Free Lily's List by N. J. Walters Page B

whipped
cream had been sitting right in the center of the top shelf,
reminding her that they hadn’t used it—yet. Still, she hadn’t had
to face a dirty kitchen. Carson had taken the time to load the
dishwasher and clean down the table and the counter. That had left
her with a smile on her face.
    It had been hard enough to get through
Saturday at work, but as it was her busiest day of the week, she’d
eventually gotten into the rhythm of it. Delia, her assistant, had
asked her several times if she was okay. She’d been a lot more
distracted than usual.
    Lily loved her store and took pride in her
work, but she’d been more than ready to leave work when the clock
hit six. Her body had been humming with anticipation and low-level
arousal when she’d closed the doors for the day and headed home.
They hadn’t made plans, but she’d hoped to see Carson.
    He’d called her instead.
    They’d talked on the phone for over an hour.
No phone sex. Not this time. Instead, they’d shared the details of
their days with one another, chatting and laughing. In some ways it
was even more intimate and made her feel warm and tingly all over.
She’d been ready to reach for her vibrator when she finally went to
bed that night, but something had stayed her hand. She didn’t think
that anything short of having Carson inside her was going to
satisfy her.
    On the other hand, her writing certainly
wasn’t suffering. Carson had already told her that he had to work
on Sunday. It was a special project a man wanted done for his wife
and that was the only day she would be away. While she appreciated
Carson’s willingness to go the extra mile for his client, she
wished he’d been able to spend the day with her. Still, she’d
written almost twenty pages on her manuscript before calling it a
day.
    Monday passed with another long phone call in
the evening. It was now late Tuesday afternoon and they still
hadn’t made any definite plans to get together. In a fit of
frustration this morning, she’d shoved the can of whipped cream to
the back of the refrigerator.
    Picking up another daisy, she carefully added
it to the arrangement in front of her. She stood back and looked at
it with a critical eye. Perfect. It was just what Mr. Fitzgerald
had ordered for his wife’s birthday. Picking up the crystal vase
he’d chosen for the special occasion, Lily carried it to the cooler
and popped it inside. Mr. Fitzgerald had promised to pick it up
before closing today.
    She walked briskly back to her work counter
and began to clean it. There were no other orders she had to fill
today and tomorrow was her day off. Thursday and Friday would be
busy, as Lily’s Blossoms was doing the bouquets and all the floral
arrangements for two weddings this weekend. She, Delia and both her
part-timers would be here early Thursday morning to start work.
    But tomorrow was hers to do with as she
chose. The only problem was that she wasn’t quite sure what she was
doing yet. The bell over the door tinkled merrily and she
automatically turned with a welcoming smile on her face. Carson
stood just inside the door wearing his usual uniform of scuffed
boots, jeans and a plain T-shirt. Today the shirt was a chocolate
brown that made him look positively yummy.
    Lily didn’t move as he sauntered toward her,
a familiar gleam in his eyes. “Hello, Carson.” She was proud of the
fact that her voice sounded calm and totally natural.
    “Lily.” His deep baritone sent a shiver down
her spine. It wasn’t what he’d said, but rather the way he’d said
it—low and intimate.
    She locked her knees and tilted her head to
one side. “What can I do for you today?”
    The corners of his mouth twitched. “That’s a
loaded question.”
    Lily scowled. Truthfully, she was slightly
irritated with him. He obviously found it easy to stay away from
her for four days, and now he waltzed right into her store at
closing time and expected . . . She hesitated. She wasn’t
quite sure what he