by Audra Cole
The only difference is that I knew who the voice on the other end belonged to.
“Landon?” I said, still scanning my surroundings.
My heart slammed to a stop when I saw him. He was across the street, one hand holding his phone against his ear. I lowered my own phone to my lap and sucked in a deep breath.
Landon hung up and jogged across the street as soon as there was a break in traffic. He looked just as handsome as I remembered. Maybe even better. He wore a suit, his hair tousled in the breeze as he moved. Over the past months, I’d wondered what it would be like to see him again. No amount of imagining could have prepared me for the hurricane set loose as he joined me at the bench.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and offered a quick smile. “Should I call you James Bond or something?”
He smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. In fact, I noticed they were rimmed with sadness. Had he missed me as much as I’d missed him? Was that even possible? “I was sitting at that coffee shop and saw you walk by. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you.”
“Small town, I guess?”
He pointed over his shoulder. “Not really. That’s my office. Smack dab in the middle of everything. Not a lot gets past me.”
I nodded and shifted my weight, rocking back onto my heels.
Landon slipped his hands into his pockets. “You in town for the big grand opening?”
“Yeah. Are you—you’re not—”
He chuckled. “No. I won’t be there. I cut off my contract a few weeks ago.”
My eyebrows hitched up. “Oh?”
“No one told you?”
“I asked to be left out of the loop.”
“Aha.” Landon gave a knowing nod. “Well, I told them that I found someone outside the service and that I wanted to let it play out.”
No wonder Georgia hadn’t told me. She’d have known it would have crushed me.
“Well, congratulations,” I said, forcing a smile.
Landon studied me. “What would you say if I told you that you know the woman I met.”
I frowned. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“It’s you, Candace. You’re the one I can’t get out of my head.” He glanced away for a moment and then gave a pained smile. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that morning at my house.”
I dropped my eyes to my folded hands. “I’m so sorry, Landon. What I did was so—wrong. So, inexcusable.”
Landon reached for my hands. “Can we sit?”
“Sure.”
He waited for me to take a seat and then sat beside me, leaving a few inches between us. We each stared out at the water for a few moments. Then, he spoke, his voice soft. “I never talk about this, but I think you should know. I told you I was married before. But, there’s more to the story.”
“Isn’t there always?” I said with a small smile.
Landon gave a nod. “Well, my ex-wife was a real piece of work. While I was building my empire, she was out there fucking her way through Manhattan. And she didn’t just stop at random bar hook-ups. No, that would have been too easy.” Landon scoffed, a wry smile on his face. “No, Whit had to keep things really interesting. She’d hold these dinner parties on nights that I’d be out entertaining clients or partners. What I didn’t know was that when the guests would leave, she was hooking up with some of my business partner’s wives.”
I winced as my heart twisted in my chest. “Landon…”
“Yeah. Like I said, real piece of work.” He blew out a frustrated puff of air. “Anyway, when I found out, not only did our marriage end, but that was when she also informed me that she was prepared to air our dirty laundry—and that of the women she was sleeping with—to the world. If she’d gone public with the affairs, not only would I have lost my reputation, but so would half a dozen of my most trusted business contacts.”
“Wow.”
Landon nodded. “I paid her off. Of course. She stayed in New York and I moved to Seattle. I couldn’t stay there anymore and deal with the memories.”
My stomach sunk lower, realizing what he’d been through only made me feel worse about my own betrayal of his trust. No wonder he threw me out and refused to speak to me for the past months. He had every right. If only I could take it back…
Landon twisted and met my eyes. “You were the first woman that made me feel anything. With you it wasn’t just about the physical. I felt things for you, Candace. Hell, if I’m being honest, I still do. That Sunday morning, before you took that call, I was sitting there thinking that maybe there could be something real between us. Something lasting.”
I ducked my chin and held my breath to keep from crying. “I’m so sorry, Landon.”
Landon reached over and tipped my face back up to look at him. “It’s in the past, Candace.” He licked his lips. “There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought about you. You got under my skin, baby. I’m not willing to throw away something like this over a mistake.”
“What are you saying?”
“I fell for you, Candace. Hard.”
Tears swam before my eyes and when I nodded, a single tear slipped past my lashes. Landon cupped my face and brushed the renegade tear away with a caress of his thumb. “I’m in love with you, Candace. I don’t want to see anyone else. Just you.”
“I love you too, Landon.”
He kissed me soft and sweet but heat built quickly as though our bodies remembered just where we’d left off—in the aftermath of a steamy morning—and when his tongue slipped past my lips, a moan purred up in the back of my throat. Landon cut away with a longing groan. “Come on. I’m taking you home.”
I didn’t argue.
We walked back to Landon’s office and went upstairs long enough to grab his car keys. His office was almost identical to the way I’d pictured it in my head; dark woods, polished and sleek. He rushed us to the underground garage, each of us having a hard time keeping our hands to ourselves. Once inside the confines of his luxury SUV with dark, tinted windows, he kissed me fiercely. My back arched against the passenger door as he worked his lips and teeth over my ear and down one side of my neck. A moan slipped from my lips as for relief as his hand slipped up my sweatshirt and palmed one of my breasts. The heat was all-consuming and left me breathless, panting for relief as the pleasure layered into a tightly coiled spring between us.
By some small miracle, we made it back to his house without running any red lights or getting a speeding ticket, and barely got the front door closed before our clothes went flying and we spent all evening putting some serious action behind the sacred words exchanged on that riverside walk.
Epilogue
Six months later…
“So, how’s it feel to be top bitch? You kicking ass and taking names, or in corporate hell?”
I laughed at the blunt question and shook my head. “I miss you, Georgia.”
“Miss you too.”
I spun slowly in my chair and looked out the sweeping windows that provided a glorious view of the cityscape below. Leticia had spared no expense in location when it came to the Seattle branch. We held the top three floors in a downtown building that had a straight-shot view of the waterfront. I loved watching people come and go and even when it was a drizzly day, there was something magical about my new home. Then again, that might have more to do with the fact that every night I went home to the Emerald City’s hottest no-longer-a-bachelor.
“How’s your man muffin?” Georgia asked, almost like she was reading my mind.
A dreamy smile spread across my face at the mention of Landon. “Amazing.”
Georgia laughed. “Six months in and you’re still starry-eyed, huh?”
I pushed up from my desk and wandered across my expansive office. The late afternoon sun was flooding the room and the temptation to kick back in my chair and catch a nap in the sun was getting too strong. “Are you ever going to give up this cynic-masquerading-as-a-love-sage schtick?”
“For the
record, I never claimed to be a love sage,” Georgia fired back.
Sun beams were casting soft light over the large cork board that spanned one half of my wall; a sea of notes and pictures and cards all tucked inside the lattice like ribbons pinned to it. It was my own personal hall of fame. The success story club. A visual reminder that what I did made a huge, life-changing difference in the world. At least for the hundreds of couples I’d had the honor of matching. Piece by piece it grew; every time someone emailed me their story, a series of pictures, a wedding invitation or baby announcement.
“Mail call,” Beth, my executive assistant said, knocking softly on the open door.
I waved her in and mouthed thank you. “Listen, Georgia, I should probably get back to work if I have any hope of making my dinner date with my man.”
Georgia sighed. “All right, have fun. Call me this weekend. We need to make plans for you to come back down for a visit.”
I smiled and agreed even though we both knew it’d only been three and a half weeks since my last visit to LA. We hung up and I sat down behind my desk and started sorting through the stack of mail. The last envelope caught my attention and I opened it to find a long, hand-written letter:
Candace,
I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you for matching me with the woman of my dreams. I’ll be the first to admit that a matchmaking service sounded outdated and archaic but I’m happy to report that I’m now a believer. I’ve never been happier. Nor could I imagine a woman more perfect for me. She’s beautiful and strong. Ambitious and smart as hell. She knows what she wants and goes after it with all her heart.
Now, I’ve been hurt in the past. Burned by love. But she’s made me see that it’s worth the risk to fall. In fact, I can’t imagine my life without her. She’s changed everything for the better, made me the man I always wanted to be. I would do anything for her. So, that’s why, I’ve decided that I’m not going to wait another minute to tell her how I feel. Today, I’m going to my jeweler and picking up a brilliant diamond ring, and I’m going to ask her to marry me.
None of this would have been possible if you hadn’t talked me into giving this process a chance. So, thank you. You’ll forever have my gratitude and admiration.
My eyebrows furrowed when I reached the end of the touching letter and realized that it wasn’t signed. I dug back into the envelope to see if it continued on a second page, and instead came back with a picture.
A candid shot from a friend’s wedding a few weekends back. Landon, with one arm around me, while I kissed his cheek.
Realization caught me right as I looked up and saw Landon sauntering into the room, hands in the pockets of his dark suit. He smiled. “I see you got my letter.”
“This was you?”
He nodded.
“But it said—” My mouth dropped open.
Landon’s grin widened as he reached for me. “Candace McArthur, I’m hopelessly in love with you. Every word in that letter is true. You came into my world, granted, a little like a bulldozer, but you’ve rearranged everything and now, I can’t imagine—I don’t want to know—what life would be like without you.”
Words were lost, caught in the back of my throat, as he pressed a single kiss to my forehead.
He dropped to one knee, fishing a small black velvet box from his pocket on the way. “What do you say? Should we add our picture to your wall?” He lifted the lid on the box, revealing a gorgeous cushion-cut diamond halo engagement ring. “Candace, will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes, of course!”
Landon swept up and gathered me into his arms. He kissed me passionately.
He slipped the picture under the ribbon on the cork board, nestling our smiling faces among the others. He smiled at the picture and then looked over at me. “I’d say we make one hell of a success story, baby.”
***
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I’d like to thank all my readers. Without you, my books wouldn’t even exist. I truly appreciate each and every one of you. The words of kindness and support blow me away and I am truly grateful!
I would also like to thank my handsome hubby who makes writing about happily ever after possible!
About The Author
Audra Cole is a romance author. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and three fur-babies, and she adores her eclectic city. When not glued to her keyboard, she enjoys reading, kickboxing, and unwinding with a nice glass of Moscato.
You can connect with Audra on Facebook and AudraCole.com!