Landon frowned. “Max KanteraJunioris your video wunderkind?”
“I thought he was in development?” I asked Landon.
“He used to be, anyway,” he said.
“Oh, he’s terrific,” Marla said. “I mean, if you’re curious, I can send you the link to his reel. I don’t want you to feel bad. You’re very talented, but you’ll see he has just the right kind of experience.”
My curiosity overtook my ego. “Yeah, that would be great.” I slid my business card out of my phone case and handed it to her, since my resume with my contact info was obviously at the bottom of her pile. “My email is on there.”
“OK. So. Great!” she said. “Let’s set up a meeting and talk about what we can do for the house. When are you available?”
We worked out a time to meet. Free publicity help was better than no help, I figured. And I sort of liked Marla’s giddy enthusiasm.
By the time she left, the sun was well and truly down, and the pink twilight was deepening to purple. The bug crew was finishing up its work, and Milkweed Mansion looked like a giant circus tent, ready for tomorrow’s fumigation.
And I was in the weird position again of spending all day with Landon and then spending all night with him.
Only not in that way.
Even though I kept thinking about himin that way.
“Want to grab a bite?” he asked as we wandered to our vehicles.
The question was casual, but for some reason, a spike of panic shot through me. Because being with Landon was becoming less and less casual. We were sharing intimate space, working together, talking more. He was no longer the annoying roommate I never saw. He was the guy who was helping me turn my life around, and that felt really weird, especially after the last guy I’d entrusted with my future had totally fucked me over.
“I’ve got to run over to my mom’s,” I lied.
Or maybe it wasn’t a lie, because I suddenly really needed to talk to her.
“OK,” Landon said with a smile. Only it wasn’t the Fireworks. Did he feel my unease? Did he have his own?
“Thanks, though,” I said.
“No biggie. I should check in with the guys anyway. They think I’ve dropped off the face of the earth.”Dropped off the Bohemia Bar Planet, you mean.I tried to imagine him doing the rounds, partying, hitting on all the girls, and my tummy flipped. Did he really do that, or was it all in my imagination? “Kayla? You OK?”
“Huh? Yeah.” I nodded emphatically. “Sure. See you later.”
“I’ll round up some tools tomorrow morning and maybe a few friends, and then I’ll meet you here. Time to tend the garden.”
There wasn’t anything less sexy than pulling weeds on a hot September day. Except, as he drove off and I got in my car, all I could think of was Landon in the garden, naked as Adam on the first day in Eden, beaming his smile at me like the first ray of sunshine.
Chapter 11
In the morning, I went to town with the loppers around the edge of the garden, about as far from the pipes of death as I could get, since the exterminators were well into their fumigation by the time I got to Milkweed Mansion. They were wrapping up and leaving me with the giant circus tent around the time Landon showed up.
“Hey,” he said casually, setting down a chainsaw, a shovel, a small handsaw and some other stuff. “You look like you’ve been rasslin’ porcupines in the holler.”
“Gee, thanks. And this isnota holler.” I made a couple of warning snips with the lopper.
“I take it back!” He grinned. “What have you gotten done so far?”
“You can’t tell, can you?” I looked around. “I actually whacked a ton of these vine things, but there are so many.”
“Cape honeysuckle. It’s terrific for the hummingbirds and butterflies, but it’s a total pain in the ass. Maybe we can just trim it back to the fence. We don’t have to eradicate the whole thing.”
“I’m pretty sure we can’t eradicate the whole thing unless we nuke the site from orbit.” I lopped off a few more stems. “I didn’t hear you come in last night.”
“That’s because I didn’t.”
