“Stop being a woman, Liam,” Shayne says as she walks into the room and looks at me, still laughing. “You can only dress in drag in the bedroom.” This causes me to laugh even more.
It also makes Liam swing around with his mouth gaping, looking at Shayne. “You promised you’d never tell,” he playfully says. “Great! Now you’re probably gonna tell Lily how I wear cat’s ears and meow for you, too.”
By this stage, I have tears streaming down my face. “I love you two,” I say through gulping breaths and hysterical laughter.
“Good, so you should,” Shayne says as she walks to the kitchen to cook. “’Cause we’re damn awesome,” she yells once she’s in there.
I get up and follow her. “Do you need help with dinner?”
“Nope, I’m good. But Michaela asked when you think you’ll be ready with her book. She also asked if she can have your phone number to call you, I said I’d check.”
My shoulders stiffen, and automatically I’m uneasy. “Just get her number, and I’ll call her to talk to her about it. I’m still reading it, but I should be able to spend all of Sunday on it.”
“I have her number in my phone. I’ll just get it for you.” She goes to her bag, gets her phone and scrolls through it. “Here it is.”
“Thanks. I’ll give her a call on Sunday. I’ll go spend an hour on it now, before dinner is ready. Sure you don’t need a hand?”
“Yeah, right. An hour. That means I’ll have to call you at least five times, all of which you’ll say ‘I’ll be there in a minute’ which will turn into three or four hours.”
“Number one problem of a reader, trying to find time to eat.”
Shayne laughs, and goes back to making dinner. Liam’s disappeared somewhere and I go into my room and open the new laptop I bought straight after getting my permit. I plug the USB drive into the port and start back up a couple of chapters before where I left off.
In the story up to now, the heroine meets the hero and she’s torn because she actually has emotions for him, and no longer wants to sell her body as an escort. There have been twists and turns, people coming in from her past, from his past, and from their immediate families. I can’t turn the pages quickly enough, and with every chapter that ends, I’m bursting to know what surprise will be presented in the next chapter.
“Dinner,” Shayne says as she knocks on my door.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I yell back.
“Huh,” she sarcastically adds. Even without seeing her, I can tell she’d be rolling her eyes and thinking ‘There goes Lily for tonight.’
I keep reading, and of course I get to the end of the chapter, and start the next. Before I even realize, I’ve finished the book and I’m looking at the screen, breathless and panting. Not because it was crazy sexy, even though parts were, but because the book has left me hungry for more. I’m desperate to continue the story. It’s a stand-alone book, and the ending was beyond brilliant, but I want more.
I look down to the right hand corner where the time is and I gasp from surprise. Damn it, I know Shayne and Liam have eaten and are in bed, because it’s nearly midnight. As quietly as I can go, I open the door to a dark house. I tiptoe into the kitchen to find a handwritten note, this time by Liam. It reads: ‘Slacker. Called you four times. But it’s okay, we know you were lost in the book. Dinner’s in the fridge. Remember, your boss is picking you up at eight so you can buy a car. Love you, chicken butt.’
I have no idea why he’s taken to calling me ‘chicken butt’ but it’s his way of showing affection toward me. Liam is like the brother I’ve never had, and Shayne is the best friend I’ve always dreamed about. They’re my family, the only real family I’ve ever had. So if Liam wants to call me ‘chicken butt’, I know he says it with love.
I heat my dinner, eat it, and go to bed. Tomorrow morning, Dale will be here to pick me up, and hopefully, I’ll be the owner of a new car before the day is through.
Waking before my alarm clock goes off, I jump out of bed and go have a quick shower. I’m so excited and jittery, today I’m getting a new car. I dry my hair, throw it back in a ponytail, and get dressed.
“You up, chicken butt?” Liam calls from the down the hallway outside my room. He hasn’t realized I’m in the kitchen eating some cereal. I remain quiet and listen to what he’s saying and doing. Silently laughing. “Come on, Lily. Get your butt out of bed.” I’m eating my cereal, smirking. “God you’re a pain in the ass,” he mumbles to himself. He knocks again, and huffs because he’s not getting a response from me. I of course, am now laughing so loudly, I can’t believe he hasn’t heard me giggling like a schoolgirl spying on two teachers kissing. “Fine, don’t wake up, you’re going to miss out.” He stomps down the hallway and I lean against the kitchen counter, trying my hardest to hold in the smile. He comes in and jumps when he sees me. “For God’s sake, Lily. You scared the crap out of me.” He puts a hand to his chest and breathes in deeply.