Divine Phoenix(Divine Creek Ranch 10)(68)

He’d kissed the tip of her nose, praying for control while showing her that he wouldn’t demand what she couldn’t give yet. While there, he’d also lightly smooched her lips and then let her go back to watching the movie.

If all he’d wanted was sex, he could’ve cajoled her into his bed a week ago. More was at stake and he wasn’t going to blow it for short-term relief, especially not when Del was now potentially in the picture.

When he returned to the bathroom, he carried two bottles of water and two plates of food.

“Well, this is a first. I’ve never eaten supper in the bathtub before.”

“Same goes here. I’ve never eaten while sitting on the toilet before, either.”

Lily laughed so hard her fork fell in the tub. “Oops!”

Clay made a move to help. “Want me to get it?” He was sure his lascivious grin guaranteed he’d have to feel around very thoroughly while he searched for it.

“Very funny!”





Chapter Sixteen




Later, after supper had been eaten and dishes were put away, Lily limped to her room wrapped in a towel. After dressing in her red flannel pajamas, which had indeed gotten very loose and floppy, she searched the box she’d left on the closet shelf. While looking for the envelope that held her medical information and other important paperwork, she found the box containing her old pictures. She hadn’t seen most of them in years, so pulled them out to share with Clay.

Clay was kneeling by the fireplace adding wood to the crackling blaze within. He stood when she entered the room, brushing his hands off on his jeans as he turned to her. She handed him the lab results, and he sat in the big, comfy recliner and turned on the floor lamp beside it, gesturing for her to join him. Something about the gesture compelled her as he gazed at her with some unreadable emotion in his eyes.

In the last week, the level of intimacy they shared had changed. He never put pressure on her with sexual advances, which should’ve been a relief but wasn’t. But that didn’t mean that he was content with her across the room on the couch.

He made no bones about the fact that he preferred to be close to her and seemed to particularly enjoy having her in his lap in that recliner. The thing was almost big enough for two people side by side, but she invariably wound up in his lap comfortably lounging. It was a relief that she’d lost some weight so she didn’t worry quite as much about hurting him.

She carefully joined him and settled as he looked closely at the photocopy she’d handed him. The doctor had ordered a wide range of tests, so many, in fact, that by the time the nurse had finished drawing blood, Lily had been ready to pass out. JT had thrown a royal temper tantrum when he’d found out how much the lab work had cost because they didn’t have health insurance. Thankfully, he’d forgotten about it by the time the results had come back. She’d carefully tucked the paperwork away and was grateful when he’d never asked about the test results.

“Going by the range of normal results listed for each test, all of your levels are within normal ranges, Lily.”

Lily nodded. “The doctor told me that but said I should be more careful and to look in the mirror if I needed proof that I had to make changes.” He’d always been polite to her, but Lily remembered how his insensitive words had soured her respect for the man.

Sounding shocked, Clay asked, “He said that to you?”

Lily nodded. “He was a gruff man. JT’s mother said he was ‘plainspoken.’”

“Let me guess. He was the King family doctor?” At Lily’s nod he folded the paper and handed it back to her. “That explains a lot, I guess. Numbers don’t lie, honey. And with as much weight as you’ve lost, they are probably all different now anyway.”

“I can’t afford to find out right now.”

With the subject seemingly closed, Clay tapped the box in her lap. “What do you have there?”

“The pictures Dad saved for me.”

Clay grinned like he was looking forward to something. “Can I see?”

Looking at the visual memories from her childhood might be uncomfortable, but Lily hoped that maybe Clay would be able to understand why she felt the way she did about losing weight, why it was so important to her to finally get that part of her life behind her so she could move on. She lifted the lid on the box.

“Oh, man,” Clay said then groaned.

Lily giggled as she lifted the picture on top. It was from kindergarten at Halloween in 1979. Mrs. Hobson had organized a Halloween parade in front of the school Lily, Clay, and Del had attended. In the picture, Lily was situated in her little witch costume, flanked by Del, dressed as a cowboy, and Clay, looking adorable in a ruffled, pastel floral print clown costume.