All That I Need (Grayson Friends) Read Online Free PDF Page A

coffee, then sipped.
    “I fixed extra waffle batter,” Naomi said. “If you hurry you can tell me about your date before Kayla joins us.”
    Taking another sip, Fallon went to the stove to check on the sizzling sausage patties. She picked up a metal spatula. “Nothing to tell.”
    Naomi closed the lid to the waffle maker and faced Fallon with a frown. “Richard said he asked about you a couple of times before you went out there yesterday.”
    “That was then and this is now, as the saying goes.” Fallon lifted two turkey patties from the skillet.
    The whistle of the waffle machine sounded. Naomi removed the waffle and added more batter. “How do you feel about that?”
    “I’m leaving at the end of the week.”
    “Don’t remind me.” Taking the spatula from Fallon’s hand, Naomi removed the other patties. “If you weren’t coming back for the wedding in six weeks, I’m not sure I could stand it.”
    Fallon hugged her, then leaned her head against hers. “Same here. Like I said, the apartment gods were smiling on me this time. It’s been great living next door to you these months.”
    Naomi straightened. “You and Catherine helped me stop being afraid and reach out for Richard. You’ve been wonderful with Kayla. I’d say it was the other way around.”
    “Yeah, it’s been nice.” Fallon removed the waffle when the alarm sounded. “Mama and Megan are anxious to have me home before I leave for my next assignment.”
    Taking the platters of meat and waffles, Naomi placed them on the kitchen table. “If you weren’t leaving, would it make a difference with things between you and Lance?”
    “I’m not sure.” Fallon sipped her coffee. “Bad timing. I’m going out there today to take more notes.”
    “Then there’s still a chance.”
    Fallon shook her head. “Lance is a hard man to read.”
    Naomi placed another plate on the table. “So it will take more effort. Won’t the end results be worth it?”
    All Fallon had to do was think of the searing look Lance had given her the night before. “Yes.”
    “Then go get him.”
    *   *   *
    Late Tuesday afternoon Lance finally heard the sound that he had waited all day to hear, the chime of the doorbell. So, she had finally come—if it was her. She was almost two hours later than the day before. He’d begun to worry about her fifteen minutes past the time he thought she should be there.
    Bad. Very bad.
    No matter how much he told himself to keep it professional, some part of him—the stubborn part that had helped him succeed in business if not his personal life—wasn’t listening. He’d almost called Richard to check on her, then reasoned that if something had happened Richard would have notified him.
    If Richard knew.
    Lance threw his pen on the desk and came to his feet. He hadn’t done a solid ten minutes of work all day. Women messed up a man’s orderly life. He knew that better than most. Yet—
    A knock came on his office door. “Mr. Saxton, your guest, Ms. Marshall, is here.”
    Relief, excitement, uneasiness—so many emotions crowded Lance’s brain he couldn’t sort all of them out. He’d never been this conflicted about a woman or anything else in his life. He tended to see things in black and white—no gray—since the year his mother had married another man and made Lance feel like an outsider in his own home.
    “Mr. Saxton?”
    Letting go of the resentment, Lance unclenched his fists. The past needed to stay in the past. “Come in.”
    The door opened. He caught a brief glimpse of Carmen, his housekeeper; then Fallon stepped into the room and she became his entire focus.
    She was stunningly beautiful and off-limits. Before he knew it, he was moving. He didn’t ask or hesitate; he just took her into his arms, his mouth finding hers. He expected a mild resistance—which he was fully prepared to overcome. What he didn’t expect was for her to melt in his arms, to soften and wrap her arms around his neck, letting her