Sinner(142)

“I don’t think so, honey.”

“Why not?”

“I think she’s busy.”

“Oh.” She looks back to the carefully arranged smiley face of pepperoni she’s been crafting on the tomato sauce.

“I like her.”

I wipe my hands off before and move around the side of the island, leaning over Emily to kiss the top of her head. “I know you do, kiddo.”





Chapter Twenty-One





Serena




“Hey, I got those reports over to Don. Seemed like he was pretty happy with the numbers.”

Landon glances up from his desk, his look neutral. “Great thanks.” He looks back down immediately; conversation done.

I frown slightly.

This is what I didn’t want to happen. We’ve been slowly growing cooler and cooler since that night at his house. And again, I wasn’t looking for anything with him - the opposite actually. Really, the whole point of going over there was a guaranteed escape. No-strings sex with a completely unavailable man who I knew could take my mind off of life for a while.

Empty, easy, purely physical sex.

Of course, that was before I met his daughter. That was before I entered into his personal life, and that was before we threw way more cards on the table than I think we ever expected to.

Way more than I ever planned on sharing, that’s for sure.

But just the same, I sure as hell wasn’t looking for anything more than sex with him then, and I’m not now. I’ve been down this road. I’ve peeked at the last page of this story before, and looking for something real or something substantial with a man like Landon?

Yeah, not a chance.

Then of course there’s the recent insight into his own inter-workplace drama, courtesy of Holden’s story. I don’t want to give a shit about things from his past like that, but there’s something about infidelity that digs at me more than it might normally.

Events of the past year involving my former fiancé and his coworker might have something to do with that.

And the whole cooling thing is starting to bother me. We were actually working well together before that night, and we need to keep working together well if we want to make sure this team stays where it is. And heck, we definitely need to keep working well together if we want this to turn into money.

I can try and ignore the bad taste in my mouth knowing about his indiscretions with a married woman, but this freeze out is the last thing I wanted to happen as a result of that night.

“Hey.” I step into his office and shut the door. Landon looks up at me again, annoyance on his face.

I ignore it.

“Do you want to grab a drink after work?”

He frowns. “Is there anything on the week’s to-do breakdown we need to discuss?”

I shrug. “No, I just thought-”

“Serena.”

My mouth snaps shut as he sighs, leaning back in his chair.

“What?”

“I thought we were both on the same page about this,” he says quietly.

I roll my eyes. “It’s just a drink, Landon. Relax. I just feel like we’ve been-”

“Like we’ve been what?” His jaw tightens. “Like we’ve been what, ‘pulling apart’?” He air quotes sarcastically. “Cooling off?”

I scowl. “Look, did I do something wrong? I’ve been busting my ass to get on top of all this stuff. The paperwork for that Cole kid is filed with the league, and I had a pretty fucking great idea for that commercial spot.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he mutters, avoiding my gaze.

“Oh, are you sure? Because you’re acting like a sulking child.”

“This is work, Serena,” he growls, standing. “What happened the other night-”

“Oh my God, Landon, we’re on the same page, believe me. I’m not that girl, and trust me, I get it.”

“Do you?”

He steps around his desk and leans against it. I stand my ground by the door, crossing my arms over my chest.

“This whole ‘trying to freeze me out’ act you’ve been pulling all week? Do us both a fucking favor and drop it, alright? I already told you, I’m not looking for anything either. What happened the other night is just sex, Landon. You’re an adult, I’m an adult, we both have plenty of shit and baggage.”

I glare at him, thinking of Holden’s words from the other night suddenly and hating that I am. I don’t care what he does in his time, and it’s none of my damn business who he’s slept with before.

But then it tumbles out anyways. “Apparently some of us have more baggage than the usual.”

He frowns. “Excuse me?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

He rolls his eyes. “Speak.”