Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Her expensive-looking SUV pulls up and I mentally laugh at how much time really has passed. The last time I saw her she was driving around in a beat-up shit-brown Corolla. Now she’s driving an Audi. It makes sense since she was married to a fucking surgeon.
I glance over at her, standing there twirling her hair around her finger just like she always used to do when she was nervous, and notice how refined she looks. I’ve hooked up with a lot of models and celebrities over the years, so I can recognize the name brands. Her purse has the SL logo, indicating it’s Saint Laurent. Her heels, which are a good four inches high and show off her sexy calves, have the signature red soles. She’s no longer the teenage girl in Chucks I fell in love with, but a grown-ass woman.
“Your place or mine?” she asks, and for a second, I wonder if maybe I’m making a mistake. We’re no longer the same people we once were. Time and situations have taken us in different directions. But then she says my name in the same voice she used to use when she was craving my touch, my attention, my affection, and every doubt I have flies right out the window. We might be older, but we’re still Harper and Landon.
“My place is a mess,” I admit. “I’ve been here for almost a month and haven’t even unpacked.”
“Then mine it is,” she says, throwing me the keys. “Be a gentleman and drive.”
Sixteen
Harper
The short fifteen-minute drive to my house is just enough time for my mind and heart to flit through every possible emotion I’m feeling about Landon being my blind date. But the one I keep coming back to the most is how much I’ve missed him. The way he laughs at my clumsiness and thinks it’s adorable instead of annoying. How he can touch me and set my entire body on fire. All these years without him and with one kiss, I’m itching to rip his clothes off and relearn every inch of his body.
He said he wanted to get out of there, but he didn’t say why. Maybe it’s just to talk and catch up. That would make sense… But then he also kissed me, so maybe he’s looking for more. If you had asked me if I ever imagined in a million years my date tonight would end with us having sex, I would’ve laughed in your face. But my date isn’t just any date. It’s Landon Maxwell. The one and only man I’ve ever truly loved. The man I handed my heart to and never took it back, even when I was breaking both our hearts the day I told him we could never be together again.
Do I believe us hooking up will lead to something more? No. I’m a thirty-year-old woman. I know how this works. I know how men like Landon work. I might be inexperienced, but I’m not dumb. He’s no longer the sweet eighteen-year-old boy I once knew. He’s lived a life similar to the rich and famous. I’ve seen the images of the Victoria’s Secret models on his arm. Of the gorgeous movie stars he’s attended award shows with. I saw the beautiful women who approached him at our table tonight, wanting to take a picture with him. Landon didn’t just play baseball. He was named MVP several years in a row. He was listed as one the highest paid athletes. He won a freaking World Series.
But to me, he’s just Landon. The boy I loved and lost. And that’s where the dilemma lies. Can I be with Landon the same way he’s been with all those other women—with no strings attached? The answer is no. Because I never stopped loving Landon. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss out on having him in my bed because I’m afraid of my heart being broken beyond repair. I’m the reason we broke up. I messed up, not him. For years, I dreamed about what it would be like to be with him again. For him to make love to me. To be held again by his strong, comforting arms.
Every day I put my kids first. What do they need and want? What will make them feel happy and loved and secure? But for the first time in my adult life, I’m not thinking about anyone but myself. What do I want? What do I need? What will make me happy? And with every question I ask, the answer is the same: Landon. Landon. Landon.
And that tells me all I need to know. I want him, and if he feels the same way, I’ll enjoy tonight for what it is: a chance to be with the man I’ve never stopped thinking about one last time. Maybe it will lead to something more, or maybe it won’t. Either way, I’m going to enjoy wherever the night leads.