Page 42 of Falling for Her Protector

“That’s not fair,” she jokingly pouts.

“Oh, I see how it’s gonna be now. The true colors are coming out. I give you a car and a house to live in, and it’s not enough. You still want more,” I laugh out in return.

She lifts and her lips cover mine, and in an instant I’m ready to take her again. She pulls back and her eyes seem to study my face, her lips part slightly and I can tell she’s hesitating.

“What is it?” I prompt.

“It’s just...are you sure? Are you sure that you really want to live here, together?” she questions softly. I lift my hand to hold her cheek.

“I want this more than you can even imagine,” I confess without hesitation.

29

The Last Present

Vanessa

“Seriously, you have to stop looking at me like that,” I say to Lacey as she gives me wide puppy-dog eyes from the kitchen.

Over the past week I’ve been grabbing a box every day and slowly taking the few things that I have up to the cabin. X. had his done within a couple hours, but I couldn’t just abandon Lacey. X. actually ended up leaving a few things in his room at the clubhouse. He figured we might need it from time to time after club parties, when we don’t want to make the drive back to the cabin.

“You know that I’m happy for you and X., but I’m going to miss you,” she repeats for the millionth time, as if I’m moving across the country.

“I’ll miss living here with you too, but you know that we’re still going to see each other almost every day. Plus, you have to be excited about Mikey moving in,” I remind her of the other exciting aspect of my moving out.

“You know I am,” she beams and her eyes glaze over for a fraction of a second. “But I am still a little concerned about what the state of that clubhouse will be like with both the president and vice president moving out,” she cracks a smile.

Sure, we know that both X. and Mikey will still be spending the majority of their time at the clubhouse, or at least with the boys handling business, but there’s still the slim chance that the other guys might get a little crazy during those overnight hours. Although I think X. put the fear of God into them. That and the fact that they know he’s keeping his room, and that he can stop by at any hour, should definitely keep them on the cautious side.

“As much as I’d like to stay and hang out, I really do have to get going. I promised Diane that I’d deliver a cake for her this afternoon,” I say taking a step closer to the door, my last box held tight in my arms.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” she asks, confirming that X. and I will be at the standard Friday night party.

“We’ll be there,” I answer, reaching for the doorknob. But I pause for a second and turn back. “Hey, Lace. Thank you, for giving me a place to stay. I hope someday I’ll be able to repay the favor,” I offer, acknowledging her generosity.

“Happy to do it,” she brushes me off. “You know I needed a decent girl around here. I’ve been surrounded by skankiness and male testosterone for way too long,” she manages to say with a straight face, and I can’t help but bark out a laugh.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I smile before sliding out the door.

* * *

After making a quick stop at the bakery, I have a large white box secured safely in my passenger seat. The work Diane put into the cake is incredible. I couldn’t believe all the intricate details of the hand-piped yellow and white sunflowers, and the beautiful scroll work. She told me the cake is for an engagement celebration, and she gave me the address to a country club for delivery.

I pull carefully into the parking lot at the Dunes West Golf and River Club and park at a slight distance, finding it filled with expensive cars that I’m slightly intimidated to park beside. After hopping out, I move around the car and slide the box from the seat before walking slowly inside as I try not to shake the cake around too much. Stepping through the doors, I’m met almost instantly with a wide-eyed and somewhat frazzled looking girl at the front desk.

“Please tell me that’s the cake for the Morgan-Peterson engagement party,” she requests.

“It is. Where should I put it?” I ask.

“I’ll take it,” she offers, stepping out from behind the desk with outstretched arms. “The bride to be and her mother are on the war path. Things haven’t gone exactly as planned this morning, so seeing that the cake has arrived will hopefully make them happy,” she whispers with an eye roll meant only for me to see.

“Good luck,” I offer as I hand the cake box to her and she turns, starting to walk away.

“I didn’t want everything to be that tacky silver color. I wanted white and gray, and not light gray. I wanted dark charcoal gray,” a high-pitched voice whines in clear disappointment as heels click loudly against the hardwood floor.

I start to turn back towards the door, but instead come face to face with the bouncy blonde who has made several appearances in my nightmares.

“Hey, don’t I know you?” she questions with a tip of the head as her eyes study me.

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