Loving Lilly: Lost and Found

By J.M. Madden

Diego Ortiz has too many demons to fight, so he would never even consider taking on a relationship at this point in his life. But when socialite and former model Lilly Carmichael needs rescued in the midst of a glittering crowd of people, he's right there, ready to fight for her. The tension between them is something he's never felt with any other woman, and he fights against her pull. Proximity forces him to acknowledge that he needs to be with her and when they finally give in, it's a revelation to them both.

Lilly Carmichael sees the real man Diego is, though he tries to discourage her. Angry and secluded he tries to shove her away, but she hopes that if she's persistent enough, he'll bend. And he doesn't seem to be protesting as hard as he used to be…

As she's thrust into a situation she has to fight against, he's right there supporting her, being the man that she had always hoped for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.M. Madden
• Release date: Jun 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9780986222856

Book preview

1

Lilly couldn’t keep her eyes away from him. Diego Ortiz stood on the balcony across the room, looking down upon the partygoers with a heavy scowl on his lean, attractive face. As soon as she’d entered the room her gaze had found him, just like it always did when they were in the same area.

Lilly didn’t know why he so fascinated her. Perhaps because he was so different from any other man she’d ever met. Tonight he wore a black tux just like all the rest of the men present, but something about the fabric against his flawless bronze skin seemed wild, maybe a little reckless. Diego wasn’t a very big guy, probably a hair under six feet, but he was broad and heavily muscled. Thick dark hair fell over his forehead. It was the longest she’d ever seen it. A diamond stud winked from his left earlobe and his jaw was covered with a nicely trimmed black beard. Lips too full to be cruel were now pursed with aggravation. It was obvious he hated being here.

What made the women around her twitter and whisper, though, was the rakish eye patch over his right eye. She didn’t say anything as she listened to the conjecture swirl around her.

I think it’s fake, Becky Peterson sighed. He does it just for affect.

No, I think it’s real, Jade McKenna protested. If you get close you can see scars on the skin of his cheek.

Lilly didn’t say anything, but Jade was completely right. There were a few faint silver lines on the skin of his lean cheek. She should know—she’d studied them enough. And, as if to make up for the damage on the right side of his face, his left side was flawless. His eye was a stunning, clear olive green. Thick black lashes lined the eye, so long it looked like they brushed his cheek.

There were also two divots in his upper forehead where the screws of the halo had been attached. But he looked so much better than he had mere months ago.

As soon as Lilly heard that her best friend Kendall had been in an accident, she’d returned to Colorado. Kendall had had a bad concussion, but the pregnancy was still progressing normally. Kendall’s dad had had a bad leg break requiring surgery. But poor Diego had been ejected from the vehicle when he’d turned to check on Kendall rather than put his own seatbelt on.

Diego’s neck had been broken, his ankle shattered and too many other things to list. Though she hadn’t known him well she’d stopped into his room a couple of times, and had gone to see him at the rehab facility as well.

That had been a crazy visit. She’d knocked on his door and he’d snapped that he didn’t want to see anyone. She’d pushed open the door anyway because Kendall had told her that Diego’s mother had refused to come see him and whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was basically alone in his recovery. Her soft heart couldn’t allow that. The first sight of him in the cold, sterile room, though, had been shocking.

When he saw her standing in the open door he’d glowered even more. Coming to see the poor wounded Marine, New York girl?

She’d frowned, unsure why he was so aggravated with her. She held out the gift bag. I brought you some magazines and snacks. I know how these places are. But I’ll leave you alone.

Setting the bag on the rolling table, she’d turned to leave. The door had been open and she was stepping through when he said her name.

Wait, Ms. Carmichael, he sighed. I’m sorry I barked at you.

Lilly had glanced into his stormy gaze. You can call me Lilly. And it’s no big deal. I would be pissed off too if I were in your position.

He’d been trussed up like a turkey. The halo was screwed into his skull at four points, then four iron rods attached the halo to a padded chest brace. He was sitting in a wheelchair at the time, his left leg and ankle straight out before him. There was massive bruising on his handsome face. Even his eye patch had seemed ragged, a little off kilter. At the time, she’d fought tears because he’d saved Kendall when he’d turned and demanded she put her seatbelt on. She owed him so much for that. It seemed so wrong that the hero of the day had also taken the brunt of the damage.

They’d talked a little bit, just enough to reassure him that everyone else was safe. That was the kind of guy he was, worrying about other people even when he couldn’t stand up. Then she’d asked him if he’d been able to get out of the room. Diego had blinked as if shocked, then told her no.

Would you like to? It would drive me nuts looking at these same walls every day. The sun is shining right now.

He’d blinked rapidly then shut his single eye, as if fighting emotion. When he’d looked at her again, he’d simply told her yes.

They hadn’t gone very far. Down the hallway to the little courtyard they had in the center of the facility. Luckily it had one of those handicapped buttons that opened doors. He’d reached out and slammed his hand against the button, as if desperate for the damn thing to open. Then, when she’d parked him in the June sunshine he’d basked in it. There was no other word for it. Lilly had sat beside him on the bench giving him time. Almost an hour later he’d asked her to take him back in. Before she’d left he’d looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. And she had a feeling he didn’t see the former model, or Kendall’s friend. He’d seen her as a person. Thank you, he told her softly.

Leaving that day she had known that her sanity, and her heart, were in jeopardy. She’d left for New York a few hours later.

Lilly made her excuses to the women and moved away, drawn to the man above her by something she couldn’t see or yet understand. When she was with him, goosebumps prickled her skin, as if he was a magnet trying to draw her closer. Though he’d never really responded to her in more than a courteous manner, she continued to hope, for what she wasn’t sure exactly. Acknowledgement? No, she decided. Desire. That was what she was looking for. A need at least as strong as what she felt.

For the past year he’d been courteous but kept his distance when he saw her, and it was getting on her nerves. She wanted more. Now that she would be spending most of her time in Vail, she could pursue the desire between them.

Slicking her lips and adjusting her dress, she turned for the elevator.

***

Diego Ortiz hated feeling defensive and out of place. As he looked around the swanky hotel ballroom, he couldn’t decide which was worse, the flagrant disregard for money or the people with a lot of it. Combination of both, he supposed. Grif and Kendall were right in the thick of it.

Unfortunately, if a branch of Lost and Found Investigative Service was going to flourish in Vail, they needed this clientele. There was plenty of work here, even if it seemed to be fluff jobs. Most of the people that hired them didn’t actually need them. They just wanted to say they needed them. It was all a show here of who had the most money and who could spend it the most lavishly.

Ortiz shook his head. One woman down there was loaded with jewels. Giant rocks. At a hundred feet away, up on a balcony and with a single eye even he could see them.

The champagne was flowing and deals were being made. At the annual Chamber of Commerce Gala, plans were set for the next year. Ortiz knew Grif had been approached with three different jobs tonight. Whether or not they would sign contracts, he didn’t know. But the approach had been made.

Even a year after his amazingly stupid fuck-up, people still thought he was hero enough to hire.

A tantalizing fragrance his body knew all too well teased his nose, tightening his stomach and he glanced around. Shit. Lilly was here. And she was walking toward him, lush breasts cupped lovingly by her dress.

Straightening, he braced both arms against the heavy oak bannister. Kendall hadn’t said anything about Lilly flying in from New York but he should have expected her. Seemed like the woman was around way more than she should be, recently. Didn’t she have to work like normal people?

Hello, Diego.

Her soft voice teased at his ears and the hair on his neck stood on end. Ms. Carmichael.

She laughed lightly and pressed a hand to his upper arm. We’ve known each other long enough I think you can call me Lilly.

He frowned slightly at the touch but gave her a tight nod, just like he always did. There was no way he would be using her given name, though. It was too intimate.

A prickle went through him, centered lower this time. He thought about her too much for comfort already.

I didn’t know you were going to be here.

The statement sounded a little accusatory, but he couldn’t take it back. He stared down at the crowd moving below him, unwilling to look at her. When he allowed himself to look at her things got tight in his chest.

Lilly sighed, shifting beside him until she was leaning out over the bannister and within his line of sight.

Diego cursed and grabbed her shoulders, jerking her away from the dangerous fall. She’d done it on his sightless side and it had taken him too long to notice her. Great. Trying not to engage with her and she almost gets hurt. What the hell were you doing? he snapped.

She grinned, unrepentant. Trying to get you to look at me. And it worked.

Yeah, it worked all right.

All over again the sight of her damn near devastated him. Thick black hair swayed around her shoulder and teased at her lipsticked mouth, dark layers of long curls hanging along her temples. There was a heavy streak of purple in the hair along the right side of her face. A single strand was stuck to her lip and he wanted to pull it away but he forced his arms to his sides. His right hand went to the corner of his pocket, but the knife wasn’t there. It was at home on the dresser because Grif said it wasn’t polite to pull out a knife to play with in this kind of crowd. Whatever. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he tightened his fists, trying to control the nervous movements and the edge of panic that had begun to eat at him.

Lilly’s gray-blue eyes glittered with humor as if she knew she aggravated him. Why are you hiding up here?

I’m not hiding, he growled. I’m watching the crowd from high ground.

She arched a brow at him. Oh, really?

Diego refused to let her teasing reach him. He needed to keep his distance. Facing the bannister again he placed his hands where they had been before. Maybe if he ignored her she would go away.

But, of course, she didn’t.

So, have you heard? Rosella Markham wants to hire you because you remind her of her first husband. He was a prince from some island.

Diego snorted in spite of himself. I’m not a prince.

Well, Lilly acceded, maybe not, but she wants something pretty to look at when she has her birthday party in a couple weeks.

The woman must have bad eyesight as well as bad spending habits, because he was far from pretty. He shook his head is disbelief.

I can see why she would think you were pretty, Lilly continued. You kind of have that roughed up hero look.

Diego turned to look at her incredulously, affront choking him. I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.

Lilly raised that eyebrow again, obviously surprised at his outburst. Her eyes ran over him and her smile softened. I’m not messing with you, Diego. You’re good-looking, even with the scars.

Diego shook his head, the band of his eye patch burning around his head. The skin of his face flushed with embarrassment. This woman was the only one who made him feel so self-conscious.

Lilly’s hand wrapped around his bicep and she rested her head against his shoulder for the barest moment, and the panic that nibbled at him from being near so many people began to ease. It had almost been a hug. Diego watched her lean body stride away, crystals on her incredibly high heels glinting. Lilly Carmichael had legs that went on for miles. They had carried her down some of the swankiest catwalks in the world when she’d been a model. It was how she and Kendall knew each other. They’d basically grown up together fighting against the modeling world. Kendall was a long and lean blond, but Lilly was a more shapely dark brunette. She’d been lean when working, but her hips and breasts had filled out since she’d left the business. She’d made a couple comments recently bemoaning the loss of her figure, but Diego only thought she had gotten better with age.

Because of his proximity to Grif and Kendall he’d seen some of the old catwalk videos. And, honestly, he’d looked up some of Lilly himself when he’d been recovering from the crash. iPads were amazing things. She had been stunning. He’d grown up in the ghettos of Detroit. The woman had been the epitome of everything he’d dreamed about having on his arm since he was a kid.

It made him feel guilty to look at her that way though.

It was as if he were looking at the kid sister of his best friend. Not actually so but close enough to make him shift guiltily.

But the more dangerous part of her was the kind heart he knew she had.

Nothing could ever happen between them anyway. He wouldn’t let it.

2

Lilly took in great draughts of air as she walked away from Diego Ortiz. If she didn’t her emotions were going to overwhelm her. Though he presented a ferocious, distant façade to everyone else, there was some intangible…fragility to him. No, not fragility. He definitely wasn’t that. Some vulnerability. There wasn’t one particular thing she could actually put her finger on but something made her tread carefully in her dealings with him.

Still, she was like a moth to a flame. Diego Ortiz appealed to her in spite of the ten million times he’d rebuffed her or just plain ignored her. At least she’d figured out how to