Page 46 of Lilies from Hell

She gives me a murderous look while I just smile, enjoying giving him a taste of his own medicine for ignoring me all these days. On the other end of the line, he lets out a sigh.

“Let me know when then.”

“Sure,” I lie.

“See you.” It sounds more like a warning than a goodbye. My stomach churns at the thought that tonight he might pay another one of his visits.

I haven’t even hung up the phone when I feel a pillow smack me in the face.

“Why did you say that to him?”

“We’re going out, aren’t we?” I ask.

“Yes, but you could have stood me up and gone with him. You would have had my full permission and blessing.”

“That would have been really ugly.”

“The only ugly thing here is you missing another chance to eat him up. You love wasting the lemons life gives you.”

My body lurches forward as Grace parks the car, causing Lance to curse behind us. Then we both get out of the car and wait for her to finish looking at herself in one of her pocket mirrors.

“Remind me never to let her drive again,” Lance says, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

Grace gets out of the car, locking all the doors and handing the keys to Lance.

“We’ll let you know when to pick us up,” she says.

“Oh. I’m not going anywhere.” Grace frowns at him and then gives me a confused look.

“It’s my dad. You know how he is,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

“So you’re kind of like our babysitter?” she asks mockingly, looking at Lance for an answer.

“No. I’m just protecting your butts. I don’t really care what you do,” he replies before starting to walk toward the entrance.

“Babysitter,” Grace says with a smile, ignoring Lance’s irritated look.

We follow behind him, then one of the waiters approaches to show us to our table and we sit down.

“Aren’t you going to eat with us?” I ask Lance when I see he isn’t sitting in our table.

“I’d rather have a few minutes of peace and quiet.”

“Well. Your loss,” Grace says with a sly smile after he has left. “Hey. Is he always this sour?” she asks after, looking over the menu.

“Sometimes,” I reply with a chuckle.

“He never liked me very much though.”

“Well, I don’t see the problem. He’s just my bodyguard. Why would you care about that?” I look at her curiously. She sighs and puts the menu down on the table.

“The problem is that I like it. A lot.”

“What?”

“Challenges turn me on,” she clarifies with a sigh, glancing sideways at Lance. “And he is a hot one.”

She is very attractive. Wherever she goes she attracts the attention of others, and her spontaneous and impulsive personality makes her strong-willed but somewhat docile if you know how to tame her. She can be very stubborn at times, and for some strange reason, she always sets her eyes on men who are not interested in her. Until she gets a chance with them and they fall out of love or something happens.