Tiger Lily - May Dawson Page 0,25

better than I did.

I sorted through my bag until I found a black tank top edged with lace. Dark wash jeans. Simple black leather pumps with a deadly heel.

I couldn’t make any promises about the cloak, though.

As I waited for Archer to pick me up, I read a few more chapters of Love Blooms.

The princess was on her way toward a happy ending, I could just feel it.

12

Archer

As I walked up the front walk to Lily’s house, her grandfather rocked slowly back and forth in one of the chairs on the spreading front porch.

“Hey there, young man,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. One of his arms was casted, in a sling. He was rakishly dressed, with a full head of white hair. I wondered if Lily had tied the bow tie for him or if it was a clip-on. I wouldn’t judge.

“Evening.” I shook his hand.

“You’re here to take Lily on a tour of Silver Springs.” He made air quotes with one hand. “Even though she was born in town.”

“Things have changed a bit.”

“Mm.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “I wonder how much you’ve changed.”

“What?” Did he mean that Lily didn’t like me before, but she might like me now? I wondered how much she talked to him about my brothers and me.

Just then, Lily rushed out the front door. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, her parted lips glossy and coral-pink, and my heart lifted at the sight of her. I couldn’t help the smile that sprang to my lips.

Just as she stumbled in the entryway.

“What’s the rush, Lil?” Her grandfather asked, his voice amused.

I caught Lily around the waist, steadying her, before I realized she didn’t need my help. She’d already recovered. She looked up at me, her eyes wide. My hands gripped her narrow waist, and I dropped my hands as if she were made out of hot potato.

But she was not at all potato.

She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, always, with her spiraling strawberry blond curls and her heart-shaped face. But right now, in that tank top that showed off her curves, I realized she’d grown up while she was away from Silver Springs.

The two of us gawked at each other, and I wondered what she was thinking as her gaze raked over my body, then she jerked her eyes back up to my face.

Belatedly, as if she’d just registered his words, she said, “I was worried what you were saying to Archer. You’re questionable, old man.”

He scoffed at that, but he couldn’t actually deny it.

“Ready to go?” I asked, my voice coming out husky, and I cleared my throat.

She nodded. Carefully not touching, the two of us headed down the walk. I was keenly aware of her grandfather watching us go.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“I could eat,” she said.

The two of us walked past the park where we used to play. A couple of kids from the orphanage were on the swings, and I waved to them. Evangeline ran over to give me a hug, and I scooped her up for a big hug.

“Gum?” she asked hopefully. “Please?”

“Lupine would kill me,” I said, but her eyes twinkled as if she knew I was a sucker. I fished in my pocket and handed her a pack of gum—I always carried gum, but rarely chewed it, thanks to these kids—and made a shushing motion with a finger to my lips.

She pretended to zip her lips, and then she ran back to her knot of friends, already yelling, “I’ve got gum!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. “Please tell your best friend not to hurt me. I’ve promised her not to give the kids candy roughly eight-hundred-seventy-six times now.”

“You’re a softie, huh?” she asked, bumping her shoulder against mine as she smiled up at me.

It was just a joking, playful touch. But her skin brushing against mine sent sparks skittering across my skin, and that smile made my heart squeeze in my chest.

“Little bit,” I admitted.

She had no idea.

13

Lily

We stopped in Jewels Café for drinks to carry with us as we did some window shopping on our way to dinner.

“What should I get?” I mused as I looked at the menu. The café hadn’t been here when I was growing up—when I was too young and well-rested to yet appreciate coffee—but I was glad there was a coffee shop now. Silver Springs used to have to depend on the gas station for their coffee-to-go needs.

And best of all, Jewels Cafe was