Page 23 of Light Up My Life (Forbidden Heat 3)

“Hey, just doing a phone check. All seems to be in order,” Lance said.

I ended the call and put my phone in my purse. “Wow, you are just too much.”

“I’ve been told that a time or two,” Lance said.

He walked me out of the building and then I saw the stadium lights go out as we hit the parking lot. “Guess your friend was watching?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “That’s my buddy Tony. He’s a great guy. He is one of the maintenance guys here. We’ve been friends for a while.”

“I’ll bet a guy like you has friends all over.”

“What do you mean a guy like me?”

“You strike me as the type of guy who never stands in one place too long. I could imagine you’d be a bit of a traveler, right?”

“I do enjoy traveling as much as my job will allow me,” he said.

“What else would you do if you ever stopped fighting fires?”

He paused a moment as he tried to think. “I’m not sure. I guess, I would find some other passion that they would pay me for. I might go into competitive fighting again.”

“You did that?”

“Yeah, when I was eighteen until I was twenty-one. I was still trying to decide if I wanted to do that or fight fires professionally. I eventually got tired of the amount of training that went into being prepared to fight professionally. It became a job, and it took some of the passion away from me. With fighting fires that has never been a problem.”

“That’s great. There has only been one thing in my life I think I’ve ever felt like that about.”

“What is that?”

“I’ll let you know if it still holds true for me,” I said. “Take it easy.”

I walked to my car, opened the door and started up the engine. Before I drove off, I glanced over at Lance who was still watching me with that sweet, beautiful smile on his handsome face. I wanted to rush out of that car and kiss him hard on the mouth. I could feel myself getting a little wet, my body tingling, and my mind being numbed by this mere presence. That was a crazy effect for one person to have on me.

And I had to get away from it.

I nodded and drove away. The farther I got from Lance, the calmer I felt, but at the same time there was a feeling of longing there that I hated. I already missed his company. I didn’t know if I could really handle not seeing him again, if it came to that. I did give him my number, but would I answer if he called? Would I text him? Would I go out on an actual date on him?

“What have I gotten myself into?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure as far as Lance was concerned, but I had made a decision about my career goals. I’d reawakened something I’d totally forgotten, and now it was time for me to take some steps to make that happen.

Chapter Seven

Lance

I should have just kissed her. I could tell that she was interested, and we were making such a good connection. The interactions between us just felt so damn natural. That was when I could tell it was time to make that move, but I didn’t. Why? It wasn’t that I was afraid of her rejecting it, or that I thought she might not want it. Maybe I felt like if I kissed her, there would be no going back.

And did I really want that? I did. In my heart I did, but in my mind, I was worried that it might be taking me the way that I didn’t want to go in life. I had too much other stuff on my plate for the time being. But that girl… I couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was so smart, beautiful, fun, witty, and there was an excitement about her that was like a magnet. It drew me in, and I wanted to learn more about her. I wanted to find out more about what made her tick. She was incredible.

When I got home, I took off my clothes and slipped into the Jacuzzi. I grabbed the remote and turned on my television as I relaxed and tried to get my mind off things. I wished that Kat was there with me. I’d invited her back to my place. What was the plan? I wasn’t sure I really had one, but a few drinks, some good conversation, maybe some sweet music and dancing. All of this followed by a nice dip into the Jacuzzi and maybe see if things progressed.

It was not completely off the wall to think that the connection would be strong enough already between us to get really intimate, but then again, I wasn’t sure I wanted to rush things that far, that fast either.

I sipped a glass of champagne and let myself float in the hot water. I was dreading tomorrow already because I was going to be meeting with my father to discuss some things. I’d received another voicemail from him when I was out for the evening. I listened to it when I was driving home. It bummed me out every time I heard my father’s voice. And the fact that he’d called instead of having my mother or his secretary take care of it meant that he was dead serious about how important this “chat” of ours was going to be.

I could tell already what it was about, and I had to wonder why he just didn’t ask me outright. If he was that concerned with things and he wanted to sort out some things with me, then why the hell didn’t he just come right out and tell me what he was thinking?

I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know, really. I felt frustrated by the whole thing. My father was one of those guys who often would not come right out with what he actually meant. He would say one thing, and just assume that everyone knew what in the hell he was talking about.

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