Lilah's List

Without thinking, Lilah reached for Angie’s martini and gulped it down.

The fact remained that she was about to be thirty and her life was nowhere near where she’d expected it to be.

Time was bearing down on her like a freight train, and she was stalled on the tracks.

“Tyler?” The warm-colored lights straining through the canopy’s filmy curtains and the effects of the appletinis made her feel like she was in a cocoon. She felt secluded, despite the fact that there were clusters of people on the canopied beds all around them.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to be thirty in two weeks.” Her voice shook with emotion.

He chuckled. “Okay, but you shouldn’t worry about it. You don’t look a day over eighteen.”

She pursed her lips. “Why does everyone think it’s a compliment to say that to me? I’m not a little girl. I’m a woman.” Whew and she was drunk!

Lilah could hear herself and knew she sounded ridiculous, but she was powerless to stop.

“I can see that,” he said huskily. “Trust me, no man in this room could miss that fact.”

Lilah felt her face light up with embarrassment. His gaze had rested on the daring décolletage of her slinky dress. This conversation was definitely headed in the wrong direction.

In fact, it wasn’t just the conversation. She was headed in the wrong direction. Seeing Tyler reclining on the end of the bed, taking her in with his hooded gaze, sent a hot pulse sizzling through her.

In her inebriated state, she was quick to remember just how long it had been since she’d been in proximity of a good-looking man and a bed. She had a sudden, wacky impulse to climb on top of him.

But two drinks hadn’t made her bold enough for that. Her survival instincts were still intact. “Do you think Reggie will notice?”

Tyler straightened into a sitting position. “Of course, in fact, let me find out what’s keeping him.” He took his cell phone out of his jacket. “I need to find a better signal. Be right back.”

Lilah didn’t watch him walk away. The room was spinning. She lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes.

Tyler swore under his breath. Contrary to what many outsiders believed, tonight was the first time in history that Tyler had been jealous of his brother.

As a general rule, he and Reggie weren’t even attracted to the same type of women. It’s not that Reggie was particular. He wasn’t. He liked them all shapes and sizes. On more than one occasion, his younger brother had tried to offer Tyler his leftover groupies. Tyler always refused.

Easy and available wouldn’t do for him. He had a more discriminating eye. They had to be sophisticated, ambitious and intelligent. But he was a man. He liked them sexy with curves, too.

As a result of the brothers’ differing needs, the two never fought over women—or anything else for that matter. Reggie wanted fame. Tyler just wanted success. Reggie wanted to make music. Tyler wanted to make money. They were like yin and yang. Perfect opposites, which made for a balanced relationship between them.

Until now.

For the first time Tyler felt himself coveting something that wasn’t meant for him. Lilah Banks had walked into his life and captured his attention entirely. For the first time that he could remember, he’d been about to indulge in a serious public display of affection. And from the look on Lilah’s face, he was certain she was on the same page.

Only the Martin man that she wanted was his brother.

So be it, Tyler told himself. He wasn’t hard up for dates. He’d been casually seeing an attorney for the past few weeks. The best thing for him now was to find his brother and leave the rest to Lilah.

He no longer wanted to be involved. After finally finding a signal downstairs, outside the bathrooms, Tyler speed-dialed his brother.

“Yo.”

“Where are you? You said you’d be up in ten minutes. You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m just going to bring the girls down to you, okay?”

“Uh, actually, bro, me and the boys are at the 40/40 club. I was just about to call you. Why don’t you grab the girls and meet up with us here?”

“Are you kidding me? You left without telling me? Why would you do that?” Tyler tensed. He was ready to launch into a lecture on wasting other people’s time.

“The boys were getting bored. We had to roll quick so we wouldn’t get caught by the fans. I didn’t have time to come upstairs. The manager let us out the back door.”

“You could have called me. The only reason I’m here tonight is to meet your friend. What happened with that?”

“He’s here. Don’t trip. Just come meet us.”

“No, I’m done for tonight. Later.” Tyler clicked the phone closed before his brother could respond. His anger would ebb quicker if he didn’t have to hear the kid’s voice right now.

Great. Now he had to go back to the girls and tell them they’d crashed this place for nothing. Oh well. He’d done what he could. Now he just wanted to get home and take a shower. Preferably cold.

As Tyler crossed the room, he saw that Angie seemed to be on the receiving end of an intense sales pitch from one of the Isosceles promoters. Climbing the steps to their bed, he froze, taking in Lilah’s prone form.

Sleeping Beauty.

Her face was burrowed into one of the satin pillows and her feet were curled beneath her. Hair slipped out of her up-do to trickle down her neck. For a fleeting second Tyler had the strong urge to curl up beside her and kiss her awake.

He shook it off. He wasn’t Prince Charming in this fairy tale. That role was reserved for someone else.

Moving over to Lilah’s side, Tyler gently lowered his weight onto the bed, careful not to startle her. He leaned over her and softly prodded her shoulder. “Lilah, wake up.”

She murmured under her breath and rolled onto her back. Her eyes fluttered open and she gave him a sleepy smile.

“Lilah, I—”

She grabbed his lapel and jerked him downward. Tyler found himself sprawled across Lilah’s body. Then she kissed him.

Wide-eyed, Tyler remained as still as stone as Lilah’s lips explored his. Feeling his ardor resurface, he groaned in defeat and took over the kiss.

He didn’t believe in public displays of affection, but no man in his right mind could resist this. She was soft and warm, and her lips had the faint tart taste of green apples.

His tongue surged into her mouth, and when he finally broke the kiss, she moaned in protest. “Reggie…”

Tyler’s spine snapped straight and Lilah’s eyes cleared. She was no longer lost in her sleepy alcohol-induced haze. Her eyes were filled with shock and confusion. She opened her mouth to speak….

Slipping his hand behind her neck, he kissed her with persuasive force. He felt Lilah’s arms curl around him as she leaned into his embrace. Finally he pulled back to look into her eyes.

“My name is Tyler. And I don’t want you to ever make that mistake again,” he said just before his lips found hers.

Chapter 5

Lilah was having an out-of-body experience. There was no other explanation for the surreal dimensions her world had taken on.