Maddie

I loved LA. I loved the endless beaches, the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance. I loved how you could drive from one side to the other and feel like you were in a different city altogether. Cosmopolitan and ever changing, LA had a life of its own. I’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for all it had to offer (including the occasional celebrity sighting) ever since I moved there.

There were also things I didn’t like about it, such as the traffic or the minor vandalism acts—especially when I had to face them at six o’clock. On Monday morning, I found my beloved Chevy truck with the windshield broken. Since there were no parking opportunities in front of my bungalow, I always parked on the adjacent street, where two of the three streetlamps were broken. I supposed the semidarkness invited such acts. I cleaned the driver seat of glass as best I could, then climbed in and drove straight to the car repair shop.

The mechanic tried to sell me on a small Prius as an exchange car while my truck was in the repair shop, but I wasn’t having any of it.

“Lady, this isn’t a car rental. You get what we have.”

I crossed my arms over my chests, leveled him with my stare.

“I run a landscaping business. I carry supplies with me and need space to deposit tools and plants. If you can’t give me any truck, I’m taking the Chevy and giving my business to someone else.”

I was only half bluffing. I did need a large vehicle, but I also didn’t have time to find another repair shop. In the end, I got my way and drove out a battered, old truck with a faulty transmission.

I arrived at Val’s forty minutes later, but the boys I worked with, Sevi and Jacob, were already there and had started with the first patch of land that would become a terrace. Since my company was a one-person show, I only hired guys on a project-by-project basis. Not the best option since sometimes they bailed on me midproject, but hiring a full-time team wasn’t in my budget right now. The extra profit went toward Grace’s tuition at law school. I didn’t want her to be in debt up to her eyeballs when she graduated.

If everything went according to plan, I’d be able to hire people full-time in eighteen months.

But for a one-person company, I was proud of how fast I’d made a name for myself in this business. For two years in a row, I won the Best Garden award granted by one of the most prestigious LA design magazines.

“Hey, Maddie!” they greeted in unison. I waved back, heading up to the house to drop my backpack in the foyer as usual.

“Good morning! How’s your ankle?” I jumped at the sound of Landon’s voice. He stepped through the open front door into the foyer. My God, was he gorgeous or what? He was wearing jogging pants and a shirt that molded perfectly to his chest. The short sleeves confirmed what I’d guessed on Friday when he’d held me to him—his arms were corded with lean muscles. Judging by the sheen of sweat on his skin, he must have just finished his run.

“Morning, Landon. My ankle is as good as new. Is Val here too?”

“Already left.”

“Oh, okay. I wanted to explain why I’m late. Someone broke my windshield, and I had to take it to the mechanic.”

“How did that happen?”

I shrugged. “Vandals, I suppose.”

“Did you already file a police report?”

“No, that takes too much time and usually leads nowhere.”

“Will is a detective. I’ll call him up and ask him to look into it for you.”

A warm feeling sprouted in my chest and I smiled up at him, remembering how he’d offered his help to Val on Friday. Landon Connor had a white-knight complex, and it was totally doing it for me. Not that I was a damsel in distress. I didn’t need saving, and even if I did, I could be my own knight. But it was sure good to know that chivalry wasn’t dead.

“Thanks, Landon, but I don’t want to waste your brother’s time. These things usually don’t lead anywhere.”

Landon stepped closer. So close, in fact, that I could see the contours of his six-pack. I snapped my gaze up to his face, praying that by some miracle he hadn’t realized I was perving at him. Landon was gazing down at me with an intensity that made my entire body strum.

He studied me, and being on the receiving end of his attention was making me squirm. “Does this happen often?”

The concern in his voice endeared him to me.

“This is LA. My neighborhood is okay, but these things happen from time to time. No biggie.”

His shirt was becoming more transparent by the second as he continued to sweat. And even though I usually found sweaty men unappealing, everything about Landon was beckoning to me, even his smell—a clean, manly deodorant scent.

Maybe the testosterone oozing off him was simply messing with my senses. I really had to quit staring. When I met his eyes again, I realized this time he’d caught me staring.

“I’ll give Will a call,” he insisted.

“You’re not used to being told no, are you?”

He grinned. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah. And I am saying no. I appreciate the concern, Landon, but I don’t have time to file complaints and whatnot. I should get started on work,” I said, finally remembering I was here to work on Val’s yard. Landon kept those beautiful green eyes trained on me until he took my breath away. Eventually, he relented.

“I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to hop in the shower.”

I tried very hard to push away any thoughts of a naked Landon only feet away while I started my workday. It was no small feat. I barely knew the man and he already had a spell on me, but I was determined to fight it. He was here on vacation, and I was here to work, nothing more.

I still had some scars from my failed engagement, even though it had been eight months since Owen and I broke up. I’d followed him to LA and didn’t regret moving because I loved the city. But when the relationship imploded, it shook me to my bones. I’d come to LA with dreams of building a life together, and after the breakup, I’d felt as if my life plan had been erased and I was standing in front of a whiteboard. I was still working on drawing up a new life plan. I had the professional part figured out, but my personal life needed work.

I focused on scooping the earth out of the first terrace level for the better part of the morning, only stopping when I saw Lori enter the yard with her son, Milo.

They both greeted me, and Lori said, “He’ll hang out with Landon for a few hours. Soccer practice.” Turning to her son, she added, “Come on, Milo. I think Landon’s waiting for us in the backyard.”

The fact that Landon liked spending his vacation training his nephew endeared him to me even more. Lori and Milo disappeared inside the house, and a short while later, Lori left.

I started laying the foundation for the makeshift wooden trail that would serve as the main path for the next couple of weeks. Transforming the slope into terraced levels involved dislodging bits of earth, and the old path up to the house would be caught up in the process. At the end of the project, I’d bring in a specialist in masonry to build stone steps, but for the moment, the makeshift trail would do.

By noon, I was halfway done with it when I heard an ear-splitting cry echo through the yard. Milo. Heart leaping in my throat, I sprinted up to the house.

My glutes and thighs were burning in protest by the time I nearly bumped into Landon.

“Do you know where Val keeps the first-aid kit?” he asked.

“I’ve got one in the car. What happened?”

***

Landon

“Minor cut under his knee.”

“Minor, huh? I heard him scream from the front.” She gave me a stern look I found adorable. “I’ll bring the first-aid kit from my car and wash my hands.”

“Okay, come directly to the backyard afterward.”

I soothed Milo until Maddie arrived, her hands clean, carrying the first-aid kit. Milo was sitting in the hammock, closely inspecting his leg.

“Hey, Milo, let me take a look at that.” She crouched over him, splaying her palm just under his cut. “Okay, that’s not a big deal. We’ll just clean it up and put a Band-Aid on it.”

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, and I didn’t hide my smile.

“But I’ll need stitches,” Milo muttered. “It splits open, look.”

Maddie flinched as Milo proceeded to pull at both sides of his leg and the wound parted.

“It’s not as deep as you think, Milo.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am sure. It’s going to pinch a little when I clean it, but you’re brave, aren’t you?”

Milo nodded solemnly and gritted his teeth as Maddie worked on the cut. The tenderness in her gestures stirred something inside me. She kept talking to him, distracting him, her voice calm and soothing.

Milo only loosened up after the Band-Aid was in place. He stepped down from the hammock, placed his foot tentatively on the ground.

“Hey, it doesn’t hurt at all. Let’s get back to playing.”

I laughed. “We’re done for today, buddy. We’re meeting your mom in two hours. We should go if you want that ice cream.”

“Okay, I’ll go change.”

After he went inside, Maddie asked, “How come you can play soccer?”

“Wanted to play pro. Even got a college scholarship for it.”

“Nice. So how come you didn’t go pro?”

“Moved back here after my parents passed away and focused on other things. I still play as a hobby.”

“Wow, aren’t you full of surprises?”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Her eyes widened and she sighed, a cute little sound I wanted to eat up. Her lips were perfect: pink, plump, with a sweet bow in the middle. This woman was seven levels of tempting, and I hadn’t been tempted in years. I didn’t want to be tempted. But Maddie had been in my thoughts all morning. The broken windshield still bothered me. She didn’t seem to need or want my protection, but I wanted to give it to her anyway.

“Well, I’d better get back to work,” she said.

She went past me inside the house and I caught a whiff of her body wash, sweetly floral but fresh somehow. She smelled delicious. With a shake of my head, I resolved to put Maddie out of my mind.

I managed to keep my resolve for about twenty-four hours. Since I’d grown up in LA, my oldest friends were all here, but they only had time to meet after work. I’d arranged for some breakfast get-togethers next week, but this week, I’d reserved my mornings for Milo. Since it was the end of June, he was on his summer vacation, so he had as much time to fill as I did.

The next day, Lori dropped off Milo for practice at eight o’clock and picked him up at ten. I went for a run afterward and finished my tour at the front of the house. Maddie was a few feet lower on the slope, bending over, securing one of the logs. Her ass was sticking up in the air, and the sight was glorious. When she finally straightened up, her breasts bounced with the movement, and her face was flushed; half her blonde hair had fallen out of her bun. She looked a little wild, and that prompted an image in my mind—a flash of Maddie’s entire body reacting on a thrust, calling my name. I’d fist her hair while burying myself in her to the hilt.

She met my eyes and smiled sheepishly, smoothing one hand over her hair. Her smile was amazing. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her, and I kept her gaze, watching the flush extend to her chest, her teeth gnawing at her lower lip. Still, I didn’t break eye contact. She did, but I looked at her long after she averted her gaze.

Distraction. I needed a distraction from Maddie. Luckily, distraction was always one phone call away.