Dangerous Dalliances (Maxwell Investigations) Read Free Page B

chair.
    Barry
shrugged and went to sit next to his sister. “Better to be a black man with
blonde hair and blue contacts than a pregnant school girl, Madi,” he joked.
When she rolled her eyes, he laughed. “How did Lacey get you, Casper and Troy
to dress alike?”
    “It
wasn’t easy,” Madison chuckled. She then looked around. “Do you realize how
hard it is to get a Werewolf to dress like a Vampire?”
    Lily
laughed. “I don’t know if I would want to be a fly on the wall or run away
blind.” Her laughter died when she noticed Barry watching her. “What?”
    He
shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh,” he told her.
    Madison’s
eyes rolled again. “Barry, please. No sap or I will be sick. If you want to
grovel at her feet, please wait till tomorrow.”
    A
heavy blush crossed Lily’s face as Barry frowned at his sister. “Don’t you have
any tact?” he asked. When Madison simply shrugged, he stood. “Just for that, I
hope your kids give you hell.”
    Leigh
laughed. When Barry looked at her, she smiled. “The boys already worship her,
so you’ll have to wait and see if little Aurora takes after her mommy.”
    Barry
shook his head and sighed. There would never be any winning with Madison. And
that was before she seemed to team up with the female werewolf. He turned his
attention to Lily and held out his hand. “Can we talk?”
    Shrewd
green eyes looked at his hand, then up into his fake blue eyes. Lily stood
without taking his hand. “I’ll give you five minutes,” she said before turning
and walking to the outside patio.
    Madison
grabbed Barry’s hand before he could follow her. “Don’t be an ass B,” she
warned. “We like Lily more than we like you.”
    Barry
leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Funny, Jimmy and I feel the same with you
and Troy,” he teased before leaving. Barry could only take a shaky breath as he
went after Lily. He caught glimpses of her around the DA’s office while he
worked. After a conversation with his former partner, Barry figured he would
have to track Lily down and have a long talk with her.
    When
he stepped onto the patio, Barry saw Lily gazing out across the flower garden.
Something in him softened as he watched her. The puzzle that was Lilavanti
Dallas always brought him peace while it also drove him crazy. If he didn’t
know any better, he would’ve said that it was love. Or at
least a minor obsession.
    It
was a good thing he told himself he knew better.
    “What
did you want to talk about?” Lily asked softly. She turned to him and folded
her arms in challenge.
    A
slow breath left Barry as he gathered the courage to say what he should have
said all of those months ago. “I’m sorry.”
    Lily’s
amusement left her. A frown crossed her face as she leaned against the railing.
“I said, what did you want to talk about?” she
repeated.
    Barry
stepped closer to her. “I should have said it to you months ago. I could come
up with dozens of excuses, but each one would also be bullshit. I shouldn’t
have interfered. You’re an adult and you know how to take care of yourself.”
    Lily
blinked rapidly to hold back her tears. “Why do you even care?” she asked. “It
was months ago.”
    “Because
I’m a bastard,” he said honestly. When she looked at him, he shrugged. “I think
there’s something between us that needs to be examined. We can’t do that with
that night hanging between the two of us.” He touched the sides of her face and
caught the tears that spilled from her eyes. “And while I know you don’t want
to date any of Eric’s family, I’m selfish enough to want to take that risk.”
    She
placed her hand on his chest to stop him from leaning closer. “I’m not.” Lily
backed away from him and tried to slow her rapid heart. “I ruined a family
once. I refuse to do that again.”
    Barry
smirked. “I hope you realize that I have a strange family. If things go south
between us, they’ll all just blame me for