Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Vince wasn’t sure his ears were working correctly.
Come live with…?
“What did you just say?” he finally managed to ask.
Lace was already shaking her head.
“Never mind. It was stupid. I must have just been caught up in the moment.”
Vince wasn’t so sure about that.
“Say it again,” he requested raspily.
“I, uh, suggested you might want to come live with me?” she squeaked, and damned if that dear-in-the-headlights look didn’t appear completely adorable.
Vince’s immediate reaction was to thank her profusely and decline, but…
Would it be such a bad idea?
The part of Vincent that was attracted to Lace was screaming, Hell, yes. Do it. Do it.
The rational section of his brain that wasn’t attached to his dick—a very minute portion, if he were honest—was telling him to get real. It was a cockamamie concept, and he shouldn’t even be considering it.
But he was.
“It’s a really generous offer, Lace,” Vince began. “Can I think on it?”
“Of course, of course,” she rushed to say, clearly embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but…” She bit her bottom lip and looked everywhere but at him.
Clearly the next thing she was going to impart, was proving tough to get out.
She started quietly. Almost too quietly.
Vince had to lean forward to catch all her words.
“I’ve actually been living alone in the house for nine years, ever since my grandparents died, and I’ve been…lonely,” she admitted. “It’s tough, especially now with the cancer, not to have anyone around who…cares.”
She then hastened to add, “But the house. That’s probably what you’d like to hear about.
It’s not big; just an antique cape. It has three bedrooms, two and a half baths, with the primary having undergone a renovation two years ago.
It sits on three acres; a very private lot with plenty of room for as many swing-sets as you could want. I had one when I was young.”
Vince pictured an adorable little blonde girl, all smiles as she was being pushed; demanding to go higher…higher…
The vision quickly morphed into a dark-haired child; Inez, looking so happy that it caused a lump to form in Vincent’s throat. If only—
“You can look out over all the land from an extra-large deck across the back that my grandfather built a dozen or so years ago,” Lace continued, then ducked her head.
“So please forgive me for my impetuousness. When you described what you were looking for, it sounded so much like my house, that the invitation just popped out,” she ended a little sheepishly.
“It really is a very generous offer, Lace,” Vince reiterated. “I’m just not sure if…”
He drew in a breath. “Can I be honest, here?”
“We have been, so far,” she offered up, regarding him seriously.
“Yes. We have,” he concurred. “So here are my exact thoughts regarding your invitation, in order of how they hit me.”
She nodded, waiting.
“First, there was excitement. Initially I was like, hell yes.”
That got a tentative smile out of Lace.
“Then my brain went to, whoa, whoa, slow down.”
She nodded her understanding.
“Not because I don’t want to jump at the opportunity,” he clarified. Damn, it was hard to put his emotions under this kind of scrutiny, but Vince knew it was necessary. “It’s just that I might want it, too much.”
When she quirked a brow and pursed her lips in confusion, Vince deepened his explanation.
“I find you attractive,” Vince dared. “Very attractive. I haven’t exactly hidden that from you. And I’m not just talking, physically. I’m drawn to you in a lot of regards.”
He was going down this path, whether it was smart or not.
“I love the way you approach things,” he itemized.
“I relish that you took me on in my clown persona, and didn’t bat an eyelash.
I appreciate you not hedging that you’re interested in getting to know me.
I really like the way you aren’t afraid to take charge.
And the icing on the cake?” he ended. “It’s how you didn’t flinch when I told you about both Inez and my plans to become a foster parent. ”
Lace was nodding, but still looking unsure of herself.
Vince needed to add more clarity.
“Which part of what I said are you having trouble with?”
“The attractive thing,” she muttered, before she squared her shoulders and her voice grew stronger.
“Look at me, Vince. I’m hollowed out. My brain is more often than not in a fog. I have no hair. I’ll probably lose my eyebrows,” she said on a bitten back sob, “and I won’t have at least one of my breasts for very much longer. How can you possibly think I’m appealing?”
Vincent knew he needed to bring out just the right words to convince her of her worth, so he didn’t hold back.
“I know all that, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference in how I feel. Do you know how much I’ve wanted to kiss you, almost from the first minute I bumped into you in the hospital hallway?”
Lace drew in a short gasp as he kept going.
“Do you know that there hasn’t been a moment over the last week when I didn’t think of you, and that I was counting the minutes until I could see you again?”
She looked shocked.
“Lace,” he assured her slowly, “I find you stunning. I really do. Hair or no hair. Breasts or no breasts. Besides,” he added almost impishly, “I’m really an avid ass man.”
Vince was almost amazed that all of what he’d presented to Lace was true, but a huge smile lit his face as he fully embraced the veracity of his declaration.
He sucked in a breath, then went for broke. “But more than that, and way more than appearances, I already like who you are.”
She blinked. Twice.
“You want to…kiss me?” she asked huskily, staring at his lips, which of course made his cock twitch.
Vincent grinned harder. “Out of all the things I said, that’s what you came away with?”
She gave him a tentative smirk. “Well, I might have been thinking along the same lines.” she admitted.
Yes!
That cemented it. When they got to her house, first things first, he was going to look the place over carefully to see if Lace’s idea had merit. Then he was going to kiss the ever-loving stuffing out of her.
Yup. Time to go.
Vince picked up their napkins, crushed them into a ball, and sent a two-pointer into the nearest trash can.
“Score,” he crowed, then turned to her. “Imagine if I’d missed?”
“Not a chance,” she told him breathlessly. “I have a feeling you always score when you want to.”
Vince inhaled sharply, swallowing his spit the wrong way, which started a coughing fit that had everyone at the surrounding tables eyeballing him to see if he was okay.
He gave an airy wave of his hand to signal he wasn’t about to expire, but it took a minute before he was able to regain his equilibrium.
By that time, he knew his face was probably beet red.
Vince finally found his voice and was able to address Lace again.
“Does…does that mean we can…explore that kiss we’ve both been thinking about, sooner, rather than later?” he asked, almost not recognizing this unsure side of himself.
Since when did Vincent have any kind of problem with pre-seduction moves?
Uh, never?
The thing was, he knew this wasn’t a seduction. This was the beginning of something big. He could tell. And he didn’t want to blow it.
“Perhaps a kiss or two might be in order,” she responded throatily. “I’ll give it some thought when we get to my house.”
“Then let’s get out of here,” Vince said, almost standing up before he realized he had a massive hard-on inside his bike shorts…with no way to hide it.
“Uh, right. After my, um, interest subsides a bit,” he amended.
A scowl line appeared between Lace’s brows. “You want your interest to—?”
A blush and a brilliant smile almost instantly swept away that furrow.
“Oh. I get it,” she giggled. “Interest.” She winked. “Will it help if I get up first and walk in front of you to hide any…evidence?”
Vince groaned. “You mean walk where I can see, and almost touch your ass if I reach out?” He shook his head. “Not helpful.”
“Okay. Give me your keys,” she demanded succinctly, holding out her hand and wiggling her fingers.
“Uh, why?” he asked.
“Because I can pull your truck in, over there.” She pointed to a spot that would have him walking away from the building and all the other patrons. “And you won’t scare anybody with the…what did you call it earlier? The small clown down below?” she quipped with a snort.
Vincent groaned.
Clearly, Lace was enjoying herself.
He looked around, however, and seeing the efficacy of her plan, he pulled the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. “I think you may be onto something,” he allowed. “My small clown and I thank you. He’s actually pretty shy, you know,” Vince demurred.
He attempted to plaster an innocent look on his face, but quite obviously Lace wasn’t having any of it.
She stood and gave an amused huff. “Maybe he just hasn’t had the right audience, yet,” she threw out impudently, then turned abruptly and sashayed her fine, fine ass away.
Vince threw back his head and laughed.
“Au contraire,” he posited underneath his breath. “I think he’s finally found the perfect cheering section.”
Vince watched as Lace got into his truck, then pulled off backing the large vehicle out of its spot like a pro. She moved toward an area that would give him almost total anonymity for what could have been a walk of shame.
Vince shook his head in amazement. He couldn’t have asked for better coverage, even from his old SEAL team.
Strategically, Lace pulled into just the right place so that when Vince arose—still hard—he wasn’t facing anyone, and could make a clean getaway. He was even able to—once halfway to her position—adjust his “attributes” to a position of comfort, then walk unimpeded to his vehicle.
He expected Lace to get out of the truck and swap seats with him, but as he approached, she waved him to the passenger side.
Ah. So it’s going to be like that, huh?