As she falls asleep in my arms, my heart is racing. I know if I’m not careful, I could get used to this.
Chapter 15
Tinsley
Waking up next to Landon is surprisingly comfortable, though I’m shocked I slept at all. The man is like the Energizer Bunny—he keeps going and going.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he murmurs as he kisses the top of my head.
I run my fingers through the sparse hair on his chest. “I think I’m going to be feeling this for a few days.”
“We’ll have to continue to work those muscles.”
“Let’s see where we are after your parents leave,” I suggest.
“That’s right. My parents arrive today. Maybe I can put them up at The Fairmont?”
“Why? We held off for three weeks. We can hold off again.”
“We said we’d wait six months, and we only made it three weeks. What if they’re here a month?”
I giggle. “We can manage that. Just think of it like I’m on my period for a month.”
“There are other things we can do, if you’re on your period.”
Her eyes become hooded for a moment. “I think we can be friends for a few weeks. You’ll need to spend time with your parents. They’re coming here to see you.”
“Not necessarily,” I protest. “My mom’s coming to help Claire with decorating her new house, and my dad is looking at a sailboat. Sailing is his retirement hobby.”
“You didn’t grow up sailing?”
“Not at all. We did a lot together as a family, though. We went out to Vancouver Island every summer for the month of July and stayed at a beach rental on the northwestern coast. We spent a lot of weekends in the winter going up to Whistler. It’s under two hours each way, so we’d go downhill or cross-country skiing one day during the weekend.”
“Do you still ski?”
“Not as much as I’d like. I miss the day hikes you can take in Vancouver. Even if you didn’t want to leave the city, Stanley Park has some great trails.”
Landon is caressing my back, and he may lull me to sleep again.
“What did you do growing up?” he asks.
“My mom worked most every Saturday—”
“I thought she was a lawyer?”
“She is, and she was the first female partner in her firm because she worked hard. She was quite the role model. But on Sundays, we’d find someplace to go do something outside. That was always her thing.”
“Maybe we can take my sister up to Mount Tamaulipas and do a fun hike this weekend?”
“That sounds good.” I stretch. “I need to get up and get ready. Cameron’s going to be here in an hour.”
“Do you need the whole hour?” His hands start to wander.
“I suppose another twenty minutes or so won’t hurt.”
I’ve dried my hair, and I’m running my hairbrush through one more time when Landon walks into my bathroom.
“Cameron’s here and on his way up.”
“Thanks.” Just looking at Landon makes my insides melt, and I’d much prefer to spend the day in bed with him. Focus.
I walk out of my guest room and dig my computer out of its bag as the elevator pings its arrival. When I spot Cameron, I do my best Vanna White impression. “Welcome to my office away from my office.”
“Good morning.” He looks around. “This is a great place.”
I nod. “It is. Landon’s parents arrive later today, though, so I’m not sure how long we have it.”
“No problem. Let’s see how far we get. Our offices aren’t that far, and we can always move there if need be. The network is secure, and I guarantee you’ll be fine working there.”
We settle down to work. Landon joins us and watches. Cameron is super easy to work with. His mind is amazing. He thinks about eight steps ahead. I’m so engrossed that I don’t notice when Landon steps away.
Cameron and I go through numerous lines of code. In no time we’re making huge progress.
A little while later, I see Landon out of the corner of my eye. “It’s after one,” he says. “Do you guys want any lunch?”
My stomach growls, but I look to Cameron. We’ve been going for four hours nonstop, and I think we’re getting somewhere. If he wants to keep going, I’ll grab a granola bar from my bag.
Cameron stretches. “Sure. Who delivers to this fancy address?”
Landon chuckles. “Everyone. What sounds good?”
“A burger from Waldo’s in the Marina.”
“That does sound good.” Turning to me, Landon asks, “Burger okay? I can pull a menu and see what else they have, or we can order from more than one place.”
“Burger sounds great.”
We give Landon our order, and I escape to the restroom.
When I return, Landon is giving Cameron a tour of his apartment. “Yeah, they want to do a San Francisco Living spread on the place, but honestly, I love that people don’t know I’m the mysterious guy living here. My neighbors don’t even know.”
When I join them, we talk for a short time about what we’ve accomplished this morning. The food arrives, and after we’ve eaten, Landon has some suggestions for integration with the technology the other team is building, which we decide to work on in the afternoon.
Sometime later, the elevator pings and I hear Claire. Cameron and I look up, and I realize it’s dark outside.
“Mom, Dad? This is Tinsley Pratt,” Claire announces. “She’s our new business partner.”
The couple exiting the elevator smile wide and embrace me. “Call us Peter and Edna,” the woman says.
“Nice to meet you both.” I’m going to need to
