Page 12 of Daring Lance

Willow took her wallet from her purse, and he stopped her. His days of going Dutch had ended in high school. “I’ve got it.”

“Lance, I didn’t suggest we go to dinner so that you could pay. I am perfectly capable of picking up the tab.”

He took his credit card from his wallet. “You can pay next time.” He smiled briefly before handing the waiter his credit card.

She smiled and returned her wallet to the inside of her purse. “Deal. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. How did you end up with the name Lancelot? Is it a family name?”

Lance groaned. While he loved his parents, he’d never forgive them for the grief they’d caused him over his first name. “My parents wanted each of their five kids’ names to be more than something that is currently trendy or cute. They wanted them to mean something special to at least one family member. My mother is a retired English Lit professor and a romantic at heart.”

Willow’s eyes widened, which didn’t surprise Lance. With as many movies as she had seen, it was likely she’d come across the famous historical figure several times. “Sir Lancelot, the First Knight of the Roundtable!”

Lance pushed back his chair. “The one and the same. Shall we go?”

Willow giggled. “That’s awesome! I’m going to have to look him up online and see if there is any resemblance.”

“Ha, ha.”

They walked out of the restaurant, and Lance hooked his thumb in his belt loop to keep from taking her hand in his as they proceeded down the sidewalk toward their condo complex.

“What about your twin brother? Linc.” Willow stopped mid-step. “Wait! Let me guess! Abraham Lincoln.”

A smattering of rain drops flitted against the back of his neck, and he made a swift glance at the sky. Without hesitation, he grabbed Willow’s arm and pulled her against the cove of trees that lined the sidewalk, shielding her with his body. Willow’s back was now up against the trunk of a tree as they stood under the cover of a tangle of branches as he tried to keep her shieled from the looming raindrops as much as possible. He kept one hand around her wrist while the other held on to a thick tree branch near the side of her head.

“Lance?”

Her eyes were wide, and her chest rose up and down. “Sorry, but we are about to get pummeled with a downpour. Major dark cloud overhead. I didn’t want you to get wet.” The words were barely out of his mouth when the rain came crashing down around them.

“Oh.”

Her breath tickled the side of his neck, her perfume teasing him with an undeniable awareness that caused a distinctive ache inside of him. A sudden crackle of thunder vibrated around them, causing Willow to jump as she let out a screech. She placed her hand on his chest, and even if it was only to steady herself, Lance decided he didn’t want her to remove it. He quickly released his hold on her opposite wrist and covered her hand with his own. “This should pass pretty quickly. It looks like one major rain cloud that’s making its way east.”

She glanced down at their hands nestled against his chest and then back up at him, her lower lip tucked between her teeth. If she wanted him to release her hand and back away from her, she certainly did not give him any obvious indication. “I’m a little overly dramatic when it comes to storms, thunder in particular. Um, sorry.”

Lance gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “Don’t be. Some of the storms in Florida can be downright frightening. Besides, it gives me a chance to live up to my namesake.”

Willow giggled softly, her breath warm against his skin. “It certainly does, Sir Lancelot.”

Lance sucked in his breath and forced his head backward to look toward the sky. The rain had eased to a slight drizzle, then almost completely stopped. He gazed back at Willow and discovered that her eyes had followed his and were focused on the cloud cover above them. “I think the cloud has passed and it’s safe for us to continue home,” he told her and let go of the tree branch, releasing her hand from his.

Willow dropped her head, drawing her gaze back to him and swiftly removing her hand from his chest. “Oh, right.”

Lance resumed their walk, and Willow quickly rejoined him, matching him step for step again. He stuck a hand in each front pocket of his jeans to avoid grasping her hand in his. He was determined to keep his promise and let her make the first move toward a new direction in their relationship, even while the sensual scent of her perfume toyed with his desire for her. If keeping himself in check around Willow wasn’t one of the hardest things he had ever done, then it was damn close.

“You were about to tell me if I correctly guessed Linc’s name?”

He mentally shook himself and tucked his hands deeper into his pockets.

“Oh, right. You guessed it correctly. While dad wasn’t a professor, he is a history buff. He is also into astronomy, hence my older sister’s name, Haley, whom I’m sure you met at the wedding.”

“Haley’s Comet. That is so interesting. And your brother Will? He didn’t escape the family name game, did he? I assume Will is short for William?”

“He didn’t and it is.”

Willow was silent for only a few seconds, typical for her because her mind seemed to be in constant overdrive. “Let me guess! He was named for Prince William? I bet the prince was born around the same time as your brother, and your mom chose his name.”

He spotted their condo building less than twenty-five yards away in the distance, surprised by how quickly they’d made it home. “You’re right about it being mom’s choice. However, his middle name is Shakespeare.”

The smile disappeared from her face. “Whoa, that’s a rough one.”

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