Need You Now (Martha's Way Series Book 2) (12 page)

“Life is dangerous,” he responded. “You
either live it or let the unknown cripple you. I chose to live.”

“But you could die. Look what happened
to Sean Edwards,
Allan Simonsen.” She named a few
race car drivers who’d died recently.

He leaned forward, his elbows on the
table. “Everyone dies, Lily.” There was emptiness in his voice she’d never
noticed before. As if he
were numb
. “I live for now.”

She shook her head.
“I need more, Adam. I need stability and tame.”

He sat back. “Tame,” he repeated.

“You’re not tame,” she said sadly. “You
can never be tamed.”

He brushed a hand over his jaw and let
out a breath. “You want boring.”

Silence.

He pushed his chair back, came
to his full height and extended his hand to her. Puzzled,
she looked at him. “I’ll walk you out.”

With a slight lip press, she absorbed
the unexpected shock of disappointment and lowered her head to keep it from
reflecting on her face. What did she expect?
For him to fight for them, or even worse,
try to convince her to stay.

“I want
you, Liliana,” Adam admitted, his voice very quiet. “When I touch you, I melt.
When I think of you touching me, I lose myself.”

Life needed to go easy on her.
It
just wasn’t ri
ght for him to tell her things like
that.
To whisper it as if she were
the love of his life while he was breaking her heart.

“But I don’t fit the mold of your ideal
guy. I can never be that person.”

There was a hint of regret in his voice
that pulled at he
r heart. Lily
glanced at him, his
expression clouded. When she didn’t place her hand in his, he dropped his
extended hand to his side and waited for her to join him.

This is it,
she thought and stood.
The end.
No more Adam. No more secret smiles or early morning phone calls. She walked
ahead of him, heading for the exit. Her heart beat a slow ache in her chest.
She stumbled, almost tripping down the stairs.
She quickly reached for
the wall to catch her balance
but he was already by
her side, strong arms around her waist. Their faces inches away.

“Don’t
fall,” he whispered.
His gaze on
her mouth.

The
warning came too late. She already had.

Then he
was kissing her, deep and hard. Lily’s arms instantly moved to his
neck. Warm, soft lips matched hers. Her body ached all
over, her head spun, and she forgot all about why Adam wasn’t the one. When he
pulled back, he lingered, clearly not wanting to stop. The band had arrived and
was singing a great cover of
Ain’t No Sun
shine
by Bill Withers. Dazed, she remained still.

He
released her. With clenched jaw, he ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll see you
around.” He walked past her and opened the door for her to leave.

Chapter Eleven

“If
you’ve deeply resonated with another person, the connection remains despite
distance, time,
situation
, lack of presence or circumstance.”

Victoria Erickson

Two days later, Lily sat in the
passenger seat next to Minka, fiddling with her phone.
There had been no word
from Adam. Not one single attempt. Her fingers scrolled to his name, too
chicken to press
SEND
, she chose the text
option and stared at the empty space.

What exactly was she going to say?

I miss
you.

I love
you.

I’m
carrying your bab
y.

She typed the words and stared at them
on the screen.

And now what?

Press
SEND
?

She pondered over the message. It was a
lot to communicate via text. Besides, hadn’t she been the one who chose to walk
away? In the end, she didn’t even have the strength t
o
let her fingers do the talking and discarded the phone in her purse.

“You miss him,” Minka said gently. “I
don’t understand why you broke up with him.”

“There was nothing to break up from.”

That was
a lie. She knew it and so did her friend. Minka pulled
the car into the entrance of Martha’s Way and parked in the reserved
spot. The stylish yet chic inn owned by Jason was hidden in the pastoral town
of West Tisbury on seven acres of spacious immaculate lawns, surrounded by a
whirlwind of colors. Dark reds,
bright oranges, and
traces of crisp yellow leaves drifting down from the thick branches of the
surrounding trees lent a perfect combination of autumn to the scene. Around
each bend on its grounds were benches where one could relax amongst the flowers
and f
ountains and take in the afternoon sun or the
night sky.

“Looks like Keely and Claire are already
here,” Minka informed her, pointing to the parked orange Jeep. “Adam will be
here later. Will you be okay?”

The answer was a resounding no, but she
couldn’t ask them to exclude him. They were a tight knit circle that she’d
somehow managed to weave herself into.
Besides,
she knew going in this day
would eventually come. “I’ll be fine,” she replied.

“He needs to k
now.”

They stepped out of the car. A light
breeze passed, making the falling leaves twirl in the air and evoking fond
memories of jumping into piles of leaves with Adam last autumn. A soft smile
touched the corners of her lips. “I will tell him. I just
need the right moment.”

Minka took her hand and squeezed it.
“I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t be. I’ll be fine.” She smiled.
“And I will tell him.”

Minka
nodded, tucked her curls back behind her ears. “Jason hasn’t asked me what’s
going on, so don’t worry a
bout that. You can stay
with us as long as you want.”

Lily
nodded. Jason hadn’t asked her any questions either, but during dinner, he no
longer offered her wine. He had to know. He was a perceptive man. Jason and
Minka, as expected were perfect hosts, but
she
couldn’t help but feel she’d be in the way for two weeks. The wine and food
festival was over, the remaining crowd was dwindling, and soon the island would
consist only of locals. She made a mental note to speak to Nora, Martha’s Way
manager, to book a
room for this week and next.

Lily stopped her strides, bent down and
picked up a leaf from the ground. “Autumn is such a perfect time for a
wedding.” She brushed the dry, brittle foliage against her fingers. “It’s going
to be absolutely beautiful. You’re
going to look
amazing.”

“You think so?” Minka asked without a
hint of the insecurity she’d worked so hard to overcome.

“Hell, yeah.
I can’t wait to see the
dress. Come
on,
let’s go try on some
wedding dresses, my friend.” She hooked Minka’s arm in hers and
the two women chuckled together.

They found Keely and Claire in the front
living room sitting by the crackling fire, leisurely drinking a glass of wine.
As Minka’s longtime friend, Lily had met Keely before. But it wasn’t until last
year, during Lily’s vi
sit to the island, that she’d
really gotten the chance to know Minka’s sister and develop a friendship with
her. “Here comes the soon to be bride.” Keely hugged her sister, then Lily.
“And Adam’s kryptonite.”

The women chuckled. Lily had become
accustomed
to them teasing her about Adam. “I’m not
his kryptonite,” she said for probably the hundredth time.

Claire chuckled. “He talks about you all
the time, you know.”

No, she didn’t know that. “Adam and I
are not together.” She might as well put it out there.
Their relationship had never been a secret.

“Right.
Just sleeping together.”

“No, I mean.” Lily paused. “We broke
up.”

Claire’s pretty face turned into a
serious expression. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. I was looking forward to the
two of you making beaut
iful babies.”

All the air left Lily’s lungs. She
tucked one side of her hair behind her ear.

Keely brows knotted. “You were good for
him. He’s a fool. We’ll be sure to give him the stare down later.

Lily felt Minka watching her. She walked
over to the vint
age leather chair by the fire and sat
down. “Adam didn’t do anything.” Technically he hadn’t.

Claire and Keely’s eyes bulged in shock.

“You dumped Adam.” Keely’s voice went up
on the last word.

“Wow,
that’s a first,” Claire added. “Let’s drink to that.” Sh
e picked up the open wine bottle.

“Um, no
wine,” Lily stammered, causing the two women to give her a strange look. Lily
twisted her neck as if sore and rubbed the back of it. She knew they picked up
on her hesitation.

“Oh,”
Claire and Keely said in harmony
.

She
offered a tight smile. “I’m pregnant.”

“And she
hasn’t told him,” Minka added.

Lily
shot her BFF a look. Minka smiled.

“He
should know,” Keely said gently.

Claire
nodded in agreement. “We are here for you, Lily, whatever you need. But he
needs to
know.”

Friends were like that. They were loyal,
priceless; they shared your happiness and sorrows with you and call you on your
shit when you were being a coward.

“I am going to tell him.”

They exchanged another round of hugs.
When the tears fell down her
cheek, she chuckled and
tried to bring the attention back to the reason why they were there on the
first place. She glanced at Minka. “Let’s go try on that dress of yours.”

As Claire placed her wine glass down on
the antique coffee table, the bohemian brac
elets on
her left arm drew Lily’s eyes to the black ink inside her wrist.

“You have a tattoo,” Lily remarked. “Can
I see it? I’ve always wanted one.”

Claire hesitated then pulled the
bracelets back,
revealing the delicate black loops of the
infinity sign.

“It’s
beautiful. Why do you hide it?”

Something
crossed Claire’s face but it disappeared quickly. “I’ve had it for a while.
Most of the time I forget it’s there.” She exhaled, smiled brightly. “Let’s go
try on your wedding gown
,
Minka.”

Lily
picked up on t
he tightness in Claire’s voice.
Whatever story was behind the tattoo, the other woman wasn’t ready to get into
it. She understood that and didn’t press on. They all had their secrets. They
walked up the stairs to the main suite where the gown Claire and Ke
ely designed was carefully displayed on the bed. A gasp
escaped Lily and Minka’s lips as they rushed forward.

A
hopelessly romantic creation, the ethereal gown was covered from head-to-toe in
intricate Chantilly lace carefully placed to create an ultra-fla
ttering silhouette.

“Wow,” Minka’s voice trembled. The
emotion
s
clear in her voice.

Keely batted her eyelashes, fighting
back tears. “Come on, try it on,” she urged her sister.

Seconds later, Minka stood circled
between her twin sist
er, her friends and her
new BFF—
the wedding gown.

“Wow, check out the back,” Lily
exclaimed.

Minka spun around revealing a deep V
leading to a modest train.

Keely walked over to her sister. “You
look so beautiful, Minka,” she said softly, her voice choked with emotion.

Minka bru
shed
her eyelashes as if something was caught in them. The two women chuckled,
looked at each other and hugged. Tears rolled down their faces. Lily stepped
back and took in the moment. The tension that once existed between the two
sisters now seemed like a
figment of her imagination.

“It’s perfect,” Minka said with a
beaming smile once Keely stepped back.  
”Thank you.”
She tipped her head to
Keely, Lily, and Claire.
“To all of
you.
I love it. I love you.”

Another round of hugs and sniffles were
exchanged. N
o problem for Lily, tears came easy
nowadays. Her phone chirped, she walked over to the bed and picked it up.

Adam.

Her heart somersaulted.

“Lily, are you okay? You look pale.”
Keely remarked.

“It’s Adam,” she whispered.

“You should answer,” Minka said.

A
nd so she
did, with all three women watching her.

“I can’t stay. Come downstairs.” His
voice was low, gruff, and sexy.

She felt the blush race up her face.
Lily smiled grimly at her friends. “Adam is downstairs. I’ll just be a minute.
Be right back
,” she
said over her shoulder, already stepping out of the room.

Heart in her throat, she entered the
large living room and stopped. He stood gazing into the fire, his posture
stiff, tension vibrating from his body. A pair of low slung, dark denim
jeans
clung to
his hips. A three-buttoned hoodie with a
white crewneck beneath fit perfectly to his broad back. The tips of his
too-long hair peeked out of a heather grey beanie. Only Adam could make a
sweatshirt and a beanie look like an Abercrombie centerfold.
He turne
d and met her gaze. His gave nothing away.

“I thought you were coming to dinner
later,” she said, trying to break the thickness in the air.

“I want you, Liliana.”

His voice, the words, ignited desire
inside her.

“Adam…”

He held up a crooked finger. “Come
closer.”

Of course she shouldn’t. Dark eyes
stayed on her, daring her. Lily took one step forward, then another, until she
stood merely inches away from him. His hand cupped the back of her neck and
pulled her in to him. Then he was kissing her like her li
ps were air and he
was
drowning.

She took in the sweet taste of him, the
feel of him pressing against her, the robust sound of his groan when she
brushed her tongue to his. Drenched with the feeling of being desired, even
just physically, she brushed her t
ongue against his.
The act garnered a groan deep from his throat.