As Lance and Mercedes walked into Johnny’s living room, Chris made his way over for a greeting.
"Mercedes McKenzie, I presume?" She laughed and he gave her a hug. "I was all psyched about seeing you before the show and there you were attached at the hip to THIS guy. I felt like I would be intruding if I interrupted the two of you in the ‘Toy Room’ so I’ve been just biding my time waiting for the opportunity to grab a hug!"
"How are you Chris?" Mercedes asked, as Lance scanned the room for his family.
"Can’t complain, Mer. Me and Joey decided that’s your new nickname, Mer."
"Oh, and why’s that?" asked Lance grinning.
"Well, the way you’ve been monopolizing her time, we’d be lucky to get more than just one syllable in." Lance put his arm around her with a sheepish grin on his face and Mercedes laughed.
"Well, so it’s frick and frack." said Joey. "Justin made a bet with me that the two of you would not show up this evening. But, I said you would."
"Congratulations." Mercedes said.
"Okay, what’s the catch?" asked Lance. Mercedes looked at him with a puzzled look on her face. "Oh, believe me there’s a catch." Lance said to her. His eyes gazing upon her face.
Joey got a little red faced, "Ok. The clincher is, you guys can only stay 15 minutes max. That’s what I bet, that you’d just make an appearance."
"If I had my way, Justin would’ve won." Lance said, as he turned and walked away. "Let’s get something. I’m thirsty, how about you?" Lance asked her.
"Okay. Do you see your parents?"
As they tried to make their way over to the bar, Lance was bombarded by friends and the assorted Jive and/or WEG employee.
"Stick close." he spoke into her ear, as he tried to politely greet everyone.
"Lance, I see your Mom." Mercedes said. He followed the finger she pointed and waved to his Mom sitting in the solarium. Now, he tried to make his way in that direction. He bumped into Justin.
"Hey, what are YOU doin’ here? Man, now I lost the bet. Joey see you?"
"Yep."
"Well, make sure you stay here a while. Now that you’re here there’s no need to rush off." Justin told him.
Lance smiled, knowing full well that the wager behind the scenes had not yet been played out. The only question in his mind was, ‘who bet that they’d stay until the party was over?’
He put his arm around Mercedes and shielded her as they tried to make their way out to the solarium.
"Hey, Lance you made it!" yelled Johnny. "Hello Mercedes, you look WONDERFUL!" Johnny kissed her cheek, "Have you met my girlfriend, Dianne?"
Mercedes and Dianne exchanged greetings. "It’s quite a party you’re throwing."
"There’s a whole lot of people here I’ve never seen before." Dianne said.
"Maybe if we compared lists, between the two of us we might be able to name a portion of these people." Lance laughed. "Hey, even Johnny probably can’t name half these people."
Dianne agreed, then asked "Have you guys had any food? There’s a ton of food we have this terrific caterer you might know him..."
"Lance! Mercedes!"
Lance turned to see J.C. and Bobbie. "Hey, I knew you’d make it."
‘BINGO’ Lance said to himself.
"How much?" Lance asked J.C.
"What?"
"How MUCH?" Lance repeated the question.
J.C.’s eyes revealed him. "Who told?"
"Nobody. How much?"
"Only a hundred."
"Geez. Don’t you guys have anything better to do?"
J.C. laughed.
"J.C. I know you guys laid out more money than that."
"No way, it’s only a hundred."
"It’ll cost you one hundred if I stay."
J.C. shook his head, "You hurt me."
"Yeah, you’re bleeding. I know."
"75."
"No, it’s not worth it to me."
Mercedes leans in, "May I ask what this is about?"
J.C. and Lance reply, "Money."
Mercedes and Bobbie grin at the boyish game they were playing.
"Okay, one hundred."
"Make it two fifty."
"WHAT?"
"If you’re willing to give up that easily, you guys must’ve laid out 5."
J.C. put his hands on his hips, "You honestly think..."
Lance put his hand up in the air, "You have...ooo...five minutes left or Joey wins."
Lance quickly leaves rushing Mercedes with him.
"Hey, Mom." he bends down and kisses his Mother.
"We thought you’d get swallowed up in that crowd. Have you been here in the house long?" his Father asked.
"Not too long." Lance answered.
"Hello, Jim , Diane." Mercedes gave them a little wave.
"Mercedes." Jim said coolly.
"Mercedes, why don’t you and Lance sit here."
"Where’s Stace and Ford?" Lance asked.
"Johnny’s kitchen, I believe." Diane answered.
Lance checked the time and wondered if he was going to play the guys’ game. He spied Chris.
"One second."
"Okay, Chris. How much time did you bet I’d stay for?"
"I didn’t bet."
"Come on, I know you were the mastermind here. What? An hour or two?"
Chris smirked, "More than an hour, less than two."
"$250."
"No, man. I ain’t making profit that way."
"I could leave now."
"But, you don’t wanna or else you woulda."
"Two hundred."
"Running out of time, ain’t ya Scoop."
"Okay, I’ll just gather up my family and we’re gone." Lance turned and took two steps...
"Okay, two hundred."
"Deal."
As Lance made his way back to the solarium, he noticed a guy and his friend standing together and motioning towards Mercedes. One of them was trying to get up enough courage to go and talk with her. Lance heard them comment as to how "hot" looking she was. Lance felt very protective and possessive at the same time. He couldn’t lie to himself, as much as there might be screaming girls anxious to get a hold of him, there certainly were going to be men interested in Mercedes.
Lance found his way to the solarium at last and sat beside Mercedes. He held her hand, smiled, and looked back at the two guys in the living room. Then, he tried to make small talk with his parents.
"Now, how’s everyone back home? I haven’t really spoken to you about the neighbors and Carrah’s brother, has he joined the Air Force? I have been anxious to hear."
"Well, we’ve been waiting around, Son. Where’ve you been?" Lance glanced over at his Father.
"I’m here now, Dad."
Diane tried to ignore the tension and answer Lance’s questions. Stacey and Ford come back into the solarium and joined them.
"Hey, Bro that was a great show. I especially like the stage coming out into the audience." Stacey said.
"I think the fans liked it, too. They sure can make a lot of noise." Ford said. Stacey started to comment on what some of the fans were saying.
Lance nodded. From the corner of his eye, he watches his Dad. Jim was looking over at Mercedes and motioned to Diane. Then pointed at his own hand. Lance’s Mother then looked to see and noticed, apparently, that Mercedes was no longer wearing her wedding ring. Lance rolled his eyes. ‘Too much crap going on in my head.’
"What?" asked Stacey.
Lance pulled his attention away, "What do you mean, what?"
"You’re making a face. Did I say something?"
"No. No. Go ahead."
Lance and Mercedes were sitting outside in Lance’s back garden. Everyone else had gone to bed for the night. It was so late, it was early.
"I should let you get to sleep." Mercedes whispered to him.
"Stacey and Ford just went to bed, this is the first chance I’ve had to be alone with you...I don’t want to take you home yet."
Mercedes had worn a halter top that tied in the back, bared her stomach and a skirt that hugged her hips. Lance thought all night about how fantastic she looked. Lance glanced down at Mercedes’ legs.
"You’re wearing the swan." He touches her bare legs and pulls them up over his lap. "I’m glad."
"Well, now that we’re alone...and comfortable," Mercedes smiles. "What was it you wanted to tell me this evening?" Mercedes whispered sleepily.
Lance leaned his head back, he didn’t want to talk about that now. He didn’t really want to talk about it at all, but...
"Liam." Lance pursed his lips together and grit his teeth...and tried not to let it show.
Mercedes eyes widened.
"Oh, I haven’t heard you say his name in a very long time, Lance."
"I know. "
"This must be really awkward for you. I’ve thought about that. That it must be really awkward for you."
There was a look of puzzlement on Lance’s face, "In what way?"
"Well, because you and Liam were such good friends and I was his wife."
"I, um. I...um." Lance didn’t know where to begin. "Mercedes, when the group started and I first came to Orlando, it’s true Liam and I were close and we had a lot of fun together."
"Oh, I remember! You guys were really into all the extreme sports...you two even fought a bull in Cancaun as I recall." Mercedes laughed quietly.
"I THINK I have to caution you that Justin shudders every time he thinks I might get on his team during a basketball game. That bull fight was an accident. I think Liam tricked me into getting into that ring." Lance started to laugh now, too.
"Remember the time you two went hang-gliding and Joey wanted to do it SO badly..."
"Yeah, he freaked and backed out at the last minute."
"Liam talked about THAT for days!" Mercedes said.
"I’m sure he did. It really pissed him off at the time."
Mercedes looked pensive, "I know Liam had a reputation for being a real hard nose at the Company. But, you must’ve seen his softer side, too. He could be a lamb."
"When I first met Liam, I thought he was the consummate professional who had it all. In both his public and private lives. He was a very lucky man, Mercedes. He was very lucky to have your heart."
"That’s very sweet of you to say, Lance." Mercedes wrapped her arms around him. "Not many people knew the real Liam Burns like we did. Most people thought he was a cut-throat, hard nosed executive. But, we know that was not what he was like in his private life. We knew him best."
Lance took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair.
‘I can’t do this to her. I just can’t.’ Lance‘s heart was breaking for her.
"Was there any special reason why you mentioned Liam?" Mercedes asked.
Lance turned away from her face for a moment to compose himself.
"I just..." Lance wiped away a tear. "I just felt it was important to tell you that I understand how much you loved Liam. "
Mercedes placed her hand on Lance’s cheek. "You...you’re crying."
Lance tucked his chin and lowered his eyes. "Why?"
He shook his head, raised his eyebrows and said, "Dunno."
Mercedes kissed him "You really loved Liam, too, didn’t you."
"NO." Then his voice got softer, "No, that isn’t it." He tried to get up off the swing. Lance ended up shoving her legs off his lap so he feet slapped onto the stone patio. "Mercedes, I..." Lance held his hands to his face.
"Lance, what’s wrong? Did I say something?"
"Mercedes, I just don’t want to think of you being sad anymore. This has nothing to do with Liam and everything to do with you. You and me."
Lance stood up, Mercedes reached for his hand. "Please, Lance, don’t you realize that you have put faith back into my life. You have shown me that love didn’t die when Liam died. What I had with Liam was good." Lance’s face showed genuine pain, "But, I won’t let Liam or anything else affect what we will have together. He doesn’t belong in our love story."
Mercedes stood next to him and gently touched his face with one of her hands and wrapped the other around his arm. "Help me, I’m falling in love with a charming, adorable, Southern Baptist. What would my Irish Catholic ancestors say?"
Lance finally had the courage to look her in the eyes, they spoke volumes that she could not yet hear. She just smiled. "I think I’ll go to Mass tomorrow and thank St. Anthony for finding you and sending you to me."Lance brightened, "Is that what St. Anthony does for his faithful friends? Find them girlfriends or boyfriends?"
"Actually, no. His specialty is just in finding things...especially finding things you’ve lost."
"I’ve lost my heart to you, Mercedes." Mercedes knelt on the garden swing next to Lance. She reached up to him standing there and hugged him around the waist. His hands patted the arms that held him. Then, he sat next to her and his hands rested on her lower back as they looked into each other’s eyes and kissed. Mercedes hands played with his hair and rubbed his neck.
She leaned over and kissed his earlobe. "I promise I will take good care of that gentle heart of yours. I’ll keep it safe."
Mercedes straddled Lance’s lap, kissed his face, rubbed her head against his and then he laid his head against her chest. Lance kept his hands on her lower back, rubbing her tush through her skirt. Given the way she was sitting the material of the dress rode up revealing more thigh. Lance moved his hand around to the front of her dress to touch her thigh. He moved his fingers up the dress and easily touched her underwear. With one hand he reached for her face and brought her lips to his. He hungrily begged for more. Soon, he had started kissing her neck.
Lance hand came down and cupped her breast and he nuzzled his face against her halter top. His eyes looked up at hers. Mercedes seemed lost in that moment. Lance wanted to lose himself in the moment, as well. But, he knew he couldn’t. Mercedes was close to enjoying a physical release of pleasure. Lance held her tush with one hand to balance her.
He wondered how much persuasion it would take for him to convince her that he should be a part of the imminent explosion. He applied more pressure to her sensitive areas. His face rubbing her breasts and teasing her nipples with his mouth through the fabric. His fingers manipulating her clitoris making her wet and hungry. He thought about the strings that would release the halter top. But, should he go there, Lance didn’t know if he’d be able to resist the urge to lose himself and plunge entirely into this moment with her.
"Wait, no. I...." her breathing was erratic, "Not without you....ahh. AHH." A moment or two later, she climaxed.
Lance held her as she collapsed in his arms. She whispered breathlessly, "I cannot believe you just did that to me. It was so wicked. It was so wonderful." Mercedes was warm. "Are you alright?" she asked Lance.
"Just give me a minute. " Lance smiled and exhaled. He whispered into her ear, "I wish I could take you inside. eh, I just wish I could take you."
His eyes roamed over her. And he kissed her face open-mouthed.
"I need to think of a way to thank-you for that...wonderful experience."
Mercedes said taking a deep breath, Lance wiped her forehead with the palm of his hand. She still felt the remnants of her orgasm and held tightly onto Lance. "Why don’t you drive me home and stay for awhile?"
He was scrunching up her curls in his hand, holding her and kissing her face.
Lance shook his head and drank her in with his eyes. "That won’t work. I’d never be able to tear myself away. AND I refuse to hide in some corner here as if it’s something to be ashamed of."
"Will your parents be going on to Fort Lauderdale?" she asked. Her look was almost shy and he could read her thoughts.
"No." He smiled devilishly." Mom has FreeLance Entertainment business to take care of and Stacey and Ford have to get back to Mississippi. He’s starting his new job."
Lance kissed her, "That’s why they came into town earlier than I expected them."
They looked at each other.
