Lies in Love (9 page)

“You’re
a pretty
cocky
guy,” she chuckled, then added, “but this was fun.”
A tiny half smile emerged and they rose from the booth, Landon
grabbing his jacket as they stood. “Thanks for making me go out
with you.”

“Thanks
for coming.” He longed to reach out to her again, to feel her
delicate skin beneath his, but they walked to the door mere inches
apart, never touching. He opened the door for her to exit, and the
cold wind bit
at them in the
nippy spring night. He instantly wrapped his jacket around her
shoulders as they stepped out into the chill. The angry wind began
whipping at his sleeves, but he didn’t care as long as she was
warm. “I had a great time, Petal.”

Talia
playfully swatted Landon’s arm and laughed. “You and that
name. You’ll have to tell me where you got it one day.”

“One
day.”

“Well,
I guess you know where to find me.”

“That
I do.” Landon leaned in and gently kissed Talia’s cheek,
her hair and her fragrance wrapping around him as it danced in the
breeze. “Good night, Talia.”

“Good
night.” She handed him his jacket before she walked away and he
shrugged it on, inhaling her freesia scent on his collar.

He
walked to the edge of the building and turned around to watch her
walk away, seeing her climb inside of her station wagon then drive
off. He didn’t move from his spot until he could no longer see
her taillights in the distance. His motorcycle was parked next to a
glowing light post and his helmet hung from its rearview mirror. When
his helmet was in place, he hopped on his Harley, zipping his leather
jacket around him before pulling away.

Landon
pounded away at the speed bag, trying to work off his frustrations.
The date with Talia had been great, but that was the problem. He
couldn’t get involved with her, not with his life up in the
air. He wasn’t sure he wanted to continue to be an escort, but
he knew Talia would never go for sharing her boyfriend, if that’s
where things led.

He
shook his head. He shouldn’t have been thinking of her that
way. Their date had been amazing, but he didn’t do
relationships. He just needed one night with her, one night to prove
that this was nothing more than sexual attraction. He slammed his
fist into the speed bag even harder until he could no longer keep it
under control. Sitting down on the weight bench behind him, he
dropped his head in his hands. “What the fuck is wrong with
me?” He grabbed his towel from the bench behind him to wipe the
dripping sweat from his bare chest then gripped his hair tight,
inciting slight pain. Sitting unmoving, he heard the gym door open.

“Hey,
man. Quincy just called for you. He’s got a job and he wants
you to call him back ASAP.”

Landon
looked up at the mirrored wall where he saw Ethan’s inquisitive
gaze studying him.

“Everything
okay, man?” Ethan cautiously stepped closer, but stopped when
Landon stood.

“Just
catching my breath.” Landon headed for the door, not looking at
Ethan as he passed.

Ethan’s
gentle voice paused his exit. “For real, man, are you okay?”

Landon
turned his head and smirked at Ethan. “Quit being such a girl.”
He hated saying it, because he knew Ethan was just looking out for
him, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk about Talia now,
maybe never. He couldn’t let her continue to muddy his brain.
He needed to take a job and fast, prove it was nothing but sexual
frustration driving his thoughts.

He
took the stairs two at a time to the fourth floor, avoiding the usual
ogling women of the complex, and returned to his apartment.

Brent
was roaming around the apartment, decked out in a smoke-blue suit and
silver tie, undoubtedly on his way out for a job. “I think I
heard your cell phone ringing a few minutes ago.” Brent gave
Landon a sideways glance before leaving the apartment.

Landon
knew what Brent was thinking, always judging. It wasn’t like
him to leave his phone behind, but he was determined to clear his
head and he didn’t need the distraction it created. He wandered
to his room in search of his cell and found it lying on the bed with
the notification’s light flashing. Hitting the home button, he
found the readout showed one missed call from Quincy. It was rare for
Quincy to call his cell, but after taking a few days, Landon knew
Quincy must have been thinking the worst. He quickly dialed his
number and waited to hear him on the other end of the line.

“Hey,
kid, you avoiding me?” Landon heard Quincy take a drag from his
cigarette through the phone.

“Not
at all.” He was trying for genuine, but he feared his voice
came off agitated. “I went to the gym and I must have forgotten
my cell. What’s up?”

Quincy
softly groaned; Landon assumed he wasn’t meant to hear it.
“I’ve got a lady that wants to meet you something fierce,
kid. I tried to pawn her off on Ethan last week, but it was a no-go.
She wants you. You up for it?” Landon could tell Quincy was
treading softly. Quincy always tried to be respectful of the guys if
they needed space.

“Sure,
Quincy. I told you I just needed a few days. It’s not a
problem. Just text me the details.”

“You
sure, kid? You haven’t been … well … you lately.”

“It’s
fine, Quincy. I got this. Thanks, man.”

“Yeah.”
Quincy said nothing more and the line went dead.

Moments
later, Landon’s phone chirped with the details from Quincy. He
scrolled through the information, recognizing the hotel bar they were
meeting in. He knew the drill. She gets a few drinks in her to loosen
up and then they head upstairs to seal the deal. He kept scrolling to
find the date and time.
Friday
at 8PM.
And
she paid for the entire night. “Shit.” Landon worried
what Talia would think when he didn’t show at
Satin
on Friday, then he froze. Why was she even a constant concern to him?
Damn, I
need to get laid.
Annoyed,
Landon traded his gym shoes for his running shoes, shrugged on a
shirt, grabbed his IPhone and ear buds, and headed out for a run.
Some fresh air was bound to do him good.

The
moment Camey walked through the back door of the shop into the
workroom, Sara yanked her into the cooler.

“Holy
shit, have you talked to my sister?” Sara was excessively
animated.

“You
know I haven’t, I just walked in the door.”

Sara
poked her head out of the cooler briefly before shutting the door
behind her.

“What’s
going on, Sara? Is she on another rampage?”

Sara
shook her head ecstatically. “The old Talia is back.” She
couldn’t contain the smile on her face. “I was actually
late this morning, but she didn’t rip me a new one. She
actually asked if I was okay. And she hasn’t barked orders at
me once.”

Camey
furrowed her brow. “What could have changed? Did she land a new
client or something?”

Again
Sara shook her head. “I don’t know. She hasn’t
mentioned any new clients, but I just don’t know.”

“Well
whatever it is, let’s be grateful and in the meantime we should
get to work before we force old Talia to resurface.”

“Good
idea.” Sara grabbed a handful of stephanotis and they both
returned to the workroom.

“Hey,
Camey.”

Camey
jumped at the sound of Talia’s voice coming from behind her.
She turned to find Talia smiling brightly.

“Did
you have a good day yesterday?”

Camey
stared in confusion, then finally remembered to answer. “It was
good.” She looked behind her briefly for Sara, but she must
have returned to the front room of the shop.

“We’re
light on orders for the next couple of days so I was wondering if
you’d mind doing a little work on the website today. Maybe
spruce it up with some of our spring and summer arrangements. What do
you think?”

Camey
lifted her jaw from the floor to answer. “That sounds great. Do
you want me to wait until this afternoon to begin?”

“Whenever’s
fine. No hurry.” Talia whirled around, grabbing a simple
bouquet as she went and then called over her shoulder, “I put
several of our more current spring and summer collections on the
desktop for you to choose from. Use what you like.”

Camey
stared after her as she practically danced away. This definitely
wasn’t the Talia they left at the club a couple of nights ago.
Something had changed her and whatever it was, Camey was very glad to
see it.

Talia
had been walking on air all week. Her date with Landon was still a
crystal-clear memory in her mind that fed her fervor. The girls had
been pestering her for days over what brought on the change in her
attitude. They wanted to know what to attribute her jubilance to,
most likely wanting to be prepared for the next time things fell
apart. They were realists and she knew they were all just waiting for
the proverbial shit to hit the fan. She refused to let them know that
a single night out with a man she barely knew had caused this change.
She wasn’t certain that any of the girls were really over her
breakup with Mason just yet, fearing they might all secretly side
with him since she never told them the real reason she broke things
off. She worried what they would think if they knew she was seeing
someone new, someone she barely knew anything about, but for some
reason felt she could trust. Talia hoped she wasn’t putting too
much faith in this wickedly handsome stranger.

After
styling her hair in loose curls and applying a liberal amount of
makeup to complement her features, she scoured her closet in search
of something different from her usual Friday night attire. She didn’t
want to come off as stand-offish and bitchy, at least not to Landon.
She wanted to be more open to him. She felt he deserved it.

There
was nothing on her side of the closet that seemed appealing enough.
It all just screamed,
leave
me the fuck alone.
Agonizing
over her next move, she turned hesitantly to the opposite side of the
closet where Camey had stashed some of her older clothes for storage.
Several of Camey’s old dresses hung there dejectedly. Talia
thumbed through, scrutinizing each one. They were all so short and
form fitting. This was not something Talia had ever grown accustomed
to and she worried how she would fare in clothes tailored to Camey’s
voluptuous breasts. She began comparing each dress for length and fit
until she found one that seemed to be the longest and left a little
more to the imagination. It was a deep burgundy braided halter dress
that draped to the waist then clung to the hips, but didn’t
offer
much fabric past that point. Was she really going to do this? She was
wearing something out of her norm for a guy who may or may not even
be there. They didn’t have plans, but he did say he knew where
to find her. She hoped beyond hope that this wasn’t just a
waste of time.

She
pulled the dress from the rack and tossed it on the bed, realizing
she probably wouldn’t be able to bend down for shoes once it
was on. She crawled around the closet floor searching for a matching
pair and found silver peep-toe shoes with a modest cork wedge that
looked just dressy enough to pull off the ensemble. She slipped on
the shoes first, concerned with how much mobility she would have once
the dress was on, then pulled the purple frock over her head.
Self-consciously, she began pulling at the hem of the dress, asking
herself if this was worth all the effort. She examined her reflection
in the full-length mirror attached to her closet door. Her breasts
would never fill out a dress like Camey’s did, but her butt was
highly accentuated just below the open back that showed more skin
than she was truly comfortable with.