Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Although I was going to see Landon later at our regular Tuesday night meet up, I went by his house on Tuesday morning. Time was, you couldn’t pry Landon away from his office or out of his suit, but now he opened his front door at ten am, still wearing a pair of flannel sleep pants and t-shirt.
“Stylish,” I noted, letting myself in even though he seemed more inclined to let me stand out on the stoop.
He bared his teeth, not even attempting to disguise it as a smile. “I wasn’t expecting company.”
“I guess it’s your lucky day then.” I walked myself to the kitchen where Landon’s fiancé, Cami, was still sitting at the breakfast table with their four-year-old. I mussed Emma’s hair and ate a piece of bacon off Landon’s plate.
“Hi Garrett, make yourself a plate,” Cami invited, turning up her cheek for a kiss.
“Don’t make yourself a plate,” Landon ordered, but I was already moving toward the kitchen. I wasn’t hungry, but I poured myself a cup of coffee and joined Cami and Emma at the table.
Landon stayed at the outskirts, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, clearly ready to walk me out. I ate another piece of his bacon and checked in with Emma. She was planning a garden, as four-year-olds do, and she always liked to update me on her progress.
By the time she was done explaining the difference between the zones to me, Landon had given up on my leaving. He sat back down and pulled his plate out of my reach. I heard him mutter to Cami, “Fucker ate all my bacon.” She laughed quietly.
A strange and entirely unexpected stab of envy came out of nowhere and slipped between my ribs. It made absolutely no sense. I didn’t want a pregnant wife and too-smart-for-her-own-good kid. And this house was too damn big. And while the backyard stretched for acres, it didn’t have a view of the canyon.
“Are you okay, Uncle Garrett?” Emma asked curiously.
I realized my eyebrows had furrowed together and my mouth had turned down. I tried to loosen my face, but my grin felt stiff. Emma crooked an eyebrow, unconvinced. “There’s something wrong with Uncle Garrett,” she announced to the table.
Landon and Cami had been gazing at each other in a sickening way that made me suspect their feet were tangling underneath the table. Now Cami’s eyes snapped to my face, followed by Landon’s renewed glare. “He looks fine to me,” he announced.
“I’m fine,” I assured everyone. “I just came by to talk a little business with your dad, Emma. You think I can borrow him after breakfast?”
“He has to work,” Emma said gravely. “You should have made an appointment.”
Cami looked embarrassed, but Landon laughed loudly. “She’s my executive assistant at home,” he said.
I grinned, amused. I’d never had kids myself, but I liked their dead honesty. After breakfast, Landon made me help with dishes, but then he reluctantly admitted me into his home office.
“What’s this about?” he asked, waving me into a chair across from his desk. “Is Noemi okay?”
I’d come to Landon for professional assistance twice in our long friendship–both times for Noemi. Once she had a stalker, and once when I didn’t trust the guy she was dating. Both times, Landon had been able to help. He was able to do things the LAPD and hell, even the FBI, couldn’t do.
“It’s not Noemi this time,” I said. “It’s Destiny Pollock.”
Landon’s brows raised. “What has Magical Melody gotten herself into this time?”
“Same shit, new development.” I explained to him about Jasmine Portillo. “There’s nothing I can do if this shit hits the fan, but I want to know what I’m up against,” I concluded. “Can you help?”
“Mhmm.” Landon studied my face. “And does Noemi know?”
“About Jasmine?” I frowned. “Not unless Destiny told her.”
“Not about Jasmine,” Landon said succinctly. “About the fact you’re fucking–or want to fuck–her little sister.”
“Destiny isn’t her sister,” I muttered, not bothering to defend myself against the rest. Landon could read people too well to be fooled, and he had years of practice at seeing through my bullshit.
“Great defense,” Landon said. “Definitely go with that when she finds out.”
I frowned at him. Sarcastic, sardonic Landon was a relatively new development. Until Cami came back into his life, his humor had largely manifested as thin smiles and dry chuckles. Now he had jokes. “There’s nothing to know,” I informed him.
The unspoken yet hung in the air, ringing like silence. We both heard it.
“--yet,” Landon pulled it out of the air, too much of a dick to let it go unacknowledged.
I shrugged my shoulders, irritated. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to.”
Landon shook his head. “Good luck. You’ve seen how that went for me and Con.”
My mouth dropped open in outrage. Landon and Con were both coupled up with kids and babies and babies on the way now. No way in hell was that happening to me. Maybe Destiny and I would end up in bed, but my bed was about as far from the fucking altar as you could get. “Take that shit back,” I ordered.