Inescapable

Did they? Adrian wasn’t so sure. Maybe Lily had changed her mind and this was forcing her to think about it again. Seth adopted a relaxed position, bowl in one hand. Did he learn how to deal with this kind of stuff for his job, Adrian wondered. Whether he did or not, it was a good approach, because although he was in charge and he was addressing a potentially uncomfortable subject with Lily, his body language was all about being chilled and non-confrontational.

Even so, Lily looked agitated. Putting down her fork, she pushed back her hair then folded her arms across her chest, elbows on the table. “Whatever. I can’t eat now.”

Adrian felt bad for her. He reached out one hand and touched her briefly on the arm. She gave him a grateful smile.

“Seth, is this really necessary?” Adrian quizzed. “Lily and I are old online friends, that’s all that matters here.”

Seth nodded his way. “Lily has to understand that I’m forthright, but it’s meant in an entirely genuine way.” He shrugged. “I’m not the bad guy here, and she has to stop thinking that.”

Lily rested her elbows on the table, her forehead in her hands. “I know. You’re not.”

She wriggled her shoulders as if she couldn’t let that one go, but Adrian felt the tension dissipate, marginally. Did she need someone to blame? If so, she should be blaming him, it was all his fault. Adrian sent Seth a pleading glance.

Seth nodded, connecting, before he commented any further. “The reason you two met doesn’t have to be a big deal, really. Did you know that a large percentage of happy long term couples meet online these days?”

Adrian was surprised. “Seriously?” He glanced at Lily. She was still tense, but she was listening. “It’s not that unusual?”

Seth replied. “No.”

“How do you know that?” Lily picked up her fork again as she directed the question at him, lightening up a bit, but still quite obviously mistrustful of Seth’s line of conversation. Whatever the reason for her caution on the matter, Adrian liked the feeling it gave him—that she was protective of what they had. Did he still have a chance with her? What they already had was special, and it hung in the balance right now, in danger of not moving forward.

Seth smiled across the table at them both. “In a job like mine you sometimes have hours on end to read magazines.”

Adrian took his chance to agree. “You’re right. It isn’t a big deal.”

Lily sat still for the longest moment, and then she took a deep breath and stood up. “Maybe not, but I don’t want to talk about it right now.” She stared Seth’s way. “Because it’s, well…it’s complicated. You know why.”

This was still embarrassing her, Adrian realised. He didn’t want anything to make her feel uncomfortable. He reached out and brushed his fingers down her arm, eager to connect.

“Okay,” Seth responded quickly. “It doesn’t have to be ‘complicated’. Neither of us wants you to feel that way.”

He looked at Adrian, and Adrian nodded. Lily’s gaze covered them both, watchful and intelligent.

“Let it go.” Seth stood up, picking his fork and bowl in one hand as he did so. “Let’s go watch a DVD.”

Lily stared at him.

“This is really good,” he added, gesturing with the bowl of pasta in his hand. “Much better than anything I could conjure up.” He spanked her on the arse with his free hand as he passed.

Her mouth fell open. Adrian couldn’t help chuckling.

When Lily looked at him, questioningly, he shrugged at her and then picked u

p his bowl in one hand and limped after Seth, leaning on his stick with his other hand. Seth was trying to diffuse the tension, and she was coming round. Adrian wasn’t going to argue with that. Hope could be a hellish burden sometimes, he reflected. Follow us, he silently pleaded, as he limped away from her, a hot tick in his chest willing her to be okay with this.

Chapter Eight

Lily stood in the doorway of the residents’ lounge, hesitant. Adrian had settled into an armchair. Seth had put the music channel on and flicked through a stack of DVDs next to the player. Both of them were half-watching her, silently, expectantly. They wanted her to come in to the room, they wanted her to follow. Something was rising to the surface here—something that felt dangerous and wild—but she couldn’t walk away.

Adrian’s expression told her he was thinking about what they’d shared, and her bottom still tingled from where Seth had spanked her. Her imagination was roaming from the memory of Seth’s blatant sexual response the evening before, to Adrian’s online sexual adventuring. All of it fired through her, hot and lusty, alive. Between her thighs, her pulse beat out a frenzied tattoo. All through the meal, the sexual tension between them had ratcheted up, making her keenly aware of both men. If she went in there with them, something would happen. But Seth had a point; she would feel better if it was out in the open. At the moment, it was making her feel awkward, and she could do without that on top of the weirdness of the situation.

Stepping into the room, she tried to act as nonchalantly as she could. She pulled a footstool in front of Adrian, encouraging him to put his leg up.

“You’re right,” she said casually, glancing at Seth.

Seth immediately stopped what he was doing to listen.

“It would be much easier if I got it out into the open.”