Distraction. I needed a distraction from Maddie. Luckily, distraction was always one phone call away.
Chapter Five
Maddie
My cheeks were burning. Could he tell? I hoped he couldn’t. My blood had rushed to my face earlier anyway from staying crouched for so long. How could I get so flustered just because he was looking at me? I redid my bun for the hundredth time today. Damn hair! I went to get a haircut yesterday. My ends were split, and I told her I just wanted a trim.
“Oh, honey, of course. I’ll just shave off a few,” the hairdresser had assured me.
No clue what she was referring to by few, but clearly not inches, because she cut off a lot from the front. Now the front was at that weird length between bangs and random strands, and it fell out of my bun. It was the last time I’d trust anyone with her roots died blue and her ends pink to come near my hair with scissors. I liked wearing a bun on top of my head, not at the base, but I’d have to use pins until my hair grew back, and I didn’t like feeling scraps of metal or plastic on my scalp.
I spent half the day with my ass up in the air, walking along the horizontal base the guys dug for the timber pole, checking it was the right width and depth. The smell of freshly turned earth filled my nostrils. I stopped and took out my earbuds around midday, when Sevi and Jacob went on their lunch break. My ears popped a little. In the eerie silence, Landon’s voice echoed through the yard.
“No, we agreed on the KPI targets already. There’s no negotiating now.”
I groaned. It was my second day on my spy job, and I was already failing. How long had he been working?
I laid down my hand trowel and skittered to the porch to police Landon. He was sitting at the wooden picnic table, deep lines marring his forehead, his jaw set. I moved until I was right in front of him, placed my hands on my hips, and narrowed my eyes, giving him my most stern, no-nonsense look, which had the unexpected effect of making him grin.
“I’ll call you back later,” he said into the phone, then clicked off.
“What do you mean, I’ll call you later? I believe you meant ‘I will not be calling you over the next two weeks. Forget I exist.’”
Landon shrugged, his grin still in place. “I relaxed all morning. I thought I’d take a break from taking a break during lunch.”
“Val was right. You really don’t know how to vacation, do you?”
“I’m out of practice, that’s all. I have a competent team, and an acting CEO I’d trust with my life, but it’s hard to disconnect.”
“Well, I suppose business empires aren’t built by taking vacations often. When’s the last time you had a proper vacation?”
“Four years ago.”
His answer tugged at a memory. Val had told me Landon’s wife died four years ago. Now I understood Val’s determination to make sure he relaxed. I was determined not to fail at my spy job again.
“Are you eating lunch with your crew?” he asked.
“No, I don’t eat lunch.”
He drummed his finger on the wooden table. “Why not?”
“I mostly forget. It’s inconvenient eating on site. My hands are dirty, and packing lunch is a drag.”
My stomach churned loudly at that exact moment.
“Your stomach seems to disagree,” he said.
“It usually does.”
“Have lunch with me today. Come on, you’re starving.”
“The work won’t finish itself.”
“Maddie, you need to have lunch. And I’d love your company.”
Ah, his tone held that polite bossiness from the first day again, and poof, my resolve vanished.
“Oh, I don’t know. Even though, if I do eat with you, I might distract you from calling back your business partner.”