Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

With a chuckle, I pulled out my phone and noticed it was still recording. Thank God it wasn’t live. I took a picture of the outside of the bakery, opened Instagram, and typed, “Went for a cake tasting session today with Landon. Let’s just say you shouldn’t skip lunch before eating cupcakes, and you really shouldn’t wipe icing off of your man’s lips. More to come…”

With a smile, I slipped into my car and headed over to Landon’s house.

The garage door to Landon’s place was open, so I pulled in. It was one of those three-car garages, so Landon could park his truck in it, and also allow another car to park inside. His house wasn’t over the top, but it wasn’t small and quaint like mine. It was just over three-thousand square feet, and besides his kitchen and bedroom, Landon mostly hung out in the large game room or in the theater room he had built above his massive garage.

I got out of my car and walked toward the door that led into the mudroom of Landon’s house. I hit the button to shut the garage door, and then took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. I wasn’t entirely sure why I felt nervous, but my stomach was all aflutter. It wasn’t like we hadn’t slept together since the other night at our folks’ ranch. Any time we were alone, we seemed to be either making out or making love. But we hadn’t been to Landon’s place yet.

“It’s all the sugar,” I whispered as I walked into the kitchen and glanced around. Landon’s kitchen was beautiful. My mother and his mother both helped him design and decorate it when he’d had the house built. Hailey had actually lived in Landon’s house for about six months after it was built, when Landon was still racing. She made lots of use of his gourmet kitchen. The colors were soft whites and grays, with an island so big you could fit twenty people around it.

Okay, maybe ten.

The large kitchen was flanked by a breakfast nook that overlooked the ten acres of land Landon had built on. Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased the view, and I had to stop and look at it every time.

As I walked by the formal dining room, I laughed. It sat empty because Landon refused to buy another table. He said the one in the kitchen worked fine.

The large family room was part of the huge, open layout and contained a brown leather sofa and loveseat, as well as the recliner. With a grin, I tucked the idea of sex in that recliner away for future use.

Landon’s house was two stories, with four bedrooms upstairs and the main bedroom downstairs, and a smaller bedroom right next door. At the time, Addie had suggested that Landon use it as a home office for the restoration shop, but I knew she longed for it to be a nursery someday.

I paused, staring down the hallway at that room. As I made my way toward it, my heart started to beat faster in my chest. Once I stepped inside, I looked around. Landon hadn’t made it his office. It sat empty, and for some crazy reason, I let my imagination run wild as I pictured it having a soft blue theme, with decorations of baby animals and flowers and even race cars placed throughout the room.

Exhaling, I walked over to the oversized window that looked out onto the backyard. I leaned against the windowsill and closed my eyes as I got lost in a dream.

“Emme?”

I let out a small scream at the sound of Landon’s voice, and I spun around, my hand over my heart. “God, you scared me to death!”

He smiled and my insides melted.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I heard you come in. What are you doing in here?” he asked, walking up to me and brushing a stray piece of hair back from my face. I tried not to let it show that my body was trembling at the slightest touch from this man.

Letting out a soft chuckle, I replied, “I haven’t been to your place in so long, I was surprised to see this room still empty. I thought you were going to use it for an office?”

Landon looked around the empty room with its soft beige walls. Then he shrugged. “I don’t know, I just usually work up in the game room or in the living room. I didn’t really see the need to make this into a room I won’t use.”

I nodded, knowing I shouldn’t ask the next question. “What do you plan on doing with it then?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I mean, I’m sure someday I might need it, you know, for a kid’s room or something.”

And there went my ovaries. They exploded into a million pieces. Yes, sign me up for filling this room with little Landons, please.