Finding His Mrs. Right (Mending Hearts Series) (15 page)

“How do you manage to see through my crap and find good things?” he asked.

“Because you’re a great guy, Landon. The mysterious persona you built up to keep people out, didn’t work on me.” I smiled and he chuckled.

“Something about you
, made me want to let you in.” he replied.

“It’s because I’m superwoman.” I winked and he giggled as I dried the tears from his face.

“I don’t think I can debate that.” He replied dipping his head low and kissing me.

Fifteen

It had bee
n
a week since I’d told Tessa the truth about me. She even knew about my recurring dream, which kept me from sleeping peacefully every night. It was always the same.

Me drowning.

It was nice to let someone, other than Tyler, in on my secret. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. One that I never wanted to put back. Having Tessa around made me feel alive again, more alive than I have been in my entire life. Tessa had stayed with me the entire week, and I had finally slept without nightmares. Tessa seemed to ward them off, and I was thankful for it.

“
Morning, Mr. Brooks.” Valerie replied, peeking into my office. I never understood why she liked to do that when we had intercoms.

“What’s up, Val?” I asked, looking up from my desk
full of papers.

“You have an unexpected visitor.” She
frowned, and I didn’t like the frown.

“Who is it?” I asked concerned.

“Her name’s Jocelyn and Tyler’s keeping her occupied at the moment, so I could see if it was ok. Shall I send her away?” Valerie asked.

“No—I’ll come speak with her.” I replied getting up.

Getting up from my desk, I adjusted my earpiece, before grabbing a few files. I was super busy, and didn't really have time to chat with an old flame, who shattered my heart into a thousand pieces. Good thing I wasn't one to hold a grudge too long because if I were, Jocelyn would've been out on her ass in an instant.

Leaving my office, I bypassed Val's desk and went to the waiting area. Sure enough, I spotted Tyler and Jocelyn talking. By the looks of things, it wasn't a pretty conversation. Tyler was always trying to protect me, and I loved him for that.

"Lighten up will you? I told you why I was here." Jocelyn smiled as I walked up behind her.

"Why are you here?" I asked startling her, before she spun around. She was wearing a tight black dress, which barely covered any part of her. If she was trying to impress me, she had another thing coming. My eyes were now had a sole owner, and her name was Tessa.

"Landon, I tried to get her to leave, but—"

"
It's fine Tyler, I'm here now. I can handle this."  I answered cutting him off.

"Yeah, so chill out buzz kill." Jocelyn jabbed, and Tyler grew red faced.

From the moment I began dating Jocelyn, they seemed to hate each other. Tyler had only been looking out for me when he kept saying she wasn't my type. I didn’t understand then when I was fooled by her innocent act, but after she broke my heart, I'd wished I had listened. Knowing how I felt about her, Tyler sucked in his feelings and played nice around her for me, and I had appreciated it. We even did a few double dates. Even when it all ended--badly--he was by my side, and he never threw an "I told ya so" at me.

“But—”

“It’s fine, go and make sure everything’s running smoothly while I’m away from my desk.” I said politely, with a smile so I wouldn’t come off as a douche.

“Yes, go away.”
Jocelyn shooed, waving her hand at him and I heard him grumble under his voice, before finally walking away.

“So, what can I do for you?” I asked.

“Mm, what do you
want
to do for me?” she smiled brightly and I rolled my eyes.

“Jocelyn…”

“Relax, I’m only kidding.” She chuckled. “You do remember how to laugh don’t you? Oh wait—you were always the morbid guy in school.”

“If you came here for this—”

“I didn’t. I’m staying here a bit longer than I thought, and I need a good real estate agent. I was hoping you could show me around.” Jocelyn replied.

“
Ok, I can set you up with—”

“Landon!” she shouted, inter
rupting me.

“What?” I asked confused.

“I don’t want a stranger showing me houses. I want you to; you own the best real estate agency in town, so I know you know a thing or two in the area.” Jocelyn pointed out.

“So, you’ve been doing your homework on me, huh?”
I asked a bit annoyed. I wasn’t stupid, and dealt with her kind before. I just couldn’t believe she was really acting like this.

“No. Jesus, Landon. What do you think of me?
” she asked a bit hurt and I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not here to take you for your money if that’s what you think.”

“I—”

“You’re being a jerk.” She pouted, cutting me off. “I’ve just been in town and everyone’s been talking about us and how we used to be—I just miss my friend. I mean we were friends, right?”

She had me there. I was her friend before I started crushing on her, and even though she was a shitty girlfriend, she was a great friend. We had great times together. So, I nodded.

“So, will you help a friend out and show me a few apartments?” she asked.

I looked at my watch and saw that I had a few
hours to spare before I had to meet up with Tessa. She was planning a dinner for us, and I couldn’t wait. I just couldn’t get enough of the woman.

“Fine, you have me for two hours.” I folded. “Let me grab my briefcase, and we can go.
”

After an hour of looking at a few places, I was certain we’d found the right place.

“I love this one.” Jocelyn replied, staring around the huge living room of the condo I was showing her. Yup, I had a gift at knowing what people wanted.

“This isn’t an apartment, but you weren’t into any of those. This is more your speed.” I smiled.

“You know me so well!” she shouted. “But, is this in my price range?”

“Not, exactly.” I said truthfully.

“Then why’d you bring me here?” she frowned.

“Hello, I own
this. I can shave the price down for you—if you want it.” I insisted and she immediately squealed before running over and hugging me tightly.

“I’ll take it! Now let’s go out to celebrate.” She replied letting me go. Looking at my watch, I saw that I was cutting it a little too close. I needed to start heading home if I was going to make it to dinner with Tessa.

“I can’t.” I replied.

“Do you hate me that much?” Jocelyn pouted.

“I don’t hate you—I wouldn’t have taken you out to look at properties if I did. I just—”

“Prove it. Come have a quick drink with me.” She insisted, cutting my off. Sighing, I looked at my watch before looking back up to her.

“What do you say?” she asked.

Sitting at th
e
dining room table, I sighed. Landon was late and I was worried. He hadn’t answered any of my texts, and that wasn’t like him. So, after waiting for a while, I and his mother ate, and he still hadn’t showed. Even though he had to go into the office today, he promised he’d be here for dinner. For Christ’s sakes, I had dressed up and everything. The past week with him had been nothing but wonderful, but there was one thing nagging at me in the back of my head.

The front door opened, and I waited as I heard his footsteps hurry to where I was. Landon walked into the room, his tie was loosened, and he looked apologetic.

“I’m so sorry.” He replied rushing over to me. Pulling me out of my seat, he pulled me into his arms. I frowned before pushing him off of me.

“You smell like perfume.” I pointed out angrily.

“Do I?” he asked trying to smell himself.

“Yeah.”
I snapped folding my arms over my chest. “Where were you??”

“After my meeting, Jocelyn popped by.” He answered.

“Jocelyn? As in your ex-girlfriend, Jocelyn?” I snapped and Landon nodded.

“It’s not what you think. She needed a place to stay, so I showed her a few properties that my company owns.” He tried to explain.

“So you’re a real estate agent now?” I asked.

“Tessa—”

“So you missed dinner with me to be with her?” I asked, narrowing my glare at him.

“Sort of, but it’s not what you think.
I’m sorry, kitten.” He said grabbing me by the waist.

“Did you eat yet?” I asked, looking up to him.

“That’s it? You’re not pissed at me?” he asked curiously and I shook my head.

“
You told me truth. How can I be mad at that?” I asked.

I was a bit disappointed, yeah, but Landon was still learning how to be open with a woman. The fact that he didn’t lie to me scored him a bunch of points. Crucifying him would only hinder his progress at this point.

“You really are perfect.” He said kissing me, and I smelt the liquor on his breath.

“So you two shared a few drinks?” I asked as a bit of jealousy spiked over me.

“Yeah, just to celebrate her finding a place. I didn’t eat I swear. I was waiting to have your cooking.” He said kissing my cheek.

“Go clean up and I’ll reheat your food.” I offered.

“You got it.” Landon replied before disappearing.

Sixteen

After Landon ate, we cuddled up in his large bed. Flipping through the TV, he stopped on the news. Landon felt good against me, and I was enjoying this more than I intended, too. Falling in love was scary, but Landon was making it hard not to.

“I want to take you somewhere tomorrow.” Landon replied, stroking his hand softly through my hair.

“Where?” I asked smiling.

“It’s a surprise.” he said, kissing me.

I moaned as he ran his hand up my belly and caressed me. I loved his touch, and craved more. We were getting too involved, and I needed to tell him what was floating around in my head.

“I need to tell you som
ething.” I moaned between kisses.

“Like?” he asked kissing me again, this time slipping his tongue into my mouth, and my mind turned to mush.

Zachary Ryan is in town for the next week…

The woman on TV replied, and m
y heart immediately stopped as I froze. Landon tore himself away from me and glared at the TV. His expression turned dark as I looked from him to the TV. It was like he knew what I was thinking. Zach had offered me twenty million dollars to not only find him love, but to move my business to LA and let him invest in it. The offer was something I knew I couldn’t turn down. It was something I’d been waiting for since I’d started my business from the ground up.

That was the nagging thing I had yet to tell Landon. Because if I accepted it, that meant I would be definitely leaving. Which meant our “relationship” would implode.

“I really hate that guy.” Landon mumbled.

“Hate?
Why?” I asked, nervously.

“We went to high school
together and he was a pompous asshole.” Landon grumbled.

“How so?”
I asked curiously.

“Nothing I want to talk about.” He said
, kissing me. “What did you want to tell me?”

Stopping, he looked down at me and I shrugged.

“Nothing, it wasn’t important.” I lied. This just wasn’t the right time to tell him. So instead, I kissed.