Free All That I Need (Grayson Friends) by Francis Ray

she snapped out.
    He wanted her, but it was a close enough accusation to make him glance away.
    This time he didn’t catch her before she reached the car and got in. He considered reaching for the door, but then what? On the tarmac was no place to have a discussion. He watched the limo pull away, then turned and saw Blade, Sierra, Luke, Catherine, and Rio at the base of the stairs watching. Lance wasn’t sure how much they’d heard, but from the displeased expression on the women’s faces they weren’t too thrilled with him.
    Blade probably regretted getting him through Security. At least Luke looked sympathetic. Rio’s face was unreadable. Lance continued inside the airport. He’d forgotten Ruth Grayson had been with the women until he saw her in the terminal. She headed straight for him.
    “The things we often value the most are the things that take the greatest effort to obtain,” she said.”You know that better than anyone.”
    He’d always been a private person. Now his friends seemed to know he couldn’t keep a woman happy. Again.
    Mrs. Grayson patted his arm in reassurance. “She kept the rose. I’d say, ‘Good luck,’ but some men make their own.”
    Lance stared after her as she walked away. He could have told her he wasn’t giving up, but maybe she knew it already. He and Fallon weren’t finished talking, and this time she was going to listen.
    *   *   *
    Fallon had calmed down considerably by the time the limo driver pulled up in front of her apartment. She knew Lance was leery about relationships. He’d made it no secret he wouldn’t mind taking her to bed, but it ended there. It was her fault for thinking he might regret as much as she did that she was leaving in a couple of days.
    Gathering the handled shopping bags, she stepped out when the driver opened the door. “Thank you. Please bring the dress.”
    “Certainly.”
    Moving ahead of the driver, Fallon went to her door. Setting the bags down, she inserted her key to open the door, then entered. “Please put the dress on the sofa.” Placing her shopping bags on the other end of the sofa, she reached into her bag for a tip and heard the door close.
    Her head came up. Instead of the driver, Lance stood there.
    “I tipped the driver. Where do you want me to put this?”
    “Anywhere, and then you can leave.” Removing the straps of the camera and cross-body bag, she placed them on the sofa cushion. She knew he hadn’t gone; she could sense him. And, heaven help her, she wanted him.
    “Can we start over?”
    Folding her arms, she turned and tried to look uninterested. No one had to tell her that Lance didn’t run after women. He was too self-contained for that. “I can’t think of one reason why.”
    Placing the dress carefully on the green floral sofa she detested, he came around the coffee table to stand in front of her. “I can.”
    “Lust isn’t a basis for anything except misery and heartache.”
    Something flashed in his eyes; then it was gone. “I want to show you that I’m not the jerk you think I am.”
    “And why would you think I’d care to find out?”
    “You still have the rose I gave you,” he said. “You took it from the airport, and it wasn’t in the limo. I checked when I passed.”
    She could have kicked herself. Even angry with him, she couldn’t throw away the one and only thing he’d ever given her. “I said I liked flowers.”
    He shook his dark head. “You’re too independent to want anything from a man you don’t like.”
    He had a point. She stepped around him and opened the door. “Please leave.”
    “Shouldn’t you put the rose in some water?”
    “Maybe I’d get more enjoyment over watching it wither and die, sort of like whatever was going on between us.”
    He blinked. “Why don’t you want to go out with me?”
    Annoyed at him, she slammed the door shut. He had no right to look so … wounded.
    “Is there someone else?”
    Her head jerked up. “If there was, you