35. Dinner night at Lucy's pt.2

Lucy showed her and told her everything. Every single information she had gathered about Julian and his chaotic background. About his wildly different parents. Every tiny little detail.

Lydia's mind was reeling. Spinning out of control. Blown apart indeed. But there was one thing she couldn't understand though.

"Why did you show me all this?" Why bother? Why would she even care at all? It didn't make any sense.

She watched her former best friend visibly swallow, a hint of guilt glinting in those big brown eyes of hers.

"I..." Damn. Why was this so hard for her? Expressing her feelings like that. Out in the open. Bare, for her friend to see.

"I just want you to be safe, Lydia," There. It was out there. Finally.

Lydia's green eyes widened a little with surprise, a certain emotion flickering within her. She took another swig from her champagne glass.

Lucy quickly emptied her own, hating the way that she was currently feeling. Awkward. Tense. Guilty. Dumb. Exposed.

Her jaw clenched. She turned back to face her laptop, absently clicking away as she fought to smother all those painfully uncomfortable emotions poking at her. Yes. She had screwed up, so many times before. She didn't need a fucking reminder.

At least she could make this one thing right.

"I was planning a field trip to his papaw's precinct tomorrow," she bluntly announced, her gaze still trained on her laptop's screen. Unseeing.

Lydia blinked with utter astonishment, reduced to silence. She was planning to what?

"Are you coming or what?" Lucy's impatient question startled her into quickly nodding though, too curious to pass on her offering. About everything. What his dad looked like in real life. If they really looked that much alike. What he would say about Julian, whether she had made a grave mistake by getting involved with him or not. She needed to know, at least. It didn't matter that she'd already planned on staying as far as possible away from him from now on. Like Lucy had earlier mentioned, she needed to know whether she was in real danger or not.

"Holy shit, dude, you gotta see this," Lucy's sudden incredulous exclamation pulled her out of her concerning thoughts, her brows furrowing with curiosity.

She got up from her spot at the edge of the bed, approaching Lucy's desk.

Her jaw fell to the floor as soon as her gaze landed on the screen of Lucy's laptop. Eyes widening with utter shock.

"Oh my god,"

There was a picture of Julian on the cover of a magazine, called Ink-it. He was standing completely naked in it, in all his beautiful and tattooed glory, his manhood covered by a silken white sheet he was holding with his own two hands. The rest was so glaringly visible. His toned legs. Those hard abs. His pecs. His corded arms. That devilish glint in his blue eyes as he stared into the camera's lens, making it seem as if he was staring right back at her. Lucy clicked on the page. More pictures like that one followed. Of him lying in bed. On his back. On his front. That sheet still barely covering anything. There was another one, of him standing under the shower head, water pelting down his lean and very toned body. Eyelids closed. Water dripping. Those tattooed hands barely able to cover the entirety of his length. She thickly swallowed.

She could feel her heart already pounding so hard inside her chest, threatening to get out. Mouth going dry. Thighs clenching as that deeply-ingrained memory of the feel of him inside of her returned full-force, making her almost moan out right then and there.

Her panties became wet. She swore under her breath.

"Dude...I totally get it now. I mean...Damn...That shit is...Hell, he should be fucking illegal,"

Illegal indeed. Forbidden, even. To her, at least.

"Miss, your mother has-" The sound of that loud gasp managed to startle Lydia out of that lustful trance, whipping around just in time to see poor Gemma with a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as they stared at the sinful image displayed on Lucy's laptop.

"Sweet merciful lord!" The elderly maid rushed to move that hand over her tainted eyes, a visible blush blooming in her cheeks. She heard Lucy cackle from right next to her like a crazed hyena.

Gemma performed a quick cross sign, that hand still plastered over her eyes.

"Forgive me, lord for I have sinned," she rapidly mumbled under her breath, making Lucy cackle again. Lydia could feel her cheeks heating up as well.

"Miss," the maid tried again after clearing out her throat,

"Your mother has requested that you girls get ready and descend as soon as possible. Her guest is about to arrive," she announced with a small bow, that hand remaining stuck over her eyes. Even as she turned around to leave.

"Perverted girl," she heard Gemma angrily mutter under her breath just as she'd crossed the threshold of Lucy's room, closing that door behind her. The door that she'd so carelessly left wide open.

Oops.

**

She smiled at herself as she stared into the floor-length mirror. She was already so tipsy. That champagne was now coursing through her system, making her feel so nice and relaxed. She liked it. She could only hope that it wasn't too obvious though, since she didn't want to embarrass herself. Lucy had said that her mom's guest was important. Probably one of her fellow teachers.

*Hope that they're male, so they would stare at my cleavage more instead of my face*, she thought with a childish chuckle upon noticing that rather lazy and unseeing glint in her eyes. Yep. She was kinda wasted. She needed some food in her belly, and that as fast as possible.

She let her gaze trail over her form for a last time, checking out her overall appearance. She did look really nice in this silken maxi dress. It showcased her bronzed skin, her generous cleavage. And that slit that left the entirety of her left leg uncovered was a welcomed bonus. She felt sexy. Confident. And also incredibly comfortable. The silken material was gingerly caressing her skin with every movement that she made. Not too tight but not too loose either. Just enough to outline her thin waist. The curve of her hips. Her ass.

She was really glad now that she'd accepted to come over, despite her twisting emotions. She'd needed this. This momentary distraction.

"Hey, gorgeous," Lucy preened from behind her shoulder, her gaze trailing over her in the mirror from head to toe in an openly appreciative manner.

She timidly smiled, a slight blush tinting her cheeks.

"Ready?" She quickly nodded in reply, earning herself a smirk from her friend. And with a tangle of their arms they exited Lucy's room, discreetly holding each other upright as they both felt a little unsteady on their high-heels now after all those glasses of champagne.

The clinking sound of the doorbell could be heard now resounding through the large mansion, so they hurried their step, a little curious to lay eyes upon Connie's guest for tonight. Who could it be? Was it one of her co-workers? Or perhaps another guy she'd managed to trap in her clutches?

They could only try and guess. So they hurried towards the grand staircase, their heels clicking over the marble flooring with every step that they took. Listening to the voice of Lucy's mother conversing so excitedly with whoever had just arrived.

They took their first few steps down the stairs, Lydia's knees buckling at the sight of the person that stood in the foyer, right next to Lucy's mom.