by K. A. Linde
“It was probably when I lifted you.”
“Oh, shit. Yeah,” I muttered. I hadn’t known the extent of his injuries then, or I wouldn’t have allowed that to happen in the first place. I swatted at his arm. “You need to take better care of yourself. Jesus. Let me get you something. What do you have?”
“There’s some Tylenol and a muscle relaxer over the toilet if you want to grab me some along with a glass of water.”
I hopped up and hurried to the kitchen to get him some water before entering the bathroom. I felt a little silly, digging around in his medicine cabinet, but he’d told me to after all. My eyes landed on the little row of prescription medicines. I took out a few Tylenol and then found the muscle relaxer as well.
“Find it?” Landon asked.
“Yep. It’s right here.”
I snapped the cabinet door and walked back into the bedroom.
“Here you go,” I said, handing him the pills and water.
“Thanks.” He tossed them back and downed the water. “I think I’m dehydrated, too.” He arched an eyebrow at me. “Did you have anything to do with that?”
I edged back into bed and grinned. “Nope. Not me.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” he asked, nuzzling into my neck.
“Because I was totally involved.”
Landon pulled me down on top of him and kissed me, slow and steady. Eventually, the medicine did its job, and the pain diminished. I liked to think that the kisses helped too.
By the time we’d eaten lunch and retreated back to the bedroom, I couldn’t believe the time. It was already well past time that I needed to go see Emery. I’d promised her a girls’ night. This thing with Landon was fresh, new, and shiny, and I wanted to succumb to it in every waking minute. Realistically though, that wasn’t going to be possible.
“Oh my God, I have to go home,” I told him, hopping out of bed and locating all my discarded clothes from last night. “I have a girls’ night tonight.”
“Don’t go,” Landon said. He eased back out of bed and wrapped his arms around my waist, drawing me in for another kiss. “Just stay one more night.”
“I can’t,” I barely managed. “I promised Em.”
“Have a girls’ night tomorrow.” His lips grazed my jawline, and he nibbled on my ear in a way that made me want to throw myself back in his bed.
“Can’t. As much as I want to stay—”
“Then, stay.”
“Oh, you are trouble.”
“Yes,” he agreed easily.
I removed his hands from my ass with a sigh. “You’re making this really difficult.”
“I never promised to fight fair.”
I laughed. “That’s for damn sure.”
“When will I see you again?” he asked, following me to the door.
“I don’t know. Tomorrow?”
“Good.” His eyes lit up at that. “Tomorrow is a promise.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I like that.”
“Are you going to tell Em?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sheepish grin. “Can’t hide anything from her. Plus, anyway, she guessed what was going on back in December.”
“Of course, she did.” Landon tried to pull me back into him again. “You sure you can’t tell her tomorrow?”
I smiled and pressed a firm kiss to his lips. “I’ll miss you, too.”
He finally released me, and I slipped out the door. He stood in the open doorway in nothing but his boxers, and it was damn hard to walk away from that.
That body.
Those abs.
That V!
Fuck, I wanted that body, and everything he was capable of doing with it.
Somehow, I managed to make it out to my car and even start the ignition. He stood there, smirking at me, in the most come-hither display I’d ever witnessed. It took so much self-control to back out of that parking spot and go home.
When I entered the house, Emery was sprawled out on the couch with Buffy the Vampire Slayer on for the hundredth time.
“You’re back!” Emery said with a big smile. “I thought maybe you’d ditched me.”
“Nope. I remembered girls’ night. Just going to get into something a little more comfortable.”
Emery hopped off the couch and followed me into my room. “Why are you wearing work clothes?”
“That’s an excellent question.”
“Actually, where were you anyway?”
“Also a good question.”
I grabbed some pajamas and clean underwear before retreating into the bathroom without answering Emery’s questions. I needed a moment to compose myself before dishing the goods.
When I came back out, she was sitting on my bed with her legs crossed under her like a pretzel. “Avoiding the questions much?”
“No,” I said evasively.
“You got another letter today.” She held up the same standard white envelope that I had been getting once a week for the last six years. I frowned and plucked it out of her hand.
“Thanks,” I mumbled before stuffing it in my closet with all the other unopened letters.
Emery frowned. “Are you going to…”
“No,” I told her with more force than necessary. “I’m not.”
“K,” she said quickly. She knew when not to press. “So, spill where you were and what you were doing. Or else I’ll make you talk about the letters.”
“Okay, okay,” I said, holding up my hands in defense. “I was…with Landon.”
“I KNEW IT!” she yelled. Emery jumped off the bed. Her smile was wide and her green eyes bright.
I laughed at her overreaction. “I didn’t even say anything else.”
“Well, you’re finally fucking admitting to me that you’re into Landon. I’ve been waiting for this for months. So, are you like together, together?” Emery asked.
“Emery, I do not understand you. Why are you so excited about this? You dated Landon for two years. I was terrified of telling you.”
Emery shrugged and flipped her dark hair off her shoulders. “Besides the fact that I’m dating his brother? I think I got over my anger at the Wrights because of Jensen. We were kids, Heidi. Landon left me because he thought he was doing the right thing by his dad. I didn’t understand that at the time, but ten years gives you a lot of perspective. I do not begrudge you dating him, like I might have right after high school or something.”
“I guess that makes sense. I mean…I still feel weird, telling you about it.”
“You haven’t told me anything,” she groaned, dragging me out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. “Tell me all the details. I think we need ice cream and bubbles to celebrate.”
“Oh, champs, yes!” I agreed.
“Champs?” Emery snorted. “You are so Real Housewives right now. Oh my God, I hate myself for knowing that. Damn Morgan and her obsession with those kinds of shows and trash magazines.”
I laughed. “Does she still watch just to make fun of people?”
“Yes, though I think she’s secretly obsessed. Anyway, enough about Morgan. Tell me about Landon. You’re together?”
“Yes. Well, no. I mean, not technically since he’s in the middle of a divorce.”
“Oh, thank fuck about Miranda.”
“And there’s the whole issue with him being my boss,” I reminded her.
“Oh, right. You have that no-dating-coworkers thing.”
She plopped vanilla ice cream into bowls for us and drizzled chocolate fudge on top. I took one from her, and we headed back to the living room.
“Julia said that I’d probably get moved if something happened since he’s a Wright. But do not say anything to Jensen.”
“Ugh, seriously?” Emery said, digging into her ice cream.
“I don’t want Jensen to know. We’ll get in trouble, and I think I’m in line for a promotion. I’ve worked so hard for this job.”
“Okay,” Emery said, “I understand that. You got yourself where yo
u are today. But what about Landon?”
“If he wanted to move…he would have asked already,” I said a bit defensively.
“So, you’re going to wait for him to make the move?”
“I’m not jeopardizing my career.”
Emery sighed. “I’m not saying to. I’m saying, if it bothers you this much, then talk to him about it.”
“I have. He knows how I feel about him being my boss, but he got this job for a reason. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to tell him to get a new job when our relationship is just starting, and he’s going through so much.”
“Well, if it get serious, then you’re going to have to talk about it.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
That was a day I was dreading. I knew I needed to talk to Landon about it. As much as he had blown it off, like it didn’t matter, I knew that it did. I’d seen Julia’s face when I mentioned it. I sighed and decided I’d better bring it up with him. The last thing I wanted was to stress our relationship every day at the office.
“Sorry,” Emery said. “I want you to be happy. Landon makes you happy?”
I nodded. “Very.”
“Good. Even if it is a little weird.”
“I knew it!” I cried. “I knew you were weirded out.”
Emery laughed and nudged me. “Nah. I’m joking. Now, the really important question. Mean Girls or Bad Moms?”
“I’m going to go with both.”
“Good choice.”
All night, I’d obsessed over what to say to Landon about the boss situation. But the minute that I got to his apartment on Sunday afternoon, the words just wouldn’t leave my mouth.
I was too happy to talk to him about something that hard. Our relationship had just started. I didn’t know where it was going. Only that I wanted it to last. I knew that I should say something, but when he looked at me and touched me and kissed me, my worries disappeared.
Monday morning rolled around, and I still hadn’t said anything. My thoughts were swirling around in my head so much that, when we went and got Thai food for lunch, he seemed to read it on my face.
“You’re worried about being out together?”
“I mean…yeah,” I confirmed. “You’re still my boss.”
“I know.”
My eyes slipped up to his. “Couldn’t you just…ask Jensen or Morgan to move you?”
Landon sighed and nodded. “I did already.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Yeah. The first day I saw you, I went to ask Morgan for a different job.”
“I didn’t know that!”
“Well, I didn’t want you to think that I was out of line when you were still angry with me.”
“What did Morgan say?”
Landon frowned. “She had to restructure the company to get me into this position. There is no other position for me right now. Nothing I’m qualified for at least. The job that I have is it for me until something else opens up.”
I rocked back in my chair and frowned. “Wow.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Well, I guess that’s off the table.”
“For now, Heidi, but not forever. We can handle this.” He slipped his hand into mine. “I promise.”
I numbly nodded my head, watching all my carefully planned suggestions fly out the window.
“Hey,” he said, leaning toward me, “we can handle this. I swear. I am with you one hundred percent.”
“I know,” I told him with a smile.
I’d wanted it to be easier. But, of course, it wasn’t easier. Nothing in life was ever easy.
We finished our meal and headed back to the office. My head was up in the clouds on the drive back, and Landon remained silent, giving me the space to come back to the ground.
I knew two things for certain—Landon was my boss, and I wasn’t going to give him up for anything.
“Heidi,” he said low, drawing me toward his office, as I had instinctively moved to my desk, “let’s talk about this.”
“What’s there to talk about?” I whispered.
“Please,” he said more earnestly.
“All right,” I said. I didn’t know what more we could figure out today, but I was willing to listen.
Then, we walked into his office, and my eyes landed on a woman in a skintight red dress who had seated herself in the middle of Landon’s desk with her legs crossed seductively.
“Hello, darling,” Miranda said.
Twenty-Two
Landon
Shit.
Oh, shit.
My eyes were wide with alarm. What in the ever-loving fuck was Miranda doing here? I’d been ignoring her calls, texts, and pathetic messages to try to get me to reconsider the divorce. I’d only responded to tell her to sign the paperwork or talk to her lawyer. I’d made my decision, and I wasn’t going back to where we had been the last miserable year.
“Oh,” Heidi said. Her cheeks were bright red. “I’m just…going to go back to my desk then. Good talk, boss.”
“Heidi,” I said softly.
“We’ll chat about that…thing later.”
And then she all but dashed out of the room, leaving me alone with the most conniving woman I knew.
“What are you doing here, Miranda?” I demanded.
“I came to see my husband, of course.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. Why was I even surprised that she was playing that card? Nothing surprised me about her anymore.
This was the worst fucking time for her to show up. All I wanted to do was run out of this room and go talk to Heidi. I didn’t know what she must be feeling right now and I didn’t want her to think that anything was happening with me and Miranda.
I wished that I could go tell her not to worry and that there was nothing between Miranda and I anymore.
Instead, I had to deal with Miranda.
“Are you going to sign the papers?” I demanded.
She stuck her cherry-red lip out and flipped her blonde bangs out of her eyes. She’d gotten her hair cut since I last saw her, and it was angled around her chin. I tried not to look lower than that. She’d picked her outfit with purpose, and I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of assessing it.
“Do we have to talk about that silly document you sent me?”
My anger flared. “I’m at work. Either you’re here to sign the paperwork or you’re going to leave.”
She hopped off the desk. The Louboutins I’d bought her for her birthday last year clicked as she hit the ground. “I flew all the way here, and you’re kicking me out?”
“Yes,” I said bluntly.
“I thought we could talk.”
“Please, just stop this, Miranda. Just sign the divorce forms and get this over with.”
She strode toward me with a feline’s prowl, and it took everything in me not to shudder and back away from her. She trailed her French-manicured nail down my tie and smirked, as if she thought she would get a reaction, as if she had some sort of control over me. But she didn’t.
At one point, I’d loved this woman. And seeing her here like this made me wonder how that had ever been possible.
“But I don’t want to get this over with. I want you, Landon.”
She leaned forward against me, and I took a step back.
“What part of divorce are you not comprehending?”
“The part where we got married and said our wedding vows. I took those seriously, Landon. I guess you didn’t.”
I sighed. This was a conversation I did not want to have. “I took them seriously,” I told her. “You know I meant those words when I said them, but things have changed. We’ve changed. I think it will be better for both of us if we move on with our lives.”
“I can’t just stop loving you,” she said, her voice soft and hesitant.
An act. I saw it for what it was. There was nothing soft or hesitant about Miranda. There never had been. She was commanding and fiery and filled a room. It was what had endeared her to me
once upon a time. But our fairy tale wasn’t ending in a happily ever after.
“We’re not having this conversation.”
“Yes, we are,” she snapped back.
“I’m afraid not. I have work to do. And you should go home.”
“How can I go home to an empty house?” Miranda demanded. Her hands were on her hips, and she’d gone from pouty to angry in the blink of an eye.
“Why should I care?”
“Because I’m your wife!”
“And, soon, you’ll be my ex-wife.”
“How can you be so uncaring?” she asked. “How can you just throw me aside like this? Is there someone else?”
My face pinched at just the wrong moment, projecting that I was seeing someone else…Heidi. And Miranda knew me too well not to judge my facial expressions, my annoyance with her question, as anything else but the truth.
She gasped. “Who is it? Are you cheating on me?”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I have never cheated on you. And I can’t currently be cheating on you because we’re separated. And, if you’d just sign the paperwork, we’d be divorced.”
“So, you are seeing someone then?”
“This conversation has no purpose. If you’re here to annoy me, then congratulations. You’ve succeeded.” I held my hands up in frustration.
There was no way in hell I was going to tell her about Heidi. No way that I would ever mention dating someone else until the divorce was completely final. Nothing would make Miranda drag her feet more than knowing I had already moved on. No matter that I had checked out of my headspace with Miranda a year ago. I did not want this to last any longer than it had to.
“Is that what you think? That I’m here to annoy you?” She sank into her hip, and her nostrils flared. “I think this entire thing is fucking insane, Landon. I’m your fucking wife. There has to be a reason for this motherfucking madness. Either you’ve found someone else or you’ve gone clinically insane.”
I huffed. “Really sweet. Now, I’m clinically insane?”
“No,” she grumbled. “I think you’re with someone else.”
“What is it going to take for you to sign the papers?” I demanded to change the subject.
She bit her cherry-red lip and looked at me as if this were the first time she had thought of the question. I knew by her eyes that it was not. “Nothing.”