It was the perfect opening for Kaitlyn to make a snarky remark about Rathskeller, but instead, she nodded. “I agree.”
“Kait,” Marjorie called. “Come stand by the sign with Gray.”
Kait started forward, then turned back to Landon awkwardly. “Should you—I mean, do you want to be in the picture?”
For the first time in what felt like weeks, he looked at her and she saw a little of the old Landon in his eyes.
“You are an investor,” Kait said, flustered.
A corner of his mouth curled down, and she had the feeling she’d offended him somehow. “No,” he said. “This is a LeClarks moment.”
So Kait went over to where Gray was standing and smiled as widely as she could for Marjorie’s camera, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from returning to Landon.
“Kait,” Marjorie said, exasperated. “Look at the camera.”
And because Landon had turned to go back inside where Ana was finishing up a gorgeous mille-feuille, Kaitlyn did.
“Kait!” Marjorie yelled again. “Look at the camera and smile!”
But a lump had formed in her throat again, and her efforts were strained at best. Marjorie snapped several pictures anyway and rolled her eyes. “Good enough, I guess.”
Chapter Eleven
It was hard keeping his distance from Kaitlyn, especially since Marjorie had to go back to New York to work on The Heart and Hand cookbook, and he knew she was all alone at night, but Landon was determined that she would come to him this time. He knew that if he pursued it, pushed it, she might give in, but then she might conflate him with a man like Basil Hampton. She had to do this on her terms, which meant he had to be something he never had been before—patient.
He passed some of the time with Ana, whose abruptness and edge reminded him a little of Simone. They didn’t know any of the same people in New York, but they had some favorite places in common. It didn’t hurt that every time Kaitlyn walked in on them talking, she got an irritable look on her face and found a reason to leave again.
“I don’t think she likes me,” Ana observed as Kait made another cross retreat.
“It’s not you,” Landon said, watching her. Was she ready yet?
“That was great,” Gray said as they all congregated in the kitchen for an end-of-the-day debriefing. “I think we’re ready for the soft opening tomorrow. Go home and get some rest.”
One by one, they trickled out. Kait grabbed her bag and was about to follow when she noticed that Landon hadn’t left. He was sitting in a corner booth, frowning at his laptop.
Not entirely sure what she was doing, Kait doubled back to the office and pretended to be working until even Gray had left. Then, gathering up her nerve, she approached Landon. “Are you still doing recipes?”
He raised his head briefly and looked unsurprised to see her. “No, James Investments business. It’s easier to work here where Martha can’t bother me.”
“Landon—” Kait started. She wanted to say she was sorry she’d run away from him in New York. It wasn’t him exactly. But when he looked up inquiringly, she lost her nerve. “Never mind. I won’t bother you.”
She hurried to the back to grab her keys from the office and took a moment to calm her pounding heart. Stupid, she thought irritably. Why couldn’t she just leave well enough alone? What had happened between them clearly wasn’t keeping him up at night. He was probably back together with Simone or sleeping with Ana by now.
But when she turned around, determined to look cool and unaffected as she walked back past him, he was standing in the doorway.
Kaitlyn yelped in fright and then sagged back against the office chair, the heel of her hand braced against her pounding heart. “Landon, what the hell?”
“You’re still bothering me.” He said it matter of factly, as though telling her table 58 needed refills. “It doesn’t matter how quiet you are, how far away you stand. If you’re nearby, you’re bothering me. Hell, if you’re across town, you’re really bothering me because I want to know what you’re doing. Who you’re with.”
It wasn’t pushing her, he told himself. It was laying out the facts.
Kaitlyn stared at him.
“And I need you to know that I’m not going to do anything about it unless you come to me,” Landon continued, and stepped back. “Starting tonight, I’m moving into the Atlantia condos, unit 801.” It was a decision he’d made just that second, but it made perfect sense. Carter wasn’t using it, Martha couldn’t bother him there, and Kait could. He’d have his assistant move some necessities over immediately.
“Is that an invitation?” Kaitlyn asked breathlessly.
The corner of his mouth tugged up. “Yes. An open one.”
“What if I overlap with someone?” Like Ana.
“You won’t.” Landon was tired of the bullshit. “I’ll be there alone, every night.”
Before Kaitlyn could recover her wits, he nodded once and then was gone. She heard the damn bell ring on his way out.
Kaitlyn called Marjorie when she got home. “I think I’m going to Landon’s place,” she said when her friend picked up.
“Great,” Marjorie said, sounding unsurprised. “What are you going to wear? And don’t say what you wore to LeClarks.”
Kaitlyn looked down distractedly at her jeans and LeClarks t-shirt. “Wouldn’t it be weird to change? Like I was dressing up for him or something?”
“No,” Marjorie said. “It would not be weird to take a shower and show up in a clean shirt when you’re planning to have sex with someone. It would be weird not to.”
Kait flipped through her closet. “I’m not planning to have sex with him. But if I were, what should I wear?”
“Go to my closet,” Marjorie ordered.
Kait complied, even though most of Marjorie’s clothes were too Marjorie. But she found a simple white tank top in the back and liked how it looked. She described the tank and a pair of dangly earrings to Marjorie.
“That top is
