Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
And then all it took was seeing a young couple walking down the street, stopping to kiss and take a selfie.
I realized what felt so off for me this morning. It was as if everybody had something going on in life, and I was just… a cheerleader. So many people were in love. Not Landry, but he didn’t even want love to begin with, so it didn’t count. He had a thriving business life and the opportunity to have plenty of fun one-night-stands and hookups.
I was getting older and I had nothing to show for it. By this time in my life, I had always thought I’d have more.
A house. A marriage. Maybe even a kid.
But I was as free-floating as a snowflake in a snowglobe, just waiting for the world to put me where I belonged.
As I stepped out of the little tourist shop the midday sun was just starting to peek out as all of the morning’s clouds faded away. I squinted into the sunlight and saw a familiar face, and suddenly it was as if everything inside me felt warmer.
“Landry,” I said, a breeze blowing through my hair. “Fancy seeing you here.”
God, I felt too good seeing him.
I wasn’t supposed to be feeling any attachment to this man.
“Could say the same to you,” he told me. “But I suppose there isn’t a lot for us to do until the big wedding, huh?”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “It’s the definition of hurry up and wait. Why did I think delivering flowers from the florist would take all morning? After about ten minutes, it was over. I’ve been just floating ever since.”
Landry laughed, letting out a long breath of air. The faint sound of music came out into the street from a cafe nearby, and in the light, Landry looked like an angel. A sexy, mischievous, really-good-at-sucking-dick kind of angel, but an angel nonetheless.
“Well, do you want to… float together, then?” Landry asked softly, almost as if he was afraid I might say no.
“Nothing I’d rather do,” I told him.
We paused for a beat. Part of me hated that Landry had the ability to turn my mood around just with one simple question, but I couldn’t care about that right now. He was here, and he wanted to spend time with me, too.
In a flash of impulse, I leaned over and pressed my lips to his.
It was an innocent kiss, nothing more than a soft peck. But something about it felt even more forbidden than everything we’d done before.
We were in public, right here on the street. We hadn’t been drinking. And there was no warning to the kiss—just the slow, gentle warmth of my lips on his as a cold breeze tousled my hair.
I reached for his arm as I pulled away an inch, surprised by my own actions.
“Sorry,” I mumbled softly, still so close to his face I could smell the clean scent of his skin.
He just groaned and slowly shook his head, putting a warm hand to the side of my face. “Kiss me again.”
Suddenly every cell in my body felt molten.
Landry wanted this just as much as I did. He was also giving me permission, directly, and asking me for more.
I didn’t skip a beat. I kissed him again, letting my lips linger on his for a while longer. I’d never been a big fan of public displays of affection, but I couldn’t think about a single thing in the world other than him, right now.
Landry, Landry, Landry.
We were in the snowglobe again. And for the first time, it didn’t feel naughty or like we were getting away with something.
It just felt right.
As we broke off the kiss I leaned my head against his shoulder. He smoothed my hair with his hand, holding me there.
“Everything feels different with you, Jamie,” he said, and I could feel his voice through his chest.
“I know exactly what you mean.”
My hand naturally laced into his as I leaned back, looking up at his brown eyes. They’d come to feel like a home away from home, and as much as I’d tried to ignore that fact, I couldn’t see him any other way right now.
“Let’s walk around,” he said, squeezing my hand.
A day that had felt aimless now felt full of possibility because we were together. Nothing really changed—I was still just wandering the streets of an unfamiliar tiny ski town, but doing it with Landry made it into an adventure. He led me around a corner I hadn’t noticed before, and we came upon a marble fountain that was drained for winter, but still a gorgeous sculpture. There was a handmade candle shop where Landry got a few gifts for friends. Finally we ended up on a small walking path, and I thought back to the first night I’d met Landry, when he found me alone on the path beside the hotel.