Mated in the Shadow of My Sister novel Chapter 87

Chapter 0087

(James POW

I was waiting in the hotel lobby for her when Lily came down a few minutes before 4 o’clock. She was wearing skinny jeans and a green tank top. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail, which exposed her long, beautiful neck and creamy skin.

Lily gave me a funny look when she saw the way that I was staring at her. She glanced down at her outfit and then back up at me.

“Is this okay? Brady gave me your message that I should dress casual and wear my hair up, but I can go. and change….”

“No. You look perfect,” I told her.

“Then why are you looking at me that way?”

“Because every time I see you, you look more beautiful than the last time.”

I was not exaggerating. Lily is beautiful without hardly trying, and her effortless beauty continues to shock and impress me. I am sure part of my reaction to her was the mate bond trying to rebuild itself, but I actually think more of it has to do with the fact that I had finally pulled my head out of my a&& long enough to really pay attention. Only a blind man could not see how beautiful Lily is, and I am ashamed to admit that I was blind for far too many years.

Lily frowned in response to my compliment. “James, this is supposed to be a dinner between friends.”

“Well, we may have to re–think that. Friends don’t give friends boners,” I teased her as I tried to not–too- obviously adjust my pants. Yes, it was true; I was getting hard just looking at her even though she was fully clothed.

“I told you it still works,” Luke mind–linked me.

“Shut up, Luke,” I linked back.

“What? You–”

Towards the end of our 25–minute drive, Lily teased me about whether it was my old age that had caused me to insist on leaving for dinner at 4 o’clock.

“No, not my old age,” I smiled. “I insisted that we leave early because it will get dark around 6 o’clock, and I want you to be able to see at least some of the place we are going to during the daylight hours. Funny you bring up age though, because I would be shocked if we aren’t the youngest ones there.”

“You are scaring me a little, James. Are you taking me to a cemetary or something?”

I laughed. “No, nothing like that. I figured Brady has taken you to all the fancy places in Hawaii -he has always been a little showy like that- so I wanted to take you somewhere a little bit different. Somewhere that might remind you of some of the happier times that we had at West Mountain. I know you had mostly bad times in recent years, but I was hoping that this might remind you that there were at least some good times before everything went to hell. Plus, it involves something that I know that we have in common,”

“And that is?”

“You will have to walt and find out.”

Lily wrinkled her eyebrows as she tried to put together the puzzle pieces, and I could not help but notice how adorable her facial expression was. Unfortunately, it did not last long because we arrived at our destination.