Healing Love (Love to the Extreme) (15 page)

She pointed at him. “I won’t be involved with this, Lance. If I see one hair on either one of those assholes’ heads, I’m going to the cops. As much as they like to believe they have the police department on their side, I’m sure there are a few they haven’t been able to buy off.”

With that, she turned and stormed back up the driveway.

He watched her go. As the front door closed, the curtains in the living room pulled back. Skylar’s face came into view and she gave him a sad wave. Emotions hit him hard and he blew her a kiss before climbing into the Jeep and leaving.

He glanced at his watch. He had an hour to get home, collect the needed paperwork and get across town to his meeting. If everything went as planned, he’d have the McNealys paid back by this afternoon and all this shit would be behind him. Finally.

…

“I’m sorry, Mr. Black,” the loan officer said as he shuffled through the stack of papers. “We can’t approve a loan for the amount you’re requesting.”

Lance stared at the man. This was the second time some suit behind a desk had denied him a loan. “I don’t understand. I have a house, a business, and more than enough income to cover a sixty thousand dollar loan.”

“You have a house that still has a renovation loan attached to it. As for your business, while you’re doing fiscally well, the month to month income is inconsistent.” He held up Lance’s bank statements. “On paper you make a decent living, Mr. Black, but your bank account says otherwise. It’s too much of a risk for us to approve a loan for the amount you’re requesting when your debt to income ratio is so high.”

His debt to income ratio was so fucking high because of the amount he was paying the McNealys each month. God, he couldn’t fucking believe owing the McNealys would be the reason he’d be denied this loan.

All he needed was sixty thousand dollars. He was good for the money. More than good. What he’d owe the bank a month would be hundreds less than what he was paying the cousins right now.

“Again, I’m sorry.” The man put all Lance’s paperwork in a folder then held it out to him from behind the desk—a clear dismissal.

“Yeah, sure you are.” He snatched the folder from him and stormed out of the bank. After he climbed inside his Jeep and slammed the door, he hit the steering wheel with his palm. Fuck.

Nothing about this was fair. This all began because he’d been desperate to get Skylar the treatment she needed. Now the McNealys were being complete douchebags. And he was fucking sick of it. He’d tried to go about this the legal way, and that hadn’t worked.

If he was going to have to fight his way out of this goddamn debt, then he was going to go balls to the wall with it.

The McNealys had an offer coming
they
wouldn’t be able to refuse.

Chapter Seven

Though the atmosphere was fun and festive, Ella was having a hard time getting into a cheerful spirit as she walked down the main strip of the Annual Cheney Fair with Amber. Her crappy mood was the main reason she’d agreed to come in the first place. She’d hoped some rides, games, and cotton candy would help her feel better. So far, it hadn’t.

“What’s up with you?” Amber asked. “You’ve been acting weird all week.”

Other than the fact she hadn’t seen or heard from Lance in almost five days?

“Just have a lot on my mind.”

Truth was, she was freaking hurt. When she’d gone downstairs the morning after his rejection, he and Skylar had already left. Then she showed up at Coolier for their training session to only find out that Lance had arranged for Billy to train with her all week.

“You know, if you want to talk about anything, I’m here to listen.”

She studied the woman beside her. Despite witnessing Ella’s reaction after the accident, Amber hadn’t shied away from her. She always talked to her at the gym, invited her to go out, just trying to be a friend. What would it hurt to open up? She really couldn’t talk to Brooke or her mother about anything going on.

“Lance isn’t talking to me.”

“Yeah, I noticed. In fact, I haven’t seen him at the gym all week.”

That made her feel slightly better. Since Amber was training for her first amateur fight, she spent a lot more time at Coolier than Ella. She’d worried that Lance had been sneaking in after she left. Not that he’d have to sneak—he was free to come and go as he pleased—but still, she couldn’t read his current behavior as anything other than avoidance.

“You two have a fight or something?”

“Or something,” Ella muttered, but not low enough, since Amber stopped walking and stared at her.

“Oh. My. God. I knew there was something going on between the two of you. Sparks fly when you guys train.”

“There’s nothing going on between us.”

“Spill it and don’t leave out anything juicy. I’m going to live vicariously through your boy-drama, because I sure as hell don’t have any of my own.”

“Boy-drama is overrated.”

“Says the woman who has some. Seriously, now—give me the deets.”

Ella filled her in on everything that had happened the other night, leaving out the McNealys’ and Lance’s impromptu fight, keeping it focused on the fun they’d had with his daughter, the kiss on the couch, then his rejection.

Amber scrunched her nose. “Keep things the way they are? Well, that just sucks.”

“I haven’t heard from him since.”

The crappiest thing about it was, she missed the jerk. Missed training with him, talking to him, just spending time with him. Had she known this would be the outcome of her bold suggestion, she would’ve just kept her mouth shut, because now Lance didn’t even want to be friends.

The other woman’s gaze travelled over Ella’s shoulder, and an impish expression crossed her face. “Well, you’re about to.” She waved her arm over her head. “Hey, Lance.”

Oh. God. Her heart slammed against her breast. Amber was messing with her. She had to be. Slowly, she twisted to glance behind her.

About twenty feet away, Lance was standing beside Mac, who was throwing a baseball at three stacked pins. Ella whipped her head back around. “Amber,” she hissed.

“What?” she said, without a hint of remorse in her voice. “You want to know what’s going on—now you can find out.” She scowled in annoyance. “Damn it, he didn’t hear me. Lance,” she yelled, louder this time.

“Would you stop—”

“Good. He’s waving.” She frowned. “Though hesitantly.”

God, she wanted to disappear.

“They’re heading over.” Amber’s frowned deepened. “Damn, Kelsey, I think he’s with someone. I’m
so
sorry.”

And that just made the moment all the more fantastic. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself then turned with a bright, forced smile.

The first thing she saw was Mac walking beside a guy she’d never seen before. The ease between the two said they’d known each other for a while. Lance was lagging behind, and sure enough, there was a stunning, auburn-haired woman all but bouncing beside him—all smiles, energy, and chatter.

The complete opposite of Ella. If that didn’t say a lot…

“Hey guys,” Mac said as he stopped in front of them. “Enjoying yourselves?”

“Yeah, getting ready to ride some rides. Aren’t we, Kelsey?”

She didn’t want to be a part of this conversation. All she was aware of was the woman Lance was with, and how damn riveted he seemed to be by what she was saying. He hadn’t glanced at Ella once. If anything, he seemed to be pointedly ignoring her. Guess she couldn’t blame him. This was a seriously awkward moment.

“Yeah.” Mac nodded. “We’re about to hit the Ferris wheel ourselves. You guys want to join us?”

The idea of being trapped on a Ferris wheel with Amber while Lance was sharing a bucket with that woman didn’t hold one ounce of appeal.

“Sure,” Amber said, with way more excitement than was warranted.

A sharp poke stabbed Ella in the small of the back. Annoyed, she shot a glare at her friend, which didn’t seem to faze Amber at all. She simply tilted her head to the guy standing beside Mac with a classic “what are you waiting for” expression.

Flirt with a strange man? Should she? Hell,
could
she? She flicked a glance back at Lance, who was still ignoring her, completely engrossed with that other woman. His behavior hurt like hell, but it was sending a clear message. At least Amber’s method would save her a little face.

“And who’s your friend?” Ella forced herself to ask. It wasn’t that the guy was unattractive. With a red baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes, a stocky build, and relaxed posture, he was actually quite attractive. He just wasn’t Lance.

“Ah. Sorry,” Mac said. “This is Rick.”

“It’s really nice to meet you.”

Amber huffed behind her then inserted herself between Ella and Rick. “Why don’t you and Kelsey ride together on the Ferris wheel?”

The comment instantly brought Lance’s head snapping up. Flutters attacked her stomach at his reaction, not to mention the fierce scowl now on his face.

“Umm,” the guy hedged, clearly uncomfortable with Amber’s matchmaking. “Yeah. Sure.”

Lance stepped forward, but the woman grabbed him by the arm, still chattering a mile a minute, and he returned his attention to her, albeit reluctantly. So, he didn’t like the idea of Ella being with another man, but not enough to dismiss the woman he was with. Ella turned her full attention onto Rick.

“Shall we then?” he asked, as he gestured for her to walk ahead of him. Nodding, she turned and started toward the ride a few feet away.

“So…what do you do, Rick?” she asked when he fell into step beside her.

“I’m Gayle’s chasing partner, and in the off season I paint.”

“Gayle?”

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Blabbermouth back there with Lance. She hasn’t stopped talking since we got here.”

Now that she knew her name, Ella had to force herself not to turn around and assess the woman again. Even from a distance the woman radiated life. As much as she hated admitting it, she could understand the appeal. Who wouldn’t rather be with someone fun over someone who constantly barricaded herself behind walls?

“What do you mean by chasing partner?”

“Storm chasing.”

“Wow.” She didn’t have to feign being impressed. “I’ve watched some documentaries. The weather you go through is no joke.”

Color crept into his face as they stopped to stand in line. “It’s no big deal.”

“Modest. I like that.”

A hard body pressed into her back, and she glanced behind her. Lance was pretty much standing on top of her, that glower firmly directed at her. A little thrill shot through her, but it diminished as she registered the faded bruises lingering on his face—a reminder that the last time she’d seen him he’d just had three hellish fights.

“I enjoy it. It helps with my paintings,” Rick said, snagging her attention again.

“What kind of paintings?”

“Weather scenes.”

“That’s really cool.” Even she could hear the awe in her voice.

As a hand snaked around her waist to rest on her and squeeze hard, she jumped, then her gaze shot back to Lance—still glowering, but he was also all puffed up like something was seriously pissing him off.

She shook off his grip. A carny unlocked the gate, opening the way to the passenger car. Once again, Rick gestured for her to go ahead of him. She stepped onto the platform then slid onto the bench. As Rick was getting ready to climb in after her, Lance laid a beefy hand on his shoulder and shook his head slowly. The man simply stepped aside, and Lance took his place, a satisfied grin curving his mouth.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded as the carnival worker closed the front and locked it.

“You didn’t think I was actually going to let you get on this ride with another man, did you?” He rested his arm along the back of the bucket.

She scooted as far away from him as the bucket would allow. “You’ve made it damn clear that you don’t want me, so you need to get over yourself. If I want to chat up some other guy, I can.”

“Wrong,” he said, sliding up beside her. “I’ve made it pretty fucking obvious that I want you. I just didn’t think it was a great idea. Seeing you
chat up
another guy, helped change my mind.”

His woodsy cologne was wrecking havoc on her senses, making it hard to think. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the smell of him until this very second. “So you’re just going to dump your date?”

“Date?” A shocked laugh came from him. “You mean Gayle? She’s Mac’s girlfriend. She’s also my neighbor, but I haven’t seen her in a while, since she took a new job. She had
a lot
to fill me in on.”

He wasn’t here with another woman. “Then why were you going out of your way to ignore me? No. Forget that.” She twisted her body toward his, and all the hurt, confusion, and embarrassment she’d kept bottled up for almost a week spewed out. “Where the hell have you been the last
five
days?”

“Avoiding you,” he answered, his gaze not wavering from hers.

She’d known that, but damn, hearing it hurt. “Ouch.”

He pressed his thigh into hers and ran his finger over a lock of her hair. “It’s not because I don’t want to see you. Trust me. I had my reasons, but I have to admit when I’m fighting a losing battle, and I’m losing this one.”

Some of her anger abated. She could understand that in a weird way. She’d had her own reasons for wanting to stay away from Lance, but none of those reasons had been stronger than her attraction to him.

He kept his gaze locked on the strand of hair he was fiddling with. “Why did you move here?” he finally asked.

She pulled back. “
Where
did that come from?”

A slight shrug lifted his shoulder. “I just realized I don’t know anything about you, other than you have kickass knowledge of MMA and you are one fine kisser.” He dropped the lock of hair and met her gaze. “So, why did you move here?”

She struggled to find words, an explanation. All she had was the truth. She didn’t want to lie to Lance—not blatantly at least. She wanted this man. He apparently wanted her, too.

Instinctively, she pressed her hand to her side. If he eventually saw her scar, he’d ask more questions. There was no way she could add lie after lie with him looking her in the eyes. She just wasn’t built that way. Sighing, she said, “All right.”