“Thanks for everything.” June knew she sounded like a parrot. “6:00 works.”
“Great,” Lance said.
She gave him a quick glance and an even quicker smile. Then she slipped away, feeling his gaze on her as she walked along the path. When she reached the back patio, she looked over her shoulder to see if Lance had made it to his bungalow yet. He was nowhere in sight, but she could still feel the warmth of his gaze on her skin.
June stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was definitely sunburned on her shoulders and arms, and her feet, of all places. Otherwise, her makeup hid the sun she’d gotten on her face, and she’d washed all the sand and seawater from her hair.
“Maui looks good on you!” Sydney said, passing by June’s bungalow bedroom. Her soft laugh trailed down the hall after her.
June couldn’t believe she was going on a date tonight with Lance when she’d come to Maui on an all-girls vacation.
Rotating her shoulders, June realized Lance had been right—she’d have sore muscles in places she hadn’t known could be sore.
“So, you’re going out to dinner?” Maria said, leaning against June’s bedroom doorway.
June looked away from the mirror and over at Maria. “I wanted to ask you guys first, but you ditched me all day,” June said.
Maria laughed. “That was our intention.” She walked forward and gave June a light hug. “You look great, and I’m not surprised Lance is totally into you.”
“It’s just dinner,” June said. “Besides, he’s coming off a divorce. He’s probably lonely.”
“A man who looks like Lance is probably never lonely.” Maria drew away. “I’m so excited for you. Do you think he’ll kiss you?”
“Uh, no,” June said. “Give me some credit. I’m twenty-six and don’t do flings.”
Maria lifted her brows. “He did tell you about his ex-wife, and you told him about Kevin.”
Yeah, cheating Kevin, June thought. And as it turns out, Lance’s wife cheated on him too. What a thing to connect us.
“I might have been a tiny bit tempted to have a fling with Lance,” June said, smoothing her short-sleeved blouse over her curves. “But he lives in Vancouver.” Only an hour away from June’s Portland home.
Maria’s eyes widened. “Wow. So you’re practically neighbors.” She turned her head and called out, “Hey, Sydney, did you know that Lance lives in Vancouver?”
“Shh,” June said. “These bungalows are close together. Lance probably heard you.”
Seconds later, Sydney was at June’s bedroom door. “Lance can’t hear us,” she said with a grin as she patted her blonde hair that was pulled up in an elegant twist. “Vancouver, huh? That made this all even more interesting.”
June folded her arms. She loved her best friends, and their vacations were always fun, but she wasn’t used to discussing her dating life play-by-play. She didn’t know if she should be annoyed or feel loved by all the scrutinizing.
“Did Lance ask you to dinner before he found out you live in Portland, or after?” Maria asked.
“After,” June said, and her friends exchanged knowing glances. “What of it?”
“If you want my opinion,” Sydney started—there was never any stopping her from giving her opinion. “He’s not looking for a fling, and after Maui, he’ll definitely be calling you.”
June released a nervous laugh. Sydney was not a fortune teller, and even if June could convince herself that it was true, she didn’t know how she felt about that. Meeting someone on vacation and then going back to real life could only be a letdown. “I’m not expecting anything. This is just dinner.”
“And maybe a kiss?” Maria teased again.
“Okay, both of you out,” June said, in mock anger. Inside, her stomach was fluttering as if she’d never been on a date before or ever kissed a man. Lance was another man, like all the others... there were certainly some flaws. That’s what she had to focus on. And once she discovered what they were, the butterflies would stop.
Sydney and Maria shared another round of knowing glances and left June’s bedroom. She decided to change out of her Capri pants into a flowing skirt. It was something she’d ordered online, not sure if she’d have the opportunity to wear it in Maui. After pulling on the skirt, she turned to the mirror again. It’s just dinner, she told herself. Dinner with an extremely good-looking man who knew what it was like to be jaded. They’d have fun tonight, and they might hang out a little more over the next couple of days, but then she’d probably never see him again.
“Hi, Lance, come in,” Sydney’s voice sailed from the front entrance loud and clear.
June cringed. Sydney had spoken extra loud so June would hear. If she wasn’t so nervous, she’d probably laugh about it. She wiped her hands on her skirt and applied one more round of lip gloss, not wanting to overdo her makeup with lipstick or anything else.
She waited a couple of heartbeats until Sydney’s voice sailed again down the hallway. “June, you have a guest.”
June did laugh then, quietly, so Lance wouldn’t hear. He probably thought they were acting like a couple of sixteen-year-olds.
“Coming,” June called back, surprised her voice sounded casual and confident, because she felt anything but. If she had her choice, she’d curl up with her Regency novel for the evening, then go to sleep thinking about what-if scenarios with Lance. Much safer than the real thing.
But when she walked down the hallway and saw Lance standing in the doorway of the bungalow, she knew her imaginings could never be better than the real man. Lance in the flesh was a beautiful thing. He wore long khakis, which seemed a bit formal for the island, and a button-down pale green shirt that was open at the collar. The shirt fit him perfectly, and the khakis, well, she wasn’t going to let her gaze stray too much.
“Hey,” Lance said, stepping forward. He kissed her on the cheek, and June could have melted right on the spot. She didn’t miss the faint scent of musky cologne.
“You look great,” he added.
Great? June blinked. He was generous with the compliments, which she could totally handle and might even get used to. “You clean up pretty nice yourself,” she said. “You’re actually wearing clothes.”
Lance laughed, and June was sure her face broke all blushing records. She was glad Sydney and Maria were nowhere to be seen, although she had no doubt they were hovering in another room, listening to every word. And they’d never let her live this down.
“That’s a good thing for where we’re going,” Lance said, opening the door.
“Where are we going?” June said, stepping past him and walking out of the bungalow, glad to not be face-to-face with him for a couple of moments while her blush receded.
“My friend Steve told me about a restaurant down the coast a couple of miles,” Lance said. “He said it has a great atmosphere.”
“Sounds good to me.” June looked toward the winding road that connected the bungalows. “Do you have a car?”
“Over here,” Lance said. “I borrowed Steve’s Jeep.”
She walked with him as his hand touched the small of her back, guiding her around a couple of tall palm trees to where a bright yellow topless Jeep was parked.
“Steve must be a good friend,” June said, trying to ignore the plethora of fluttering butterflies in her stomach at Lance’s casual touch. “How do you know him?”
“Went to high school together, and then he married a Polynesian woman and ended up in Maui.”
“Sounds like a pretty good deal,” she said as she climbed into the Jeep, noting how Lance held the door open for her. “This place is beautiful.”
“Yep.” Lance walked around the Jeep and settled into the driver’s seat. “Steve’s got three kids already. Makes me feel like I’m behind in life or something.”
She could definitely relate to that. At twenty-six, she wasn’t even dating anyone. At least Sydney was engaged, and Maria nearly so. “You want a whole slew of kids, do you?” she teased. �
�You can always find an obliging twenty-year old.”
“Funny,” Lance said, his eyes twinkling as he glanced over at her. “One or two kids would do eventually, but I’m not about to make any predictions or have any expectations about life. My marriage to Kerri taught me that pretty quickly.”
“Life can be unexpected,” June agreed.
“Unexpected can sometimes be good though.” Lance said, his gaze lingering on her as he started the Jeep’s engine.
June’s pulse quickened at the way Lance looked at her, and she realized she was seriously attracted to this man. Not just Wow, he’s good looking, but she wanted to be near him, to learn everything about him.
Sitting this close to him in the Jeep made it hard for her not to reach out and touch his arm or grab his hand. But June had never been comfortable taking the role of instigator in a relationship. Her last boyfriend, Kevin, had no problem wrapping his arm around her, grabbing her hand, or even kissing her in public. She’d been charmed at first, but when his eyes started following a pretty waitress serving their table, or straying past her when she was talking, she realized his outgoing affection wasn’t contained to only her.
With Lance, she wanted to touch him. Wanted to take his hand. With Kevin, she’d never had enough distance from him to desire his closeness. It was always there and too possessive.
June exhaled as Lance pulled onto the highway and the wind started tugging at her clothes and hair. Maybe the cool wind would also cool down her thoughts.
June let her eyes slide shut for a moment as Lance drove the borrowed Jeep to the Maui restaurant. The wind was cool, yet not cold enough for a jacket. And the fragrance of the blooming flowers along the highway seemed to caress June’s every sense.
She opened her eyes and peeked over at Lance. He was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove, tapping with the beat of the music. It wasn’t a song she recognized, but that wasn’t unusual. She could hardly remember lyrics or the names of bands, even the ones she loved. Numbers were more her thing, which she thought might make her fairly boring to Lance. But Lance had seemed impressed with her corporate accountant job. He was also confident with the business side of things for his health food stores.
June found herself watching Lance’s fingers drumming out the beat, noticing the muscles of his forearm. Her stomach fluttered as she wondered what it would be like to hug him. June had to tamp down a blush at the thought. Thankfully, the sun had set, and even if Lance looked over right now, he wouldn’t distinguish her blush.
The drive was short, and soon Lance was pulling off the two-lane road into the restaurant parking lot. June could see right away that it wasn’t a restaurant by conventional terms, but more of an outdoor café. The tables were scattered on a wide patio, with tiki torches burning for light. A small band of musicians played on a low stage at one end.
Lance spoke to the hostess, and they were led immediately to a table. The place was about half-filled, and everyone seemed relaxed and happy. A few couples were dancing to the soft music, making something in June’s heart tug. Two of the couples were older, and June guessed they’d been married a long time. It was sweet.
The hostess asked them for their drink orders, and June ordered fresh pineapple juice, knowing the romantic atmosphere and the extremely good-looking guy sitting across from her was already messing enough with her brain.
They spent a few minutes looking at the menu, and when the waitress arrived, June ordered a teriyaki chicken and rice. Lance ordered the same thing.
“So I guess you’re not a vegetarian?” June asked after the waitress left.
“Not even close, although Kerri was,” Lance said. “Sorry, didn’t mean to keep bringing her up.”
“It’s all right,” June said, secretly glad he felt comfortable enough around her to talk about his ex-wife. “Once I’ve heard all the Kerri stories, then I’ll let you know you’re annoying me.”
Lance laughed. “Deal.” He took a sip of the guava juice he’d ordered; it seemed they were both going non-alcoholic tonight.
“I tried to eat vegetarian for a few months,” June admitted. She hadn’t even told that to Sydney and Maria. “Thought it would help me lose weight, but I only ended up filling up on carbs, and not necessarily the good kind.”
“I don’t know what you see when you look in the mirror,” Lance said, “but you don’t have a weight problem.”
“Not compared to some people, I might not,” June said, feeling flattered regardless. “But when my favorite jeans mysteriously shrank, I knew I couldn’t blame the dryer.”
Lance grinned. “You can definitely blame the dryer. At my stores, we pass out literature about living healthy lifestyles, not dieting. Studies have shown that those who diet are crashing their bodies, and it’s not healthy. When they stop dieting, the weight comes back because they haven’t changed their lifestyles. In fact, they usually gain more weight than they lost in the first place.”
She nodded. It made sense. But her previous boyfriend constantly pointed out flaws in other women’s bodies, so it was hard not to be hyper-critical of herself.
“Yeah, tell that to Kevin,” June said, then clamped her mouth shut. Oops.
“Your ex-boyfriend, Kevin?” Lance said, narrowing his eyes. “Did he tell you to lose weight?”
June was surprised at the flash of anger in his eyes. “Not directly.” She shrugged, both to pretend it didn’t bother her anymore and to prevent Lance from getting too worked up about it. She wasn’t used to this “protective” side from Lance and wasn’t sure what she thought about it. “Kevin had high expectations and made them pretty clear.” She spread her hands and gave a weak and likely unconvincing smile. “It was all me, trying to impress, I guess.”
Lance’s jawline flexed, and the edge of his mouth twitched as if he was trying to hold back saying something he might regret. A moment of silence passed, and June felt awkward sharing something more personal than she’d intended. Her friends knew Kevin had a wandering eye, but she hadn’t told them about his criticism of other women he came across, making June feel like she had to constantly measure up to some imaginary ideal. It was easy to sit back now and tell herself Kevin had been wrong, but when she’d been in the throes of the relationship, Kevin could do no wrong.
Lance stood and extended his hand to her.
June looked up, wondering what was going on.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked, a soft smile on his face.
June couldn’t remember the last time she’d danced with a man. Probably high school prom. But she couldn’t turn down Lance, standing there, looking like a perfect gentleman. She didn’t know if she was ready to be that close to him, though, since it was hard enough not ogling him from across the table.
She placed her hand in his and let him draw her to her feet. Releasing a sigh, she resigned herself to becoming swept away for the evening, although she knew in the back of her mind that the attraction and growing feelings she was having for this man were all part of the exotic Maui location and the romantic atmosphere of the restaurant.
Hand in hand, she walked with Lance to the open space where the other couples gently swayed to the music. Lance moved their linked hands upward together and placed his other hand around her waist. She rested her free hand on his shoulder and fell into rhythm with Lance as he swayed to the music.
“No fancy moves,” she said, trying to break into the silence that had overtaken him. “I haven’t danced in forever.”
Lance’s smile was back, and he pulled her slightly closer. “Me neither,” he said in a low voice, his breath feathering her ear.
Would it be so bad to hold him close for a dance or two? June wondered, then decided it was better, much better, to keep some space between them. But his cologne and his warmth and the temptation to be closer was starting to convince her otherwise.
The band made a smooth transition into another song, and Lance pulled her slightly closer, moving his hand behind her back. June all
owed herself to nestle against him, her cheek against the side of his neck. She felt the slightest bit of stubble on his jawline, which only made his masculinity more appealing. And he smelled so good, making June realize how easy it would be to get lost in this man’s strong, warm arms and let herself forget everything for one night.
Lance’s throat vibrated against her cheek as he hummed the melody the band was playing. Even though she was on her feet, dancing, being in Lance’s arms was making her feel relaxed and drowsy.
“How long have you been friends with Sydney and Maria?” Lance asked.
June was impressed he remembered both of their names. Her ex, Kevin, still couldn’t, or never bothered, even after year of dating. “We met in high school when Maria moved into our area. Sydney was one of those popular girls who I thought was stuck up. Maria wasn’t intimidated by anyone. So when the three of us were assigned a school project together, Maria was the buffer at first. It didn’t take long for me to discover that Sydney was a sweet person, and we became an inseparable trio.”
“My younger sister’s like that,” Lance said, keeping time with the music as they swayed. “She and her high school friends are still close, even though most of them are married with kids now.”
“What about you?” June asked.
Lance shrugged. “I’ve kept in touch with a few friends, but when I was married, we sort of drifted away. And now that I’m divorced, they try to set me up with someone new.”
June nodded. “Yeah, once you hit twenty-five, it seems like it’s everyone’s life’s mission to get you married.” She stopped talking, feeling like she was rambling way too far off course.
“Well, I’m glad you’re single,” Lance said, a smile quirking his lips.
She couldn’t help but smile back. His flirting was enough to create flutters inside, but not over the top like Kevin’s had been. And, Lance had only been looking at her all evening. A refreshing change.
“Looks like our food is here,” Lance said, pulling away and taking his delicious warmth with him.
The Falling Series Box Set Page 9