Landon dragged his eyes back to his drink with force. He was here to make things right with Grayson. Not ogle his little sister.
Who says you can’t do both? The laughing voice of Carter—the omnipresent devil on his shoulder—asked in his head, and Landon couldn’t help smirking. Who indeed?
Then Grayson was right beside him, clapping him on the shoulder with genuine affection. “Landon, it’s been a long time.”
“Too long,” Landon said automatically, caught off guard by the warmth in Gray’s voice. Was this all because of the condo he’d let him use, or was his old friend really happy to see him?
They shook hands, and over Gray’s shoulder, Landon met an identical pair of blue eyes that were decidedly more chilly. Kaitlyn LeClark wasn’t happy to see him at all.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” she bit off.
“Kait,” Gray said, and then to Landon, “Sorry. She just found out.”
But Landon wasn’t bothered. This was a reaction he understood far better than Gray’s warmth. He stretched to his full height that topped hers by nearly a foot, squared his shoulders, and welcomed the frost in her eyes. He’d stared down hundreds of furious gazes over the boardroom table. Kaitlyn LeClark was no different from any other competitor he’d crushed beneath his thumb. Just because this time the spoils were something they’d once both loved didn’t change a thing. A slow, arrogant smile unfurled across his face. The barracuda grin, Carter called it. Deployed for the express purpose of tipping the other person out of frozen silence and into the hot words bubbling at the base of their tongue.
It worked like a charm on Kaitlyn.
“I guess you don’t feel any guilt,” she spat. “After everything my parents did for you. I guess it makes perfect sense to pick at the carcass of their life’s work like the vulture your father always wanted you to be. He must be so proud.”
She had a way with words, Landon noted. He’d known that from reading her reviews, but it was impressive to discover that their poetry needed no rehearsal. “I’m sure he would be proud,” Landon said after a moment when he’d gotten his fill of watching the way her full lips quivered with rage. “But he’s dead.”
Gray looked horrified, but Kaitlyn just raised her chin higher. “Good.”
“Kait.” Gray said again, just as Landon said, “I couldn’t agree more. Should we get a table?”
“I’m not eating with you,” Kaitlyn hissed. “I’d sooner eat at a Denny’s. I’d rather go to McDonald's.”
Just then, Tom appeared with three menus and a fresh drink for Landon. “No doubt you’ll enjoy our fish filet sandwich just as much,” he said smoothly, trying to usher them toward a secluded corner booth. “I’ll see what we can rustle up in the way of a McFlurry.”
Grayson followed him gratefully, but Kait and Landon remained in a standoff. After letting himself enjoy the way the battle was lighting her eyes and flushing her cheeks, Landon held out his hand in a gesture of mock courtesy. Ladies first. It wasn’t about courtesy at all, though. Once she’d slid into the round booth after Gray, Landon sat down on her other side, effective trapping her in. He didn’t think Kaitlyn LeClark would run from a fight, but he wasn’t going to risk it.
“Can I take your drink order?” Tom asked once they were all seated. He was going above and beyond the call of his position, as usual, and Landon made a mental note to give Tom a very large Christmas bonus this year.
“What’s good here?” Grayson asked, glancing through the menu.
Landon shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“You have no idea what’s good at your own restaurant?” Kaitlyn’s voice rose an octave.
“The Cabernet Sauvignon,” Tom said smoothly as though she hadn’t spoken. “We have an excellent Robert Mondavi.”
“We’ll take the bottle,” Gray said.
Chapter Four
Once there had been a time when Kaitlyn thought she couldn’t hate anyone more than Randolph James, that he was the most contemptible human being to ever walk the earth. But his son had surpassed him. It was still true that Randolph had been a rotten-through creature, more reptile than human. But in a way, it justified his behavior. You wouldn’t blame a snake for striking—it was their nature. But Landon didn’t have that excuse. She knew he had a heart, that he’d been a human being once.
So what changed? How did he go from the arrogant young teenager her parents had humbled with the generosity of their love and the structure of LeClarks to an even more vile incarnation of his father? She stared, narrow-eyed, at him, trying to find the answer on his hard, handsome face, in the depths of his bleak gaze. She hated to admit it, but he was good-looking for a reptile. His hair was still pitch black, though it wasn’t shaggy like it had been when they were in school. His face wasn’t that of the roguishly charming high school boy anymore, but rather had the hard planes and square jaw of a man.
Landon stared back, though her scrutiny was more unnerving than her fury had been. She was trying to figure something out. Her brow was furrowed like her mother’s had when she was poring over the finances in the small back office. Kaitlyn was trying to add him up, calculate who
