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Landon looked weary, like he wished he hadn’t brought it up. But there was no way she was backing off gossip this juicy and he knew it. He sat up straighter, crossed his arms over his bare chest, and cleared his throat.
"Like you said, it’s a big show. The sports world is basically Hollywood at this point. Sometimes publicists throw out some rumor and I’ll wake up with twenty messages asking how long I’ve been dating Sonja Darnel or Tanya Robin when I’ve never even met them. Sometimes we’ll even go out on a few dates, have a fun time, but we certainly weren’t matched up for common interests."
She got what he was saying, but a nasty pang of jealousy still shot through her when she thought about Landon having any type offunwith pop star Sonja Darnel or former Bachelorette Tanya Robin.
"I never got into a full blown, sign-a-contract relationship or anything. Mostly just some mutual agreements between our publicists to drum up some press. I did sign with this one fucked up PR firm though that wanted me to do all kinds of bizarre shit."
"Oooh like what?"
She gestured for him to pass over the mint chip. Landon leaned forward to exchange cartons, then relented with some gossip.
"The wrecked Ferrari in Kentucky? Completely staged. I agreed because I wanted to drive the Ferrari and because I got to hide out in my apartment for that week I was supposedly in the hospital."
Katie’s mouth dropped open. "Really? I remember that! Everybody was so worried you’d injured your legs. That was all fake? What else?"
"The bar fight in Pittsburg. And the one in Miami."
"What?! Didn’t you miss the All-Star Game to go to court for that Miami fight? That was fake too?"
"Had I done what they said I did to that guy, I’d be in jail not just ‘settling out of court for an undisclosed amount.’ Truth is, I had a strained rotator cuff. I was never going to play anyway. But that kind of shit is just stupid. After Miami, I said, nothing fake. No fake fights, no fake relationships."
"Not all your relationships have been fake, right? You must meet women the normal way all the time and go out with them just because you want to."
Landon gave her a funny look. "Yeah, of course, I’ve had fun with some women, enjoyed each other’s company, but nothing that’s evolved into what I consider to be a relationship."
Ugh,funagain. Why did she keep torturing herself with these questions? Yet the next fumbled out on its own accord.
"Come on, you’re saying you’ve never had a girlfriend?"
"Not never. A couple in high school, puppy love type stuff. Then one for almost two years in college. That’s honestly about it."
"What happened? She broke your heart and you could never love again?" she teased.
"Nah, nothing that serious. We just grew apart and I just haven’t felt compelled to get that serious again. Baseball has been my girlfriend and everyone else is just fu-"
"Fun," she finished right along with him, the cattiness dripping from her voice so thick even she cringed. "Right. Got it."
He whipped his head up to gauge her mood, but she chickened out and pretended to be engrossed in digging out the half-melted ice cream. When she finally got the balls to look back at him, his mouth was full, but he swallowed then pointed the spoon at her.
"You were not wrong when you said that you aren’t like other girls."
"I’ll take that as a compliment, although I’m not sure you meant it as one," Katie said.
"No, I did. What I mean is that most of the women I’ve been out with don’t want to talk about the other women I’ve been with after we’ve just had sex."
Katie lifted one shoulder. "Ok, fair enough. I guess I don’t have a whole lot of pillow talk experience."
She’d conceded the point, but Landon wasn’t done presenting his case. He hopped off the counter and moved to stand in front of her, right between her dangling legs.
"Most of the women I’ve been out with don’t eat. Or at least they don’t enjoy their food the way you do."
Her mouth full of ice cream, Katie could only offer him a sheepish smile in response. Landon dipped his chin to his chest and shook his head with a chuckle, before reaching out to wipe a bit of chocolate from her lip.
"Most girls try to pretend they haven’t already Googled and committed to memory my favorite food and color and every other stupid thing I’ve ever said in an interview."
"Woah, woah, calm down, Sparky. I said I looked you up, I didn’t say all that. It was mostly for my job anyway. Geez."
Landon’s hearty laugh warmed her from the inside out, while his fingers grazed up and down the tops of her thighs, drawing out the most lovely shivers.
