"Well, I"m over Nate"s cheating. Let it go." Although she couldn"t control what they"d do to him if their paths happened to cross, or would she mind if one of them punched the pretty smirk off his face. As a matter of fact, it would probably bring her some pleasure.
"So what"s bothering you then? Another guy broke your heart? I didn"t know you were dating again," he said casually, as if she always made it a point to tell her brothers who she was dating. For the record, she typically avoided the topic and didn"t bring Nate over until they had the "talk" and established them as boyfriend and girlfriend.
A nervous chuckle escaped her throat. "You guys need to stop treating me like I"m five."
"You weren"t dating at five," Rafa grunted then seemed to think about it for a second and looked at her for confirmation, causing Lily to laugh.
Her brother came to his feet, stretching to his full six foot-plus height. Faithful automatically sprang to her paws. What a b.i.t.c.h. Shaking her head, she walked past her brother and his beloved dog.
"You don"t see me all over your love life," Lily said over her shoulder. In fact, she wouldn"t set one of her friends up with any of them. They were handsome, charming, and what she referred to as male wh.o.r.es.
"Really, how old were you when-" Rafa asked in a low tone behind her.
"If I tell you, I"d have to kill you," she shot over her shoulder without stopping her stride. They didn"t have to know that other than Adam, there had only been Nate and her college boyfriend. Her brother swore under his breath. Together they entered the charming European style eat-in-kitchen that had all the elements to be the heart of the home. Warm, peachy tones and creamy whites play nicely together. Her mother stood by the counter, kneading dough with bare hands, preparing to make biscuits. Her father came to join her mother, placed a gla.s.s of wine by her side. The two shared a glance then kissed.
Lily caught her breath over the intimate moment. It happened so quickly she almost missed it, but for one second, her father"s hand touched her mother"s back and pulled her into him. Their lips touched in a sweet, light kiss that spoke louder than words. The gesture exuded warmth, comfort, and their deep love.
The loneliness she had been fighting all day resurfaced. Now she understood the reason behind it. Her parents had something that was out of her reach. They had love. As much fun as she had with Adam, their relationship was built on nothing of substance. And that was why she had to end it no matter how much he tried to sway her otherwise. And he would. She was sure of that. Women didn"t walk out on Adam Aquilani. Subconsciously, one of her hands came to rest on her stomach, no matter what happened, they were forever linked.
"Stomach is upset?" Rafa whispered in her ear, causing Lily to visibly jump. "Who is the a.s.shole?" The underlying threat in her brother"s voice told her he suspected her little secret.
Lily shut her eyes. s.h.i.t. After counting to three, in Spanish and English, she turned to face him. His eyes reflected what she knew. Yup, he"d figured it out. "I"m just under the weather."
"Mom said you haven"t been feeling well for about a month now."
Lily froze, counted to ten. "I ate..."
"Bulls.h.i.t!" he muttered under his breath. "Some f.u.c.king guy knocked you up."
Her mother"s chuckle forced Lily to turn and focus her attention on her parents. "Hola Mama, Papa," she greeted her parents with a smile.
"We"re not done." Rafa whispered then walked away from her, Faithful followed her master. In a lot of ways, her brother reminded her of Adam. Strong, authoritative, and total alpha.
Ignoring the bowling ball sitting in her stomach and her brother"s eyes searing into the back of her head, she walked over and kissed her parents. Lily had toyed with the idea of cancelling her dinner date with her parents tonight, but since she was leaving for the Vineyard first thing in the morning and would not see them again till the wedding, she caved in. Now as her brother continued to watch her like a hawk, she wished she had gone with her first instinct, maintained her stomach virus excuse and stayed away. Technically that wasn"t a lie. Nausea had become her best friend the last few days.
"You look pale, love," her mother said, concern filling her voice.
Her father crossed the kitchen, squeezed her shoulder as he walked past her, and picked up a bottle of New Zealand Shiraz.
"Just tired," she answered in her most upbeat voice.
Her father seemed focused on filling the four wine gla.s.ses on the counter, but worry etched his face.
"Uh, none for me, Dad," she said in a nonchalant tone, ignoring her older brother who leaned against the wall, quietly witnessing the exchange.
"Still fighting the stomach bug?" Her father put one gla.s.s back in the cabinet.
Rafa snickered. Lily shot him a murderous glare.
"I"m feeling better," she answered with a smile.
In true father fashion, Raul Serrano stopped and scanned her appearance. Lily"s first reaction was to cover her stomach but told herself that would probably be a dead giveaway and kept her hands to her sides.
"Tu madre is right," he said in his always calm tone. "You still don"t look like yourself. You work too hard."
Lily smiled. Her parents always thought she worked too hard. "Soccer season is over," she answered, referring to the kindergarten league she coached, in addition to the basketball league and the elementary literary group.
"You do too much," her father continued.
"I like keeping myself busy." Because when I don"t, I find myself fantasizing about a certain dark-haired Italian.
"Still leaving tomorrow?"
She nodded. "Yes. And I"ll see you guys next week."
"S, s..." her father continued, the tone of his voice lifting just a tad with excitement. "Minka"s fiance called us yesterday and finalized all the arrangements for us at his inn. He"s a good man. I want a good man for you."
Lily opened her mouth, nervous about what would come out and decided it was best to not address her father"s statement. In two weeks, her stomach would still be flat. No sign of being preggers. The thought of having her parents on the island she had fallen in love with sent her into rambling about all the places she wanted them to see.
"I"m glad you"re coming." And she meant it. Pregnant or not, she was determined to have a good time at the wedding.
"Are you staying at the inn?" The question came from no other than her pain-in-the-a.s.s brother. Rafa picked at a fingernail, seeming uninterested. His casual manner didn"t fool her. As an engineer who traveled over the world, he was well-rounded, worldly, and too d.a.m.n clever. The smarty pants was trying to get a bead on her baby daddy.
"I"m staying with Minka and Jason." Ha! I"m quick on my toes, big brother.
He smiled. A sly smile, telling her he was on to her. Her phone vibrated from her purse. Lily"s heart skipped. It could only be one person.
"Your phone," Rafa pointed out from the other side of the room.
Lily"s gaze ping-ponged around the room, avoiding direct eye contact with her parents. She reached inside her purse and pressed the HOME b.u.t.ton and ignored the message.
"Must not be important," Rafa c.o.c.ked an eyebrow.
She kept her attention on her parents. If she ignored her brother, maybe he"d stop poking.
He stepped away from the wall and came to stand by her side, slung one long arm around her shoulders and squeezed the daylights out of her. "By the way, I don"t know if I told you but Minka invited us to the wedding too. And guess what, since we love you and Minka so much, we all accepted. I can"t wait to get acquainted with." He paused. "How do they refer to themselves?"
She knew Minka had invited her brothers and was still waiting for their responses. Two of her brothers were out of town, Rafa had only returned home a day or two ago from India. Zander was a Navy SEAL; she didn"t know his exact whereabouts, only he was somewhere in in the Middle East and Max was doing some photography work for National Geographic in Russia. Minka would have told her if they were coming. The light bulb switched on. Her nosy brother had narrowed down Martha"s Vineyard as the possible home of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had impregnated his baby sister. So he was going to do what any big alpha brother would do, recruit the other bada.s.ses and invade the island until they hunted down the b.a.s.t.a.r.d responsible for her fall from grace.
Her inside quivered. Lily twisted her neck as if sore and met her brother"s eyes. "Locals."
He nodded, a satisfied smug on his handsome face. "Indeed. Locals. By the way, you"ve been going there a lot lately. You probably feel like a local yourself." He paused, seeming to think about his next words, then gave her one of his smiles that had brought many women to their knees. "I love you, sis." He placed a light kiss on her forehead then turned to their parents. "Mom, I"ve missed your cooking. Let"s eat."
Since she couldn"t escape to her old room to avoid more of her brother"s probing comments, Lily smiled and nodded in agreement. But her mind was playing the worst case scenario. Her brothers coming face to face with Adam, because someone or two might not come out alive.
On a typical visit to the Vineyard, Lily always enjoyed the ferry ride sitting on the deck, sipping a gla.s.s of wine. Today, feeling dizzy from her third trip to the bathroom to vomit whatever she had left in her stomach, she slid her body on an empty chair close to the window and read Adam"s text once more.
When I promised, I meant it. Remember, no regrets. See you tomorrow.
The words brought a stream of heat against her skin and took her back to that fateful night in Chappaquidd.i.c.k.
Nate"s cheating had still been fresh when Minka suggested she joined her for a weekend. Needing the escape, Lily had jumped on the idea. She thought she was going to spend a few days with her friend and get to know Jason Montgomery, the man Minka hooked up with, much to Lily"s pleasure.
Instead, she got blindsided by Adam. From the moment he touched the engagement ring hanging around her neck, he"d penetrated her walls, forced out the reason for her sadness, then proceeded to tease her to laughter. However, it wasn"t until he found her crying in the middle of the night on Jason"s private beach did she truly meet Adam Aquilani.
"Liliana," his voice echoed against the crashing waves of the ocean.
She turned and came face to face with Adam. A cool breeze rolled off the water and blew thick, black hair away from his face. The full moon illuminated his features. Dark eyes searched hers with no trace of the teasing laughter she"d endured from him all day.
"It"s his loss, you know," he offered. "He doesn"t deserve your tears."
Pain and humiliation swept over her and she let out a bitter chuckle. "Save the flirting for tomorrow. I can"t do the bantering right now."
With a smile, he took a few steps closer. One long finger touched the ring then moved up to her cheek and brushed away a tear. He cupped her face, his thumbs caressing her skin. Perhaps it was that he found her at a low point in her life, but his touch affected her. It made her want to be kissed and touched, even if common sense told her everything about him was wrong for her. He was a bachelor, a playboy who spent half of his time in Italy or across the continents racing cars. And way outside her usual dating circle.
"Let"s go inside," he said in a low voice.
Lily noticed the tightness in his voice. Not that it surprised her. Since the moment they"d met, Adam made it clear he wanted to sleep with her. And what if she gave in to the idea? As much as she"d sworn off men, his blunt offer to rock her world stayed with her all day. She, too felt the attraction.
Only she was too logical, too rational to give in to a momentary attraction. She knew the hottest flames burned the fastest and she would be yesterday"s trick as soon as the sun came up. Because of that she fought the temptation to give in to the flirtation, the teasing. But in private, she wondered how his lips would feel against her own. His hands against her skin, exploring.
"Kiss me," she breathed.
She heard his quick inhale and for a split second the surprise registered on his handsome face.
"You"re vulnerable right now."
He stood before her like a book of poetry. She was the starving artist, dying to read all the beautiful words written into his infinite s.p.a.ce. "But you want to." And so did she.
He shook his head and took her hand in his. But she could tell he was fighting the temptation. "Not like this. When we kiss, I want you to only want to kiss me. Not when you are crying over some loser who couldn"t keep his d.i.c.k in his pants."
"And you could?"
With their eyes locked onto one another, he answered without hesitation. "When I make a promise, I mean it."
Somehow, she believed him. Lily let out a sigh. If there was a man who could make her forget and take away her pain, at least temporarily, it would be this gorgeous man standing here with her. Commitment wasn"t in his vocabulary; good thing she wasn"t looking for one. The last two days he had openly flirted with her, and now that she was throwing herself at him, he was suddenly making sense.
She stepped out of his touch and walked back toward the ocean, where she"d spent the last hour contemplating how to move on from the pain, the familiarity. For three years Nate had been a part of her life; he"d even moved in to her condo. They"d talked about babies, building a future together as husband and wife.
Some distance away, Lily sat on the cool wet sand. She brought her legs to her chest, leaned her chin against her knees and stared at the way the moon, almost too bright to look at, hung over the ocean; its light creating twinkling stars on the water.
"You should throw it in the ocean."
She glanced over to where Adam was now seating next to her. "What?"
"Your engagement ring. Throw it in the ocean and let go of the pain."
Funny. Only a few minutes ago, the same thought had crossed her mind but she"d dismissed it. No woman in her right mind would throw a ring worth thousands of dollars into the ocean.
Adam hoisted back to his feet and extended a hand to her. "Let"s do it. I"ll hold your hand the whole time. And maybe after I"ll kiss you," he finished with a smile.
He was teasing, of course. He"d been doing that since they first met. Slowly, Lily placed her hands in his and came to her feet. In silence they inched closer to the waves. He leaned into her and removed the necklace holding the ring and slipped it into her palm.
"I"ll be throwing away thousands of dollars." Really, she was trying to talk some sense into herself.
"It will make you feel better."
She inhaled the fresh salt air, and without giving it much thought threw the ring as far as she could. A fleck of water jumped in the dark and swallowed the weight that had been holding her prisoner. Lily stood, spellbound by the cleansing feeling that swept through her. The sea shimmered with indomitable power, granting her joy, freedom.
She turned to Adam. "Let"s go skinny dipping."
Adam"s laughter rang into the night like the strong currents of the uncontrollable waves of the ocean. "That good, huh?"
"I"m serious." Lily persisted and watched as the humor faded from his face.
"We would be naked," he said, his tone filled with s.e.xual tension.
She nodded, well aware what skinny dipping implied. "Scared?"
"Liliana," he rasped, "I can"t promise not to touch you."
Lily smiled. "Then don"t promise."
With her gaze locked on Adam, she stripped out of her shorts, threw off her tank top and stood before him in her thong and bra. His eyes darkened, burning her skin. He muttered something in Italian; whatever he said, she could tell he was losing the battle with control. He removed the crisp white tee, stepped out of his jeans and stood before her in white boxer briefs. Her breath quickened, fingers aching with the need to touch every one of his hard muscles.
"You might as well take those off too." Her eyes lowered to the fitted briefs that looked oh so delicious on him. "Once wet, I"ll be able to see everything."
He arched a brow. "You"re playing with fire."
"I"m aware." And to prove just how aware she was, she unsnapped her bra, wiggled out of her matching panties, and stood completely naked before him.
He sucked in a deep breath as his eyes took in every inch of her.
"Liliana, I need to know you"re sure of this," he said, his voice very quiet.
She stared back at him. "I"m sure."
Absolute silence settled between them. She watched Adam"s face, and her heart clenched at the raw desire in his eyes. Without a word, he removed his T-shirt and slipped out of the boxers and stood gloriously naked in front of her with the most impressive erection. Now that they had officially crossed the line they had been teetering around the last few days, Lily found herself uncertain of what to do next. So she gawked at the perfection before her.
"First one in the water gets two o.r.g.a.s.ms," he shouted over his shoulders as he ran toward the ocean, giving her full view of his perfect a.s.s.
She laughed softly. She heard the rush of the waves and caught Adam"s silhouette floating. What the h.e.l.l! She owed him two o.r.g.a.s.ms. She sprinted toward the ocean, the grainy sand tickling her toes. The second the water touched her feet, she felt a healing coming little by little over her body and soul. She dove in and let the cool waves embrace her.
"You owe me two o.r.g.a.s.ms," Adam shouted from the water.
Lily swam over to him. "You cheated."