“Who wouldn’t love Taffy? She’s the biggest love bug. I watch her sometimes when she and Dax travel.”
Lance remembered something Kenzi had said about Willa wanting to travel. “If you could go anywhere, where would that be?”
“You’ll think I’m crazy.”
“Tell me,” he said. He wanted . . . no needed, to know what she yearned for.
“Disney.”
“The theme park?”
Willa fiddled with the silverware beside her plate before answering. “Any part of it. My family used to talk about going when Lexi and I were young. We never made it there.” She shrugged one of her delicate shoulders. “It’s silly, really. It’d probably make me sad now.”
Okay, so no Disney. At least, not yet.
“Where else would you want to go?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been many places.” Willa looked painfully unsure of herself. “Most of the vacations Lexi and I took were either with your family or places we went together. And Lexi hates to fly. It’s how our parents died.”
He’d known that, but it was different hearing about it from her. It made it more real. It also explained the bond she had with Kenzi. When it came to family, he’d never heard of her having any outside of Lexi. “How about you?”
“Oddly, flying has never bothered me. I guess I figure that if something is going to go wrong it will—you don’t have to leave the ground to crash and burn.”
The way she said the last part made Lance wonder what he’d missed. He’d known her, at least from a distance, for a long time. Outside of her parents he wasn’t aware of anything tragic happening to her. Apparently, he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did.
That’ll change. I want to know everything about her this time.
First, I’d be satisfied with simply seeing her smile again. He pointed to an elderly couple walking hand in hand by the café. “Do you ever look at people and try to guess their stories?”
Willa looked at the couple, then back at Lance. “All the time. I love things like that. I bet she was a ballet dancer. The elegant way she walks, her posture.”
Lance nodded and added, “He had a boring life before someone dragged him to Giselle, and he saw her.”
With a dreamy expression, Willa put her hand on Lance’s arm as she watched the couple disappear down the street. “He bought tickets for every performance just to see her until he worked up the courage to ask her out.”
“She said no because she was dating a man with no neck and the body of a linebacker.”
“She changed her mind when he sent her a card with flowers and a poem about how beautifully she danced.” Willa laughed and realized she was still holding Lance’s arm. There was wonder in her eyes. “I didn’t picture you as someone with an imagination.” She looked instantly contrite. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
He caressed one of her cheeks lightly with the back of his fingers. “I can see why you’d think that. You only know me as the person I am around my family.” He thought about how his life had become more and more structured, closing in until there wasn’t much beyond who his family had wanted him to be. Asking Willa out was the first impulsive action he’d taken in a long time. “I like you, Willa Chambers. And I like who I am when I’m with you.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything. It was ironic in a way how their roles had reversed the second time around. She looked as scared by his declaration as he’d been by hers ten years earlier. To put her at ease he pointed to a mother and a daughter and asked her what she thought their story would be.
Their conversation fell into a comfortable pace and time flew. A waitress apologized and said the café was closing. Lance paid the bill and handed her a generous tip.
With his hand on her lower back, Lance guided Willa out of the café and to the street. He hailed a cab and held the door open for her. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at ten.”
She nodded and looked up at him, expecting the kiss he was dying to give her. He had watched her lips all evening. When she spoke, when she sipped her coffee, when she laughed. So beautiful. Kissable. Not his yet. But almost.
He bent until his lips hovered above hers. His breath mingled with hers. He could almost taste her but he wouldn’t. Patience.
“See you tomorrow,” Lance said and raised his head.
Willa blinked, shook her head, then ducked into the cab. “I’ll be ready.”
Lance shut the door and stepped back. This wasn’t about ignoring an elder brother’s mandate. He wanted Willa as much now as he had back then, but he was different. Her happiness was all that mattered.