Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
He shifted on the bed, propping himself up on one elbow. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I’ve had guys in the past yank their phones away from me if I even dared pick them up,” I said.
“Jesus,” Landry said. “No wonder you didn’t feel ready to date. I won’t do that to you.”
I noticed how he was saying it as if there would be plenty of future moments like this between us, and more hope smoldered in my chest.
“It’s mostly texts from someone named Carla,” I said. “She says that the paperwork will be at your house when you get back from the wedding tonight, that your flight is set for 1pm. And… she says that Sprinkle was in the yard again last night?”
Landry puffed out a low chuckle. “Good ol’ Sprinkle.”
“Dare I ask what the hell that means?”
“Sprinkle is the stray cat that runs through my yard sometimes. He especially likes to fuck with my tulip garden. I spent so long trying to get them perfectly spaced out.”
“Wait a minute. You garden?”
“Yeah,” Landry said, matter-of-factly. “I didn’t tell you that?”
Oh God.
Abort mission.
You’re falling for him even harder with every little new thing you learn about him.
“You definitely did not tell me that,” I said, feeling myself slip further under his spell.
“Carla’s my assistant, by the way. She’s a superhero. But yes, Jamie, never feel bad about looking at my phone. Mi casa es su casa, and all that.”
I let that thought swirl around in my head as I set his phone back down.
“Is that what we’re doing, by the way?” I finally asked.
“What do you mean?”
“What you said earlier. Um. Dating,” I forced myself to say.
For a moment, it was as if last night had never happened.
I felt just as small as I had the first time I’d met him. I knew he had the power to make the bond between us evaporate in just one sentence, and I chewed at the inside of my cheek, expecting him to do just that.
He pulled in a breath, sitting up in bed. His tanned skin looked practically golden with a halo of sunlight behind it, and he looked at me calmly, considering.
“When you get back to California,” he said, his voice low. “I’m going to spend some time at my house there, too. I want to drive down to Stellara Beach and take you on a real date.”
I was flooded with pure, lightning-hot relief, which was quickly followed up by a new form of panic.
“In Stellara Beach?” I asked. “Why not Los Angeles? I can take a drive up there on my day off, and, yeah, the gas is going to be expensive, but I can put in another few extra hours at the restaurant to manage it—”
“I want to come to you,” Landry said, his gaze placid. He reached out and ran his thumb along the side of my face and down to my jaw, looking at me like I was something worth looking at. “I want to see your whole life, Jamie. You’ve seen some of my coworkers, the work I do, a good few slices of the ridiculous life I lead. I want to know so much more about your world.”
My heart lurched inside me. “It’s nothing special, I promise you.”
“I think I’ll feel very differently.”
The thought of Landry seeing my work, my car, or God forbid my living situation turned my stomach into knots. I didn’t want to think about it. Certainly not right now.
“I wish we could just stay here forever,” I said, my voice coming out barely louder than a whisper. “It’s never going to get better than this, right?”
“I think it’s only going to get better than this,” he said.
I hoped he was right.
I’d been afraid that our turning-into-pumpkins time was barreling at us fast, and now I felt it more than ever, knowing that I really did have to get back to my room, pack up, and leave the idyllic world of the ski resort.
The snowglobe was disappearing. Our snowglobe.
18
LANDRY
I reclined on the soft leather seat, taking a sip of a fresh apple and ginger juice that I’d just ordered. I’d never loved plane rides, but I’d gotten pretty used to them over the years, after having to travel for business frequently enough to have platinum status rewards points with the airline.
But I’d never hated a flight more than this one.
I stared at the plush, empty seat next to mine, knowing that Jamie could have been sitting right there. I wouldn’t have suggested it—not in a hundred years. Jamie would never have accepted it if I tried to buy him a fancier plane ticket, even after he’d explained to me that he was flying on a cheaper airline with crappy, uncomfortable seats. Somehow, Jamie and his mom had a two-hour layover in Vegas, even though the Denver to LA flight should have been easy and quick. He’d told me that it had been the cheapest option.