Playing with Power - Book 5: New Adult Office Romance (9 page)

“I know who he is. Fuck Wren,
everyone
knows who Damon Kael is and he’s not the sort of person to take on apprentices. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you knew him personally. Don’t you think it’s a little suspect that he’s taken you under his wing? That he might want a little something in return?”

“Oh what? Just because I have tits? Maybe he just hasn’t come across anyone worth mentoring until he met me, did you think of that? Good to know that’s how you think.” Her fists tightened on the steering wheel.
I refuse to apologize for something that happened before we got together. And as for last night...well, I stopped it before it went too far.

“Wren, you know
I
don’t think like that, but Damon—”

“You don’t even know him. He’s managed to bail me out of two very sticky situations as well as guide me through some of the toughest shit I’ve encountered in my career. Because of him, I was brave enough to even explore my idea in the first place. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to come out to Sonoma when you invited me.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” he said defensively. “He just has a bit of a reputation of being a hard-ass, that’s all. It’s completely out of character from everything I’ve heard. If he’s been good to you, then I’m satisfied.” Lauren huffed, not yet ready to let go of her anger. She wasn’t used to men just apologizing right away. “Really, I’m sorry,” he said placing his hand on her knee.

She exhaled loudly and smiled at him. “It’s alright. I know what that must’ve looked like. I’m just glad you’re here now and everything’s moving ahead. This shit with Nick is just getting annoying now. I can’t believe he managed to hack into my phone,
our
phones. The guy needed help setting up his cable box.” Landon laughed and gave her an incredulous look. “Well, not really, but close. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Do you think there’s any chance we’ll run into him this weekend?” Landon asked, his expression darkening. Lauren loved the way his eyes turned almost black when he was upset.

“There’s always a chance, I suppose. I figure he’s probably staked out watching Damon’s building. Maybe we can really throw him off by sending each other texts on the old phones?”

“Yeah, why not? I’d rather put my fist through his face.” A brief quiet fell between them as she shared the same fantasy. “Have you thought about what you’re going to tell your parents about your battle wounds?”

“I was just going to wait until you were out of the room and tell them you hit me,” she replied in a monotone voice.

“That’s not fucking funny!”

She giggled. “Alright, not that funny. I guess I’ll just tell them the truth. Some psycho bitch attacked me after I fired her.”

“I can’t believe you aren’t going to press charges, even after the cops asked you about the cut on your head.”

Lauren shrugged. “I don’t see the point. She’s obviously unstable so I’d rather not instigate anything further.”

“Fair enough. You make your own choices.”

Landon couldn’t sit still in the passenger seat, legs twitching in the footwell like he’d had four cups of coffee. “You aren’t nervous, are you?” Lauren said with a chuckle. He groaned and stomped his feet flat on the floor.

“I can’t help it,” he almost whined. “I feel like they’re going to hate me from the start.”

“Why would they hate you?” she asked incredulously.

“Because I’m stealing you away. They don’t even know me and already I’m taking you to the opposite coast. From everything you’ve told me, your family is incredibly close and here I am—”

“Will you stop? They’re going to love you.”

Landon’s head tilted slightly. “Because you love me, right?”

“Maybe,” she said pointing a finger at him playfully. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “A turn of phrase. We’ve only just established a proper relationship status, albeit on a rather shaky foundation.”

He put a comforting hand on her thigh and nodded, looking out the windshield. She laced her fingers through his but kept her eyes on the road. “Fair enough. And don’t feel like you have to say it back...I just couldn’t stand the idea of you never hearing it from me. I know I haven’t exactly been the best boyfriend but in my defense, I haven’t really had much experience. That has to get me off the hook a little bit.”

Lauren stuck her tongue out at him and gave him a sideways smile.

“Your forgiveness is a testament to what a wonderful person you are,” he continued. He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her palm delicately, then returned it to her lap.

“Yeah, yeah. You really lay it on thick, don’t you DeWitt?”

“Hopefully a little of that charm will smooth things over with your parents. By the way, what are the sleeping arrangements going to be? I’m already freezing so a little extra body heat in bed would come in handy.”

She switched the heat on, a blast of warmth flowing from the vents. “Have you always been this cheesy and I just never noticed? I haven’t asked but you’ll probably stay with me in my bedroom. There’s no spare room and I doubt they’ll make you sleep on the sofa with the dogs. Besides, they never had a problem when Nick spent the night,” Lauren shrugged. Landon’s hand stiffened at the name. They might’ve gotten past the awkwardness of the premiere photos but the topic of her ex still hung heavy between them, especially as he continued to stalk them. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. I should get used to it. You were with the guy for years I just—do your parents know what he’s been doing? Have you told them?”

“God, no. You’ve never lived in a small town. My mom’d be on the phone with his mom in seconds and then poof, everyone would know.” The sun emerged from behind a dark, October cloud and Lauren had to pull down the visor to shield her eyes. “And you aren’t allowed to either. They worry enough about me as it is. I can’t have them freaking out about this.”

“Not a word from me.”

“You’ll love them, they’ll love you. We’ll go apple picking and stare at the leaves like tourists. It’s gonna be a good weekend. I need this more than you know.”

Landon groaned and rubbed his stomach. “Mrs. Kemp, that meal was incredible.”

Lauren giggled at the pained expression on his face. “I told you you should’ve stopped after that first plate.” She took a sip of water and glanced at her parents over the glass. Just as she’d expected, Landon had charmed them from the start. It was a fantastic, complete feeling to have them all in the same room. Even David had warmed to him straight away. She’d discovered them upstairs in his room before dinner talking sports and video games.

Her mom stood and started gathering the plates, shooing Landon away as he clambered to his feet to help. “No, you sit. Sit. Relax. You want another beer?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Landon smiled.

“So, Landon,” Lauren’s father said gruffly. “Why exactly does Wren have to go out to California to start her company? I don’t pretend to know anything about business but it seems to me that New York City is as good a place as any. Nothing against people from your side of the country, but I’ve always found them to be a lazy bunch.” Lauren knew this was his way of testing Landon, giving him a little playful ribbing. She decided to keep her mouth shut and let him field the question.
He’s gotta learn sometime,
she thought.

“It’s true. All that sunshine fries the brain.” He winked at Lauren and cleared his throat, leaning forward on the table. Her mom handed him another bottle of Labatt. “Thank you. So, to answer your question sir, it’s basically to protect her from litigation. When Lauren first started at StyleSpur, she signed a contract that contained a non-compete agreement. This basically means that she agreed to never start a similar business or go work for a competitor because she could use all of StyleSpur’s confidential information against them. Under most circumstances, this isn’t that big of an issue. The hassle of going after someone is usually too much but in this case...I’m sure Lauren’s told you all about her boss, Parker.”

“Horrible man,” her mother muttered from the counter. “Takes advantage of you, I’ve always said that!”

“Mom...”

“So, the reason we have to establish the company in California is because their state government doesn’t recognize out-of-state non-competes. Parker can try and sue Lauren all he wants, but he’ll just be spinning his tires. Lauren’s company will be completely protected and she can concentrate on building her business, not showing up for court dates.”

Lauren’s father nodded appreciatively. She noticed he was absentmindedly rubbing his knee under the table as he considered Landon’s comment. He looked tired but happy, the wrinkles a little deeper around his eyes.
When did he get all that gray in his beard?
she wondered.

“Well, I’m proud of you both,” her mother said as she toweled off her hands. “I’m looking forward to visiting, too.”

“Hell yeah! West side, baby,” David exclaimed while making a poor attempt at a gang sign. Lauren threw her napkin at him from across the table.

“That reminds me, ghetto bro, Landon has a family friend who can connect you with an admissions officer at Cornell if you’re interested. Of course, an Ivy League school might ruin your street cred.” Lauren grinned as her brother’s face lit up.

“Seriously? That’d be wicked, yeah.”

“Alright, enough business talk for one night. Why don’t we go watch a movie? Bubbles, it’s your turn to pick.” David jumped out of his seat and ran to the living room, probably already scrolling through the pay-per-view list when she shouted, “Nothing rated R, you know the rules.”

Landon laughed and wondered allowed, “Bubbles? There’s gotta be a story behind that one.”

“You don’t wanna know,” Lauren replied.

Her parents both excused themselves to finish a few more chores before settling down for the night, leaving Lauren and Landon alone in the kitchen.

“See? Not so bad,” she said rubbing his back with one hand. His brown eyes almost looked hazel in the light. It still felt so unreal that a man like Landon had come into her life at just the right moment. It felt even more unreal for him to be sitting in her childhood home.

“Not too bad at all.” He grabbed the front of her chair and pulled her close, the wooden legs clattering along the vinyl floor. Catching her completely off guard, he slipped his fingers through her hair to the back of her head and kissed her. “I haven’t gotten nearly enough chances to do that today,” he whispered against her ear.

“You know, we could skip the movie if you want. I think we’ve put in enough quality time with the family for one night,” she replied in a hushed voice. She stared at their hands as their fingers twisted and played around one another.

“Oh yeah? What would we do? Seems like this is the sort of town that shuts down at sunset.”

“I don’t know,” Lauren shrugged shyly. “We could go parking...” Maybe it was being back in her childhood home combined with the near-schoolgirl level infatuation she had for Landon, but Lauren felt a giddy, high school thrill at the idea. She continued in a softer voice. “The walls in this house are like rice paper. We could say we’re going out to the bar, find a place to park, and you know...”

Landon snickered. “I’m getting a real feel for what you must’ve been like when you were younger. Your poor, poor parents.”

She dropped his hand and pushed her chair away. “Okay then. We’ll stay here, watch
Catch Me If You Can
, go to bed at a reasonable time, and hopefully we’ll have time to have sex before you fly out Sunday night.”

“Well, when you put it that way...”

Twenty minutes later, Lauren was steering the car down a bumpy dirt road. The high beams cast the interior of the car in a pale light and she couldn’t stop smiling. She felt downright excited, like she was a teenager again sneaking out of her parents house. It’d been far easier than when she was 16, which took a little of the thrill out of it. She was so long out of the house her parents barely batted an eyelid when they’d said they were leaving.

“So uh, did you use this road a lot back in the day?” he teased.

“No, I was a good girl in school,” she slapped his leg. “One of my old friends used to live down this way. There’s an old quarry where we can park and no one will see us. Plus, we’ll have a really good view of the stars. Just keep an eye out for deer.”

She pulled into the empty gravel pit and pulled to the far left, out of sight from the dirt road. She knew that even if someone glanced into the quarry as they drove by, they wouldn’t be able to see anything. Lauren threw the car into park, cut the engine, and held Landon’s eyes as she switched off the headlights. A thick, invasive darkness flooded in, a memory of his face burned into her mind’s eye.

“Whoa, where are you?” he half laughed, reaching out into the blackness. He connected with her elbow and felt his way up to her shoulder. “I can’t even see you.”

“Give it a minute,” she giggled. “Your eyes will adjust. Such a city boy.”

“Let’s go look at the stars.” Lauren heard his fumbling with the door and stopped him.

“Hold up a second.” She reached overhead and felt her way to the dome light, flicking the switch. “There, now we can get out. We would’ve been blinded again.”