Chapter 19 – Not So Fast... (Part 1)

Adeline couldn't stop the grin on her face as she watched Lance interact with two fans that had stopped them at the airport. He had signed an autograph for each of them and she was now watching as a friend took a photo with one of the girls' phones.

“This is so going up on Twitter!” one of the girls said after the photo was taken.

They both crowded around their friend and the phone to look at the picture with awe on their faces. After they were satisfied that the picture had turned out good, they both thanked Lance for taking the time to talk to them, and happily walked off.

“You made those girls' day,” Adeline said when he returned to her.

He put his suitcase on the conveyor belt and grabbed hers from her hand to do the same.

“That doesn't happen as often as it used to,” he said. “I guess because I haven't worked much the past couple of years.”

“Why is that?” she asked him.

“Well at first, you know, I was wrapped up in Mackenzie,” he said. “Then for a few months I was engaged and spending some of that time helping her plan a wedding. When she left...well, let's just say I was too engaged in feeling sorry for myself to work.”

She felt sorry for a moment that she had brought it up, but when he looked at her, he smiled.

“No worries,” he said. “That part of my life is over. You see this smile? This is the smile of a happy man. How can I feel sorry for myself when I'm marrying the most beautiful personal assistant on the East Coast?”

She smiled, but held a finger to her mouth.

“Lance, shhh,” she said, looking around at some of the people surrounding them in the airport. She was still a little cautious in public, making sure they didn't talk too loudly about their relationship or engagement and they didn't get photographed showing any affection towards each other. She hadn't made her plans of divorce completely official yet. Until she did, they still had to stick to a certain level of secrecy.

“Sorry, I can't help it,” he said. “I can't wait until next week.”

“Maybe next week,” she said.

They were headed back to New York today after spending a week in Laurel, but Adeline would only be home tonight and tomorrow before she left the next day on a plane headed to Los Angeles, all by herself. She had a consultation in three days with a divorce attorney she had found on the internet. She hoped that she would be able to file right away, and he hoped they could go public with their relationship shortly after by joining her in LA, but she had no idea how the meeting would go.

“We'll see how it goes,” she continued. “Until then, do me a favor and wrap up all that excitement and put it away in a pretty little package and keep it there, okay?”

He shook his head.

“You're breakin' my heart, baby,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.

Once they were on the plane and everyone else had boarded, she felt comfortable enough to reach over and grab his hand. He briefly looked over at her, both of them content but silent. She rested her head on his forearm and looked down at her hand in his.

It was so foreign to see a ring on her left hand again. He had surprised her with it right after she had answered him with a yes. It had shocked her to realize that he'd carried around a ring for two weeks waiting for her. It had amazed her to find out that he had gone out on a whim the day before Joanna's wedding and purchased it, even though he didn't plan to propose to her this soon – until an uncontrollable urge came over him at the ceremony.

It was even more foreign to her figuring out a balance between the engagement ring on her left hand that meant something to her, and the rings on her right hand that didn't mean anything to her anymore. She felt obligated to continue wearing her wedding rings until she severed the marriage on paper; she wanted to wear her engagement ring. It felt awkward to wear both at the same time. She had taken to trying to avoid looking at her right hand and only focusing on her left, but that had proven difficult for her as she favored using her right hand.

They planned to attend a little New Year's Eve get-together that Joanna and Nick were holding at their new house later that evening after they landed, as a New Years-slash-housewarming party, with close friends and family of Joanna and Nick. It would be the first time they went semi-public as a real couple; a test drive until the real thing was possible for her.

And she had absolutely no intentions of wearing her wedding rings to the party tonight.

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Adeline held up two dresses, one in each hand, against herself in his bathroom mirror – an above-the-knee, lace dress in black, and a long and silky, pink halter dress – trying to decide which she would wear that night.

Their plane had landed a couple hours ago and they barely had time to grab some dinner and sit down to rest before it was time to get ready. They were both tired, but they had promised Joanna they would be at the party. They decided they would stay a couple of hours before they came home.

As she held the pink dress up for the fourth time, he walked into the bathroom and saw her staring at the mirror.

“Black,” he said without having to be asked – he knew her well enough to know she would ask his opinion anyway. “It's more casual, and you look good in black.”

She put the black dress up to her body without saying a word, and smiled when she saw he was right.

“Are you going to finish getting dressed anytime soon?” she asked, looking at him with his shirt on but left unbuttoned and untucked from his slacks, not wearing shoes yet.

“Nope, I'm going to go to the party like this,” he said as he left the room.

She rolled her eyes, but finished getting dressed, putting on a little makeup to refresh what she already had on and throwing her hair up with a rhinestone clip. Even though she was normally a stumbling mess in them, she squeezed her feet into her best black pumps.

She was finally ready and in his entryway putting her stuff into a sequined clutch purse when he stepped out of the hallway – along with his pressed white shirt, black slacks, and shiny gray tie and dress shoes.

“Do I look good, or do I look good?” he said with a cocky grin.

“Eh,” she mumbled, trying to sound indifferent. “You clean up okay, I suppose.”

She started walking off to grab her coat, trying to keep the smile off her face when he rolled his eyes and attempted to look upset, but then his eye caught something. She got a few steps away when he grabbed her arm and turned her slowly toward him.

“Something's missing,” he said.

“Your suit jacket?” she asked.

“Your rings.”

He grabbed her right hand and held it up, knuckles facing her. She eyed her hand and then him suspiciously.

“Does that bother you?” she asked.

“I don't know,” he said. “It's...a big step. For you, I mean. That's all.”

“For us,” she said, smiling.

He let go of her hand when she pulled away to grab her coat and close her purse. He wanted to smile, but he couldn't stop the flow of unmistakable guilt from flowing straight to his heart.

“Now let's go,” she said, walking to the door. “We don't want to be late to the party. I'll have to tell them all that I had to wait while you fussed over your hair like a girl.”

Her playful insult flew straight over his head as he pushed down the sudden, unwelcome feeling that had overcome him.

“Yeah,” he said as he grabbed his coat and keys. “Better get to the party.”

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“Joanna, this house is amazing.”

Lance and Nick stood back as Joanna and Adeline led them through their new house on a small tour, ignoring the guests that had already gathered.

“The hardwood floors in the kitchen are brand new,” Joanna said to Adeline. “Granite counter tops, brand new appliances, and the cabinets – the cabinets are cherry...and they're gorgeous.”

“Women. They really will go crazy over anything pretty, won't they?” Nick said as he turned to Lance, who chuckled.

“Look at this backyard,” Adeline said as she wandered over to the sliding glass doors that led to the patio area. Her eyes wandered over the sitting area paved with gray stone, a full patio set, and a lit-up swimming pool in the distance. She turned to look at Lance. “I want this backyard.”

“Backyard – check,” he said.

“I want that pool.”

“Pool – check.”

“Throw in the patio set, too. Make it happen, honey.”

He smiled. “Joanna, you wouldn't be interested in selling the place anytime soon, would you?”

“Look at you guys,” Joanna said, smiling at Adeline. “Calling him honey? In public? You're engaged. And you're not wearing your wedding rings.”

“And I'm not having a panic attack about any of it, thank you very much,” Adeline said.

“Another one sucked in. You're in trouble, friend,” Nick said, slapping Lance lightly on the back.

Joanna and Adeline walked off as Nick followed, but Lance hung back a few steps. He couldn't explain the feelings he had been having since they had left the apartment. He had been so sure of what he wanted three weeks ago, and he knew part of him still was.

But when he had caught a glance of her right hand and saw that her rings were gone – those rings that had caught his eye so many times, that had only served as a reminder to him of how untouchable she was – he had panicked.

“I'm going to get some fresh air,” he said, interrupting the conversation Adeline and Joanna we having about the new furnishings.

“Are you okay?” Adeline asked him.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he said, trying to be nonchalant.

“Okay,” she responded, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he passed the test. “I'll join you in a while. Enjoy our patio while we're letting Joanna borrow it.”

He turned around as Joanna started to laugh and as he walked through her new patio door, he took a breath of cold, fresh air. As he felt himself start to calm down, he put his hands in his pocket and walked over to sit in the chair closest to the pool, enjoying the quiet to think.

He hadn't expected her to take off her wedding rings yet. It was a huge move for her, especially tonight. She had been so adamant about secrecy, and sometimes a bit paranoid in his eyes, even around Joanna. He had almost expected her to avoid wearing the ring he had given her in case anyone caught her wearing it on camera, and he had forced himself to accept that early on. He had accepted almost all of her anxieties and fears surrounding their relationship.

The thing he hadn't learned to accept yet, and hadn't even known it was coming, was his own anxiety once he realized that she intended to go through with her divorce. He had been one of the people in her life pushing her toward this point, but he hadn't known it would feel like this if she ever reached it.

“I broke up a marriage,” he whispered to himself with a sigh.

Granted, he told himself silently, it was a marriage that had been failing before he came into the picture. And the only reason it had reached this point was because the guy was a cheater, a liar, and in Lance's eyes, a horrible human being period. Adeline deserved better than that, whether “better” meant Lance or not. He had fallen in love with her, but if for some reason he hadn't, he still would have told her to leave her husband.

At least he thought he would have.

He was still debating it when he heard the door slide open and turned around to see her walk out. The minute the air hit her arms, she pulled them to her body and crossed them over her chest.

“It's so cold out here,” she said. “What are you doing? Why don't you come back inside with me to see our friends?”

“I'm thinking,” he said, turning back to look at the pool.

“That's never a good thing,” she said, laughing.

She saw that he cracked a hint of a smile, but he hadn't been his normal self since they left for the party.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. “It's so strange for you to be this quiet. Usually you're the one cracking all the jokes and I'm outside trying not to have a panic attack.” She rested her hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “This role reversal is a bit exhausting.”

“Did you take off your wedding rings for my sake, or for yourself?”

She was taken by surprise by his question. She had assumed that he was quiet because he was tired from the long vacation in Mississippi and the flight home.

“I'm not sure it matters,” she said. “Isn't it all the same?”

“Of course it matters,” he said. “It feels...sudden. Forced, maybe.”

She smiled. “You didn't force me to take off my rings. That was a decision I made myself.”

“Was it?” he asked.

She walked around and pulled a patio chair closer to him, taking a seat in it.

“It was for me,” she said, looking at him. “When I get on that plane in a couple days, I'll put them back on – for appearances sake. But once I meet with the divorce lawyer and figure out where this divorce is going and how fast...that's it.”

She smiled at him.

“Those rings will be gone, in fact they're going back to him. Taking them off for tonight was all for me. I needed to admit to myself that no matter what's happening with you and I, it's over with Marc, for good. It's been over for a long time, longer than I thought. I hate to say this...” She stopped to chuckle. “...Stephanie was right.”

“Wow,” he said. “You have changed. The Devil probably has goosebumps from the chill.”

She laughed. “I know it's odd for me to say, but I know that she was – now, that is. She never liked him, not even the day I met him. You know Stephanie and her 'feelings' about things. He didn't give her a good one. She never trusted him. The day of our wedding, she told me her only hope was that he didn't break my heart so bad that the damage was irreparable.”

“Note to self – Stephanie's out of the running for maid of honor. That was a bit harsh on your wedding day.”

“But like I said, she was right,” she responded. “He's probably been cheating since before we were married.” She groaned. “God, she's been right about everything – about Marc, about me avoiding all this, about you and me...”

“Wait, you and me?” he said. “What does she have to do with you and me?”

“You're kidding me,” she said, more of a statement than a true question. “She hasn't been pushing you to realize that we're perfect for each other for months?”

“No,” he said. “She boasted about all your skills and how great of an assistant you were, but she never went anywhere beyond that. In fact, if she had mentioned anything about that, I probably would have shut her down right there.”

“And that's exactly why she didn't mention it,” Adeline said. “She knows you and knew that if she did, you would have resisted it. She's going to die – I will kill her.”

He laughed, but with his mood, it died off quickly. “I guess it doesn't matter now, because we fell in love anyway.”

She immediately noticed the tone in his voice.

“Lance, you're not having second thoughts about us, are you?”

He sighed. “I don't know, Ad. There are no second thoughts about how I feel for you. I love you, I want to marry you, and I always will no matter what happens. It's moving so fast. You hated me three months ago, now you're ready to leave your husband for me? I don't want you to resent me a year from now when you realize this isn't what you wanted.”

“Are you afraid this isn't what I want?” she asked.

“I'm afraid that this is happening so fast and it's what you want now because it's exciting and fresh – but after you leave him and it finally hits you what you've done, it will be different.”

She wanted to say something to make him feel better, but as she thought about it, she couldn't. He made a good point. She knew she loved him, but she couldn't say that she wouldn't regret it later.

“Well,” she said, “I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Seeing that he wasn't feeling better, she stood.

“I'll go get us drinks.”

She leaned down to him, and as he looked in her eyes, she smiled and kissed him.

“I love you, my little homewrecker,” she whispered to him before she walked away.

He turned and watched her walk across the patio, the corner of his mouth turned up in a grin as she opened the door and walked back into the party. It seemed to be getting busy and more guests were arriving, since he heard a lot of people talking when she opened the door and he saw people he knew walking around the house through the window.

He thought he should try to go back into the party when he heard the door open again and heels click against the stones.

“Hey stranger.”

He was surprised it wasn't Adeline's, but instantly recognized the voice. It startled him so much that he whipped around in his chair to look at the person behind him.

“Kenzie.”