Miss Congeniality (18 page)

“Let’s play yes or no,” Brea told Lance the next day when they were driving to the airport. It was something they had started doing since that first night, when he gave her a series of yes or no questions to answer. It was one of their favorite things to do.

“Who’s asking?” He eyed her warily and with good reason. The last time they played, she asked him questions about his past sexual experiences, much to his embarrassment and dismay.

“You remember the rules, whoever suggested it, which would be me.” She waved her hand over her chest dramatically.

“Fine. But I’m giving you a limit of ten.” She tsked her lips, trying to think of questions she wanted to ask him.

“Did you like my skirt yesterday?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “And not to take away from the game, but I told you that last night.”

“I thought you were kidding! And Lance, for the record, if you want to get laid in the near future, don’t ever tell me you don’t like what I’m wearing.”

His face scrunched in confusion. “Why the hell not?”

“Because a woman wants to know her boyfriend thinks she looks good, and if you thought the skirt was ugly, you thought I looked ugly.”

“You always look good, babe. The skirt was ugly, not you.”

She brushed him off. “Same thing, but I don’t really want to get into it with you.”

“You started with me!”

“Moving on,” she said loudly. “Do you like being my boyfriend?”

“Yes.” He laced his fingers with hers and kissed her hand.

“Do you want to go home with me in a couple weeks?” Brea had decided a few days ago she was going to fly in for part of her brother’s trial, but had yet to inform Lance.

“Yes.”

“Can you see yourself with another woman?”

He frowned at her question. “No.” She wasn’t a jealous woman by nature. However, it was really hard to be in a relationship with a guy whom women were literally willing to throw themselves at while naked, so every once in a while, she threw in that question.

“Do you think your image has improved with the media?”

There was that smirk she knew and loved. “Nope.”

“Do you think my image has improved with the media?”

“No.” If there was one topic they argued about, it was that. He didn’t like the idea her reputation suffered because she was with him, but Brea couldn’t care less. She was the happiest she had been in a long time, and she wasn’t going to jeopardize that feeling because someone told her he wasn’t the right person for her to be with.

“Will you take me to meet your parents?”

“Yes.” He had been begging her for weeks to go with him, but she always put him off because she didn’t want to meet them. It was a valid excuse before, when they worked fourteen-hour days and all she had time to do was go to bed when they were released for the day, but that was no longer an option. Besides, if his answer to the next question was what she thought it would be, she had better get used to the idea of having to meet his parents.

“Do you love me?” Lance had whispered the words to her the other night, but one could never be too sure.

He brought their joined hands up to his mouth again. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Lance stared at her like she had two heads. “What do you mean ‘good’? You’re supposed to say ‘I love you, too’ when I make that declaration.”

“Not in yes or no.”

“You make no damn sense sometimes. I don’t know why I bother.”

“Because you love me,” she sang joyfully. He shook his head, turning the radio up loudly on some heavy metal station, a sign she had pissed him off. She wanted to let him stew for a bit—she couldn’t let him have the upper hand in everything—but he looked so damn miserable she refused to let him suffer for much longer. She turned down the radio, ignoring his grumblings.

“I’m going to throw you a bone.”

“I’m not a damn dog.”

“You’re right; dogs are man’s best friend, sweet loveable pets you want to show off to everyone. None of that describes you. But as I was saying, I am going to give you a chance to play a modified version of yes or no. You get to ask me one question.”

“How come I only get to ask you one question when you asked me ten?”

“My game, my rules.”

“Actually, it was my game first.”

“Who’s giving you the bone?”

“How the hell did this just get weird?”

“Follow along. One question.” She held up one finger for emphasis, knowing what question he was going to ask. She knew he was dying to have her say she loved him, and she was happy to be able to give him this.

“Okay, I got it. Since you were mean to me, can you give me a blowjob as your way of apologizing?”

“Don’t pout,” Lance mumbled under his breath as they walked through the airport. They walked briskly to their plane, having been spotted so the pointing and pictures had already begun.

She was still upset when she thought about his question. “I can’t believe you asked me that! Like that is the one question you wanted to know the answer to.”

“Why would I ask you a question when I already know the answer?” He slung his arm over her head playfully, nuzzling her neck. She jerked away from him, mostly so he didn’t know how he affected her.

“You think you know the answer, but you really don’t know shit.” He threw his head backed and laughed, kissing her with a loud smack before slapping her ass.

“Don’t change, babe.”

“Why the hell would I ever change. Someone has to be there to keep you on your toes.” They reached their gate, sitting in the corner so people wouldn’t mess with them. There was only a twenty-minute wait until their boarding time, so Brea and Lance opted to wait near the gate as opposed to the VIP lounge. They sat there for about ten minutes, Lance playing on his iPhone while Brea watched those around her. A woman sat across from them with two small children, a little girl no more than one year old, and a three-year-old little boy who sat playing with his ball.

The children had been screaming off and on the whole time they sat there, the boy whining for snacks and a drink while the little girl just cried. Brea felt bad for the mother, so when the little boy looked like he wanted to throw the ball at her, she reached out her hands to let him know she would catch it. He reared back his arm and threw the ball at Brea, catching her by surprise, but she quickly recovered and tried to reach for it. The kid’s aim was off, hitting Lance in the head. He looked at her curiously, and she held her hands up to say she didn’t do it.

“Gary!” The mother scolded him. “I’m so sorry.” She looked at them, eyes widening when she realized whom her child had hit.

“It’s okay, happens all the time.” Lance brushed off her concern as he retrieved the ball for the child.

“Want to play?” he asked the little boy who had his finger stuck in his mouth. He nodded shyly, peeking from the side of his mother before he got up to play with Lance. They tossed the ball back and forth a couple times, this gentle man who was rough around the edges, while Brea and the mother looked on.

“I’m Brea.” She sat beside the woman, who was rocking her baby back and forth.

“Julia. He’s really good with him.” She nodded toward Lance, who continued to play with the little boy. They had moved on from catch and were now looking at his iPhone.

“I know.”

“If someone had told me this morning I would be sitting at the airport while my child played with Lance Holder and I talked to Brea Richards, I would have thought they were crazy. I was about to pull my hair out before you guys came up. The baby was screaming, he was throwing that damn ball everywhere, but it was like he just stopped and watched when you guys sat down. I guess he recognizes celebrities, too.” She chuckled softly, looking down at her daughter, who snored quietly in her arms. Brea looked on, maternal feelings overtaking her. She had never wanted children, not wanting to pass her genes onto any child, coupled with the fact she never found any guy she wanted to have children with. But she couldn’t resist the urge to run her finger down the baby’s soft head.

“Tell me about it. I didn’t know he had it in him.” Lance was tickling the child, causing belly laughs to come, and Brea wondered what it would be like if he was playing with his own child.

“I know what they’ve said about him and you recently,” the woman started nervously, like she didn’t know how to address his infamous reputation, “but I will never forget what you guys did for me today. I know you’re celebrities, so no one expects it of you, but I can’t thank you enough.”

“Don’t even think about it. A lot of time people forget we’re human, too, and subject to the same fallibilities as everyone else. The only difference is most people don’t have their mistakes splashed across the television.”

“Well, I’ll never forget this.”

“Me neither,” she whispered while Lance continued to play with the child across the aisle.

T
he promotional event for
Maggie Beach
was blessedly quiet and uneventful. After all the shit that had happened the last couple of months, it was nice to just be able to wine and dine with some big wigs and go home. Clare and Raquel were there with their dates, which made it easier for Brea to endure the boring evening with Lance. Everyone enjoyed the party, but for Brea, it was all about the football game the next day. She was thankful she was able to talk Lance into staying three extra days. He wasn’t much of a football fan, saying he preferred basketball or baseball, but Brea was enough of a fan for both of them. Every Sunday growing up, she could be found enjoying the football game with Derrick, while watching his beloved Washington Wildcats. That’s how she found herself sitting three rows from the front on Sunday, watching them compete for a preseason win against the Dallas Greenbacks. Derrick always told her they could finish their season 2 and 14 as long as the two games they won were against Dallas. She and Lance could afford a box, and it would afford them more privacy, but nothing beat sitting among a sea of fans cheering for the same team.

Lance was skeptical when she told him she was a hardcore fan, but when she came out the bathroom in her jersey, he started to believe her. When the game started, it became clear she was not a weak and timid fan. She yelled, she cursed, and she cheered with everyone else, but when she started questioning the parentage of one of the refs, he was surprised.

“You’re a bloodthirsty one, aren’t you?”

She bit into the hot dog and moaned. “Football is like a religion in the South, and we take our games very seriously.”

“I can see that. Should I be worried?” he screamed in her ear to be heard over the noise of the crowd.

“Only if we lose or you keep talking so I miss the game.”

“Are you serious?” He couldn’t believe it—all this over a football game.

“How about you shut the hell up?” He leaned over, making sure she could hear him after her last statement to him.

“I’m spanking you later.”

She winked. “Why do you think I said it?” He reached underneath her, pinching her ass as a promise of more to come later.

They won, thankfully, but it was a nail-biter with the score ending up 30-27, a last-minute field goal sealing the deal. Brea looked at her phone on the way out, noting the missed call from Derrick.

She held up her phone for Lance to see. “I need to call Derrick back; he probably has something to tell me about the trial.”

“Did he tell you he was going to call you?” Lance asked, helping her into the car.

“He said he would call with news, and there isn’t anything else going on with him and Silvia.”

“Well, call him.” He started the car, listening to her end of the conversation while they rode to the hotel. He followed her into the elevator, rubbing her back as she got more agitated, knowing she would explain the phone call when she was done. He didn’t try to pressure her, only let her know he was there for her, something she was extremely grateful for. She hung up when the elevator started moving. She could read the questions in his eyes, but she didn’t want to talk about it. She lifted her lips, loving that he knew exactly what she needed. The kiss was sweet without a lot of heat behind it, and she hugged him hard, putting her face in his neck to breathe him in, as was becoming her habit.