But Lily"s hand quickly covered Keely"s. "No. I much rather he tells me."
"Good thing," Claire said, "because what"s on the internet is not the full story. Only Adam can tell you everything."
Lily sat back. "So you know something."
Claire shrugged. "We all know the minute details. I thought you did as well."
Lily took a calming breath and tried to control the searing pain in her heart. "I don"t know anything." Her voice trembled. "I"m in complete darkness."
Claire squeezed Lily"s hand and smiled at her. "Don"t give up on him. He"s not perfect, but he"s a good guy."
"He refuses to have s.e.x with me too," she said softly. "Something about getting to know each other, blah, blah, blah." She rolled her eyes.
Her friends laughed. Lily broke out in giggles.
"No s.e.x," Keely said between chuckles. "That"s a problem."
"Tell me about it. When I"m not nauseous, I want to have s.e.x. h.e.l.l, even when I"m nauseous, I want s.e.x. I"m naturally h.o.r.n.y and this pregnancy thing just quadruples my horniness level."
"Horniness?" Minka asked, hazel eyes twinkling with humor.
"I made that up." Lily grinned. "Brilliant, right?"
Another round of laughter touched the table. "So how long has it been? I thought you guys made up that night you left after dinner?" Minka asked, her lips curved into a smile.
Lily sighed. It felt like forever. How the h.e.l.l did they use to go weeks without s.e.x? Oh, yeah. They used to have major phone s.e.x. "Uh...I guess today would make it two days."
"And you"re complaining." Claire"s eyes shot up with disbelief. "Try months, my friend; well, at least with an actual person. Toys don"t count."
Lily laughed. "You"re lying."
Claire shook her head. "I wish."
"But all of your boyfriends," Minka said. The tabloids always had Claire dating someone.
"All lies. Pure fabrication. If I smile at someone, I"m dating him."
"According to the latest tabloid, you"re hooking up with your co-star. What"s his name?" Minka asked with a frown.
Claire waved a dismissive hand and Lily caught a glint of her tattoo again.
"What"s the story behind the tat? Why do you hide it?" Lily asked and silence fell over the table. "Okay, what do I need to know?"
Minka shrugged. She looked just as clueless, but Keely and Claire exchanged a quick look.
"I fell in love once," Claire said, sadness filled her voice. "I was young and foolish." Her pretty face grew solemn. "It"s the past, a place of reference."
Claire"s tone told her this piece of her history had long been buried and forgotten, no longer a place of residence. Lily understood that. Over a year ago, Adam had helped her let go of Nate and start the next chapter in her life.
The front door of the restaurant opened and Forrest strolled in looking like no doctor Lily had ever known, in sea-green, broken-in chinos, a white shirt, fitted dark grey wool blazer, and black frame hipster gla.s.ses. His chestnut hair a bit tossed by the wind. In typical women"s fashion, they gawked silently. He didn"t notice them. Good thing because they got to watch him flirt with the pretty bartender.
Lily leaned closer to Claire. "Is Forrest in the brother zone too?"
"Totally," Claire answered without a beat, but her gaze lingered on him a little too long. He turned abruptly in their direction and their eyes locked. After a second, she looked away.
Brother zone. That was total bulls.h.i.t. Seeing through her new-found friend, Lily waved at Forrest and signaled for him to join them. As he approached their table, he removed his gla.s.ses and slipped them into the pocket of his blazer. Too bad, she liked the look.
"Why don"t you join us?" Lily suggested. "We"re having lunch."
He glanced at their faces, but his grey eyes lingered on Claire. "I don"t want to interrupt."
Lily chuckled and waved away his concern. "Nonsense." She scooted her chair to make room between her and Claire. "Grab a chair. Besides, we can"t let you flirt with the pretty bartender when there are four of us here."
He smiled. "You"re all taken."
Right. She forgot about that. "Not all of us."
Minka kicked her from under the table. Keely glared at her. And Claire looked like she wanted to die. Forrest wasn"t fooled either. He smiled, totally on to her scheme. But he pulled a chair and settled between her and Claire.
"I"ll join you for a little, but I"m meeting someone here."
s.h.i.t. He had a date. The realization dawned on Lily too late. A tall, pretty redhead dressed in skinny jeans and what Adam would call "f.u.c.k-me" boots walked into the restaurant. She glanced at the bar, checked her watch and bit her lower lip seductively. Yikes. Forrest was going to be someone"s lunch.
"Thanks for the invite, ladies, but I have to go. My date is here." He pushed his chair back, then stopped and looked down at Claire. "When do you leave, Claire?"
"After tomorrow," Claire answered without a glance at him.
"Let"s all meet tomorrow at the farm for dinner then. I"ll even cook something." He smiled. "Any special requests?" He asked the table, but clearly the question was directed at Claire.
"Umm, whatever," Keely answered. Minka and Lily nodded in agreement.
Claire shrugged, but she lifted her head and met his gaze. "You know what I like. Surprise me."
Their eyes stayed on each other for a beat. "As you wish."
Oh, d.a.m.n. He was quoting Westley from The Princess Bride. Totally swoon-worthy. "Sorry." Lily fanned her face. "Pregnant hormones are making me a little warm."
Forrest"s hand rested on Claire"s back for a moment then he smiled and walked into the hungry redhead"s arms.
By the time Lily pulled Adam"s sleek Porsche GTS Cabriolet into his driveway, darkness had fallen. After lunch, Minka convinced her to head back to Martha"s Way and help her with seating arrangements while Keely and Claire worked on the finishing touches of the bridesmaids" dresses. Between work and lots of laughter, they had lost track of time.
She spotted the black Maserati and glanced at the house. Once again, the light from the family room was on. Ready to make amends, she walked inside the house and headed down the hall.
Adam sat on the sofa, casually dressed in a T-shirt and worn jeans, nothing fancy. Yet his mere presence affected her, and her heart did that little dance only reserved for him. He was jotting down notes as he glanced back and forth to the large television screen of his last race. Even from the door, she could detect he was focused.
"I went back to Martha"s Way with Minka and we lost track of time," she said, announcing her presence.
"No problem," he muttered, picked up the remote and froze the screen to the part where he was knocked out of the lead. "My parents are on the island," he said over his shoulder.
She froze in place. "What?"
With his back still facing her, he nodded. "You will meet them tomorrow at the farm."
The morning"s tension still hung thick in the air. Feeling a sense of heady antic.i.p.ation, Lily let out a nervous chuckle. "You knew they were coming?"
She waited. He didn"t answer.
"Adam."
He placed the remote on the sofa, stood up and closed the s.p.a.ce between them. Flat black eyes with a lifeless look to them greeted her. Her immediate reaction was to hold his hands, kiss away whatever he was struggling with. But she held back.
"I"m sorry I didn"t tell you. It didn"t seem important then."
Translation-they weren"t important, at least not until the baby. Lily swallowed back the pain. Too late for her ego to be bruised, she already agreed to date him and explore the possibilities of them becoming more. "Let"s go to bed," she suggested in a choked voice.
His lips brushed hers. "Go ahead. I"ll come in a few."
She hesitated, but Adam was already on the sofa, his attention back to the television screen. The walls were back up, shutting her out once again.
Well into the night, Lily stared blankly into the darkness of the bedroom. A terrible weight fell onto her shoulders as she lay still on the bed. She waited, hoped, Adam would join her. But eventually, her eyes felt heavy. Eventually, she fell asleep. Alone.
Chapter Seventeen.
"Is this love or a deception of feelings?"
Warlock Simple things tended to become complicated when one expected too much. Twiddling her thumbs, Lily glanced over at Adam, his mop of unruly dark curls blowing against the autumn breeze. With his vision hidden behind a pair of black onyx sungla.s.ses, she couldn"t quite make out his expression. But everything about his composure screamed he was in complete control and was once again back to his s.e.xy cool, laid-back self. Unlike her.
In silence, he maneuvered his little baby of a car on their way to Herring Creek, his thumbs thumping to the tune of Transliterator by Devotchka. They had not spoken much today. By the time she woke up, Adam had already left for his restaurant and spent the whole day there preparing to shut down for the winter season.
There had been no mention of why he had not come to bed. But Lily already knew the answer. Fear of showing any vulnerability. The possibility of having another dream and exposing whatever monster oppressed him during sleep would indicate a sign of letting his guard down a bit, and expose his internal wounds. She caught a glimpse of them during his nightmare. He was now guarded.
In either case, that conversation had to wait. Right now, more pressing things occupied her mind. Like the fact she was about to come face to face with the two people who molded him into what he was today. Her stomach had been tied up in bunches since Adam dropped the news his parents were on the island.
Yep. She blamed her tossing and turning all night on them and that gorgeous man sitting inches away from her.
"You"re nervous again," he noted without a glance in her direction.
She squirmed in her seat. "I"m not," she said, then bit the corner of her mouth.
He smiled. "You"re fidgeting."
Okay. Maybe she was. But it was his fault. She clasped her hands together. A little warning would have been nice. And she didn"t mean the "Oh, by the way, my parents are here," type of announcement. Nope. Lily needed...she searched her mind for a decent prep time. Two weeks would have been fair. Just like he had for her family.
The car turned smoothly onto a dirt road leading through acres of land. Brightly painted farm buildings stood near rows of glowing green, ripe red and pure purple crops. Bold red letters marked a sign nailed to an oak tree, Herring Creek Organic Farm. The early evening sun, full and bright, combined with the earthy scent of compost made the farm smell like a secluded forest. She took in the beauty of the land. It was an agricultural paradise.
"How long are your parents here for?" she asked, ignoring his comment.
"They"re here for the wedding."
Yeah, he had told her that. Actually he texted her that bit of information earlier today. The Maserati drove past a rusty metal plough standing opposite a bundle of hay.
"The wedding is over a week away."
He shrugged. "My mother is from Boston. She spent a lot of time on the island before moving to Italy. And they still come back. You know that."
Yes. She did. But she had never been around. And they usually stayed with him. More importantly, she usually stayed away.
"They volunteered to stay here," he informed her.
"Why?"
"They know you are staying with me. I don"t know." He shrugged again. "Dad said something about not wanting to intrude."
"Do they know?" Her hands automatically folded over her flat stomach.
Adam glanced at her, caught hold of one of her hand and brought it to his lips. "Yes."
She sighed heavily.
The Maserati made a sharp left behind a red barn and came to a halt among many parked trailers and trucks.
"Look at me, Liliana."
Reluctantly, she turned to face him as he pulled his sungla.s.ses off. Once again, she found herself drowning in the intensity of his eyes.
"My parents came yesterday. I would have told you but we didn"t talk much during the day." A smile touched his lips. "They"ve known about you for a while now. Naturally, they are excited to meet you. And that was even before I told them about the baby."
Wait. What? Had the pregnancy affected her hearing as well? What did he mean they"ve known about her? That implied she"d always existed in his world. Too bad she couldn"t say the same.
"They"ve known about me?"
He nodded. "We discussed you a few times. Does it bother you?"
Oh, to have had been a fly on the wall during those discussions. "Um...no. I just didn"t think they knew I existed."
Adam brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. "Like your parents don"t know I exist."
Guilty. Her chin dropped and her gaze darted downward, with one finger he lifted her face back to his.
"I don"t know why I told them about you," he said in a gentle tone. His gaze bore into hers. "But I understand why you never told your parents about me. It doesn"t bother me. So stop thinking and let"s go have fun. Everyone is here tonight."
"Everyone?"