“You heard what she said in the car.”
“I heard what she said regarding her not wanting to find them because if they wanted to be a part of your lives they would have been, andifthis man is your father, then he falls into the category of wanting to be because he did the work, but no one’s going to know for sure if you don’t tell Jalen who he is.”
Landon remained quiet, and Rohan was sure she was trying to figure out if he was trying to truly help, which he was, or if he just wanted her to tell Jalen who she had been talking to. They sat in silence for a while, and it was only broken when Landon looked at what he was doing.
“You can draw?” she inquired, and he didn’t miss the surprise in her voice.
“Not nearly as good as you,” he replied, gesturing to the canvas she was sketching a picture of his mother on. He looked at his watch and saw that it was about to be twelve-fifteen. “Come on. We don’t want to be late meeting with Jalen.”
Landon nodded, placing the sketch pencil down, and the two of them headed out of his office.
????????????
“Are you sure?” The man standing in front of Jalen questioned. “I was on my way out, but I’d stay to keep you company,” he told her with a smile that let her know this was more than likely one of his favorite lines.
“I’m positive. Thank you,” she told him, attempting to be nice in her dismissal. It didn’t appear he was getting the hint.
“I’d just hate to see such a pretty woman eat alone,” he responded.
“It’s fine, and I’m actually meeting—”
“There you are, Mom.” Landon’s voice cut her off. “Dad and I were looking for you,” she continued, and Jalen’s eyes went to Rohan, who was walking behind her sister.
Her boyfriend walked past the man at the table, around to her, and leaned down, kissing her for several long seconds before pulling away. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey, babe,” she responded.
“You’re in front of my seat,” Landon told the man, and he said a quick apology before walking off. “What is with people today?” her little sister questioned. “First that harpy during Rohan’s meeting and now him.”
“Harpy?” Jalen questioned, and Rohan shook his head as he sat on her other side, across from Landon.
“She was a client who attempted to overstep those boundaries.” He then turned his attention to Landon. “Your sister pulled the same gimmick just now, then.”
Jalen laughed. “Yeah, it’s sort of a get-out-of-jail card. Typically, when I’m getting unwanted attention, I’ll give them the code word, and they go into daughter mode.”
“How often does that work?” he asked with a chuckle.
“All the time,” Landon responded, picking up her menu.
“Most men don’t want to date a woman who they believe has five kids,” Jalen told him with a shrug, and she didn’t miss the way he raised his brow at her.
“Well, it’s a damn good thing I’m not most men.”
“Indeed, you aren’t.”
“You also know that we’re her sisters,” Landon threw in. “But I guess you didn’t know that at first. So, you’re right.”
Jalen shook her head as she looked at her menu as well. When the waitress came to the table a few minutes later with an apology for making them wait to take their drink orders, they were ready to place their food orders too.
While they waited for their food, Rohan asked Jalen how work was going and if they were still on for later that night. She told him they were, and that, surprisingly, work had been pretty easy. They didn’t have a lot of kids checked in, which she was always thankful for because she hated to see kids sick.
When their food arrived, they made more small talk. Her sister told her how impressive a particular department of Rohan’s marketing agency was. Jalen was sure her sister was so taken with it because of all the supplies she was thinking of using over the next few days she would be there. Which, honestly, Jalen couldn’t thank him enough for.
While she had some money saved up, it was for emergencies and Christmas, and she didn’t want to dip into any of it for the days she would miss while staying home with her sister. She couldn’t afford the five days she would have had to miss.
“You haven’t been giving Rohan any issues, right?” Jalen questioned once her sister finished telling her about the canvas she was drawing on.
“No, Jae,” Landon responded as if she were offended Jalen had asked her that question, and had it been six months ago, she wouldn’t have even thought to ask it. Now, things were different.
