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“That makes no difference.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I tried another tactic. “I’m too old for you.”
He scoffed and turned on his heel before facing me again. “That response is bull and you know it. I have never cared about your age.”
“But I do.” I fake shuttered. “It’s wrong.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s three,” he said, popping three fingers up in the air.
“What?”
“Three lies. Are you going to go for four?”
I wrinkled my nose and then wished with everything in me that he didn’t know me so well. I let my arms fall to my side and sat down on the bed finally, suddenly drained from our exchange. “What do you want from me, Lance?”
As I waited, I brushed my hands through my hair and prayed he didn’t say what I thought he was going to say. I prayed for clarity, for peace with my decision. That this wouldn’t be so hard. So many requests, it was almost impossible to keep them all straight.
Too bad being older than him didn’t give me half the answers he seemed to have, so sure of himself, so confident in us.
He came and bent down in front of me. “Hey,” he whispered, his hands in my hair, brushing it behind my ears. “I was wrong to barge in like that and kiss you the way I did. But I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“Quirky and weird?”
He shook his head and laughed, holding my face in his hands now. “Sure, those things, too, but I was thinking more along the lines of funny and sexy, witty and bright. You’re not overly positive, but try to never be negative. You’re a workaholic, but still seem to find time to be a people-pleaser and do everything for everyone else. You need to let someone take care of you for a change. Let me be that someone for you. Let me in, beautiful.”
Tears sprung in my eyes because I had never seen much of what he saw in me in myself. Frankly, I wished I could see myself through his eyes. Because from where I was sitting, he saw me as like Wonder Woman or something. And I was no Wonder Woman, but it was nice that he thought all of those things about me. “You know, I never could resist you when you called me beautiful.”
He laughed and brushed the pad of his thumb over my cheek. “I know.”
Then he got up and looked at the clock on the nightstand. “My lunch break is over, so I got to go, but I’m leaving my address here.” He picked up the pen on top of the notebook the suite had in it when we got here. He began jotting it down and left it on the nightstand when he was done. “The ball is in your court. Whatever you decide to do with that address is up to you. Mason is spending the night with one of his uncles, so I’ll be alone.”
“Lance,” I started, but he placed a finger over my lips.
“Don’t decide right now. Just say you’ll think about it.”
I sighed when his finger left my lips. “I’ll think about it,” I promised. It was true, so why pretend otherwise? How could I not think about it? About him? About us?
As he walked out, he said, “That’s all I’m asking.”
Chapter Fifteen
Gemma
I straightened my bright pink sundress that had a yellow and orange floral pattern on it even though it really didn’t need straightening. It wasn’t like it got that wrinkled on the way over here. I patted my hair and made sure the yellow flower was still in place, holding my hair back behind my ear. It was a last-minute touch that I hoped Lance saw as my way of opening up.
The morning after we first slept together three years ago, Lance brought me a flower and placed it behind my ear, said it was as beautiful as me and he wanted me to have it. It felt only right I put one behind my ear again, as a nod to the past.
But while I felt confident before, I was suddenly very nervous. Was I making the right decision on taking him up on this little visit? I looked down at my hand, holding a quick to-go bag I made for myself, and felt uneasy.
Here I was packed and prepared like I was ready to stay over when I really had no idea if this was a mistake. What if we decided this was wrong? Would I look foolish? I took a step back, thinking, debating.
No, I shook my head. Lance knew this was me, he wouldn’t care. Or so I hoped.
Before I could decide one way or the other, the door opened and I heard Lance’s deep voice say, “I’ve been expecting you.”
That was all it took for the butterflies in my stomach to go wild. Just as they always did when I was around him or heard the sound of his voice. It wasn’t a nervous set of butterflies, either, more like happy butterflies that fluttered around like they were overly ecstatic. I liked the way he made me feel, always had.
“Were you ever going to knock or were you thinking about bolting?” he asked, amusement coloring his expression. He was always so calm and easygoing, especially compared to me. It was refreshing.
I smiled and took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies. “Of course not,” I answered, “bolting, I mean.” Truth be told, I wasn’t sure that was true, but committed to it just the same.
