Lilah's List

And he’d been so nice to her. He always made sure she had a ride home with his brother whenever he couldn’t take her himself. He would even confide in her about his family problems.

But what would she say to him after all these years? Suddenly The List sounded so juvenile. Hopefully, he wouldn’t laugh in her face.

“Please tell me phase three is a real winner. Otherwise I suggest we turn this cab around and go have a nice dinner. I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Phase three is a sure thing.”

“I’m listening.”

“Filet mignon.”

“You agree we should go for dinner?”

“No, that’s the code word.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Apparently all bouncers know this code word. It means let us in immediately, we’re very important people.”

“And just where did you get this information?”

She pointed out the window. “Look, we’re almost there.”

“No changing the subject. Where did you hear this?”

Angie sighed. “The Internet.”

Lilah’s spine snapped straight. “Driver!”

Angie grabbed her arm and covered Lilah’s mouth. “Shh. This is going to work. You’ll see.”

Lilah climbed out of the cab, her legs trembling ever so slightly. “This is going to be so humiliating.”

Angie gripped her elbow and started marching her forward. “You know the drill. Say everything with confidence and authority, and you’ll have those bouncers eating out of your hand.”

They approached a tall, dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and a black leather trench coat. “Hi, we’re here for the party,” Angie said brightly.

The man frowned at her. “We don’t open to the public until after midnight tonight. We have a private party going on,” he answered with a thick Jamaican accent.

“That’s right,” Angie continued. “We’re here for the party.”

The man just shook his head.

“We’re meeting our high school friend Reggie here. Reggie Martin.”

The man pointed over Angie’s shoulder to the long line stretching down the block.

“What’s that line for?”

“Dat’s for everyone who wants to be let in after midnight.”

“But it’s only eight-thirty.”

His gaze remained cold.

“By the way,” Angie said finally. “We’re filet mignon.”

The bouncer glared at her. “Really, ’cuz you look more like chopped liver.” He turned to Lilah. “And this one barely looks over eighteen. Don’t try flashing dem fake IDs ’round here. I can spot ’em a mile away.”

“Now wait a minute,” Lilah said, finally finding her voice. “There’s no need to be rude. I realize you probably hear a lot of creative stories from people trying to scam their way into the club. And I’m certain it’s no fun to have people approach you like they own the world and expect to be treated like it. But you don’t look like the kind of gentleman whose mother raised him to disrespect women.”

Lilah resisted the urge to giggle at the look of wide-eyed chagrin on his face. “I…uh…I—”

“Please tell me you’re not giving my friends a hard time,” a deep masculine voice called out behind them.

Lilah froze in place. She knew that voice. It couldn’t be—

She turned and found herself looking up into a pair of deep-brown eyes. He towered over her at six-foot-four and was dressed in a black winter coat over an impeccably tailored, dark suit. His crisp, white shirt was open at the collar.

All of Lilah’s words stuck in her throat.

“Mr. Martin, my apologies,” the bouncer said, opening the rope for them to pass through.

Chapter 3

As he guided the two women past the entryway, Tyler Martin was pleased to have done his good deed for the day.

He hated velvet ropes, bouncers, celebrity parties and all the air kisses and fake smiles that went along with them. Helping these girls get past that thick-necked jerk redeemed some of the self-respect he’d lost profiting from this life.

But, on second glance, Tyler realized that he recognized these women. He’d be hard pressed to remember the name of the tall one with brightly colored hair, but he’d know Lilah Banks anywhere.

It was hard to forget the shy sixteen-year-old who had sat at the kitchen table with him more times than he could count.

“I know you two, don’t I?” He touched Lilah’s arm. “You’re Lilah Banks, right?”

Lilah started. “You know my name? You remember me?”

“Of course, you spent so much time at our house, our housekeeper thought you lived there.”

Lilah laughed nervously and her friend stepped forward. “I’m Angie Snow, Lilah’s best friend.”

“Oh yes,” Tyler said, shaking her hand. “I recognized your face.”

He’d been two years ahead of the girls in school, so he was already in his first semester at the University of Maryland when Lilah started tutoring his brother.

His heart had gone out to her because it had been so obvious that she’d had a huge crush on Reggie. More often than not, she’d been stuck with him because his younger brother had his head in the clouds and rarely showed up for tutoring on time.

When Reggie had shown up, he wasted her time bitching about how hard things were around the house. Hard? The kid had everything handed to him on a silver platter. It was Tyler who picked up the slack. Shopping for food, running errands and driving the tutor home while Reggie played video games in his bedroom.

But, if Reggie was self-centered, he had no one to blame but himself. Their mother was a doctor and their father a lawyer. So, although they always had every new gadget and video game, their parents were rarely home. Vivian Martin didn’t like having strangers raise her kids, so when Tyler was old enough, Reggie became his responsibility.

Thank God he loved the kid. Which wasn’t difficult since Reggie had a witty sense of humor and was genuinely fun to be around. He had an inherent charm that made it easy to forgive his mistakes. They were extremely close, which worked out well since their worlds were so tightly intertwined.

Reggie had a natural gift for music, and Tyler had a natural gift for business. While Reggie wrote songs in the recording studio, it was Tyler’s job to handle the business details, including making sure the accountant, publicist and the rest of the industry didn’t take advantage of his baby brother.

Which brought him to his present situation. He avoided the limelight whenever possible, but he’d come to accept that in this business, important meetings often took place in the VIP lounge of some popular night spot. He now represented several people in the entertainment industry, and tonight Reggie wanted him to meet a potential new client.

Now that he’d gotten them past the doorman, Tyler half expected the girls to float off. Instead they huddled close, with no obvious agenda.

The room—lit with pink, green and orange neon lights showcasing wide decadent beds with drapes and pillows—was buzzing but not packed. He scanned the area for Reggie, but since he didn’t see a crowd of fawning females, he knew Reggie wasn’t in the room.

A DJ pumped mellow dance music through the speakers, loud enough to catch a rhythm but not so loud as to curb conversations.

“Um, you’re probably wondering why you found us trying to crash this party, huh?” Angie started.

“Since you mentioned it…”

“We’re kind of on a mission. Tell him, Lilah.”

Lilah blanched and gave her friend a stunned look.

Tyler tried to break the ice. “Like a scavenger hunt?”

Lilah gulped. “Yeah, sort of. Um, when I was sixteen I made this list of things I wanted to do before I turned thirty.”

Tyler nodded. He was thirty-two, which meant the big three-oh had to be just around the corner for Lilah.

“My birthday’s in two weeks, and I thought it might be nice to finish off The List.”

“And something on your list involves this club?” Tyler couldn’t help noticing that Lilah seemed mortified. He wanted to ease her embarrassment, but he didn’t know how when he didn’t even know what she was trying not to say.

“A couple of things, actually.” She pulled a PDA phone out of her purse and showed him the illuminated screen. “Crash a party and…uh, something else.”

“What’s the other thing?” He couldn’t keep himself from asking.

“It’s actually pretty convenient that we ran into you because it involves your brother Reggie,” Angie said, trying to help Lilah along.

“Ah, I see…” He should have known.

If it were possible, Lilah seemed even more embarrassed. “Keep in mind, I started this list when I was sixteen.” She scrolled her PDA screen and handed him the phone.

Item number one on her list was date Reggie Martin. For some reason that Tyler couldn’t define, his heart sank.

He’d known she’d had a crush on his brother back in high school. He’d even tried to get his brother to acknowledge that fact, but he’d insisted that Tyler was reading too much into the situation.

Lilah rushed to explain herself. “I know it sounds absurd. He probably has a girlfriend or fiancée or something. I just thought, maybe, as a favor to a high school friend, we could have drinks or something. That way I can cross this off my list with minimal intrusion on his life.”

Tyler couldn’t help himself. He threw his head back and laughed. When he saw the hurt expression on her face, he immediately brought himself under control. “I’m sorry. Yes, he’s single. I’m sure some sort of meeting that will qualify as a date won’t be a problem.”

Lilah was visibly relieved and Tyler felt his stomach muscles clench as she asked, “Is he here tonight? We heard that he might be here.”

“Yeah, he’s supposed to meet me here. He’s probably in the VIP area, wherever that might be. Hold on.”

Tyler pulled out his cell phone and punched the speed dial for his brother.

“Yo,” Reggie answered with his standard greeting.

“Where are you? I’m at the club, and I don’t see you.”

“I’m downstairs in the VIP. Come down.”

“Actually, I’m up here with a couple of women who would like to talk to you.”

“Nice. Brother, you work fast. Are they hot?”

Tyler let his gaze slide over to the two women watching him expectantly. He turned his back, feeling heat creep up his neck. “Of course.”

Angie, tall and willowy with her wild explosion of curls, was definitely beautiful, if you liked that funky art-student vibe. Lilah, on the other hand, was petite and curvy with luminous pale skin and honey-colored hair. She hadn’t changed much since high school. In fact, if he hadn’t known better, he would have sworn that she was still in high school.

The only really noticeable changes were her eyes. They no longer held the open invitation he used to see there. Now, they were clearly marked Do Not Disturb. She’d been burned by someone.

But then again, who hadn’t? It was only a matter of time for most people anyway.

“Do you want me to bring them down?”

“Nah, if they’re the clingy type, once they’re in, I’ll never shake them off. I’ll come up. Give me ten.”

“Great. We’ll get a table…er, bed and wait for you.”

He clicked the phone shut and turned back to the girls. “He’ll meet us up here in ten minutes. I’ll see about finding us a spot to hang out.”

Angie shook her shoulder so hard, Lilah thought her arm might fall off. “See, this worked out just like I said it would.”

Lilah snorted. “Not just like you said it would. Besides, it hasn’t ‘worked out’ yet.”

“Come on, what are the odds of Tyler Martin coming to our rescue of all people? For a split second, I actually thought it was Reggie coming up behind us.”

“You’re not the only one.” Lilah decided that it was her state of shock that accounted for her sudden loss of breath at the sight of Tyler.

Her memory of him hadn’t done him justice. She’d gotten the basic stats right in her mind’s eye—tall, dark-skinned, the same chestnut-brown eyes that Reggie had. But the real beauty lay in the details.

He was so much taller than she’d remembered. Sure, she was all of five-foot-two herself, but Tyler seemed to loom in the night like a dark tower in a black overcoat. And his skin was dark, but it glowed like burnished wood—clear and smooth.

And those light-brown eyes were not so much brooding as she’d remembered, but intense. He’d always looked at her as though he could see everything inside her. Like she was emotionally naked before him. It was one of the things that she’d always found so disturbing about him.

She’d never thought of Tyler as handsome—certainly not compared to Reggie. But her memory had gotten that one wrong, too. He was definitely handsome. Not in the smooth-faced, curly lashed, flash-those-pearly-whites way that Reggie was good-looking.

Tyler simply had a face that was well put together. A strong jaw with just the hint of stubble, a nose that was pointed without being too sharp, deep-set eyes and thick lips, and his hair rounded into a tight, business-like fade.

Sexy. The word flashed in her brain and was gone, like a subliminal ad.

“We gotta get some drinks in you,” Angie said, tugging her arm. “You’re so nervous you’re practically catatonic.”

“I’d rather have some food. I’m starving.”

“This place is also a restaurant. I’m sure we can get you something, eventually. The drinks are necessary now. We have to make sure you can actually speak when Reggie gets up here. You’re so stiff, you could be made of cardboard.”

“We can’t leave. Tyler’s coming back for us.”

“Fine. You wait here. I’ll hit the bar. You still like appletinis, right?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Lilah’s mind had already wandered off. In a matter of minutes, she was actually going to be talking to Reggie Martin.

She saw Tyler’s tall, dark form emerge from the crowd. He came to her side, taking her elbow in his hand. Leaning down to her ear, he whispered, “I’m going to take you to bed.”

Chapter 4

Lilah felt Tyler’s breath on her ear as he spoke, and his words registered with a jolt. I’m going to take you to bed.

She jerked back from him, off balance from the unexpected erotic thrill tingling the base of her spine.

Tyler reached out and steadied her with both hands, preventing her from reeling back into a passing waitress with a tray full of drinks.

“I’m so sorry,” Tyler said as she pulled herself together. “I should never have said that. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just trying to be clever. And it was an inappropriate remark.”

“No, no. It was fine,” she tried to reassure him, feeling foolish for getting so flustered. “I can take a joke.”

“Why don’t we go sit down?” He looked around. “Where’s your friend?”

“Angie went to the bar. Will she be able to find us if we get in be—uh, sit down?”

“I’ll make sure she does,” he assured her.

He began steering her toward one of the large beds along the far left of the room. A waitress helped them settle in by tucking their shoes in a drawer below and exchanging them for terry-cloth slippers emblazoned with the word Duvet.

Just as Lilah was awkwardly climbing onto the mattress, Angie arrived with two green apple martinis. Tyler helped Angie juggle the drinks as she took off her boots and joined them on the bed. Lilah and Tyler had checked their coats, but Angie insisted that hers was an integral piece of her ensemble.

Lilah quickly discovered that it was hard to recline comfortably and keep her cocktail dress from riding up. She finally arranged herself into a suitably modest position, wishing desperately that she’d worn pants.

“I’m not sure whose idea this was—” Angie started.

“I know. It’s the worst,” Lilah chimed in.

“—but, I love it,” Angie finished at the same time.

“You don’t like it? I think it’s great.” Angie was propped against the row of cream, satin pillows with her long legs stretched out in front of her. Her long jacket draped her legs.

Tyler looked right at home, too. He was stretched across the bottom of the mattress giving him plenty of room for his legs, as he propped his head on his palm. He would also have a bird’s eye view of Lilah’s underwear if she forgot herself and moved her legs.

“What brings you ladies to New York?”

“I live here,” Angie answered. “I design costumes for a playhouse in Greenwich Village, and Lilah’s just visiting for the next two weeks. We’ve got to check off the rest of her list before November 10th.”

Tyler nodded. “That’s a pretty ambitious task. How many things have you gotten done since you got to New York?”

Lilah chewed her lip. “I flew in this morning, first-class. That was one. And we crashed this party. That was two.”

“So what’s this big soiree for, anyway?” Angie asked, sipping her martini, then placing it back on the clear doughnut-shaped tray for drinks in the center of the bed.

“It’s a corporate launch party for a new men’s cologne called Isosceles.” He pointed toward the center of the room, and Lilah noticed for the first time that there were large pyramid displays of triangular cologne bottles.

“Since Reggie’s single is called ‘Love Triangle’ his publicist thought this would be a good opportunity for some cross promotion.”

Lilah’s heart sped up. “Will Reggie be performing tonight?”

“No. He agreed to make an appearance and sign copies of his single. He convinced a few of his boys to tag along, so I don’t think he’s planning to hang out here long.”

“Damn, sounds like there aren’t going to be a lot of other big celebrities here then?” Angie asked.

“No, I’ve seen a few Broadway actors and radio personalities, but for the most part this crowd is media types and corporate investors. It’s safe to say that Reggie is probably the most famous person here.”

Lilah felt her stomach growl and took a sip of her drink because it was the only thing on the table. “Aren’t they supposed to have food here? Do you think we could get a menu?”

“The waitress told me that the restaurant is closed. They have some cold hors d’oeuvres and sushi, but I think that’s it.”

Lilah wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t in the mood for anything cold. She wanted hot food in healthy portions. Forcing herself to relax, she took another sip of her drink. Reggie would be coming around shortly. After she pleaded her case to him, she and Angie could leave and get a real dinner.

“Are they giving out free samples of that cologne?” Angie wondered out loud. “Those little bottles are cute. I think I’m going to go over there and try to snag one.”

Angie bounced off the bed and through the crowd, leaving Lilah and Tyler alone. Lilah tilted her glass and drained the last of her apple martini.

Her head swam a minute as the drink finally began to work on her empty stomach. Great, the last thing she needed was to be plastered by the time Reggie showed up.

But, on the upside, she was suddenly feeling one hundred percent less anxious than she had been just five minutes earlier. She leveled her gaze at Tyler, who had directed his attention to the plasma screen in the center of the room.

“Do you ever get back to the D.C. area?” she asked.

He turned to face her. “Not often. Our parents still live there, but since Reggie and I both live here, they prefer to come up.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Lilah tucked her feet under her body and leaned forward, smoothing her dress across her knees. “How did you both end up here? Did Reggie come first and you followed him?”

“No, after I graduated from Maryland, I came here to attend law school at Columbia. After trying his hand at a lot of day jobs, Reggie finally gave up and moved up here with me. Eventually he made some connections in the music business and the rest is history.

“I guess you could say I’ve been his business manager all his life, but in the last couple of years, as his career took off, managing his business started taking over my practice. I finally decided to manage him full-time, and recently I started taking on other clients.”

“You both must be doing very well.”

“What about you? You still live in D.C.?”

“Yeah, I just bought a condo in Georgetown.”

“What do you do there?”

“I’m in the real estate business.”

“That’s great. How do you like it?”

“It’s fine.” Her answer came out like a halfhearted sigh.

Suddenly the fact that she was a very successful real estate agent didn’t seem to count for much. Especially when she was surrounded by all these sparkling happy people.

Without thinking, Lilah reached for Angie’s martini and gulped it down.

The fact remained that she was about to be thirty and her life was nowhere near where she’d expected it to be.

Time was bearing down on her like a freight train, and she was stalled on the tracks.

“Tyler?” The warm-colored lights straining through the canopy’s filmy curtains and the effects of the appletinis made her feel like she was in a cocoon. She felt secluded, despite the fact that there were clusters of people on the canopied beds all around them.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to be thirty in two weeks.” Her voice shook with emotion.

He chuckled. “Okay, but you shouldn’t worry about it. You don’t look a day over eighteen.”

She pursed her lips. “Why does everyone think it’s a compliment to say that to me? I’m not a little girl. I’m a woman.” Whew and she was drunk!

Lilah could hear herself and knew she sounded ridiculous, but she was powerless to stop.

“I can see that,” he said huskily. “Trust me, no man in this room could miss that fact.”

Lilah felt her face light up with embarrassment. His gaze had rested on the daring décolletage of her slinky dress. This conversation was definitely headed in the wrong direction.

In fact, it wasn’t just the conversation. She was headed in the wrong direction. Seeing Tyler reclining on the end of the bed, taking her in with his hooded gaze, sent a hot pulse sizzling through her.

In her inebriated state, she was quick to remember just how long it had been since she’d been in proximity of a good-looking man and a bed. She had a sudden, wacky impulse to climb on top of him.

But two drinks hadn’t made her bold enough for that. Her survival instincts were still intact. “Do you think Reggie will notice?”

Tyler straightened into a sitting position. “Of course, in fact, let me find out what’s keeping him.” He took his cell phone out of his jacket. “I need to find a better signal. Be right back.”

Lilah didn’t watch him walk away. The room was spinning. She lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes.

Tyler swore under his breath. Contrary to what many outsiders believed, tonight was the first time in history that Tyler had been jealous of his brother.

As a general rule, he and Reggie weren’t even attracted to the same type of women. It’s not that Reggie was particular. He wasn’t. He liked them all shapes and sizes. On more than one occasion, his younger brother had tried to offer Tyler his leftover groupies. Tyler always refused.

Easy and available wouldn’t do for him. He had a more discriminating eye. They had to be sophisticated, ambitious and intelligent. But he was a man. He liked them sexy with curves, too.

As a result of the brothers’ differing needs, the two never fought over women—or anything else for that matter. Reggie wanted fame. Tyler just wanted success. Reggie wanted to make music. Tyler wanted to make money. They were like yin and yang. Perfect opposites, which made for a balanced relationship between them.

Until now.

For the first time Tyler felt himself coveting something that wasn’t meant for him. Lilah Banks had walked into his life and captured his attention entirely. For the first time that he could remember, he’d been about to indulge in a serious public display of affection. And from the look on Lilah’s face, he was certain she was on the same page.

Only the Martin man that she wanted was his brother.