Gloria’s ink-black eyebrows lifted. “Whoopsie.”
“Yeah. Had a little size issue.”
“Condom too big?” She asked with a smirk.
“Too small. I bought a box but didn’t know there were… sizes.”
Glo held her palm up for a high five.
Kimber groused at her.
“Don’t leave me hanging.”
“I can’t high-five you over his pen—”
The bell over the door rang, cutting her sentiment short. An advertising executive dressed in a three-piece suit and red tie strolled in, adjusting his glasses on his nose. Kimber swallowed, studying the buttoned vest with unabashed approval, which basically meant she struggled not to drool on the countertop. The man was a sexy beast.
“Holy Hot Pockets,” Glo muttered under her breath. She ran a hand through her sheet of silken black hair and pushed her breasts up in her low-cut top. Kimber had to bite back a smile. Because Landon had come here to see her, and that made Kimber feel sexy just the way she was.
He spotted Kimber and crossed the room casually, his long legs eating up the space between them. When he reached the counter, he sent Glo a perfunctory, polite smile and Kimber a full body graze that made her stomach tighten. She loved it when he looked at her that way.
“Welcome to Hobo Chic,” Kimber said. “Everything we have is on the floor.” She tamped back the smile pulling her lips as he sent a sharp, inquisitive gaze around her shop.
He gave an approving nod. “Nice place.”
“She’s the owner,” Gloria interjected, stepping behind the counter to stand next to Kimber. “This is her baby.”
She kicked her best friend, who no doubt had carefully selected the word “baby.” Unless she was mistaken, Kimber didn’t think Glo had figured out who he was yet.
A secret smile tickled his lips. “You don’t say.”
Kimber had to bite her lip to keep from grinning.
“I can’t help but wonder,” he told her, his eyes locked onto hers, “if more people knew about your location you’d be busier.”
Fun as this was, it was about time to let Glo in on the joke. Kimber opened her mouth to introduce her best friend to her “fling,” but Gloria cut her off. “I agree. She’s tucked back here away from the main drag, but there is an excellent café across the street, and a jewelry maker, too. If more people knew about this neighborhood, Hobo Chic would be swamped.”
He focused his attention on Glo and offered a hand. “You must be her agent.”
So, he’d figured out who Gloria was right away. That sly devil. Evan must have done a good job describing her.
Gloria blushed, actually blushed, and took his hand. “I’m not her agent. But I am a literary one. Children’s books.”
He shrugged with his lips as if impressed and glanced at Kimber.
She rolled her eyes. Stop playing and tell her who you are. He ignored her silent suggestion.
“That’s impressive,” he said to Gloria. “I know a children’s book artist.”
“Do you?” She was still shaking his hand. “Does this artist have representation?”
A smile. “Yes. He does.”
“May I ask his name?”
“Sure. My brother, Evan. Downey.”
Gloria’s smile slid off her face like suds from a freshly washed car. She pulled her hand away. “Jesus.”
“Landon,” he corrected. “You must be Gloria.”
“You don’t look like your brother,” she commented.
He didn’t. Landon was taller by a few inches, his hair lighter, his refined way of dress and speak a far cry from Evan’s laid-back swagger.
“The shape of their noses, and their eyes, are the same,” Kimber said.
He flicked those eyes over to her—gray today. “I called.”
“I ignored it.”
He pressed a hand to his chest like he was hurt. “Ignored.”
“I told her to,” Glo said. “I was trying to tell her a story and didn’t want the interruption. I’m selfish that way. Well, I have to get back to my clients. She’s all yours now.” She gathered her purse from behind the counter, mouthing the words Call me on her way out of the store.
Once she’d gone, Landon faced Kimber. “Is that true?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Which part?”
“You don’t want to see me any longer.” It wasn’t a question, but he waited for a reply all the same.
“The idea was to walk away.” A clean break before she turned a spontaneous profession into a relationship doomed to fail.