The Wrong Gentleman

At the back of my brain, buried deep, there was a small hope that when we got done with the season, what had been a summer fling might develop into something more. Maybe things had changed for him like they had done for me.

“You didn’t get the contract?” Avery asked.

“The opposite, actually.”

Avery squealed. “I can’t believe you didn’t message me immediately. I’m so happy for you.”

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh.

“I’m not sure that I should be happier about it than you are. What’s going on?”

“I’ve just been thinking about a lot of stuff. About what I really want. About what I wanted—the hopes and dreams I had before my mom died. I?

??ve been thinking that maybe the three-year contract isn’t the way to go.”

“Wow, this is huge, Skylar.”

“Am I being an idiot if I turn this down?”

“To follow your dreams? It’s what I’ve done, and I’ve never been happier.”

I bit back a grin—partly because I was so happy my friend was happy, and partly because right off in the distance, I could see that maybe I could have that kind of happiness for myself. The kind that settled in your soul and kept you warm at night. The kind I hadn’t known in a very long time.

“I’m not even sure if my dreams have stayed the same. Or if any of them are even realistic. I just think that maybe if I don’t chase them now, I never will.” If I took the three-year contract, whatever Landon had awoken in me would wither and die. I would be permanently on the path, running from something that had long since stopped chasing me.

I didn’t always have to be the girl whose father shot and killed her mother.

I didn’t always have to be the girl who was scared of being hungry and homeless.

I didn’t always have to be the girl who didn’t trust anyone but herself.

Landon had shown me that.

“Gah,” Avery spluttered. “I think it’s wonderful that you’re thinking that there’s more to life than a three-year contract. And I’m going to be able to hug you in the flesh to celebrate.”

My phone started beeping. “Avery, I have a call coming through on the other line. I’ll see you tonight.”

I hung up and answered Landon. “Hey.”

“I just spoke to my brother,” he said. “I should be done with dinner by ten. That gives us an entire eight hours.”

I grinned but didn’t say anything, not wanting him to hear my smile in my voice. “I have dinner with a friend tonight, too. So, maybe I can meet you at a bar. I’m not sure where we’ll go yet.”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing you, Skylar,” he said, his tone suddenly serious.

I couldn’t imagine a time that I wouldn’t look forward to seeing Landon. “I’m really looking forward to seeing you, too.”

He sighed on the other end of the phone. “I should go. My break’s over and the other guests are just about to arrive.”

“Yes, go. And I’ll see you tonight after ten.”

I had plenty to do to keep me busy until then. I had my whole life to figure out. And a three-year contract to turn down.

Thirty-Four

Skylar

If I couldn’t spend the entire evening with Landon, dinner with Avery was the perfect alternative. I grinned at the hostess as I made my way through the door of the restaurant she’d texted me about. I got to spend tonight with my friend and later a man who, whether or not he knew it, had changed my life. I’d decided I was going to come clean with Landon later. Tell him how my feelings for him had grown, how I’d never felt this way about anyone, as well as how I intended to turn down the contract with the Sapphire.