Page 41 of Fear of Love
“Hey.” My voice came out in a whisper as I watched him reach into the bag and pull out two very good-looking donuts.
“Still take your coffee with a little bit of sugar, right?”
I shook myself out of the shock of him knowing my coffee order and gave him a nod. I was still reeling at the fact he came back, and with breakfast, when I was so sure he left for good.
“Thought you bailed,” I said, grabbing the coffee cup Landon held out to me. “Not that I cared,” I quickly added, not wanting him to think I was heartbroken waking up without him.
“Figured you could use some food after last night.” He ignored my words as he slid a donut toward me. Any ideas or plans of being standoffish evaporated at his sweet actions. Damn him.
“Thanks.” My fingers gripped my coffee, eye pricking at the kindest gesture anyone had ever done for me.
Leaning my hip against the counter, I sipped my coffee, trying my best to ignore Landon’s presence sitting on my barstool. I wasn’t sure what to say. I wasn’t going to assume that we were anything more because of last night. If he wanted this to be a one time thing that was okay. The last thing I’d ever do was beg a man to want to be with me.
“So,” I started after a few minutes passed and the silence became too much.
“So.” Landon looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Last night was fun.” I said casually, hoping to avoid the topic until he brought it up.
“It was.” It was clear he was waiting formeto bring it up, those hazel eyes looking at me over the lid of his coffee. In the morning light they looked almost green.
Unable to help myself, I looked him over, taking in the body that I touched, licked, and scratched. I could be embarrassed about what we did last night—how loudly I moaned, how I begged, how he had me coming undone within minutes but I wasn’t. Far from it, in fact. How could I be when last night was one of the best nights of my life?
“If you keep looking at me like that I’llbendyou over this counter.” My core clenched at his words, and my nipples immediately hardened under my sweatshirt.
“I don’t think you would.” Once again, my mouth tried to get me in trouble.
“We both know I will.” The way Landon said it, paired with the way he looked me up and down, eyes lingering on my bare legs, almost had me begging him to do just that. I tugged my bottom lip between my teeth. The corner of his lip curled up as if he knew what I was thinking.
“So…” I cleared my throat, looking away from those taunting lips. “This was a one time thing, right?” I tried to sound aloof, like I truly didn’t care.
“Do you want it to be that?” Landon shot back.
I let out a huff. “Do you always answer a question with one of your own?”
“This doesn’t have to be more than what you want it to be.”
I didn’t know what I wanted, though. This… thing between us was so new. How was I supposed to decide so soon?.
“Lydia.” Landon leaned forward, arms braced on the counter. I met his gaze as his expression softened. “I enjoyed last night. I would be more than happy to keep on doing this, no strings attached. But if you don’t, I’ll respect that and things can go back to the way they were. We won’t talk about it and no one will know.”
He meant every word. If I wanted to stop this, all I had to do was say no and he would back off. He’d respect my answer and not push it. It would be easy to say this was a one time thing and move on. We could pretend last night never happened.
The thought of that, though, made my stomach queasy. I was someone who went after what they wanted. I learned that if something made your heart pound and scared you, even just a little, you had to go for it. If not, you’d always wonder ‘what if.’
I knew that if I said no to whatever this was with Landon, I’d wonder that for the rest of my life. I knew I’d regret not trying.
Landon patiently waited for me to decide. He made no move to rush me, and that alone meant everything. I didn’t know how this would turn out between us, but I wanted to find out.
With my decision made, I moved around the counter toward him, stepping between his spread legs as he turned to face me.
“And what if I say Idowant to continue?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. His eyes flicked down to my mouth, and then back up, a shade darker than before.
“Then you can stop pretending you’re not into me.”
The way he stared at me dared me to argue. I swallowed, my pulse loud in my ears. Because he wasn’t wrong. Ihadbeen pretending. Telling myself I wasn’t into him.
“Only if you say you’ve wanted me since day one,” I shot back. If I was going to admit to him that I had been into him since the moment we met, he had to do the same.
