I can’t hide my amusement. “Well, we can leave this guy outside a little longer and let him enjoy the sunshine. Let’s go see what the others are working on.”
“Sounds good,” he says, falling in step beside me. “You worked here long?” he asks.
“A little over two years.”
“Cool.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what brings you in to volunteer today?”
“Do you want the honest answer or the one I practiced?” He grins.
“Honest. Always honest.”
He shrugs. “I was hoping to get to meet Chance Bateman. I’m a huge soccer fan.”
“You do know Chance is a coach for the Trojans now, right?”
“Yeah, but I also know his wife runs the place. So I was hoping to run into him.”
“Huh. Well, he’s at practice today. Sometimes he drops in after. I guess you’re just going to have to stick around to find out.”
“Now that I’m here, I might have another motive.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” I ask, not bothering to turn to look at him.
“A date.”
I stop and turn to face him. “A date?”
He nods. “I didn’t expect my boss, or mentor or advisor or whatever I’m supposed to call you, would be hot. Maybe I can get a date and an autograph.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Come on, Casanova, let’s see what’s next.” I don’t bother to reply. He’s not my type and I’m hoping he drops it. That’s all I need is to add another man into my life to drive me insane. How is it that my dating life has been null and void the last few months and now all of a sudden, I’m the popular girl?
I tell Tony to wait for me in the lobby while I go in search of Aubrey. I find her in our office. “Hey, we’re done with the barn. Where should we go next? Cats or dogs?”
“Dogs. I have the two teenage girls in with the cats. Not to mention, the dogs are more work. You can use his muscles.”
“He told me he was volunteering with the hopes to meet Chance.” I leave out the part about the date. No need to get that seed planted in her head.
“Aw, I’ll text him and have him stop by after practice.” Her fingers are already flying across her screen. “They have an early day today so it should be around lunchtime.”
“Great. We’re going to get started.” My stomach does a little flip that I could see Landon soon, but then I remember I told him I didn’t need any help. Damn man has got me all over the place with my emotions. “Okay, looks like you and I are going to tackle the dog room as we call it. We have kennels to clean, so we’ll start taking the dogs outside to the outdoor kennel so we can hose it all down.”
“I’m your man.” He winks.
He reminds me a little of Landon, but he’s most definitely not him. He’s too short, his hair way too light, and his eyes, they’re not the ocean blue I’ve come accustomed to. He’s confident though; I’ll give him that.
Two by two, we move the dogs to the outdoor kennel. I don’t rush the process as we play with them, giving them treats. This is yet another luxury we don’t always have. An hour later we’re in the dog room, and Tony is spraying everything down with the water hose while I start behind him with a brush on a long stick and a bucket of soapy water.
“Let me do that,” he says, trying to hand me the hose.
“I’m good. This is something I do on a regular basis.”
“Exactly why you should let me do it.” He tries to take the broom, and I move quickly out of his reach, but lose my footing. He reaches out to catch me, and we both end up falling to the floor. He lands on top of me, but is quick to lift himself, holding his weight on his arms as he stares down at me as the soapy water seeps into my clothes. “Oops.” He grins and I can’t help but smile back at him.
“What’s going on here?” a deep, booming voice asks.
I know that voice.
I push up and Tony takes his sweet time, removing his body from where he was suspended over the top of me. I start to climb to my feet only to slip again, on the wet floor. Tony is there to catch me this time, and his strong arms lift me to my feet and make sure I’m steady before he lets go.
“Emma?” Landon asks.
“Hey, we were just cleaning and the buckets spilled and well… you see the outcome.” I laugh nervously. Why am I nervous? Oh, yeah, because Landon and his baby blues are assessing me, and I know this looks bad. Even though I’ve done nothing wrong and he has no claim to me, I still feel a little bit guilty.
Landon’s eyes go to Tony’s hand that’s still holding onto my arm. “You can let go,” he tells him.
“Holy shit. You’re… you’re Landon Barker,” Tony says, his hand still holding my arm.
Landon nods. “I am.” His voice is not his friendly banter that I’m used to.
“Dude, I was hoping to meet Chance, I never dreamed I’d get to meet a Trojan, let alone Landon Barker. Can I have your autograph?” he asks, sounding like an excited little boy that I think lives inside all men.
“Sure, as soon as you get your hand off my girl.” Landon’s eyes are laser-focused as he stares Tony down.
“Landon,” I start, but he ignores me.
“Shit,” Tony mumbles. “I didn’t know she was yours.” He turns his accusing eyes to mine. “You didn’t tell me when I mentioned a date that you were with Landon freaking Barker.” He drops his hand as if he’s been burned.
“I’m not with him.”
Landon nods now that Tony’s no longer touching me. “Let’s go find something I can write on.” He turns on his heel and disappears out of the room.
He’s
