Sharks (8 page)

"Looks can be deceiving," Lilly said with a shrug of her shoulders. She rubbed her neck, trying to ease the tension building there. With each beat of the music her headache grew. She knew better than anyone that a girl could not judge a man by his appearance. One mistake in that department had given her the scare of a lifetime and she never wanted to duplicate that stupidity.

Amanda downed the drink in one last gulp, burped then saluted with glass in hand the empty space where the balding man who sent the drink her way had been sitting.

"See, I'm just dandy," she slurred the words a bit.

Lilly was pretty sure Amanda exaggerated. But a huge shiver raced down her spine, making her hug herself and rub her arms to generate a little warmth.

"All right, you win," Lilly sipped the drink tentatively through the straw, hoping all the while Amanda was right about this.

Amanda bent down, her smile a bit lopsided. "Everything
okey
dokey
?" she asked, snatching a potato skin at the same time. "Drinking like this makes me
sooo
--ravenously hungry."

Amanda always had a way of bringing her back to reality. She tended to be too hard on herself--a perfectionist. She was cursed--doomed--fated to always expect the worst. She didn't like the realization she was a pessimist, a negative doomsayer of the worst sort.

~ * ~

In a dark corner of the club, Bentley sipped his whiskey, watching and studying Lilly. He smoothed back his hair, knowing the women liked it a bit long and rakish. He hashed over all the ways he could get Lilly alone. Each plan had a fatal flaw. That flaw was Amanda. He had to find a way to get rid of the annoying roommate without bringing unwanted attention to
himself
. The man sending the drinks to the girls gave him an idea.

And if they accept the drinks, I'm halfway there.

Lilly was more beautiful tonight than he'd ever seen her. His heart skipped a couple of beats. He looked at the blond sitting next to him. With a trim figure and classic feature, the girl could be a Vogue model. But she was too ditsy to make anything of her life. He knew now, he didn't want a trophy wife. He needed someone he could have a conversation with, someone he could share his innermost thoughts with and someone he could be silent with.

Kasi
tugged on his arm. "Dance?" she asked, wetting her ruby red lips and giving him what she must have thought was a sexy wink. If he hadn't seen Lilly, the gestures might have worked.

A bit too roughly, he brushed her hand from his arm. "No, not now," he said, still brooding about Lilly.

"You're not much fun," she said, her lips turning downward she immediately searched for someone to take his place. "Since you're not much fun right now, mind if I ask someone else?"

Before he could answer, she sashayed her pert little butt to another table, bending over, placing one hand on her hip, she stared at him then turned to ask the same question of another man. He looked tall with dark hair. He wore a suit and sported a mustache. Bentley was sure the man could see a huge amount of cleavage. She'd make some man a damn good trophy wife.

Bentley just didn't care.

Moping once again, he watched Lilly sip the drink, the hurricane. He wished he were one step closer to having Lilly in his bed and his life, but he wasn't. Tonight he would leave the club without his date and without Lilly. Lord, but he had been celibate since that horrible date so long ago.

Waving for the waiter to bring him his tab, he reached into his wallet for his credit card. A few minutes later he strolled from the bar, a frustrated feeling permeating within. He really didn't know how to achieve his goals. He'd made too damn many mistakes.

~ * ~

A feeling of
deja
vu
wafted over Jacob. The evening before April first and he expected a call from Lilly, but it was midnight and he had to get some sleep. Waiting up wasn't an option. Besides he would be in Sacramento in the morning and he would see Lilly then. He strode into the kitchen and poured a glass of milk then decided he wasn't going to sleep anyway. Dressing and packing quickly, a few minutes later he was in his car and on the road.

I'm crazy. I know. But I have to tell her.

The sun rose over the mountains. The day looked to be a gorgeous spring day. Jacob hoped for Lilly's approval. He was about to become engaged. The girl, Sara, wasn't his usual type, which amazed him. And that very fact had attracted him to her. She was a lot like Lilly. She wasn't his usual blond-bimbo-bomb-shell girl. She had a brain and she wasn't afraid to use it. Sara wasn't quite as smart as Lilly and she wasn't as vivacious either.

I wasn't looking for another Lilly.

What am I looking for then?

Ah, but that was a valid question. What was he looking for? He wanted a lasting relationship. He wanted a best friend for life. He needed to be able to have a logical, realistic and intelligent conversation with the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

He turned off the main drag and onto a narrow little street lined with older model homes.

Home sweet home--it wasn't just a cliché. The words meant everything to him, and he meant to find a way to have just that--home sweet home.

Lilly's little white house only lacked the matching picket fence for it to be a classic. He remembered how excited she'd been the day she and Amanda had moved. Stopping the car in the driveway, he stared at the house, breathed in deeply and gave a silent little prayer to the gods above he could pull this off. For some reason he didn't just want but he needed Lilly's approval. If she understood and accepted, the next step would be to bring Sara to meet Lilly. And Lilly would have to approve of Sara.

To his surprise Lilly stepped from the front door. She had big fuzzy slippers and baggy pajamas joined with an oversize t-shirt. Her hair was swept back into a ponytail.

He watched her mouth the words "Oh My God…"

Chuckling inside and feeling his happiness flow from the inside out, he stepped from the car and waved. He felt like an idiot. His grin must have reached from one ear to the next.

"Hi there and a good, good morning to you." He smoothed back his hair and cocked his head to one side as if the gesture would make Lilly a bit clearer.

"You're early." She backed up a step. "I wasn't expecting you. I'm a mess." She turned as if she wanted to run.

"Couldn't sleep last night so I decided to get a head start on the trip." He wanted to pull her into his arms and give her the hug he been anticipating all night long.

"Well…" She stepped toward him, seeming to give the thought of running inside and slamming the door in his face good riddance. Hesitancy seemed to be the main component of her demeanor.

"Well what?" He held out his arms to her. "It's been too long, Lilly, way too long. Come." He thought of giving her a quick kiss too. But hey that might ruin their brother/sister relationship.

"No coffee.
Haven't had the time
to brew any." She blew an errant piece of hair from her face then tucked it in behind her ear.

"I'll put some on. You know I make a better cup of coffee than you." He laughed then shrugged his shoulders, totally unsure of himself.

"Braggart," Lilly said with a smile that lit up her face. Good golly, but if it weren't for Sara, he wanted to fall in love with this woman. But he knew first hand how dangerous falling in love with your finest buddy could be.

"But you love me anyway." Jacob stuck his hands in his pockets to keep himself from grabbing Lilly and freaking her out.

Lilly had reached him by now. She flew into his arms and hugged him as if she never wanted to let go. Man oh man was his imagination in overdrive. He was the one who never wanted to let go. He quickly took his hands from his pockets and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he dared. He always had the craziest turn-about feelings when he saw her.

How on earth could he forget Sara so quickly? He wasn't forgetting Sara. He was just acknowledging a lasting friendship.

"Of course I love you. I always have and always will." She roughed his hair and gave him a sisterly peck on the cheek. "But not in that way. I don't think I will ever love anyone."

Jacob realized suddenly how much he really did care for Lilly. He'd chosen a girl just like Lilly because he didn't think he could ever have Lilly. Settling for second best didn't sit well with him. The best--the first choice--that was what he wanted. He needed Lilly. But he'd made promises to Sara, promises he wasn't sure he wanted to undo. At the time he hadn't thought of Sara as second best. Sara made his heart throb and dance. She made him need to pull her into his arms and make love to her.

"Come on. Let me get dressed and you make the coffee. I'll be down before it can start to perk." Lilly was out of his arms and headed up the front porch before he could blink.

"Need any help? Getting dressed?" Once again Jacob stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, knowing this trip he had to come to terms with all of his feelings.

"Jacob!" Lilly turned around, surprise forming on her face. "You are not acting normally."

"A guy can try. Besides what is normal," he said with a half-hearted little shrug, immediately regretting his words and irreverent thoughts. They had tried dating and everything had gone wrong then they'd vowed to never try it again. He knew a relationship would end up in disaster.

The vow took place a lifetime ago.