regarding some of her son’s nocturnal conversations had been hilarious. Despite the lack of answers, Lily had had fun and been able to relax.
Of course, as soon as she had left, her brain had started to nag at her. Reminding her that the question of how she got home the night before was a perfect excuse to visit that bear. She was practically twitchy with the desire to see him again and she really needed to get a handle on that. Her mental state was proof positive that she wasn’t ready for a relationship – ifheeven wanted one. And how much did she really know about the male? She could probably tally up her knowledge of Christian Black on one hand.
Excellent reason to start avoiding him once more in order to get over this silly infatuation, right? Too bad only a tiny portion of her brain seemed to be on board with the plan.
The bell chimed over the door and Lily turned to welcome the new customer. Speak of the devil… her eyes drank in every inch of that bear as he raised a hand in greeting. The male was just too yummy. The mere sight of him caused her belly to clench while her body began to hum in some sort of weird recognition.
Though Christian was a regular at the diner for breakfast, he didn’t typically come in at night, usually too busy with his renovations, so seeing him was a surprise, and her body was absolutely thrilled at the unexpected visit.
Absently, Lily smoothed her hands over her hair and the front of her apron only to stop abruptly with a disgusted huff once she realized the absurdity of what she was doing. Christian had sparred with her, had seen her grass stained and sweaty, he’d seen her after work, coffee-stained, and smelling like a grease trap, not to mention how many times he’d seen her here at work, hustling around like a chicken with her head cut off…
“Hey.” Christian smiled at her fondly from his seat in the booth and those giddy butterflies in her belly danced at the sight. She hadn’t even realized she’d walked to his table, too distracted while she mentally castigated herself for her foolishness. See? This was a problem. Here she was completely awake and couldn’t remember how she got from point A to point B. Was it any wonder that she was losing time when her brain couldn’t seem to focus any time that bear was around? She needed to stop the madness.
Lily pasted on her best professional smile as her hands went to work laying out the paper placemat with a map of Vermont, the napkin rolled silverware, and a menu. “Renovations done for the night?” Her voice sounded clipped and strained to her ears, like someone else was talking for her. Odd.
Christian’s brow scrunched a bit in concern and those deep brown eyes moved over her face. Lily had to look away and clear her throat, suddenly nervous under his scrutiny.
Finally, he pulled the heat of his gaze from her and turned his attention to the menu, answering her question with a strange flatness to his tone. “Yeah. I need to do another coat of paint tomorrow, but until then, I’ve done all I can do.”
Lily nodded, the clenching in her belly no longer the giddy anticipation but rather a hard knot of nerves leaving her tense and uncomfortable. “Do you know what you want?”
Still staring at his menu as if it had somehow offended him, he clipped out, “Just pie, thanks.”
That tone, the set of his jaw, something was very wrong and everything inside of Lily rebelled against this version of Christian. Where did her flirt go? Why was he not teasing her and aggravating her with that smug grin on his face? This was not her bear. This was a cold stranger that she didn’t like. Not at all.
She stood there, her feet rooted to the floor, a sudden case of heartburn making her chest feel too tight. She knew she should move, go get him his pie, but her limbs refused to obey. And finally,finally, he looked at her, one brow arched over cold eyes as if to ask why she was still standing there. Why indeed?
With a low growl she couldn’t seem to swallow, Lily spun on her heel, her legs finally catching up with the commands of her brain, only to be halted by a hand on hers, pulling her back. Christian stood and glared down at her as he held her hand captive. His growl was so much more intimidating than hers, yet she wasn’t afraid. Christian Black may attract her despite her best efforts. He may infuriate her, aggravate her, amuse her, and even charm her, but he had never once made her feel afraid. And maybe she should wonder why that was… Even that day that they had kissed after sparring and she had had her little freak out – the fear hadn’t been of him, but of the memories that still haunted her. But she couldn’t think about that right now, too confused by her current warring emotions. His highhandedness should have had her snatching her hand back and giving him a firm set down, but at the same time, she liked having her hand in his. Stupid, stupid gooey feelings.
His voice was low pitched and rough. “I hate it when you do that. I thought we were friends.”
Is that how he thought of her? Just a friend? She should be glad. After all, hadn’t she just been arguing with herself that she needed to step back when it came to him and keep her distance? So why did it hurt that his feelings only ran as deep as friendship? Because deep down, in places she didn’t like to talk about, she wanted what Daisy had, what Mrs. Potter had had before her husband passed on, what Rin had, even her former sparring partner, Conner… They all had relationships, partners, and mates. They had someone to share their lives with. Someone to talk with about everything and nothing, and someone to share the joys as well as the burdens. And maybe, just maybe, those gooey feelings she had been fighting so hard, was the universe telling her that with this male – this aggravatingly arrogant bear – she was ready to take that leap of faith. The rest of his words finally penetrated the fog of astonishment clouding her brain. Confusion knit her brow. “Do what?”
Another low growl rumbled from his chest. “That fake smile,” he spat. “Like I’m some stranger and you’re forced to be nice to me.”
The breath caught in Lily’s chest. Her eyes searched his, only to find disappointment tinged with hurt. Her attempt at distance had done that, caused him pain. All of that arrogance and cock-sure swagger, but underneath, he was just as vulnerable to hurt as she was, possibly scared to take a chance on her as well, and that knowledge only seemed to deepen the bond, pulling her even closer, and tying her to this bear with invisible strings. Why had she been fighting this? Right now, she couldn’t recall a single reason.
Offering a soft, sincere smile, Lily squeezed his hand and watched in amazement as the tension seemed to melt away from those stiff shoulders, his face smoothing into a pleased smile of his own before he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. A brief peck, just the barest of glances, before he returned her little squeeze and released her to retake his seat.
The bounce in her step renewed with the giddy feelings rolling through her belly, Lily went to get the pie – and since there were no other customers clamoring for attention at the moment, she also grabbed a piece for herself.
All day, Christian had been looking forward to seeing Lily. Oh, he had tried to play it cool – forcing himself to finish the work that needed to be done. But after the events of the night before, he would be the first to admit that he felt like a kid the night before Christmas. They had made so much progress. Just the way she had looked at him like she wanted to eat him up… He wouldn’t make the mistake of rushing her though. No way. When they were together – and he was absolutely confident that they would be – he wanted Lily one hundred percent on board. And if that meant he suffered a mild case of blue balls while they watched a movie, so be it. She was worth it.
Loathe to wake her after she had fallen asleep half-way through the movie, Christian had carried her home where he knew she’d be more comfortable. The feeling of her in his arms, the way she’d snuggled into his chest… it was like having a glimpse of a future that he wanted so badly he could taste it on his tongue.
Then, to finally see her and have all of that optimism killed by that fake smile that he hated. Nails on a chalkboard. What had happened between last night and today to reduce him to the ranks of random customer number one-hundred-seventy-who-cares? Whatever the cause, the result had been like a fist to the gut.
An enormous piece of pie appeared before him and Christian looked up with a smile of appreciation that grew even wider when he saw Lily was taking the seat across from him with her own slice. Not about to remind her of whatever had caused her earlier frostiness, and risk its return, he kept his attention on the pie. Breathing in deeply, the scent of warm apples, cinnamon, and sugar made his mouth water. “This smells fantastic,” he groaned before taking a big bite. After all, if his mouth was full, he was less likely to stick his foot in it. Right?
Christian was half-way through his pie when Lily spoke up, “Can I make you dinner tomorrow night?”
His loaded fork froze mid-way to his mouth,his mind a whirl of images: eating dinner with her… eating dinner off of her… eating her... Instant erection painfully pushing against his fly had him squirming in his seat wishing he could adjust himself and relieve the pressure.
"It's okay if you have other plans." Lily shrugged, staring down at her plate, toying with what remained of the desert.
He'd taken too long to answer, he realized, too busy indulging his fantasies and she'd obviously taken his silence as him thinking of how best to turn her down. He nearly snorted at the thought. It would have to be a life or death emergency for him to turn down the golden opportunity she was handing him.
"What time should I be there?"
