Page 21 of Pursued By My Grumpy Fiancé
He grabs my finger and pulls it down to the side. He leans down and whispers in my ear, his lips grazing it slightly.
“Thirty minutes was all you needed. I could ravish you right now.”
My body betrays me, shivering at his touch. I push him away.
“Okay, hotshot, let’s get going. There will be no ravishing happening.” I lead him out of my apartment.
“That’s too bad. I’ve heard I’m quite good at it,” he says as he follows me. I close the front door and start off down the hallway.
“Wait—are you seriously not going to lock your front door?”
I turn around and look at him quizzically.
“Oh, well yeah. I guess I didn’t think about it.” I look down and realize I didn’t even grab my purse.
“Ugh, be right back.” I make a mad dash into my apartment, grab a silver clutch off my kitchen counter and my keys. I step out the door and lock it.
“There. All better.” I smile.
Landon’s jaw is hanging open.
“Better close that, or you’re going to catch flies!”
“Is there something actually wrong with you? You can’t just go around not locking your front door! You should even have it locked while you’re here. I just walked right in! I could have been a psycho for all you knew.”
I roll my eyes.
“Newsflash: You are a psycho. Besides, you need a building code to get in here. Wait a second, how’d you get in here?”
“Someone held the door open for me.” He gives me a pointed look and I sigh.
“Right, point taken. Consider my door locked from now on.” I start back down the hallway.
Landon grumbles behind me, making comments about lax safety protocols and flighty personalities.
As we are about to make our way out of the building, Landon grabs my hand. His hand is warm and smooth, not at all calloused, like I thought they might be. I guess I don’t know why I thought they would be. It’s not like he does manual labor for a living.
He leads the way down the path to the limo waiting for us. The limo driver opens the door and I step in gingerly. He sits down next to me and gives my knee a squeeze. I push his hand off as the driver closes the door.
Chapter Eleven
Hailey
Idownmyfluteof champagne as the limo pulls up outside of the charity gala. This one is well outside of San Francisco’s city limits, at a vineyard in Napa Valley, with many sprawling fields.
The ride to the vineyard was quiet. I spent most of my time looking out the window, only interrupted by Landon offering me champagne.
“Are you ready?” Landon asks.
“Is there any more champagne?” I reply and he rolls his eyes.
“You’re not getting plastered before this charity gala. Or during this charity gala. There will be no embarrassments during this event.”
I bristle at his tone, but deep down, I agree. To pull this off, I need to maintain a stern level of sobriety.
“I have something for you,” Landon says, as he reaches into a compartment and pulls out a long and narrow jewelry box.
“Oh, please, the dress was enough. I couldn’t accept anything else,” I say, holding my hands up to stop him.
