The Apartment (Apartment #1) (30 page)

“You’re so fucking beautiful… so perfect,” he panted. “You feel so amazing!” With that, his lips crashed down on hers, devouring her whimpers and moans.

Lily had never felt so cherished in her entire life. He had made her feel beautiful and precious. They had experienced plenty of sex together, but never like that. Today she had been loved—even if only for one day.

Bittersweet emotions made rivers of hot tears flow down her cheeks. She clung to him as they kissed, afraid to let him go, as if he could disappear at any moment, knowing deep down in her heart that he could. She kissed him all over—his lips, his cheeks, his neck—physically unable to break their embrace.

When she tasted salty tears on her lips, she assumed they were her own.

Three hours later, Lily walked into her bedroom at home. She hadn’t felt like fixing dinner and since George was out late at a PTA function she’d simply grabbed a container of blackberry yogurt and followed her cats upstairs.

Once she was changed into some pajamas she threw herself back onto her bed, sprawled out with her legs spread wide, and stared up at the ceiling. She didn’t move when Boober curled up into a furry ball between her legs and went to sleep. She didn’t move when it got so dark in her room that she couldn’t see anymore.

She just kept staring up at her ceiling.

It wasn’t until Wembley padded up and yowled in her face that she snapped back to reality. Turning her head to look at his fuzzy face in the dark, she sighed deeply.

“Wembley, what’s Mama gonna do?” He just stared at her for a minute before licking her nose.

“Some help you are,” she huffed. “I love him. I love him and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it. If I tell him, he’ll just run away even faster.”

The cat had grown quite bored with her whining by then, turning away and jumping off the bed to go sit on the windowsill and clean himself.
Men
.

Wiping fresh tears from her eyes, Lily sighed again.

One thing’s for sure. Scott and I are going to have to have a long talk when he gets back. No matter what happens, this just isn’t right or fair to him
.

She let the tears flow freely then, mourning the loss of their future together.

When she realized that the thought of not being with him anymore didn’t even hurt, she sobbed even louder.

About twenty minutes later, after she was all cried out and almost asleep, Lily jumped as her cell phone started ringing on the nightstand by her head. She didn’t recognize the number, but she could tell it was local and figured it might be important.

“Hello?”

“Is this Lily?” a lovely female voice asked through the phone.

“Yeah. Who’s this?” The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t imagine who would be calling her at such a late hour.

“Oh, good! I was hoping this was the right number. This is Maggie Foster.”

Lily glanced over at her bookshelf in the moonlight, her gaze landing on the now-ragged copies of Maggie’s books. This was just too surreal. “Um, hi, Mrs. Foster.”

“Please, call me Maggie.”

“Um… okay, Maggie. How can I help you?”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind my calling. I know it’s terribly late, and I had to pull a few strings at Dr. Wilde’s office to get ahold of your number.” After a moment of silence that Lily didn’t have a clue how to fill, she continued. “Can we talk?”

Her voice dragged Lily out of her self-induced pity coma.

“Of course,” Lily replied, sitting up on her bed quickly. “Is something wrong?” As she listened she leaned over and turned on the small lamp on her nightstand, illuminating the room in a soft glow.

“No, no, nothing bad this time,” she laughed lightly. “Actually, I realized that I never had the chance to thank you properly for everything you did last week. I would have called you sooner, but this is literally my first minute of alone time. I love my family dearly, but they tend to hover and cling when someone is unwell. Eric is the worst of them all!” She spoke the last sentence in a dramatic stage whisper, bringing a smile to Lily’s face.

“Don’t be silly, Maggie. I was only doing what anyone would have done.”

“Well, see, that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who would have gone above and beyond the way you did for me. Someone else might have given me a ride, but that’s where it would have ended. You gave me comfort, and I’d like to think friendship as well.”

Lily swallowed a lump in her throat before replying. “Of course I’m your friend, Maggie—if that’s what you’d like.”

“I would. I’d like that very much. I don’t know what it is about you, but I get the feeling that you are a good friend to have.”

Lily wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, but it was her turn to talk, so she tackled the subject that was making her feel the most uncomfortable. “Alright… I have to ask you something.”

“Sure.”

“Is it weird that I’m a big fan of your books?”

“You
are
?” Maggie chuckled lightly at first, and it grew into a full belly laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry to laugh, but I haven’t so much as giggled in the last few days and it just feels so good.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Why on earth would that be weird?”

“I don’t know. I guess it always feels a little surreal to me that you even know who I am. I was reading your stuff before I ever moved here.”

“Hey, I’m just a bored housewife who got totally lucky and sold some sleazy daydreams that I put down on paper, and I’m flattered that you enjoy reading them. Why should that be weird? I would have more fun talking about them with you than my mother-in-law, that’s for sure!” Her voice dropped down to another dramatic whisper. “I can just tell that she’s wondering how many of my love scenes I’ve acted out with her son and that always grosses me out.”

“How many?” Lily asked, before clamping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to ask, it had just slipped out.

Another loud laugh echoed over the phone. “
All
of them, darling, all of them!” After Maggie had calmed down again, she cleared her throat. “Listen, there was another reason I called. Have you ever done karaoke?”

That was probably the last thing that Lily expected to hear. “Not since college, why?”

“Well, we sort of have this twisted little tradition. Whenever something bad or depressing like this happens to one of us, we hit up the closest bar that does karaoke and make fools of ourselves. Now it just so happens that one of the little dive bars here in town has karaoke on Friday night.”

“Karaoke? That’s your twisted tradition?”

“I know it doesn’t sound like it, but the way we do it, it is. Emma and her husband usually tag along with me and Eric, and once we get a good buzz going we take our turns butchering the most ridiculously outdated stuff. It’s pretty scary, actually, but they will do anything to get my mind off things and make me laugh. I was wondering if I might be able to talk you into joining us.”

“Wow,” Lily replied, more than a bit stunned by how much she really wanted to hang out with Maggie. “Thank you. But are you sure? That sounds an awful lot like private family time to me, especially considering the circumstances.”

“The circumstances are exactly why I’d like to have you there, Lily. I’ve had my mope this week. I’ve cried my tears. Now I want to get drunk, be tone-deaf, and laugh. Something just tells me that having you around would make for a fun night. What do you say?”

“Well, I don’t know.” She had to remind herself that the world wouldn’t spin off its axis if she actually went out and had fun one night.

“Please? It would mean the world to me.”

Lily took a deep breath and a leap into the unknown—it was a feeling she was beginning to recognize and enjoy. “Okay,” she exhaled loudly, shoving her messy hair back off her face. “Okay, yeah. Why not?”

“Really?” Maggie all but squealed. “Oh, that’s great! I think you’ll have a fun time. Now,” her tone changed suddenly, all business, “Wear something kind of sexy-flirty. We make the biggest asses of ourselves and completely overdress for the occasion, and it’s a blast. Karaoke starts around eight, so we’ll be there to pick you up about seven thirty.”

“Wait, you’re picking me up? Why?”

“Never turn down a carpool to a group outing, Lily. It’s much easier to relax and enjoy the ride.”

“Okay,” she sighed with resignation. “Did you want my address?”

“I don’t think so. You’re still living with Mr. Blake, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Wait, how do you know my dad? Or where he lives?”

“Jesus Christ, Lily, it’s
Aledo
! Everyone knows where your dad lives. Besides, your dad and I go
way
back.” The evil laugh that followed made Lily decide to ask her to explain that statement at another time, when she wasn’t quite so scared to find out the details.

“Alright, so you’ll pick me up Friday,” Lily steered the conversation away from whatever wicked memories were making Maggie laugh. “Should I look for your car?”

“No, we wouldn’t all fit in that. Just keep an eye out for the most garish, outlandish SUV that you’ve ever seen in your life.”

“Alright, now I’m officially intrigued,” she laughed.

After a few more minutes of small talk, they said their goodbyes and ended the call. As Lily crawled into bed that night she found herself wondering how long it had been since she’d made a new friend.

She honestly couldn’t remember.

* * *

“Why, nurse! I don’t think I’m dirty there.”

“Trust me, Mr. Smith. I’ve seen what you do with this when you think no one is watching. It’s positively filthy!”

Lily gripped the sudsy sponge around her stranger’s engorged flesh, slipping it up and down his length underneath the warm water. She watched as he rolled his head back and forth against the wet tile and groaned loudly, temporarily dropping their playful banter as the pleasure flooded through him.

When his eyes met hers again there was a new fire in them. “Why don’t you join me in here, nurse?” he practically purred.

“Don’t be silly, Mr. Smith. You’re the dirty one here, not me. Besides, that little tub isn’t big enough for both of us to sit in.” Before Lily could say anything else, her unruly patient splashed a large handful of foamy water at her, effectively drenching the front of her scrubs.

“There,” he replied smugly. “Now you’re dirty, too.” The look he gave her was steamier than the water. “I think there’s just enough room for you in here if you sit on my lap.”

Within seconds, navy blue scrubs joined paint-splattered jeans in a heap on the wet floor as Lily eagerly straddled her beautiful stranger and sent a large wave of water splashing over the edge.

Neither of them noticed.

It had been that way all week between them, playful and lighthearted and
happy
. It was as if something had shifted since their argument, but Ethan couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

He only knew that he wanted her more than any woman he’d ever seen, and he was alarmed that he seemed to need her more and more each day.

He only knew that he didn’t want it to end yet.

* * *

The week flew by, and Friday night arrived faster than Lily expected.

She was brushing through her hair one final time in the bathroom mirror when she was startled by an obnoxiously loud horn honking outside the house. Dropping her brush in the sink, Lily ran downstairs to see what the hell was making that ungodly sound.

When she opened the front door she found two gorgeous women on her porch. Maggie Foster, looking like a voluptuous Playboy model, was poised with her arm in mid-air, ready to knock. Standing next to her, looking like a sleek supermodel, was the waifish woman with the sandy-blonde pixie cut that Maggie had brought with her to her doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago. Behind them, parked at the curb and sounding exactly like an idling semi-truck, was an enormous yellow Hummer H2.

Lily couldn’t help but think that “garish” and “outlandish” had been understatements.

“That’s your idea of sexy-flirty?” Maggie scoffed, bringing Lily’s attention back to her visitors.

Glancing down quickly at her faded jeans and bulky sweater, she couldn’t help but shrug in response. “I don’t know… I don’t have much in the way of flirty. And why are you so early, anyway? It’s not even seven yet.”

“It’s an ambush, Lily. You remember my sister-in-law Emma, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Same here!” Emma practically chirped with excitement. She was so visibly worked up that she was nearly jumping out of her skin. “Now step aside and show me to your closet.”

“I beg your pardon?” Lily couldn’t understand if it was a joke or if Emma was actually tweaking on something and looking for an excuse to raid her medicine cabinet.

“Maggie thought you might need a little help getting ready since you felt a little weird about hanging out, and I can see that she was right. We came early to get you sorted out.” And with that Emma was gone, blowing past Lily through the door and already making her own way up the stairs toward her bedroom.

Lily was left standing dumbfounded, not quite sure what had just happened, while Maggie patted her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, sweetie. It happens to the best of us. Emma is like a force of nature, and it’s best to just stay out of her way. Now let’s go up and see what the hell she’s up to.”

“But what about the guys?” Lily asked, gesturing to the two men in the horrendous SUV. One of them she quickly recognized as Eric, but she was fairly certain that she’d never seen the dark-haired man sitting behind the wheel.

“Believe me, this won’t take long.” Maggie glided right past her through the open door, a bit more gracefully than her speed-freak sidekick, grabbing Lily’s hand along the way. When they reached her bedroom at the top of the stairs, it was to find Emma already rifling through her drawers.

“What the hell?” Lily snapped. “Ever hear of respecting someone’s privacy?”

“I’m sorry about her,” Maggie said from behind her. “Just think of her as your own personal Tim Gunn.”