Lies in Love (25 page)

Charged with the awareness
that he would be in her presence soon, he sprang from his bed to
prepare for the day. Digging through his closet he searched for
something that was dressy enough for work, yet just casual enough for
a flower delivery man. He hadn’t noticed any of the girls in a
particular uniform, but he wondered if there was a certain dress code
for delivery drivers. He was tempted to call Talia for advice, but he
thought better of it, deciding she would tell him if what he wore
wasn’t appropriate. His jade dress shirt looked just smart
enough, while still seeming approachable. He slipped on a pair of
khaki pants, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and stopping just
below his tattoo, and left the top two buttons open for added effect.

His nerves were wearing thin
as he headed downstairs for his trip to the shop, grateful for the
adrenaline rush he would feel the moment he hit the throttle on his
Harley. He hoped it would be just enough to take the edge off. When
he fired the motorcycle to life, the roar of the engine sent a wave
of calm over him and he pulled out of his brother’s drive. He
drove through the morning traffic, only getting stuck a couple of
times, and arrived just in time.

Using the code Talia gave
him to enter the back door, he walked into a room of gossiping women.
Camey, Reina, and Sara were huddled together, whispering amongst
themselves. The moment he strolled in, the trio looked up from their
huddle to give him a contemptuous look then scattered. It was
apparent that the girls still hadn’t come around to Talia
hiring him and he worried what that would do for the work
environment. If he felt, for any reason, that he was harming Talia’s
business, he would have to quit and find employment elsewhere. For
now, he would bury himself in work and prove that he was indeed an
asset to
Perfect
Petals
,
realizing the only way to do that was to get straight to work. He
found the clipboard with the morning’s work hanging on a hook
next to the cooler and checked it for the first deliveries of the
day. With the clipboard in hand, he headed into the cooler in search
of a hydrangea, delphinium, and ranunculus arrangement listed as the
first delivery. As he tried to remember what exactly ranunculus
looked like, he heard the cooler door open and turned to find Talia
standing in the doorway.

“You’re here.”
She sounded relieved.

“Were you expecting me
not to show?” He smiled his panty-dropping smile. Old habits
die hard.

She shook her head and
stalked toward him. When they were mere feet apart, she reached out
and took hold of the lapel of his jade shirt, pulling him toward her.
“This color looks good on you.” With those words, her
mouth was on his, her tongue delving deep. Their simple kiss quickly
evolved into something more as she clasped one leg around him, then
wrapped her arms around his neck.

Landon slipped his hand into
her hair, feeling that silky texture between his fingers. He was glad
she’d worn it down today. He could smell her gardenia scent all
around him and his erection grew. He’d completely forgotten
where they were when he heard someone clearing their throat nearby.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from her to see who witnessed their
moment of passion.

“Excúseme.”
Reina stood in the doorway without an ounce of apology in her voice.
She was clearly unhappy that they were taking advantage of the brief
moment of privacy.

“We were just…”
Talia sounded scatterbrained. She smoothed her hair and straightened
her shirt that had inched up marginally during their passionate kiss.
“Never mind.” She huffed and was out the door.

When the door shut behind
Talia, Reina rounded on him. “Seriously? What is your problem?”
She was standing nose to nose with him. “You don’t get
enough action in your
other
job?” She spun on her heel to leave the cooler.

“Reina, wait.”
Landon called after her, but it didn’t slow her retreat. She
was out of the cooler before he could reply.

“Everything okay?”
Talia woke with a start when Landon climbed from the bed.

“Yeah, I just want to
get in some time at the gym. I’ll be back before the shop
opens.” He sat down on the bed next to her and kissed her
cheek.

“What time is it?”
She squinted briefly, but quickly shut her eyes.

“It’s four. Go
back to sleep.” He tucked the comforter back around her
shoulders and before he rose from the bed, she had already fallen
back to sleep. He couldn’t help but watch her for a moment, her
slumbering frame barely moving with each breath she took. “So
beautiful.” He grabbed his clothes from the floor and got
dressed. When he shrugged on his shirt, he slipped out to the living
room, deciding to set up the coffee maker for Talia so she would have
a fresh cup ready when she got up. He put the coffee in and set the
timer for 6AM, knowing her alarm was set for then.

When he was finished, he
crept out of the apartment and slipped out the back door to head to
the gym. He was desperate to work out his frustrations from the
hostility he was feeling from Camey, Sara, and Reina. He’d only
worked there two days, but they made it very clear that it was two
days too long. He was going to have to work twice as hard to prove
his worth. He knew it didn’t help that the girls knew about his
colorful past. At least he didn’t have a criminal record, but
to them, it didn’t matter. He had a very promiscuous past and,
until he could prove to them that he’d left that life behind,
he would have to tolerate a little bit of resentment here and there.
For now, he’d leave all his frustrations on the gym floor and
make the most of a difficult situation.

When he pulled up to the
gym, he was glad to see that there was only a handful of people
working out. He made a beeline for the speed bag and began relieving
his stress. He would put in a good two hours here and head back to
his brother’s for a shower before he returned to the shop. He
hoped sneaking out of the apartment before the girls arrived was a
good idea.

Camey walked out of the
cooler carrying an arrangement that was up for delivery. “Where’s
Landon?”

Talia checked the clock on
the wall before answering. “He’s on his way.”

“Mmhmm,” Sara
chimed in.

“What the hell is your
problem? You’re acting like I hired a serial killer.”
Talia stood firm, waiting for an answer from her sister.

“Might as well have.”
Sara muttered it under her breath, but Talia heard every word.

“What do you have
against him?” Talia grew furious. She wasn’t getting any
answers.

“Nothing, Talia. He’s
great.” Sara’s words dripped with sarcasm.

“That’s enough.
If you aren’t going to tell me what the problem is, then I
suggest you check your attitude at the door.” Talia stamped to
the front room and plopped down on a stool behind the counter.

“Mami, we’re
just worried about you. How well do you really know this guy? It all
seems too fast.” Reina leaned across the counter, staring Talia
in the eye.

“I know him fine. You
don’t need to worry. Besides, he’s been a real asset
here.”

“Fine, mami. If this
is what you want, we’ll respect that. We just don’t want
to see you hurt, that’s all.” Reina returned to the back
room as Talia checked over her list for the weekend.

Perfect Petals
had a wedding in the evening and one in the morning to prepare for.
She hoped the animosity wouldn’t slow down their progress for
everything they had ahead of them. If things didn’t work out,
she’d just have to stay home from
Satin
tonight and get the work done on her own.

As she clambered off the
stool, Landon walked through the back door. He was wearing the black
polo she’d given him for deliveries. She loved the way the dark
shirt set off his sapphire eyes. She tried to ignore the instant
butterflies in her belly, but they were there, always there when she
least expected them. She walked into the workroom to tell him good
morning and found the girls clustered in a corner whispering low.

“Get to work,”
she spat. She’d had enough of their conspiracies. It was time
they dealt with her decision and made the most of it. “Good
morning, Landon.” She tried her best
business
voice
to
keep the girls from snickering or belittling her choice anymore. She
knew there was always a hint of lust in her words, but there was no
denying the chemistry between them.

She smiled in his direction,
then headed to the storage room to retrieve more floral wire and
satin ribbon for the bouquets. When she was getting ready to head
back downstairs, she heard raised voices.

“I don’t care.
You’re no good for her!” Sara was yelling at Landon.

“Sara, please…”
His voice stopped when Sara’s head jerked to the top of the
staircase where Talia now stood.

Waiting for either of them
to say something, Talia watched as Sara and Landon parted ways and
got back to work. Apparently the situation was worse than she’d
imagined and it grew evident that she would be spending the evening
away from the club, if only to give the girls a little space from
Landon. He’d been there nearly a week and they were still
giving him a hard time. What was it going to take for them to open up
and give him a real chance? She didn’t understand why the girls
couldn’t respect her decision. She was going to have to have a
talk with them and make it very clear that if they weren’t
happy with her decision they could find employment elsewhere. She was
sticking to her guns regardless of what any of them thought.

Landon was still tossing and
turning when he saw the clock read 3:55. He hadn’t slept a
wink. The week was coming to a close and the girls still wouldn’t
budge. He definitely wasn’t expecting Sara to attack him while
Talia was upstairs digging around.

Frantic for an escape,
Landon snuck out of the apartment and went for a run. He needed the
time to clear his head. A simple trip to the gym wasn’t going
to do it today, not after his lack of sleep. When he’d run
nearly a mile, he turned back realizing it just wasn’t helping.
He was exhausted and now, in need of a shower. He didn’t want
Talia’s noisy old pipes to wake her, so he hopped on his bike
and chose the short drive to his brothers for a shower and change of
clothes.

He washed off, shaved, and
slipped on a pair of jeans, then headed for the living room, instead
finding his brother sitting on a barstool in the measly kitchen.
Landon nearly jumped out of his skin finding his brother quietly
sitting. “What the hell, man?”

Dawson looked up from the
newspaper he’d been perusing. “Good morning to you too,
brother.”

“What are you doing
here?” Landon ran his hand through his hair, trying to shake
out some of the excess water that was still trickling down his back.

“You haven’t
been around much and I wanted to see how you were doing. I was afraid
if I didn’t let myself in, I might miss you again.”