Not going to happen, he reminded himself sternly.
For her sake. And for his.
CHAPTER EIGHT
This is all your fault,” Kimber teased after telling Gloria the gory details about what happened on the patio with Landon.
Glo choked out a laugh.
She’d sworn Glo to secrecy. Kimber didn’t know what, if anything, Evan knew about Landon and Lissa’s relationship, but she’d made it clear to Gloria not to repeat any of it.
“Well you, my friend, are welcome,” Glo said, sounding satisfied.
“I’m ‘welcome’?” She laid on the sarcasm pretty thick, but Glo didn’t flinch.
“You shared a delicious lip lock with a powerful, wealthy man, sweetie. You are welcome.”
She made an excellent point. “Okay, well, maybe I’ll blame Mick. If I didn’t need the money to buy him out of Hobo Chic—”
“I warned you not to turn your boy toy into your business partner.”
Kimber leaned on the bench, one eye on Lyon who waved before he slid down the slide in the playground. She smiled and waved back, then frowned at her best friend. “Do you really think now is the right time for an ‘I told you so’?”
Glo took a sip from her extra-large Starbucks cup. “Maybe not.”
“Anyway. If I hadn’t needed the money, I could have said no.”
“It’s perfect, actually.”
Kimber sipped her iced coffee and watched Lyon play on the slide. “What’s perfect?”
“You always fall in love with every guy you date,” Glo said. “Well, maybe not with them but with the idea of being in love.”
Kimber didn’t know what brought on that bit of psychobabble. Unfortunately, Glo was right. Mick. Joey. Stephen. All of them would have been perfectly suitable short-term relationships. It was Kimber who’d sunk her hooks in them and tried to drag it out. Tried to make it work.
“It’s because of the divorce,” Kimber said. “I’m trying to make up for the fact that I couldn’t save my parents’ marriage, so I try to make every relationship stand the test of time.”
Glo’s black eyebrows disappeared into her thick, ebony bangs.
“Dr. Phil,” Kimber supplied.
“Huh.”
“Kimber! Watch!”
“I’m watching!” she called to Lyon, applauding when he slid to the bottom and rolled to the ground. She laughed, then her laugh faded. If she had said no to Angel’s offer to babysit, she never would have met Lyon. And he’d opened her heart in a way she couldn’t describe. Like he’d knocked down a wall and let light in.
Yeah. And that light-filled, wall-less heart has nothing to do with Landon.
“You’re so good with him,” Gloria observed.
“I know. Weird.”
“No. It’s not the least bit surprising that you’re good with children. You are a very self-sacrificing person. You love in a genuine, uncompromising way. Whereas I’m just… mean.”
“You’re not mean,” Kimber said. Then frowned. Glo’s description of Kimber reminded her of Landon’s assessment last night. Was she really seen as a saint? She’d gone out of her way to prove to him she wasn’t saintly last night. She’d risen with the worst feeling of dread this morning, and hoped she might not run into him.
She did run into him, of course. The house may be big, but the kitchen was the hub of all morning activity. There’d been no avoiding him. Lyon had been watching TV from the kitchen table while his Froot Loops went soggy while Kimber munched on an English muffin. Landon had stepped into the kitchen in a sexy charcoal suit and a pair of stylish silver-rimmed glasses she’d never seen before.
He made himself a cup of coffee, pausing to tell Lyon to eat his breakfast and to mention to her that he hoped he’d be home earlier than the last two nights. He’d also slid her a knowing look that made her nipples tighten before murmuring, “Red or white wine tonight? I’d like to prepare my palate.”
She fanned her shirt now, her face growing warm as she remembered the way he’d licked his bottom lip and sent her a smile. Her palate was prepared for one thing for sure: more of his amazing mouth.
“Well. Whatever label you put on it, it’s still perfect,” Glo said.
Back to that? “Okay. I give. What, exactly, is perfect?”
“Your situation with Landon. A fun-night stand with him would be the perfect fix to your issue with thinking you’re in love.”
“I seriously doubt he has any interest in dating me.” But her private parts tingled at the idea of taking his clothes off. Because yowza.