by Ray, Francis
No help there, but Lance wasn’t giving up. “People make mistakes. Things will even out once they land. You might be starry-eyed in love, but Luke’s probably not coming and I’m sure Blade isn’t.”
“I saw Luke go into the terminal with Blade and Rio while we were talking, and before you ask, Daddy rode out here with me. Don’t worry; he left to catch up with Luke and the others. Neither he nor Mama knows about Ashley. You gonna let her ruin your life or be the badass everyone thinks you are and go after what you want and are so afraid to have?”
“You’re pushing it, Rich.”
“’Cause I love you. So get out here or I’ll be forced to introduce Fallon to a man who’ll appreciate her.”
“No!” Lance snapped. There was a click and he saw “end” on the screen. His fingers tightened, his anger escalated. Richard had hung up on him. If Richard thought he could manipulate Lance into going to the airport, he was wrong.
Placing the phone aside instead of flinging it against the wall, Lance went back to the catalog, but this time he couldn’t focus. Instead he saw Fallon with one of Richard’s vet friends. The man was all teeth, leering at Fallon, his hands the size of dinner plates, ready to …
A possessive anger rushed though Lance. Standing, he reached for his phone and headed for his car. First he would see Fallon and make sure no other man touched her; then he would strangle Richard.
* * *
“Sierra, you lived up to your promise and more.” Naomi hugged the other woman. “You made the day one I’ll never forget.”
“And you found the perfect dress.” Sierra leaned closer and whispered, “One Richard can’t wait to get you out of.”
Naomi blushed, then turned to the other women. “Thank you all for being my friends, for sharing this day with me.”
Fallon snapped the shot, sniffed. “You’re going to be a beautiful bride, and thanks for not putting me in a yucky bridesmaid dress.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before a cell phone rang, quickly followed by two more, then a fourth. “Looks like your men are anxious to see you,” she said with a real smile. She’d gotten over her initial spurt of melancholy of missing Lance and wishing they had more time.
“They probably want us to know they’re here.” Catherine, the matron of honor, picked up the wedding gown in the heavy plastic cover. “Naomi, Richard is waiting for you outside so he doesn’t see the dress. You, Kayla, and Gladys go on.”
“I’ll help with the wedding dress.” Fallon picked up the full skirt.
Naomi nibbled on her lower lip. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten one so elaborate.”
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Youngblood said. “You loved it the moment you saw it, and you looked beautiful in the ball gown. If you hadn’t gotten it, you would have regretted it. Now let’s go see that son and husband of mine.”
Naomi took Mrs. Youngblood’s hands. “Thank you for sharing your son with me and Kayla. We love him, too.”
“And I get to call him Daddy once the minister says they’re man and wife,” Kayla interjected. “And we’ll live in the same house and I can help him take care of the horses every day.”
“Mrs. Navarone, Mr. Navarone asks if there is a problem,” the hostess said, her lips twitching.
“Please lower the door,” Sierra instructed, then turned to the two bodyguards who had stayed out of the main cabin until they landed. “Aaron, please take the gown from Catherine and Fallon and put it in the limousine. Paul, take Catherine’s and Fallon’s dresses, then come back for the other bags with Naomi’s name and Fallon’s name and instruct the driver to wait for Fallon. After he takes her home, he is to deliver everything else to Catherine’s house.”
Naomi’s phone rang again. Catherine and Fallon urged her toward the door. “Go.”
Hugging the woman, Naomi took Kayla’s hand and went down the steps, her future mother-in-law following close behind. The two bodyguards followed with their second load.
Fallon picked up two bags. “I can help carry things out. Blade and the others are probably anxious to see you.”
“No more than we are.” Catherine picked up two bags.
“That’s always nice to hear,” Luke said.
“It certainly is,” Blade agreed.
With squeals that would have done a high school girl proud at meeting her teen idol, Sierra and Catherine ran to embrace Blade and Luke. The kiss that followed was hot enough to singe asphalt. Fallon glanced at Mrs. Grayson to gauge her reaction and saw her smiling. Apparently she wasn’t bothered any more than Rio, who wore his usual closed expression.
“Would all those be yours?” Blade asked, nodding toward the shopping bags and clothes in garment bags.
Sierra chuckled. “Mama and Catherine have a few things.”
“Em-m-m.” Blade reached for Fallon’s bags. “You might need your hands free going down the stairs. After you.”
Having a billionaire take her bags, especially one as gorgeous as Blade Navarone, momentarily caught Fallon off guard. Then she realized he probably wanted to rush her along so he and Sierra could go home to continue where they’d left off.
For the first time in a long time Fallon wished there was someone special in her own life. Images of Lance flashed in her mind. She firmly pushed them away. That wasn’t likely to happen.
“Of course.” She started out of the plane.
She wouldn’t think about Lance. She’d seen the last of him. Head down, she grabbed the rail and went down the steps and walked into a solid wall of muscle. She opened her mouth to apologize and glanced up into Lance’s intense black eyes. He held a red rose in front of him.
“I didn’t know your cell phone number.”
So she hadn’t been as poker-faced as she’d thought about the men’s frequent phone calls. She guessed it was probably Catherine who noticed. She’d probably called Luke, who had called Richard, who in turn had called Lance. It struck Fallon again how close they all were and how they looked after family and friends.
In her traveling so much, she’d missed making those deep, lasting friendships—until she had moved next door to Naomi. “Would you have called?”
“I’m not sure.” He shifted. “I just know I had to see you again.”
“Why?”
“To do this.” He pulled her into his arms, his mouth finding hers.
She didn’t do public displays of affection and was annoyed when seeing others kissing outside of airports. But protest or resistance never entered her mind. She simply melted.
Her arms went around his neck, drawing him closer, taking, giving. The last thing she recalled before her brain fuzzed was that Blade had been right: she did need both hands free.
Chapter 5
Lance gradually became aware of the noise surrounding him and lifted his head. The dazed look on Fallon’s face, the desire in her eyes, almost had him pulling her back in his arms. “You make me forget.”
Her eyes widened. He realized he’d spoken the words out loud. His mind sought a way to mitigate the damage he’d just done. Never let a woman know she had power over you. He knew that as well as his name.
“You seem to have the same effect on me.” Her fingertips stroked his chest through his shirt. “I don’t kiss in public.”
His hands flexed on her arms. “I keep reminding myself you’re leaving on Sunday.”
“So do I.”
He stared down at her. She up at him. Both knew their time was limited, but neither was walking away. He bent to pick up the rose he’d dropped and handed it to her.
“Thank you.”
“Richard’s idea,” Lance felt compelled to say. “I always thought flowers were overdone.”
“Since I love flowers, I’d have to disagree.” She motioned toward the limo and the uniformed man standing by the driver’s door. “He’s waiting for me.”
“Do you want to go someplace tonight?” Lance asked
“Are you asking me on a date?”
He frowned down at
her. “I suppose I am.”
“No.” She started for the limo.
He was so stunned by her answer that she’d gotten several steps away before he caught up with her and took her arm. “No?”
“No,” she repeated.
He wasn’t going to ask again or even ask why. He was going to take himself back to the Yates house, because if he saw Richard now he might really strangle him.
“The driver is waiting.”
“Why?” Lance bit out, annoyed at both of them. Not even his aunt was this stubborn.
Fallon’s chin lifted. “Because of the way you asked, as if you’re being forced to take me out. Is Richard behind that as well? Well, let me tell you, I’m not that hard up.” She took off for the limo again.
He was quicker this time and caught her in a couple of steps. “Richard didn’t tell me to take you out. But he was going to introduce you to some guy.”
“So you’re one of those men?”
“What?” Fallon could really give him a headache or a complex, perhaps both.
“You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me, either,” she snapped out.
He wanted her, but it was a close enough accusation to make him glance away.
This time he didn’t catch her before she reached the car and got in. He considered reaching for the door, but then what? On the tarmac was no place to have a discussion. He watched the limo pull away, then turned and saw Blade, Sierra, Luke, Catherine, and Rio at the base of the stairs watching. Lance wasn’t sure how much they’d heard, but from the displeased expression on the women’s faces they weren’t too thrilled with him.
Blade probably regretted getting him through Security. At least Luke looked sympathetic. Rio’s face was unreadable. Lance continued inside the airport. He’d forgotten Ruth Grayson had been with the women until he saw her in the terminal. She headed straight for him.
“The things we often value the most are the things that take the greatest effort to obtain,” she said.”You know that better than anyone.”
He’d always been a private person. Now his friends seemed to know he couldn’t keep a woman happy. Again.
Mrs. Grayson patted his arm in reassurance. “She kept the rose. I’d say, ‘Good luck,’ but some men make their own.”
Lance stared after her as she walked away. He could have told her he wasn’t giving up, but maybe she knew it already. He and Fallon weren’t finished talking, and this time she was going to listen.
* * *
Fallon had calmed down considerably by the time the limo driver pulled up in front of her apartment. She knew Lance was leery about relationships. He’d made it no secret he wouldn’t mind taking her to bed, but it ended there. It was her fault for thinking he might regret as much as she did that she was leaving in a couple of days.
Gathering the handled shopping bags, she stepped out when the driver opened the door. “Thank you. Please bring the dress.”
“Certainly.”
Moving ahead of the driver, Fallon went to her door. Setting the bags down, she inserted her key to open the door, then entered. “Please put the dress on the sofa.” Placing her shopping bags on the other end of the sofa, she reached into her bag for a tip and heard the door close.
Her head came up. Instead of the driver, Lance stood there.
“I tipped the driver. Where do you want me to put this?”
“Anywhere, and then you can leave.” Removing the straps of the camera and cross-body bag, she placed them on the sofa cushion. She knew he hadn’t gone; she could sense him. And, heaven help her, she wanted him.
“Can we start over?”
Folding her arms, she turned and tried to look uninterested. No one had to tell her that Lance didn’t run after women. He was too self-contained for that. “I can’t think of one reason why.”
Placing the dress carefully on the green floral sofa she detested, he came around the coffee table to stand in front of her. “I can.”
“Lust isn’t a basis for anything except misery and heartache.”
Something flashed in his eyes; then it was gone. “I want to show you that I’m not the jerk you think I am.”
“And why would you think I’d care to find out?”
“You still have the rose I gave you,” he said. “You took it from the airport, and it wasn’t in the limo. I checked when I passed.”
She could have kicked herself. Even angry with him, she couldn’t throw away the one and only thing he’d ever given her. “I said I liked flowers.”
He shook his dark head. “You’re too independent to want anything from a man you don’t like.”
He had a point. She stepped around him and opened the door. “Please leave.”
“Shouldn’t you put the rose in some water?”
“Maybe I’d get more enjoyment over watching it wither and die, sort of like whatever was going on between us.”
He blinked. “Why don’t you want to go out with me?”
Annoyed at him, she slammed the door shut. He had no right to look so … wounded.
“Is there someone else?”
Her head jerked up. “If there was, you wouldn’t be standing here getting on my last nerve.”
“Does that mean you aren’t angry with me anymore?”
That she could answer. “Not by a long shot. You acted as if it were some sort of privilege to be asked out by you, and at the same time as if the request was dragged out of you. You can’t make up your mind about me, and I don’t have the time or patience to wait around until you do.”
He looked shell-shocked. “Fal—”
She held up her hand. “Leave. I’m hoping you’re enough of a gentleman to leave without me calling the police. You’re not wanted here.”
He stiffened. For a long moment he stared at her. “I apologize if my presence offends you.”
The loneliness in his voice shouldn’t pull at her. She’d caught enough of the conversation last night to know he and his mother didn’t get along and that he hadn’t seen his aunt and uncle in years despite obviously loving them. What had made him stay away from his family, to be so self-contained?
“You won’t have to see me again.”
All she had to do was keep quiet, but the results would hurt people she’d come to care about—including the infuriating but compelling man standing in front of her, his broad shoulders slumped, his eyes bleak.
“That’s going to be tricky, since we’re both in the wedding.”
“I’ll explain to Richard that I have business obligations. Good-bye.” He started for the door.
“You can’t hurt Richard and his family like that just because we can’t get along,” she protested. “Let’s just pretend that this afternoon never happened, and each wish the other well.”
“You were right about me earlier.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not sure what to do about you or how you make me feel.”
“Who was she?”
His eyes widened in shock. He actually took a step backward.
“Studying people and trying to figure them out is a hobby. I’d say a successful man like you wouldn’t be this conflicted if something major hadn’t happened in the past to make you leery.” She went to the first handled bag and pulled out the rose. He’d come a long way; perhaps he could go further. “I better get this in some water. While I’m doing that, you can figure out a nice way to ask me out or you can leave. Either way, you’re staying in the wedding as a groomsman.”
“I’m not going to talk about it.”
Relieved, though her curiosity was not satisfied, Fallon pulled a pitcher from the cabinet and filled it with water. Despite everything, she was beginning to care about the stubborn, lonely man. He needed her, she thought, then rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to be one of those women who talked themselves into being some man’s savior only to lose a part of themselves in the process.
“Your choice, but don’t confuse me with her. Since I had trouble dealing with the past
, as we both are aware, I’ll cut you some slack.” The silence was so oppressive that she half-expected him to be gone when she turned.
He stood by the front door as if he wasn’t sure about staying. Placing the container on the coffee table in the living room, she picked up her rich chocolate-colored gown. “I need to hang this up.”
“Fallon.”
“Yes?” She paused, her expression cordial as she faced him.
He looked wary, as if he wasn’t sure of himself. “I’d like to take you out tonight,” he said, then added, “It would be a date.”
“Any idea where we’re going?”
“No, but if you say yes I’ll figure it out by the time I pick you up,” he told her, his body visibly relaxing.
She smiled to put him at ease. “Since I have to know how to dress, it would be a good idea to tell me before then.”
* * *
Lance hadn’t dated in years. Since he’d walked out on Ashley three years ago it wasn’t difficult finding women who only wanted the same thing he did, sexual release without obligation. Once the encounter was over at her place, never his, they never saw each other again. Now, staring across the candlelit table for two, he readily admitted he’d like to see Fallon again.
She was breathtaking in a little black dress that made his blood heat and his heart pound. The five-inch heels caused her slim hips to sway enticingly and her sexy legs to appear incredible long. He could easily imagine them wrapped around his hips as he drove into her satin heat.
“Want some?”
“What?” He jerked upright.
Grinning, Fallon held out a spoonful of key lime pie. “You were staring.”
Dessert wasn’t what he wanted. “No, thank you. When you’re finished, we can try out that nightclub I told you about.”
Swallowing her last bite, she pushed the plate aside. “El Paradise. I heard about the place, but I spotlight places families can go to together.”
He signaled the waiter for the check and paid the bill. “What about after the children have gone to bed?”
“Depends on if they’re old enough to stay by themselves,” she told him. “Some of the more exclusive hotels might have sitter arrangements in advance, but not the smaller ones. Besides, most parents want to know who is keeping their children.”
