Three Words: A Novella Collection Page 17

  “I’m after Lily Appleby.”

  The girls looked at each other.

  “Again?” Lily said.

  Ignoring her, the man advanced. “You her?”

  “I am.”

  He shoved the electronic clipboard in her face. “Sign.”

  Lily scribbled her flowery signature as best she could on the screen. The man plonked the package onto the table beside where they stood.

  “Thank you.”

  Lily and Rebecca stared at the gift, this time wrapped in red and silver foil wrapping with a huge love heart decoration springing from the centre like a fountain.

  “What is it?” Rebecca whispered, as though scared the sound of her voice might make it explode.

  “How would I know?”

  Lily was beginning to feel like she was in a remake of Groundhog Day - the Valentine’s version.

  “You think it’s from Damon? ‘Cause if it is you seriously have to go out with him. Two gifts in a day and dancing in the dark. He’s a keeper.”

  Lily looked at the package again. “I don’t know who else it could be.”

  With trembling fingers, Lily peeled the huge bow from the top. She had to keep it. It was cute. Then, as she pulled the box from the wrapping and examined it, she burst into tears.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she sniffed. “It’s, it’s…” Putting the CD down on the table she stopped talking to wipe her eyes.

  Rebecca picked up the CD. “You’re crying over Willie Nelson? What is wrong with you today? Have you got PMT or something?”

  Lily sniffed and blew her nose. She threw the tissue into the bin and picked up the card.

  Here’s to many more slow dances and treasured memories.

  Your Valentine. xoxo

  “It’s from Damon,” she said, at last. “Honestly, I don’t know how he remembered all these things about me. I told him I loved this CD ‘cause it reminds me of Gran.”

  Rebecca knew how close Lily had been to her grandmother, how devastated she had been after she passed away the previous year. “Oh. My. God. And he brought you the CD to help you remember? He’s too perfect. There has to be a catch. He must be an axe murder or a rapist or something.”

  “No catch. He said last night he was going to make this the best Valentine’s Day I’d ever had. I guess that’s what he’s doing.” Lily smiled, feeling happier than she had in years.

  Chapter 7

  By the time lunchtime rolled around, Lily had totally lost the plot. She couldn’t concentrate. All she could think of was dancing in the dark with Damon and what an amazing man he was. She couldn’t believe how fate had turned her life around so quickly. If she hadn’t gone into The Cobbler Shop yesterday, and her shoes had not been lost, she would never have met him. And even though she knew he couldn’t come to the dance, Lily was suddenly excited about going. She couldn’t wait to slip into her red dress and pile her hair up and dance the night away.

  At twelve-thirty, Lily began to pack her desk up for the week. The girls had both requested to take their ‘rostered day off’ that afternoon so they could prepare for the Valentine’s Ball. That had been before the whole Travis-slash-break-up debacle, of course, but it didn’t matter now. Everything had changed. She had changed.

  A stupid grin ~ that spread every time she thought of Damon ~ had taken up residence on Lily’s face. She was on such a high from his thoughtful gifts that people in the office had begun to stare and Jordy had even gone so far as to ask her had she taken something. It was understandable. Nobody had seen her that happy for months. And all because of a Crunchie Bar and a CD.

  Rebecca and Lily were standing by her desk, when Jordy appeared. He was looking happy too. His partner had sent him a pair of naughty pyjamas with instructions that they were to be worn that evening. Or taken off. The thought made Lily shudder. Though obviously appealing to some, the thought of Jordy’s skinny body without clothes was enough to put Lily off her lunch. For a week.

  “Off home, girls?” he asked.

  “To get our nails done,” Rebecca replied, waggling her fingers at him across the enormous bunch of roses Shaun had sent.

  “I need a nap too,” Lily sighed. “I’m knackered after last night.”

  “You’re not going to bail on me, are you?”

  “Not a chance. I’m looking forward to it now.”

  Rebecca seemed shocked, though pleased. “Even though Damon won’t be there?”

  “Even though.”

  Rebecca smiled. She reached over to hug her friend. “I’m glad you’re over the Travis thing. I didn’t like to see you so sad and mopey. If I ever get to meet this Damon, I’m going to kiss him for bringing you back to me.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll let you,” Lily joked.

  “Ooooohhh. Possessive.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  Rebecca handed Lily her handbag and, after stowing her gifts in them, the two girls did a quick stop in the Ladies loo and headed down the corridor to the lifts.

  It was true, Lily mused, as she stood watching the numbers above the lift light up, Damon had done something special. She didn’t know how, but in twenty-four hours he had made her believe that love was possible again, that romance wasn’t something you only saw on episodes of Hart of Dixie. If she never saw him again, and she really hoped she was going to, she would be eternally grateful.

  They were just about to step into the lift when Jordy came puffing along the corridor, stopping so abruptly in front of them he almost smacked straight into a potted palm.

  “Thank God, I caught you,” he panted. “Another delivery.”

  Lily looked at the large box Jordy was holding and was overcome by his kindness. “Thanks Jordy. You didn’t have to do that, you could have left it on my desk for Monday.”

  Jordy grinned. For once he actually looked human. “I know, but after the reaction you had to the other presents, the whole office is dying to see what’s inside, including me.”

  “So you’re just being a stickybeak?”

  “Yep.”

  “At least you’re an honest stickybeak.”

  Lily put her handbag on the floor. Her fingers had begun to tremble, making unwrapping tricky but after a minute she had the paper off, revealing a shoebox. She stared down at the note, stuck to the lid.

  Even Cinderella had shoes to wear to the ball. Enjoy your evening.

  Love,

  Your Valentine. xoxo

  Oh my God, Damon hadn’t gone and bought her a new pair of shoes, had he? She couldn’t possibly accept them, not from a man she didn’t know. It was too much.

  Lifting the lid, Lily found her red pumps. Her lucky red pumps. Not only was the man gorgeous, he was a genius.

  “Your shoes,” Rebecca exclaimed.

  “I know.”

  The lift doors opened and the girls stepped in. They stood facing the front, watching the numbers slide down the panel.

  “Damon is like your own personal cupid,” Rebecca remarked at last.

  “I know.” Lily whispered. She couldn’t say anything else. If she did, she was sure she was going to burst into happy tears.

  Chapter 8

  Ding- dong. Ding- dong. Ding ,ding, ding.

  The ringing of the doorbell was becoming more insistent by the minute. Lily ran along the hall to answer it, hopping and shoving her foot into her shoe as she went. If only she hadn’t napped for so long she would have been ready by now. As it was, she couldn’t find her lipstick or the clutch she only used on special occasions. It was lost somewhere in the pile of handbags that had fallen from the top shelf of her wardrobe.

  “Ready?” Rebecca asked, as Lily opened the door and disappeared into her room.

  “Almost, just gotta put my earrings on. I fell asleep. I didn’t wake up till an hour ago.”

  Rebecca stood in the hall. “It’s okay. We’ve got time. The taxi’s on the metre and Shaun’s paying.”

  Thank God. Lily raced back into the room,
this time emerging with a large diamante earring and the missing lipstick in her hand. She put the earring to her lobe and pushed. “I think I’ve got everything but I can’t find my clutch.”

  “You mean the one on the hall table?” Rebecca pointed to the black satiny shape sitting next to a vase of flowers.

  “Shit,” Lily laughed. “I was so disoriented when I woke up, I forgot I put it there so I wouldn’t forget where it was. Oh well.” She picked up the clutch and undid the clasp. “Ready.”

  “Got your keys?”

  “Check.”

  “Lippy?”

  “Check.”

  “Phone, perfume, cash?”

  Lily peered into her bag. She did a final twirl in front of the hall mirror, tucked a stray hair back into the loose bun at her nape and swung the front door open. For some weird reason, she was feeling edgy but quite excited.

  “Triple check. Let’s go.”

  *****

  Lily had, indeed danced, the night away. It had been brilliant fun, despite the fact that she had acquired a new friend on her heel in the form of a large blister and another in the form of a rather desperate fellow who had chased her into the Ladies, scaled the door and proposed to her, which would have been funny had she not been about to pull her knickers down at the time. She’d laughed with her friends, drank a truckload of wine and also managed to attract the attention of two or three other single men, none of whom she’d date in a pink fit ~ they didn’t seem to have that pull she’d felt with Damon ~ but they were nice and friendly and good to dance with, the sort of guys you’d keep as friends.

  Not once had she pondered over love lost. In fact, the only thoughts of love she’d had were those involving a certain hot man who killed spiders and hated scary movies. She wondered what he was doing. Was he thinking about her?

  After four dances in a row, with all different partners eager to have her phone number, Lily finally got back to her seat. She plonked down and picked up her champagne, taking a sip. The alcohol-soaked strawberry bobbing in the top of the glass touched her lips and she scooped it up with her newly manicured finger, sucking it into her mouth. Yum. Strawberries were Lily’s favourite fruit. It had been Travis’s too. Or so he’d said.

  Up on the floor, Rebecca and Shaun were wound around each other in a romantic dance. The other couples from their table were slow dancing too and for a second, Lily slipped back into her previously pensive mood. She stared up at the ceiling, smothered with thousands of helium filled balloons that had long, scarlet strings dangling from them, finished with cut out hearts. Wiping a tear, she gazed at the red fairylights that adorned the walls and pillars. She admired the tables; white cloths spread with rose petals and the gigantic heart shaped, twig centrepieces.

  That could have been her and Travis up there, she thought, a little sadly. If she hadn’t dumped him. Or had he dumped her? She’d never actually figured that out. After their massive row, he’d just sort of disappeared. Would she ever find love again? Now that she’d decided she wasn’t so down on it, she really did want a boyfriend. Someone to cherish. But even though she missed Travis at times like this, she’d never want him back. It was a loneliness thing that was all.

  As Lily sat watching, the music changed. The band began to play Someone to Watch Over Me. Lily sat straighter, shaking her head at the impossibility of it. It had to be a coincidence, right? Willie Nelson couldn’t be playing twice in two days. But it was the same song. God, how freaky. Then she had another thought. What if…?

  She sat straighter still. Her neck craned to the point of uncomfortable as she scanned the room over the heads of the dancing couples. He was here. She knew it.

  “Looking for someone?”

  The deep, slightly husky voice made her jump. “Damon!”

  “Dance? I believe this is one of your favourites?”

  “How did you do this?” Lily flapped her disbelieving arms toward the band. She was so shocked she thought she was going to fall off her chair. Luckily, Damon’s hand was there to steady her.

  “I paid them an exorbitant amount of cash.”

  “And how did you get here?”

  “Taxi.”

  Lily would have thudded back to Earth on the sarcasm but her cloud was too puffy for her to fall over the edge.

  Damon took her hand. He held her gaze in his own. He smiled the most disarmingly cheeky and sexy smile Lily had ever seen on a man. Bugger how he’d done it. He was here and, gosh, was he the best, most hottest man on Earth or what?

  “Dance first, questions later. By my reckoning, this song’s only got another two minutes. I don’t want to waste a second of having you in my arms.”

  Lily nodded and stumbled to her feet, her blisters forgotten.

  For the next two minutes and thirty-four seconds, Lily was silent, a nigh on impossible feat for the girl who’d always been in trouble for talking during Silent Reading time at school and who only last week had been given daggers for speaking in a staff meeting. Overawed, surprised and deliciously excited were but a few of the emotions that were surging through Lily’s body. She couldn’t describe the others ~ she was too busy trying not to faint in Damon’s arms. And the tingling was making her very wriggly.

  At last, she managed to settle and from a comfortable place where her head rest on his shoulder she asked, “How did you get here?” again.

  “Told you,” Damon whispered in her ear. She could feel the smirk on his lips. She knew he was pleased with himself to be able to affect her this way. “Taxi.”

  He bent his mouth even closer to her ear. A rush of warm breath slid down her neck. “I have to say, it was worth the effort. You look beautiful, Lily. You might, in fact, be the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. And the more I see you, the more I want to get to know you.”

  “I feel like I’ve known you for years.”

  “Me too. So I s’pose I should confess.”

  Lily could feel herself tensing. Oh God, Rebecca ~even though she’d been joking ~ had been right. Damon had some dark secret and it wasn’t good.

  “What?”

  “Your shoes weren’t exactly lost.”

  “I don’t get it?” Honestly, she felt like such a dimwit but really she didn’t get it.

  “They were on the bottom shelf where you couldn’t see them the whole time. I just… well, from the moment you walked into the shop I wanted to get to know you more and pretending to lose your shoes was the only thing I could come up with on short notice.”

  “That was pretty sneaky,” Lily chided, secretly pleased that a man would go to such lengths to get a date.

  “I always planned on giving them back to you.”

  Lily stood on her tiptoes. She pecked Damon softly on the cheek. “I’m glad you did. Though if you’d really lost my lucky shoes, I might have come back to the shop and strangled you with a shoelace.”

  They danced a little longer, Damon’s strong body holding Lily tight as they made their way around the floor and towards the front, near the stage. The band, seemingly Damon’s new best friends, winked and nodded as they danced by. They looked happy to have played their part in a Valentine’s surprise.

  “So what changed?” Lily asked, at last. “When we discussed the ball, you told me you were spending the evening with your grandfather. I totally understood that. I didn’t expect you to give up being with him for me.”

  Damon shifted against her and swung her in the opposite direction. “We went to the cemetery. We went to dinner. Then we sat down to watch something on ABC that Grandpa enjoys. I’d been sitting there for about ten minutes when he told me to get my bum off the couch and go do whatever it was that I’d rather be doing. He said my face was ~ and I quote ~ ‘longer than a wet week.’”

  Thoughtfulness was clearly a family trait.

  The song ended and was replaced by a more up-tempo number, but still one for ‘couples’ dancing. Damon was quite competent at the ballroom stuff. But then Pinocchio’s moves would have been an improvement on the
woodenness Lily experienced with her last partner. His dancing had sucked.

  As Damon guided Lily away from him and twirled her under his arm, he remarked, “I put up a bit of a fight but Grandpa wouldn’t take no for answer, the old bugger. He’s stubborn like that.”

  “I’m glad. Having you here is the perfect end to the perfect day.”

  “I did it, then?”

  “What?”

  Damon slid Lily into a dip, his large hand balancing her in the small of her back. His face was serious as he studied hers. “Gave you a Valentine’s Day that restored your faith in love?”

  Lily blinked up at him. “My friend Rebecca thought you were a bit of a nut job sending the Crunchie Bar and I think the words ‘geriatric’ and ‘loser’ were used in relation to the CD. Then I explained. She wants to kiss you now, so you’d better watch out. She’s here somewhere.”

  “Is she good looking?”

  “Don’t be smart. Besides, I already told her she’s not allowed.”

  “Why?”

  Damon pulled Lily up. They were face to face. Her heart was pounding faster than the time she’d almost met Justin Timberlake after his concert.

  “Because I want to kiss you,” she whispered.

  Damon bent his forehead to hers. It was like they were the only couple in the entire ballroom and the music was the movie soundtrack. “I think that can be arranged. Later.”

  *****

  Like Cinderella, Lily found herself leaving the ball at midnight; only she had her shoes in her hand and the handsome prince by her side. After dropping Shaun and Rebecca at Rebecca’s flat, Lily decided she might walk the rest of the way. It was a balmy evening and the streets were, for some reason, abandoned. She could stroll along and enjoy it.

  Damon walked along with her, holding her hand. Lily had the feeling that like her, he was doing everything he could to prolong the moment when they’d have to say goodnight.