Epilogue
TWO YEARS LATER
T he house buzzed with activity as I pulled up to it. Grandpa gave up his ghost almost two years ago. He’d been sicker than he let on, and passed not long after he officially handed the reins of the company over to me.
I missed him, but after he passed I had sold off most of his outlandish properties to reinvest the money into Pennington Industries, preventing layoffs and expanding our green tech division.
It was a solution that made everyone happy.
The board got to seem like the hero without giving anything up, and I didn’t have to maintain a lifestyle I didn’t actually enjoy.
In the intervening two years, I’ve completely overhauled the family mansion, one of the few properties we didn’t sell.
Lily thought I’d made an off-hand comment that day we walked up these steps to the ball, but I hadn’t been able to get the idea out of my head.
I put it in a trust as soon as I inherited it, ensuring that future generations could enjoy the beauty we created here.
The Lily Jameson Community Center opened on a quiet, sunny spring afternoon with a garden party and demonstrations of the variety of classes we would offer.
So unlike the loud, ostentatious parties this property used to host. Lily shined that day.
As much as she argued she wasn’t a hostess, she glowed at the more sedate party, clearly in her element, buzzing around, ensuring everything ran smoothly.
“Duke! Good, I need you for a class,” Charles said as he saw me walking the grounds. A gaggle of children sat in a wiggly, lopsided semi-circle as he kneeled at the front, elbows deep in mud.
“What on earth is this?” I asked, laughing as I approached the class.
“We’re learning about worms!” A small boy called out, jumping on his knees, eager to join the fun.
“Oh, man. Worms are the best. Too bad I have to find Ms. Lily.”
“No, don’t leave me here. Jess is supposed to be teaching this class, but then there was some soap emergency. What the hell is a soap emergency?” He looked panicked. “Dude, don’t leave me here.”
“Hell is a bad word,” a prim-looking girl said.
“Dammit,” Charles said, as half the kids mimicked him. “Iraq—I’m good. Kids—no, I don’t know what I’m doing!”
I passed Jessica on my way into the house. She hid just behind a potted plant with her hand over her mouth and her phone recording Charles covered in mud and overwhelmed with the kids. Those two were a menace to society, and I was glad to know them.
I took the back stairs to the top floor, one Lily claimed for her offices after she left the museum. I’d offered to hire anyone she needed to run the place, and she accepted, but still insisted that if her name was on the building, she wanted to make sure it was done right.
Her door was ajar, and she sat at the ornate writing desk she salvaged from one of the many previously unused rooms. God, she looked gorgeous sitting there, a pen stuck in her messy hair, loose pants and one of my t-shirts draping over her frame.
“Lunch time,” I said as I let myself in. I held up the bag I’d been carrying, chicken nuggets and fries tucked alongside my burger. She jumped when I spoke, but a bright smile lit her face when she saw me.
“Already? I’ve been going over the summer class proposals for next year.
There’s so many. I don’t know how I’m going to choose.
” She pushed out of her chair and walked up to me, kissing me thoroughly before taking the bag of food, and curling up on the small couch I insisted she have, just for such occasions.
“Tell me about them.” I sat next to her and stole one of her fries, biting it right from her hand.
“Duke.” She laughed and smacked my arm. I’ll never get used to that laugh or how easily she came into my arms, all thoughts of food forgotten as I tasted her.
“Right,” she said, a little breathless when she finally pulled back. “What were we talking about?”
“Summer camp next year.” I pulled her close to me and fed her fries as she talked.
“One group wants to set up obstacle courses on the grounds. Dad will have a say about it, but how cool would that be?”
“I don’t know. If it’s anything like the obstacle courses in basic, we’re going to need to check insurance.” I hated having to be practical, but someone needed to be.
“Sure, sure. One of my old professors wants to do a book binding class. I have no idea what interest there would be in that, but maybe if we have Jessica use her social media experience, we can drum up some students.” She looked dreamy as she spoke, leaning against me, her feet casually up on what I was certain was my great-grandmother’s favorite couch.
“Would that be for rebinding existing books, or like creating journals?” I played with her hair as I spoke, stealing every other fry and feeding it to her myself.
“Good question. I’ll need to follow up and ask.”
She kept going, telling me about every application she reviewed today between the bites of fries and chicken nuggets I fed to her.
“Oh,” she jumped up and turned, bracing herself on her hands and knees above me, “and there’s one that wants to do a nighttime adults-only class about BDSM. They promise it’s a theory class about safe practices.”
“What are you going to say to that?” I brushed her hair back from her face, and picked up my burger for a bite, too busy feeding her to make sure I ate myself.
“I think yes. Not everyone has you, and some people might need to know how to keep themselves and the ones they love safe. Which reminds me, I want you to fuck my ass tonight.”
I choked on my food.
“What the fuck?” I looked around the office to assure myself that we were alone. “Lily, this is a community center. There’s kids here.”
“Oh hush. They’re three floors down, and my office is so out of the way, it’s a wonder anyone remembers I’m here.”
I pulled her into my arms.
“Always so fucking surprising.” I kissed her forehead as she melted into me, her arms wrapping around my waist. “You want me to put my cock in your ass?”
I reached down and cupped said ass gently.
She nodded and squirmed closer to me.
“I need your words, Lily.”
“Yes, Duke. I need you.” She rested her head on my shoulder. Neither of us thought we would do anything here, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t dip my hands in her pants and graze my finger along her.
“I know, baby. Tonight.” I slid my hand along her back and under her waistband to run a dry finger around her hole, just touching it. She arched into me. “So fucking sensitive.”
She nodded and pushed against me.
“No. Not here, baby.” I kept up my slow movements, content to tease her until she was panting.
“I know,” she said, pliant under my arms.
A knock sounded, startling us from our play and reminding me why this was a bad idea. Unlike my office on a Saturday, this place had a near constant rotation of people coming and going.
I pulled my hands from her pants and helped her straighten out her clothing before getting up and going to the adjoining bathroom to clean my hand.
“So sorry if I bothered you,” Grace’s voice came from the door. “I just thought you might want lunch. I know you often forget to eat, and my cooking class made blackberry jalapeno grilled cheese. Oh, Duke.”
Grace smiled warmly at me as I came up and wrapped my arms around Lily, eying the perfectly grilled sandwiches.
“If she doesn’t want them, I’ll take some,” I said .
“We were just eating, and you’re welcome to join us.” Lily stepped back from the door, letting Grace into her office. Based on how easily she moved around the space, the two must regularly visit each other.
“I was just telling Duke about the summer course application I’ve received.
I haven’t seen one from you yet. I thought you wanted to do a course on French pastries.
” Lily and Grace sat on the couch, leaving me to curl up next to Lily’s legs on the floor.
I loved it. She idly played with my hair, and I thought I must have been a well-kept pet in a past life, because I could have stayed right here for hours.
“I really wanted to, but I don’t know if I can.” She didn’t look sorry about this, though. She looked excited.
“Oh, why?” Lily asked.
“I just signed a deal to open another location in Charleston.”
Both women squealed over this, and in a surprising move, Lily leaned in and hugged Grace.
“That’s amazing!”
“I know. I’m so excited and nervous and there’s so much to do, but the location is so cute and it’s in the perfect little spot in the French Quarter.” Grace beamed. Her bakery was her life. She loved that place, and every cookie and cake that came out of it stood as a testament to her love.
“I can’t wait to visit it.”
Lily and Grace kept talking. All the while, Lily played with my hair.
Life with my daring little bookworm was perfect.