Catching Lily (Spring Training Book 2) Read online

  She yelped and spun around. “Oh. Yeah. Headache. It’s been a long day.” She rubbed her temples.

  “Ooh. Sorry to hear that. Things are winding down, anyway. I’ll drive you home.”

  She gritted her teeth for a moment and then shook her head. “That’s okay. I have my car. I just need sleep.”

  He crowded closer to her, setting his hand on the counter next to hers. “I’ll let you sleep. After you give me answers. Did you think I was kidding earlier?”

  She licked her lips. “No. I… Tonight isn’t good, Dominic. Call me in a few days. Okay?”

  A kid returned to the desk and handed her a blue clutch that matched the dress she wore. Navy. Like last night. Only this one was silk and had almost no back to it. It was long and hung off her like a runway model if they came in petite sizes. He’d ogled her in it all day, ever since tugging her into that classroom earlier.

  She wasn’t wearing a bra, but he suspected something was built into the front of the dress because he’d only noticed the projection of her nipples a few times, now being one of them. He didn’t even want to consider what she wore below. There was no panty line of any kind.

  He took her elbow and led her a few yards away from the counter so he could speak without the teenager listening.

  “Let me help,” he stated, taking a slight risk by surmising she had a problem.

  Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth. Then she regained her composure. “Help with what? I just have a headache. Nothing that can’t be fixed with a few aspirin and a good night’s sleep.”

  “Fine. But you’ll do that in my bed.”

  She moaned, her shoulders drooping. “Listen, I get that you’re bossy. And I’ll admit it’s sexy as hell most of the time, but tonight is not good. You’ll have to accept that and let me go.” She suddenly glanced from left to right and then stepped back, dislodging her elbow from his light grasp.

  He narrowed his gaze. “Are you embarrassed to be seen with me? Is that it? You don’t want anyone to know we’re into each other?” He kept his voice low, but his temper was irrationally on the edge. Maybe she was worried about what her friends would think about her dating a Dom.

  She shook her head. “No. Lord. Of course not. Stop trying to find an answer for everything and accept that the entire world doesn’t revolve around you and what you want. Sometimes no simply means no.” At those words, she spun around and fled the entryway, pushing through the front doors, and disappearing into the night.

  Dominic stood very still, wondering for long moments how that tiny little sprite of a woman had bested him. His instinct told him to chase after her. His gut told him to let her go. For now.

  He also couldn’t ignore the voice in his head. Maybe she’s just not that into you, dude.

  * * *

  Lily was relieved when she started her car and pulled out of the parking lot without being followed. At least not by Dominic. She had no doubt she was being followed by Luke or someone he hired to tail her, but at least Dominic wasn’t in any danger of being exposed online.

  She jumped in her seat when a text came in, vibrating her phone in her purse. She didn’t bother to look at it. Instead, she concentrated on making it home safely with her nerves so frayed she feared she might drive off the road. She was more distracted than if she’d been texting and driving. Or reading a book.

  The venue was about forty minutes from her apartment, and by the time she pulled into her garage and then made her way up to her floor, she indeed had the full-blown headache she’d professed to have.

  She locked herself in her apartment and dropped her purse on the couch. But she didn’t permit herself to relax until she searched every room, closet, and bathroom to make sure Luke hadn’t somehow managed to get inside and hide from her.

  Irrational? Totally. But for the past twenty-six hours, her life had been one giant pile of irrational.

  She left the lights off in her room while she slid out of the most amazing dress she’d ever worn, hung it up, and grabbed a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Paranoia had set in. There was every chance her apartment was bugged or wired with cameras. She put nothing past Luke at this point, and the last thing she wanted to do was let him see even an inch of her skin.

  Trying to catch her breath, she headed for the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water.

  Downing half of it, she plopped down on the couch and then groaned when her purse buzzed again.

  Snaking her hand out to pull the cell from the outer pocket, she lifted it nearly unwillingly to her face.

  Luke: I see you followed my directions. Now make that the last time you ever see Dominic Cordes.

  She lowered the phone to her lap, closed her eyes, and took another drink.

  What the hell was she going to do? Living her life permanently manipulated by Luke Vandergriff wasn’t the answer. But so far, she didn’t have a better one, and trying to solve this problem on Zia’s wedding day had been out of the question.

  There were more texts. She simply didn’t have the energy to read them yet.

  When the phone rang, she flinched. She lifted it up, saw that it was Dominic, and decided it would be easier to take the call than send it to voice mail. He was a persistent man. He wouldn’t give up. A part of her was glad.

  “Hey.” She spoke softly.

  “You make it home okay?” His voice was calm. Concerned.

  “Yes.”

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “My drive home?” she joked.

  He laughed. “Well, we can discuss that if you want too. But I thought maybe if I wasn’t standing in your personal space, it might be easier to open up to me.”

  “You can’t let this go, can you?”

  “Nope.”

  “How do you know I have a problem, anyway? You don’t know me at all. Maybe I’m just a bitch and I changed my mind about you. Maybe I decided I don’t like the way you dominate me.”

  “No. That’s not it…” he said, as if they were attempting to solve a mystery together.

  She giggled, in spite of herself. The smallest shred of relaxation filtered through her body. She was alone in her apartment. Luke couldn’t see her. He had no idea she was on the phone with Dominic. She was safe. For now.

  “Lily, I know we haven’t spent much time together, but I like you. And I’m pretty good at reading people. You like me too. You’re curious. You want to explore the possibilities. It’s reasonable that you would be a little scared. But you’re intrigued. I’m going to go out on a confident, cocky limb here and say that whatever has you spooked has nothing to do with me.

  “You have a personal problem. It started with a disturbing text. Someone is sick or dying or lost or something. Though I haven’t figured out why you can’t tell me about it. I’m not an ass. I can listen. Maybe I can help. But give me a chance. Don’t shut me out.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath he surely heard.

  “If you don’t want anyone to know we’re seeing each other, I can respect that. There are lots of reasons you could throw out to support that desire. I’ve heard them all. Maybe you don’t want your friends to know you’re titillated by BDSM. Or you don’t want the notoriety of dating a baseball player. Maybe you don’t like paparazzi. All of the above. I can work with whatever parameters you want to set. But go out with me. Start with one date. I promise not to pressure you or dominate you in any way.”

  “You’re right about one thing, you’re one persistent guy.”

  He chuckled. “I’m used to getting what I want. Entitled, my mom calls it.”

  She smiled. “Why don’t I believe you could ever go on a date with anyone and not dominate them? Not even for a minute. Not buying it.”

  He laughed harder. “Okay. You might be right. I mean, I do date vanilla women, but usually only once. If I don’t get a vibe from them that they can role-play at least a little, I lose interest fast.”

  “And what about me gave you that vibe? I’ve never done anything like this in my l
ife.”

  His breathing was heavy through the connection. “When you turned around and looked at me standing in my bathroom, I knew by the hunger in your eyes. Your gaze roamed up and down my frame, devouring me. Maybe you thought for a minute that we might just enjoy a good fuck and move on, but then you realized it was more than that.

  “You submitted to me as if you’d been doing so your entire life. It was dormant in your personality. You just haven’t ever been with someone who pulled it out.” His voice dipped deeper, nearly a growl. “You came so hard at my command. It was so hot.”

  She couldn’t breathe.

  He continued. “I’m gonna bet you went home after that first encounter and researched the hell out of the lifestyle and its possibilities because now you have an interesting grasp on BDSM. And you’re intrigued. Last night, in your car, you lit the engine on fire. You needed to come so badly. It was beautiful. Your face was filled with rapture. When you let loose, you do it completely.”

  She swallowed. “What do you suppose that moment might look like if we had a photo?”

  “Oh, baby. I would love to see that. I’d probably blow it up and hang it above my bed. My dick is hard all over again thinking about it.”

  “What if the entire world saw it?”

  He hesitated and then slowly spoke again. “Not sure what you’re getting at, but if you think I’m into overt exhibitionism, you’re wrong. I don’t mind role-play in a club, but I’m perfectly capable of staying within the boundaries of my partner.”

  She bit her lip, unsure if she should continue.

  “Give me something else here, Lily. Where are you going with this? Were you afraid someone might have seen us in the parking lot? Did that make you hot? Or bother you? More words, baby.”

  She blew out a long breath. So far she had no idea how she was going to get out of this mess. Going it alone seemed impossible. She needed help. No way was she going to bother Zia or Brett, and she had no one else she could call and explain what she was doing that got her in this bind. No one but Dominic.

  She went for it. “Someone did see us. They took pictures.”

  She heard nothing from his end for a few seconds, and then he spoke. “You’re shitting me.”

  “No. Wish I was.”

  “Oh my God, Lily. Who the fuck was spying on us close enough to take pictures in a vacant parking lot? The paparazzi?”

  “My ex-boyfriend.”

  “Your what?” His voice rose, though she didn’t know if he was pissed at her or the situation or just trying to assimilate it all.

  “Yeah. I broke up with him for the last time the night I met you. He’s been pleading with me ever since. He’s a dick, but I didn’t know he was capable of something like this.”

  “So he was following us? Spying on us? And he took pictures?”

  “Yes. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to make this right.”

  “You’re sorry? For what? You didn’t do it.”

  “I know, but I brought the problem to your doorstep, and I don’t know how to fix it. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

  “What’s to fix? Call the cops. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “No.” She sat up straighter. “We can’t do that. If that were a plausible solution, don’t you think I would have called them last night?”

  “Why the fuck not? He’s stalking you.”

  “He wants me back.”

  “So? You just said you were done with him. You can’t seriously be thinking about getting back together with some asshole who followed you and took pictures of you having sex. Never mind that we weren’t actually fucking in your car. I’m sure the pictures paint make it look like we were.”

  “They do.”

  “You’ve seen them.”

  “Yes. He texted them to me. He has good shots of you too. He must have covered a lot of ground while we remained oblivious.” She sucked in a breath. “Don’t you see? If these got out…”

  “What? He’s blackmailing you?” He moaned loudly. “He fucking blackmailed you, didn’t he?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Shit.”

  “That’s why we can’t see each other anymore.”

  “Oh, hell no. You’re not going to let some motherfucker blackmail you into not being with me.”

  “He threatened to put the pictures up on the Internet. He even knows exactly who you are. Your full name. He would ruin your career. My gallery.” She fought back tears as she rubbed her temples to ease her growing headache.

  “My career?” He chuckled. “Lily, honey. I’ve had far more incriminating photos taken of me than that. Remember, I told you I was kind of a mess before I got into the lifestyle. So don’t worry about me. It’s the nature of my job. It happens. When you first said someone took pictures, I assumed it was the paparazzi. I’m used to them. Some jackass ex-boyfriend is not going to get under my skin.”

  “Okay, fine. Let’s assume you don’t give a fuck if your face is plastered all over the Internet. I kinda do. Call me shallow, but I’m running a business. It makes me cringe to think anyone would see this picture of me.”

  His voice lowered, calmer. “Lily. We’ll figure this out together. And I would never do anything that upset you.”

  “Then that starts with staying in your house and not calling the cops.”

  He sighed. “You avoided me for the entire day because of this?”

  “Yes. I think…” She took a deep breath. “I think he’s literally spying on me all the time.”

  “He told you not to see me anymore.” Dominic groaned around the words.

  “Exactly.”

  “Lily… Hon…”

  “I know. I know. But I need more time to think. I didn’t want to ruin Zia and Brett’s day with this shit.”

  “I understand. But you should have told me.”

  “And you would have gone along with my plan to ignore you today? You would have left me alone all day so it wasn’t obvious I was totally into you?”

  “No. You’re right.” He sighed again.

  “Rest my case.”

  “You’re totally into me, huh?”

  She smiled for the first time in over a day. “Shut up.”

  “Can you come over here, babe? I seriously don’t want you to be home alone.”

  “I’m scared. He’s probably sitting outside waiting for me to leave.”

  “Can you see anyone out front?”

  “No. I don’t have a house. I live at The Braxton.”

  “Ah, I know the place. It’s after midnight. He has to sleep. He can’t watch you twenty-four seven, and he sounds too creepy to have someone else doing it for him.”

  “What if he does?” He had enough money to hire someone. It was possible.

  “Sorry I mentioned it. I’m coming over.”

  “No,” she shouted. “Please. This is why I didn’t tell you.”

  “Lily, I’m not going to bed with you home alone. It’s not safe. So, you have two choices—I come there or you come here.”

  She groaned. “Fine. Shit. I never should have told you.”

  “Yes, you should have. About twenty-six hours ago. But at least you finally did. Keep the line open the entire time. Don’t hang up. Put the phone in your lap while you drive.”

  She glanced down at her gray sweatshirt, the one she’d gotten in college about sixteen years ago. And the sweatpants were hardly newer. Also gray. Fraying at the bottom. “I need to change.”

  “No, you don’t. That dress was killer sexy.”

  He thinks I’m still wearing the dress. That almost made her laugh. Fine. I’ll go like this. Show him.

  “On second thought, I’m sending someone to get you. Hang on a sec.” He disappeared, the connection sounding muffled.

  What did he mean? A cab?

  Thirty seconds later, he was back. “Done. Head downstairs to the rear entrance. If anyone’s watching you, they will be guarding the garage exit. No one would expect you to leave without
your car.”

  It wasn’t a bad idea. “How is someone going to get here that fast?”

  “Trust me. Go, Lily. They’ll be waiting before you get to the back door.”

  “Okay. Okay. Bossy damn ballplayer,” she grumbled.

  “Don’t you forget it.” He chuckled in her ear. She loved the sound. Without thinking further, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door, locking it behind her. In five minutes, she was at the rear entrance. “I’m at the door. You’re sure someone’s out there? It’s late, Dominic.”

  “Yep. Just got a confirmation text. Black limo. Driver’s name is John.”

  She pushed open the heavy metal door and stepped outside, not releasing it until she spotted the limo.

  “Ms. Phillips?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m John.” He opened the rear passenger door.

  She nearly ran to get in the car, praying she didn’t get caught by either Luke or whomever he had watching her. Was she being paranoid? She hoped so.

  “You okay, babe?”

  “Yeah. I’m in the car.”

  “Okay. You can hang up now. I’ll see you in fifteen.”

  “Okay.” She ended the call and set the phone in her lap, holding it out of fear it would ring again. Or a text would come. If Luke caught her, she had no doubt her expression of ecstasy would be front page news in hours.

  No text. No call. After a few minutes, she opened the Internet and googled her name. Nothing.

  But that was too easy.

  She googled Dominic Cordes and held her breath.

  Nothing. Nothing from the last forty-eight hours, anyway.

  “Ma’am?”

  Lily jerked her head up to see they had arrived. They were in the circle drive in front of Dominic’s home. “Oh.” She unbuckled her seatbelt as John circled the car and opened the door.

  Several steps led to the well-lit front entrance, and the door opened before she reached the top.

  Dominic stepped outside. He waved at John. “Thanks, man. I owe you.” He reached for Lily’s arm. His eyes danced with laughter. “Your dress is severely different than how I remember.”