Chapter Twenty
Somehow the weekflew by. After the advertisement I drafted went live, resumes and applications poured in. I spent a portion of every afternoon combing through them and putting aside the ones that looked most promising. The pile wasn’t huge, but it was definitely a good start. Once I vetted them, I would give the stack of resumes to Chris. Unsurprisingly, he threw out a fair number of them, saying that he knew them already, and didn’t like what he knew, or they didn’t have the right experience.
But the list of potential candidates was still growing.
He asked me to schedule interviews for the following week, a few each afternoon.
And Landen was true to his word. He texted me a couple of times a day, though he didn’t call as often as he had been for the last few weeks. He even emailed me. Clearly the man was covering his bases.
When I told him about my upcoming promotion, he seemed pleased for me. Though I was still shocked when a cluster of orchids arrived at the office on Tuesday. Chris, however, didn’t seem surprised in the least.
He took one look at the exotic blooms and asked, “Landen?”
I nodded. “He wanted to congratulate me on…” I trailed off, beginning to worry that I shouldn’t have told him.
“Your promotion?” Chris finished for me.
“Yes. Though now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He waved a hand at my statement. “You haven’t signed the paperwork yet, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s fine that you told him.” He paused. “Though you should have told Lucy yourself rather than letting Tanya do it. She was a bit irritated that I didn’t share with her what I was planning.”
I bit back a grin. “I’ll keep that in mind in the future.”
Chris frowned at me and shook his head. “I know you’re laughing at me on the inside.” With a sigh, he’d disappeared back into his office.
I’d allowed my grin to escape then. I really did like Chris, even though he could be somewhat intimidating when he was angry.
As the days passed, I found that I was grateful for the fact that Landen had a business trip. Last weekend was…amazing. But it also clouded my mind, making me think about things I had no business envisioning. Things like sleeping next to him every night, waking up to his messy hair and bare chest every morning, and sitting together in his living room while we both worked silently on our laptops. He wasn’t an easy man, but I was comfortable around him. More comfortable than I’d ever been around any other person, male or female.
So basically I was imagining what it would be like to live with him and we’d only been together for a few weeks, for crying out loud!
The distance gave me space for rational thought. I was glad that I could imagine living with Landen, but it was definitely too soon. We needed more time to learn more about each other. Figure out if we wanted the same things out of life.
Now, it was Saturday and I decided to stay in for the night. I gave myself an at-home facial, body scrub, pedicure, and manicure, so by the time I started thinking about dinner, I was smooth, polished, and smelled like the delicious coconut body lotion I applied after my scrub in the shower. I ordered a pizza from a local family-owned restaurant and opened a bottle of wine.
I was going to have myself one hell of a night in.
I watched several episodes of a new show on Netflix as I drank wine and munched on pizza. As the hour grew later, I considered going to bed but decided to watch just one more episode. It wasn’t quite midnight and I rarely stayed up this late, but I was completely hooked on the characters and the story of the television show. And I only had a few episodes left.
As the suspense built in the episode, I found myself sitting on the edge of the couch. Something bad was about to happen and I was both intrigued and a little nervous.
I was so intent on the events unfolding on the screen that I nearly screamed when three firm knocks came from the front door of my apartment. Pressing a hand to my pounding heart, I got to my feet and crept to the front door. Just as I was about to put my eye to the peephole, the person on the other side knocked again. Louder this time.
I jumped and bit back an undignified yelp. Blowing out a long breath, I lifted my eye to the lens and peered through. Landen stood in the hall, his gaze leveled at the peephole as though he could actually see me. I should have known it was him. He’s the only person I know who can get into the building without buzzing me first.
Excitement coursed through me when I realized it was him. I unlocked the door and threw it open.
“Landen, what are you doing here? I thought you would be in Oregon until next week.”
He stepped into my apartment, hauling his laptop bag over one shoulder and pulling a small, wheeled carry-on with his other hand. “I finished up early.”
I opened my mouth to say something else but closed it when I saw the dark circles under his eyes and the lines caused by stress and fatigue around his mouth. He looked as though he hadn’t been sleeping well.
Without speaking, I took his laptop bag and hung it on the hook by the door. Landen left his suitcase against the wall by the entrance before he turned to shut the door and lock it.
He was also silent as he faced me again, his eyes roving over my body. When he stepped toward me, sliding his hands around my waist over my thin tank top, I lifted a palm to his cheek.
“Hey, you look tired. Did you come straight here from the airport?”
