Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1) (5 page)

He just threw all his clothes in and washed them the same way no matter what. He'd never tried to wash anything for a girl before and didn't know there were rules about it.
 

He followed Abby, lengthening his stride to catch up. "So, where to?"

Abby headed toward the nearest department store. "I need something I can wear to work. Megan lets me borrow stuff, but I'd like to keep that to a minimum if I can."

"Who's Megan?" He was walking close to her, almost close enough to brush his arm against hers. Her hair was down today, and landed just past her shoulders. He'd thought her hair was more dark blonde last night, but the sun coming through the mall's skylights picked up hints of red.
 

Abby glanced up at him. "My roommate."
 

"Is she the one that you went to the party with last night?"

She nodded. "Yup."

"Did she wonder where you'd gone after you left the party?"

Abby shook her head. "No. I texted her that I caught a ride with a friend. She saw me today so she knows I'm not dead in a ditch somewhere. Parties aren't really my thing anyway, and Megan knows that. I doubt she expected me to stay the whole time."

Lance couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "So we're friends, huh?"

She tilted her head from side to side. "It was the simplest explanation. Besides, you have been friendly."

He wasn't sure
friendly
was what he was going for, but decided to let that go for now. "So why were you there last night?"
 

Abby led the way through the store to the women's department, heading for the section with business wear. "What do you mean?"

"You said parties aren't really your thing. Why'd you come to the party?"

She started pushing through the clothes on a rack. "Megan told me I had to. She thinks I need to break out of my shell more. I'm not sold on the idea, but she promised she'd do all the dishes this week if I went."
 

She looked up and smiled at him, her blue eyes twinkling. Lance smiled back. "Nice. I can see how that would be convincing." She moved to another rack and Lance followed. "So, where do you work?"

"I run the language labs for the Spanish I and Spanish II classes over the summer. I also grade their online homework. I don't actually have to dress up, but I like looking a little nicer than if I were one of the students. I have a hard enough time getting them to take me seriously as it is."

Lance moved to a rack and glanced at the clothes hanging there. "Why don't they take you seriously?"

"Are you kidding? Without makeup on I look like I'm twelve. Even with it I don't look much older than a high school student. Half the people in the summer sessions are my age or older trying to get their foreign language credits in so they can graduate. Plus, I'm a white girl with blonde hair teaching a Spanish lab."

Lance noticed that Abby had picked out a couple shirts to try on. He found one he liked on the rack he was looking at. It was light blue and sleeveless, with a scooped gathered neckline. "What about this one?"

Abby looked up at him in surprise. Then she looked at the shirt on the hanger he held up. She laughed lightly. "I like it, but that's way too small."
 

He looked at the shirt and then at her. "What size do you need?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I need a medium usually. That looks like an extra small. You may have noticed that I have boobs. The shirt needs to be big enough to fit over them."

He looked at her chest, remembering the view he'd gotten when her shirt was soaking wet. The shirt she had on now didn't accentuate her figure very well, but it didn't hide it either. He realized he was staring again and snapped his eyes back to her face. Fortunately she looked amused, not angry. He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. I guess I did notice."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Uh huh. I've seen you notice more than once now." She plucked the shirt out of his hand, replaced it on the rack and grabbed one in her size. "I'm going to go try these on."

Lance followed along in her wake. At least this was one of those places that had comfortable chairs outside the dressing room, so he sat down and pulled out his phone to wait for her to finish. Would she want to model the clothes for him? He kinda hoped so.

* * *

"Thanks again for replacing my shirt." Abby buckled her seatbelt and fiddled with the shopping bag in her lap.

She'd decided to get the shirt he'd picked out, which had made him really happy. She'd tried to argue him out of buying it for her, telling him that taking her shopping was enough to make up for her other shirt. He blew off her protests and gave the cashier his credit card while she was still fishing out her wallet.
 

"You're welcome." He buckled his seatbelt and then grinned at her. "Thanks for coming to the movie with me."
 

Since buying her shirt hadn't taken very long, Lance had convinced her to walk over to the movie theater to see what was playing. There'd been a showing of the summer's blockbuster action flick just about to start.

"You're welcome. I could've paid for myself, though."

"Now, what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you pay for a movie I invited you to? That's not the way it works, Abby."
 

"My other guy friends don't pay for me when we go hang out."

"They don't?"
 

"No. The only time a guy has paid for my stuff is when we've been on a date."

"Really? Hmm."
 

She narrowed her eyes at him. "This wasn't a date, Lance."

He just shrugged. "If you say so. What are you doing tomorrow?"

Abby blinked at him, not sure what to make of his responses. Or what to tell him about her plans tomorrow. "Um, I think Megan and I have plans."

Lance glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he maneuvered the car out of the mall parking lot. "You think so, huh?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So, you're not just trying to avoid making plans with me?"

Abby rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe. What did you have in mind?"

"What about your plans with Megan?"

"Fine, Megan will probably have a hangover from another party tonight. My plans are to hang out and read, maybe do some laundry. It's pretty exciting stuff."

Lance laughed. "You can just tell me you don't want to see me tomorrow." He stopped at a red light and faced her. "I can take no for an answer."

"Are you sure about that? Because from what I can tell, every time I've told you no you've railroaded me and done whatever you decided."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hmm, let's reminisce, shall we?" Abby held up a finger. "I asked you to take me home so I could change into my own shirt before going out for pie with you and you wouldn't do it." Another finger. "I told you I'd rather meet you somewhere and you said that you would pick me up." A third finger. "I told you I could pay for my shirt, and you gave the lady your card before I could get mine out." A fourth finger. "I told you I'd pay for my movie ticket and snacks and you paid for them without even acknowledging that I'd said anything. You insist on your way no matter what I say."

Lance grabbed the fingers she was wiggling near his face, holding her hand while he spoke. "You only actually said the word no one of those times. That's not enough evidence that I can't take no for an answer." Abby glared at him, trying to wriggle her fingers out of his grip. "Besides," he continued, "I'm a businessman. It's a positive trait that I can't take no for an answer."

Abby managed to get her hand free and pointed at him. "Ha! So you admit it."

"I admit nothing."

Abby sat back in her seat with her arms crossed over her chest. "You sure you're not planning on becoming a lawyer?"
 

Lance just laughed and shook his head. "If I railroad you regardless, why even bother to make up fake plans? According to you I'd just change them for you anyway."

"Hope springs eternal."

Lance pulled into the parking lot for her apartment complex. "So you need to do laundry tomorrow. How long does that take?"

Abby shrugged. "A few hours. We have our own machines, so I don't have to use a laundry room or anything."
 

"Do you want some company?"

"Uh, no. I told you Megan's going to have a hangover. You don't want to be at our apartment when she's like that."

He nodded. "Okay. I'll take your word for it. So, you'll probably do it in the evening I'm guessing?"

"Maybe." Abby stretched the word out. "Why?"

"So you're free for lunch?"

"I guess so."

"Okay, I'll pick you up at noon."

Abby shook her head. "That's not the way this works. If you want me to go out with you then you need to ask me, not tell me."

Lance unbuckled his seatbelt and turned his body to face Abby. He leaned toward her, nearly invading her personal space. Abby could see the amusement in his eyes. "Abby, would you please have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Abby swallowed and licked her lips. "Okay."
 

Lance's gaze dropped to her mouth. He leaned forward slightly and Abby leaned back a little. His hand slid up her leg, from knee to mid thigh. "I'd like to kiss you now, Abby."

She swallowed again. "Okay." It came out as a breathy whisper. And then his mouth was on hers, almost before she could think. His lips were soft, softer than she'd expected. His hand slid from her thigh to her hip and around her back, pulling her closer to him. He pulled back for a breath, and kissed her again, more firmly. His other hand came up to cup her face. He angled his head and slid his tongue into her mouth. Abby tentatively slid her tongue against his and he deepened the kiss further.

When they broke apart Abby was breathing hard and her heart was racing. "Um, I think I better go."

Lance nodded and got out of the car, taking her hand as he walked her to her apartment. At her door he turned to her and kissed her again. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment before speaking. "This was a date, Abby. Tomorrow is too. I'll pick you up at noon."

Abby just nodded, not trusting her voice right then. She unlocked her door and cleared her throat. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

CHAPTER FIVE

"Who's the hottie dropping you off?"

Abby jumped, startled by Megan's voice. "God, Megan! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Abby pushed away from the door she'd just closed and turned to face Megan. "I didn't even think you'd still be here."

Megan was wearing a robe and had her hair wrapped in a towel. "I'm just getting ready to go. Isaac's picking me up at 8:30, so I've still got almost an hour." She narrowed her brown eyes at Abby. "Don't dodge the question. Who's the hottie?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "I'm not dodging anything. That was Lance." Abby flopped down on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table and pulling a throw pillow into her lap.
 

Megan crossed her arms and stared Abby down. "And how do we know Lance?"

"
I
met Lance at the party last night. Why? Do you know him?"
 

Megan shook her head. "No. He looks familiar, though."

"Maybe you've seen him in the business building? He said he was a marketing major."

"
Was
a marketing major?" Trust Megan to pick up on verb tenses. It must come from working as a tutor during the school year.

"Yeah, he just graduated."

Megan sat down, looking thoughtful. "Maybe. What else do you know about him?"

"Umm, he's working as a marketing intern over the summer and then he's going back to Texas in the fall."

"Hmm . . . anything else?"

Abby closed her eyes and thought back over their conversations. "Uh, he doesn't know how to do laundry?" Megan's eyebrows shot up, but she didn't interrupt and Abby kept talking. "Oh, he said he had a football scholarship, so I guess he played football."

"He's from Texas, he just graduated, and he played football." Megan paused scrunching her face while she thought. Then her face cleared and her eyes gleamed with excitement. "Oh my God! Do you mean Lance Kane?"

"Uh, maybe? He didn't tell me his last name."

"You're kissing some guy on our doorstep and you don't even know his last name?"

"Like you're one to talk. I walked in on you and Isaac doing more than that last week." It was Abby's turn to narrow her eyes. "Were you spying on me or something?"

Megan shrugged. "I heard something outside so I glanced out my window. You were kissing. So, was that your first kiss? How was it? Is he as good a kisser as the rumors say?"
 

Abby threw the pillow in her lap at Megan. "Really? I have to tell you the details?"

Megan threw the pillow back. "Yes, you do. It's only fair. I tell you all about my exploits."

"But I don't ever ask. You just volunteer that information."

Megan made a dismissive noise in her throat. "Whatever. You know you want to know, even if you won't admit it. So, c'mon! Fill me in."

"Fine. Our first kiss was in the car. The one you saw was the second kiss. Or maybe the third. I think technically he kissed me twice in the car."

"Oooh, a parking lot make out session. Was there tongue?" Megan wiggled her eyebrows.
 

"Well, you could hardly call it making out if there weren't any tongue, could you?"

Megan cackled in delight. "I'm going to take that as a yes. So, how was it?"

Abby smiled. Megan butted in before Abby could actually answer. "That good, huh?"
 

Abby laughed. "Yeah, that good."

"As good as the rumors?"
 

Abby shook her head. "I haven't heard the rumors. There are rumors about him?"

"Oh, yeah." Megan's face turned serious. "There are lots of rumors about that guy. He's a serial dater. He takes girls out, but rarely the same girl twice, and never more than that."

Abby frowned. "That makes him sound like a jerk."
 

Megan shrugged and shook her head. "No, no one seems to think he's a jerk. He just doesn't do relationships. But he's supposed to be a great kisser and really good in bed. So, you've found out about the first rumor. Any plans on finding out if there's truth to the second?"