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Easiest way to get a guy to stop talking to you was to bring up your period.
“So, did I miss anything?” I asked.
“Nah, you were there for most of it. All the Wrights are under one roof now.”
“Well, not Sutton. She just had her baby.”
“Right. True,” Matt agreed. “What did she name it? James?”
“She named him Jason.”
“I still can’t believe that he took her last name instead of the other way around. I can’t imagine ever doing that.”
“Ah, yes. How ever did women survive all these generations, dealing with changing their name?” I said with an eye roll. “It makes sense that he’d change his name, considering who Sutton is. Then, they can have the baby be a Wright.”
“It’s emasculating.”
My eyes nearly popped out of the sockets. “And how do you think women feel, having to change their name to fit a man?”
He looked at me like a fish out of water. He had clearly never thought about it before.
“Forget it,” I muttered. I was still irritated about Landon. “A lot of women really love the idea of changing their name. Maybe Maverick suggested it. Maybe it wasn’t emasculating to him at all. At the very least, I’m sure that he wanted his son to be Jason Wright instead of Jason Johnson.”
Jim saved Matt from having to come up with an answer to that. “Hey, Heidi. The new Wright boss wants to see you in his office.”
“Right now?” I asked, clenching the edge of my desk.
“Uh…yeah, I think so.”
“Oh, okay. Where is his office?”
Jim pointed down the hall and in a corner. I could see the office from where I was seated at my desk. If he stepped up to the door, then I would be able to see him. I’d have a clear line of sight on Landon every single day. He wasn’t pushed off into some solitary corner or even on the other side of the floor by the project team.
No. Of course, they had picked the only vacated office left in the area.
And, now, I could see him whenever I wanted.
Great.
“Thanks,” I muttered, unable to conceal my sarcastic undertone.
Without another second’s hesitation, I marched down the hallway to determine my fate. And, even though I was solid and dignified in my approach, I felt as if I were trudging through waist-deep water. My brain was telling my body not to go through this. Not to endure what was to come. But I knew I could handle this.
I knocked twice on the open door, and Landon’s head whipped up. He looked…out of place. I’d seen him in a suit before, of course. He wore it well. But he looked the most comfortable, happiest in golf clothes. I’d watched him on TV. Golf was a mind game, and everything else disappeared when he played. Some players tensed up and let the game get to them but not Landon. All the pressure and all his worries eased away until there was only him and the game that he loved to play.
He looked the opposite of that now.
“Heidi,” he said. “Please come in. Shut the door.”
I arched an eyebrow, but did as I had been told. Being alone in Landon’s office with the door closed was a pretty terrible idea, but it didn’t stop me from doing it anyway. Or stop me from being pissed at how calm he seemed. Or stop me from wanting to throw him onto that desk.
“You asked to see me,” I said, keeping my voice neutral.
“Yes. I’ve decided to meet with everyone on my team to get to know my new employees.”
I pursed my lips. A million questions threatened to fly out of my mouth, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing my curiosity. “And you decided to start with me?”
Landon stood and came around to the front of his desk. He buttoned the top button of his suit coat, as if he were dressing for a theater production. “Yes,” he said simply. “I decided to start with you.”
