Page 19 of Daring Lance

“Willow? Sweetheart, are you okay?”

She opened her eyes, now glazed with lovemaking. “Mmmm…I’m wonderful Lance.”

“You are wonderful, Willow.”

She trailed her fingers over his chest muscles, and they voluntarily clenched in response. “You are pretty wonderful yourself, Lance.”

Lance had yet to ease out of her, surprised that he had anything left in him to stay put. “I wouldn’t mind staying like this for the rest of the day.”

“Me too.” She squeezed her thighs several times against his hips.

“Willow? You can’t possibly be ready again?”

She lifted her head and pressed her lips against his, opening her mouth to deepen their kiss. When she finally released his lips, they were both breathing hard again.

“Why don’t we take a shower?” she suggested in little more than a whisper.

Lance rolled over, taking her with him, until he was in a sitting position, Willow wrapped around him like a second skin. “That’s a great idea, darlin’. You are about to be amazed with what I can do with body soap.”

Willow’s eyes went wide, and Lance smirked. He adored her. Willow was special, she was different from any of the women he had dated. He had known it when they’d kissed on the dance floor and every moment he’d spent with her since. It bothered him that she didn’t consider him her type because he didn’t want to put down roots in one place, but hopefully this afternoon had shown her that it wasn’twherethey were that mattered. They just needed to be together, wherever that was in the world. He planned to tell her as much as soon as they were out of the shower, which would likely not be for a while.

“If you have bath oil, even better.”

Willow’s mouth opened to form a small O. “I’m afraid to say yes,” she whispered into his neck, her warm breath sending a chill of excitement over his skin.

Lance pressed a fast and hard kiss to her lips as he stood up. He was still buried deep inside her, and if the look on her face said anything, she was both surprised and aroused by the fact. “Let’s just say that you will soon be buying it by the gallon.”

Willow clenched around his hard shaft as she clasped her hands around his neck, bringing his head down, his lips to meet hers.

Lance needed no further encouragement. Briskly, he brought them into the bathroom, turning the shower on as he pressed Willow’s back against the tile. It only took a few minutes before he had Willow agreeing that the purchase of a larger bottle of body oil would be money well spent.

* * *

“Doyou think we should see if the bingo tournament is over?”

Lance stopped, causing Willow to do so as well, a cascade of seawater flowing over their feet as they stood in the sand near the ocean water’s edge. “It’s almost dark, Willow. Don’t you think the bingo tournament ended hours ago and that they have likely gone to sleep already?”

Willow giggled. She was glad to have Lance at her side. She enjoyed having someone her own age living in the building and in her life. How long he stayed in her life was something she refused to dwell on right now. “You’re right. It’s after eight. They’ve watchedGolden Girlsand called it a night. I’ll try to contact them tomorrow, although I have several meetings and a quickly approaching deadline on which I need to focus before dealing with the money laundering scheme.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. The seniors don’t seem to be too stressed out about it.” His cell rang, and he glanced down at the screen and then at her. “Do you mind if I take this?”

Willow nodded. She was glad to have the opportunity to simply watch him as he spoke to, she assumed by his few comments, one of his brothers. He held on to her hand, and they began to walk again, northbound, staying close to the water’s edge. A contentment seeped through her that she hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever. Walking as they were, hand in hand, the sun having faded and the stars slowly filling the sky, felt so right, so natural, that she wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She realized that if she didn’t focus on where she stepped, she might not need to pinch herself because a man-of-war jellyfish would do it for her. They were randomly scattered on the beach this evening.

“Costa Rica? That’s great! Yeah, you bet I am.” Willow’s ears perked up, while her heart thumped rapidly against her ribcage. The romantic fog that had previously enclosed her began to lift. She had no doubt that Lance was discussing his next work assignment, and from the enthusiasm she heard in his voice, he couldn’t wait to leave. She bit down on her back teeth and swallowed a deep gulp of air. She had wrapped her arms around Lance today with the intention of keeping it casual, no strings attached between them, and soon, if she were right, she’d have the chance to prove it.

Lance ended his call and slipped his cell into the pocket of his shorts. “Sorry about that. I’ve been waiting to hear from my brother Will since yesterday. My father has been working on a deal with a client of ours, and he finally signed the contract tonight.”

Willow forced herself to smile back at him. This was Lance, the guy with a stamp on every page of his passport, according to his sister-in-law, and Willow wasn’t going to change him. Neither did she have any illusions of ever doing so. They were friends with benefits, and that was all. She was a big girl, and she could handle it. A pint of Ben & Jerry’s right now might help, but since there wasn’t an ice cream shop on the beach, she would have to cope on her own. “That’s great news. You sound happy.”

Lance ran his thumb back and forth against the top of her hand, and she doubted he realized he did it. He grinned from ear to ear, and she could practically feel the excitement emanating from him. “I am. The client for whom Luke designed the environmentally friendly condo complexes here in south Florida has several parcels of land on the beaches of Costa Rica. Most have buildings on them that are no longer in use and are basically eye sores, so he wants to tear them down and build similar condo complexes to the ones we are constructing here.”

It was as Willow suspected. He hadn’t told her that he would be leading the project, but she knew that came next. She silently took a calming breath. “Are you going to be leading the projects in Costa Rica? Is that why you are practically jumping up and down?”

The corner of his mouth arced upward. “Yeah. Luke’s not interested in leaving Florida, and besides, we have at least five more eco-friendly complexes, either new or teardowns of existing places, that will take up his time in south Florida for several more years. And my brother Linc has several projects in Panama that he will need to wrap up before he can join me in Coast Rica, likely not for another eighteen months.”

Willow provided him with what she hoped was a convincing smile. “When do you leave?”

Lance stopped abruptly again, and Willow placed her hand on his upper arm to keep from tumbling against him. They stood facing each other, a part of Lance’s previous grin having slipped from his lips. “Not for another two months.” He grasped her free hand so that he now held both of them in his clasp. “Are you eager to get rid of me already?”

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