Crazy on You

“Do we think that’s progress?”

Lily shook her head and a gold hoop earring brushed her neck. “We think it’s a fluke. He’s dumber than a road lizard and admitted his last girlfriend took off with his big screen TV and Xbox. Once he finds a new sloozy, he’ll forget about Pippen again.”

“Oh, my gosh,” Daisy said, disgust lowering her voice. “He still plays Xbox? At his age? What a loser.”

“I know. Right?” Lily laughed. “A thirty-eight-year-old ‘gamer.’ He probably sits around with one hand on the controller and the other on his balls.”

“Ick.”

“It’s just embarrassing that I ever married him.”

“Well, at least Pippen takes after you.” An awkward pause stretched between them before Daisy said, “You had a hard time for a while, but you came though all that. And look at you now.” They stopped by the van and Daisy opened the driver’s side door. “I’m really proud of you, Lil.”

Her heart got all mushy. “Thanks.”

“And I wanted to ask you if it would be okay if we name the baby after you.”

Her mushy heart got all tingly and the backs of her eyes pinched. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Is Jack sure?” Given her past, it might be something the baby had to live down.

“It was originally his idea, but as soon as he mentioned it, I knew I wanted to name her Lily too. It just seems right, but I wanted to make sure you weren’t planning on having your own baby ‘Lily’ someday.”

Lily laughed. “I don’t even have a boyfriend.” For some weird reason Tucker’s face popped into her head. “And I don’t see a man in my future. I don’t think I have very good judgment.”

“The rat bastard doesn’t count. He never deserved you, and you deserve someone as great as you, Lily. Someone who looks at you and knows he’s lucky.”

Someone like Jack. Jack looked at Daisy like that. She hugged her sister. “You’re going to make my face run.” She stepped back and waved her hands in front of her eyes.

Daisy climbed into the van. “Go back inside before you catch your death.”

“Drive carefully and take good care of little Lily.” She took a step back as Daisy fired up the engine, then waved as her sister pulled out of the parking lot. She refolded her arms and smiled as she walked toward the front of the spa. Little Lily. Several years ago, she had given up the dream of finding the right man and giving Pip a sibling. She’d always wanted a happy family, and hoped for two kids and a dog, but it just wasn’t in the cards for her. That was okay. Her family wasn’t perfect, but they were happy.

When she opened the door to her salon, she had a big grin on her face. There had been a time when she and Daisy hadn’t been very close, and now she was naming her baby girl after her. Little Lily.

While she’d been outside with Daisy, the rest of the clients had left and only a few employees remained. The sound of female laughter filled the front of the spa and salon as the caterers started to pack up and break tables down—laughter mixed with one deeper chuckle. Lily’s feet skidded to a halt and her gaze took in the back of a familiar dark head, broad shoulders narrowing to a trim waist and nice behind. She didn’t need to see a uniform or ratty sweatshirt to recognize Tucker Matthews.

“Deputy Matthews.”

“Hey, Lily.” He turned toward her and his brown eyes took her in with one sweeping glance. “You said to come by and get a facial.”

She looked at the faces looking back at her. At the inquisitive gazes of her assistant manager, two beauticians, and aesthetician. “Deputy Matthews is my neighbor and I mentioned he should come by and win a facial.” She turned toward him. “I didn’t think you’d take me up on it.”

“Yeah. I noticed there aren’t any men here tonight.”

A few women had dragged their husbands or boyfriends, but they’d left as soon as the final prize had been won. She glanced at the clock on the wall above a manicure station. “The party is over in fifteen minutes. If you wanted to win a facial you’re too late.”

His grin told her he knew that. “You should show me around your salon. In case I need”—he glanced around —“a haircut or something.”

No, she shouldn’t. The caterer caught her attention and gave her a nod. “I have a few checks to write,” she said. “Maybe one of the girls will show you.”

“I will,” young, perky Melinda Hartley volunteered.

Tucker lifted one brow and wrinkled the scar on his forehead.

“Excuse me.” Lily moved through the salon to her office. The caterer followed her. She sat down at a desk covered in paperwork and a big open appointment book; her computer sat at one end of the desk, and behind it hung a massive ornate mirror that had once decorated a brothel in Tascosa. The caterer sat opposite, slid a red velvet chair toward Lily’s big desk, and then they went over the bill. While they counted the bottles of wine and champagne that had been consumed and calculated the charges for the extra linen Lily had ordered at the last minute, her mind was elsewhere in the salon. Melinda Hartley was about twenty-five. She was pretty and a really good colorist. She was also a little conceited and loud. If Melinda was in the room, everyone knew it. Just as everyone knew all about Melinda’s sex life, whether they wanted to know or not. She was a butt girl, and Lily had had to talk to her about appropriate workplace conversation. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was hard to find a good colorist in the Texas panhandle, she would have fired Melinda months ago.

And she was out there. In the salon. Somewhere with Tucker. Probably telling him about her sex life. Tucker was a guy. He was probably loving it.

Lily wrote out the balance she owed the caterer and tore the check from her business account. She handed it across her desk and watched the caterer walk out the door. Melinda was closer to Tucker’s age and didn’t have a child and Lily’s baggage. She shuffled the paperwork on her desk, sorting customer surveys and treatment plans. Until tonight, she hadn’t seen Tucker since that morning in her kitchen five days ago. She’d heard from Pippen that the two played basketball when Pip got home from school and before Tucker got ready for work. By the time Lily made it home, Tucker was already gone, which was a good thing. He clearly wasn’t good for her good intentions.

“Now, that wasn’t very nice.”

Lily glanced up at Tucker leaning a shoulder into the doorframe of her office. He wore a gray crew neck sweater and button-fly Levi’s. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked annoyed—annoyed and good enough to nibble up one side and down the other. “What?”

“Melinda.”

She rose from her chair and moved to the front of her desk. “You didn’t like her?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Not really. She’s loud and talks too much.” He pushed away from where he was leaning and shut the door. “She wanted me to screw her on a massage table.”

That was a bit crude and she’d get to his language in a minute. The inappropriateness of shutting the door too, but first she wanted to know . . . “Did she say that?”

“Not exactly. She was much more graphic about where she wanted it.”

“Oh.” Lily moved past the red chair to the center of her desk and sat on the edge. “She can say really inappropriate and offensive things. She’s one of those people who doesn’t have a filter, but I didn’t know she’d go that far.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t offended. I was in the Army for ten years, I’ve heard worse.”

She took a breath and let it out. “Thank you for not taking her up on her offer in the massage room.”

He moved toward Lily. “She isn’t the woman I want to shove on a table.” He stopped in front of her and she stood so she wouldn’t have to stare up at him. Just a few sequins separated his chest from hers. “Isn’t her panties I want to see around her ankles.” He took her hand and slid it up his chest. “You’re the women I want to shove on a table with your panties around your ankles.”

“Tucker! Don’t say things like that.”

“Why not?” He buried his fingers in her loose bun on the side of her head. “It’s the truth. I told you how I feel about you. I want you. I want everything about you. Getting you naked is one of the things I want.” With her four- inch heels, they were close to the same height and he pressed his forehead into hers. “I know you want that too.”