Page 36 of Deal Breaker
My phone buzzes on the counter.
Jesse: Meeting at 9. Bring coffee. Or donuts. Or both. You owe me.
By the time I arrive at Cove, the office is already in motion. I drop my jacket in my office and then head down the hall to pour myself a cup of coffee but stop dead in mytracks when I spot Jesse and Landyn in the shared workroom.
Jesse is standing too close again. He’s leaned over the table, one hand braced on the back of her chair, an easy smile on his face. She’s looking at something on her laptop, looking up at him every few seconds and gesturing enthusiastically with her hands the way she always does when she’s trying to make a point.
It’s too familiar between them. Too damn comfortable. I don’t realize my jaw is locked until Becca walks past with a stack of papers and shoots me a look. “Good morning, Mr. Winters.”
Jesse glances up just in time to catch my eye. He smiles at me, clearly amused, and then lifts his chin in my direction as if he’s waiting for me to say something.
I don’t.
I turn and walk straight back to my office.
Later in the day, I find Jesse in the break room sipping on one of those green juices that look like swamp water.
“You need something?” he asks.
I stare at him a beat too long. “Yeah. I need you to cut it out.”
He blinks. “Cut what out?”
“The flirting.”
Jesses chokes on his smoothie. “With who?”
I give him another look.
“Oh,” he says. “You’re talking about Landyn.” He grins like it’s hilarious.
“It’s not funny.”
“Dude, you’re acting like I’m hitting on your?—”
“I’m not acting like anything,” I snap. “Just keep it professional.”
Jesse studies me for a second, more serious now. “Noted.”
Just then Becca pops her head in. “Hey, Landyn left without the campaign files she was working on. Do you want me to call her? She’ll need these tonight to prep for her presentation tomorrow at noon.”
“It’s fine,” Jesse says. “I’ll drop them by her place, so she doesn’t have to come back in.”
“I’ll do it,” I tell him, a little too quickly. “You have to get ready for tomorrow too, and I’m heading in that direction anyway.”
A lie, but he thankfully doesn’t call me on it. He just smirks. “Sure. Whatever you say, Ford.”
Becca looks from me to Jesse and back again, before holding the folder out to me. I take the file and head back to my office to get my things, telling myself it’s not a big deal. It’s just a delivery. A favor. It’s not an excuse to see her.
It’s just a file. That’s all.
I ignore the tiny voice that scratches at me, the one that whispers that the thought of Jesse in Landyn’s home, being let into a part of her world that I haven’t seen, was enough to make my blood go hot.
She’s renting one of the old cottages on the edge of the cove—one of the Ashcroft properties. We used to come out here on weekends, back when we were in college and time felt endless and easy. We’d rent kayaks, pick up a couple of cheap sandwiches from the deli, and paddle until our arms gave out. Then we’d float in the sun along the water’s edge, salt drying on our skin and the ocean breeze in our hair and play that dumb game she made up—Pick Your Dream House.
She’d always choose something small. Some place withwildflowers in the yard, a crooked porch strung with twinkle lights. A place that looked like it had a story.
I, of course, picked the opposite—big, sharp-lined, modern mansions. Imposing all-glass structures surrounded by perfect landscaping.
