Landon

Annia led Kai’s brother and his date onto the patio where we were sipping our wine. His eyes landed on my girl and despite the chick standing behind him, he pulled Zara out of her seat into a crushing hug. I felt every ounce of my blood begin to simmer, and if he didn’t let go soon it would become a rolling boil.

“Zara,” he rasped her name like he was dying of thirst in the fucking desert. “How have you been?”

She stealthily removed herself from his hold before saying, “Great, Elan. Really great.” Her head tilted in my direction as her eyes connected with mine. A subtle, tiny wink meant, Relax, Lance. He means nothing.

While the girl he’d walked in with greeted Annia and Kai, El-whatever-his-name-was followed Zara’s gaze, his eyes widening the moment he looked at me. So the fucker knew me, but he said nothing and instead waited for an introduction.

“This is Lance,” Zara said just as she stepped closer to wrap an arm around my waist. “Lance, this is Elan, Kai’s brother.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said with a short, formal nod. I didn’t move to shake his hand, nor did he offer his.

“Lance?”

Zara wordlessly nodded at his question. His sable-brown eyes drilled through mine again, waiting for something that wouldn’t come. If he wanted to acknowledge that he knew me, then fine. If not, game on. A slow smirk spread across his face, yet he still said nothing.

Okay, sixty seconds in and I knew I hated this fucker.

He looked a lot like his brother, but there was something more confrontational in his demeanor. Where Kai came off goofy and happy-go-lucky, this prick was all business.

A petite, raven-haired woman came from behind Elan and gasped. Confusion stopped her in her tracks. With bulging eyes and a hand covering her gaping mouth, it was hard to tell what she really looked like.

“This is Rosalani.” He took her by the hand in an obvious way. “Rosalani, this is my friend Zara, Annia’s sister…and her friend Lance.”

Her bulging eyes bounced between Zara and me. “Hi, Zara, nice to meet you,” she finally uttered in a quivery voice. When her eyes once again focused on me and held, she asked, “Um…what did you say your name was?”

“Lance,” Zara responded for me.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I added cordially.

“Do people tell you that you look like…um…Landon Price?”

A forced smile spread over my lips as Zara stiffened beside me. “All the time. It does make my life difficult. I think he’s shooting a movie in London, though.” The smile on her face now made her look like she was constipated as she tried to decide between believing me or not. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, wasn’t amused with my response. Tough shit, I had no problem lying. None.

“Actually, he’s been MIA,” she insisted. “But, I guess Landon Price wouldn’t be here. According to The Scoop he’s about to be married to Kaelynn Holt and they are scouting romantic locations together.”

“Who’s Kaelynn Holt?” Zara asked while looking at me.

“I have no clue.” At my nonchalant response, Elan narrowed his eyes in a way that caused the theme music of The Wild Wild West to play in my head.

“Hold on,” Rosalani said before furiously tapping away on her phone. “Look.” She flipped her phone toward Zara. My gut twisted when she pulled up a picture of Kaelynn and me leaving a restaurant, hand in hand. You could only see my profile, my hair was much shorter, I was clean-shaven, and the photo was grainy. But it was clear that I was laughing at something she said as she looked up at me adoringly.

The look on Zara’s face mimicked the sick feeling that I did my professional best to hide. “Him? He looks nothing like Lance,” Zara said with a smirk. “Lance is much better looking.” Our eyes met while Rosalani babbled on about some article she’d read regarding my phony relationship with Kaelynn.

“So,” Annia interrupted, no doubt to break the tension bouncing around us. “We decided to order in. I’ll go grab some more wine and the menu. Elan, Rosalani? Wine?”

“Yes, please,” he responded while she nodded with her eyes still glued to me.

“We’ll grab it,” Zara blurted out, pulling on my hand and tugging me along into the house. Could my girl be any more obvious?

Once we were safely inside the kitchen with the sliding door clicked shut, she said, “Do I need to worry about Kaelynn Holt?”

“Most definitely not,” I said without the slightest hesitation.

It took all of three seconds for her to say, “Oh my God, Lance. I am so sorry. I wasn’t prepared for this, obviously. And his behavior is grating on my nerves. I’m sorry he hugged me for so long, and his attitude, and…”

“And if he touches you again I’m going to break his arms.”

“Lance, be serious.” I was serious. “This is a nightmare. He’s being such a dick, and it’s because of who you are, even though he won’t come out and say he knows who you are. It’s a freakin’ game he’s playing now. And that nosy little busybody is pissing me off, too. I…I’m…” She dragged her hands down the sides of her cheeks in a frustrated way. I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on her face. “It’s not funny!”

“You’re acting just as I knew you would. It’s normal. Especially since you have no experience with this. But, baby, this is my life.” I pulled her into my arms to kiss the top of her head. “I can’t control who I’ll run into, or how they’ll react. But I can control what I do as a response. Just ignore them.”

“How are you so calm?”

She took my hand and placed it on her heart. The pounding I felt beneath my touch proved her point. Raising a brow, I squeezed her breast to shamelessly cop a feel, and while I was at it rubbed a thumb over her nipple. Her eyes slid shut in ecstasy right before they flew open incredulously. “Will you stop trying to distract—”

I crushed my lips to hers and her verbal gripe disintegrated into thin air, or into my mouth more specifically. It did concern me that she was so wound up over this. How would she survive the chaos that sometimes followed me wherever I went?

The sound of the sliding door opening forced our kiss to end all too soon.

“You two are so adorable,” Annia said dreamily. “But the natives are getting restless.” She moved around us to grab the wine, two glasses, and a paper menu off the island. “Lance, are you okay?”

“Of course. It comes with the territory.”

“Well, they’re convinced you’re Landon. Just FYI.”

“That’s fine, and I’m fine.” I held Zara’s cheek in my palm. “The only person I worry about is your sister.”

“Aww.” Leaning her upper body right into our personal space, she kissed her sister’s cheek. “He’s a keeper.”

With her eyes pinned to mine, Zara’s dimples appeared as she said, “I know.”