by Marie Force
Landon got into his big black pickup truck and backed out of his sister’s driveway. He needed to get to work at the farm, and after that, he had a date to prepare for.
Chapter Five
“God has his plans and his reasons. Sometimes we are supposed to go through things so that we learn lessons.”
—Dolly Parton
That morning, Amanda participated in a conference call with work, thankful she’d been allowed to decline the face-to-face option since she didn’t feel like dealing with hair straighteners or makeup. Thankfully, her boss was also her mother, Joyce, who had started the meeting by welcoming Amanda back and asking how she was doing—even though Amanda had already spoken to her before the meeting. The Q&A was for the rest of their team.
“I’m doing okay,” Amanda said. “Still hobbling around on crutches and trying to shake off the near-death experience. But otherwise, I’m hanging in there.”
“I know I speak for all of us when I tell you how thankful we are that you’re on the mend,” Joyce said. “You gave us a heck of a scare.”
I gave myself a heck of a scare, she thought. “Thank you for the kind thoughts and the flowers and sending the new computer and phone. I promise to get back to work next week.”
“Take your time and come back when you’re ready.”
Their colleagues had been so wonderful to Amanda since the fire. “I really appreciate the support.”
“How close is the Green Mountain Country Store to officially rolling out the product line?” one of the salesmen asked.
“Close,” Amanda said. “They were waiting to coordinate with their new catalog, which is in final stages, and next week, I’ll finally be training their sales force.”
“Excellent. We’re all looking forward to seeing how it goes there. It’s a great test for markets in smaller towns.”
“We think it’ll do very well here. We have the full support of the Abbott family, particularly the CEO, Lincoln Abbott, who’s backed the line from the get-go.”
Amanda was determined to prove he’d been right to go all in with their products.
They moved on to other items on the agenda, including the upcoming trade show season that was a big part of their business. The ten-member sales team took turns attending the shows and doing product demonstrations in the hope that retailers would choose to carry their line.
That’s how she’d landed the Green Mountain Country Store account. She’d first met Landon’s brother Colton at a trade show in New York after he’d been sent by Lincoln. Later, she’d found out that Lincoln had also been trying to help along Colton’s relationship with Lucy by sending him to New York, where Lucy had lived at the time.
From what Amanda had been told, Lincoln had faced an uphill battle in convincing his business-partner children that the line could be successful in their store and in the catalog. Amanda was certain that Linc had been right. She expected their product line to be very popular at the store—and especially in the catalog.
Funny how much had happened since she first met Colton in New York. Now she was staying with his brother after another of his brothers had nearly been killed saving her. Speaking of Lucas, she was long overdue to thank him in person for saving her life. Maybe she could get Landon to take her to see him later.
She glanced at the clock on the stove.
Landon ought to be home by now.
She immediately dismissed that thought. Was that what it’d come to? Her life revolving around his comings and goings? Well, sort of… There was no need to worry about him driving on mountain roads, as he was an expert at such things, but since the fire, she felt anxiety over the dumbest things. Add Landon being late coming home from a night shift to the list of things that had triggered her lately.
When noon came and went with no sign of him, she figured out he’d probably gone to work at the tree farm for the day.
Hours later, she was standing by the window, watching for him, when the big black truck made the turn into the driveway.
Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. In this cell phone wasteland known as Butler, Vermont, it was stressful not to have a way to check on someone when they were running late. Would she have checked on him if she could have? Well, probably…
How long would this new sense of impending doom last? She had no idea, but as Landon came into the cabin, bringing the scents of pine and woodsmoke with him, she was pouring herself a cup of coffee and trying to act nonchalant. He didn’t need to know that she’d worried about him all day. In the seconds she had left before she had to talk to him, she was determined to shake off the freaking doom. Enough already with that nonsense.
“Hi there.” He dropped his boots on a mat by the door. “Where’re your crutches?”
“I threw them out the back door.”
“You did not!”
“I didn’t, but I wanted to. I’m fine without them if I walk on my toes.” She glanced at him and did a double take when she saw the huge bundle of flowers he’d brought home. “Those are beautiful.” The brightly colored blooms were a combination of lilies, roses and some others she couldn’t name.
“For you.” He handed them to her and then groaned. “I knew I forgot something. I don’t own a vase.”
“We can improvise. Get one of your beer mugs.”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh, come on. You have, like, three dozen of them in the cabinet.”
“They’re collector’s items.”
“You don’t want my flowers to die, do you?”
“No.”
Could he be any cuter? Nope, not possible. And of course he knew it as he sent her a pathetic look and went to decide which of his precious mugs he could sacrifice for her flowers.
“I guess you can use this one.” The mug he handed her had the logo of a bar on it. “I don’t go there anymore.”
“Reminder that it can be washed after use as a vase.”
He gave her a withering look. “I know that.”
She took the mug from him and went to the sink. The mug was too small for the bouquet, but it would keep the flowers alive. “Why don’t you go there anymore?”
“There’s a waitress there who got it in her head that we were a thing when we were never a thing.” He shrugged. “So I stay away.”
Amanda shook from the effort not to laugh in his face, but a gurgle escaped the hand she’d put over her mouth.
“Stop. It’s not funny.”
“Oh, yes, it really is. You’ve probably left a million broken hearts in your wake, haven’t you?”
“I have not!”
“Yes, you have.”
He took a step toward her. “No, I haven’t.”
“Yes.”
Now he was standing right in front of her, looking down at her with those beautiful golden eyes framed with lavish lashes. “No.”
She nodded even as her breath got caught in her throat. That seemed to happen any time he was near.
He shook his head. “Not a million. Not even close.”
“Thousands, then.”
He smiled, and dear God, her knees went weak. “Are you done?”
“I’m just getting started.” That’s the way, Amanda. Grab life by the horns, and don’t leave anything on the table. That needed to be her new motto. And if grabbing life by the horns meant more of Landon Abbott, she was all in. She reached for him, hoping she was reading him right and that he wanted what she did.
His gaze shifted from her eyes to her lips, giving her half a second to prepare before he moved in for the kill. A half second was nowhere near enough time to prepare to be kissed by him. Lord have mercy… The man had the softest, sweetest, sexiest lips, and the weeks of anticipation leading to this moment only made the impact that much more powerful.
Desperate for something to hold on to, she picked him, grasping his flannel shirt as his lips moved over hers and his hands slid down her back to her ass, pulling her in even tighter against him. She’d just managed to catch up to him when h
is tongue stroked her bottom lip, causing her to gasp.
He took full advantage of the opening to send his tongue to play with hers.
Her knees actually buckled.
Landon tightened his arms around her. That was the only thing that kept her standing as he ruined her with his lips and tongue while his erection throbbed against her belly. Landon Abbott was hard for her, and nothing had ever made her feel more powerful or alive. All thoughts of despair and doom were overshadowed by the wild rush of excitement that came from kissing him.
If he’d dated a million women, then she needed to thank them all for the practice they’d given him, because she’d never been kissed like this. She actually had cause to wonder if she’d survive their first kiss as it went on for what seemed like hours.
Maybe it was only a few minutes, but it felt like lifetimes had passed before he finally began to slow things down, to come up for air, to reckon with the seismic shift in their relationship that had occurred while they’d been pressed together in his tiny kitchen. He’d turned her entire world upside down, leaving her dizzy and spinning and desperate for more.
“Wow.”
His single word summed things up rather well. “Mmm.”
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?”
That was a question, Amanda. You’re expected to answer him. Her scrambled brain didn’t want to cooperate. “Um, no. How long?”
“From the first time I ever saw you in our conference room, talking about sex toys the way other people discuss the weather.” With his hands on her face, he compelled her to look at him. “I wanted to take you out of there and bring you here, and keep you in my bed for days and days and days, even though that wouldn’t be long enough.”
Amanda swallowed hard. “For what?”
“All the things I wanted to do with you.”
Holy. Crap. “I, um, well…”
Landon laughed and then kissed her some more, as if he couldn’t get enough now that they’d crossed the invisible line that’d been keeping them apart for weeks. Was it normal for one’s brain to go completely blank while being kissed by the sexiest man she’d ever known?
And then he broke the kiss. “Hold on tight.”
“Wha…”
He lifted her off her feet as Amanda scrambled to tighten her hold on his shoulders. Then they were falling onto the sofa with him on top of her, and she was once again left breathless by his nearness, the scents of pine and woodsmoke, the soft lips that moved on her neck and the hard press of his erection between her legs.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
“I, um…” Speak, Amanda. Say words. “Yes.”
“You feel so good, but I knew you would.” As he said words she’d never forget, he continued to make her crazy with kisses to her neck, along her jaw and down her throat. “I knew it. I almost went insane that first night we met, knowing you were out with Luc.”
“I, un… Ah…”
His soft laughter was nearly as sexy as his kisses. Hell, everything about him was sexy, which was what made him one of the two most popular men in the Northeast Kingdom. And with his partner in crime officially off the market, there’d be a line out Landon’s door as soon as the word got out that Lucas was now taken. “I love my brother, but I didn’t want you anywhere near him.”
Amanda turned her head to avoid his kiss. “We, uh, we should talk about this, no?” No, Amanda, you fool, this is no time for talking. Remember your list and the item about having an orgasm with a man? This is a man who can make that happen. Why do you want to talk?
“Probably. In fact, when I came home, my only goal was to get you to go out with me tonight and to somehow make you understand that I wasn’t just asking you to go with me to eat somewhere other than home, but asking you on a date.”
“And you thought you needed to clarify?”
“I wanted you to know…”
“What?” The man could make her breathless with just a few words, not to mention what he could do with his lips, tongue and hands.
“That I really like you, and not just as my platonic roommate. I like you. I want the chance to get to know you better and to maybe do this…” He kissed her again, just a light touch of lips, but she felt that kiss everywhere. “I never imagined we’d do this”—another kiss—“before dinner, but that’s fine with me.” More kisses.
“I wasn’t sure… I couldn’t tell…”
“What couldn’t you tell?”
“If you took me in because you felt sorry for me or because you wanted… something else.”
“I took you in because I couldn’t bear the thought of you leaving before we had a chance to really get to know each other. And because I wanted to take care of you. I wanted something else, too, but I wasn’t sure if it was what you wanted.”
“I’ve been such a mess since the fire. I’m sorry if I was confusing you.”
“No apologies needed. What happened that night was terrifying for all of us, but you in particular.”
“Not just me. You almost lost your brother. Your twin brother.”
“I almost lost both of you. It was a wakeup call about making sure my priorities are in order.” As he spoke, he rocked against her suggestively, every press of his hardness against her most sensitive area setting off a wild craving for more of him. “And right now, you’re at the very top of my priorities list.”
To her great mortification, tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and swiped angrily at the tears. “I’m so mad with myself.”
“Why?”
“Because it took almost dying in that fire to realize I was living half a life before. Actually, calling it half a life might be generous. It was really an eighth of a life. I’ve never done anything. I… I had some stuff happen when I was younger, some difficult things, and after that, I was just… I was kind of frozen. I never take chances. I never do anything crazy. I never step outside the lines. Since the fire, part of me wants to just go wild now.”
He listened intently to her, seeming to hang on her every word. “What would going wild entail?”
“I don’t even know. I just want to do everything, feel everything, try everything. I want everything.”
Landon gazed down at her. “We’ll do it all. Everything you can think of. We’ll do it.”
“I can’t even walk on both feet,” she said, sniffling.
Grinning, he said, “There’s lots of wild stuff we can do in the meantime.”
She laughed softly at the double meaning behind his statement. “Will you be my partner in crime?”
“I’d love to be. You tell me what you want, and we’ll do it. I don’t care what it is.”
“I don’t even know what I want. I just want to stop being so cautious and afraid of everything. That’s no way to live.”
“Being caught in a fire is a scary thing. You shouldn’t beat yourself up for being traumatized after something like that.”
“What’s my excuse for all the years before the fire? I’ve been a wimp, Landon. I never take any risks or do anything exciting because I’m so busy worrying about what might go wrong. I’m tired of living like that. I want to be wild.” She hooked her hand around his neck and brought him for a kiss. “Will you walk on the wild side with me, Landon?”
“Hell, yes.”
His emphatic reply made her laugh. “No boundaries, no limits, no rules,” she said. “Just wild fun.”
“Yes, yes and yes. Let’s start right now.”
The words right now were a sobering reminder that she had his attention for the moment, but when a man could have any woman he wanted, his eyes would be wandering once again. She could go wild with him, but under no circumstances could she fall for him. Their arrangement would be temporary, and she needed to remember that. As if she’d been hit in the face by a snowball named Reality, she pulled back from him, or as much as she could with him on top of her. “I’m
starving. Are we going out?”
“We’re definitely going out.” He sat back and offered her a hand to help her sit up. His cheeks were rosy, like they got when he’d been out in the cold. Did kissing her have the same effect? “How do you feel about Asian fusion?”
“I’ve been known to be a fan.”
“There’s a new place a couple of towns over. I heard it’s good.”
“Do you like Asian fusion?”
“Uh, I don’t even know what it is, to be honest. It sounds fancy.”
Amanda tried and failed not to smile. “You’re very cute, but I don’t need fancy. Where would you go if you were by yourself and just wanted to grab food?”
“Kingdom Pizza, probably.”
“That’s fine.”
“I want something better for you.”
“I don’t need better. If the point is hanging out and getting to know each other, pizza is fine with me.”
“As long as you’ll let me do better another time.”
“Knock yourself out, champ.”
“I will, and you’ll never see my wild side coming. You want first dibs on the bathroom?”
“Sure. I’ll be quick. I already showered.” She got up from the sofa and took a second to find her balance.
“Are you okay?”
“Yep. Hey, I meant to ask if we can see Lucas at some point.” Was it her imagination, or did her request annoy him? She quickly added, “I owe him a big thank-you for what he did during the fire.”
“Of course. I’ll call and ask if they want us to deliver dinner to them after we eat.”
“Perfect.” She started to hobble away, but stopped and turned back to him, feeling the need to make sure he understood. “I only want to thank him. That’s all it is.”
“Lucas told me today that he and Dani got engaged.”
“Did they? That’s great news.”
“Sure is.” Was that relief she saw in his expression? Was he still worried that she might be interested in Lucas? As she changed into clean jeans and a warm turtleneck sweater, she tried to think about what she could say or do to make sure Landon knew there was only one Abbott brother she wanted to get wild with.