Page 22 of The Art of Loving Lacy
“What if it wasn’t a panic attack? What if it’s something else? Something worse?” She gasped a breath. “What if—”
Danica grabbed her shoulders. “Breathe, honey, or you’ll end up all anxious again. This all makes sense.”
“Did he really ask you to check on me?”Of course he did.She thought of the concern she’d heard in his voice and the empathy she’d seen in his eyes when she’d regained her focus on the boat.
“He really did,” Danica answered.
“He probably wanted to make sure that I wasn’t an insurance liability,” Lacy snapped. She didn’t believe her own words, but she couldn’t allow herself to continue to think about Dane as a prospective boyfriend and lover anymore. It would be a mistake to get any closer to him. She needed to forget how comfortable things were between them and the way he was so attentive to her. Lacy had to let him go. She couldn’t be a noose around his neck, and the last thing she wanted was to be around sharks now that she knew how deeply the fear was seeded. She had to concentrate on getting home, where she could lose herself in her work and focus on things other than the feel of his lips on her skin or the strength of his arms as he held her.Stop it!
“Oh please. That man needs to worry about insurance like you need to worry about your hair being too straight,” Kaylie teased.
Danica shook her head at Kaylie’s lighthearted comment. “Lacy, panic attacks can be managed. I know this probably scared you, but you can learn to deal with your fears.”
Lacy shook her head. She was too confused to deal with any of that right then. When she closed her eyes, she saw Dane. She smelled his cologne; she felt his touch. When she opened them, the overwhelming panic that consumed her on the boat came rushing back. She wished she could walk the fine line in the middle without teetering toward either side, but that was unrealistic, and Lacy saw that as clearly as she saw no way out of attending the family function in less than an hour.
“I don’t know, Danica. I was totally blindsided by this. I realized today that all those trips my mom took me on in the summers, trips to the library, museums—everywhere but to the beach—they were probably guided by a well-defined plan to keep me from freaking out. I can’t go with Dane tonight.” Lacy clenched her teeth and reached for her phone.
Kaylie grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Before you get too wrapped up in all of this, don’t you think you should talk to Dane about it? I mean, the guy probably knows a zillion people who are afraid of sharks. He might not be put off by this at all.”
Lacy stared into her older sister’s eyes, which usually looked so much like her own, but at that moment, Kaylie’s eyes held hope, while Lacy knew hers reflected a brick wall that she was unwilling to force her way through.
She pulled her arm free. “Kaylie, I’ve seen himoncein more than a year. I’m nothing more than a blip on his radar screen—and a short blip at that.” Lacy turned away before her sisters could see the tears in her eyes.
BY THE TIME her sisters left, they’d convinced her to go with Dane to the family function to say goodbye to Treat, Max, and the rest of their friends in person. She’d barely had time to shower and dress. She stood before the mirror in her gold cocktail dress thinking about the day she’d bought it. She’d thought it would be the perfect combination of formfitting sexy and classy coloring to hold Dane’s attention, and now, as she surveyed herself in the mirror, sadness clung to her heart and hung in the dullness in her eyes.
Her cell phone rang, and she started at the sound, then remembered that it had rung twice when she was in the shower. She hurried to the bed and picked it up just as it stopped ringing.Dane.How was she going to handle being around him and remaining steadfast in her need to break away from him?
Already late, she put on her lipstick and finished applying her eyeliner; then she sat on the bed and returned Dane’s call.
“Hi, Lace.”
The happiness in his voice brought a rush of longing through her.
“Hi.”
“Did you get my messages?” Dane asked. “I saw Danica on the way to your room this afternoon and figured you needed time with your sisters.”
She pulled the phone from her ear and noticed that she had two messages. “I haven’t listened to them yet, but Danica said you had asked about me. Thank you. It was a bit crazy around here.”I’m a bit crazy.
“No worries. Are you about ready to go?” he asked.
“You still want to go with me? Even after everything that happened today?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
Lacy closed her eyes and let out a relieved sigh. In the next breath, she remembered her plan to pull away from him. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. She already felt her heart being torn to shreds.
“Lace?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m right here,” he said. “Open your door.”
Lacy crossed the small room and pulled the door open. Dane peered around an exquisite bouquet of white lilies. His eyes lit up when they met hers.
“Hi,” Dane said.
He’d changed into a white button-down shirt and a pair of linen khaki pants that tied at the waist. Lacy stifled the urge to reach up and touch the exposed skin that peeked out of his open collar.
