Landon

Adam was tiptoeing around me, and it was pissing me off. The only logical conclusion was that things weren’t going as smoothly as we’d hoped, but also not serious enough to warrant my return. He’d called to give me the rundown of this week’s events, including how Sullivan, the owner of the company we were partnering with, was dragging his ass on signing the papers.

He wasn’t sticking to our terms and was making additional requests. Adam said he hadn’t cc’d me on any of his e-mails because he could handle it all and didn’t want to spoil my vacation. I trusted him, but I didn’t want to be left out of conversations.

It took two more semi-threatening phone calls until Adam finally did send me the entire e-mail exchange with Sullivan. Sitting in the armchair under the window, I scrolled on my phone, analyzing every word. It was frustrating and would prolong the process by a few weeks, but it was what it was.

With no choice but to admit Adam had been right, I set the phone on the small ottoman next to the armchair. Adam could handle this. It didn’t warrant my interference, much less a quicker return to San Jose. Thank God.

Rachel and I had had big dreams for DBC Payment Solutions. Even though she had been working as a teacher and hadn’t been part of the company, she’d always cheered for it. So far, I’d surpassed our dreams, but all the success felt... empty. For the first time in years, I wasn’t looking forward to heading back to San Jose. I wanted more time here. More time with Maddie. My mind was so full of her. Jesus, how she’d surrendered to me! I could still feel her warmth. Her delicious taste and sweet moans were branded in my memory.

I rose to my feet and headed outside. It was still raining, so I paced the porch, half hoping Maddie would step through the front gate. Even though I was here on vacation, even though I wasn’t really soul mate material anymore, or any kind of mate material, I wanted Maddie. I wanted her badly. It was like allowing myself to taste Maddie had opened a door for other wants I’d denied myself.

“Fucking hell, is the great flood upon us?”

I blinked up to see Val hurrying up on the porch. The rain had covered the sound of her steps. She shook her umbrella, shuddering.

“Can’t leave this out here to dry, the wind will blow it away,” she mumbled. Taking in her yard, she added, “Oh, Maddie covered the ground.”

“Yeah, she said this should keep the earth from dislodging. She left a while ago.”

Val nodded. “I hope she didn’t get soaked, poor thing.” Ah, what a sight that had been. “Everything okay, Landon?”

I schooled my expression so I didn’t seem too eager or too guilty.

“Yeah, sure.”

She folded her arms, leaning against the exact same spot where I’d kissed Maddie. If I got through this conversation and didn’t give myself away, I deserved an Oscar. So much for humoring Maddie about being able to keep a secret when I was the weak link. Val was my twin. We’d always had a strong bond. Growing up, we often banded against our parents like the pair of marauders we were. We’d mastered the trade of sneaking out when we were eleven, and it required seamless cooperation. We’d passed that trade to our siblings, which came back to bite us when we were the ones in charge of them. That required even more banding together and cooperation between Val and me. Telling each other everything had been a way to unload, as well as a necessity. It was common for our siblings to tell me one story and another to Val, with the hope of wiggling their way out of a sticky situation. Since we’d been the inventors of the tactic, we caught on pretty soon.

I wasn’t used to employing a filter around Val.

“You look different today.” She narrowed her eyes, pointing vaguely at my face. “Did you get good news from the office or anything?”

“No, the opposite. There’s more trouble with the merger than I anticipated. Looked over some e-mails—”

“Aha!” She unhitched herself from the wall, placing her hands on her hips, the umbrella under one arm, her purse hanging on the other. “You answered e-mails? That’s a rabbit hole.”

At least she hadn’t caught on to the other thing. You win some, you lose some. But I wanted to make one point clear.

“I’m not a kid, Val. I don’t need you to police my vacation.”

She walked up to me, patting my cheek. “Yes you do, Landon. That’s the whole point of having a sister who knows you like the back of her hand. You used to love your work-life balance. You used to lecture me about it. Would I be wrong to assume you’re tipping that balance in favor of work so you don’t feel how empty your life has become?”

I blinked at her. There was no hiding from Val.

“You’re not wrong.”

She nodded sagely. “So don’t do that while you’re here. Take some time out. You need it. Trust me, I’m not being a nag for no reason.”

I chuckled. “So as long as you have a reason, you think you can just nag away?”

“Well, I am your sister. That means I can nag by default, and I’ll get away with it.” She gave me a devilish grin.

She sat on the small bench between two windows, looking at the rain.

“Why are you home so early?”

“I have a phone conference this afternoon and figured I could do that from home too.” She frowned, looking out onto the yard.

“Anything wrong?”

Val shrugged. “No, I’m just a bit nervous. Remember the potential client I told you about?”

“The one who wants you to develop an exclusive line of fragrances and lotions for his stores?”

“Yes. His team is flying in on the fifth of July for my pitch. I have to win him over. This would be a big deal, Landon. The biggest yet.”

“I know.”

The client she was talking about had high-end department stores all over the world. It would make her company an international player.

“I can look over that pitch with you if you want, give you some feedback.”

She straightened, excitement dancing in her eyes, then shook her head. “No, I can’t do that. You’re on vacation.”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

I barely bit back a laugh as I watched her struggle with herself. “I’ll show it to you tomorrow.” She looked at the property. “I can’t wait for the yard to be ready.”

“You said Maddie landscaped the yard in your office building too?”

“Yep. And it’s the best thing I ever did. Whenever I feel like my head will explode, I go for a walk there. It’s amazing.”

“These are big projects for a one-person company, even with the occasional workers,” I said. I stepped back from the edge of the porch because the wind had changed and the rain was pelting my face.

“She said she plans to hire a full-time team as soon as her sister finishes law school.”

Because she was paying the tuition fees, of course. That was why she was doing the job of several people. I wanted to take care of that woman, make sure she didn’t have a worry. And she wasn’t even mine. I was determined to change that.