Taming Lily (The Fowler Sisters #3)(57)

And wondering, for once in my life, if I can ever be put back together again.

Chapter nineteen

Max

LIKE THE DICK I AM, I walked her to her bungalow, claiming I wanted to tuck her in.

“Can’t I just stay the night in your room?” she’d whispered as she’d rubbed her hands all over my chest, her sexy body scooting closer to mine.

I’d slipped out of my bed and gathered up her clothes, thrusting her dress and panties out toward her. “Get dressed, princess.” I ignored what she said, and she was still a little drunk, a little too out of it to question me further.

She let me into her bungalow—through the locked front door since she didn’t keep the slider unlocked anymore, thank God—and I steered her toward the bedroom, helping her strip out of her clothes before I took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her into bed.

“Don’t go.” She held her arms out to me, the sheet falling to her waist, those spectacular breasts on display just for me. I see a red mark on her neck and I know that’s from my lips. Pride fills me, swift and sharp, and I tell myself I’m an * for getting a thrill out of marking her, but that doesn’t matter.

It still makes me proud. Makes me want to beat my chest, grab Lily by the hair, and proclaim to the world that she’s mine.

Fucking ridiculous.

“Come here.” I stretch out beside her on the bed, above the covers, because I know if I slip below them, I’ll start touching her again and then I’m done for.

She snuggles into my arms, a sigh escaping her as she rests her head against my chest. I press a kiss to the top of her head and rest my chin there, willing myself to resist her despite how good she feels, how delicious she smells. I just had her not even twenty minutes ago. We had sex three times in the span of no more than ninety minutes and it was f*cking amazing every single time.

But then she started to fade. Lots of yawning. A few silly giggles, her eyes falling closed, and she’d cuddled with the pillow. Too much alcohol was putting Lily under, and I knew this might be my only chance to get back to her bungalow. She was reluctant, she put up a fight, but now here she is, in my arms, soft and sweet and trusting, and I’m feeling like the biggest * on the planet.

I can’t believe I’m going through with this. I’ve had ample chances and blew every one of them on purpose. I told myself I couldn’t take it from her, not yet. My motives were purely selfish. Every single time I was with her, in this bungalow, when I had my chance … I told myself no. One more afternoon with Lily. One more night with Lily. One more kiss, one more time inside her body …

Why the f*ck does Pilar need the damn laptop so desperately anyway? What could be on it? What did Lily discover about the woman who is dating her father? She has something on Pilar. She must. Lily’s smart. But so is f*cking Pilar. She’s calculating, too. Mean as hell.

Dangerous.

“Tell me we’ll hang out again tomorrow,” she says sleepily.

My heart seizes in my chest. “We will.”

Liar.

“Tell me we won’t fight and say stupid stuff.”

“We won’t.” That isn’t a lie. We can’t fight if we’re not together.

“Good.” She sighs and kisses my chest, her lips damp and warm and making me shiver. “I like you, Max. I like you a lot.”

I’m miserable. Why does she have to go and say something like that and worm her way into my hard-as-steel heart? Fuck this, I didn’t mean to … fall for her. Not that I’ve fallen for her for real, more like I’m physically attracted to Lily and I find her hard to resist.

Admit it, you’ve fallen for her, you heartless bastard.

Fine. I have. But I’m not heartless. My heart is beating like crazy, pounding to a rhythm that suspiciously sounds like her name. Li-ly. Li-ly. It’s f*cking crazy. I’m crazy.

Crazy for her.

Sighing, I keep my gaze fixed on the window across from us, staring at it until my vision goes fuzzy and I close my eyes. Lily’s body grows heavier and heavier and her breathing evens out, indicating she’s fallen asleep.

A few minutes, I tell myself. I’ll stay with her a few minutes and wait until she’s in a deep sleep and then I’m out of here with what I came for.

Problem is, I fall asleep, too. For a couple of hours—and I dream. Horrible, shitty dreams that feel so damn real. I’m escaping the bungalow, the laptop clutched tight in my hands, and Lily catches me. Tears stream down her face as she yells how much she trusted me and I hurt her so bad. That she hates me. She hates me so much, she’ll never talk to me again.

I beg for her forgiveness. I try and hand her back the laptop but she won’t take it. She keeps refusing it and I become more insistent, shoving the damn laptop toward her, pushing it into her stomach …

And then she turns into Pilar and she’s laughing at me. The sound is mocking, shrill, and she snatches the laptop from my grip. I clamp my hands over my ears and try to turn away so I don’t have to look at her but it’s as though I can’t. She laughs and laughs, her mouth getting wider and wider, like a black hole, and then she’s coming toward me, the laptop held over her head, as if she’s going to hit me with it.

I startle awake, lifting my head, holding back the groan that wants to escape at the pain in my neck from sleeping in such a weird position. Lily is still snug against me, her head fitting perfectly between my shoulder and neck, and slowly I disentangle myself from her, slipping from beneath her inch by careful inch. She never wakes, I’m able to adjust her into position in her bed, and I tug the sheet and comforter up higher, covering her to her neck.