Page 519 of Hell Hath No Fury
His nostrils flared as he stared at the table, and I could tell by his expression he was trying to control himself, maybe choosing his words before he spoke them.
After a long pause, Landen finally exhaled and pulled the chair out, the wooden legs scraping against the tile flooring before he took a seat.
With his forearms in front of him, his head slightly downcast, and his focus trained in front, Anna and I glanced at each other in confusion and worry.
To be honest, I’d never seen Landen like this. I’d never seen him upset or uncomfortable. He’s always been easy-going, smiling and joking.
“Nothing is cute about this, Anna.” Landen finally responded to her question and I felt the tension in the room rise. “What Bea and I did,” he paused, exhaled and inhaled, then leaned back in the chair and stared at me.
This is it. This is when he admits it was a mistake.
“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.” His expression was so serious, and I was so stunned by what he’d just said, that I couldn’t even breathe.
I blinked several times, finally looking at Anna. I expected to see shock on her face, mirroring mine. But she was… smiling. She exhaled so profoundly that it was almost as if this immense weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
“I have no intentions of letting Bea stop what’s happening between us.” He reached across the table and took my hand, smoothing his thumb over the top. “What do you say, baby? Do you want to see where this can go?”
I still hadn’t spoken. I didn’t even think I blinked. But then it all came rushing back to me and I let out this almost hysterical laugh. Landen’s eyebrows lifted and the corner of his mouth quirked.
“She’s gone off the deep end,” Anna teased, and I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye, my laughter fading.
“Is this for real?” I looked between the two of them. “I feel like this could be an hallucination.” He chuckled again, and the sound did funny, wonderful things to me.
“No, baby. This is real.” He squeezed his hand around mine. “I think we can be great together—perfect, in fact. If you want to give it a shot?”
I didn’t have to think about it. I would’ve been crazy to do anything of the sort. And maybe he saw that realization on my face, because a gorgeous grin spread out across his face. He flashed strong, white teeth before he was up and out of his chair and rounding the table.
Landen had me in his arms a moment later, his hand pressed to the center of my back, his face buried in my hair. I heard him inhale deeply, and I shivered, a sense of calm and pleasure and that everything was right settling right into me.
“It’s about time,” Anna muttered and I heard the scrape of her chair across the floor. “Now that everything is how it’s supposed to be, I’m going back to bed.”
Landen and I started laughing, and I glanced over my shoulder at Anna. I wanted to ask Anna if she was sure she was okay with all of this, that being with her father wasn’t extremely weird or uncomfortable for her. But the soft look in her eyes and that little smile she gave me told me she was more than okay.
She was happy and wanted this for me as much as I did.
And when it was just Landen and I in the kitchen, he pulled back and cupped the side of my face, smoothing his thumbs over my cheeks.
“For a minute there, I thought you were going to turn me down. I would’ve had to go all stalker on your gorgeous ass.”
I grinned and rested my forehead against his chest. “Is this real?” I whispered, more to myself than to him, but the contented sigh he let out told me I’d said it loud enough he heard.
“Nothing has ever been realer, sweetheart. You’re mine and I’m never letting you go.”
The End.
