Chapter Thirteen
For the next few days, Landon didn't let her out of his sight.
He told himself it was because he was afraid that she'd get spooked and leave again, but the warm, wonderful truth was that he didn't believe that. So he told himself he was sticking close because he was afraid that Beau would find her on his parents' property.
But that was bullshit, too.
No, the real reason that he stuck like glue wasn't because he feared for h
er safety, but simply because he was a selfish man who wanted her beside him. He wanted to reach out and touch at his leisure. To hold her close at night. To walk with her, laugh with her. To simply be with her.
"She's all I think about," he confessed to his mom, and Gayle had just laughed. "Landon Ware, I can't believe it. You're finally in love."
Was he?
He thought back to his days--and his nights--with Vanessa. The truth was, with his wife, it had been more about the nights. They'd had decent chemistry--though in retrospect it was nothing compared to the intensity of the connection between him and Taylor--but with Vanessa, it had been almost all about the sex.
Thinking back now, he couldn't remember a substantive conversation with Vanessa that didn't involve sex or her fears for her safety and his. With Taylor, in the days they'd been together they'd talked about everything from television shows to home renovations to the process of setting up a fake identity. And sex. Though that subject tended to lead to practical demonstrations instead of intellectual ponderings.
They'd also talked about the situation, and although they were staying at Landon's parents, they'd made daily excursions into Austin, spending time on campus near the drama department and also downtown at The Fix. The idea was to draw Beau out--to reiterate to him that despite his real estate shenanigans, Taylor and Landon were a couple--but there'd been no sign of him for days.
Other reasons for Landon's excursions into downtown Austin were to check in with his friends at the APD--no news there, either--and to arrange a meeting with Easton Wallace, a prominent local attorney who both Taylor and Landon knew from The Fix.
Now, Landon stood in the reception area of Easton's office, frowning as his secretary explained that Easton was traveling, but would be back in the office before the end of the week. With that timeline in hand, Landon scheduled an appointment, asking that Easton please meet them in the back bar area at The Fix.
"Why not his office?" Taylor asked as they rode the elevator back down to the first floor.
"I want us to be as public as possible. Anything to catch his attention."
She frowned, but nodded.
He kissed her forehead right before the elevator doors opened. "Scared?"
Her lips curved into an ironic smile. "Definitely, but I was thinking about all the non-public things I enjoy doing with you. Too bad we have to play out the public side of this charade at all."
Her words lit a fire in him that only got hotter when they'd returned to Dripping Springs, and he'd taken her straight through the house to his old bedroom, then made love to her slowly for most of the afternoon.
Later, as they lay naked in each others arms, Taylor rolled over, then propped herself up, her elbows on his bare chest. "I liked doing nothing with you this afternoon," she murmured, her eyes never leaving his.
He reached up and stroked her silky hair, enjoying the way it trailed over his body now that it was falling loose around her face and wasn't tied back in her usual ponytail. "Me, too," he admitted. Then he grinned. "I could get used to this," he said, repeating the words he'd spoken to her after their first time together.
Only this time when he said it, what he meant was, I love you.
* * *
Up until the moment they actually met with Easton in a quiet corner of the small back bar section of The Fix, Taylor had been terrified by the prospect of revealing all her secrets to anyone other than Landon. But then Easton had arrived wearing an air of cool confidence and trustworthiness as prominently as he wore his perfectly tailored gray suit, and her hesitations evaporated.
She'd officially retained him earlier that day over the phone, and at the same time, he'd suggested that Landon retain him as well, ostensibly so that they could all three freely discuss any legal ramifications of Landon's continuing to help her now that he knew about the stolen drug money.
"Oh, God," she'd said. "He's like aiding and abetting, isn't he?"
Easton had only chuckled and told her that at the moment, his only concern was letting them both speak to him with each other present without waiving the attorney-client privilege. "That means Landon needs to be my client, too," he'd said.
Now at The Fix, he reminded them both that, "Anything you tell me is protected by the privilege. I'm like a vault. So you can tell me anything."
It was the perfect thing to say to calm her nerves. Even more, the fact that he'd taken such care to make sure that Landon could be with her during this key conversation, ensured that Taylor was not only relaxed, but trusted him completely.
She had no idea if Easton knew the law, but he definitely knew people. And she figured that was half the game.