Catching Lily (Spring Training Book 2) Read online

  Chapter Twelve

  Kisses rained down along Lily’s spine. She smiled into the pillow and hugged it tighter. Finally Dominic’s chin landed on her shoulder. “I have to go, babe. Brett’s picking me up. Zia’s going to pick you up at eleven. I’ll see you at the game.”

  Lily turned her head to the side and then rolled onto her back. She reached for him and hauled his face down for a kiss. “I can drive, you know.”

  He returned her kiss and then pushed himself away. “I’m sure you can. I’ve seen your mad driving skills. At your age, I should hope so,” he teased with a wink.

  She moaned and rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to start making age jokes, then we’re going to need to address your high school diploma. It came in the mail today.” She grinned wickedly.

  He chuckled. “Go ahead. Make jokes. But be prepared to spend the evening on your knees between my legs, with my cock in your mouth while I watch sports on TV.” He winked and pushed off the bed.

  She couldn’t respond because so far she hadn’t had his cock in her mouth. The idea made her nipples tighten. It also brought to her attention that they were exposed. She dragged the sheet over her chest and rolled to her side to watch him grab his bag and head for the bedroom door.

  The room was dimly lit, the only light streaming in around the sides of the shutters.

  Dominic grabbed the doorframe and turned around. “I’m going to lock the door and set the alarm. Don’t open it for anyone but Zia.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  He narrowed his gaze. “You mocking me?”

  She smiled.

  “Your evening is going to be so very unsatisfying.” And then he was gone.

  Why did his threat leave her with wetness leaking from her pussy and nipples abraded by the sheet? She eased her hands up to her breasts and cupped them both, squeezing the swollen globes in an attempt to stave off the sudden, intense arousal. There was no way in hell she could possibly need to come again this morning. How long had it been since Dominic last made her scream his name? Three hours?

  She closed her eyes and thumbed her nipples until they were stiffer than they’d gotten from his promises. Then she released them, forced herself to focus on the day, and hauled her body out of bed to pad toward the bathroom. A shower would fix everything.

  * * *

  “Shit. This is intense.”

  Zia chuckled beside her. “Yes. And it only gets worse.”

  “I never really thought much about Dominic’s job. I just visualized him out there throwing a little ball around with his cute friends.”

  Zia laughed harder. “It’s partly true. But he needs a bit of accuracy getting that little ball across the plate, or he’s out of a job.”

  Lily bit her nails again. “Am I ever going to be able to tell if he’s throwing a knuckle ball or a curve or whatever the hell they call all those pitches?”

  “Not likely.”

  An unbelievably cute woman took a seat on the other side of Zia. She leaned across and held out her hand. “I’m Trish.”

  Lily smiled and shook her hand. “Lily.”

  “You’re with Cordes?”

  “Yes.” Word gets around fast.

  “He’s a good guy.” She pointed to right field. “Damon Rutherford is my husband.”

  Lily shielded her eyes from the glare and watched the man in the field ready himself for the next pitch, rocking back and forth as if he was certain there would be a hit and it was coming to him. Of course, all the guys looked like that, including Brett, who was at second base.

  The three of them sat in a section of seats that must have been reserved by the team for wives and girlfriends because Zia knew most of the women by name. They were several rows behind the dugout.

  Lily cringed when she saw the fake redhead from the day before sitting three rows in front of her and about a dozen seats to the left. The woman cupped her mouth and shouted, “Come on, Cordes. You’ve got this.”

  Though Lily doubted Dominic could hear a word anyone spoke, it raised her hackles. The audacity of this woman.

  Dominic threw the next pitch, and the batter hit it hard toward right field. Rutherford snagged it out of the air. First out of the game.

  Lily realized she was holding her breath and released it while Zia laughed and patted her arm. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m no longer the crazy new wife who gasps at every play as if the world might end if my man makes an error.”

  Lily glanced at Zia. “Do I sound like that?”

  Trish giggled. “We all do at first. Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. You can’t worry about every single play when these guys have one hundred sixty-two regular season games. You’ll lose your mind. They have good days and bad days. Cordes is a great pitcher. He won’t get taken out of the game just because the other team made contact with the ball.”

  Lily tried to relax. She also tried to focus her attention on anything except the redhead screaming in front of her. The woman knew baseball. She yelled the perfect things at the right moments.

  Lily was still trying to get the sport straight in her mind. It wasn’t that she’d never been a fan. She had gone to a few games each year. She understood the basics of the sport. But it was way different dating a player.

  She needed to steel herself if she wanted to sustain this relationship. First of all, Dominic wasn’t going to win them all. And second of all, women were going to throw themselves at him every day.

  Deep breaths. At the end of the day, he’s yours. Whatever happens during or after the game doesn’t matter.

  After the fourth inning, Dominic didn’t return to the mound.

  Lily got nervous. “Why did the coach take him out?” She turned to face Zia and Trish.

  Zia pointed at second. “Same reason he took out Brett.”

  “And Damon,” Trish added with a nod to right field. “Those three aren’t really on tryout status. They’ve been on the roster for several years. The coaches put them in at the beginning of every game to give them some practice time. What the coaches really need to see is the new guys so they can fill the roster with rookies.”

  “Ah. Okay. Makes sense.” Lily tried to relax.

  “How’s Ava? I haven’t seen her in a while,” Zia asked as the new players warmed up between innings.

  “She’s good. She’s still trying to find the right job, but that means she’s available to help out when I need her.”

  “Has she applied anywhere? Publishing houses? Do you think she’ll move?”

  “I doubt it. She has applied, but she seems to hold back. I think she’d prefer to make it as an author than an editor. So, she tutors several students from the university and does freelance editing on the side. I still can’t believe she chose literature over art.” Lily smiled.

  Zia elbowed her arm. “Don’t be so surprised. She’s talented at both, and it’s not unheard of for artistic types to be good with their hands and their words.”

  “I know. It’s just that I can’t relate to words at all.”

  The fifth inning started, but the women continued to chat among themselves since all three of their partners had left the game.

  When Lily looked up between the next innings, several guys were walking down the third-base line toward the Miami clubhouse. Dominic and Brett were among them.

  “They’re leaving?” Lily asked.

  Zia nodded. “They often leave during the last part of the game after they’re done. They might be a while, but we can go wait for them if you want.”

  Lily nodded. “Let’s do that.” She cared much less about the game now that Dominic wasn’t in it. Was that rude? Maybe. But Zia wasn’t too interested anymore, either.

  Trish stayed.

  As they headed out of the stadium, Zia turned toward Lily. “We might as well wait in the car for a while. At least there’s air conditioning and music. We can head for the clubhouse when we see the guys.”

  When they reached Zia’s car, there was an envelope under the passe
nger windshield wiper. Weird.

  “I swear. If I got a ticket… How could I? I’m parked legally in a spot I paid for.”

  “Maybe it’s an advertisement.” Lily plucked it off the windshield and slid into the passenger seat as Zia did the same on the driver’s side.

  Lily handed the envelope to Zia and turned up the AC on her side of the car.

  A few seconds later, Zia gasped. “Fuck.” She handed the piece of paper to Lily. Her face was white.

  Lily took it, fear crawling up her spine. Please, God.

  But God wasn’t on her side that afternoon.

  Lily Phillips, you are one very stupid bitch.

  Tears leaked out of both eyes as Lily lowered the note to her lap and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. And she wanted to kill Luke Vandergriff.

  She opened her eyes a moment later and glanced around. “He’s watching me.”

  “It would seem so.” Zia set a hand on Lily’s. “I’ll call the cops.” Thank God Lily and Dominic had caught their friends up on the saga last night. Otherwise, Zia would be totally confused.

  Before Lily had her emotions under control, a squad car pulled up in front of Zia’s car and parked right in the aisle.

  Lily exited her side, wiping her tears away and taking a deep breath.

  “Thank you for coming,” Zia said. Thank goodness she had more functioning brain cells. She held the note out to the officer. “My friend has a restraining order out against the man who keeps sending her threatening messages.”

  The officer read the piece of paper and then met Lily’s gaze. “How long has this been going on, ma’am?”

  “Started on February thirteenth. Officer Doug Wright in Miami is handling it from there if you want to touch base with him.” Lily pulled a copy of the restraining order out of her purse, hating that she had to carry the stupid thing around with her. Every time she opened her purse, she was reminded of her stalker when she saw the folded piece of paper.

  The officer glanced at it and handed it back. “You said the officer’s name is Wright?”

  “Yes. Doug.”

  “Okay, I’ll contact him. There isn’t much I can do right now.” He glanced around. “Unless you’ve seen Mr. Vandergriff in the area.”

  “No.” Lily’s shoulders slouched. What was it going to take to get this to stop? “But he threatened me yesterday in Miami. Detective Wright was headed to his house while I was driving here.”

  “Did you speak to Wright afterward? Are you sure he found Vandergriff at home?”

  “No.” Lily sighed. “I’ll call him.”

  “Okay. If you reach him, give him my name. I’ll contact him in a few minutes after I drive around the area.” The officer held out a card.

  Lily took the card from his hand and gripped it in her palm. She never in her life wanted to be in a position to have to take a police officer’s card.

  Yet here she was again.

  As the officer drove away slowly, Lily dialed Detective Wright. His phone went to voicemail. “Hello. This is Lily Phillips again. I’m in Jupiter, and I just got another message on my friend’s windshield. I wanted to make sure you did speak to Luke yesterday and see if you thought it was possible he came here afterward.”

  It was certainly possible. But was it realistic? Lily glanced down at the business card.

  “The officer who arrived on the scene here is Joseph Ward. He said he’ll be in contact with you. Thanks.” Lily hung up.

  Zia wrapped her arms around Lily and rocked her back and forth. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you. I can’t believe it. I mean, I knew I didn’t like Luke, but there’s a vast difference between not liking someone and that same someone turning out to be a crazy lunatic.”

  Lily laughed, forcing herself to lighten up at Zia’s words. “I can’t believe I wasted so many months on such a loser.”

  Zia lifted her gaze over Lily’s head. She smiled wider. “Hey, good game, guys.” She grabbed Lily’s wrist and squeezed.

  No way was Lily going to be able to keep this new development from Dominic. Besides, she truly didn’t have the energy. But she appreciated the way Zia gave her the option.

  She turned around, lifted her chin, and faced Dominic. Brett stood next to him.

  Dominic frowned, and then his shoulders slumped. “Not again.”

  “Yeah.” She held out the paper.

  Dominic read it and groaned. “I’m super tired of that asshole.” He hauled Lily to his chest and rubbed her back with his hand.

  “I don’t understand how he’s managing this. He followed me to Jupiter after speaking to Wright yesterday? How did he even know I was here?” She took a deep breath and lifted her face. “You smell like that woman again.”

  “Yeah. She’s persistent this week.” He lowered his face, cupped her cheeks, and kissed her lips. “Maybe this will give her a hint.”

  Lily smiled. “You think she’s watching?”

  “No idea. Don’t care.”

  “Let’s get out of here. My skin’s crawling.”

  “I’m sure.” He slid his hand down to grasp hers and glanced around. “Did you call Wright?”

  “Yes. Left a message.”

  “Good.” He lifted his gaze to Zia and Brett. “See you guys later.”

  “Be careful.” Zia looked nervous.

  “We will.” Lily smiled, even though she didn’t feel it inside.

  * * *

  Dominic was nervous, and that wasn’t an emotion he was accustomed to. He gripped the steering wheel too tightly with one hand and Lily’s hand too tightly with the other.

  He watched her in his peripheral vision. Her gaze darted out of the windows constantly. Not that he could blame her. He kept an eye on the rearview mirror himself. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this.”

  She nodded subtly but kept her gaze locked out the passenger window. She hadn’t spoken much since they left the parking lot.

  He drove slowly in front of his condo, looking around diligently. Before rounding to the back of the condo to access his garage, he pulled over to the curb. “Lily, look at me.”

  She turned to face him, clearly fighting tears, her lips pursed.

  “We will win.”

  “At what cost?”

  “I can’t answer that.” His chest ached looking at the hurt in her eyes. Then he spun his head to look out the back window when he caught sight of flashing police lights. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a second to pull himself together. Lily needed him to be strong, and part of that meant not losing his cool.

  “What now?” she asked, tearing her hand out of his grasp and yanking her door open.

  Before he could get out himself, she was already stomping to the back of the car. Her hands were on the top of her head, threaded in her hair. Her gaze was pinned to her car, which she’d left parked in the street in front of his condo.

  Dominic groaned when he saw that all four tires were flat.

  The police car pulled up parallel to her car and stopped. The officer got out. “Is this your car, ma’am?”

  “Yes. I just got here.”

  “Neighbor called nine-one-one. Said she saw someone slashing your tires.”

  Dominic set his hand on Lily’s shoulder. “Did they get a description?”

  “It was a kid, apparently. Maybe a teenager. Lanky. Probably male. He wore jeans and a gray hoodie. That’s all she got.”

  “Dammit.”

  Lily’s entire body trembled.

  “Lily, sit on the curb. Before you fall.” He eased her down next to her car and gave a quick rundown of the last few weeks to the officer.

  The officer filled out a report and handed it to Dominic. “Sorry about all this. I’ll make sure the reports get connected back at the precinct and touch base with the officer you spoke to this morning. Detective Ward.”

  When the officer left, Dominic helped Lily to her feet and led her inside. The moment he shut the door, he turned to face her, pressing her into the wa
ll. He grabbed her chin. “You okay?”

  “No.”

  The pain in her eyes was unbearable.

  He thought hard about his next move and decided it would be too much to dominate her right then. Maybe it would take her mind off things and help her release pent-up frustration, but she was so distraught that he felt like she couldn’t currently consent. It would be like taking advantage of a drunk woman.

  So he led her to the couch in his living room and helped her get settled.

  She pulled off her shoes and tucked her legs under her, leaning against the arm of the sofa. She looked so small and vulnerable.

  He tossed a throw blanket over her and headed to the kitchen to get her a bottle of water. When he got back, she was staring into space.

  “Babe, take a drink.” He twisted off the cap and held the bottle out.

  “I’m good.” She shook her head.

  He sighed and set it on the coffee table and then sat next to her. He pulled her off the arm of the couch so that she leaned against him instead and ran his fingers through her hair.

  “For two weeks, everything was fine.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. This asshole really wants you to get away from me.”

  She said nothing.

  “But you can’t give in to him again. That’s crazy. Why let him win?”

  “I know. I know. I’m just so tired of it all.”

  There was a knock at the door, and Dominic set her upright and stood. What now?

  He looked through the peephole to find another officer out front. When he opened the door, the officer introduced himself. “I’m Detective Joseph Ward. Is Lily Phillips here?”

  “Yes. Come on in.” He opened the door farther and pointed toward the living room. “We came home to slashed tires. She’s pretty shaken up.”

  “I heard. Sorry, ma’am,” he said as he stepped farther into the condo.

  Lily pushed the blanket aside, set her feet on the floor, and took a deep breath. “Anything new?”

  Dominic motioned to the armchair across from Lily. “Please. Have a seat.” Then he settled next to Lily again, putting his hand on her thigh. Hopefully, his touch would help.

  “I spoke to Officer Wright in Miami a while ago. He said he finally caught up with Luke Vandergriff this afternoon. Unfortunately, the man insists he has never once harassed you and has no idea where this is coming from. He even gave Wright his phone to show no outgoing texts or pictures.”