After that, Hailey insisted that Landon had to pitch his own tent while the rest of us shared. I couldn’t really blame her; after all, Landon had thrown up all over his sister. To this day, he still can’t eat olives, claiming that one had gotten stuck in his nose when he was throwing up so hard.
“Oh no.” I quickly grabbed my phone, but I didn’t stop recording as I placed it on the table and then yanked the stand down and shoved it into my bag. Landon moaned, and I knew we had precious seconds left before he threw up.
“Now, did you want to think about doing a donut wall?” Lynda asked in a panicked voice. She either thought she was about to lose our business, or she had somehow not heard Landon moan.
He groaned even louder.
“Lynda, I’ve got to get him out of here before he gets sick.”
Laughing, she waved her hand to dismiss me. “I’ve seen plenty of men eat a lot more than Landon did. He’ll be fine. Did you want to think about booking, maybe putting a deposit down?”
Landon started to sway.
“Landon, are you okay?” I asked, reaching out to steady him.
He shook his head. “I’m seriously going to throw up.”
Lynda finally realized what was happening. We had a code red on our hands.
“We’ve got a puker!” I said, quickly looking around for anything that Landon could throw up in.
“No! God, no! Not in the shop!” Lynda cried out.
“Landon covered his mouth while I searched frantically. There was a canvas bag hanging over the back of the chair he’d been sitting in. I grabbed it, opened it, and nearly pushed Landon over as I thrust it up near his mouth. Not a second later, he was throwing up.
“Oh…oh dear…oh no.” I turned to see Lynda standing there, her mouth over her hand.
“No, no, Lynda. Walk away. Run! Close your eyes and sing Christmas songs!” I shouted. Landon sounded like he was throwing up his right lung.
“I’m going to be sick.” Lynda turned away and rushed through the small eating area toward the back of the bakery.
“I hope she makes it to the bathroom,” I whispered and then turned back to see that Landon was only dry heaving now. “You should have eaten lunch. All that sugar probably put your body into fight-or-flight mode.”
He groaned.
“Done?” I asked.
“I think so,” Landon replied, sitting back down in the chair. “I’m glad no one else was in here, or I’m pretty sure that would have been bad for business.”
I tied the handles together to close the bag and tried not to gag myself. A younger girl came rushing out.
“Lynda is throwing up in the bathroom!” she shouted.
“I know. Landon—I mean, my fiancé—ate too many cupcakes. Do you happen to have a trash bag and a dumpster I can throw this out in?”
The young girl’s eyes went from the bag to Landon to me. She looked like she wanted to gag too. “Yeah, let me get a bag. And the dumpster is around on the side of the building; you can toss it in there.”
After everything was cleaned up, and Lynda and Landon had recovered from their episodes, I told Lynda I would be in touch. Even after all of that, she seemed pretty excited, and I felt kind of bad that I wouldn’t actually be ordering any cakes from her. At least, not for a December wedding.
When we stepped outside, Landon drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “I blame you for that.”
“Me?” I asked as I stopped to look at him. “How on Earth am I to blame for you eating entirely too many cupcakes?”
“You got me all excited. First with the groom’s cake—which, by the way, I want lemon and the cheese cake buttercream frosting. You can do whatever you want for the main cake.”
My heart jumped slightly as a small little bloom of something started in my chest.
“Then that little stunt with the icing and sucking it off your finger. I damn near dragged you into the bathroom to fuck you right there.”
I gasped, my lips slightly parting. “That would have been fun.”
Landon looked at me and then pointed. “See? See what I mean?” He grabbed my hand, and we started toward his truck.
“What are you doing, Landon?” I asked.
“Taking you to my place.”
“I drove!” I said, starting to laugh.
Landon stopped and looked at my car parked in front of his truck and then back at me. “Get your ass in your car, and meet me at my house.”
“You just got sick, and you want to go back to your place and have sex?”
Landon walked around his truck, opened the driver’s door, and said, “Yes, I feel fine now. See you in a few minutes.”
I stood there, stunned, as Landon started his truck and then pulled out onto the street and headed off in the direction of his place.