Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I smacked his hand away. I could always tell what movie Julian was focused on by the lingo he used. Right now it must be the sequel to the sci fi blockbuster that came out last summer.
“Sorry, I’m distracted.” I sketched out an explanation about Kim and the shit I was dealing with at work. And then, almost as an afterthought, I added, “And I’ve got Halley’s sorority sister to deal with on top of it.”
“Deal with?” Garrett repeated.
“Yeah,” I said, then when they continued to stare blankly at me, I elaborated. “Halley made me pick her up from the airport the other day, and today I had to take her to lunch.”
There was a beat, then Dominic said, seemingly for all of them, “That’s rough, pal.”
Julian snickered first, then the rest joined in. My irritation notched up. “I’m not a fucking babysitter.”
“And she’s not a baby,” Landon said. Then he looked closer at me, spotting something the others had missed. Damn his intuition. It made him great at security and fucking obnoxious as a friend. “Or is that the problem?” he asked astutely.
The snickers became raised eyebrows.
“There’s no problem,” I said shortly, finishing my beer. “I’m just too busy to play tour guide right now.”
“Has anyone seen this tourist?” Landon asked the group. “What does she look like?”
They shrugged. Garrett said, “I’ll find her.”
I had no doubt he could do it, too. He and Halley were connected on social media. I stayed away from all that shit minus the Instagram profile I had for The Walker Agency, but I imagined Lily had Snapchat or Tik Tok or whatever the hell Millennials were into these days. When Garrett pulled out his phone, I said, “Put that away, asshole. I don’t want you stalking my daughter’s friends.”
“Then tell us what she looks like,” he said, his thumb pausing over the screen.
An uncomfortable itch crept under my collar. The last thing I wanted to do was think about what Lily looked like, much less describe her. “She’s blonde,” I muttered.
“Of course she is,” Dominic said, and the others laughed.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I demanded. Then I was treated to an uncomfortable recitation of my dating history. All of them were blondes.
“It’s LA,” I defended myself. “Everyone is blonde.”
Garrett looked around theatrically at the table behind us. Just my luck, it was filled with brunettes.
“Fuck off,” I said, giving up. “It doesn’t matter what color her hair is. I’m not interested in her. She’s a kid.”
I could see them glancing at each other sideways, trying to figure out who had the balls to say it. Of course it was Landon, with his martial arts training and concealed weapon permit. “She’s not a kid though,” he said, scratching his chin. “She’s older than Halley, right?”
“And Halley is a kid,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Sure, she’s a kid to us,” Garrett stepped in. “But legally, I mean, she’s twenty-one. How old is Lily?”
“Twenty-three.” The syllables barely escaped through the tight clamp of my jaw.
Another long pause. Dominic stepped up this time. “When you were twenty-three, you had a four-year-old.”
And I was pulling six figures. But that was different. I’d had to grow up fast when Kim came to me with that positive pregnancy test. I’d had to leave all the friends I’d had behind to do it because they were still fucking around in college when I was heating up bottles at three am and working seventeen-hour days. Me at twenty-three and Lily at twenty-three were a world apart.
It was too hard to explain though, so I just said, “It’s different.”
“Undoubtedly,” Julian said smoothly. “But we’re just saying–”
“Well don’t,” I cut him off. “It doesn’t matter how old she is. She’s Halley’s friend, so she’s off limits. And that goes for all of you.” I narrowed my eyes and moved my gaze to each of them in turn.
Garrett held up his hands innocently. Landon gave me a dead-on stare that told me he’d do whatever the hell he wanted. Julian shrugged like it didn’t matter to him one way or another. Dominic looked at me a moment longer, like he was trying to see what I wasn’t saying. I glared at him for an extra moment.
“Okay,” he said finally. “She’s off limits.”
Each of them nodded, even Landon. The band of tension around my chest loosened slightly. I hadn’t even realized that I had stiffened, but the irritation was still pulsing through me. I knew my friends would keep their word–they’d keep their hands off Lily.
Now I just had to make sure I could keep mine off, too.
8
LILY
The fire in my cheeks seemed to burn for the entire afternoon. Even Victoria, the brand development specialist in the desk nearest mine who had barely said good morning when I introduced myself, said something about it. She must not have been invited to lunch either, because she was sitting at her desk with a salad when I came in, a little dazed, a lot humiliated.