Chapter Twelve
The next day, I sat at my desk and tried to concentrate, though the task seemed impossible. Each time I attempted to focus on my computer screen or the files that Chris wanted me to go through, my mind would wander back to Landen and yesterday.
After the thoroughly enjoyable interlude on the couch, he’d given me one of those light lip touches that made my lips tingle and left me wanting more.
Then he left.
I didn’t realize until after he was gone that he hadn’t mentioned seeing me again. The knowledge made me irritable and I wondered if he’d done it intentionally. After we made that ridiculous bet, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he avoided my company for the next couple of weeks. That would make it a hell of a lot easier for him to win.
And as moronic as the bet had been, my pride wouldn’t let me drop it.
So, I texted him.
Avoiding me for the next 2 weeks will void the bet.
As soon as I sent the message, I wanted to take it back. I’d told him that I wanted to be pursued, to be chased. Texting him first didn’t fit in with that plan. I had forced myself to set my phone down and go about putting away my laundry. When my phone dinged ten minutes later, I stared at it from the doorway to my bedroom, unable to read the screen from where it sat on the coffee table.
Finally, I sucked it up and walked into the living room. I lifted the phone and saw Landen’s name.
You’ll see me soon.
I made a face at the screen. Those words seemed equal parts threat and promise. I wanted to reply and demand a timeline, but I refused to do it. I suspected that was Landen’s plan all along. He expected me to push because that’s usually what I did.
But not this time.
Instead, I plugged my phone into the charger next to my bed and went into the living room to watch a movie. If it wasn’t within reach, I wouldn’t be tempted to check for more messages from the irritating man.
It wouldn’t have done any good anyway, because he didn’t text me again.
Now, it was nine in the morning on Monday and I had work to do. As much as I wanted to keep obsessing over Landen, I had to put him out of my mind. Chris had given me a stack of files this morning and asked me to take a look at some spreadsheets. It was the first time he’d trusted me with more than menial administrative tasks and I would not fail.
I wanted to show him what I was capable of. That was a huge part of my reasons for taking this job. In my old position, I’d applied numerous times for advancement, only to be turned down each and every time. I didn’t discover why until a few weeks before I heard that Lucy was looking for a replacement.
My previous boss, Alan Haines, assigned me tasks that he should have been doing himself and then took all the credit for them. He’d also blocked all my attempts to leave my administrative position though I was more than qualified for advancement. All because he hadn’t wanted to lose his good little worker bee. He wanted to keep making the big bucks without all the work.
A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth when I remembered the look on his face when I turned in my resignation. He hadn’t been expecting it. He knew about my student loans and how desperately I needed a job. He thought he had me between a rock and a hard place because this had been my first job out of college. Hell, out of high school. Before I became his administrative assistant, I’d been a receptionist for the same company.
When I gave him the letter, in person no less, his face turned a dull red and he glared at me.
“You can’t leave,” he stated gruffly. “I won’t give you a good reference. In fact, I’ll do everything in my power to deter anyone interested in hiring you. You’ll be stuck working at Starbucks.”
I hadn’t been able to hold in my laughter. “Your reference won’t be necessary,” I retorted. “I already have a job and my new boss isn’t interested in anything you have to say.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” he shot back, fisting the letter in his hand.
Enjoying the situation more than I thought I would, I leaned over and put both hands on his desk. “Go ahead and call Chris. Tell him whatever you want. You and I both know he can’t stand you.”
“Chris?” he asked, the flush deepening over his cheekbones.
“Chris Barden,” I answered. “He’s my new boss.”
Then his face paled, all the blood draining away. “What? He already has an assistant.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “My friend, Lucy, is leaving his employ. She recommended me for the position and Chris agreed I’d be a good fit.”
His fist clenched the resignation letter tighter. “Get out. You’re fired.”
I was still grinning when I straightened and headed for the door. “Too late, I already quit. I take it you don’t want me to finish out my two-week notice.”
“Get the hell out of here!” he yelled.
When I opened the door to his office, Mr. Bannon, my boss’ boss, stood there with a thunderous expression on his face. I knew he must have overheard everything because he stepped to the side to allow me to exit and put a light hand on my elbow.
“Please wait for me in my office, Ms. Archer,” he murmured. “I would like to speak to you before you leave.”
I nodded and watched as he entered Alan’s office and shut the door behind him with a quiet click.
Despite the door between us, I heard Mr. Bannon speak. “What in the hell is going on here, Alan?”
As my old boss sputtered and tried to come up with a plausible excuse for yelling at me, my smile widened. Then I walked away. I proceeded to Mr. Bannon’s office to wait as he asked, but I wasn’t worried. Not anymore.
Now, Chris was giving me a chance to prove myself and I wasn’t about to fail. Thoughts of Landen Weber and his sexy threats had no place in my brain at the moment. Not when I was getting a chance to do what I’d always wanted to do.
With that thought in mind, I settled in and concentrated on the task at hand. Somehow, I succeeded in compartmentalizing. In fact, I was so successful that I didn’t hear the door to the office open. My first clue that someone was in the office came in the form of a hand reaching across my desk to set a to-go cup next to my computer keyboard.
Startled, I jumped and looked up to see Landen grinning at me, his ass perched on my desk. “Jesus Christ!” I gasped, slapping a hand to my chest. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
His smile widened. “I wasn’t sneaking. I walked in the door and you were so engrossed in whatever you’re doing that you didn’t hear me.” He gestured to the cup on my desk. “I brought you some coffee and I wanted to see if you’d have lunch with me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and picked up the cup to take a sip. It was my favorite, a non-fat mocha with extra chocolate syrup. I know, I know, getting the extra syrup negated the non-fat milk, but that was the way I liked it, so that’s the way I always ordered it. I wasn’t sure how Landen knew that, but I appreciated it all the same.
“Thanks for the coffee,” I said, lowering the cup. “But it’s not lunchtime yet.”
He lifted a brow at me. “I know, but it will be soon.”
I glanced at the clock and my brows lifted when I saw that it was nearly twelve. I’d been at it longer than I realized. “Wow, okay, I didn’t realize the time, but I usually don’t take lunch until one.”
“Then I’ll be back at one.”
He rose and came around my desk. I eyed him warily, unsure of what he intended to do. Then he brushed his lips against mine, setting off those damn tingles again. And the damn man knew it. His eyes sparkled with the knowledge and the same promise he’d sent me via text. I turned to watch him walk out the door and caught sight of Lucy hovering just outside.
“I’ll see you soon,” Landen murmured, repeating the words he’d texted me last night. He held the door for her, winked at me, and then disappeared from view.
Lucy approached me, a take-out bag in her hand and a knowing expression on her face. “Okay, I’m a happily married woman but, damn, that was kinda hot.”
My cheeks flushed and I cursed my fair skin because I knew I couldn’t hide the blush. “What was hot?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she murmured, taking the coffee cup from my hand and eyeballing the label on the side. “The fact that he brought your favorite coffee and didn’t sulk when you said you couldn’t go to lunch with him yet. Then there was the kiss thing. Not to mention the fact that it sounded like he meant something completely different when he said he’d see you soon.”
I swallowed the groan that wanted to slip from my throat. So I hadn’t been imagining the underlying meaning to his words. “Exactly how long were you standing there?” I asked suspiciously.
“I came off the elevator and saw him walking into the office.”
“So you were spying?”
Lucy grinned. “Absolutely.”
I sighed. “You’re awful.”
“True, but that’s why you love me.” She shook the paper sack at me. “I’m taking Chris his lunch and then you and I are going to talk.”
I lifted a brow at her. “After your nooner?”
She shrugged. “I’m a newlywed, what do you expect?”
I rolled my eyes. “If that’s the case, I probably won’t be here when you get back.”
“That’s okay. I’ll just wait. Or call you later.”
She waved a hand at me as she headed toward the door to Chris’ office. “Hold his calls.”
I had to laugh.
Once she disappeared into Chris’ office, I decided to take a few minutes to freshen up and use the ladies room before Landen returned to take me to lunch. Then I would finish what work I could.
I studied Landen across the table as we finished up our meal. He’d taken me to a Chinese restaurant that the girls and I often frequented back when we were all working in the building.
The flirtatious edge that I expected from Landen was gone. He was interested in what I had to say and he talked more than he usually did, but the gleam in his eye was gone. The underlying sexual tension that I usually felt in his presence seemed diminished as well.
It threw me off balance. It was as if he’d shut down that part of himself.
I didn’t like it. It made me question too many things, first and foremost being how he felt about me. Maybe he wasn’t as affected as I was. Maybe he didn’t want me with the same urgency I’d experienced yesterday on my couch.
Then a hint of it appeared when I reached into my purse for my wallet when the waitress laid the check on the table.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Uh, paying for my lunch?” I replied, my words sounding like a question rather than an answer to his.
He reached out and took the ticket, shaking his head as he did. “No, you’re not. This is a date and I’m buying.”
I tucked my wallet back into my bag and studied him as he withdrew cash from his wallet to pay for lunch plus a generous tip. I’d come here often enough to know what my meal would usually cost. Then he stood and frowned at me as I mirrored his motions.
“What?” I asked as we walked outside, very aware of his hand on the small of my back.
“When I take you out, I pay for our meal,” he stated.
“What about when I take you out?” I queried.
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. No, that’s not how this works. You said you wanted to be pursued, remember?”
I shot him a look over my shoulder. “I didn’t mean that I expect for you to pay for every single date, Landen. I only meant that I wanted someone who would call me first, who would show me with his actions that he wanted to spend time with me. I’m tired of being the aggressor in all my relationships.”
“Aggressor?” He looked surprised by my choice of words.
I sighed. “Not necessarily aggressor,” I revised. “It’s just…” I trailed off and thought about what I wanted to say. The bright rays of the afternoon sun reflected off the windshields of the cars that passed us on the street. I pulled my sunglasses out of my bag and slid them on. “If I’m interested in someone, I don’t hide it. I don’t play games. If I enjoy their company, I call them or ask them to do things with me. When I see something I think they’ll like, I’ll take note or outright buy it for them. The only problem is that the kind of interest I feel hasn’t been reciprocated.”
“You expect them to do those sorts of things for you?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly,” I said. “I don’t expect reciprocity for every action or every invitation, but I do expect some sort of action.” I stopped walking and looked up at him. I wanted him to understand my exact point. It would be too easy to misconstrue my words. “I don’t expect gifts or fancy dates,” I explained. “Actions speak louder than words or material things. Like today, you said you would see me soon. Then you showed up to take me to lunch. Your actions made it clear to me that you wanted to see me.”
As I spoke, I understood that what I said was true. He demonstrated to me that he wanted to see me. Even if he wasn’t flirting or touching me the way he had yesterday, he showed up. That alone was proof enough he wanted to spend time with me.
I reached out and laced our fingers together. “That’s what I’m looking for and what I want. Not me always making the plans and doing the asking.”
“You mean none of the men you’ve dated have done that?” Landen asked, appearing shocked.
I shrugged and started walking back toward the office building where I worked. “Maybe in the beginning, but it always seemed like they stopped making an effort after a few dates. Then it was inevitable that they would distance themselves or break it off altogether.”
“I think you were dating the wrong kind of men,” he muttered as we entered the lobby of the building.
I laughed as we strode quickly toward the elevators. “That’s probably true.”
Landen was quiet as we rode to my floor and stepped off the crowded elevator car. He still held my hand, which I liked. Instead of walking with me to the office door, he stopped by the doorway leading to the stairwell and opened it, pulling me inside with him. Then he crowded me into the corner.
Suddenly, all the sexual tension that had been absent earlier was there, crackling around us as he stared down at me.
He released my hand and placed both his palms on the walls next to my head, caging me in.
“Landen, what are you doing?” I asked.
“I think I finally understand something about you,” he murmured. “You need proof.”
“Proof?” I parroted.
He nodded. “You need to know without a doubt that the man you’re with wants you. Not just for sex but for more. At first I thought that you just wanted the thrill of being chased, but I get it now. It’s not the chase, it’s the intent. Every man you’ve ever dated was content to sit back and let you take the wheel. They were lazy or stupid or both if they couldn’t see that you needed the same thing from them that you offered so openly.”
I frowned up at him. “And what did I offer?”
“Your attention. Your time. Yourself.”
A sigh slipped out of me because everything he just said was true. I always felt like I was the one reaching out, the one giving it my all, only to get scraps in return.
“You don’t want a man to chase you. You want a man to invest in you the same way you invest yourself. Someone who is willing to give you the same thing you offer.”
I lowered my head because my throat felt hot and tight and I knew that tears were next. His fingers curled beneath my chin, tilting my head up so he could see my face. I lifted my eyelids and met his steady blue gaze.
“And you’re worth the investment,” he whispered.
Something shifted in my chest, I think it was my heart, and the shield surrounding it cracked. Landen had managed to put my deepest, darkest thoughts into words. He understood what I wanted and needed despite my inability to articulate it.
Then his lips hit mine and it wasn’t the light brush he’d given me earlier. It wasn’t the devouring kiss I’d experienced yesterday. It was something completely alien to me. His lips were firm and demanding. He wanted me to give in, to surrender, but he was giving me something in return.
The kiss was slow and tender, a meeting of more than lips and breath. My heart thumped against my sternum, hard and fast, and I felt myself give in. I leaned into him, letting him take more of my weight. In my three-inch heels, our bodies were pressed together from chest to knee.
Landen took my weight, wrapping his arms around me tightly. His mouth grew more insistent, seeking something else from me, but I wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t asking, he was demanding once again, but I didn’t understand what he wanted. I was too lost in the sensations taking over my body, the warmth that flooded my veins, and the tingling that infused my limbs.
Somewhere below us a door slammed, yanking me out of the fog of yearning that surrounded me.
And it was yearning rather than desire. It was more poignant than mere lust. The ache wasn’t just within my body, but within my heart.
Slowly, Landen lifted his head, his eyes glittering in the fluorescent lights as he stared down at me. I could hear steps echoing as the person descended the stairs below us, a reminder that we were no longer alone, or I might have yanked his head back down and demanded he finish what he started.
Gradually, he released me, his arms loosening around my waist and his body inching away from mine.
“You’re going to be late getting back to work,” he murmured. He took my hand and opened the door to the hall, pulling me in front of him so that I walked out first. As we approached the glass doors to the office, he said, “I have a business dinner tomorrow night, but I want to see you Wednesday.”
I swallowed hard and tried to lighten the mood. I couldn’t read his expression and he seemed to have shut down once again. “I have standing plans, but you’re welcome to join me.”
Landen twisted his head to look at me in surprise. “Standing plans? With who?”
I smiled. “Lt. Joe Kenda. The new episode of Homicide Hunter will be on.”
Just as I hoped, my words made him return my smile. “You prefer to spend time with him instead of me?”
“I was hoping I could see you both. Think you could put aside your dislike of sharing for an hour? I’ll feed you.”
“What time?”
“Be there at six-thirty. The show starts at seven.”
His grin widened. “Dinner and a show?”
I elbowed him playfully. “Not that kind of show. Unless you’re ready to admit I’ll win the bet.”
His eyes lit with challenge. “Never, but I look forward to seeing you try.”
Landen opened the door for me and pulled me close for the light touch of his lips to mine. I was beginning to understand that this was how he said good-bye to me.
“I’ll see you Wednesday,” he promised.
As I watched him walk away, it hit me that I was in way over my head. Instead of scaring the crap out of me, as it probably should, I looked forward to the challenge that Landen presented.
I understood that even if I lost, I would win.