Lucia Jordan's Four Series Collection: Chosen, Whipped, Lick, Risk (23 page)

“So what brings you by?” she asked as she wiped the already clean counter with her towel.

“I was going to see if you would take care of my dog for a few days. I’ve got to go out of town to meet a client and I’m afraid to leave him alone. The lady that usually takes him with her is sick and can’t take him this time.”

“You’re asking me?”

“Yeah. No offense to your brother, but he couldn’t keep a plant alive, so I really don’t want to risk leaving a live animal with him.”

She chuckled. “He’s not so good at that is he?”

“Not so much.”

Together they laughed.

“What kind of dog do you have?” she asked.

“I’m not really sure what he is. He’s a rescue.”

“You rescued him?”  Okay could this guy be any more perfect?

“I saw him and couldn’t resist. He’s kind of an ugly thing but he’s mine, ya know?”

“Sure.”

“Do you have a minute to come over and meet him? I’ll show you around the house, that way you can be comfortable while you stay.”

“I’ll be staying overnight?” she squeaked.

“Is that a problem? He’s just never been on his own and I’m kind of afraid he’ll chew the house down.”

“Oh, okay. I’m not doing anything anyhow.”

“Great.”

Landon stood and led her from the house. She slipped a pair of shoes on before she left. Together they climbed his front steps and he opened the front door. The house had a layout similar to Bryan’s but where her brother’s house was cluttered with sports gear and random things, Landon’s was neatly kept and smelled like fresh linen.

Immediately the sound of claws clicking on hardwood greeted them, accompanied by a low
woof
. Gina looked down at the furry ball hiding behind Landon’s leg. He’d been right. The dog was ugly, but somehow he grew on her.

“Hi there,” she said softly as she knelt in front of Landon and began to coax the dog out from behind his leg. She tried to ignore that she was kneeling directly in front of Landon and his impressive package that she remembered all too well.

She talked in calm dulcet tones to the dog until he finally came to her. He nudged her hand with his wet nose and then quickly licked it and ran away yipping excitedly. Gina couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that came forward.

Reaching down, Landon helped her to her feet. “He likes you.”

“He’s cute in his own way. What’s his name?” she said as she wiped the dog slobber on her pants.

“Oscar.”

She snickered. “Really? You named him after a puppet?”

“Kind of. He was a bit cranky when I first got him.”

“Makes sense, I guess.”

“Come on, I’ll show you around.”

Landon took Gina into each room as he gave her the grand tour. As it happened, the layout was identical to her brother’s house. “This is my room,” he said as he pushed open the door. She already knew it was his room as she took a step in. She blushed but kept her back to him as she walked across to the window.

“Impressive view,” she teased.

“Yeah, I like to think so.”

She turned and found him watching her with and intense look. Did he know? From where she stood, it was a clear shot right into her bedroom. It was possible to see not only her bed but also other areas in her room because her window was so large.

Clearing her throat, she turned and looked at the rest of his room. The walls were painted dark blue with black trim. It was very masculine. In the middle of the room, facing the window, was his bed. Standing beside it now, it was much larger than she’d expected. It also looked inviting. Oscar ran excitedly into to the room and jumped into the middle of the bed. He made two circles before flopping down and resting his head on his paws.

“I take it he sleeps here.”

Landon smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. You can too.”

Gina’s eyes grew wide. “W—what?”

His smile faltered a little. “I mean my other rooms are in the process of being repainted. When you stay, you can sleep in here if you would like or, if you’d be more comfortable, you can sleep on the couch in the living room,” he quickly added.

She chuckled. Was he actually nervous? It was kind of cute.

“Are you leaving now?” she asked.

“No, actually I am just going into the office for a quick meeting and then to grab some files. I don’t fly out until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay. Well, just let me know when you’re ready for me to come over and I’ll be here.”

“Sure. I really appreciate this,” he said as they made their way down the stairs.

“It’s not a problem. I’m kind of getting sick of the parade of girls that is traipsing through the house.”

“Yeah, your brother is kind of a hound.”

“I’m beginning to see that.” She sighed.

Landon opened the door for her and she walked past him and onto the porch.

“Well, I’ll see ya,” she said.

“Talk to you later.”

She turned and walked away. Her heart was beating so rapidly she was sure it was going to jump out of her chest.

“Gina?” his voice sounded from behind her.

She stopped at the bottom step and looked up at him. “Yeah.”

“Would you like to have dinner with me?”

Yes. A million times yes.
“I—I don’t know,” she stammered. Suddenly she was scared out of her mind and while some instincts were urging her to say yes, others were telling her to run away. He was just going to use her.

“It’s just my way of saying thank you. You know, for your help with Oscar.”

Was she really ready to have dinner with him?

Before she could answer he spoke again. “Okay, how about this. You come over this evening around seven and I’ll cook for you. That way you aren’t too far away from your house and you can feel comfortable.”

“It’s not that I’m not uncomfortable.”
Liar.
She tried to think of a reason to give him that wasn’t the truth, but couldn’t find one. Instead she just smiled. “Sure.”

“Excellent.”

She gave him an awkward wave and walked away, flinching inwardly at her ability to look like a complete fool that had never talked to a man before in her life.

Once inside the confines of the house she let out a pent up breath. What in the hell had she just agreed too? Landon had the weird ability to make her forget
why
she was staying in her brother’s house. He also had the ability to turn her brain to mush and her lady parts to liquid.

“This is a very bad idea,” she said to the empty house. And while she said the words out loud, inside she was jumping up and down for joy like a giddy school girl.

***

Landon was pissed. His meeting had lasted far longer than he’d intended. Not only had the one meeting lasted longer than he’d expected, but the senior partners had chosen to meet with him as well. By the time four o’clock rolled around he was just leaving the office. He still had to go to the market as well as get home. If he was lucky he would miss rush hour traffic, but he wasn’t counting on it because his luck sucked.

He pulled into his drive at six o’clock and rushed up the front steps. After depositing the bags on the counter, he put a bottle of wine in the freezer to chill and grabbed a bag of charcoal for the grill. Quickly he walked out back and threw the bricks into the grill and lit it.

While the fire heated the coals, he used the time to race upstairs to change out of his suit. He grabbed a pair of basketball shorts from his dresser and threw them on the bed. He was pulling the tail of his shirt out of his slacks when a flicker of movement out his window caught his attention.

Walking closer, he gazed out his window as he unbuttoned his shirt. Gina was pacing anxiously in her room. She was wringing her hands nervously in front of her as she talked to herself. Did he really make her that nervous? Surely not. No, there was something else about her that was different. By the way she carried herself, he was certain that if he yelled boo, she would jump out of her skin.

There was definitely something about Gina that had his curiosity piqued. However, he hadn’t missed the glimmer of passion just beneath the surface of her beautiful eyes. It was almost as if someone was trapped inside that was dying to get out, but she was afraid to unlock that door and let that side of herself be exposed.

Landon found himself wanting to be that person. He wanted to be the one that got to open that door and peek inside. That thought alone scared the hell out of him because it had been too long—for himself—that he’d been able to let go. Maybe the two of them could figure something out.

Gina’s light flickered out and that brought him out of his daydream. Time to get to work on dinner.

***

Gina made her way downstairs and stopped abruptly when her brother walked through the front door. She blushed, feeling like she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Hey,” he said, greeting her with a warm smile.

“Hey,” she responded breathlessly.

He gave her the once over. “You look nice. You going out?”

“Not really. Landon asked me over for dinner. He wanted to thank me for taking care of his dog for the next couple of days,” she hurried to explain.

Bryan nodded. “Landon’s a good guy.”  He tossed his keys on the table beside the door and dropped his briefcase.

“You don’t think this is a bad idea?” she asked. She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince or why she was trying to talk herself out of this. It was just dinner.

Bryan turned and looked at her, giving her a puzzled look. “Why would it be a bad idea, Gin? He’s a good guy. He’s trying to say thank you and besides...” He let the word stop as he toed off his shoes.

“Besides what?”

“Would it be so bad?”

“What?”

“To get back on the dating horse?”

“Bry, I’ve barely been officially divorced for a week. There are too many things to...”

“To what? Talk yourself out of? You need to listen to me,” he said stepping in front of her and putting his hands on her bare shoulders. She lifted her gaze to his.

“You have been under Zane’s thumb for so long that you have no idea what it’s like to be treated well. You’ve withdrawn inside yourself and year after year I have watched that glow inside of you slowly die.”

Gina’s eyes filled with tears. He wasn’t wrong.

“But, since you’ve met Landon, I’ve seen a difference.”

“I’ve talked to Landon like two times,” she said offhandedly.

He slowly nodded. “Yes, but you’ve asked about him non-stop. You’re curious and there is nothing wrong with that. You’ve never thought about anyone other than Zane. You’re uncomfortable because you don’t know what to do.”

“Are you sure you don’t teach psychology instead of history?”

He chuckled. “All I am saying is that it is time you allow yourself to be happy. I’ve known Landon for a long time now. He’s a good man, and he’s been through something similar.”

“He has? What happened?”

Bryan shook his head. “Not my story to tell. My point is. Even if it’s nothing but a dinner to say thanks, he’s not a bad friend to have. If something happens to come from it, then don’t be scared. Test the waters a little bit and have some fun.”

“I don’t know if I’m the test-the-waters type.”

“How would you know if you’ve just been in the wading pool the whole time? Try something different and let yourself have fun.”

“Thanks,” she said wrapping her arms around her brother’s waist in a tight hug.

He wrapped his arms around her and, like he always managed to do, he calmed her down. Before he let her go he laughed. “And if he does break your heart, I’ll break his nose.”

She stepped away and laughed. “Okay I shouldn’t be too late.”

He shrugged. “I’ve got a date. I don’t plan on being home tonight,” he said as he wagged both eyebrows.

“Oh gross,” she groaned as she opened the front door and stepped out into the evening heat.

As she made her way across and into Landon’s drive, she inspected her dress. She’d chosen a white strapless dress that fell just below her knees. It was simple and comfortable. She’d taken a big chance on wearing it because it showed more skin than she typically liked to, but for some reason she had a burning need to please Landon. She’d twisted her hair into a simple braid over her shoulder.

She pressed the doorbell and held her breath, trying to ease her nerves. When the door was pulled open, the air left her lungs and she forgot to inhale. Landon stood in front of her barefoot, in a pair of basketball shorts and a tight tank stretched across his chest. Her throat felt as dry as the Arizona heat. It was a stark contrast to the moisture she felt gathering between her legs. There was just something about him that made her want to let go.

“You look beautiful,” he said kindly, his whiskey eyes taking her in from head to toe. She blushed under his bold gaze. Her nipples tightened and she shifted anxiously.