Page 43 of Soaring and Saucy

This was getting very uncomfortable quickly.

She ignored his questions, avoided looking at him, and simply picked up her fork to eat in silence, refusing to comment on this. Except Lance was obviously not going to let it go.

He reached over the table and stopped her hand, the one holding the fork, and plucked the fork from her fingers, dropping onto the plate loudly. There was a clatter that caused several tables around them to get quiet, looking at them.

Stephanie wished she could just drop onto the floor. She hated attention and was much more comfortable as a wallflower, not the center of the conversation. I should have never said anything, she thought silently, full of shame and regret – only to feel Lance lace his fingers with hers.

“Look at me, Stephanie…” he said softly – and she did. She slowly raised her eyes from her plate toward him as he spoke again. “I’m going to say something that is going to sound utterly terrible and sexist.”

She braced herself for another crass and rude comment, waiting and saw his smirk.

“I don’t have sex with ugly girls,” Lance began, sounding like a braggart and not bothering to lower his voice, almost like he was proud of the facts he was about to toss out for the world to hear. “I’m a twerp, a pig, and I know it – but I’m not blind. I like hot girls, girls who are easy to look at, but you?” he paused, and Stephanie knew several tables were starting to stare at them. They all knew this was a train wreck about to happen before their eyes and she could feel tears of shame stinging her own as she held her breath, waiting. “Stephanie you are incredibly gorgeous from your toes to your nose, princess. I married the hottest girl in the entire world, and she’s carrying my baby now.”

There was something so emotional in his voice when he said those words that the tears that had been choking her threatened to spill over.

“There are millions of Cavanaugh genes swirling around, bonding with yours, and I don’t take that lightly. I’ve got ancestors that would haunt my butt if I knocked up an ugly girl – and right now, they are cheering wildly because I finally did something right in my life,” he said thickly, staring at her. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me – and our peanut is resting beneath your heart, growing… so yeah, Stephanie, you are gorgeous to me in so many, many ways.”

The tables around them began to clap slowly, and she put her free hand over her mouth, holding back an emotional sob only to see him stand awkwardly in his seat, leaning over the table and tugging her toward him. She slowly rose about a foot, and that was enough for him to drop the softest of kisses on her lips.

“I meant every word of that,” he whispered tenderly, brushing his nose against hers… and smiled. “Now, feed our peanut.”

She nodded tearfully, feeling a fragile warmth in her soul as she met his eyes. He reached over and picked up the fork that he’d tossed down. The handle was now covered in food, bounced out of her plate, and Lance reached over giving her his own that was still wrapped in a napkin. As he sat down, he looked at her, his eyes warm and full of emotion.

“I love brunch, don’t you?”

“It’s starting to have its perks,” she whispered, giving him a shaky, watery smile as he winked at her, cutting into his steak.

Watching him out of the corner of her eye and catching his attention everyone once in a while, she ate her meal. They chatted in-between bites. It was just nice to feel this change between them starting to begin, like the bitterness and fear was seeping from her soul. She was beginning to put her trust in him, care for him, because he’d been nothing but sweet toward her since his arrival.

The skeptic in her said ‘wait until he’s gone to hold judgment’ though. As they finished up, Lance leaned back happily and stretched – before moving forward to snag the last biscuit, causing her to laugh.

“Did you want this?”

“I don’t see how you are still eating,” she chuckled, smiling at him.

“Because I know when I get back, it’s the usual stuff and then boredom. I’m not worried about things because when things get monotonous, I go to the gym and work out. Gotta keep this physique lookin’ good for my wife.”

“Don’t you mean ‘the ladies’…?” she questioned, lifting an eyebrow at him.

“It’s not ‘ladies’ unless the Peanut turns out to be a baby girl,” he grinned, “And then absolutely it’s my ladies – the both of you.”

“Good answer,” she teased, feeling inordinately pleased at his reply.

“Good try,” he winked knowingly before glancing at his watch. “But we do need to get out of here. I’ve got to get my bag, get some information from you so I can add you to my file as a dependent when I get this marriage license thing corrected – because I will,” he said quickly as she opened her mouth and he pointed at her, stopping her in her tracks. “Don’t say it. Have a little faith in your man, okay?”

“All right, I’m going to have ‘faith in you’ – before I get to say ‘I told you so’.”

“If you turn out to be right and I’m wrong, we’ll make sure everyone knows it – right before we get married again.”

“Lance…”

“Nuh-uh,” he interrupted. “We’re married, and I’m kinda getting used to this whole wifey thing. Peanut is going to have my name, and there is no arguing about this.”

“Peanut Cavanaugh does have a certain ring to it,” she teased, treasuring his smile. Yeah, if all of this worked out, she was one lucky woman to have someone like this in her life. “And I guess when you get back to Jacksonville, send me a few links to look at for an apartment.”

“Really?”

“That’s not a ‘Yes’ – but I’m weighing my options.”

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