Chapter Six
Christian wasn’t sure why he’d just laid his soul bare in front of Lily, but once he’d started talking, he couldn’t seem to stop. It wasn’t that he was ashamed – well, he was a little bit, but more because he had let things get so out of control rather than shame in admitting he had a weakness. He was an alcoholic – truth – he owned it. He may not want to shout it from a rooftop, but he wasn’t going to lie, so admitting it was no big deal, but admitting it right then, to this particular female… maybe it was because he’d inadvertently scared her and she wasn’t the type to show vulnerability easily, if at all. So, yeah, a tit for tat kind of thing. He had exposed a weakness in her, accidental or not, so he needed to balance the ledger and expose one in himself. Only fair.
The offer of the book… well, that was a no brainer. She’d been looking like she was about to bolt and he’d latched on to the first thing he could think of to keep her there, keep her within reach, and keep her talking. Okay, so maybe he needed to work on his conversational skills and subject transitions, but hey, at least he’d managed to get her attention. And itwasa really good book.
Now, however, he was pretty sure his look of confusion wasn’t nearly as adorable as Lily’s had been. Did she show up here last night? Head scratcher… What was that about? “Ah, you walked by here – don’t you remember?”
Lily looked appalled. “When? What time?”
Had she hit her head? Suffering amnesia or something? How exactly was one supposed to ask a female if they had sustained a blow to the head without inadvertently implying that they may be going nuts? Hmmm.
He’d obviously taken too long to answer judging by the growl that was rolling out of Lily’s throat. Damn that was sexy, though now was definitely not the time to inform her of that. She looked about two seconds away from jumping on him, all teeth and claws. “I don’t know. Nine o’clock, maybe ten? You had just come back from somewhere and were heading home before you went on patrol.”
He wasn’t sure what in that handful of sentences had relieved her mind, but Christian could actually see the tension melting out of her body; her shoulders loosened, the hard line of her jaw eased, and the glint of anxiety behind her eyes mellowed to warm relief. And while he appreciated being the cause of her obvious satisfaction – even if it wasn’t in the form he would most enjoy – he didn’t want her to leave and he knew that that was exactly what she was about to do. She’d gotten whatever answer she’d been looking for and was now going to hightail it out of there. That thought had him scrambling for a topic of conversation that might intrigue her enough to stick around. Unfortunately, the usual topics he would utilize on a female he was attracted to wouldn’t work on this particular female, so he was left with the lamest bit of conversation ever – “Nice weather today, huh?” Just pathetic. He was pathetic. He needed to turn in his man card and hang his head in shame.
Lily made a point of looking out the window at the overcast drizzle outside but then shocked the hell out of him when she cocked her head and a slow smile stretched her lips until he actually saw the lovely row of pearly whites beneath. “Oh, yes, lovely.” She said with a nod and a grin. Christian couldn’t help but stare. That was the first honest smile he’d seen from her. This wasn’t her overly pleasant ‘I’m at work so I’m forced to be nice to you’ smile. This was real. The smile actually ignited a spark of yellow in those green eyes and added a bit of color to her cheeks. Stunning wasn’t a good enough adjective to describe Lily Oremun when she was amused – there were no words. Merriam Webster would be at a loss when it came to describing this female.
As if his heart wasn’t already suffering palpitations, the female then goes and drops a bomb on him that had his jaw unhinging and his chin practically hitting the floor. “Would you like to spar sometime?”
What? Miss Male Hating She Cat was handing him an opportunity to spend time together? Holy shit! Yes, please, where did he sign up? While his brain and inner manly-male was begging him to play it cool, his tongue was taking no chances of missing out on this possible once in a lifetime chance to wrestle around with this female. As such, his voice may have come out a bit loud in his enthusiasm as he jumped on the opportunity with a vigorous “Hell, yeah!” Oh, wow… smoooooth.
He could feel Lily’s green eyes as she moved over his form sizing him up as an opponent. He stood a little straighter under her regard and couldn’t resist tightening his muscles to display them to their best advantage. She nodded, pleased with whatever she saw in his stance and then threw over her shoulder as she opened the door. “Tomorrow morning. Nine sharp. Don’t be late.” With that, she stepped out and shut his door behind her with an assertive clap.
Late? Hell, he’d probably be there early quivering in excitement like an over-eager Chihuahua.
As it turned out, he wasn’t early. Nor was he quivering unless you counted the twisting of his guts. He was nervous, how about that? He’d never been nervous when it came to interacting with the opposite sex, always confident in his own worth. Yet here he was, moving into the clearing near Lily’s cabin where she liked to spar, precisely on time, and feeling ridiculous as he gripped a handful of daffodils so hard in his fist that he could feel the stems squishing.
He had found the little patch of bright yellow blooms the day before on his morning walk near the crumbled foundation of a long abandoned house or hunting camp in the woods. Returning this morning to pick them for Lily had seemed like a strike of inspiration at the time. Now he just felt silly, like a juvenile with his first crush. Who brought flowers to a sparring match? He was such a moron.
He considered tossing them before Lily laid eyes on them, but surprisingly, he didn’t. They were pretty and abandoning them to die seemed a waste, so if she didn’t want them, he’d keep them for himself – if nothing else, they’d brighten up his place.
“Fur or skin?”
Christian’s eyes popped up from the yellow flowers and spotted Lily standing in the middle of the clearing, legs braced apart, hands on hips. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, though she’d kept a swath of hair out of the band to lay over her scarred cheek – he wanted so badly to tell her that she didn’t need to hide herself, but he knew without asking that her scars were a sore subject and broaching that particular conversational nugget was akin to asking to be lambasted.
She was wearing a baggy white tee shirt, knotted at the bottom to keep it contained, and a pair of black bicycle shorts that hugged her narrow hips and thighs, accenting the lean musculature of her legs. She was ready for a workout yet still managed to look hot as hell.
Fur or skin… The choice was his. Fur meant she’d be getting naked but she wouldn’t be staying that way – would in fact be armed with lethal claws, and he’d rather not have any more chunks taken out of his hide if he could help it, thank you very much.
“Skin” he called back and had to hide his cringe as he saw her eyes lower to the flowers in his hand and then narrow in suspicion, completely wiping out the eager glint of anticipation that had been there before.
“What are those for?” She barked out, jabbing a finger in the direction of the bouquet.
Well, there was no help for it but to fess up. With a shrug, he tried to keep his voice casual, “I thought you might like them. They reminded me of you.”
Lily’s upper lip curled with a sneer. “Why? Because you think I’m some delicate flower? Pretty but useless?”
“Nope.” Christian shook his head slowly back and forth, daring to step closer to the female that looked like she was about one word away from blowing her top. “Because these flowers are strong, coming back beautiful year after year.”
Lily’s mouth opened and then shut. She blinked once and then more rapidly as her lips compressed into a hard line. Oh, shit. She looked like she was trying valiantly to hold back tears and if he had somehow managed to make this female cry, he may as well start digging his grave – she was so going to hand him his ass.
