Page 10 of Seductive Hearts

“Landon Jones.” I huffed. “You’ve served on committees with Mrs. Jones. And you and Dad have been to parties at the Jones’ estate plenty of times.”

Her eyes bulged before she clapped a hand over her mouth. When she lowered it, laughter burst out of her loudly enough that we grabbed the attention of a few diners at a nearby table. She was too busy dabbing away tears from the corners of her eyes to notice.

“I’m sorry,” she eventually choked out before sipping some water. Once she’d gotten a hold of herself, she explained. “Why in the world did my mind immediately go to Colton?”

In the blink of an eye, I was a kid again. Guilty, afraid my mother could see straight through me. There were certain things she did not need to know about, and this newfound lust for Colton Black was at the top of the list.

Her reaction alone was reason enough to make me sure of that.

“Colton?” I wrinkled my nose and shuddered. “I’m insulted.” Did I sound convincing? I needed to.

“But you have to admit, it fits. I’m certainly familiar with the name. I’ve served on committees with Lourde plenty of times. I know the family, and Colton was in the news today,” she concluded before polishing off the rest of her wine.

“You’ve put together a compelling case, attorney,” I joked. “But you should still know better. I can’t think of two people more opposite than Landon and Colton. I’m tired of dating idiots, Mom.”

She frowned, only wanting the best for me. “Like your ex, Morgan? I never liked him.”

I let out a weary sigh. “Morgan was gorgeous, intelligent, and a lot of fun. I’d told myself we had a future. It seemed like my drive and work ethic rubbed off on him, at least for a while. It wasn’t long before I figured out he was more interested in being attached to the Black name than me. I’m so sick of playboys with no ambition except to spend their trust fund or mine!”

“I hear you when it comes to Morgan, honey, but perhaps Landon and Colton aren’t so entirely different,” she countered, wearing a fond grin. “He’s got a good heart hidden under all that bravado. I bet you didn’t know when the hurricane hit last year, Colton was there for a month distributing aid and volunteering to rebuild some homes using his own trust. He cares. Like his father. Like all the hunk holes.”

The hunk holes. If I never heard the term again, it would be too soon. The way they turned Dad and his friends, Barrett, Connor, and Magnus into some big myth like there was something charming about sleeping their way through New York in their younger days.

“How many times do I have to remind you I don’t love thinking of Dad that way?” I pretended to gag, which only got her laughing again.

“You understand what I mean, though. Appearances can be deceiving.”

I could see straight through her motherly advice. Still, I was floored to hear about Colton’s philanthropy. “You have a soft spot for him because he and Noah have always been so close.” The two of them practically grew up in the other’s home, bouncing back and forth together during school breaks for as long as I could remember.

That was why it had been easy to fall for him when I was a kid. He was always around, as much a part of our family as my brother.

Mom lifted a shoulder before dipping into her clutch for her cell. “That could be. I look at him and see the little boy he used to be. All of you. I see all of you as kids. You’ll understand one day.”

Before I could remind her that day would be years in the future, she gasped at whatever she was reading on her phone. “Dammit! I forgot I was supposed to meet Pepper tonight for a drink. She’s waiting for me. I can’t cancel now.”

It was sort of a relief since the Colton talk needed to end. “Don’t worry about it. Go on ahead. We’re finished here, anyway,” I told her, signaling for the check while pulling out one of my cards. “Besides, I’m supposed to go over to Sienna’s. She’s having a party.”

The relief on Mom’s face as she kissed my cheek made up for the little lie. Sienna Black was having a party at her apartment in Soho, and I had been invited. I had also spent lunch with her brother earlier, had lied to him about having a boyfriend in a last-ditch effort to keep from making an unforgivably stupid mistake, and had then indulged in some of the filthiest, horniest fantasies imaginable. How was I supposed to look her in the face now?

Not only that, but what if Colton stopped by? They didn’t exactly go out of their way to be part of each other’s social lives, but they didn’t avoid each other, either. They shared a lot of friends. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that he would saunter in with some skank hanging on him like a cheap jacket. After the unreal tension between us earlier, I didn’t think I could handle that.

I waited until Mom left in the back of a black Lexus before ordering an Uber to take me home. Going over the designs for the store’s interior wasn’t exactly my idea of a fun on a Friday night, but it was safer than risking another run-in with my first love. It was corny, but I couldn’t avoid it. I was in love with him back then, the way only a teenage girl could be. I was idealistic and blind to the red flags, sure that I understood him better than anybody. That I saw his heart, the one Mom had referred to, so certain we shared something special, something for the two of us alone. That was what made me better for him than any girl ever could be.

Poor, deluded kid.

Since those days, I had come too far to risk getting wrapped up in him again. He wasn’t worth it back then, and he was not now as I left the restaurant to meet my driver at the curb.

Once I was nestled in the back seat, I texted Sienna.

Me: Sorry, babe, but I feel a headache coming on. I won’t be able to make it tonight. Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went.

My phone immediately lit up.

Damn.

“Hey, Sie?—”

“Uh, no, no way you’re bailing on me tonight.”

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