“I meant people always know where they stand with you. You are very honest.”
Sure she was. If she was so darn honest she’d be able to tell him how love-struck she was over him.
“I like that about you, everyone does, and if Elaina and Tess love you, it’s true. They are two of the most insightful people I know. I trust their judgment.”
She smiled at him. He was so full of compliments lately. She would do as he asked though. She knew this event was important to him and that made it important to her. Especially now that she knew what he went through with his friend. He felt responsible for his death and she couldn’t possibly imagine carrying a burden like that herself. “Thank you. I’ll do it for you.”
He was pleased and kissed both of her hands before he released her and turned away. “I’ll be home later this afternoon. If you need the car for anything, Mavis can alert Vern.”
“I’ll be fine.” She could probably use a nap. He’d exhausted the life out of her.
“Of course you will.” With that, he was gone.
Tammy spent the morning working out. She ran on the treadmill in his private gym for an hour, had a shower and phoned home to speak to Elaina.
As usual, her friend probed her, but she didn’t kiss and tell. Instead, she asked her how she was doing and turned the focus back on her. Elaina wasn’t one to talk about herself either, but with Tammy’s expert prodding, she did. Tammy gave her some advice on how to deal with her discomfort and after another ten minutes of small talk, she hung up. She stared at the phone for a moment. She was really missing Montana, her jobs, and most of all, the Hartley clan.
Mavis came in and asked her what she would like for lunch and she declined. It was two in the afternoon and Lance promised her dinner so she expected him home in a few hours. She got up and went to her room wanting to get a nap in before he came home. It was funny really, she hadn’t had a nap during the day in almost five years. She wasn’t just exhausted though, she was sore—everywhere. It felt like he’d discovered muscles that she’d never used. She smiled as she stripped off her clothes and crawled under the cool sheets. She couldn’t even gauge when she shut her eyes and dozed off.
“Hey.”
She was in a heavy sleep when she heard the deep familiar masculine timbre.
“Tam.”
“Go away, I’m in heaven.” She smiled. She heard a chuckle and then a warm hard mouth pressing to her cheek. How wonderfully unexpected that was.
“I’m hungry,” he whispered deeply in her ear.
She giggled and finally opened her eyes. “I beginning to think that’s a given on all occasions.”
“How long do you need?”
She shrugged. “Fifteen minutes.”
“Impressive.”
“Yes, Councilor Hartley, I am that in spades,” she teased and stretched.
He patted her hip. “I’ll hold you to that then. I’ll meet you by the elevator.” He bent again and kissed her briefly on the mouth before he left.
She was ready right on time and he was waiting for her when she came down the hall. They rode the elevator in silence until she covered a yawn with her hand.
“Boring am I?”
She smiled and shook her head. “Far from it. You’ve exhausted me.”
He chuckled, and took her hand when the elevator doors open.
Outside Lance flagged down a taxi. “Vern has the night off.” He looked down at her with a smirk. “Hot date.”
She laughed. “Good for him. So, where are we going?” She wore a simple white and plum floral dress that had an empress waistline. It was quite flattering to her slender figure. According to the look of approval from Lance, she chose correctly. He wore a black dress shirt with visible platinum buttons. It was tucked into the belted waistband of his dark grey slacks. It was obvious the material was tailor made to his muscular physique.
“You’ll see.” He opened the door and helped her in the cab before sliding in beside her.
“I love surprises.” She beamed at him.
“Is that so?”
