Lost In You (Swanson Court 3)

She frowns. “About the wedding itself, or getting married to Brett?”

“I don’t know… Both?”

She shrugs. “About Brett? No. I just feel at peace, you know? Happy. Like I know that this was always meant to happen, like I was always meant for him, for this. I’m a hundred percent sure about him.”

“But?”

She pauses and frowns. “Sometimes, I fret about all the arrangements, the dress, how the pictures will turn out, guest lists and all that… but you know, all that matters is that at the end of the day, Brett and I say our vows and officially become the most important people in each other’s lives.”

“Plus your mom and mine are taking over the arrangements anyway, so no need to fret.”

“Exactly.” She looks at me, one eyebrow raised. “Why all the questions? Are you thinking of dragging poor Landon to the altar?”

“He wouldn’t be poor Landon if I did,” I say indignantly. “He’d be lucky.”

“That is the spirit,” Laurie grins.

“I wasn’t really thinking about marriage. I was just… I don’t know, wondering how you know for sure, without any doubts.”

“Do you have doubts? About Landon?”

I shake my head. “I know he’s the one.” I pause. “I don’t even know what he thinks about marriage as an institution, you know?” Especially with how his parents marriage had turned out.

“Well, considering what you’ve told me about his relationship with his brother, he’d probably be a great dad.”

“We haven’t cleared marriage and you’re talking kids,” I shake my head, although my mind dwells on the pleasant thought for a forbidden moment. Landon’s kids, my kids. The idea is so tempting, too tempting. “I don’t even know what I think about kids, except I’m sure I’ll have at least one set of twins who’ll be worse than our moms.”

“That would be awful,” Laurie replies, laughing. It’s a joke between us that our moms act as if they’re the twins in the family.

“I’ll miss this place,” Laurie says wistfully, her eyes going around the room. “Remember when we first moved in?”

“Yeah.” We’d been so proud, and we’d attached so much importance to simple things like buying furniture. Now Laurie isn’t even taking many of the things we purchased. Just her lamps and a few picture frames.

“I’ll miss you,” I tell her. “You and your damn reality shows.”

“You know you love them,” she teases.

I grin, “No, it’s you I love.”

“Awww.” She makes a sad face. “I love you too.”

We stay grinning at each other until I throw her t-shirt back at her and it lands on her face, then I help her pack until it’s time to go to bed.

THE next day I leave work and go directly to the Swanson Court Hotel. I’m having dinner with Landon, but we’re leaving from his apartment. At the ground floor lobby, I make my way over to the elevators, remembering my impressions from the first time I ever came here. The beauty and tastefulness of the interior had impressed me, and months after, my admiration for the place hasn’t changed.

The elevator deposits me in the foyer of Landon’s apartment and when I get to the living room, I’m surprised to see him seated on one of the armchairs. He has glasses on and he’s reading from a tablet. Wow! I think, staring, even the nerdy look is sexy on him.

“Hi!” I exclaim, delighted. “I didn’t know you were home.”

“I left early.” He puts the tablet aside and pulls off the glasses before rising languidly to his feet. He comes toward me and slides his hands around my waist, holding me close while his lips find mine, overwhelming me with a sweet, welcoming kiss. “How was your day?”

“So, so.” I grin, breathing in the scent of his skin mixed with that subtle and irresistible hint of cologne, and thinking expectantly of the few hours we have before we have to go out to dinner. “How was yours?”

Landon shrugs, and kisses me again, tasting my lips and teasing my tongue for a long sweet moment. When he pulls back, I moan softly, wanting more. He takes my bag off my shoulder, dropping it on one of the chairs. “What’s that you’re holding?”

“Oh.” I look down at the small gift bag in my hand, suddenly nervous. Chadwick expedited my order and had it delivered to the office earlier in the day. “Ummm,” I raise the bag, handing it to him. “It’s for you.”

His eyebrow quirks. “Really?” He takes it from me and with his arm still around me, leads me to the sofa. He watches my face, a quizzical expression on his as he pulls the packages out, and carefully unwraps them. He studies the first one, then the second, while I wait for him to say something.