Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
I shook my head and nearly laughed. “God, could you imagine?”
I could tell that, despite everything, he wanted to laugh. The corners of his mouth wanted to twist up into that laconic, ironic smirk I’d fallen in love with. The one he showed to very few people. He didn’t, though. I wasn’t one of the very few people anymore. Strangely, it hurt. I’d taken some pride in slipping past his guard, even if he’d kept his heart off limits and I’d offered mine up on a platter.
“Dinner then,” Landon agreed finally. “Give Potts your contact information on the way out. She’ll set it up.”
I wanted to make a joke about his people calling mine, but I didn’t want to see him suppress his smile again. Or worse yet, stare through me like he did the rest of the world. Instead, I said, “I’ll just give you my number, and you can let me know.”
“Give it to Potts,” Landon repeated, his voice a shade colder.
I got it, then. Just as my number had changed over the past four years, so had his. And he didn’t want me to have it. Not yet. That stung too. I left before Landon could read how much in my eyes.
What did one wear to meet their ex-lover? The father of their child? Potts had made a reservation for us at an upscale vegetarian restaurant on the outskirts of town. I didn’t know whether to be touched that Landon had remembered I didn’t eat meat or suspicious that he was taking me there solely because he knew none of his carnivorous brethren would be there. I didn’t think I’d damaged his ego when I left, but who knew anymore. I hadn’t expected him to pull that my lawyer card.
Thinking of it now struck a cold dart of fear into my heart. If Landon chose to, he could hire the best custody lawyers on the West Coast and mount a multimillion-dollar campaign to take Emma from me. I couldn’t fight back, not now. I only had to hope that my instincts were right–that he’d said it out of anger. That he could never be so cruel.
Subconsciously, I chose a burgundy silk dress that highlighted my legs–always his favorite body part. It was slim fitting with a relaxed skirt, but the slit went to the middle of my thigh. I wore it with high-heeled sandals that would put me just a few inches beneath his 6’2-height. I looked in the mirror, silently gauging whether it was too much or not.
Casey, my best friend, Emma’s godmother, and who I was staying with in her Hollywood Hills bungalow, sat on the bed, playing with Emma. “You look good,” she said, glancing over at me.
“Casey, no time for looking at Mama,” Emma said fiercely. “We’re playing a game.”
Casey’s eyebrows shot up. “Are all three-year-olds this bossy?”
I laughed and turned away from the mirror. Brushing Emma’s dark hair back out of her face, I dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “I don’t know. I’ve only ever known this one.”
I left them stringing beads onto rubber necklaces. Emma had long ago given up on fitting the beads on herself and now was telling Casey what order she wanted them in. “Geeze, okay, kid,” I heard Casey complain as I went into the living room. I was smiling but worry tugged at my heart. Was Emma bossy? Was I not raising her well? Why didn’t I know more three-year-olds?
Back in Hawaii, Emma had friends she saw on the playground somewhat regularly, but I’d never arranged playdates with the other moms I knew. I never really wanted to fob her off on a peer and drink mimosas with one of my own. I liked how it was just the two of us most of the time, punctuated by long visits from Casey and quick ones from my mother and Robert.
In the car, I squashed the temptation to call my mom and ask what she thought. She was unabashedly biased. She’d tell me that Emma could have no better company than me, and that I was the best mom in the world. Far better than she had been, though she supposed she must have done something right because look what an amazing mom I was. It was a funny, circular logic that made me dizzy. It made me feel like maybe she had some lingering guilt over the years before Robert, but once any shortcomings had been acknowledged, she smoothed them over. Then I’d have to corroborate her story and tell her she’d been a great mom. Still was.
Despite everything.
The Lavigne Beauty lawyers had already filed their appeal. It was tempting to ruminate on it, worry about it, worry about her, but I didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole. Instead, I focused on the business proposal I was about to spring on Landon at dinner. It was a multi-step plan for getting my life back on track. First, it involved a loan.