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"Katie! Are you going to listen to me or not?"
She shut her mouth, and took in a shuddering inhale through her nose, but she resisted the urge to close her eyes and cover her face again. Instead, she faced him like an adult, and nodded for him to talk.
"I want to be with you, one hundred percent," he reiterated. "I’ve already told you once, I love the thought of you being here while I’m on the road. I love…I love knowing you’re safe."
Yeah, she remembered that conversation. He’d said a lot about "love" that day. Which she’d thrown back in his face. He clearly remembered too, because he was choosing his words quite carefully right now.
It was far, far too late, to say the appropriate comeback—I love you too, Landon—and this didn't feel like the right moment anyway. They might have been naked, but Katie didn’t feel romantic or sexy in the least. In fact, she feared she might never feel that way again. She sure as hell hadn’t since the floodgate of memories had opened up a few days ago. No matter how many times she tried to quiet it, her brain kept wondering. Wondering what had really happened that night. What Kyle and hisfriendhad done to her. She didn't want to fill in the blanks, but her subconscious kept insisting. How had they defiled her? Was it just them? Were there pictures or videos? Something that would come back to haunt her all over again? Hell, it was already haunting her. Any even remotely sexual thought just made her feel...icky.
"Hey," Landon gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze to ease her out of her brain. “Quit overthinking. Come here.”
He helped her spin back around to lay against his chest again. His voice came out right next to her ear, the calming hum she needed. "Look, if you aren’t ready to give up your job, I can wait or I can back off. I can definitely be a whole lot more careful about keeping this on the downlow. I can be patient if that’s what you need."
"Where is this coming from, Landon? It sounds like second thoughts."
"This came from Ellis, actually. He ripped me a new one last night about how I’ve contributed to your overall stress level. I just don’t want to put any more pressure on you."
"Awwww, El." Katie blinked furiously, pushing back the knot in her throat. She’d yet to cry about last night and if she started tearing up about her co-worker, the rest of the flood would surely follow.
"Yeah I owe him for a lot," Landon admitted. "In fact, if you end up needing something to do, you can help him car shop. I’m getting him and his husband both new rides. As a start."
"That’s, yeah, um really sweet," she said.
"You don’t sound like you mean that."
"I do. Of course, I do. I just feel awful that I got either of you involved in my stupid drama."
"You didn’t involve us. We involved ourselves because you wouldn’t."
"Because look what happened! You and Ellis could be in so much trouble. What if the Holts sue you? Or the media gets ahold of this? This could get ugly."
"Katie, there’s one big, big perk of being rich, and you know what it is? You get to let the lawyers do the worrying on the bullshit. The Holts would be fools to want to battle this out."
Katie gulped to calm the heart prancing around in her chest. He was probably right. Would the Holts really risk exposing Kyle’s secrets by going after Landon? She didn’t think so, but never say never, and if it came down to that, Katie would have to talk. To tell her side. To tell what happened.
"Let’s only worry about what we know for sure we need to, okay?" Landon said.
Right, don’t make assumptions.Katie nodded away the hot pressure gathering behind her eyes, then wriggled her back to get a little closer to him.
"I really am sorry about your streak, Landon. I know what you say, but come on, it is kind of a bummer. And with Cody Markle pitching? You could have hit twenty homers off him."
"Eh, whatever, now I start again in Seattle. Want to come watch? I’ll fly you in. If you quit, of course, no pressure."
"I am going to quit, Landon. I think the universe is telling me that’s what I need to do. But could I really just show up the next day at the game and cheer for you? How would that look?"
"Who cares?"
"Ha, Lori, obviously."
"Fuck her," Landon said.
That brought a smile to her face. "Ok, I’ll go, but not to Seattle. San Francisco, since I still have to talk to Lori when she gets back, and I’m buying my own plane ticket and sitting in the stands, not the friends and family box."
"I’m buying the ticket, first class, and you can sit wherever the hell you please at the game."
"Fine, but coach."
"First class," he insisted, "and I promise you, we’ll find another job for you. Something you’ll love even more."
