Page 8 of Jurassic Measures
His hands were nice, no knicks from pins, no callouses, manicured and lovely. When we parted his smile was warm.
“If you’d rather I not come for dinner, I’ll respect that.”
A part of me wanted to say please don’t come but then I thought of how my mom would tell me I was being rude.
“No, it’s fine really.”
“I’ll accept that as a genuine answer.” He walked around to the front of his car. “See you later…alligator.”
“Is that a joke because I asked if you owned one?”
He shrugged and silently got into his car.
I watched until he was out of sight, cursed at myself, and made my way to the shop.
CHAPTER FOUR
The locksmith cameby and changed the lock, confirming it was in fact tampered with. That was an unsettling thought and I asked Amber to get someone to install lights out the back of the store. Whoever, or whatever, was there last night, I’d get a clear view of them if they returned.
The day was as hectic as I knew it would be. Suits and dresses needed to be made as the gala was fast approaching.
By the time we were ready to close, I was sore and exhausted.
“You’re not staying late again, are you?” Amber asked as I walked her to her car.
“No, I promised my mom I’d come over for dinner.” I conveniently left out that Landry Astor would be there. I knew Amber would be worried and I just didn’t have the spoons to deal with a lecture from her.
“That’s nice. A home cooked meal is exactly what you need.” She smiled and got in her car.
Once I was in mine, I looked at myself in the mirror. Landry Astor was a gorgeous man, and possibly an unhinged stalker who owned an alligator. But still, I wanted to look good.
My wavy dirty-blond hair wasn’t anything special but it was thick and all I ever had to do was run my fingers through it andit would stay put. My eyes were nice, a cornflower blue. I wasn’t a gym bunny but I was in decent shape and braces had made my teeth straight. I wasn’t ugly. I wondered what Landry saw when he’d looked at me yesterday for him to be so…persistent, as my mom said.
I started the car and drove the fifteen minutes to my parents’ house. My mind kept wandering to Landry. I should maybe do some stalking of my own and find out all I could on this billionaire hottie.
Warm lights glowed inside my parents’ two-story ranch. Dad told me they bought it hoping to fill all the bedrooms with kids but Mom had such a hard time delivering me that in the end, I’d be the only child they’d have. They called me their blessing and showered me with enough love that would fill a hundred kids’ hearts.
Using my key, I let myself in. I could hear boisterous laughter coming from the living room so I assumed Landry had arrived. There wasn’t a car outside so I wondered if he Ubered or limo’d? Was that a thing?
“Hello, family…and Landry.”
He was more casual than I’d seen him, in dark trousers and a burgundy dress shirt. No jacket or tie.
“Oh, Jason, we didn’t hear you come in. Landry was just telling us a funny story.” Mom hugged me like she didn’t just see me that morning.
“Was he now?”
“It was nothing. I was down at A3 today, and there was some interesting side effects to a particular drug they are trying to develop. It involved a caffeinated rat and three researchers chasing it all the way into the ladies’ room…just a typical day.” He shrugged.
“Uh huh, well, no rats for me.”
“Dinner’s ready, come and sit.” We all followed Mom into the dining room.
Being just the four of us there was no need to extend the round table, so we all simply took a seat. I was glad I was between my mom and dad, but it meant Landry was directly in my line of sight and he was very handsome.
“Any news on the issues last night with the shop?” Dad asked as he passed me the basket of freshly baked bread.
“Someone did try and break in, the lock was tampered with. The locksmith changed all the locks.” Which reminded me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “These are the new ones for you.”
