Till There Was You by Lilliana Anderson, Wade Anderson Page B

over a long period of time. “Cerberus is the guard dog to the underworld in Greek mythology. He isn’t a Hellhound.”
    “Why Cerberus then?”
    He turned his head and looked out the window. “Because he keeps me from descending into the darkness.”
    Lily’s heart clenched. It was on the tip of her tongue to press for more information, but she was smart enough to know the tiny details he’d given her so far were huge in his mind and instead focused on the conversation at hand.
    “Is that why you chose Shade as well?”
    He appeared to be chewing on his thumbnail as he nodded. “Shade is the edge of the light and the darkness. It’s somewhere in between.”
    Swallowing further questions, Lily simply nodded and gripped the steering wheel. “I like Shade.”
    They fell into silence again, but this time, it was a little more comfortable and lasted only until Linc took a deep breath, and said, “Thank you, Lily.”
    Surprised, she took her eyes off the road for a moment to meet his. “What for—annoying the hell out of you?”
    He actually chuckled a little. It was rich and deep and felt like music to Lily’s ears. “No. For your help yesterday and today, I know it seems like I don’t appreciate it, but I do,” he said, his voice getting softer toward the end.
    “You’re welcome.”
    “And this friends thing, I don’t have them for a reason—” he started before Lily interjected.
    “You want to go back to watching each other from afar like a couple of creepers?” She smiled at him after she said it, trying to keep her tone light while inside she feared he was about to tell her, yet again, that he didn’t want her around.
    Scraping his hand through his thick black beard, he smiled and tilted his head. Lily thought she could see a tiny blush creeping over his cheeks but couldn’t be sure. “When you put it like that, it sounds a little stalkerish.”
    “Listen, we don’t have to be best buddies. If a lift into town and a conversation here and there is all you can handle, then that’s fine. But I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want to get to know you, because I do. I’m interested, Linc. Although, judging by the way you keep trying to turn me away, you already know that.”
    Before he could respond, Lily noticed his back straighten as she slowed the car down and indicated the turn into her driveway. “This isn’t the vet,” he commented, his alarm apparent in his tone.
    “I know. It’s my place. Don’t worry, I’m not going to kidnap you. I just need to get a dry pair of socks and boots. There was a puddle when I changed the tire and my feet are freezing. Plus, I kind of need to clean my hands,” she told him, wiggling her grease-stained fingers for him to see. “I’ll be five minutes.”
    With a curt nod, he said, “Sure,” and Lily couldn’t help but feel that his walls had just completely gone up again. Great.  
    Running inside, she left the door ajar and discarded her boots as she headed for her room. Stopping in the hall, she peeled off her socks and saw if she could get them in the laundry basket from where she stood.
    “She shoots, she...oh,” she moaned as the balled up socks hit the edge of the basket then fell to the floor. Figuring she’d pick them up later, she continued to her room, grabbed a fresh pair of socks, cleaned her hands, and was sliding her feet into warmer shoes with time to spare.
    About to run back to the truck, she stopped at the front door when she saw Linc standing in her driveway, his head tilted upward. He had his eyes closed and a serene look on his face.
    Not wanting to disturb him, she stood, admiring the way the sun’s warming rays bathed him in a golden glow. All that dark hair wasn’t completely black after all, there were red tones running through it that glinted in the light. He was mesmerizing. She was afraid to breathe in too deep in case she broke into the moment too soon. He seemed so...unguarded. It made her smile.
    She didn’t