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“Yeah, but negotiations were supposed to be over. That’s why I took this vacation. I’m not looking forward to going back to deal with stuff I’ve already spent months on. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.” He shook his head, smiled. “But I don’t want to waste my time now thinking about it.”
“Wow. Who are you and what have you done with Landon Connor?”
“I think the more appropriate question is what have you done to me?”
Me? I could take credit for this? He definitely looked more relaxed than the evening he’d arrived, or even the next day, when having free time seemed to make him uncomfortable.
“I can’t wait for this evening,” he said, bringing a hand to my waist, tucking me into him. I warmed up all over. After having had his mouth on me, I was sure my body would combust if he kept touching me. But he seemed to have no plans to let me go. And I didn’t make any attempt to wiggle out because he felt amazing against me. I could get used to this, which I absolutely couldn’t do. I looked at the cake I was carrying and sighed. I wasn’t so sure my heart was safe.
Chapter Thirteen
Landon
In the time I’d been away, my brothers had already set up a bonfire, where everyone was welcome to skewer meat, or s’mores, or whatever else they wanted. We’d brought the picnic table and benches from the front yard to the back, and all the plastic chairs Val kept in storage for outdoor parties.
I loved these gatherings. In San Jose, I often joined my cousins. Celebrations with the Bennetts were fun. There were nine siblings. All of them were married and most had kids, so it was always a full house. I was particularly close to Sebastian, the oldest cousin. He was the founder of Bennett Enterprises—the most successful jewelry company in America. I valued his business knowledge. But as much as I loved the Bennett gatherings, nothing beat being with my siblings.
“Okay, I couldn’t help myself and stole a bite of the apple cake from the fridge,” Val exclaimed as I passed her and Maddie. “I need that recipe.”
“Oh, it’s... I don’t know it by heart,” Maddie mumbled. We’d told Val that Maddie had baked the cake.
I headed to Jace, who was roasting chorizo on the bonfire. I took another skewer and followed his lead. Mid roasting, I snapped my head up and searched for Maddie... and found her sitting next to Will at the picnic table. He had an arm around her shoulders. She didn’
t attempt to push it away. In fact, she seemed comfortable, almost as if they were... familiar with each other. My throat tightened, jealousy coiling inside me, twisting my guts. I couldn’t believe I was jealous of my own brother. One hand was on her arm, the other around her shoulder. Time to break up that party. I handed the skewer to Jace and walked over to Will and Maddie. I glared at my brother, and he had the good sense to take his hands off Maddie. He gave me a cat-got-the-cream grin before he joined Jace at the bonfire.
“You two ever gone out?” I asked Maddie without further ado. Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she stood up, looking around. My sisters were far enough away not to be within earshot.
“You’re seriously asking that?”
“Yeah.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re jealous of your brother?”
“Apparently so.”
Maddie bit back a smile. “Will does have that whole hot-cop thing going on.”
I cleared my throat. She pointed at me.
“Did you just growl?”
“Maddie,” I said warningly.
She gave in to that smile now. “You did growl. Wow. That was hot. Relax, Landon. I like a man who can rock a set of cuff links. Cuffs, on the other hand, aren’t really my thing.” She looked past me, frowning. “Val and Lori are looking at us.”
“They’re probably having a blast trying to read our body language.”
“Did you all have spy training or something?”
“Sort of. We cut our teeth on spying on each other to report to our parents.”
“Who was spying on whom? Were there teams?”
I didn’t miss a beat. “Teams changed according to interests.”
Hailey stepped up to us, looped an arm around Maddie’s waist. “Maddie, I need you. Val and Lori are teaming up against me, and I need someone on my side.” She turned to me and informed me, “We’re discussing shoes. Pumps versus peep toes.”
I grimaced. “I’ll steer clear of you.”
