Landon
I’m busy with current clients for the next few days. I have back-to-back meetings all day and then I volunteer after work. I help tutor kids in the community for a few hours three nights a week. A lot of kids need extra help with their homework, but their parents either don’t have the time or the skills to help them. I don’t have a family of my own, so I have plenty of free time to play the tutor.
It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding. Knowing that I’m helping the next generation makes me feel like I’m really making a difference in the world, and that’s an incredible feeling.
By the time the weekend arrives, though, I’m completely exhausted. Still, when Casa and Lara go out for dinner, I can’t help but wishing I had a date, too.
I haven’t called Tina because I don’t want to scare the hell out of her. Part of me thinks I probably already scared her away. She came to me for help, after all. She didn’t come looking for a boyfriend or a sugar daddy.
After sitting around thinking about it all day, I finally decide to ask Joyce for help. She always seems to know what to do.
I head downstairs. Joyce is in her office today, which is unusual. Typically, she takes Saturdays and Sundays off and uses that time to pursue her hobbies and interests. Sometimes she takes painting classes and sometimes she travels. She’s single, but she loves her life, and she lives it to the fullest.
Joyce is basically the most well-rounded, kindest, most adorable person I know.
She also scares the shit out of me because I know that if I hurt her friend, she’s going to kick my ass.
Still, I have to try.
I knock on the door to her office.
“Come on in, Fee,” she says.
“How’d you know it was me?” I pop my head in. She’s sitting at her desk, staring at her computer. Joyce looks up and just smirks.
“I smelled you, dumbass. Have a seat.” She motions to one of the chairs in front of her desk. Yeah, Joyce is our receptionist, but she’s much more than that. She handles all of our scheduling and client meetings. She organizes brunches and dinners and events. She handles billing and pays all of the utilities for the building itself. Hell, she even does most of our business taxes. She’s basically an essential part of what makes our law office run so efficiently, and that’s why we pay her a shitload of money.
I step inside and close the door behind me. Then I sit down in one of the softest, most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat on in my life. What the hell?
“How come your seats are so nice?” I ask. She just looks at me. “The seats in my office aren’t this nice.”
“I special ordered them.”
“But the seats in my office are hard and uncomfortable.”
Joyce just blinks at me.
“Your seats are soft,” I repeat, sounding more than a little like a broken record.
“Your clients are typically assholes,” she says. “They don’t deserve special seats. Most of them spend their time with you on their feet, anyway. They’re always pacing and walking around, touching stuff. When they come in here, it’s because they’re going to schedule another appointment and give me money. They should be comfortable for that part of the visit.”
“I guess that makes sense.” It doesn’t, really. I make a mental note to get better chairs.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Landon, but did you need something?” Joyce looks up at me and raises a perfectly waxed eyebrow. “I’m trying to finish this paperwork up so I can go to my wine class.”
“You’re taking a wine class?”
“I am.”
“What do you do at wine class?”
“I drink wine, Landon. Now spit it out.” She sounds exasperated at this point, and she’s rubbing her forehead with both hands.
“I really like Tina and I want to ask her out,” I spit out in one breath. Joyce just looks at me, so I keep talking. “She’s beautiful and special and sweet. She’s adorable, Joyce. She’s completely, utterly cute and I want to ask her on a date.”
“You want her for your mate,” Joyce says, but doesn’t move. Her face remains emotionless.
I swallow hard because this is the tough part. I don’t believe in mates, but Joyce does. So do my fellow attorneys. Ronan Casa recently met his life-mate and partner, Lara. He loves her more than anything else in the world and I’ve never seen him happier. Lyon is single because he’s a private, secretive son-of-a-bitch who can’t let anyone in. He still believes in soul mates.
Me, though?
Life couldn’t be that easy for me.
And no, I don’t believe in soul mates.
But I do believe in Tina.
“You know I don’t believe in mates, Joyce,” I decide to go with honesty. If I’m honest with Joyce, she’ll be honest with me.
“I know you don’t. That’s why asking her out is a terrible idea, Landon. She’s your client. You’re her lawyer. You’re helping her keep her son. Nothing more.”
“I want her, Joyce.”
“And I want a glass of white zinfandel, Fee. We can’t always get what we want.” She turns back to her computer and keeps typing, but I’m not done yet. This can’t be it. This can’t be over.
I place my hands on the desk in front of me and lean forward. I’m a bear. I’m bumbly and I’m clumsy and I’m soft-hearted. I’m a little gentler than most of the shifters I know. I tend to ask questions first and fight later. I typically avoid fights altogether if I can, but I like Tina. She’s different. I like her a lot.
“You don’t understand.”
“Did you come in here to tell me what I don’t know or to ask for my advice?”
“I came to ask for your advice.”
“I gave it to you, Fee.”
“She’s perfect for me.”
Joyce sighs and pushes her chair away from her desk. She stands up and walks across the floor silently. When she rounds the desk, I notice that her shoes are off. She loves wearing those damn heels, but the second she’s alone, Joyce kicks them off and relaxes. We all know it, but no one bothers to call her out because we need her too damn much.
“Tina is going through a difficult time, Landon.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t. You weren’t there when he broke her heart. You weren’t there when she went into early labor. You weren’t there when she was on bed rest in the hospital. You weren’t there when she had to give birth alone because Chester is a useless piece of shit who couldn’t be bothered to show up. You weren’t there. You don’t know.”
“I’m not him, Joyce, and it seems to me that no one has ever bothered to show Tina what’s she worth. I could be that man. I could show her.”
“What would you show her, Landon? A good time? That’s not exactly what she needs right now.”
“I would show her more than that, Joyce, and you fucking know it.” I’m growling now, but I don’t care. I’m not going to let her win this one. I’m not going to let her get the best of me. “I would show her she’s special. I would show her she’s important, that she has value. I would show her that just because some piece of trash loser didn’t appreciate her, that doesn’t mean she’s worthless. She’s worth the stars, Joyce, and so much more. I would show her all of that. I would show her what it means to feel like a woman.”
Joyce is silent for a long moment. Then she walks over to where I’m sitting and she places her hands on my shoulders.
“Then do it, Landon.”
“What?” I must not have heard her correctly.
“Then do it. You’re right. No one has ever valued Tina. No man, anyway. I’m sure her parents love her well enough, but you and I both know that’s different.”
“But, you said-”
“I said what I said,” Joyce rolls her eyes. “Because I wanted to see if you’d be scared off. Obviously, you weren’t. Obviously, you’re not going to fuck with her. Obviously, you’re not garbage like her ex.”
“Joyce, I would never do anything to hurt her.”
She sighs and touches my cheek. It’s not a romantic or tender touch. It’s like a big sister comforting her little brother who’s nervous about asking the head cheerleader out to prom.
“Take care of her, Landon. She’s precious to me.”