Finding His Mrs. Right (Mending Hearts Series) (13 page)

“…Ninety-nine, one hundred.” I heard as I opened my eyes.

Yawning, I saw Landon lying on the floor, doing sit-ups. Sitting up,
I admired him from a far as a smile swept over my face. Seeing him maintain his already near perfect appearance was a turn on. I wasn’t one to work out much, thanks to my high metabolism, but if I had to sit in a gym and pretend, just to watch him, I would.

“Hey there, beautiful.”
He said, flashing that heartwarming smile at me. I smiled in return before I turned to look at the clock.

“Landon, it’s only
seven in the morning!” I shouted, grabbing a pillow and tossing it at him. He rolled out of the way, and chuckled before getting up.

“
Sorry, but I needed to work out.” He said walking over to me. “I’m usually up by five, but
someone
made me sleep late.”

Making it to the bedside, he dipped his head low and kissed me. I got lost in the feel of his soft lips until he broke the kiss. Opening my eyes again, I saw him
shirtless, but that was only because he’d let me sleep in his t-shirt. Men usually loved to see their women dressed in something of theirs. It was the sexiest thing to them. I learned that early on while interviewing my male clients when my business first opened.

“Well
someone
kept me up late, but I won’t say any names.” I smiled, looking up to him.

“Did I?” he asked
, kissing me seductively.

“
I didn’t say any names, so you must be guilty.” I said between kisses.

“Guilty as charged.” He said, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Do you have anything planned today?” I asked.

“I just have a conference call this morning.
Business crap.” He said, rolling his eyes. “I think I can swing a free day—I mean that is if the boss lets me.”

This time I rolled my eyes, but I went along with his little joke.

“Come, take a shower with me.”

Landon insisted, pulling me out of bed. He dragged me towards the bathroom, and I knew exactly where we were heading.

Thirteen

After our shower, Landon insisted that I had breakfast with him and his mother. I hated to intrude, but figured it would be ok, considering what I had planned for later. So, I made the breakfast, which shocked Landon, and we all sat down to eat.

“I told you she was a keeper.” Miss. Brooks whispered a little too loudly.

I smiled as I ate the waffle on my plate.

“You were right, mom.” Landon said, looking over to me
and smiling brightly.

He was dressed in a casual black t-shi
rt and jeans. I was stuck in one of his t-shirts and sweat pants, that didn’t exactly fit me so well. But, I was rocking the hell out of it. Landon squeezed my hand, and made me blush. I was beginning to think this may work. Landon cuddled me tightly the whole night, and I liked it. I did miss having a pair of strong arms wrapped around me.

Dean used to hold me nonstop, so when he died—God, what was I
doing? I was a never going to get over Dean this way. Even though time had passed, my wounds were still raw. I felt horrible for trying to move on. Slyly removing my hand from Landon, I grabbed the diamond ring on my neck, and rubbed it.

“
What did you want to do today?” Landon asked.

“I was thinking, maybe me, you, and your mom could have a picnic by the lake.” I smiled brightly, and Miss. Brooks clapp
ed her hands. It was obvious that she was excited.

“No.” Landon snapped.
I frowned as my glare went over to him. His face was stone cold serious, and I couldn’t get why.

“Oh Landon, that would be delightful.” Miss. Brooks said as more of a plea.

“See? Your mother thinks it’s a good idea.” I chimed in, trying to lighten his mood.

“I said, no. That’s the end of it.” He said wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin.

Whoa, what the hell was that?! My psycho meter didn’t go off at all with Landon. Was he secretly overbearing and controlling? If so, he had the wrong woman. I wasn’t one to be told what I could or couldn’t do.

“Landon—
”

“Mother, please.” He said, softening his tone.

“I don’t understand. What did I say wrong?” I asked a little annoyed now.

“I have a call to make. Can we talk about this later?” he asked getting up, and helping his mother.

“No. We can talk about this now.” I snapped, getting up from the table. “Why would you shut down my idea like that?”

“Because it’s not a very good one.”
He said obviously getting angry.

This was good for me to see because I knew he was too good to be true.

“If you’re worried about your mom, we can watch her closely.” I whispered.

“Landon, having a picnic by the lake would be nice sweetie.” Miss. Brooks said and I smiled.

“Mom—”

“What’s the harm?” I asked, cutting him off.

“Would you just drop it?!” he shouted, turning to me. “We’re not going to the lake okay?!”

Gasping, I jumped back a bit, obviously scared.
I instantly saw regret in his eyes, but it was too late. Landon wasn’t the guy for me.

“Fine.”
I whispered shakily.

“Tessa…” he called, as his mother watched.

“No, it’s fine.” I replied as I took off, running out of the room.

“
Tessa!” I heard him shout, but I ignored it as I ran upstairs to his bedroom. Grabbing my things, I called Gwen.

“She lives!”
I heard her laugh on the other end. “Dish the dirt now. Was he any good??”

“Gwen, please not now.” I sniffled. God, I when had I started crying?

“Are you alright?! Do I have to come pound Mr. Millionaire into the ground?” she asked irritated.

“Can you just come get me
, please? I’ll be outside his estate. Just call me when you get here.” I sniffled.

“I’m on it. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Gwen responded as she took the address down that I gave her before hanging up.

I changed my clothes, and ran downstairs to see Landon standing there. Freezing, I sucked in a hard breath and wiped the tears dry from my eyes. The prick didn’t deserve to see me cry.

“Tessa, please.” he begged, walking over to me, but I backed away. “You don’t understand.”

“It’s fine, really. We’re done here.”
I snapped.

“Tess—”

“No, you said everything you needed to when you yelled at me. I am not one to be in any type of abusive relationship. So, this is goodbye.” I said, opening his door and leaving. His house phone rang and I was glad for it. I slammed the door for good measure, and hurried down the long driveway.

Opening
my doo
r
, I saw Tyler standing there holding a magazine. The moment he saw the bandages on my cheek, his smile dropped, and he flipped.

“Dude, what the hell?!” he shouted, walking into my foyer.

“I cut myself shaving.” I lied, closing the door.

“Bullshit! Look, I’ve been quiet long enough. I love your mom, I do. She’s like a second mother to me, and you know it. It’s just time to let someone else take care of her.” Tyler said as he followed me into the living room.

“I didn’t call you for that.” I muttered.

“I know, and that’s the problem. You think you don’t need help.” Tyler prodded, as he stood in front of me.

“Because I don’t.” I said looking at the magazine dangling in his hand. Tilting my head, I tried to make out the front cover.

“Is that me?” I asked as if I were shocked.

In reality, I wasn’t. I’d been on so many tabloid covers that you would think I was famous. I mean I was rich, being on the top ten Forbes list confirmed it, but fame wasn’t my thing. But that was neither here nor there; I just wanted to change the subject. My mom wasn’t the issue here.

“Yeah,” he smiled holding it up for me to see.
“You and Tessa.”

Sure enough it was a photo of us leaving the restaurant last night. The cover read:

Landon Brooks Finally In Love

Meet the love of his life…

“Soooo, how was the date?” Tyler asked.

“It was perfect…until this morning.” I frowned.

“You’re mother?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Then what the hell happened?”

“I took her to a fancy restaurant, where I happened to see Jocelyn.” I said, and Tyler’s eyes went wide.

“Jocelyn, Jocelyn? As in the girl who ripped your heart out and ate it for breakfast, Jocelyn?” he asked stunned.

“Yeah, that Jocelyn.”

“Shit.” Tyler muttered, running a hand through his hair. “Didn’t she move out of town, claiming it was “too small” for her?

“Mm hmm, apparently her dad is sick. So, she’s back
, but I don’t know for how long.
Anyway
—none of that phased Tessa.” I noted.

“Then what happened?” Tyler asked confused.

“She wanted to eat a burger, so we left the restaurant.” I explained.

“Sounds like my kind of girl. You have to bring her over to meet,
Amanda.”

“That’s the thing. I think I royally screwed up.” I pouted.

“Whoa, you really like this girl. I haven’t seen you like this since—well Jocelyn.” He muttered. “So spill the beans, how’d you screw up??”

“We came back here, and I had some trouble
with my mom.” I started, and Tyler gave me the evil eye. “And I told her everything that I do, day in and day out…but she helped. She didn’t judge, she didn’t freak out and run away…She actually helped me calm her down. We even made love afterwards.”

“She’s definitely a keeper then.” Tyler said excited.

“I know, but I screwed up this morning.” I pointed out.

“How?”
Tyler asked, dragging the word.

“She suggested we all have a picnic at the lake and I freaked, I yelled at her. Tyler, I scared her away. I’ve
never
yelled at a woman a day in my life, but I yelled at her.” I sighed.

“Did you tell her why?” Tyler asked, and I shook my head.

“I’ve never told anyone, but you.”

“Then you know what you have to do. If you want to keep her, then you have to tell her the truth.”
Tyler said point blank and I knew he was right.

Fourteen

My phone buzze
d
for the umpteenth time, and I groaned. I knew it was Landon because he had called me like a hundred times, and when I didn’t answer, he started leaving texts.