Chapter Two
Lily
Early afternoon sunlight shone down on Lily where she sat curled up on the small wicker sofa she had on her balcony overlooking the street. It was late spring in New Orleans and just starting to reach that warm and sticky time of year she’d come to love. It was funny when she thought about it. You wouldn’t expect a girl who’d grown up where it was normal to still have to wear long sleeves this time of year to love the heat and humidity of Louisiana, but she did. She loved that she could sit outside in just a tank top and thin cotton lounge pants, and not be cold.
She lived on Toulouse Street, half a block up from Bourbon, the most popular street in New Orleans. From where she sat sipping tea, she could hear jazz music coming from one of the many street musicians who wandered through the French Quarter. Lily closed her eyes and let the music wash over her. The sweet strains of the saxophone soothed her nerves on days like today when she awoke from troubled, fitful sleep. It didn’t happen often, not as often as it did when she first left home, but every now and then, she felt an almost overwhelming fear that her father had finally found her and was on his way to drag her back to Montana, ripping her away from the life she’d made for herself.
It was hard to believe six years had passed since the fateful night she took her own life into her hands and fled her home and her pack. She’d been so afraid when she left, afraid she wouldn’t make it, afraid she’d be caught quickly and forced into a loveless bond, but so far no one from her old life knew where she was, and she hoped it stayed that way. Sometimes she missed her father and missed having a pack to run with, but the alternative wasn’t something she was willing to accept. Especially now that she’d been out on her own and knew that she didn’t need a mate in order to find happiness.
As time had passed, without any trouble, she’d begun to relax. She was happy with where her life was right now. She had a job she loved, good friends she could call on any time she needed them, and a great guy who treated her like she was a precious gift. True, Keith was human. She didn’t have that intense connection that meant they were mates, but he was funny, compassionate, sweet, attentive, intelligent, and they got along amazingly. That wasn’t to say things were perfect between them, because nothing was perfect. Keith still didn’t know that she wasn’t human. A part of her was afraid to tell him.
A soft sigh escaped her as she finished her tea. She pushed thoughts of the past out of her mind and focused on the present. She had to leave for work soon, and she needed to get her butt in gear or she was going to be late. Not that her boss, Emile, would give her grief over it but she didn’t like being late. It was a pet peeve of hers her boyfriend, Keith, seemed to find endearing. She had to be at least fifteen minutes early no matter where she was going. He often told her it was one of the many quirks he adored about her.
Since she and Keith were celebrating their two-year anniversary that night after she got off work, she dressed accordingly: low rise jeans that fit her like a glove, crimson bustier that enhanced her cleavage more than usual and left several inches of her tummy bare, and a black lace vest she would remove before they actually went out. The vest was for work. She might like the way she looked in the bustier, and she knew Keith would love it, but she wasn’t going to flaunt the goods in front of their customers. It wasn’t professional. She wore the barest minimum of makeup but would change it before going to the club. She had her chestnut hair pulled up into a twist to keep it off her neck. Her hazel eyes were accentuated with eyeliner that brought out the green in them, and dark red lipstick topped off the look. After a quick glance at herself in the mirror, she nodded approvingly and headed out.
“Bonjour, cher. I was beginnin’ to tink you weren’t comin’ in today,” Emile, Lily’s boss and the owner of Gathering Grounds Bookstore and Coffee Shop, said when Lily slipped into the coffee shop and moved behind the counter. He was pure Cajun and some people had a hard time understanding him when he really got going, but Lily loved to listen to him talk. She could sit for hours and listen to him tell stories of his childhood growing up in the bayous around New Orleans. Some of the tales he had, the things he’d done, were enough to make her realize that the bayou was no place for a person who didn’t know how to traverse it. The threat of quicksand and gators was enough to keep Lily from wandering too far when she slipped her human skin and went for a run.
“Psh, as if I’d do that to you?” She slipped an apron over her head and tied it around her waist. “You know I’d neva leave you hangin’ like dat.” She winked at him just to make him laugh. She loved his Cajun so much she got a kick out of using it herself at work.
“Go on wit’ you.” Emile laughed for several seconds before his tone turned serious. “Someone came in here earlier askin’ about you. Didn’t know it was you until he showed me a picture. He was askin’ about someone named Lily Quinn.”
Lily was in the middle of fixing one of the regular customers their usual. Every day they came in and got a triple-shot dark-chocolate mocha. She was so startled by his comment she damn near burned herself before she got control of her suddenly shaking hands. “Really?” She kept voice neutral, or as neutral as she could get it with her heart pounding in her chest. “Did he say why he was looking for me or leave a name?” She tried to sound nonchalant as she set the drink in front of the customer.
“Just said he needed to talk to you. Name’s Declan Monroe. So, what’s dis about your name bein’ Quinn and not Harper?”
“Quinn is my former name.” She knew it would sound like she was giving a married name, as if she’d gotten divorced and had gone back to her maiden name, but that was one secret she wasn’t ready to share with her boss. Or anyone, for that matter. “What did you tell him?”
“Told him I didn’t know a Lily Quinn but I did know a Lily Harper dat looked a lot like da Lily in da photo. I s’pect he’ll be back.”
“You’re probably right about that.” She tried to not think about it too hard, which wasn’t an easy feat. Her heart was suddenly pounding with fear and she remembered her restless night. Had she somehow sensed that someone was looking for her? Was that why she’d started having those damn nightmares again? She suppressed a shudder and pushed the memory of the dreams away. Thinking about them would only distract her from work.
She turned her thoughts, instead, to the man who came in asking about her. The only Monroe she knew was Liam Monroe, an older pack member she’d not always gotten along with and one of the two males her father had decided would be a good mate for her.
After a few minutes of thought, she vaguely remembered something about Liam having an older brother, who’d left not long after he’d turned eighteen, and hadn’t been back since. She wondered, could Declan be Liam’s brother? He had to be. The only people who would know her real name were from her old pack. Somehow her father must have found out she was living in New Orleans and sent him after her. But why him and not someone she knew?
Shaking her head, Lily realized there wasn’t much she could do about it right now. Getting herself worked up over it wasn’t going to help her do her job so she pushed it out of her mind and focused on her work. There wasn’t anything she could do about the man; he knew where she worked, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to run away from the life she’d made for herself in New Orleans just because they’d finally tracked her down. The city had become her home and she wasn’t giving it up for anyone.
“Hello, beautiful.” Keith Reynolds slid onto a barstool at the counter and gave his girlfriend a warm smile.
“Hi, handsome.” Lily leaned over and gave him a lingering kiss and smiled warmly at him. “What can I get for you—your usual? Or are you going to finally give in and try something new?” He rarely got anything other than chai tea.
“Actually, beautiful, I think I want to try that new tea you’ve been talking about, the one you came up with.”
Lily blinked. “Feeling adventurous today, I see. Alright then, one Lupine Spice coming right up.” She’d been experimenting with different spices one day when she’d come up with the blend. It was a white tea with ginger, cinnamon, clove, and anise, and so far anyone who’d tried it really liked it.
Keith watched her make it, and when she set the steaming cup in front of him, he took a tentative sip. “Wow, babe, this is really good.”
“See? I told you that you’d like it if you tried it.”
He laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I’m going to go sit over in the corner and enjoy this while you finish your shift. We’re still on for the club, right?”
“Did you not notice what I’m wearing?” She took the apron off and stepped back to give him a good view before she put the apron back on so she could finish work.
Keith whistled. “Hot, babe, very hot.” He went to the table he always sat at while he waited for her shift to end and sipped his tea quietly.
Lily did a little curtsy and flashed him a grin. “Thank you. I was hoping you’d like it.” After two years together, it still made her feel warm and happy when he complimented her. She also knew what he liked, after dating for so long, and she was hoping her outfit was a big enough turn-on that he decided to stay the night with her later after they went out. She had some big, romantic plans for them once they went back to her apartment.
Over the hour leading up to her getting off work, she flirted with Keith multiple times. Lily couldn’t help but preen when he told her if she kept it up they might not make it to the club.