My face heated. “That’s not the impression you gave me.”
“I enjoy Bohemia’s bars, but mostly I’m working.”
“What about all the dates you brag about?”
“What about them? The women do find it hard to resist me.”
“Gah!” I exclaimed in disgust as he grinned. “And you wonder why I think what I do?”
“You’re just so easy.” He waved a hand when he saw the steam coming out of my ears. “Notthatkind of easy. I mean you’re so easy to tease. Sensitive, I guess.”
My reply was brittle. “Ever think there’s a reason I’m sensitive?”
“The guy, right? Your boss?”
“Will you stopdoingthat?”
“What?”
“Reading my fucking mind. Oh, shit.” I cradled my face in my hands.
He lowered his voice. “I’m sorry if I upset you, but you can talk to me, you know. I’m not judging you. Tell me about him.”
“I don’t want to tell you about him. I haven’t even told my mother about him.”
“She’s nice,” Landon said. “Maybe you should talk to her.”
“I don’t want her to know I fucked up the way she did.”
Now both of his eyebrows shot up. “You did? Do you — did you have a—”
“No, no.” I couldn’t help a bitter laugh. “No babies. I know how to use birth control. Of course, the best birth control is saying no to assholes like him. And in case you’re wondering, he wasn’t married. He was just a guy with a lot of power.”
“Power is attractive to girls, I guess.” There was something grudging in his tone.
“Hell, no, that’s not why I — look. He sold me a line, OK? I hadn’t really had boyfriends before him. I was too busy going to school. Getting a master’s that so far has turned out to be less than helpful and going into debt besides. If anything, the power difference — him being my boss — was a complete turn-off, and eventually it totally burned me when he blacklisted me with all his contacts in Hollywood. But before that happened, he told me everything I wanted to hear.” I bit my lip, trying to shut myself up.
Landon seemed awfully interested in my lip.
I plucked the lemon slice off my iced tea and threw it at him.
“What?” he exclaimed, looking up to my eyes again. “What did he tell you that you wanted to hear?”
“Looking for pointers?” I asked dryly.
“Baby, I don’t need pointers.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and just then our food arrived, so we spent a few minutes sampling the delicious fare. The sandwich was good, but the fries were perfect, and I knew from past experience they were excellent hangover food.
“So what did he tell you?” Landon pressed after we’d made a dent in the food.
“You want the full guide to seducing Kayla Fetherole?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
“How about a milkshake?” he asked.
How did he know about my thing for vanilla shakes? “Get out of my head.”
“No, really. Can we get milkshakes? My treat. I love them here.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “But it’s good to know they turn you on.”
