“You haven’t made her that yet?” She gives him a reproachful glare. “What are you waiting for?”
Landon leans back on his chair and moves his shoulders in a small shrug. “I’m biding my time, waiting for the right moment to seal the deal with my perfect pasta sauce.” He looks at me and grins. “It’ll ruin you for every other man.”
You’ve already ruined me for every other man, I want to tell him, but I turn to Angela instead. “He’s always been this confident?” I ask, knowing that the answer is probably yes. “You’d have to make it now,” I tell Landon, “so I can decide if it’s really as good as you claim.”
“She only loves me for my cooking,” Landon tells Angela, laughing. “Who would have thought?”
The older woman is looking at me. “Amongst other things, I’m sure.” She gives me a strange smile, blinking rapidly, and I wonder if she’s getting emotional. When we’re done with the meal, she follows us outside and surprises me by giving me a hug. “It was nice to meet you, Rachel,” she says, adding in a small whisper. “Thank you for making him so happy.”
I watch her walk back inside, then allow Landon to take my hand as we emerge onto the sidewalk. “She seems very fond of you.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “I’m fond of her too. I was lucky in a way, growing up the way I did. I was surrounded by a couple of wonderful people, most of whom I still have in my life.”
He starts to lead me along the sidewalk, and I’m so comfortable walking arm in arm that it takes me a few minutes to remember that we drove over. “What about the car?”
Landon pulls me closer, so his arm is around me. “I arranged for someone to get it. It’s not a long walk.”
“I know.” I lean into his body as we meander along the sidewalk. I love how ordinary it feels, just another couple out on a Sunday afternoon. He buys me a bunch of flowers from a street vendor, and I blush with pleasure when he hands them to me. We take our time, his arm around my shoulder and mine around his waist. I breathe in his scent, loving the warmth from his body and the feel of his t-shirt against my fingers. I turn my face up to look at his, and his eyes meet mine, blue and beautiful. The wind touches his hair, ruffling his beautiful waves and I reach out to smooth them. How did one person get to be so perfect? I wonder with a soft sigh.
Landon gives me an anxious glance. “Are you cold?”
“No,” I shake my head. It’s windy, and there’s a small bite in the air, but I love it. I love the fact that the seasons are changing, that I’m with him, right here, right now.
He raises a brow. “Because you can’t be cold when I’m right here to warm you up.”
“You have a one-track mind.”
“Who said anything about sex?”
“Now you have.”
He laughs. “I have it on good authority that you find my performance very rewarding.”
I shake my head, unable to stop my laughter. “You’re a sex fiend.”
“A sexy one, you mean?” He’s laughing. “You’re my weakness, you know, and my strength. My everything.”
We stop walking as he leans in to kiss me properly. His lips are firm but sweet and caressing, and when he stops, I release a breath and open my eyes. There’s a silly smile on my face as I look up at him.
“What?” he says. “Have I stolen your voice with my superb kissing skills?”
I’m about to retort when someone calls out. “Give us another one, Court!”
We both turn in the direction of the voice. The photographer is a skinny guy with sharp eyes, wearing a hoodie and sweats. He grins at us and gives Landon a thumbs-up. Landon frowns and turns to
me. “Come on,” he says. We’re very close to the Swanson Court now, which explained the presence of the photographer. With the scattering of luxury hotels in the area, there were always a few of them waiting to catch a glimpse of celebrities, and to many people, a young, sexy, wealthy man like Landon was as interesting as the usual crop of Hollywood stars.
“Do you mind?” Landon asks softly. “It’ll probably get published in some gossip column or the other.”
I shrug. “Of course not. I’ll probably have to get used to it since they find you so interesting.” I peer at his face. “Do you mind?”
He laughs. “No. I want the whole world to know that you belong to me.”
I breathe, closing my eyes as his hand goes around my shoulder again, and we continue to walk. My arm finds its way around his waist, my fingers resting lightly on his body through the thin barrier of his t-shirt. My heart is aching sweetly with an almost unbearable happiness, and in that moment, I love him a thousand times more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone.
WE spend the rest of the day at his apartment. Landon gives me what he laughingly calls the premier girlfriend tour of the whole apartment. It’s actually much larger than I first thought. Downstairs, there’s his study, the fully-equipped gym, the library, den, dining room and kitchen, and upstairs, more bedrooms, another sitting room, and a couple of empty rooms. One of them used to be the nursery and playroom, he tells me, and the other, a spacious room with large windows, a few empty bookshelves and a beautiful view of the park, used to be his mother’s sitting room.
“We moved most of the stuff to the house after the accident,” Landon says, explaining why the room is empty.