Chapter 12

 

Devin

 

“Can you come over?” I asked when Lilli picked up the phone.

“What time is it?”

“Early.”

“I can’t come over. What’s up? I’m sleeping,” she said grumpily.

“I need another favor.”

There was a long pause as I’m sure she was contemplating what sort of favor I needed from her. It had been nearly a week since we’d returned from Jacksonville, and the two of us hadn’t managed to see each other once. I’d sent a few text messages, but she didn’t answer for hours at a time.

“Devin, I’m not sure I have time for any more of your favors.”

“Are you alright?”

I’d tried to avoid asking women that dreadful question as much as possible, but something definitely seemed off with Lilli. Even though it was early in the morning, she seemed more grumpy than tired.

“I’m fine, Devin. I just have my own life and responsibilities. One of which is working until midnight. So having you call at the butt crack of dawn isn’t my favorite thing. Now, what do you need?”

“Mrs. and Mr. Edwards called and said that Ashley would like me and you to come visit with her. I think she’s willing to let me have Izzy, maybe.”

“Just go by yourself. You don’t need to keep this lie up any longer, just tell her I couldn’t come.”

I was so close to getting Izzy that I could hardly stand the idea of anything going wrong. Ashley knew me really well, and if anyone were going to see through my marriage story, it would be her. At least if Lilli was with me, Ashley might be inclined to believe me.

“I can’t. She wants to meet you.”

“Arggg, I can’t deal with this right now. I’m going back to bed,” Lilli said as she groaned.

“Wait, I think we should go out on a real date. It’s the only way we can really get to know each other, and then after the date you can decide if you want to come with me or not.”

Lilli was silent. I could only hope that it was a good silent and not a bad silent. For a minute, I even thought that she might have hung up on me. But then I heard her moving, and I hurried over to my bedroom window to see if I could see her. Unfortunately, she had her curtains closed.

“You’re looking out your window aren’t you?” she accused me.

“What? Why would you say that?”

“Because I heard your curtains open. You know I’m not opening my curtains; I look terrible.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Ugh, you’re driving me crazy. So when is this date going to happen?”

“Tonight?”

Lilli burst into laughter and then flung her curtains open so I could see her. She was still wearing her work scrubs and had makeup smeared across her face as she stood in the window with one hand on her hip and the other holding the phone.

“Do I look like I could go on a date tonight?”

“Sleep all day, and we can go after seven,” I offered.

“I’ve got to go for a run.”

“Take the day off.”

“Devin, you’re messing with my whole life schedule here,” she said exasperatedly.

I smiled as she flung her arm up in the air and shook her head at me. Her long red hair was a disaster and hung half up in a ponytail and half fallen out and going every which direction. She was smiling, though; I loved it when she smiled.

“So is that a yes?”

“Fine, but we aren’t going anywhere fancy. I’m talking jeans and flip flops, that’s it.”

“Yes, ma’am. Can I pick you up at your door or would you rather come over here?”

Just as I asked, her parents walked out the front door. Both Lilli and I quickly stepped back away from the windows as if they would see us, although they were totally oblivious to the fact that we were standing up there. Lilli started laughing, and I couldn’t help joining in. I was long past the stage in life where I’d been worried about a date’s parents, but it was energizing to have them as a complication to our relationship.

“I’ll come over there,” Lilli said. “Seven o’clock. Deal.”

“Wear your flip flops.”

“I will. See you then. I’m going back to sleep.”

Lilli wasn’t kidding around as she hung up with me, and I saw her fling herself back into her bed. I couldn’t see her bed from the window, but I assumed she’d be sleeping for a few more hours at least. I had work I was still trying to get done this week so I moved to my office downstairs and got busy.

Investing wasn’t a job for me; it was more like a fun hobby. I loved learning about new companies and looking to see how I might be able to help them. It was much better than putting my money into boring stocks, although I did have a lot of money in the stock market as well.

When my old tech firm offered to give us all stock options, it hadn’t impressed me at all. But five years later when we went public, I became an instant millionaire. My investment in the company continued to grow until I finally decided to leave and sell off some of my shares. Now I had all the time in the world and plenty of money to spend. I was over the partying, though, and ready to move onto the next phase of my life, whatever that might be.

Lilli was on my mind all day long as I tried to research the drone company and their financial past. I was thinking about her much more than I normally thought of any woman I was seeing. But then again, no other woman had been to meet my daughter either. Something was special about Lilli and I and how we got along. Our connection didn’t feel forced. I didn’t feel like I had to be anyone but myself, and that was a nice change of pace.

As I wrapped up my day of trying to work, I hopped in the shower and freshened up a little. There was no need for me to be disgusting, even if we were going casual for this date.

A date with my twenty-one-year-old neighbor.

My life certainly wasn’t where I thought it would be when I was in my mid-thirties. I’d imagined jet-setting around the world with a hot twenty something, not having my neighbor walk over so we could go on a casual movie date. But the funny thing was, I really was excited to take Lilli out, and I suspected she’d look amazing in a bikini if I ever got around to jet-setting with her.

Right at seven o’clock, there was a knock at the door, and my pulse rose as I hurried to answer it. The last thing we needed was her parents seeing her coming over to my house. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would be a pain to try and explain the current state of the things between the two of us.

“Right on time,” I said as I flung the door open. “Wow,” I added when I saw Lilli.

“What? I said jeans and flip flops,” she said with a smile.

“Um, are those even considered jeans?” I asked as I leaned my head sideways and took in the beautiful site of her super tiny jean shorts.

“Yes, they are. Now, where are we going?”

Lilli came into my house and shut the door behind her, and I was still distracted. Her legs were deliciously long in those shorts, and she had on a white T-shirt that fit every curve. Her hair was pulled to one side in a loose braid, and she had her tongue ring back in.

“Uh … I don’t know,” I finally managed to say.

“Are you going to stare at me like that all night long?”

“Probably.”

“Okay,” she said with a sweet smile.

Her lips were plump and filled with a glossy lipstick that was close to a natural lip color. She had on just a little bit of makeup but not anything like when she’d been going to the clubs. This look seemed to make her comfortable.

“Should we get going before your parents figure out I’ve stolen you?”

“They think I’m going out with a boy I met at work.”

“Oh, are there nice looking guys at work?”

“No, I work with all women.” She laughed. “But they don’t need to know that.”

We walked through my living room and out to the garage where my car was parked. It was always very close to the wall and difficult to get into the passenger seat, but I still opened the door for her so she could slide in.

After I climbed in, Lilli crossed her legs and leaned toward me. She had her elbows on the armrest between us and looked at me as if she was going to ask me something. Then she leaned back and uncrossed her legs slowly, seductively, as if she knew I was watching every single movement.

“You better get comfortable. I don’t want to crash the car watching those long legs of yours when I’m supposed to be watching the road.”

“These little things are distracting you?” she teased as her fingers slid up and down her inner thighs.

“Should we just stay in?” I offered.

I was eager to explore those thighs of hers and would be more than happy to conduct our date right there in my house. We could certainly get to know each other very well. Although, I knew the answer to my question before she had responded.

“No. Let’s go out. I’m excited for our date.”

“Me too.”

The truth was, I was excited to go out with Lilli. It didn’t even matter what we were doing with our night. I’d been busy working all week and stressing out about Ashley and Izzy, so I needed a night off from that stress.

“Do you mind if I take you somewhere fun?”

“I’d be offended if you didn’t take me somewhere fun. You strike me as the type of guy who knows all the cool places to hang out here in Chicago during the summer.”

“I know all the fun places to hang out in most major cities.”

“Hmmm, you’ll have to tell me a little more about your travels tonight. And what exactly do you do for work? You’re a mystery.”

I opened the garage and pulled out as I started our drive to the place I knew Lilli was going to love. I’d never met a woman who was as laid back and easygoing as Lilli was, and I’d never even tried to bring a woman to this place before.

“I’m basically an investor,” I said as I drove.

“What do you invest in?”

“Businesses. I help them grow and get the money they need to build their companies up. I take a small portion of the company in exchange for this help. So it’s important that I only invest in companies that are going to keep growing.”

“So you buy a portion of the company?”

“Sort of. Well, actually yes. I’ve got some other investors that I work with, and we get equity in the company. Sometimes it’s a lot, like fifty percent of the company, and sometimes it’s only five or ten percent.”

“Why don’t you start your own company?”

“That’s an interesting question,” I said as I contemplated what my answer was. “Technically my investment company is a company. But I know what you mean.”

“Yeah, if you have all this money and know so much about all these different fields, why don’t you start something that is one hundred percent yours?”

“I don’t have any good ideas for companies.”

“Ahh, okay,” she said, but she didn’t look convinced by my answer at all. “What are you good at?”

“Numbers. I’m good at working with numbers and analyzing them. I used to be a data engineer at a tech firm.”

“Wow, I would have never guessed that,” Lilli said with a smile as she looked me up and down. “You look more like a salesman.”

“Really? I look like a salesman?” I didn’t think that was my look at all.

I made it a point to wear casual clothing that was even on the verge of being in style. I worked out and kept in decent shape. To me, a salesman was the kind of guy who was balding with a beer belly, not at all like me.

“Okay, maybe a salesman at one of those trendy gadget stores,” Lilli said with a grin. “By the way, where are we going?”

“Someplace fun.”

“Like the mall?” she teased.

“No, not the mall. That’s torture. I mean someplace we will both think is fun.”

I didn’t know Lilli well, but I suspected she was going to enjoy this place. It was a little younger crowd than I was used to hanging out with, but I thought it suited Lilli just right. Fun, adventurous, and totally out of control; while maintaining control.

We were getting close to our destination, and Lilli vigilantly looked out her window as I got off the highway and took a few turns. She looked so eager to figure out where we were heading that I had to laugh.

“You’re not going to figure it out.”

“Don’t underestimate me; I might figure it out.”

“Nope, I know you won’t. It’s a super-secret little place,” I said as I turned toward the building.

The sign still read ‘Joe’s Carpeting’ but inside the building was a new indoor Go-Kart track. The owners had gone out of business, and the large building was handing over to Joe’s son, who was also named Joe. I’d heard he was naming the new place ‘Joe’s Karting,’ in hopes he would only have to purchase one new giant letter K in order to update the signage.

“You’re bringing me to a carpeting store?” Lilli asked as she raised her eyebrows at me.

“Yep, and you’re going to love it.”

As we pulled into the parking lot, it was clear this was no ordinary carpeting store. The parking lot was filled with motorcycles, jeeps, and souped-up low riders. Inside, the building was dark with strobing flashes of light going off and loud thumping music.

“What is this place?”

“You’ll see,” I said as I pulled the glass door open and ushered Lilli into the building.

The music was loud and thumped full of base as we went over to the side rail and watched the karts as they made their way around the intricate track. Lilli smiled so big as she watched them racing, and I knew I had made a good choice in picking this spot.

“Are you ready to race me?” I laughed. “I’m going to kick your butt.”

“Oh, I seriously doubt that,” she said as she joined in on the ribbing. “I’m going to leave you in my dust.”

I grabbed her hand, and we walked over to get our tickets for the next race. The employee went over some basic rules and allowed us to pick out our own helmets. Then we got into the line and watched the remainder of the race that was already going on.

Lilli stood close to me, and the energy between us was hot. Not just hot because the building was warm, but an electricity that I couldn’t describe. As she looked at me, I lost myself for a moment and leaned down to kiss her.

She didn’t pull away but didn’t move closer to me. Instead, she gently kissed me back and then went right on watching the karting race that was going on in front of us. For a moment, I thought I’d made a mistake, but then her hand slipped behind her, and she pulled me by the belt buckle so I was standing closer to her. My pelvis pressed up against her ass while she watched the racing, and I tried not to get hard from the enticement.

All my thoughts of baseball and boring life stuff couldn’t prevent my body from lusting after Lilli as she pressed her ass against me. She playfully wiggled herself and tortured me for the entire ten minutes we were standing in line. By the time it was our turn to load into the go karts, I could hardly think of anything but her sweet little body.

“You did that on purpose?” I asked as I turned around to look at her in her kart.

“What?” she playfully denied and shrugged her shoulders.

“Oh, it’s on now.”

“Should we make a playful wager?” she asked.

“Sure, I win, and you come home with me. I lose, and you come home with me.” I laughed.

She just laughed at me and narrowed her eyes in on her plan of attack. As soon as the starting gun went off, Lilli snuck right through on my left side and darted in front of me as we went around the first corner. Not only did she get in front of me, but she quickly moved in front of everyone else who was racing in that round. I did my best to catch up to her, but there was a determination in her eyes that I clearly wasn’t going to stop.

By the end of the race, Lilli was nearly a track ahead of me, and I’d been cut off by every other guy in that place as they chased after her. When she climbed out of her kart, a few of the boys scurried over to talk to her, and I stood to the side and watched. I could only assume this sort of thing happened to her often as she looked completely at ease.

She pointed toward me during one of her conversations, and I waved the guy off and then moved in for a little victory grab. My hand slid around her waist, and I pulled her close to me just to make sure all the guys with eyes on her knew that she was mine, at least for that evening.

“Well, you’ve got a little fan club, don’t you?”

“Um, I’m a professional go-kart racer, of course,” she said laughing. “That was pretty good, wasn’t it? Did you want a rematch?”

“I’d like to wait in that line with you again.” I winked.

“Oh, did you like that little distraction?”

“Very much.”

“Then let’s go again,” she said playfully as she pulled me over to buy us another round of tickets.

We ended up racing three more times, with Lilli winning every single time. But I didn’t mind at all. The waiting line was my favorite part of the night. Lilli and I talked, hugged, kissed and had so much fun waiting in line that I almost hated to even get to the front of the line. By the end of the night, we were kissing and holding hands at my car as the karting place was closing their doors.

“That was the best first date ever,” Lilli said as she leaned back against my car.

“You mean the private jet wasn’t our first date?”

“Nope, this was. And it was really good. You’re a lot more down to earth than I thought you were.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “You didn’t think I was down to earth?”

“Your private jet kind of threw me off,” she teased.

“My big jet always makes me look like a big jerk,” I admitted. “But I often need to fly places at odd hours and don’t stay for long. It’s just easier this way. I fly commercial when I’m going overseas, most of the time,” I added.

“Oh, most of the time?”

“Yeah, if I’m going with a bunch of friends or …” I trailed off. “Or a group, then I’ll have the jet.”

“Or a woman?” Lilli asked.

There was no avoiding it. I’d taken plenty of women on my jet to spend the weekend with them. It was a fun way to get away, and going to a tropical location at the last minute always impressed the women. But it did sound sort of cheesy, and I wasn’t going to bring it up if I could help it.

“Something like that,” I said and then quickly tried to change the subject. “Would you like to come to my house for a nightcap?”

Lilli looked at me with an odd expression, and I had to laugh.

“What kind of nightcap?” she asked curiously.

“A coffee or something like that?”

“Why a coffee in the middle of the night? I don’t get the whole concept of a nightcap. But I would like to go home with you.” She winked. “It’s right next to my house.”

Her cheeky reply had us both laughing as we drove back toward my house. She was tired, and I noticed her drifting in and out of sleep during the ride, but she still curled up and held onto my arm for the duration of the trip.

When I finally pulled into my driveway, I clicked the button to open my garage and gently shook Lilli so she could wake up. I was honestly perfectly happy with just giving her a good night kiss and sending her back to her house. We’d gotten to know each other, and I hoped she felt comfortable enough to come with me over the weekend to visit Ashley, but I wasn’t sure yet.

“Thanks for the fun date,” Lilli said as I opened her door. “If you really want me to come with you to see Ashley, I will. But I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.”

“I understand; I’m not sure either. I just can’t bear the idea of leaving Izzy with her grandparents for years. I wasn’t a good father; I’m the first to admit it, but I want to be better. It was a stupid lie that I can’t take back, though, as I can’t risk them knowing I lied.”

“It was a stupid lie,” Lilli agreed. “But I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you,” I said as I went to walk Lilli out of the garage.

But Lilli didn’t walk with me, and instead, stayed next to the car. She smiled big at me, and I walked back to her to see why she wasn’t moving.

“What about that nightcap?” she asked.

Her hands held onto my belt, and she pulled me toward her. Instantly, I clicked the garage door so it would close. My body warmed with the anticipation of Lilli, and I slowly moved my lips to meet hers.

Gently I touched her lips and then pulled away slightly. She wasn’t okay with that and pulled me back toward her. Her hands were still firmly on my belt as her lips spread and welcomed my tongue into her mouth. Erotically she moved and teased me as our mouths played with each other and our hands started to pull at each other’s clothing.

The gentle kissing turned firm as we moved toward the door to the inside of my house. We barely broke our hold from one another as we took small steps and moved through the living room and up the stairs toward my room.