Landon edged past Robert, not that there was a lot of room to pace, but he attempted it. “That’s not true, and I don’t know that I can do this.”
Robert let out a frustrated huff, his hard stare pinning Landon, stopping his movement. The look brought Landon’s honest fear tumbling from his mouth.
“What happens if we fail?”
Robert looked at Landon as if he were insane and his greatest fear meant nothing to the big picture, making Landon blurt out the obvious result of failure.
“We’ll lose La Bella Luna.”
“That’s right. We—me and you—lose the restaurant, not anyone else and nothing more.” Robert came toward Landon, taking the steps to him. “We won’t sell to the highest bidder like Rodney planned to do. La Bella Luna may have run its course, but now I own my daddy’s recipes and at least we tried.”
Landon stood there, processing Robert’s explanation, not quite ready to let the fight go, even as he better understood Robert’s perspective, knowing his husband was right. If they tanked at operating the restaurant, it wasn’t anything close to being as bad as losing the rights to Kane Adams’s signature recipes. As important as those were to Robert, Landon felt Robert would have paid anything just to secure those back into the family fold. Landon muscles softened as tension leaked out of him, then he rolled his eyes and looked up at the clock above the door. They had one minute before the front doors opened.
“You shouldn’t have spent so much money on this suit.”
Robert laughed. “I’ll take that as a win in my favor.”
“It’s only a win because you cheat.” Landon’s grin grew as he formulated his argument as he went. “You bring up your father, and I want his recipes protected too. It’s not a fair win, but I see your point.” Landon bypassed Robert to open the door and start for the dining room. He was so distracted with his thoughts that the hand that reached down and patted his ass instantly woke his dick. He swung around, his gaze landing on Robert. What was the man thinking? They had a party to throw; he couldn’t roam the restaurant with a hard-on. It was going to be a long night.
“Dear, help me to my chair,” Kennedy said to Landon. She’d been their surprise guest tonight, not letting Robert, Landon, or Autumn know she had planned to attend the party. It had been such a surprise when she walked through the front doors and made Robert’s magical night turn epic. Reasonably, he understood the private party couldn’t truly be a measure of the restaurant’s success with its free food and alcohol, but he did concede they were off to a great start. The patrons attending tonight really seemed to enjoy some of the changes they had made to the menu and many reservations had been booked for the future.
The way Kennedy had commandeered Landon warmed Robert’s heart. His husband was right on board with her plan too. Kennedy had hit her mid-nineties and needed an arm to hold on to every now and then. His grandmother seemed a bit vain in that she didn’t want to appear weak—her words not his. Instead of the chauffer standing nearby, she’d replaced him with Landon. It had been the perfect diversion for his husband.
He had taken Kennedy around, and with that photographic memory of his, his husband had reintroduced her to the pillars of the community. Landon had the guests eating out of his hands, knowing all their stats and accomplishments. Kennedy had then helped ease Landon with her ability to engage in small talk.
Robert was pleased to see Landon relax and enjoy their hard work. His beautiful husband had captivated the crowd at the party. Robert had had many guests comment on Landon, wanting to know more about him. It made Robert proud. Landon had found his place inside the La Bella Luna world.
Kennedy took her seat at one of the booths lining the inside walls of the restaurant. All the other tables and chairs had been removed to allow for the large number of guests invited to mingle.
“You look tired, Nonnie. You should go home.”
“I’ve decided to stay with you two tonight. It’s too far a drive to Stillwater only to drive back here early in the morning and fly home,” she explained, causing Landon to lift his gaze to Robert. Of course, she was always welcome to stay wherever she wanted of Robert’s, but the slowly built plan of showing Landon exactly how proud he was of him for such a job well done this evening crashed and burned in a fiery blaze inside his head. Based on Landon’s pained look, he’d had the same ideas.
After the briefest pause, Landon cleared his throat and nodded to Kennedy. “Probably the best idea.”
Kennedy only chuckled, clearly understanding the meaning behind their long stare. “You two go finish saying your goodbyes to your guests. Send a waiter with a glass of champagne.”
In that, she was right. Robert searched for a waiter, making eye contact, and nodded toward Kennedy then extended his hand to slip his arm around Landon as they started toward the last few guests still remaining in the main dining area even though the party had ended an hour ago.
“We did it and I didn’t embarrass you,” Landon whispered, giving Robert a gentle, relieved smile.
“I told you that you wouldn’t. Most people prefer real people, and you pull off real really well,” he teased and tightened the hold around his husband’s waist.
“Watching you tonight, you were meant to run a restaurant. You kept everything going smoothly like you’d been doing it your whole life.” The words were sweet and did their job to ease Robert’s hidden insecurities.
“Thank you. I admit, I love it,
