When Lily meets Max again at his sisters wedding, she still feels the crush she had on him when she was fifteen. However, even when things seem to be looking up for Lily when Max reciprocates his feelings for her, his ex fiance Sarah does not like t...
I am so damned proud of Lily for staying in this bar with me. After the hell Sarah put her through just now, I wouldn't have blamed her for wanting to leave straight away. To make sure that she isn't under any scrutiny from the people in this bar, I have her swap seats with me so that her back is to them. There are occasional looks that get thrown our way, but I ignore them and focus on Lily. It easily dawns on me I brought here to make her feel better after the burglary and now she has the stress of Sarah once again on her back, so I try to keep her engaged in conversation and make sure that she is having a good time.
"So, when do you go to France?"
"Not until next Monday, so this week is all about the planning for it." I absentmindedly rub the back of my neck. "This is perhaps the biggest move for our company in years. I just hope that we don't mess it up somehow."
"I don't see how. From everything you've told me about it, it sounds like you have everything under control."
I take a sip from my beer bottle. "I feel like we do. I have a good team working for me, but it's always strenuous when you take a gamble like this."
"I'm sure it'll be a success." She rests her head in her hands and looks at me sweetly. "I can't believe you're going to France. I bet it's such a beautiful place."
"You've never been?" I ask.
"I've always planned to, but I just haven't gotten around to it."
"You should. It's an amazing country."
She shrugs her shoulders. "I will one day. Right now, I need to focus on the shop."
"You should also have fun."
She rolls her eyes humorously. "Yes, Dad."
"So stubborn," I tease before finishing my bottle and resting it down on the table. I glance at the rest of the bar and see that no one is looking at us anymore, so I decide that now is probably the best time to leave. "Are you ready to get out of here? You promised me a round of sex for letting you pay."
She lifts a brow. "Only one?"
Fuck me. "Let's go." I take hold of her hand and quickly guide her out of the place, glaring at anyone who even dares to look at her funny. Once we make it outside, Lily skips eagerly to my McLaren, but as soon as she reaches her door, she halts. "Oh, my god!" she gasps, bringing her hands up to her face.
"What's wrong?" I ask, quickly making my way to her. When I look to where Lily's startled eyes are fixed, I suck in a sharp breath. The word 'bitch' has been scratched onto the passenger door in large, shaky letters. "Fuck," I mutter. As my anger grows inside of me, I let it out and kick the sidewalk as hard as I can. "Fuck!" I lift my head up to the sky, placing my hands behind my head as I wonder what I am going to do about this.
"Max, I'm so sorry," Lily sympathizes with tear-filled eyes. "If I hadn't had made us stay, she probably wouldn't have been able to do this."
I soothingly rub my hand up and down her back. "You're not to blame for this. I'm proud that you held you head high and stayed. Please don't think this is your fault for one second."
"But this is going to cost you a lot to fix. The scratches look like they've gone deep."
"Let me worry about that."
"What are you going to do about Sarah?"
"I'll go to the police in the morning. She's gone too far this time."
"Yes, she has."
I hold Lily for a while longer until she calms down. When I feel like she's ready, I bend my head and kiss her hair. "Come on, let me take you back to yours. I'll fill the tub for you so you can have a soak."
"That sounds nice," she sniffles against my shirt.
I open up her door for her, trying to shield the cruel word from her view as she gets in.
When she's safely in her seat, I shut the door and make my way round to my side of the car, mentally cursing Sarah for ruining another day with Lily.
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I watch Lily as she lowers her body in the tub, slowly disappearing beneath the bubbles. When she's settled, I climb in behind her and wrap my arm around her stomach, gently pulling her back so that she's resting against me. She sighs contentedly and rests her arms against the side of the tub. "This was a good idea. I always loosen up when I have a good soak."
I kiss the crevice in her neck. "I'm happy to hear that. You need to relax after everything you've been through recently." I kiss her neck again, causing her to squirm against me.
"So do you. We've both been having an awful time."
I cough out a short laugh. "You can say that again. I even tried to do something nice to take our minds off of certain things and instead I ended up making things worse."
I feel her shake her head against me before tilting her head sideways to look at me. "You didn't. Everything that has happened this past week has all been out of our control. You've managed to make every situation easier for me. Whether it's been defending me or supporting me."
I give a small smile and bury my face in her hair, breathing in her heavenly scent. "I can't believe we actually haven't done this sooner."
"What? Sharing a tub together?" she giggles lightly, rolling the bubbles around in her hands.
"No. Us."
"Oh."
She only says one small word, but I can hear the clear smile in it.
"Did you ever like me when we were younger?" she asks curiously, tilting her head back to look at me.
I run my hands down her bare arms. "Hmm. Back then, you were my sister's young friend, spots and all."
"Hey," she squeaks, splashing water at my face. "I did not have spots."
I chuckle and still hold her hands before she splashes me again.
"So you didn't like me then?" she asks, with a cute pout on her lips.
"Not probably the way you liked me, but I noticed you."
Her lips quirk up as she squirms her body in the tub. "I kind of like that."
"Good," I murmur before planting a kiss on the tip of her nose.
Before I know what's happening, Lily suddenly moves in the tub and turns to face me. Water drips off of her naked skin and her breasts are directly in my line of sight. I'm tempted to still her so that I can lower my mouth on one of her taut nipples to suck. "What are you doing?" I groan as Lily's wet body lowers on top of my quickly hardening cock.
"I'm going to kiss you."
I smile at her boldness and brush her hair behind her ears, and then caress my fingers down her cheeks and trace her lips. "I'm not stopping you."
"Good, because I'm planning to kiss you a lot tonight," she breathes before brushing her lips against mine.
