~Cami~
He’s downstairs. In my house. And of course, he’s on time because he’s always on time.
And I’m not ready.
I slip my feet into my new Jimmy Choo heels and take a last look in the mirror. Short skirt, carefully sculpted messy hair, sparkly heels.
I’m ready.
I take a deep breath and try to remember what Riley said last night when we watched our show. Or, rather, when we tried to watch our show, but I was too keyed up.
He’s just a man. Just a regular ol’ man. Nothing special there at all.
From the bottom of the stairs, I stand and watch Landon arrange a bouquet of sunflowers in my vase, fussing over them just like I would, then he turns around and sees me, and all the blood drains from his face. I’m not going to lie, it’s a great ego boost to watch as his eyes rake up and down my body. He has to swallow hard, and when he tries to speak, he has to swallow again.
Ego boost, indeed.
Every emotion shows on Landon’s face. It always has. He can be playful and arrogant and, well, a typical confident man, but his face doesn’t lie. That’s what drew me to him from the beginning. I was a young girl being raised by elderly parents, my siblings already out of the house, and this boy would smile at me, and I felt like I was at home.
I never saw him as a brother, but I did see him as a protector, a friend, and in my girlish fantasies, my prince charming.
He’s no prince, but he can be charming.
“Wow,” he finally says with a soft smile. “You’re just beautiful.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I reply, meaning every word. He’s in black pants and a blue button-down, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His hair is still a bit wet from his shower, curling around his collar.
I could eat him with a spoon.
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
I’m too nervous to be hungry. “Starving,” I lie.
“Well, then let’s feed you.” He reaches for my hand, but stops himself. “Oh! These are for you.”
“They’re lovely.” I touch the petals of the yellow blooms and then turn to him. “How did you know they’re my favorite?”
“I have my ways,” he replies with a wink, and holds his hand out for mine. The fact that this is the first time that Landon has ever held my hand is not lost on me. And the sixteen-year-old in me might be squealing right now.
But all I can think is how good his big hand feels wrapped around mine. He leads me to his car and opens the door for me, and we’re off. But rather than driving to a restaurant, Landon pulls into his own driveway.
“Did you forget something?” I ask.
“Nope. This is where we’re going.” He smiles. “Stay. I’m opening your door, since this is an official date and all.”
We’re going to his place. What does this mean? I’m not stupid, and I’m no virgin. That ship sailed many moons ago. So this has seduction scene written all over it. Am I ready for that with Landon?
On the one hand, absolutely. On the other . . . I’m not sure.
“Stop thinking so hard,” Landon says as he helps me out of the car and leads me to the door. “I am not going to try to poison you with my cooking.”
“Thank goodness,” I reply with a laugh. “Mia definitely got all of the cooking skills in your family.”
“I’ve cooked for you before,” he says defensively as he closes the door behind us.
“I remember.” I shudder, teasing him, then glance into the dining room and feel my jaw drop. “Wow.”
Candles are lit and more sunflowers are on the table. Soft music is playing through a speaker on the kitchen counter.
“Dinner is in the oven,” he says. “Have a seat. Would you like some wine? A beer?”
“What’s for dinner?” I ask.
“Burgers.”
“I’ll take the beer.” I sit at the table and watch all six feet of sexy man clumsily pull dinner out of the oven and plate it, then walk toward me. “Is that from Burgerville?”
“Of course. It’s your favorite.”
I blink at the plate before me, then look up at Landon as he sits next to me, rather than across from me. “You remember that?”
“No onions, right? With extra pickles.”
Now I’m hungry. “I haven’t had this in a very long time.” I take a bite and sigh. “So good.”
“I got you a strawberry milkshake too.”
“I’ll have it for dessert.” I grin and sip my beer, immediately relaxing. “Remember that time that you, Mia, and I went to Burgerville and Mia tried to tell the cooks in the back that they were doing it wrong?”
Landon laughs and nods. “She’s always been bossy when it comes to food.”
“She’s just always been bossy.” I munch my fries. “But her heart is in the right place. I love that girl.”
“She loves you too,” Landon says as he reaches over, grips my wrist in his hand, and takes a bite of the fries in my fingers.
“You have fries.”
“Yours taste better.”
“Okay, tell me the truth.”
“Always my goal,” he replies, and sips his beer.
“Are you okay with being home?”
He smiles. “Lucas asked me the same thing today. It was something I had to wrap my head around. It’s not that I hate Portland. My family is here, and this is a fun city. But—”
“But you enjoyed saving the world,” I say.
“I didn’t save the world, but I enjoyed what I did.”
“So how do you feel?” I raise a brow. “You didn’t answer the question.”
“I feel better every day.” He sits back and watches my face. “I feel really good.”
“I’m glad. You were so sad when you got home.” His eyes narrow and he cocks his head to the side. “I saw it. But there’s less sad now. I’m glad.”
“And how are you, Camille?” he asks, still watching me. “We haven’t talked much since you and Brian split.”
“I didn’t think people were supposed to talk about their exes on dates.”
“We’re more than people. Besides, I really want to know.” He gathers our empty plates and sets them in the sink, then lifts his beer. “Shall we sit in the living room?”
“Sure.” I follow him to the couch, toe off my shoes, and sit, my feet pulled up under me. “I’m doing great. Brian and I are still friends. He’s a really great man, and he’ll always be my friend. I just shouldn’t be married to him.”
“Well, that’s a CliffsNotes version if I ever heard one.” He shakes his head and watches me, willing me to spill more, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.
“I’m glad that you’re okay.” Landon’s voice is soft. “You look fantastic.”
“Thank you.”
“What else is new with you?” he asks.
“Honestly, not much. With the business, I pretty much just work. Which sounds pathetic.”
“No, it sounds like you’re dedicated. So, you work and sleep?”
“That about sums it up.”
“Hmm,” he says, eyeing me with humor-filled eyes. “When was the last time you went to the movies?”
“It’s been a long time. But there’s a new one I wouldn’t mind seeing.”
We spend another hour talking about movies we’ve seen or want to see, laughing and just enjoying each other. I haven’t enjoyed myself so much with a man in . . . ever.
Even with my ex-husband, and that’s a sad state of affairs all on its own.
“I should take you home,” Landon says, looking at the time on his phone. “We both have to get up early for work.”
I keep my face neutral, but I’m a bit thrown. I was expecting him to try to seduce me, here on this couch.
But he stands and throws our empty beers away as I slide my feet back in my shoes, then escorts me to his car and drives me home.
I reach for the handle, but he stops me. “Date’s not over,” he says with a wink.
He walks just behind me to the door. I can feel his body heat in the cool winter evening, and I want to lean back against him.
Instead, I unlock the door and turn around to face him.
“I had a good time.”
“Me too.” He brushes his fingertips down my hairline, tucking a stray strand behind my ear, as he leans in and brushes his lips tenderly over mine. He grips my neck in his palm and proceeds to give me the sweetest, most gentle kiss of my life. “Good night.”
He backs away and I turn to open the door, but the next thing I know, I hear Landon whisper “Fuck it,” and I’m spun around and pushed against the still-closed door, and Landon’s hands are fisted in my hair and his lips are on mine. More urgently this time, licking and tasting me as if he’s been starving for me.
I grip his shoulders and hold on for dear life, praying this never ends. His lips are ridiculous. His touch is firm but reverent. And when he growls deep in his throat, I’m completely lost to him.
As the kiss slows, he whispers against my lips, “That’s the good kind.”
Finally, he eases back, brushes his nose over mine, and with a deep breath, turns and jogs down to his car.
I walk into my house in a fog. Did that just happen? I stare at the sunflowers on the sofa table and touch my lips with my fingertips. They’re still wet. I can still taste him.
It totally just happened.
I WAKE TO the smell of coffee. Which is impossible because I don’t even own a coffeemaker. I frown and throw an old T-shirt and yoga pants on and pad downstairs. Someone is moving about my kitchen.
I stop in the doorway, completely surprised. Landon is at the stove, flipping bacon in a pan and jumping back when it spatters at him. Scoot is nibbling at kibble in his bowl.
“How did you get in here?” I ask.
Landon’s head whips around. He smiles, allowing his eyes to rake up and down me. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning. How did you get in here?”
“Well, babe, I don’t want to lie to you.” He sighs and turns to place the cooked bacon on a paper towel, but doesn’t finish his thought.
“And?”
“That’s it. I don’t want to lie. Or, I could just say, it’s none of your business.”
“Uh-huh. Okay, then why are you here?”
He shakes his head. “It’s really flattering how excited you are to see me. I thought you could use a nice balanced breakfast before work. You say you don’t have time to eat in the morning, and I’m making time.”
“I am happy to see you,” I admit softly. “I’m just surprised.” And that might be the understatement of the year.
He leans over the island and kisses me chastely, then hands me a piece of bacon. “This will tide you over until I scramble the eggs.”
“When did I get a coffeemaker?”
“This morning. Mia told me you didn’t have one.”
“You didn’t have to buy me a coffeemaker.” But oh dear God, how good does it smell!
“I don’t have to do much of anything,” he replies, and pours me a cup, then passes it to me. “I wanted to bring you breakfast.”
“I didn’t think you could cook.”
“I’m not half-bad at morning food.”
“No, you’re not,” I murmur as I chew the bacon, still not completely awake. I take a sip of the coffee and hum as the hot liquid works its way down my throat. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I should go get ready for work.”
“Eat first. Then you can go get ready and I’ll answer some e-mails and wait for you.”
“Why would you wait?”
He glances back at me like I’m just not keeping up with him. “Because I’ll drive you to work. I’m going to the same place.”
I frown, but he walks around the island to me, and before I can speak, he plants those lips on mine. “Don’t argue,” he whispers.
“You’re bossy.”
“It’s good that you recognize that now, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know how I feel about you being so bossy.”
“That’s just because you’re still half-asleep.”
“LANDON’S HERE FOR you,” Riley says later that afternoon. “He says he’s taking you home?”
“We rode together this morning,” I reply, and hit send on an e-mail to our payroll lady, then shut down the computer.
“You spent the night with him?” she squeals. “And you wait until right now to say something?”
“No, I didn’t spend the night with him. He came over this morning and made me breakfast, and drove me to work.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Riley shakes her head and sits at her desk. “It’s just interesting, that’s all.”
“What’s interesting?”
“The whole situation.” Riley laughs and points at the door. “He’s waiting. Have a good night. Use protection.”
“You’re weird,” I reply with a frown, grab my bag and jacket, and walk out of the office. Landon is waiting by the front door, looking at his phone with a frown on his handsome face. “Something wrong?”
His head whips up and he smiles when he sees me. “Not a thing. Are you ready?”
“Ready.” He opens the passenger door for me and I sink back in the seat of his car and take a deep breath. “I’m so ready to go home.”
“Well, the thing is, we’re not going home.”
“We’re not?” I glance over at him in surprise. “Where are we going?”
“To the movies.”
“It’s not even five in the afternoon.”
“Matinee,” he replies, and takes my hand in his, kisses my knuckles, and drives us into the heart of downtown Portland. He finds parking and escorts me into a mall, then up about five thousand escalators to the top, where the theater is. “Popcorn for dinner?”
“That’s healthy.”
“You had a balanced breakfast. You’re good.”
When we’re seated in the theater, I can’t help but wonder again if this is really happening. I’m at the movies with Landon, who has his arm around me rather than eating any popcorn. I, on the other hand, am inhaling it.
The movie is a chick flick that I mentioned wanting to see last night while we had dinner at his house. He pays attention, I’ll give him that. And the fact that he thought to do this is flattering, not to mention it makes my heart melt more than a little.
I lean my head on his shoulder and sigh when I feel his lips on my temple. The movie is a good one, but a bit sad at the end. When we leave, I yawn, but I’m so damn happy.
“Tired?” Landon asks as he drives us home.
“A bit. Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome. Are you hungry? I can buy you dinner.”
“I had a whole tub of popcorn myself,” I reply with a laugh. “I have a little work to do tonight from home.”
Landon nods and takes me home, and when he walks me to the door, he kisses me just as passionately as he did last night. His hands are firm and warm on my arms as he pulls me closer, and his mouth devours mine, in the absolute best possible way.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” It’s said with promise in his voice.
When I get inside and shut the door, I can’t help but do a quick, undignified happy dance, startling Scoot. “He’s into me. You don’t kiss a girl like that unless you’re into her. I haven’t dated like this in ten years.”
Scoot’s eyes narrow, and he flicks his tail and turns his back on me.
“Don’t judge me, you little judger.”
SOMETHING CRASHES, WAKING me up out of a dead sleep and scaring the fuck out of me. I sit up, looking around my bedroom, but it’s pitch-black. The power’s out.
Suddenly lightning flashes, brightening up the room, and is followed immediately by the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. Scoot is crying and pacing the bed.
“It’s okay, baby.” I reach out to pet him, and he hisses, but then runs into my lap and huddles against me. “I’ve got you. It’s just a storm. It’ll go away.”
But more lightning and deafening thunder hit again, making us both jump. Rain is pelting against my window so hard it sounds like it could break the glass.
This is one hell of a storm.
As the rushing in my ears slows, I swear I can hear a scratching noise, which only scares me all over again. I grab my phone and call Riley.
“This better be good,” she mumbles sleepily into the phone.
“I think someone’s trying to break into my house,” I whisper to her. “My power is out and I hear noises.”
“Why are you calling me and not the cops?” Riley asks. “Jesus, it’s two in the morning.”
“I wouldn’t know that. My power’s out. And there’s a murder-death-kill person here.”
She giggles and I scowl at the phone. “This isn’t funny!”
“You’re right. Did you lock your door?”
“Yes.”
“You need to get an alarm.”
“Not the time to berate me,” I say, and take Scoot to the bathroom, locking him in. “I’ll protect you, baby.”
“Who are you talking to?”
“My cat.”
“Jesus, you’re the crazy cat lady.”
“Not helping,” I hiss, and drop to my hands and knees to find the baseball bat under the bed. “Seriously, I heard a noise.”
“It’s a storm, Cami. It was probably a tree on your house or something.”
I take a deep breath and sit on the edge of the bed, bat in hand.
“You’re probably right. I don’t hear anything now.”
“Go back to sleep. The storm will blow over.”
I nod. “Okay. Good night.”
“Night.”
I hang up and shine my phone around the room. It all looks normal. Riley is probably right, I’m just scared because of the storm.
Just when I stand to let Scoot out of the bathroom, I hear another noise. I tiptoe to the door and peek my head around, petrified to see my front door creaking wide open.
Holy fucking hell.
I clutch the bat in my best grand-slam stance and take a deep breath.
“Whoever you are, you need to get the fuck out of my house!” I yell, sounding much more confidant than I feel. “I have a gun and the cops are on their way!”
“Jesus, don’t shoot me.”
Landon.
I drop the bat just as Landon reaches the top of the stairs and I launch myself into his arms. And I do mean launch. My arms are wrapped tightly around his neck, most likely cutting off his air supply, and my legs are wrapped around his waist.
“You scared me!”
“I’m sorry.” He’s holding my ass, but when he realizes that I’m glued to him and he doesn’t need to hold me up, he runs his hands up and down my back, soothing me. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to come see if you’re okay.”
“Why didn’t you just knock like a normal human being?” I ask with my face buried in his neck.
“I didn’t want to wake you up if you were sleeping.” He sits on the bed with me in his lap.
“So you thought that me waking up to a tall man at the side of my bed would be less scary?” He chuckles and kisses my cheek. “You seriously need to stop breaking into my house.”
I pull back.
“Wait. Is that how you got in yesterday morning? You picked the lock?”
I can’t make out his face in the dark, but I feel his shrug. “Old habits die hard.”
We used to break into each other’s bedroom window when we were kids. We’d sneak in and talk, especially during storms. I hate thunderstorms. I always have. I’m surprised Landon remembers.
“Here I thought you had some kind of magical powers,” I say. “But in all reality, you’re just a felon. I couldn’t pick a lock these days if my life depended on it.”
“I’m not a felon,” he says with a laugh. “And if I am, then we all were when we were young. And if memory serves, it was you who taught me how to pick a lock.”
I laugh softly. “No one lived in that old scary house by the river when we broke into it. It was empty.”
“It wasn’t ours to break into. I’m pretty sure I could turn you in for breaking and entering.”
“I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations has expired on those adventures,” I reply, and poke him in the ribs. “Besides, it was you who used to taunt me and Mia about how it was haunted, and horrible ritual killings used to happen there.”
“I was hoping to scare you away from there, not entice you even more.” He kisses my forehead. “I never would have guessed that the cute, responsible girl we all knew would have been up for trespassing.”
“I was up for a lot of things back then,” I reply softly. “The consequences don’t seem so dire when you’re young. It seems you never outgrew your trespassing tendencies.”
“You would have opened the door to me.”
“Just freaking knock next time.”
“Or you could just give me a key and save us all the trouble,” he replies, and kisses my forehead. As the adrenaline slows down, I realize that he smells delicious. His muscles feel amazing under my hands.
He just feels so damn good.
“They tore it down, you know,” I say, still staring into the dark. “That old house.”
“I know. I drove by the other day and it was replaced with a row of town houses.” His hands are roaming soothingly up and down my back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Where’s the gun?”
Silence. I smile against his neck.
“You don’t have a gun, do you?”
“No, but I wasn’t going to tell a potential rapist that.”
“You’re so funny,” he says, his hands moving over my back again. “I don’t have power either.”
The sky lights up and I can see him for just a split second. His hair is still messy from bed. His eyes look tired.
“Thank you for coming to check on me.” I rest against him. “You didn’t have to.”
“You hate storms,” he murmurs.
“That hasn’t changed,” I agree, and then I panic all over again. “Shit! Scoot’s trapped in the bathroom!”
I shimmy off his lap and run to the bathroom, almost tripping on my new Choos on the way.
“Why is he in the bathroom?”
“Because I put him there to protect him,” I reply, and open the door. A pissed-off cat scurries out of the bathroom and jumps up on the bed. “He’ll be pissed at me for a while. Although, he’s always pissed at me.”
“Now that I know you’re okay, I’ll head home.”
“Stay.”
He stills in the darkness. “Cami—”
“You don’t have to have sex with me,” I rush on. “But I’d rather not be alone.”
“Come here.”
I cross to the bed and reach out when I can see his silhouette against the windows, careful not to fall into him. He takes my hand and pulls me down into his lap.
“When we have sex, it won’t be because either of us has to.” His lips are just barely touching my cheek as he speaks. “It’ll be because we’re both ready and can’t keep our damn hands off of each other. Making love to you will never be a chore.”
“I should hope not.”
“And as for tonight, I’ll happily stay if it makes you feel better.”
“It does.”
“Do you want me on the couch?”
“No. I want you to lie in my bed with me and hold me.” I’m breathing easier now. “Please.”
He groans as he lifts me, and with me in his arms, he toes out of his shoes and lies down in my bed, gently lowering me beside him.
“You’re strong.”
“You’re sweet,” he says as he pulls me against him. I lay my head on his chest and wrap my arm around his waist and sigh deeply. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.”
“Don’t go away.” I’ve relaxed against him, feeling safe and calm once again.
“I’m here.”
Scoot climbs onto Landon’s belly and lies against my arm, purring, and before long I feel myself drifting back into sleep.