Page 71 of Landon & Shay: Part Two

“Landon,” I barked, whipping around in my sneakers to face him.

“Yes?”

My eyes watered over and my chest burned a little as he stared my way. I didn’t say a word, and I didn’t have to, because he already knew. He knew I was cracking, knew I was slipping into a moment of pain, because he knew me, even after all the time that had passed.

How was that possible?

He stepped toward me and wrapped me in his arms as I began to sob into his T-shirt. “You’re okay, Chick. You’re okay, I got you,” he soothed, smoothing his hands over my hair.

In the past week, I had caught my boyfriend cheating, slept with my ex-boyfriend, thrown an iced latte in a woman’s face, and lost my job. If that wasn’t a terrible weekly recap, I didn’t know what was.

He cleared his throat, lowered his mouth to my ear, and whispered, “We should probably move from here.” I went to raise my head from his chest, but he held me in place.What the heck?“Stay down.”

“Why?”

“There’s a bit of paparazzi surrounding us right now, and I doubt you want your face all over the magazines tomorrow. Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Any place but here. Trust me. I got you. Just stay close and keep your head down. We have to get to my car around the corner, then we’ll be good to go.”

As Landon led me over, he wrapped his jacket around my body, keeping my face covered. The moment I got into his car, he instructed me to duck down until he drove off.

Was this what it meant being in the limelight? Never being able to break down in public without someone being there to snap a picture of you for the cover of some tacky tabloid?

As we began driving off, I realized I was sitting in the car with a man I was working hard to keep from reentering my heart, going God knows where.

“You can take me back. I’m sure it’s calmed down,” I told him.

“They like to hang around the place for a bit after a celebrity sighting takes place. We should wait about an hour or so.”

“We?” I questioned. “No offense, but I don’t really have the energy to hang out with you for an hour. You can take me to my place.”

“Are you sure you want to be alone?”

No, of course not.

Nobody wants to be alone. Some people just end up that way.

“I’ll be fine,” I answered as I went digging in my purse for my keys, but I paused as I realized they were still in my apron pocket, back at the coffee shop.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I need my house keys. I left them at the bakery. I have to go back sooner than later.”

“Later than sooner is better,” he disagreed. “Trust me, I can take you to my place. We can stay there until things settle down. I swear, I won’t even try to talk to you.”

“Fine, but no talking once we get there.”

“Not a word.”

I shifted around in my seat and clasped my hands together. “I have wanted to ask you something since the whiskey party…”

“Anything. Go for it.”

“Are you clean?” I blurted out, turning his way. “I mean, like…have you been tested in a while? I’m on the pill, so there’s no worries for an unexpected pregnancy tabloid scandal, but I do know your reputation of being a manwhore. If you’re not clean and I need to get tested, let me know and I will. It was a stupid mistake on my part. I would’ve never slept with you without a condom if I wasn’t drinking. I mean, I probably wouldn’t have slept with you at all if I weren’t drinking.”

He frowned for a split second before pushing the grimace expression away. “I’m clean. I was tested a few months ago and haven’t slept with anyone since then. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a manwhore.”

“That’s not what TMZ says.”

---