Free Lilly Blossoms (Lessons in Submission Book 3) by Maggie Ryan

hedge now? "I mean, you don't… make me uncomfortable. I like you… I mean it… I mean, I'm not really little." Did people actually die from having their foot stuck in their mouth?
    "So you informed me when we first met," he said, giving her a smile, not blinking an eye, as if her fumbling words were perfectly normal conversation.
    "I'm nineteen."
    "And a very beautiful nineteen, who I believe is filled out just perfectly."
    Oh! What… how do I respond to that? She couldn't. Instead, she sat with her eyes downcast and her cheeks heating.
    "Lilly?"
    "Hmmm? Oh, I'm fine," she managed, though she was pretty sure that if she said that she was feeling ill, he'd believe her. After all, she was acting like some, some… Sighing deeply, she realized she truly had no idea what to call herself at this moment.
    "I'm not too sure that you are, but I was going to remind you that you never did answer my question."
    "What?"
    "About our tea? The bench or the blanket?" he asked.
    That's right, he'd sensed her hesitancy about the bench. The bench where… no, not going to revisit that memory . Not knowing exactly how to get past her embarrassing reaction, she discovered help was within her reach.
    "What do you think, Miss Bushy? The bench or the blanket?" After a moment, she nodded. "Yes, I agree, the bench is indeed a perfect place for our tea party." Feeling a bit silly, she met his eyes and saw the amusement reflected in the silver specks.
    "The bench it is," he said, and she felt a pang of regret as he gently helped her off his lap.
    "May I help?" she asked, when he reached for the blanket that was sitting atop the basket.
    "No, you are my honored guests," Phillip said, unfolding the blanket and spreading it out between the bench and the trunk of the tree. "You and Miss Bushy just sit and let me get everything ready."
    "But I can help—"
    "I know you can, sweetie, but it would make me very happy if you let me serve you." When she began to protest again, the sight of his right eyebrow arching had her tummy flipping.
    "Umm, all right."
    "That's my good girl," he said, his expression softening as he smiled. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"
    Lilly sat on the blanket, the squirrel in her lap, and watched as he removed one item after another from the depths of the basket. She looked around. "Are your… um, niece, and her… her father joining us?"
    "What?" he asked, pausing as he lifted an actual teapot in a quilted cozy from the basket.
    "I just wondered if you were expecting additional guests," she said, her hand sweeping in front of her. "You prepared enough food for an army."
    His chuckle made her giggle even as he shook his head. "That's exactly what I said to Belinda, but she insisted that she had far more experience in preparing a proper tea than I."
    Belinda? Was that the name of his wife? It didn't sound like the same name that woman had offered that day. Had she told him about her part in Lilly losing her job and this… this tea party was some sort of apology? They don't need to apologize. I steal their flowers and… and I don't take charity!
    "You are doing it again."
    His words jerked her head up. "Doing what?"
    "Disappearing into your own thoughts," he said. Though she'd expected him to take a seat on the opposite side of the bench, he dropped down beside her. "And if you are thinking of making an escape, forget it. Please promise me that you won't leave me here alone and make me have to explain to Eleanor's cook why I returned with all this food. I'm quite sure Belinda wouldn't hesitate to take a wooden spoon to my backside."
    Flushing a bit at her incorrect assumption, Lilly tilted her head. "She wouldn't, would she?"
    "Oh, I assure you she would," Phillip said. He went up onto his knees and began to fill a plate with a variety of items that had been wrapped in linens. "That woman has a heart as big as the sky and yet keeps a tighter rule on her kitchen than Queen Victoria does on her monarchy." He finished