He knows, I realize. There’s no surprise in his face at seeing me, only that smile that tells me that he knows exactly who I am and that I work here.
“Rachel.” Jessica’s voice sounds far away, and it takes a concerted effort to force my eyes to break away from Landon’s gaze and go to her. “I’m glad you’re here,” she’s saying, as if she has forgotten that she sent for me. “This is Landon Court.”
He gets up and faces me. I suck in a breath, feeling as if I’ve been kicked in the stomach. There’s just something so raw and feral in his beauty. In the light of Jessica’s office, all the burnished gold in his hair gleams brightly, contrasting with the darker parts. Captivated by the sexy smirk curling his lips, I stand frozen as he extends a hand towards me. “It’s nice to meet you Rachel,” he says in that deep raspy voice.
I let him take my hand, as if I’m not already confused enough without having to deal with the jolt I feel when his skin touches mine. “It’s… It’s nice to meet you too.” I stammer, turning a confused glance towards Jessica.
“Landon was in the building for a meeting, and he stopped by to say hello to an old friend...”
“Definitely not old, Jessica,” he says to her, without letting go of my hand.
She smiles indulgently in a way I’ve never seen before, and I look from one to the other, wondering what the hell is going on. “Thank you, Landon,” She turns back to me. “He wanted to thank you for that lovely article on the Insomnia Lounge.”
I turn from Jessica, who has never noticed anything I’ve ever written, much less described it as lovely, to Landon. I’m finding it difficult to comprehend what’s going on.
“I don’t understand…” I say, feeling stupid. “Why…?”
Jessica smiles. “Landon owns the place. We had a little discussion early in the week and decided that an article about it would be the right fit for our website…” I can hardly hear what she’s saying, I’m staring at Landon.
He owns the place.
“…Landon requested that you write it. Luckily he’d read a couple of similar articles you’ve written...”
He requested for me to write it. He’d arranged for me to be there, and then he’d appeared. That meant that he’d known who I was. Had known since early in the week. And he’d had the nerve to ask me if I was working the joint!
Jessica keeps talking, but it’s almost as if she’s not in the room. I can only see Landon, and the contrast between the polite smile curling his lips, and the steeliness in his blue eyes. You lied to me, he seems to be saying, and what are you going to do now that I’ve found you.
I jerk my hand back from his, annoyed. I may have lied to him. No... I may have omitted to tell him that he was mistaking me for someone else, but no way did that mean he had the right to use my work to get me to his club under false pretenses. To practically seduce me again, all the while pretending that he didn’t know who I was.
I don’t need this. After Jack, I don’t need to even be in the same room with a man who wants to play games with me. I take a deep breath, doing my best to calm the emotions raging inside me. Then I school my face into a polite smile. “I’m glad you liked the article, Mr. Court…”
“Landon...” he interrupts smoothly, cocking his head slightly as he gives me another small smile. “Of course I liked it, you’re obviously very good at what you do.”
I pause, momentarily distracted by the pure suggestiveness of his statement. “Mr. Court,” I say deliberately, “I had a great time at your club, and the article reflected that. If that is all, I have to get back to work.” I smile politely at Jessica before turning around and heading for the door.
Outside Jessica’s office, I pause for a moment, breathing deeply and trying to compose myself before I cross the short hallway to the door leading to Carol’s office.
I’m about to open the door when I hear Landon’s voice behind me.
“Wait.”
It’s a terse command, and if I had any self-respect, I would ignore it, but I stop, my hand on the door knob. I don’t want to turn around, but almost as if I have no control over my own actions, I find myself turning to look at him.
He takes a step towards me, and my breath quickens. “Why the rush, Rachel?”
I lick my lips. “I have work to do.”
“You said.” He gives me a look. “Although this is a strange workplace for a hooker.”
I pull in a sharp breath. “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew?”
“Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t lie to you,” I say evenly. “You made an assumption.”
“And you didn’t think that maybe you should have corrected my mistake?” he asks, his voice edged with annoyance. “I spent the weekend wondering why you didn’t leave your number, but I thought it didn’t matter, since I could always get it from my brother. Try to imagine how surprised I was when I called him, and he had no idea what I was talking about.”