Lily's Mistake Read Free

swallow. Get a grip Lil, seriously!
    “What are you doing, Drake?” I whisper to him, searching the depths of his ice grey eyes.
    “We’ll talk about it once we get to the villa,” he says, turning on his heel and starting to walk again.
    I look back at the party and realize that we’ve been walking for quite some time now. In the distance, the beach is alight with the full moon. I stop to take in the scene and try to calm my hammering heart. Why is Drake acting out of character? He’s never acted this way.
    Maybe he realizes he loves me after all? Fat chance… but what if that is it?
    “Drake, stop.”
    “What?” he asks over his shoulder, but doesn’t stop to gaze at the beautiful moonlit sea.
    I’m unsure of how to broach the subject, but it’s now or never. It’s just him and me out here tonight. Surely he’s not going to push me away?
    “Why are you acting like a jealous boyfriend? I thought you said you weren’t interested…” I bite my lip as I see him stomp towards me. His chiseled body looks even more appealing with the moonlight highlighting the planes of his body and his eyes are a smoldering, liquid silver.
    My body starts to tremor just looking at the handsome creature before me. His face is masked with something I can’t quite figure out, it’s intense and forbidding. We stand there for a good minute, staring at each other. Wondering what the fuck is going on. “Drake…”
    “You shouldn’t want a man like me, Lil. I’m not good enough for you.” Drake sounds serious; however, I’m having none of it.
    No… You’re even better… I’ve never met anyone like you. The rest of the men lack brilliance when compared to you…
    “Why would you say that? You’re the only one I want.” I move closer, feeling brazen when he doesn’t move away. I stand on my tiptoes and lick his lips. He tastes of salt and something masculine. My heart is beating erratically; I feel exhilarated and faint at the same time from being so close to him. “I want you… I want you to be the one to take my virginity away.”
    I feel Drake’s chest heave before he rasps out, “I don’t think you get what I’m trying to tell you here…”
    Yes, I’m not dense, but I want you so much, Drake Tatum. I’ve loved you for so long. Tonight, I will have you… even for a little while.
    “I do, but would you rather I do it with someone else then, like Ricardo, perhaps?” I know I’m playing with fire… but I’m desperate. I want Drake to see me as a woman. A woman he can be with and desire—not the little girl with frilly dresses that would follow him around.
    “Don’t even go there, Lil,” he resigns, heavily huffing and continues on, “OKAY, if this is what you want, then meet me on the veranda in fifteen minutes. Go get ready because there will be no backing out once you come to me. Think it through, okay?”
    What else was there to think through? It’s what I’ve wanted; what I’ve waited for.

3
    Present
     
    Drake shows me the world that night as he takes me underneath the stars on the patio bed.
    The next day I realize that world has two sides.  One world of ceaseless ecstasy and one full of crumbled, guttered and wretched pain from having your love thrown back at you.
    Yes, Drake Tatum irrevocably broke my heart and I will never, ever forget it.
    “I will be upstairs, Dear,” Patricia Tatum says.
    It’s a quarter before nine and she is being kind enough to guide me on my first day of work in Tatum Worldwide, Inc. I suppose she needed to make sure that I will really go through with her plans.
    “Okay, I’m coming into the parking lot now. Be up soon,” I respond before cutting off the call.
    I’m a nervous wreck. I’ve been up since five this morning and already had two cups of coffee. I skipped on breakfast because I didn’t think I could keep anything down, but who could blame me? I haven’t seen Drake in eight years—eight long years after that fiasco in Mexico. I did wait around