“I do. But you learn fast and if what you were able to manage on a baby scale holds true, in five, maybe ten years, you could be doing a lot of things. Guess you listened to all those business talks at the dinner table growing up after all.”
“Those were so boring,” I chuckle.
“Hey, I have to go. The babies have a doctor’s appointment this morning and I don’t miss those for anyone.”
“How are they? How’s Mallory?”
“Everyone’s good. Everything is really, really good.”
“Tell Mallory I said hi and I miss her,” I say, wishing I was there to snuggle with Graham’s offspring. “Kiss the babies.”
“Will do. Let me know what you decide as soon as you do, okay?”
“I will. Bye, G.”
“Bye.”
Laughing out loud as I shove the phone into my purse, I consider if that conversation just happened. Me? Working at Landry Security on invitation? I’ve quite possibly never felt so proud in my life. Getting kudos from Graham, the essential Chief Executive Officer of our family, is harder to get than from my parents. From any professor I ever had. From any client.
I feel stupid because I know I’m beaming, but I can’t help it. It’s not just because of Graham either; it’s because maybe the struggle I felt with the first year in business wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe it meant we were making it, that we were battling through better than I expected and I just couldn’t see it.
“Hey.”
I jump at the voice behind me, spinning around to see Walker’s face poking out from around the door. He takes in the look on my face and relaxes when he realizes I’m fine.
“Sorry,” I tell him. “That was my brother.”
“Don’t you have like six of them?” he asks, holding the door open.
“No, four,” I say, entering the lobby. “That was Graham. He offered me a job.” I turn to face him, but his back is already to me as he rounds the corner of the desk. “It’s kind of a big deal for Graham to think you’re capable.”
“Does he not know you?” There’s no tease in his tone, no levity. No grin waiting to be cracked either. Just a blank question that he waits for me to respond to.
“Graham’s hard core,” I explain. “He was saying he went over the stuff from my design business and was impressed.”
Walker continues to wait, as if there’s more. Some bomb to drop. Something else to explain my exuberance.
“It made me feel good.” That’s the best I can do to make my point known without him knowing my brother. I go to the back and put my purse into the cabinet, waiting for him to say something.
He clicks around on the computer before clearing his throat. “Are you going to take it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m doing. I just think it’s cool that he thought enough of me to ask me to work for him.”
“Well, I thought enough of you already to let you work for me.” He looks at me through his lashes. “Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I say, letting my hand drop to his thigh. “What would you like me to do today?”
“That’s a loaded question,” he chuckles. “First thing, before I get another call and have to deal with it,” he says, palming the back of my thigh with his hand, “is something really dumb, but I’d like to know.”
“What?”
He twists his lips together, trying to hide his almost embarrassment. “What’s your last name? I don’t even know. It occurred to me this morning.”
Scooting closer to him so that my torso is lined up with his, I try to concentrate on his words and not the way his fingers are deliciously close to my vagina.
“Landry,” I breathe, rolling my hips as his fingers press into the denim of my jeans.
“Well, Miss Landry,” he husks, his hand moving north, “it’s a pleasure to meet you officially.”
“Didn’t we meet officially in the shop the other night?” I giggle.
“Nah, that was just us fucking.”
Swatting his shoulder, I take a step back and out of his reach. I have to. Otherwise, I’m going to have to get out of these jeans and pull him into the shop bay with me again. “I love how eloquent you are, Mr. Gibson.”
Rolling his eyes, he picks up a pen and twirls it between his fingers.
“Hey,” I say, grabbing a rag and wiping down the edge of the desk. “I saw on the news this morning there’s going to be a meteor shower tonight. Did you see that?”
“Nope.”
“It was the top story.”
“I don’t watch the news. It’s all bullshit.”
“Then how do you know what’s happening in the world?”
“Peck.”
“Isn’t he full of bullshit too? I don’t understand your logic.”
This gets a laugh out of Walker. He leans back in his chair, his eyes sparkling. “We need to get a few things straight before this day goes on any further.”