Page 89 of Pressure

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Marissa clutched at Lance’s knee as the plane touched down in Colorado. She enjoyed flying, but Landing had always put her a little on edge. Today, her nerves about Lance made it worse. Lance pried her fingers from his leg and pulled them to his lips. “We’re here, Riss. Relax.”

She did her best to obey him, as she sucked deep gulps of air into her lungs. “Lunch?” she asked as he pulled her from her seat.

He didn’t say anything as he led her down the jetway and into the waiting car. A sleek Audi had been dropped off at the airfield with the keys in the ignition.

He drove them into town where they stopped at a restaurant famous for lunch sandwiches and salads.

It wasn’t until they sat at their secluded table near the back of the restaurant that she realized Lance was just as nervous as she was.

She took a sip of fresh lemonade and cleared her throat.

“So. Therapy,” she murmured.

He gave a grim chuckle. “That was definitely not what I expected. How do you feel?”

She smiled. “I feel like we accomplished the key objective. That doesn’t mean I won’t need to go back, but it will be up to you whether or not we go together.

Inside Solitaire a few hours later, Lance kissed her harshly and headed to the conference room for a board meeting.

According to Lance, board meetings usually only happened once a month, but recent events had spurred more frequency. Not all board members were able to attend, but they did their best with who they had. Today, Marissa wished she were in the room despite the fact that she was a mere three yards away from him.

Her eyes constantly darted to the closed conference room door while she funneled through data for one of Lance’s many apps.

When he showed up at her apartment this morning, it almost felt too good to be true. She’d left the therapist’s office feeling defeated and had spent a day avoiding him. But he wouldn’t leave her thoughts. He was on her mind all day long and at night, he appeared in her dreams.

Was it wise to pursue a relationship with him?

Her gut told her no. But she couldn’t deny the palpable attraction to him. Would she ever be able to walk away from Lance?

She shook her head and stared at the closed conference room door willing it to open again. She needed to see him, talk to him about tomorrow night.

When the meeting finally ended and the small group poured out into the lobby, she watched for Lance. He trailed behind the others, on his phone.

“Thanks, Kimberly. I’ll get someone on it.”

His eyes landed on hers as he shoved the phone into his pocket.

“Everything OK?” she asked when he approached the desk and leaned on it.

He nodded. “All good. You hungry? A few of them are talking about grabbing dinner.”

She wasn’t hungry for food, not after looking at him. But she wasn’t quite ready to go back to bed with him either, so she gave a curt nod. “Just gotta pack up my tech. Can I store it in the conference room?” she asked as she tucked her slim laptop into the padded section of the bag.

He nodded. “Of course.”

A few minutes later, they were in the back of Patrick’s SUV with Austin riding up front.

Marissa couldn’t help but watch the way Patrick kept his hand stretched across the console, gently caressing Austin’s knee. Lance spent the drive typing on his phone.

Was he being distant on purpose? She’d asked for space and hadn’t exactly communicated why or for how long.

Dinner was enjoyable, and she talked with Austin while Lance and Patrick talked business.

On the way back to Solitaire, Lance finally slipped an arm around her.

“Tell me love, am I sharing my suite with you or should I have them drop me at the Glenview?”

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