“The door next to the fridge leads to a two-bedroom apartment,” Landon explains.
I had no idea.
I look at Claire. “Are you sure you’re okay, given what we disclosed earlier?”
Jim excuses himself.
Claire clasps her hands in front of her. “You’re both adults. I expect you to behave professionally at work, and when this all goes sideways, I don’t want the office dragged into your drama.”
“There won’t be any drama,” Landon assures her.
Claire cocks her head. “What about Tiffany?”
Landon sighs. “I’m looking into who Tiffany’s landlord might be and trying to evict her. And Erin was a special case. That won’t happen again.”
“Just remember Erin and what happened and promise me you’ll both be friends at the end of this.” Claire gives us a pointed look.
Okay, I need to know what happened with Erin. “Claire, right now, our focus is on the software. Your folks are arriving tomorrow, and they’ll be here how long? Two weeks? A month?”
“Probably.”
Okay… I guess when your children are billionaires, and you have access to a private plane, you don’t exactly have a return ticket. “So for now, Landon and I will continue to press on as friends and only friends.”
Claire smiles. “And we’re still going to St. Helena in two weeks.”
“Oh, yeah!” I give her a high-five.
Chapter 14
Landon
My parents’ visit is another layer of stress I don’t need right now. Tinsley and I need all the time we can get to figure out this mess with her software and how the integration will work, though Cameron will be a huge help. This is one of the many advantages of having SHN fund us. They do a lot of our operations work for us, so we can focus on what we do well, and sometimes when you can’t get the software to do what you want, they have a top-notch development team that pitches in at no extra charge.
Before leaving the lunch meeting at Jim’s, Cameron, Tinsley and I agree that he will be at the apartment by ten tomorrow morning. Then Greg drives Tinsley and me back to The Adams.
I look across the backseat at her. “Are you okay with this?”
“I will be. I’m a little lost without my computer. At least I have my phone.” We’re stopped at a light, and there’s a man next to us in a metallic purple Mercedes convertible with the top down. We can hear Cher’s “Believe” as clearly as if it were being played in this car.
I shake my head. “I think he’s recently broken up with his boyfriend.”
Tinsley giggles as she bounces in her seat. She pulls out her phone and forwards the song to my sister. “I think this should be Claire’s anthem for a while.”
“I’m good with that.” I smile and feel warm as I remember how she looked out for Claire today.
Her cell phone pings. She chuckles. “Claire sent me ‘It’s Raining Men’.”
When we arrive at The Adams, we’re still grinning.
“I know another one I can send her.” She clicks on her phone and Diana Ross begins to belt out “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
Once we get upstairs, Tinsley dances around my living room. Her cell phone rings, and she puts it on the table as she answers.
“I love you both,” Claire bellows through the speaker.
“I love you, too,” Tinsley yells.
“Claire-bear, you’re my favorite sister.” I wink at Tinsley.
“That’s because I’m your only sister.”
“Do you want to come over here?” Tinsley asks.
“I do, but I’ve drawn a bath, and I’m going to relax. Thank you both for understanding how tough today was for me.”
“Call me if you want to talk,” Tinsley says. “We’ll be here tomorrow.” She hangs up, clicks on her phone, and shows me she sent Claire the classic Motown tune “I’ll be Around.”
Motown continues to rule the playlist, and I join Tinsley as she sashays around my living room. I grind my cock into her backside as we dirty dance. I can smell her perfume, and I want her.
She grinds back into me. I lean down and kiss her softly. She needs to drive this since we’re only three weeks into our six months.
The song ends, and she backs away. I pour a glass of bourbon and offer her one. She nods. She takes a drink and continues dancing alone. I sit on the couch and watch her, mesmerized.
“What are you thinking?” I ask when her song ends.
She doesn’t immediately look at me. “Who is Erin?”
I should have been prepared for that question, but I’m not. Claire mentioned a colossal mistake on my part earlier today, and I would have told Tinsley about it eventually… No time like the present.
“When we founded Disruptive Technologies, Erin was one of our first developers. She was right out of Berkeley, and she was brilliant. We got involved. It was a mistake. She was young and impressionable, and I was stupid. She wanted more than I did, and it caused a lot of problems for us. Eventually I had to write her a sizable check. I’m not proud of what happened, but with you, everything is different.”
“No strings attached?” Tinsley offers.
“Oh, there are always strings attached.”
She laughs. “Not always. If we hadn’t run into each other, we never would have connected again. Sometimes two adults can screw without head games or emotions.”
I frown. “I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation with you. I wasn’t kidding when I told you I’d planned to find you again. I have the resources, and I would have searched until I found you. Instead, you came right back to me. How do you not see that as some sort of sign?”
Tinsley looks as if I’ve grown a second head.
“Claire gave us the green light.”
“I’m not sure about that. We
