Vern shut the door behind her.
“So what?” she teased
A smiled pulled at his mouth. “Oh, it’s going to be like that.”
She handed him his card back. “I owe you a lot of money.”
“Good girl.” He smirked as he tucked the card away in his wallet.
“Doesn’t it bother you a little?”
“I won’t miss it.”
“That’s not the point.”
He gave her his undivided attention. “Tammy, you aren’t like that. You went out of your way to abandon this lifestyle, so you could give back to people what you thought you’d taken from them. I assure you, you do not need to feel guilty about this. I would buy you a whole new wardrobe, but I know you won’t let me.”
“I just don’t like to feel beholden to someone.”
“I free you of that right now. You owe me nothing,” he teased.
“It’s not like you can wave a magic wand Lance. It’s who I am.”
He tilted his head. “You take the guilt of your mother’s and Richard’s condescending behavior towards others, and who knows how many more people. You carry it all on your shoulders. You need to stop doing that. It’s not your fault.”
She bit her lip and turned away.
“You were meant to be bathed in beautiful things Tammy,” he added softly. “You are elegant, smart, sexy and any man would be privileged to have you.”
Gosh she could just cry. He was just so perfect. He made her feel like she actually deserved his attention.
“Hey.”
She felt his strong fingers under her chin turning her head to face him. “You have no reason to carry that burden. You have nothing to prove anymore. Your friends, we, love you for who you are.”
Love? As in family love, friendship love? She wanted love love. The type of love she finally knew existed, like between Elaina and Colt, and Tess and Jacob. That kind of devoted love.
“I want you to accept this as a gift and not feel like you owe me.”
“I’ll try.”
He smiled slightly still knowing it still bothered her.
The car started to move again. She resolved to staring back out the side window. She could feel his eyes on her, but chose to stay in her own world for the moment. She knew he was concerned, but there’s nothing he could say that made her feel better at the moment, and from his lack of trying, he knew it too.
“I have to take you home. I’m needed at the event. I’ll come back for you in a few hours.”
She nodded not saying anything. He would be there with Marianne, all buxom, beautiful, and flattering.
“You don’t need to worry,” he said suddenly as if reading her thoughts.
She turned and looked at him. “Okay.”
He lifted his hand and ran two fingers down her cheek. “Let me tell you why. You are more beautiful than she is; you are kind, generous, and you make love with total abandon. Your body is very responsive to my touch to the likes of which I’ve never experienced before. I don’t think you realize how rare those qualities are. I wouldn’t ruin that.”
“Lance, I don’t have enough to base my performance on, and you have so much, so I’m really insecure over it. That’s not easy for me to admit.”
“I know, so what I said is the truth. You need to trust me.”
