CHAPTER 10
Leila
Lance spent the night with me and left late in the morning to go to work, leaving me to dress and go to the office. I was going to send out some emails to potential customers and check on the offer that I wrote up last night. I was distracted as I sat at my desk and stared at the laptop blankly, still thinking about last night. Lance was perfect, and it scared me that I liked him so much.
This was moving so fast, but I didn’t know how to stop it. I got a confirmation that his offer was accepted and called Lance to tell him the good news. He didn’t answer so I left him a message and set my phone down on the desk. This was huge for everyone involved and I knew that it would give me a big check to put towards my future, making up for the loss of Nan. He seemed like he was ready to handle this huge purchase and I again wondered how he could afford this.
“Hi, Leila. I heard that you had an offer go through.” I glanced up to see my friend Lisa and nodded with a smile.
“Good news travels fast, I see.” She sat down across from me and asked about the house and the buyer and I told her what information I had. She frowned when I said Lance’s name and told her that he was a freelancer, getting the same surprise that I felt. “He also said that he has a trust fund and a lender approved him for more than what the house sold for. He’s legit but it’s just weird, or maybe is isn’t. This is LA.”
“It’s a great payday for you and will bump you up. That’s for sure,” Lisa told me as I nodded. We talked a little further about the industry and laughed together as I took the advice that she gave me. She’d been at it for ten years where I had just gotten my license before I moved here.
My phone rang, and I saw Lance’s name on the screen before I answered it. He was excited about the house and told me that he’d handle the next few steps after he thanked me for my help. He asked me to dinner to celebrate later and I agreed as he told he had to get back to work but he’d see me later. I set the phone back down and sent out some emails to gain some interest before I looked up to see Nan’s new agent standing in my doorway.
“Hi, Greg. How are you?” I asked as he walked in and sat down across from me, nervously twisting his hands.
“I wanted to let you know that Nan put an offer in at that house that we ran into you at. It was accepted today, and you’ll be getting a cut of the sale.” I nodded as he spoke, sorry that Nan fell for Cameron’s lies and was in this situation. “What was that all about, Leila?”
“He’d been a little aggressive with me in the past. That’s why you took Nan over. My client didn’t like Cameron at all for that and I am glad that he walked away.” I offered as Greg nodded with a small frown on his face. I saw the judgment in his eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat.
“He looked like more than a client, Leila.” Greg told me as I shrugged.
“We’ve recently started dating and he wanted to buy a house. I didn’t do him any favors or treat him differently than any other client. I can separate the two,” I assured him as Greg nodded. “I felt uncomfortable in Cameron’s presence, so I left the situation. It’s that simple. Lance met him more than once and got a bad vibe from him.”
We went over numbers and how much I could likely expect from the sale, which made the little time that I spent with Nan worth it. She wasn’t a terrible woman but severely misguided by the younger man in her life. I hoped that she ended up happy once it was all said and done.
I finished my day off and headed home to change into something for dinner. Lance told me that he’d be by at seven to pick me up and I put on a fitted plum dress with some matching lipstick and light eye shadow, I slipped my feet into some black heels as I heard the doorbell and walked to the door, opening it with a smile as I saw Lance. He was wearing a long-sleeved button up shirt in a deep blue with some black jeans and looked good as I opened the door wider.
“Hi,” I greeted him as he looked me over with a hungry gaze.
“Let’s eat in. I’ve missed you today.” He walked in and pulled me against him as I giggled.
“Don’t you want to celebrate the house?” I asked him as he kissed my lips gently.
“I do. I’m just glad to see you.” Lance looked around and sighed. “What are you in the mood for?”
“I haven’t even thought of it. What sounds good to you?” I sensed something off about him as he kissed me again, holding his arms to steady myself.
“I know this little dive that makes the best burgers. How does that sound?” Lance asked as I looked into his handsome face.
“You don’t like normal restaurants, do you?” I asked as his face went serious for a fleeting second.
“I do but I look for the smaller places a lot. I like the dives. You don’t?” He asked as I shook my head.
“No, I do. It just surprises me with most people wanting to be seen at the bigger places. Carlsbad was smaller, and I got used to that.” I smiled as he seemed to look relieved.
“Good. Let’s go and we can spend the night here tonight, if that’s okay.” I nodded, and we walked to his Jeep as I smiled happily.
“How was work today?” I asked as he unlocked the door and he shrugged.
“The usual. How about you?” He asked as I told him that I hung out at the office and got some stuff done. There were times when I worked better there without distraction, even though it involved something of a tense conversation with Greg. I looked at the small building when we parked, asking of ten people could even fit in there. “Yes, and there’s seats outside. We’ll be fine.” He got out and opened my door for me, taking my hand as we walked to the door. We ordered at the worn counter and took the food outside where we picked a small table.
“So, what are you going to do with the house once you’re in?” I asked after taking a bite of my burger.
“I will probably buy some new furniture for the living room and change things up a bit. I’ll make one of the extra bedrooms an office and the other a guest room, even though I don’t have a lot of company. I think it’ll be a great home. Thanks for your help.” Lance told me before he leaned in for a kiss.
“You were an easy client.” I assured him as he kissed me again, pressing myself closer to him. We finished our dinner and he took me to the beach for a walk, falling quiet on me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just back to the work week and I had a great weekend,” Lance said as I nodded in agreement. “I don’t normally have that good of a time with anyone, Leila. It’s taken me by surprise.”
“Me, too.” I agreed as we stopped together by some rocks to sit and watch the sunset. I loved this part of living by the ocean and Lance wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. We went back to my place and went right to bed, where he left the light off and reminded me how good things were with us this weekend. I lost myself to him as he worshiped my body, making me come a few times.
I’d had sex before Lance, but it was nothing like this. Those times were mediocre at best, leaving me wanting for a lot but he rocked my world every time that we were together. I couldn’t get enough of him and after he was done with me tonight, I fell asleep at his side as he kissed my hair. I knew that I was falling for him and suspected that he was doing the same, but nothing needed to be defined right now.
We went our separate ways on Tuesday morning and I went to the office to work. If I stayed home, I’d daydream about Lance all day. I saw him in every corner of my apartment and needed the space away, so I started spending a lot of time in the office. I gained a few more clients and started showing houses regularly again, keeping myself busy during the days.
Lance’s house closed within the next few weeks and we spent every night together that we could up until then. He seemed to work a lot and at different times, but still made a lot of time for me. We just seemed to stay in a lot, which didn’t bother me. I was addicted to way that he made me feel and growing closer to him with every moment that we spent together.
I didn’t think to wonder why I didn’t meet any friends of his. I assumed that he most likely kept to himself since he did freelance work from home. Some people didn’t have a lot of friends, like me.
I was showing houses the day that he moved but he assured me that he had a lot of help. He wasn’t moving anything from the condo, choosing to start fresh with new furniture. I wasn’t going to argue that since it was his money. I wasn’t his girlfriend and he could make his own decisions, but I was surprised that he asked me to shop with him for the house. We went out on a weekend that we both took off just after he moved in and I laughed when he tucked a hat over his face before leaving his condo. He was still sleeping there until he got a bed and I was happy to stay with him anywhere that he wanted me to.
We went to some of the high-end furniture stores in LA and I wanted to drool as I looked around at the gorgeous furniture. Lance walked through the couch section, looking around as I followed shyly. He stopped by a dark gray leather sectional and tilted his head, looking at it thoughtfully before asking me what I thought about it. I told him that it would look great in the living room and pointed out a few tables that might compliment it. We wandered around, and he chose a pub style dining room table and some shelving for the rooms. Lance walked over to the beds and looked around before pulling me down on one of them and pressing me to the mattress for a long kiss.
I blushed as I realized how many people were watching us, feeling their eyes as he parted my lips with his tongue.
“Take it to a room!” I male voice called out as I jumped, and he kissed me again.
“He would do it in any room,” I frowned at the female voice speaking and Lance froze before he pulled away from me. He seemed uncomfortable and sat up slowly, pulling me with him as he took a slow look around.
“Let’s go. There’s another store that I want to look at.” Lance pulled me out of the store quickly as I looked back at everything that he liked so much, wondering what was happening.
“But you liked some of the stuff in there, didn’t you?” I asked as he shrugged and looked around as we walked out of the front door.
“I did but there’s a few other places. I need to make sure that I get the right stuff.” Lance offered me a smile over his shoulder as he led me by the hand down the sidewalk. We walked to a few other places that were notably smaller and less crowded, where he seemed eager to shop.
He ended up buying a couch similar to the one that we saw in the first store as well as a bigger table that seemed more like it was for entertaining. Lance also bought a king-sized bed and some furniture to go with it, happy that it would be delivered by that night.
We went to buy sheets and a comforter and took it back to the house after picking something up for lunch. Lance washed them while we ate the Thai food sitting on the back deck, just out of the containers with forks. We were drinking beer as we talked and ate, and Lance seemed much more relaxed than when we were shopping.
I liked it.
I liked that when the bed was delivered that we put everything on it and made love with the windows wide open. It might be Sunday and we’d be returning to work tomorrow, but tonight I was in his arms with the sound of the wind and waves filling the room. I allowed myself to imagine a future with him, living here and possibly having a family. I knew that it was silly and unlikely, but I went to sleep in his arms dreaming about it.