Chapter 22

Lance

When I'd opened my eyes and looked over her beautiful body covered in my release, something happened. I don't know what it was, but I felt like I couldn't look away from her. My chest ached, and I felt the need to protect her. Mine, I thought. What the fuck was all of that? Then I saw her eyes. She seemed so, I don't know. There was something in them. When I felt the pull at my chest, I snapped myself out of it and took off to the bathroom. Cut the shit, Lance, I told myself, as I looked in the mirror. Then an image of Eric whispering in her ear popped into my head. I felt the rumble in my chest, quickly grabbed and wet a rag, took care of her, then flipped her ass over and released every bit of whatever it was that freaking image had me feeling.

By the time we closed our eyes, we were both exhausted. She was crying, but she wouldn't tell me why. When she said she was just tired, I wasn't sure what to think. It had been a very long day. We'd been through a flight, a long meeting, and a pretty strenuous evening and night. I'd never been with a woman the way I'd been with her that night. I'd lost count of how many time she came, but I knew she was going to still feel me when she stood to get out of bed. When I looked at the clock once I knew she was asleep, we only had two hours before the alarm would be going off. We were going to go home exhausted, and it was totally worth it.

I heard her moan and opened my eyes to see her sitting up in bed, with her legs hanging over the side, and her feet on the floor.

“You okay?” I asked.

She turned around and narrowed her eyes at me, and I couldn't help but smile.

“I see you're feeling pretty proud of yourself over there,” she replied sarcastically.

My girl was back, I thought. Wait! I didn't mean it like that. I just meant she was back to her normal, cocky self. Whatever was bothering her when she closed her eyes was gone. Maybe she was just tired, I thought.

I sat up and leaned forward just next to her ear.

“You have no idea,” I said. “You've got my cock rock hard just thinking about you feeling me right now.”

“Really?” she asked.

I grabbed her hand and pulled it over to cover my dick over the blanket.

“Really,” I said.

“How can you even think about that right now?” she asked, as she pulled her hand away. “Isn't that thing sore?”

“Not at all,” I said with a smile. “Want me to show you?”

“No,” she said with a chuckle. “You keep that thing over there.”

“If you don't stop calling my cock that thing, I'm going to bend you over and show you exactly how much it wants inside of you.”

She moved to stand, and I heard her groan.

“I guess you're used to this sort of thing,” she said, and I was instantly off the bed and in front of her.

“No, I'm not,” I said sternly, as I scooped her up into my arms and headed for the bathroom.

When I got into the room, I set her ass on the counter, walked over to the tub, and turned it on.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “We don't have time.”

“We do,” I said, as I adjusted the water and walked back over to her while it filled. “You can relax for a bit before getting dressed. I'll order us something to eat, unless you want me in there with you.”

“Lance,” she said, as I lifted her again and set her gently in the tub. “We need to talk.”

I felt her words hit me like a punch in the stomach. There was no way I was letting her say anything more. It wasn't happening.

“Soak,” I said, as I walked toward the door and out of the room.

Then I heard it.

“We can't do this anymore,” she whispered more to herself than in hopes that I'd hear it.

I ordered food but couldn't get her words out of my head. Was she right? Did we need to stop? Part of me knew things were going too far. The way I felt when Eric whispered in her ear wasn't right. I wasn't supposed to get jealous, not like that anyway. It wasn't my job to protect her. It was bad enough that I hadn't been with anyone since I was first with her. We'd been together way too many times. Then there was that possessive shit with me repeatedly telling her that she was mine. Don't think I missed that I'd said baby at least ten times as well. It was all done in the heat of the moment, but I needed to put that shit in check. Maybe she was right.

She walked out of the bathroom wrapped up like a damn mummy, making it pretty obvious that she didn't want me seeing her naked. I'd seen every part of her multiple times in that night alone. Why was she hiding from me? What the hell happened with her? What had I done wrong?

We ate in silence. Then we quickly dressed, got our bags ready, and headed down to the lobby to check out. When she handed the man her key card, I couldn't help but smile. She'd never even stepped foot in her room. When we got in the car, I noticed that she sat as close to the door and far away from me as she could get. When we got out, I leaned in close to her ear.

“You can get as far away as you want, but I know you can still feel me there between those sweet legs. Sexiest thing ever,” I said before pulling away, grabbing our bags, and walking into the airport.

She was right behind me, but she didn't say a word. When I got to the security person and they said my name, I turned to her and winked.

“That shit isn't so funny anymore, is it?” I asked her.

“Ass,” was all she replied.

The flight home didn't seem nearly as long as the flight there did. I Couldn't wait to pick Jackson up. While I wouldn't have traded one moment from the night before with her, I missed him and planned to get him anything his heart desired for dinner. We'd only been away one day, but it felt longer. I knew my mom had spoiled his ass rotten while he was there, and a tiny part of me felt jealous of the time she'd had with him. He was getting the biggest bowl of ice cream with all the toppings too. I'd wait for Lauren to go to bed if I had to, but it was happening.

“What are you smiling about?” Lauren asked, as we walked through the airport and out the door to look for James.

“Jackson,” I said. “I missed him.”

When I turned and looked at her, she had a sad look on her face.

“Over here,” I heard James' loud ass yell as he pulled up in front of us. I looked up to see him waving us over.

“Is that James Reid?” a man that had walked up next to me asked.

“No,” I said. “Do you think a washed up Pirate would be picking people up at the airport?”

“Washed up,” the man said louder than he needed to. “I don't think so. The man was awesome. I still can't figure out why he didn't ride that shit out.”

As soon as we got in the car, I looked over at James.

“Washed up,” he growled. “Fuck you. See if I ever pick your ass up again.”

I burst into laughter.

“Where's the wife?” I asked. “Can't you fit her in the car anymore?”

“You're such an ass,” James snapped. “I'm telling her you said that. I hope she kicks your ass. You know what else? I hope Jillian calls you Lancie forever.”

“She'd have to get that leg high enough,” I said. “That Lancie shit is not funny.”

I heard Lauren snicker from the back seat.

“It kind of is,” she said.

“Pipe down,” I said, as I turned to see a smile on her face.

It was nice to see the look she'd had when I said I'd missed Jackson gone. I'd take Sammie's shit if it brought a smile to Lauren's face.

When we pulled up the driveway, I hopped out of the car and took off toward the sound of Jackson's voice. I rounded the corner to the backyard and stopped. My dad was standing on one side, and Jackson was on the other. Lauren stopped next to me, and I motioned for her to be quiet. My dad's back was to us. I watched Jackson on the other side, watching and listening intently to every word my dad was saying. When Jackson nodded, my dad threw the ball. Jackson jumped up and the ball landed right in his mitt. A huge smile covered his face, and my dad ran over, scooped him into his arms, and twirled him around.

“I'm so proud of you,” my dad yelled out in excitement. “Did you see that, Firecracker? He jumped up and snatched that ball right out of the air.”

“I saw,” my mom said with excitement from the side of the yard where I hadn't seen her standing. “Great job, Jackson.”

That was the moment Jackson saw us standing there. He wiggled out of my dad's arms and ran toward us.

“Did you see that?” he yelled, as he got closer. “I caught grandpa's ball. We've been working all morning. I jumped into the air. Did you see it mom?”

I turned to see tears in Lauren's eyes. Her hand was over her mouth, and she was fighting everything in her not to lose it.

“It's okay,” I said with a laugh. “He's not going to run off and be a Pirate after one catch.”

“Our boy has a great arm too,” my dad said with a smile on his face.

“You're playing baseball with him,” I said.

“Of course I am,” he replied. “I can't count on you two nerds to do it.”

“We've actually been playing catch with him,” I said defensively.

“You've walked away from your laptop long enough to pick up a ball,” my dad said mocking shock.

I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned down to scoop Jackson into my arms.

“I missed you, Buddy,” I said.

“I missed you too, Lancie,” he said.

My eyes went wide, and I looked up at my parents. Then I looked over at James.

“Your sister and wonderful niece might have been here too,” he said.

“You tell her,” I said. “You tell your woman that it stops now. I will not have my boy calling me that.”

“I'm just going to go home now and check on my wife and your favorite niece,” he said, as he stepped away, turned around, and got out of there.

“How was it?” my mom asked. “What did they say?”

I looked over at Lauren who hadn't said a word or moved at all. Then I turned back to my mom.

“It went well,” I said. “They seemed impressed with Lauren's work.”

“Our work,” she said without feeling.

“You okay?” my mom asked her.

“I'm fine,” she answered. “I'm not feeling well. Would you mind if we went back to the apartment?”

“Are you sure?” my mom asked. “Do you need anything?”

“No,” she answered. “I just need some rest.”

“Do you want to leave Jackson here?” my mom asked.

“No,” Lauren replied quickly. “I need him with me.”

“I bet you missed him,” my mom said. “I'll run and grab his stuff. I hope you feel better.”

“What's wrong?” my dad asked Lauren. “I can get you something. You need some water. Maybe you need to sit down.”

“I'm fine,” she said. “I think I'm just tired. Would it be okay if I wait in your car, Lance?”

She didn't take the opportunity to mess with my name, so I knew something was up.

“Go ahead,” I said. “I'll get Jackson.”

She turned and walked away. Something was going on. It was more than her not feeling well. She had the same look she'd had several times since we'd left my parents the day before. I knew she was tired, I was feeling it too. I wasn't going to push her, but we would be talking after she'd have a chance to rest.

When we got back to my apartment, she looked sick. Maybe she wasn't feeling well, I thought. I'd asked her several times if she was okay on the drive, and she kept saying she was just tired. I grabbed our bags and Jackson's and walked in behind her.

“Why don't you go get some rest,” I said. “I'll play with Jackson.”

“It's okay,” she said. “You're tired too.”

“I'm fine,” I said. “Go.”

Without any argument, she walked down the hall and into my room, and she closed the door. When I walked up a few minutes later to check on her, I heard her crying and stopped before I'd even turned the knob on the door. What was she crying about, I wondered? Had I done or said something wrong? Was it something that happened at my parents' house? She was acting a bit strange before we'd gotten there, but that was where we were when she froze and said she wanted to leave.

“I missed you, Lance,” Jackson said, as he ran down the hall, grabbed my hand, and pulled me back toward the living room. “Do you want to play?”

“Of course I do,” I said, as I followed him down the hall. “I missed you too.”

I played with Jackson for a bit. Then I walked back to my room and slowly opened the door. Lauren was asleep on my bed with my pillow tucked into her chest and her arms wrapped around it. It was the sweetest sight. I heard my phone ring in the other room and quietly but quickly closed the door and took off to answer it so it wouldn't wake her up.

When I saw who was calling, I couldn't help but wonder what they were calling me for. I hadn't heard Lauren's phone ring, so I knew I was the first one hearing from them. The pleasantries went quickly, and it was right down to business.

“We'd like to offer you a job,” the man said.

I reached over and grabbed Lauren's phone just to be sure they hadn't called her first. Had I heard him correctly, I wondered? She was the one that had called them to let them know she was through.

“Me?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “We were very impressed with your work. I know it took a few months, but what you came up with was pretty amazing. We want you on our team. You'd be working with the same people that were in the room with us at our meetings. We hire the best, Lance.”

“Look, Lance,” Jackson yelled from the living room. “Isn't this funny?”

I walked around the corner to see Jackson on the couch, in my spot, with the recliner out, and his feet kicked up, watching a cartoon. He turned around and looked at me, and I saw the silliest grin on his face. The little guy was so damn proud to be sitting in my spot, and I couldn't help but smile.

“Come watch it with me,” he said.

“We'd need you to move here obviously,” the guy on the other end of the phone said.

“When would you need me to start?” I asked, still so shocked that they'd called me and not Lauren.

I walked over and sat down on the couch, and Jackson crawled over onto my lap. When he wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed my cheek, my heart melted.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“As soon as possible,” the man answered. “When can you be here? We'd give you a moving allowance and could set you up in a furnished apartment here until you can find something.”

I could hear him talking in the background, but my mind was jumping from one thought to the next. Jackson was snuggled in on my lap. He loved me, and I loved him. Then I looked over my shoulder and down the hall where Lauren was. My parents loved her, my sister loved her, and I loved her. Wait! Shit! What? If I moved away, where would she go? What would she do? What would I do without the two of them? I couldn't believe my own ears when I spoke again.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “I can't take the job.”

“What?” the man asked.

“I can't leave,” I said.

“This is your dream job, Lance. You told me yourself. I know how hard you worked to get to where you are. There are so many people that would give up everything for the opportunity I'm offering you.”

“I know,” I said. “It was exactly what I wanted.”

“What changed?” he asked.

I couldn't help but laugh at his words.

“Everything,” I said.

“If you want, I can give you some time to think about it,” he said.

“That's not necessary,” I said. “I know where I need to be. Thank you so much for the opportunity to work with all of you. If you ever have anything you need that I can do from here, I'd love to work with you again.”

“You're sure?” he asked.

“I'm positive,” I said.

I hung up my phone and wrapped my arms around Jackson.

“I love you too,” I said.

I knew what I wanted and nothing was going to change my mind. The second the bedroom door opened and Lauren came out, I was on my feet.

“I have to go,” I said. “I'll be back in a bit.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked with a confused look on her face.

“Everything is perfect.”

I grabbed my keys from the counter and took off out the door. If you would have told me less than a year before that I was going to turn down a job with the government, I would have told you that you were crazy. Things really had changed, more than I ever could've imagined.