"Yes. How could I forget? I got engaged. It's etched in my mind."
"Yeah. Right." Lily licked her lips. "Remember when Dominic took me for a tour of his house during the game?"
Zia frowned. "Not really. Oh … " she snapped her fingers, " … right. You went outside to see his greenhouse and that's when you took a sudden interest in roses. Did you ever go back and photograph them?"
Lily fought the grin that wanted to spread across her face. She couldn't stop the heated flush that rushed up her cheeks, though. "Zia, I never saw the man's greenhouse."
"Of course you did. Your hands were freezing when you came back inside, and, oh … " Her eyes widened. "Ohhhh … " At first she froze in a shocked position, and then she smiled. "You didn't."
"I totally did." Lily sighed. Why had she bothered to keep this a secret all this time? Who cared? She was a grown woman. If she wanted to enjoy a well-deserved, fantastic fuck during a party, she shouldn't feel ashamed.
"Oh. My. God." Zia beamed. "That is so hot. Have you been seeing him secretly on the sly ever since?"
"No." Lily cringed. "That's the awkward problem. Never spoke to him again. We didn't even exchange numbers."
"Seriously?" Zia's expression was priceless.
"I hope you don't think I'm a total slut. I've never done anything like that before in my life."
"Me?" Zia pointed to herself. "You do realize I slept with Brett on our first date, right?"
"Shit. You did. I forgot that."
"Uh-huh. And it was so hot. I'll never regret it."
Lily waved a hand in front of her. "That was different, though. At least you two were actually on a date and you'd met a few times before. I literally let some teenager lead me into temptation and make my world spin. If he hadn't been famous, I wouldn't have even known his last name."
Zia laughed hard. "Teenager? He's twenty-six. Hardly a teenager."
"Yeah well, I'm thirty-four, so anyone who can refer back to something that happened in high school is way too young for me."
Zia rolled her eyes. "You're too hung up on age. It's just a number. Was he inexperienced or something? Did he fumble around?"
"God, no. Quite the opposite. He was … intense. The best lover ever. In fact, I'm ruined for all other men. I haven't been on a date since then." She pulled her hands out from under her thighs and twisted them in her lap. "Made it much easier to keep Luke the Jackass at arm's length for the last few months, though. After having sex with a real man who knew his way around a woman's body, I've never once considered taking Luke back."
"And it hasn't been for lack of effort on his part. How many times a week does he still call you?"
"Several. It's becoming ridiculous. Leaves me messages. Says he's a changed man. Says he broke up with what's-her-name and can't live without me. Blah. Blah. Blah. It's vomit-inducing."
"I'm proud of you for not taking him back."
Lily shrugged. "I'm not a complete fool. I would never date a man who cheated on me."
Zia lifted her eyebrows. "Sweetie, he was probably cheating on you the entire two years. Even Ava knew that, and she's your sister. You just wouldn't listen to reason."
Lily sighed. "I know. I should have seen the signs. But I never had any proof. Just because he cancelled dates at the last minute or sometimes didn't show up or disappeared for a few days didn't mean he was cheating."
"It's a good indicator. Besides, he was never remorseful. I tried to be a good supportive friend, but it was hard to watch you get hurt like that."
"I know. I'm sorry. I guess I had blinders on or something. He was my first long-term relationship. I didn't have anything to compare it to. So I thought it was all okay. I thought maybe everyone's relationships looked like that." She threw up her hands. "I was a fool."
"Stop kicking yourself. You spent a lot of years raising Ava. But she's grown now. It's your time. So, you made a mistake with Luke. It's over. You moved on. And then you met Dominic."
"Yeah. The same night. I thought I was out of my mind stupid." Lily cringed.
"Stop beating yourself up. It's not like you slept with Luke the same day."
"God no. I hadn't slept with Luke for months. I'd been pulling back from him for a while. I knew something was off before that afternoon."
Zia sat up straighter. "Okay. So, Dominic. You think this will be awkward?"