Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
LANE
I’d been with my fiancé for way too long to be out there taking the words of another man so serious.
Dinner with Taurus was great to say the least, but I left that night with too much on my mind.
He spoke as though he’d been there before and like he’d known me forever, when he’d only researched me.
I guess that was a lot compared to my own fiancé, who only knew the things about me that he liked.
Bash was a tax lawyer and hated that I chose the criminal branch.
He believed it was too dangerous, whereas I was thrilled by it.
I couldn’t see myself behind a desk, fighting for tax cuts and payouts.
It wasn’t me, but it was the man that I agreed to marry.
“Lane, baby, where is your head?” My mother’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
I shook my head and looked at her. “Can I ask you something?” I sipped from the water in the glass in front of me.
She nodded. “Anything.”
“Do you miss it? The courtroom and—”
“Tap dancing around the room and tearing others to shreds? Of course, I do. I wish I hadn’t given it up to be a wife.
” She laughed to herself. “I never want you to follow in my footsteps, finding a man that fake supports your dreams, when, in reality, he wants you to be a trophy.” She was referring to my father, who she was still married to.
She loved him, but it was no secret that she had some type of resentment for him.
I nodded, taking in her words.
“Believe me, I miss it all, but I made peace with my decisions, and believe it or not, I actually love your father.” She shook her head.
“However, that doesn’t mean I like Sabastian for you.
He’s too much like your father. Too safe.
You need someone who challenges your conservative side.
You know, someone who refuses to ride on the training wheels their entire life. ”
I just looked at her. She was filled with so much wisdom that I could sit and talk to her forever. The funny thing was, my mama was always right.
“Don’t be like me, Lane. Be better. Find somebody who loves what you do almost as much as you. It’s all so simple, baby girl.”
I chuckled. “You make it sound so simple, but it’s the complete and utter opposite.”
She shook her head. “You’re completely right. It’s nowhere near an easy process. However, you have to love yourself enough to choose what’s for you and shun what’s not, but you’re worth it.”
I nodded, looking her over as I sipped from the glass of water in front of me.
She was right indeed, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
She and I sat and talked for a while longer over a meal before it was time for me to make my way back to my office.
I opted for the walk, considering my eating habits as of late and the weather was simply freaking beautiful, so why wouldn’t I enjoy it?
The vibration from my phone in my hand made me flip it over and look at the name calling me.
Involuntarily, a smile rushed my face as I double tapped my AirPod and continued my walk.
“How can I help you, Mr. White?”
His laughed filled my eardrums before he spoke. “You could tell me why you’re walking yo’ ass around like this ain’t Chicago and it ain’t dangerous as fuck for women like yaself.” His baritone was sexy and inviting. It made me wanna know where he was with his stalking ass.
“You wouldn’t happen to be stalking me, would you, Mr. White?”
Again, he chuckled. “Nah. I just have a knack for knowing where you are and that you’re safe.”
“And why is that?” I had to ask.
“Why don’t you come to dinner with me tonight and find out?”
I buried my teeth into my bottom lip as the smile I was attempting to conceal broke free. “Now you know I—”
“I don’t give a fuck about your boy, Lane. For now, that’s on you, shorty.”
“For now?” I found myself asking.
“You finna get yo’ pretty ass in this car or stand there and bite a fucking sore in ya’ lip?”
Immediately, I stopped walking and began to look around. I mean, where the fuck was he that he saw me from anywhere? As if he were reading my mind from across the line, he hung the phone up. I turned toward the street, and there he was, parking and getting out of his car.
“So. what you say?”
“I already ate, so—”
“So nothing. Come get in the car, Lane.” By the time he finished his sentence, he was holding the door open and waiting for me to get in. He was so forward and commanding that I felt like I had no choice. He was an alpha. It was all in his tone and energy.
“Why are you so demanding?” I walked over and stood in front of him and the open door with my arms crossed.
He laughed. “C’mon now, Lane. You want me to get a ticket because you asking questions that you already know the answer to, or are you up to go enjoy the rest of ya day?” He studied me a moment longer before walking back around to hop into the driver’s side.
I didn’t know what I was doing until I climbed into the car and closed the door. Of course, he had that knowing look on his handsome face, but I forced myself to look elsewhere. It hadn’t even been two days, and I had already spent more time with him than my own fiancé.
“You over there thinking too much. Stop that shit and tell me ’bout yo’ day.” We were a few minutes into the ride when he finally turned his loud ass music down and spoke.
I glanced in his direction. “I had brunch with my mama, and now I’m here kidnapped by you.” The smile on my face was sarcastic. “How about your day, Mr. White?”
He shook his head and focused on the road. “You must like my last name.”
I smirked. In no way could I deny my attraction to him because I was highly attracted to him, but there was surprisingly a line that I couldn’t cross, no matter how many times I found myself engulfed in this man.
We ended up at a park just walking and talking in the spaces where the sun wasn’t beaming.
He was so easy to talk to, and he paid attention to my words.
I could tell by the slight expressions in his face.
Finally, we took a seat on a bench in front of the Buckingham Fountain, and I just gazed at it.
I’d been in Chicago my entire life and seen this fountain a million times, but never had I ever been brought there with somebody who just wanted to get to know me.
“Where did you grow up?” he asked.
“Here. You?”
“Most of the time here,” he responded slowly.
“What do you mean most of the time?” I turned and looked into his handsome face. He had the eyes of a person who had a story to behind them.
He looked over at me before focusing ahead. “I was born in Atlanta, but my mama died when I was young, so my grandfather came and got me. He brought me here, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Immediately, my hand found his, and I caringly squeezed it. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
He nodded his head. “It’s cool. I made peace with that a long time ago.” He tightened his grip around my hand. He didn’t seem like he was gonna let it go either, and something in me didn’t want him to.
I decided to change the subject. “What in your life makes you happy?”
He screwed his face up with amusement. “What type of fucking question is that?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. I just asked it.”
He chuckled. “Money makes me happy. What makes you happy, Lane?” The way he looked at me had my tongue twisted for a moment. I blinked a few times before I got too lost in his eyes.
“Um… right now, my career. It’s the only thing in my life that is going the way I want.” I laughed because I had definitely overshared in that moment.
“Then let me be one of those things.” The way he looked was so serious that I momentarily forgot what we were talking about.
“One of those things that make you happy.” He leaned further into my space.
I shocked myself when I didn’t move back.
Instead, I sat there and looked at him, hanging on to the sincerity in his tone.
I didn’t even move when his hand touched the side of my face.
Something about his touch sent a jolt down my spine, and in that moment, I knew I messed up.
There was no way I could be that way with Sabastian. It was impossible.
REGANCY
It was the moment that my eight-year-old wanted to stay with her grandmother for the weekend instead of spending it with me that let me know that I was boring as fuck.
I had become a workaholic. When even Lane said I was boring, I figured I was pretty bad, but those days, I was putting all of my energy into the tavern.
It was a necessity for it to be successful.
It would take a few more months, and I wouldn’t need to hover so much.
Instead, I’d be able to hire another manager or two and step back.
Then I had been thinking about opening a nail studio.
I didn’t do nails or any of that, but I liked the idea of owning one.
I liked to have my hands in everything and have multiple streams of income.
It was just my thing because I knew for a fact that I liked creating successful businesses.
These days, all I thought about was how I could continue to create different avenues to bring in capital.
I’d been there since five that morning, and the last thing I needed was to be there any longer, so I was gathering my stuff to take my ass home and open a nice bottle of wine. Once I was all packed up, I opened my door and walked toward the front of the crowded establishment.
“See you, boss lady.” My bartender, Sandra, smiled in my direction.
“See you. Call me if—”