Page 27 of Daring Lance

“If you could keep doing that for the next ten or twelve hours, I bet I would feel better by morning.”

He placed a wisp of a kiss on the side of her cheek, and Willow inwardly sighed. Lance might look like the last person who could ever be gentle and caring, with his finely honed, muscled frame and flirtatious grin that promised naughty things to come, but he was, in fact, one of the sweetest, most sensitive men Willow had ever met.

“If I continue to touch you any longer, you will be having hangover sex with me. I can’t help myself when you’re wearing a tiny little tank and shorts. They drive me wild.”

Willow pulled her eyebrows together. Just when she gave him mental credit for being so unlike the image he portrayed, he proved her wrong. “Ew, how could you even think about sex? My hair is in a crazed ponytail and likely matted to my head, and my mouth probably tastes like a sewer.”

He chuckled and placed a swift pat to her backside. “Nothing a hot shower won’t cure. I’m game if you are?”

She moaned and waved him away. “Please make the grilled cheese sandwiches. And if you see any discarded tequila bottles, please take them to the garbage room on another floor. The sight of them will definitely make me hurl.”

* * *

An hour later,Willow had taken a hot shower, alone, and eaten a third of the sandwich Lance had prepared for her. She had finally begun to feel half-way human. Although he protested, she had ultimately convinced Lance that she would be fine and agreed to call him later. Now that she was alone in her condo, she had time to reflect on her conversation earlier that morning with the Regency Palms Social Club, her new name for Bernadette and the gang. To think of them as old was wrong because they could outlast her in most things, particularly when it came to day drinking. As she took another sip of the tea she had made earlier, a chamomile that did wonders for her upset stomach, her cell phone rang.

“Hello? Hey, Madison, what’s up? Lance? No, he’s not here. He stopped by earlier on his way to the pool.” The shot of panic sailed through her again when she thought of the trade show model hitting on Lance at the pool. Undeniably, she was jealous, but for what purpose? She had made it clear that she wanted nothing more than a friends-with-benefits relationship with him and that she had no intention of accompanying Lance when he left for Costa Rica in a few weeks. So what was her problem? Why the crazed reaction to another woman showing interest in Lance? Yes, Willow cared for him, maybe even loved him if she were willing to be honest with herself, which she was not. That he told her that he loved her at least once a day didn’t help her to maintain her indifference to him, even knowing that the love he felt for her was likely only lust and that he had simply confused the two. Lance wasn’t willing to settle down-it wasn’t even on his radar, so the likelihood that his feelings for her would last was pretty small.

“Um, I don’t think so. In fact, we sort of agreed to drop the benefits part from our relationship and keep it strictly as friends once he leaves for Costa Rica.” They hadn’t agreed to anything of the sort, not even discussed it in over a week since Lance had first announced that he loved her and she hadn’t responded, but now that the lie had crossed her lips, it made sense. She had already spent too much time worrying about his impending departure. How would she react when he finally did leave? If her recent jealousy over the woman at the pool was any indication, her reaction wouldn’t be good. No, she needed to end it with him and for good once he boarded the plane headed south.

“No, nothing in particular happened other than he’s going to Costa Rica and I’m not.” She paused and Madison took the chance to list off all of Lance’s virtues, of which there were many, and most of which Willow already knew. Willow was tempted to add a few more to Madison’s list, but that would only motivate her friend to try even harder to convince her to give Lance a chance.

When Madison finally stopped to take a breath, Willow jumped in to end that topic of conversation, hopefully for good. “You remember in college how I adamantly refused to date anyone who even had the briefest of desires to explore the world.”

Madison reminded her of Steven, a guy Willow had met their sophomore year who had followed Willow around for an entire semester, even after she refused to go on a date with him.

Willow chuckled, recalling the memory from over ten years ago. “He was an international business student. His dream was to live and work all over the world. No thanks. It’s the same with Lance. It simply makes sense to end our relationship when he leaves and on good terms.” At least she hoped his reaction would leave them on friendly terms when she told him that it was over once he left for Costa Rica. She absently twisted the tea bag string between her fingertips.

Willow listened with half an ear as her best friend continued to defend Lance. While Willow was happy that Madison thought so highly of her new brother-in-law, it didn’t help Willow’s heart to stay on track. “He is a good guy, but he’s simply not the guy for me. I’m good with the decision. I am.” Or she would be, perhaps not right away, but once he was gone and she had time to realize what a good decision she had made.

She tossed her used tea bag in the garbage and placed her cup in the dishwasher. Madison continued to share Lance’s amazing attributes, and Willow decided to cut the conversation short before she was convinced to pack her bag for Costa Rica. “Lunch would be great, Madison. I’ll text you on Friday morning to confirm. ‘Bye, Mads.” Willow disconnected the call and made her way to the couch. She opened her laptop and decided to catch up on some work. She had a Japanese movie that she needed to translate into Spanish, having been warned by her employer that the ending was heartbreaking and to have plenty of tissues on hand. Perfect.

TEN

“Willow! Thank you for rushing over. I know you have a deadline to meet for work, but I’m desperate here.” Lance pulled her into the apartment, allowing the door to shut behind them on its own.

Willow slipped off her flip flops by the front door and spun around to find Lance staring at her with actual fear reflected in his eyes. “Lance? What is it? What’s wrong? All you said was to please get down here, pronto. Are one of the dogs sick? Oh, no! Is it Daphne? Lance, what happened?”

Lance’s eyes remained fixed on her while he bent his head in the direction of the center of the living room, only a few feet away from them.

Willow followed his gaze, and her eyes immediately widened with shock. “Lance! Whoa, this is not what I expected.”

Lance’s head bobbed up and down several times, the look in his eyes pleading. “I know, right? You have to help me.”

She took a tentative step into the living room. “I don’t understand. Why? How? Wow.”

Lance exhaled a breath that sounded as if it wasn’t his first sigh in the last few minutes, and if Willow had to guess, it probably wasn’t. “Andrew’s wife went into unexpected labor. Her water broke, whatever that means? Apparently, she wasn’t due for another few weeks.”

Willow took another two steps into the room and then knelt on the carpet. “And he called you? Don’t they have any other family or friends? Wasn’t the Amazon guy available or perhaps the mailman? I think either would have been a better choice.”

Lance sat down next to her. He ran a hand through the hair on the side of his head, a habit Willow recognized he repeated whenever he was nervous. “His wife’s family is at a wedding in Atlanta, and his mother hadn’t planned to visit until next month.”

Willow shook her head in bewilderment. “And no friends or neighbors available, either?”

Lance wiped his hands down the front of his jeans. He was extremely stressed out, and all she could do was taunt him. She should be ashamed of herself, but instead, she inwardly smirked.

“Friends all at some girls’ weekend in Miami. I told you: she wasn’t supposed to have the baby for a few weeks. Willow, you have to help me.”

Willow shook her head, waving her hands at him. “I’m out, Lance. As you know, I was an only child, and we moved around so much that I never got to know the neighbors, so babysitting was not something I ever did as a teenager. Looks like you’re on your own.” Lance’s expression was so pained that Willow had to clench her teeth together to keep from laughing.

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