Page 147 of Worth the Trip

“Yeah.”

“Resource with locs.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “That was terrible.”

“Accurate, though.”

“It was dramatic.”

“I’m still fine.”

“Painfully.”

His head lifted. “Say that again.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You said it freely the first time.”

“I was emotionally compromised.”

“So vulnerability improved your eyesight?”

“This is why I don’t compliment you.” He smiled. I lifted his hand and kissed his knuckles, then looked at him. “I see you, Landon.”

That smile disappeared.

“I see the man who feeds everybody and forgets his own plate. The coach who corrects a child without humiliating him. The son who refills his mama’s water before she asks.” His fingers tightened around mine as I brought his hand against my chest. “And I don’t want you because you can solve something for me. I want you because you don’t make me feel like something that needs solving.”

For once, Landon Brooks had nothing clever ready. His eyes stayed on mine before his hand came to my waist.

“Come here, Hershey.”

“I’m already beside you.”

“You know what I mean.”

I did.

I moved onto his lap and settled across his thighs, my knees resting on either side of him. His hands circled my waist while my fingers found his locs. For a second, neither of us spoke.

Then his expression changed. “Been wanting to ask you something.”

“Did the seafood negotiations not satisfy your curiosity?”

“This ain’t about food.” Something in his voice straightened my spine. Landon’s hands moved slowly along my sides. “Since Willow Run, I haven’t wanted room for anybody else. I don’t want to keep treating this like casual dating when I already know it ain’t casual to me.”

“Landon…”

“I want your good days. Your busy Saturdays. Your smart-ass mouth. The days you need space, and the ones you want somebody close enough to notice before you ask.” His thumbs stroked my waist. “I want you to be my woman, Nolani.”

Everything inside me stopped.

He watched my face without smiling or joking. Just Landon.

“I’m asking clearly because I know what I want.”

I touched his jaw. “That was a very elaborate way to ask me to be your girlfriend.”