Tiger Lily - May Dawson Page 0,59

now,” I said, “I think a shower and some sleep would make me happy. Oh and a bagel with lox.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’m glad I got to see your sweet face.” He squeezed my hand. “I’ll be here.”

“For a while.” I crossed my arms. “You’re lucky you didn’t break something when you fell down those stairs.”

He at least looked embarrassed.

“It’s ridiculous that you lied to me,” I told him, “but I know you just wanted to make me happy. But oh my gosh—you sure ran with that story.”

“I was in the Navy—” he began.

Lasagna and I chorused at the same time, “Yes, we’ve heard!”

Then we smiled at each other. He had definitely mentioned it a time or two.

“And we’re resourceful,” he finished, frowning between us both. “I’m not sure I like this.”

“Oh yes, we’re going to gang up on you,” I warned him.

I had ridden in the ambulance with my grandfather, so the guys drove me back home when I was ready to take a shower and get some rest. He seemed to be out of danger, although they’d keep him there for a while.

“Are you sure you want to stay here, Lily?” Blake asked me as he stopped his truck in front of my house. The sun had just risen, dawn streaking the sky.

I nodded. I knew now—after they’d come to the hospital—that they cared for me even without that damn enchanted book. But as friends? Or as…more?

Had they come because they were good guys, or because they were my men?

I needed to know the answer to that question, but I needed some sleep first. I wasn’t good with people to begin with—forget after pulling an all-nighter.

“We’re right down the street if you need us,” Dylan told me before I got out of the car. “Or even just… if you want us. Don’t hesitate.”

“I won’t,” I said.

He looked at me skeptically but I slid out of the car and waved goodbye to them as I headed into the house.

When I stepped into the foyer, Brad was there waiting for me.

35

Terror lodged in my throat at the sight of him standing there in the foyer.

“Hey Lily,” he said easily. “I hope you don’t mind. I was just waiting for you and your door was unlocked.”

I didn’t know what to say. My heart was galloping.

And then I thought of the vial in my purse. The potion to undo my mistake, to make him forget that magic was real.

“How did you know where I live?” I asked. He was the one who had been in my house before; I was sure of that now. But I didn’t want to make him angry or suspicious. I had to play this just right.

“You and I dated for years,” he said. His eyes looked a little unfocused. “You think I wouldn’t know where you lived?”

“I know you didn’t know where I lived, because you never came home with me,” I began, and then decided to drop it. It wasn’t smart to argue with him.

Or maybe he’d feel suspicious if I didn’t argue, given my personality.

“I’m here now,” he said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.

As if I wanted him here now…

“Are you drunk?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” His eyebrows rose, not quite moving in sync. “I ran into these weird frogs down at the springs, and I swear they started talking to me…”

“They do that,” I said. “Come into the kitchen. I’ll make you tea.”

My palms were sweating. I still had my purse over my shoulder, so I pretended it was natural for me to carry it through the house. My back arched slightly with the tension of having him behind me, but I didn’t think he was observant enough to notice.

The fact that he was here, in my house, left me sick.

The kitchen that was so familiar and homey looked strange with Brad. The lights overhead shone brightly on the kitchen island where my grandfather insisted on dropping his mail despite my best efforts, and on the baker’s rack in the corner that held my grandmother’s cook books, and the copper bundt cake pan collection of hers that my grandfather kept hanging on the wall, even though he’d never baked a thing but tubes of crescent rolls in all his life.

I went to the sink and filled the kettle, my back to him. I could feel him watching me, and it left a wriggling sensation down my spine, like knowing someone was about to drop a worm down my shirt.

This was