Tiger Lily Page 16

  “Thanks, Brad,” I said. “That…sounds like a job I’d love. I’ll think about it.”

  He frowned. “Okay.” That clearly wasn’t the response he’d expected. “And I was thinking about us…”

  I nodded.

  He reached across the table for my hand, an earnest expression written across his face. “We can find a way to face this together, Lily.”

  “To face…what now?” I wanted to play along, but I didn’t even know how.

  “Your…” he seemed to trail off, as if he couldn’t even say it, and then he held his fingers up to his head as if they were little ears.

  Brad would never be good enough to be a cat.

  “Oh,” I said in shock.

  “I love you,” he said. “The… that doesn’t change. I needed time to get over it, but I… will work with you and we’ll find a cure. There’s got to be a cure.”

  I didn’t need to be cured. I stared at him, trying to school my face, my mind reeling as if I’d never figure out what to say next.

  The tea kettle started to scream, and I stood up abruptly, the chair legs scraping across the linoleum floor. “I’ve got to make our tea.”

  I reached across the table for his tea bag, then took both of ours to the stove. I took down two of my favorite oversized mugs from the cabinet.

  I’d give him the Tinkerbell mug. Tink would totally poison a guy who deserved it.

  I poured the water in with shaking hands.

  “Honey?” I asked him.

  “However you want to make it for me.” His tone was magnanimous, and I bit my lip.

  We’d had plenty of good times when we were dating, and yet now those all seemed so distant. How had I stayed so long with someone who thought so little of me? Day by day, I’d accepted less and less.

  I poured the potion into his cup, glad the bottle was unmarked, and hid it behind the honey bear as I put it back on the counter top. I stirred it all together with a spoon, whirling the tea bag around the cup. Steam billowed up into my face.

  Blake lived to boss me around, but he also saw me as skilled and smart. To be fair, he bossed around Archer and Dylan quite a bit too, as if that was how he treated people he loved. Maybe his inner German Shepherd programmed him that way.

  Dylan looked at me as though he adored me, like I was the most beautiful woman and no one else existed. I thought of that moment I’d faced the closet, and I knew that Dylan would never, ever make me feel like I wasn’t as good as another woman.

  And Archer…. Archer could be anywhere, but he chose Hot Wheels, his brothers and, if I let him…I would bet he chose me.

  My eyes filled with tears. They were just down the street. They were so close… if I made it through these next few minutes and reached them. I didn’t want to lose them. I didn’t want to lose the chance of a life with them.

  I carried the mugs over and, even though I wanted to run to them right now, I sat down across from Brad.

  “How is it?” I asked, wrapping my hands around my steaming mug.

  He picked up the cup, looking at the side, and he smiled. “Tink, huh? Well at least she’s sexy.”

  “She’s two inches tall.”

  He shrugged. My heart was in my throat as he finally took a sip. He paused, tipping the mug toward him to look at the drink. I tensed, ready to run.

  He raised the mug to his lips and took another, longer sip.

  “It’s really good,” he admitted as he set it back down. “It’s sweet. You didn’t put this much honey in when I had a sore throat, or maybe I would’ve liked it.”

  “Oh yeah,” I said, wondering what he remembered now about his time in Silver Springs so far. My mind raced with how to test if the spell had taken hold yet. “Well, Silver Springs has the best honey bees. And the best frogs!”

  “Frogs?” he asked, a smile in his voice. “What’s special about the frogs?”

  Relief washed over me.

  “Well, I think they’re really cute!” I exclaimed, feeling almost giddy. “And you never know—if you kiss a frog, maybe it’ll turn out to be a prince or a princess!”

  If you kissed a Silver Springs frog, it would get you high as a kite… as he should remember. But there was no hint of recognition in his eyes.

  The potion really, truly worked.

  Silver Springs was safe.

  Now I just needed to make sure I was.

  “I acted like a frog, not your prince,” he admitted balefully. “I should never have kissed that other girl.”

  From her complete absence of clothing as she shivered in my closet, they’d done a lot more than kiss. Kissing would’ve been bad enough, but he was phrasing it like he’d accidentally kissed her while they were drunk at the club—not as if he’d purposefully cheated on me in my own home for lord knows how long.

  He added, “No matter what you did. We should have just talked it out, fixed it, instead of me…wandering…when you didn’t meet my needs.”

  Holy hell. Anger tightened my chest, then I thought of Dylan and Blake and Archer and it faded.

  “It’s all right,” I told him. And it really was. What he did was wrong—but my broken heart had brought me home again to Silver Springs. “It’s okay, Brad.”

  “Can we try again?” he asked me. “I miss you, Lily.”

  “I miss what we had too,” I said carefully, thinking of the good times we’d had, of the man I thought he was, when we went roller-skating on our first date.

  I stood up, giving him a smile, but prepared to dash for the back door if I had to. I resisted looking at the door that led to our backyard. But there was a lock, and I didn’t know if I’d have time to unlock the door and get through it before he reached me…

  I never would have thought Brad could turn violent, but I never would have thought he could break into my house either. I needed to be smart more than I needed to be nice.

  “Give me some time to think about it,” I said gently, going to the door. “I just need some space.”

  He frowned at me as I reached the door. I released the lock.

  He made no move to leave the chair, even though I was obviously ushering him out.

  “That’s it?” he demanded. “You’re going to think about it? After I poured my heart out to you?”

  “Brad, you hurt me,” I said, which was true. “I still love you—” Well, that was not. “But I need time to…think. But I’ll be in touch soon. I know where you live.”

  I managed to smile, even though I was terrified.

  He got to his feet.

  The look on his face scared me.

  I threw open the door and bolted.

  “Lily!” he yelled, racing after me. He slammed into the kitchen table as he rushed toward me, and he cursed.

  I ran across the dew-soaked grass of the backyard. It was a bright, sunny morning, the kind of morning where it feels like nothing can go wrong.

  I almost slipped through his hands as he reached for me.

  But I tripped over one of my grandfather’s potted plants.

  I could feel him right at my back as I fell heavily onto my knees in the wet grass.

  36

  Brad tackled me, pinning me down by my shoulders. I should shout for help, but I was trying so desperately to throw him off me that I couldn’t draw breath to scream.

  “Lily, I love you, don’t walk away from me,” he said, and there was a crazy gleam in his eyes that had nothing to do with the special frogs.

  I knew in that moment that he really could hurt me.

  He tried to pin me down. “Just listen!”

  I got an arm free and punched him across the face as hard as I could.

  He rocked back, his eyes widening with surprise.

  Then he hit me across the face. Stars exploded in my vision.

  He wrestled me up, over his shoulder, and carried me through the yard toward the street. I hadn’t noticed the rental car parked on the street like I would have noticed his car, but he was carrying me toward a gray sedan with
rental plates.

  Oh hell no.

  I flailed around, trying to escape him.

  I could shift into a cat, scratch him and get away, but then he would know all over again what I was. I couldn’t do that to Silver Springs or the shifter community. He would totally use that knowledge against not just me, but all of us. He would hurt Silver Springs to get back at me.

  Just then, three dogs raced toward us, all barking furiously.

  A fierce German Shepherd.

  A golden lab that looked like he was usually smiling, but didn’t seem friendly at all as he plowed into Brad’s legs.

  A husky with bright blue eyes.

  Brad dropped me and threw up his arms, trying to protect himself from the dogs. He ran for his car, barely getting into it before one of the dogs slammed into his car door.

  Brad was bleeding, and I wondered which of them had gotten a bite out of him.

  “I was just trying to tell you I love you!” Brad shouted, right before he drove away.

  The dogs chased him down the road, still barking and growing furiously.

  I smiled as I headed into the house. I knew they’d come back.

  And when they did, I was a cat, sitting on the front porch, lashing my tail.

  I let the three of them catch me, licking me, nuzzling me, as if they were checking that I was all right.

  When the nuzzling got to be a bit much, I batted them away with my paw and got up before stalking down the street, toward their house.

  Cats never say thank you.

  But I wanted them to see me as I was—in every way.

  I ran for their house—and the three dogs followed me.

  After all this time, I was going to let them catch me.

  We’d see what happened after that.

  37

  “How did you know I was in trouble?” I asked as I sat on their couch, wearing one of Archer’s t-shirts.

  Blake crossed his arms, a rueful smile crossing his lips as the other two glanced at him. Then he said, “Some of us are obnoxiously nosy and protective, but sometimes it works out.”

  “He was worried about you being alone after seeing your grandfather,” Archer said. “I went along to keep him from annoying you.”

  “And I went along because I hate to be left out,” Dylan admitted.

  “I’m glad you came.”

  “Are you all right, really?” Dylan asked. “I’m going to call Juniper and ask her to put up a ward to keep him out of Silver Springs, so he won’t come back.”

  “Already taken care of,” I said lightly. “I used a potion on him, so he would forget that I was a shifter and all the magic he saw here in Silver Springs.”

  Blake’s jaw tensed. “How did you do that?”

  “He was waiting in the house for me when you dropped me off,” I explained.

  Fury blazed in Blake’s eyes. He could be really intimidating as he rose from the couch and paced across the room, his arms folded across his chest. I had a feeling he was gauging just how far out of town Brad had made it by now.

  I hurried on, “I made him tea and heard him out. He wants to get back together. He even managed to wrangle me my dream job in Scarborough.”

  Archer looked horrified at the thought, and I realized he was afraid I’d choose… not them. Not Hot Wheels. Not Silver Springs.

  “He wanted to stuff you into his trunk,” Blake rumbled.

  “I’m aware,” I said. “I was there.”

  “The important thing is, Lily is fine,” Archer said. He was always the peacemaker.

  “You walked into that house with him there when you could have just run?” Blake demanded. “You put yourself in danger to protect Silver Springs?”

  “She’s an incredible girl,” Dylan said, slinging his arm over my shoulders.

  I smiled at him as I settled under his arm, resting my head on his shoulder. Dylan was so comforting.

  “Maybe she’s an incredible girl who could use an occasional spanking.” Blake said. He still sounded furious. “You just needed to get out of there—to get to safety—and we would’ve helped. You could’ve trusted us for once, Lily.”

  I thought of that damned book—of how it was different for everyone, and how my copy had spanking in it—and I started to laugh.

  Maybe I hadn’t just read all those romance novels to those scenes for my own amusement. Maybe I liked the idea…

  Something to explore later, for sure. I had a feeling Blake would be a willing partner.

  Blake’s eyebrow tilted. “I don’t see what’s so funny about this.”

  “You will,” I promised him. “You will.”

  His jaw was still tight. I turned to give Dylan a peck on the cheek, then rose to my feet and crossed to Blake, who regarded me skeptically.

  I caught his corded forearm in my hand, rising onto my toes to kiss the corner of his angry mouth. I felt him give a bit at that touch, and then his arm slid around my waist. He kissed me full-on, his lips hungry.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, then something flashed through his eyes as if he had just remembered how I’d ended things. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

  I bit my lip. “I’m sorry for what I said in the shop.”

  “Does that mean you’re trying to take it back?” he asked, his eyebrow arching.

  Dylan sighed. “Blake, come on.”

  I bristled at Blake’s words too, but he had a point. I knew I’d hurt them all.

  “Yes,” I said. “I’m trying to take back what I said. If you’ll let me. I don’t know that I even believe we all really have mates, but I believe…” I stumbled over the words, because they were hard to say, then forced them out. “I know I need you. That I’m happier with you.”

  “We’re happier with you too,” Archer said. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, and I leaned into his touch, planting a kiss to his stubbled cheek.

  “Of course you can take it back,” Dylan said, always forgiving. He hugged me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “You wanted to know that we had something real, that wasn’t just the product of some spell. I get it, Lil.”

  I kissed him again, a bit slower, savoring the feel of his lips against mine.

  Then it was time to face Blake, who still stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Well?” I asked. “Is this no-take-backs, or…”

  “Oh knock it off,” he said, and then he threw his arms around my waist, lifting me into the air. I laughed as my toes swept above the ground, leaning forward to brush my lips against his. The two of us shared quick, charged kisses.

  “You know I’ve been chasing you for twenty years,” he said, wrapping me in his arms as he set me down, resting his chin on top of my head. “And if you want me, I’m never going to stop.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and let myself get lost in his arms, in their love.

  38

  “Here you go, sir.” The nurse smiled at my grandfather as she wheeled the wheelchair right next to Roberta’s passenger door. “We won’t miss you.”

  “You really will though,” he promised her.

  My grandfather had been a pain in the ass one way or another constantly throughout his hospital stay. Either he was asking for more Jell-o, and the red stuff this time please, or he was flirting with them quite brazenly. He was always either annoying or inappropriate, and occasionally both.

  “Maybe,” she said. “But please stay out of the hospital anyway?”

  “I’ll do my best,” he said.

  She helped him step into Roberta’s passenger seat.

  Just as we were about to drive away, he asked, “Should we put the top down, Lily?”

  “I think we should.”

  I pressed the button and then held my breath, afraid something else would go wrong with this car.

  But the top went back smoothly, leaving sunshine and the fresh breeze on our faces.

  “You guys got her running again, huh?” My grandfather patted
the dash as I pulled out of the circle in front of the hospital and started down the roads back to Silver Springs. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  I usually rolled my eyes when he said things like that, because he was my grandfather. He had to believe in me.

  But today I said, “Maybe not.”

  Maybe I could even handle three guys—three guys who made me crazy, in every possible way.

  In many good ways.

  When we pulled back into the driveway, I hovered as he walked slowly up the steps and into the house. He sighed at me, but didn’t complain.

  Once he was settled on the couch with his favorite things—his Navy-emblem fleece blanket, the remote control, a TV guide even though everyone under the age of seventy just looked it up online, and his favorite Tervis cup of Jack Palmer—I sat down next to him.

  I held out the keys and gave him a smile.

  But he shook his head. “You should keep her,” he said. “I can’t drive her anyway.”

  “But I can drive you places,” I said.

  “Oh? Won’t you be in Scarborough?” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for my answer, and I could tell he was setting up his I told you so moment. He already knew.

  “No, Grandpa,” I said. “You can’t be trusted on your own. I need to stick around.”

  He scoffed at that. “You’re not sticking around for me. You’re sticking around for those boys down the street.”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” I asked.

  “Absolutely nothing.” He gave in and grinned. “I’m happy for you, Lily. But I want you to have Roberta.”

  “Are you sure? I’m going to change her name. Give her something more respectable for such a beautiful car.”

  He groaned.

  I laughed. But the truth was, I’d never change her name.

  39

  A few days later, I walked into the guys’ house. They’d left the door unlocked for me. The scent of food cooking hung in the air—the yeasty scent of fresh baked bread, the savory, rich scent of a red sauce. I inhaled deeply there on the threshold.

  It turned out these guys could cook more than hot dogs.