Abby stared at Megan's back and then shrugged before starting to get dressed. Megan's deep breathing turned to soft snores. For all her obnoxious prying, Megan was a good friend. She always helped Abby when she needed it, whether it was dealing with her mom or figuring out what to wear. Megan was the reason she had even applied to college, and it was Megan who found them a place to live with cheap rent they could both afford.
When she finished getting ready, she closed her bedroom door softly behind her to watch for Lance.
CHAPTER SIX
Lance was startled when his raised hand met empty air. He looked down to see Abby standing in the doorway, hair down, with a light sheen of gloss on her lips.
"Megan's sleeping. I'd rather you didn't wake her."
Lance let his hand drop. "Of course. Hangover?"
Abby smiled at him and pulled the door closed behind her. "Of course. Megan almost always has a hangover on the weekends."
"I'll keep that in mind." Lance ran his hand down her arm to turn her to him and then dropped a kiss on her mouth. Her lip gloss tasted like strawberries. Abby's brows rose in surprise, but she didn't say anything. "Ready?"
Abby nodded. Lance held her hand as they walked to his car, where he opened the door for her. She didn't even try to reach for the door first. He seemed to be making progress. He watched her pull her bare legs into the car one at a time. He was glad she'd worn shorts again. He liked that she didn't wear Bermuda shorts or capris. He didn't understand capris. To him they looked like pants that weren't long enough. Why did girls wear those? They weren't shorts and they weren't pants. They were just weird. But Abby wore short shorts, allowing him to admire the full expanse of her legs.
Every time she'd been in his car, he'd restrained himself from running a hand from knee to thigh, wondering if her skin was as soft as it looked. Since she'd been shy of him, he didn't want to scare her off by moving too fast. Even the kiss at the door might have been pushing things a little. But he'd already crossed that line, so he was confident she wouldn't slap him for kissing her now. Well, he'd been pretty sure, and since she didn't, that only proved him right. He was used to moving a lot faster than this when he was attracted to a girl. If she wasn't up for his pace, he usually just let her go. For some reason he didn't want to analyze, he didn't want to let Abby go. For her he'd slow down, give her a little space and time to get used to him. He wanted to get to know her better. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try to push the edges of her comfort zone.
Lance buckled his seatbelt and started the car. Glancing at Abby, he noticed her playing with her lower lip.
She dropped her hand in her lap and looked at him. "So, where are we going?"
He maneuvered out of his parking spot before answering. "You don't want to be surprised?"
Abby shook her head. "I don't like surprises."
"Really? Why not?"
Abby paused for a moment before answering, like she needed to think about how to answer. "Let's just say that in my experience, surprises are rarely good." Her voice was light, but her face was troubled, like she was remembering some particularly nasty surprises.
Lance thought about asking more, but decided he didn't really want to start their date off with heavy or depressing subjects. "Fair enough. I thought we'd go to the Peacock Lounge."
Abby scrunched her eyebrows and started playing with her lip again. "I haven't heard of that. Where is it?"
"It's the restaurant in the Davenport Hotel. You haven't been there?"
Abby shook her head. "I've never had a reason to go there. I haven't stayed at the hotel before or anything."
Lance laughed. "It's a nice restaurant. You don't have to stay at the hotel to eat there. And it's a really nice historic hotel. You haven't even gone to the Christmas Festival they host every year?"
"No. Have you?"
Lance nodded. "Yeah. I like to go see all the decorated trees. I usually go right after finals are over before I head home for Christmas break."
"Maybe I'll check it out this year."
Lance wanted to say that he'd like to take her. But by December he'd be back in Denton working at his dad's garage. No Christmas Festival at the Davenport for him.
Sitting at a stop light, Lance gave in to his urge to feel Abby's skin. He casually took his hand off the gear shift and dropped it on her knee. Her skin under his hand was smooth and silky. He felt her stiffen, so he didn't move any higher, just caressed her leg lightly with his thumb. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her looking at him. She didn't say anything and didn't push him away.
The light turned green and he had to shift gears until they got up to speed. He let his hand rest on the seat this time, next to her leg, just brushing against her with his pinky. She relaxed, accepting that little touch, so he ran the back of his hand along the outside of her leg..
Abby squirmed. "Stop it, that tickles."
Lance rested his hand just above her knee again. "Better?"
She shrugged. "I guess."
He'd take it. He left his hand on her leg for the rest of the drive, only removing it when he needed to shift.
It was progress. Slow and steady wins the race.
* * *
Abby tilted her head back to admire the carved vaulted ceiling of the Davenport's lobby. Carved pillars created natural aisles, dividing up comfortable seating areas of over stuffed couches and chairs, groupings of tables, and large potted plants around the room. Her awe at the space made her momentarily forget how unsettled and jittery Lance made her.
His hand at the small of her back, guiding her toward the restaurant entrance situated in the far corner, brought her back to herself.
He'd started touching her the moment she'd walked out her door. His hand on her arm, the kiss, touching her leg in the car, and now touching her back. He was more forward today than he had been the last two days. Well, he'd been forward the first night, but he hadn't invaded her space much. Maybe since this was a date, at least their second if yesterday's shopping and movie counted as a date, he felt like he could touch her more. Or maybe he'd seen their kiss yesterday as permission to touch more. If what Megan had told her was true, then Lance might be trying to get into her pants by the end of their date. Maybe to him all the touching was just a warm up.
That was the problem, though. Even though she was flattered by Lance's attention and obvious interest, she was being truthful when she'd told Megan that she didn't do casual sex. And with Lance that was all it could be. Even without his history as a player, he would be leaving at the end of the summer to go back to Texas. She still had two more years left of school before completing her degree. There couldn't be anything long term between them.
Abby shook off her wandering thoughts as she followed the hostess to their table. At the very least she could enjoy a nice meal with Lance. He made her unaccountably nervous, but she also enjoyed spending time with him. She liked the way his hand felt against her skin, the warmth of his body close to hers. If this was going to be their last date, she at least wanted to have a nice time.
The hostess pulled out Abby's chair for her at a table covered in a white tablecloth, with a black cloth napkin folded at each place. "Blake will be your server today. He'll be with you in a moment." She handed them their menus and left.
Abby opened her menu, eyes widening slightly at the prices. "Have you eaten here before?"
Lance looked up from his menu. "Once or twice. The food is good and I figured it wouldn't have the normal Sunday lunch crowds like the more casual places. Is this okay?"
Abby nodded. "It's fine. I just didn't expect something so fancy for a lunch date."
"Well, you wouldn't let me take you out to dinner, so I had to impress you with a fancy lunch date." He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Are you impressed?"
Abby laughed. "Oh, very. You're very impressive."
"That's what she said." His delivery was so deadpan it was perfect.
Abby threw back her head and laughed long and hard. S
he wiped tears from the corners of her eyes, feeling more relaxed. "I can't believe you just made a 'that's what she said' joke in the middle of a date in an expensive restaurant." He just grinned, no remorse in his expression.
Their waiter walked up and filled their water goblets, smiling at the hilarity written on their faces, but obviously having missed the joke. "Would you like to hear our specials?"
At their nods, he rattled off the soup of the day as well as two entrée specials. Abby held back her grimace of distaste when he listed the seafood special, but thought the steak option sounded good. It was probably expensive, though. The waiter took their drink orders and left.
Abby scanned the menu, trying to pick something. Maybe I should just get a salad. Her eyes went wide when she saw the cost of a salad. She could only guess how much the steak special cost if they charged that much for a salad.
"Abby." Lance's voice was low, reclaiming her attention.
She looked up. "Hmm?"
"Relax. Pick something you think sounds good. Don't worry about the price, okay?"
Abby's cheeks grew warm. How did he know what she was thinking? "Okay." She let her gaze drift back to the menu, still trying to pick something that wouldn't cost a complete fortune, but feeling like she could get more than soup or a salad.
After a few moments they'd both closed their menus and laid them on the table. Lance reached for his water and took a drink. "We've done the obligatory questions about majors and origins already. Let's move on to family. Sound good?"
Abby wasn't thrilled to talk about her family, but nodded anyway. "Sure. Do you have any siblings?" She figured if she asked first, maybe she could keep the attention on him long enough that they'd run out of time before talking about her family.
He nodded. "Two sisters, one older and one younger." He sat slightly forward, one arm braced in front of him. The other was laid casually across the table in her direction. His gaze was focused intently on her face.
"What are their names?" Abby felt unaccountably shy under his close scrutiny. She reached for her water to hide her discomfort and shield herself from his intensity.
"Marissa is the oldest, she's twenty-five. Gabby, Gabrielle, is the youngest. She's seventeen and will be a senior in the fall."
"And are you the protective older brother?"
Lance smiled. "I didn't get much chance to be too protective with Gabby. I've been gone for most of the last four years up here. She was only thirteen when I left and hadn't started dating yet. Marissa got annoyed by me trying to size up her boyfriends, though."
Abby laughed. "I bet. She probably didn't want her little brother trying to intimidate or run off her dates."
"I never tried to run them off." His face was serious. "I just let them know there'd be consequences if they hurt her."
Abby laughed harder. "I just bet they were really intimidated by a scrawny kid three years younger."
Lance pulled an offended look. "Hey, now. I wasn't that scrawny." His face relaxed and he smiled again at Abby's skeptical look. "No, really, I wasn't. I was already over six feet tall by the end of seventh grade and I've played football my whole life."
"Your whole life?"
Lance shrugged. "More or less. Pee wee football starts in Kindergarten."
Abby's mouth dropped open. "Kindergarten? What, like flag football?"
Lance's eyebrows drew together and he shook his head. "No. Full tackle with pads and everything. They don't do that here?"
"No. My brother didn't play football until sixth grade, and that was only flag football. Tackle football leagues don't start until seventh grade around here."
It was Lance's turn to be surprised. "Seventh grade? Wow, that's late. A kid that didn't start football until seventh grade would be seriously behind in Texas." The waiter brought their drinks and took their order. Lance ordered the steak special and Abby got Parmesan crusted chicken. "Anyway, so you have a brother?" Lance asked, bringing the conversation back.
Abby tried to hold back her wince. "Yeah."
Lance looked at her expectantly. She sighed. "His name is Aaron. He's two years older than me. So is your older sister married?"
Lance leaned back in his chair, studying her. "No, not yet. She's been dating a guy for a while and my mom thinks they might be pretty serious. Are you close with your brother?"
Abby shook her head. "Are you close with your sisters?"
Lance tilted his head back and forth. "I talk to Gabby more than Marissa since Gabby still lives with Mom and Dad. She keeps me updated on her life when I call on Sundays. I don't talk to Marissa quite as often, but we catch up every couple months or so."
Abby's hand kept drifting to her mouth to play with her lower lip. Every time she realized she did it, she tried to stop herself. "So your parents are still together? That's cool."
Lance narrowed his eyes and reached for his soda. "I take it yours aren't?"
Abby shook her head, pinching her lip with her thumb and finger.
Lance reached across the table and pulled her hand away from her face, holding it in his. "What happened?"
Abby shrugged. "He bailed when I was a little kid. I don't even remember him, I was that little when he left. It's always just been my mom, my brother, and me. And since Aaron took off, it's just Mom and me."
"That sounds like it was hard." Lance's thumb stroked across her palm.
"Yeah, I guess. I don't know anything different, though, so it is what it is. Can we talk about something else? I don't like talking about my parents." She tried to pull her hand back, but Lance wouldn't let go.
He studied her face before nodding. "Sure. We can talk about something else. What's your favorite color?"
"Brown."
Lance's eyebrows climbed his forehead. "Brown?"
"I know. You're thinking brown is such a boring color. And I admit it can be, but there are some things that are brown that are just rich and beautiful."
He smiled. "Like what?" His voice was curious, not challenging.
"Leather, eyes, dirt."
"Dirt?"
"You don't think dirt is beautiful?"
Lance tilted his head to one side and studied her face. His thumb was still stroking across her palm. "I've never really thought about it before. I usually just try to get the dirt off of things."
Abby smiled. "You've never worked in a garden or spent time barefoot in a forest? The dirt there is beautiful."
The waiter arrived then and placed their food in front of them. Lance released her hand, breaking the strange intimacy of the moment.
Once the waiter left, Abby picked up the conversation by returning Lance's question. They did that throughout their meal, trading questions and little stories. Abby successfully steered conversation away from uncomfortable topics like her mother, and she noticed that Lance avoided talking about going back to Texas at the end of the summer.
The waiter returned to clear their plates. "Would you like to see the dessert menu?"
Lance arched an eyebrow at Abby. She shook her head. "I'm stuffed." The waiter placed a small vinyl folder on the table. Lance slipped his card inside and the waiter took it away.
After their lunch was paid for, Abby was very conscious of Lance walking close beside her, one hand on the small of her back as they walked out of the restaurant. Once in the lobby, he ran his hand down her arm and threaded his fingers through hers. Abby glanced up at him, and he just smiled back at her, continuing to hold her hand until they arrived at his car.
Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1) Page 6