Second Chance Hero (21 page)

He wondered how long she’d wait to come back or if she’d leave this time. Stay at her house until her mother went back to wherever it was she was living now.

One thing he knew. He loved Lil. He’d been wrong before. He could give her what she needed. He was the only one who could.

Lil wanted to go back to David’s, but she wasn’t sure when she should. He needed to talk to his mother. They had plenty to clear. And when they were done, she wondered if he’d want her back full-time anyway.

Chemistry had never been their problem. If desire was the key ingredient to making their relationship work, they’d be in relationship heaven.

Commitment was their problem. The Degas revelation could shake him even more.

She hated this.

Maybe she should go to the store. Pick up something for Scamp. Or go see Miguel in the hospital in El Paso. The poor boy needed to know she didn’t hold him responsible.

A car pulled up in her drive and she knew the minute she saw the tinted windows, the Mercedes emblem. Her mother had arrived.
 

Great.

As her mother stepped out of the car, her black calf length skirt swung around her gracefully. The high-heeled shoes looked like something off the pages of In-Style. The hair was blonde now. Icy blonde. The makeup flawless.
 

Lil tried not to care as her mother looked her up and down and found her wanting. It was probably the Levi’s. She’d picked them up at a garage sale. No telling how old they were.

“Lil, darling,” her mother embraced her coldly, kissed both cheeks. “I was frantic when I saw the news. Tell me you’ve come to your senses now.”

“Hello mother.” Lil smiled, waved at the driver. “Hi Steve. Still driving mother everywhere, I see.”

The driver’s hair was salt and pepper now instead of black. His eyes still smiled. “When she’s in the states, I do.”

Her mother’s employees loved her. Lil never understood their devotion. But she was happy for it. They’d been her constant companions while her parents gallivanted across the world.

“Daddy couldn’t make it?” She didn’t know why she asked. Why it mattered.

Her mother reached out, smoothed her shirt, stared at the bruise. Ignored her question. “Oh Lil.”

Lil didn’t know what she’d do if her mother started crying. Her mother looked as lost as she felt. With that realization, she knew what she had to do. “There’s someone I want you to meet. Think I can hitch a ride in your fancy car?”

Her mother frowned at the question. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. You know that.” Lil supposed she did know that. She just wished…it didn’t matter. Her mother couldn’t give her what she wanted. She wasn’t capable. But David could if he’d just give them a chance.

She figured this was their test. If they had any chance at all, she’d know soon.

David talked to the police, told them Lil would be back soon and wished he knew for sure that was true.

When the black Mercedes pulled in front of his apartment, he knew who he’d find inside. Sure enough Lil’s mother stepped out. When Lil followed he frowned. Surely she hadn’t changed her mind. Surely now after everything they’d been through she wasn’t stopping by to say goodbye.

Her mother followed her up the stairs to his door, looking entirely disapproving and completely out of place.

He opened the door when they reached it, and Lil kissed him. Said
hello
. And he felt safe again. That kiss was no goodbye.

He kissed her back. Said
hello yourself
. Smiled so she’d know he really was alright now.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Lil said and then she introduced him to the woman who’d hurt her so often over the years.

Somehow he kept his smile in place. He knew it’s what Lil wanted.

“I thought you might like to feed us,” she said and he knew what she was doing. Showing her mother his best qualities right up front.

“Darling, please,” her mother said. “I’ll take you out to dinner. We don’t need to bother your friend.”

“David lives for cooking, mother. Trust me. You want this.” And she pushed her mother in the door. Scamp bounded out of the bedroom and Lil scratched his ears. The dog rolled over, her slave again and David laughed at the distressed look on her mother’s face.

He decided to do what he could there. “I’ve heard a lot about you the last few years, Mrs. Palmer.”

Lil’s mother raised an eyebrow, regarded him coldly. “Funny, I’ve not heard a word about you, Mr. Martinez.”

David laughed at the killer mother coldness he saw. Lil might think her mother didn’t care, but he’d seen that protective look before. Lil’s mother wanted her safe. She was here to make sure that happened. He couldn’t fault her there.

“I can do requests, or you can live dangerously. Let me surprise you.”

Lil laughed again, tossed a ball for Scamp to chase. “Surprise us. I trust you.” And David saw she meant it.

She trusted him. Not just about the food, or making her mother feel at home, or about helping when she called. She trusted him completely. In everything.

“Wine, mother?” She stood, worked a crick out of her shoulder. “We’ve got Reunite or Manischewitz.”

Her mother paled at the names of the screw cap wines and Lil laughed. “Just joking.” She walked into the kitchen and David followed her hips with his eyes. Those jeans sure fit. She looked at his wine rack and smiled back at them both. “I’m sure we’ve got something with a cork. Nothing too fancy, but a step up from Boone’s Farm.”

Scamp decided he liked Lil’s mom and that made David want to laugh.

In a strange way it looked like maybe Lil’s mom liked Scamp back. Like maybe she wanted to pet the dog. Of course that could be a trick of the light.

“He doesn’t bite.” David strolled into the kitchen and Lil’s mom looked up in time to catch him smacking Lil’s butt.

Her face said she didn’t like what she saw. What she said was “Excuse me.”

David pointed at Scamp. “The dog, Scamp. He won’t bite. He’s a big baby.”

Lil handed her mother a glass of deep red wine. “He likes his ears scratched and he likes to play ball. He’s a good dog.”

Her mother accepted the wine graciously and David started dicing onions. He threw them in a skillet with some olive oil and garlic. Added carrots. Heard Lil’s mother’s disapproval. “He looks big.”

“Nah. He’s just a baby.” Lil reached down, kicked the ball and laughed when he brought it back.

“I’m worried about you, Lil,” her mother said and then sipped her wine.

Lil tossed the ball again. “Don’t be. I’m fine. Seriously. It’s okay now.”

Her mother looked for a place to set her glass and Lil pulled the Sports Illustrated off the top of the pile of magazines. “Here. David doesn’t believe in coasters.”

Which wasn’t true. He had several sets of coasters, including two made by his sisters in grade school. Lil was goading her mother on purpose.

As her mother set the cup on the face of a baseball player, he saw it was working.
 

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, and David seared the Italian sausage so he missed what it was she’d been thinking. Judging by the look on Lil’s face she’d been thinking something along the lines of Lil leaving.

He turned the fire to low in time to hear Lil say, “I love these kids, Mother. Love them.”

Her mother waved away the words as if the emotion meant nothing. “Good. Love them. Set up a nice scholarship fund for them. Send that boy, Manuel or Michael or whatever his name is, send him to college for free. You can do that. You don’t have to be here. You don’t have to teach.”

If he’d only heard the words, he’d think Lil’s mother the coldest, hardest woman he’d ever met. But he saw her face. Heard the plea. Understood it was fear that drove it. Nothing else. Just fear for her daughter.

Lil couldn’t believe it. Her mother had been finding fault from the moment she’d walked in the door. Now this. She wanted to scream. Instead she closed her eyes and brushed frustrated hands through her hair. “I’m not discussing this mother. Not at all. Not ever again.”

She didn’t know why she even tried. Her mother would never understand why she needed to be here. Never.

David stepped into the living room, sat on the arm of the couch and ran a hand across the back of her neck. She leaned into him, happy for his support, and wished she hadn’t offered her mother a chance to taste his food. She didn’t deserve it.

Her mother looked at David and frowned. “If you care for my daughter at all, I know you’ll agree. Tell her it’s dangerous. Tell her.”

He better not. He better not agree with her mother. If he did she was walking out and never coming back. Never.

“Mrs. Palmer,” David said sounding very serious, very intense, “I tried to get your daughter to leave. I even used your same arguments.”

Dead. He was dead. She was going to kill him.

“But,” okay, maybe he could fix this, “she refused to listen to me. She bravely faced a killer to save one of her students and my sister. She helped police capture a man responsible for unspeakable crimes. I think we should be proud of what she’s done and let her make her own choices.”

He left it open on purpose. If she wanted to leave she could. If not, he’d be happy. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck.

“Of course I’m proud of her. I just….” She looked down at Scamp, rubbed his head with her killer shoes and Lil wondered how she’d finish this one. I just want her to live in a nicer place. I just want her to marry a rich man. I just want her to play her days away. She could fill in the blanks a million different ways.

David leaned forward, shot her mother his million-watt smile. The one movie stars paid big bucks for. The one that curled her toes.
 

He took her mother’s hand in his and she knew the minute her mother decided maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “You just,” he said and paused, raised her hand, dropped it, “are afraid Lil’s going to get hurt. And you’ll do anything to keep that from happening. It’s an admirable wish Mrs. Palmer. One I share with you.”

What? Lil looked at her mother. Saw the tears there in the sides of her eyes as she looked from her to David, as she changed her mind completely about the man her daughter loved.

“I’m glad,” she cleared her throat and started again. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. I hope you’ll keep her safe.”

Lil started to tell her mother David wasn’t her keeper, but he spoke first. “I hope she’ll let me,” he said as he met her eyes, and her knees melted because that look said they weren’t done with this conversation and she couldn’t bear to hope.
   

A few hours later David and Lil sat alone in their apartment. She wanted to talk to him about his conversation with his mother. But she wanted to talk about his hopes for now even more.

“I’m sorry my mother was so rude.”

David fed her a spoon of mousse and she moaned as the spicy chocolate slid down her throat. Man he could cook. She was going to have to join the exercise classes the cheerleaders ran after school in the gym.

“She’s protective of her daughter. I understand.”

Lil wished. “She wants to control me.”

“She loves you in her own way,” he said.

And she wished her way of love was more like his, like his mother’s, like his sister’s.
 

“Your dad…”

Lil shrugged. It didn’t matter. It hurt, but it didn’t matter. “He’s in Rome on business.”

It sounded stupid to even say, but she couldn’t make up anything. That’s what her mother had said.

He took her hand, turned it over, kissed her palm. “I would never do that to you.”

“What?”

“Leave you alone at the important times of your life. Try to make you something you’re not.”

She leaned her head back against his chest and smiled. Content.
 

Somehow they’d both made peace. “You’re a good man, David.”

“I love you Lil.”

She knew that. Knew it and wished it meant more.

“I love you, too.”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

She laughed, tried not to focus on the sweat ring her mother’s glass had made on David’s magazine. “I’m not going anywhere, David. I thought I made that clear.”
 

He took her face in his hands, turned her toward him. “No. Not leave town. I don’t want you to leave here.”

She closed her eyes, the taste of chocolate still on her tongue. I would be so easy to stay. To give him what he wanted. But she wanted more.

“I know David.” She did. She really did. “But Scrabble and good food and great sex, amazing sex, they’re not enough.”

“Shhh.” He slid his thumb over her lips, told her to be quiet and she was so shocked she did exactly as he asked. “I’ve screwed this up royally, but let me try again. I don’t want you to leave period. I want to be the first person you call when you run into trouble. I want to be the last thing you think about as you drift to sleep. I love you, and I want you to marry me. To be my wife. To take my family as your own. To spend the rest of your life with me. Here, or wherever you want.”

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She’d known, but she hadn’t. Words weren’t enough. She smiled up at him, and threw her arms around his neck. “Did you just propose to me?”

He laughed, shook his head. “I must’ve done a lousy job if you have to ask.”

She threw her head back then and laughed as relief poured through her. “I just wanted to be sure. I love you too. Yes, I’ll marry you. Absolutely. When?”

He kissed her then and she kissed him back and he said, “We have a lifetime,
mi vida
. We have a lifetime.”

Books by Liz Lee

Texas Gold:
Contemporary Romance

He's a millionaire developer looking for the next small town to turn into the perfect getaway for Metroplex movers and shakers. Serendipity, Texas is just the spot.

She's the small town rancher's daughter determined to get in his way.

When they get together sparks fly.

Amazon link:
http://amzn.com/B009N44LIG

If You Dare: Steamy
Contemporary Romance