Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
T essa
I’ve been staring at the wall for over an hour.
My body’s in the same position as I think about where I am and last night.
Landon was a complete gentleman, and while my body screamed for him to take me, it was perfect.
I wouldn’t change a thing about our time together.
Hence the reason I’m lying as still as I can, not wanting to leave this bed or his embrace.
His body is aligned with mine, his arms wrapped around me, and it’s a comfort like I’ve never known.
“I can hear you thinking,” his deep, sexy voice says from behind me. I can’t hold the giggle from escaping. “That is a sound a man can get used to waking up to.”
I roll over so that we’re face-to-face. “Good morning.”
“Morning. How long have you been up?” He leans in for a kiss, and I turn my head. “What’s up with that?”
“Morning breath.”
“Fuck morning breath. Waking up with you in my arms deserves to be celebrated with a kiss, morning breath be damned.” He leans in again, and this time, I let him kiss me, keeping my mouth closed.
“Tessa,” he growls, making me laugh. As soon as my mouth is open, he takes full advantage and slips his tongue past my lips.
Suddenly, I couldn’t care less about morning breath either.
“What are we doing today?” he asks when he finally pulls away.
“I’m not sure what you’re doing, but I have to work. Speaking of, I should get up and get moving. I still need to go home and change. Can you take me home?”
“No, no, no. Call in sick. Tell Autumn that your lips are sore from kissing. Tell her that you’re stuck in a warm bed for the day and that I forbid you to leave it.”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. Autumn depends on me, and the animals, too. Besides, don’t you have practice today?”
“No. We get the day after a game off.”
“Really? I would think that you would get right back to it.”
“Nah, some teams do. Coach says we need a day to rest and let our bodies heal.”
“I hardly think that one day is long enough for that. I’ve seen those hits some of the guys take and even you when you’re getting sacked.” I grin.
“Always busting my balls.” He shakes his head, but a smile tilts his lips.
“It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.” I peck his lips and then roll away from him.
“Get back here,” he demands playfully.
“Can’t. Now get moving, Number Eighteen.
” I grab my clothes from the chair in the corner of the room and disappear into the bathroom.
By the time I’m dressed and have brushed my teeth with my index finger and some toothpaste, I find Landon sitting on the edge of the bed, his hair mussed and a sleepy, sexy smile on his face.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
He stands from the bed, offers me his hand, and links our fingers together. Hand in hand, we head out to the garage. He offers to stop for breakfast, but I’m cutting it close on time, so I decline.
“I should be home around five or a little after.”
He leans over the console and kisses me sweetly. “Have a good day, baby.”
Butterflies swarm my belly. “You, too.” I wave awkwardly and climb out of his SUV.
He doesn’t move until I’m in the house. Not able to resist, I peek out the blinds and watch him drive away.
I pinch my leg and jump from the pain. I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming that this is real, that this is really my life.
With a smile on my face, I rush to the shower and get ready for work.
I’ve just released the dogs so they can run as my stomach grumbles.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I see it’s just after ten.
I should have taken the time to at least grab a granola bar this morning.
Oh, well, I’ll just have to deal until I can run out for lunch.
I rushed out of the house this morning without packing anything.
Being hungry is worth not running late. I usually hate to have to rush, and it puts my entire day off-kilter, but somehow, that’s not the case today.
Well, unless you count my stomach’s angry growl.
I guess waking up with Landon makes all the difference.
Heading back inside, I find Autumn in our shared office. “Hey, what are you looking at so hard?” I ask, watching her stare at her laptop.
“Just going over the details for the adoption fair this weekend.”
“What can I do? We’re all set, right?”
“Yes. We have plenty of volunteers, but I’m just worried about the attendance. Our fairs here at the shelter don’t do nearly as well as the ones we hold at the mall or other shopping centers. We’re at capacity, and I’m hoping we can find some of our animals forever homes.”
“Okay. So what do we do? We’ve got social media ads going.
We’ve passed out over five hundred flyers.
We have posters hanging all around town.
What are we missing?” Before she can answer, the chime sounds, letting us know we have a visitor.
There are no volunteers on the schedule until this afternoon.
Standing from my desk, I start for the door, but before I can make it to the threshold, Landon is there.
“Hey.” He leans in for a quick kiss. “I assumed you didn’t take the time to eat. I know how much you hate to run late, so I stopped at the Cup of Joe Café and bought you your favorite.” He holds up the bag from the café as his proof.
“Best bo— guy ever,” I stumble over my words.
He leans in close, placing his lips next to my ear. “Boyfriend, Tess. You had it right the first time.” His lips press against mine, and that’s all it takes for me to get lost in him.
“This is new.” Autumn chuckles, pulling us out of our trance.
Landon smiles down at me, hands me the bag from the café, and turns his attention to Autumn. “Landon Barker, boyfriend to Tessa Deaton.” He smirks, holding his hand out for Autumn to shake.
“Stop.” I pull on his arm, bringing it back to his side. He takes that as an opportunity to lace his fingers with mine.
“Looks like I missed a lot last night from Henry’s until now.”
“You could say that,” I confess.
“What I want to know is why I’m just now hearing about it?” Her smile is wide as her eyes give me a knowing look.
“I was running late and came in and got straight to work. I was going to tell you, but you looked like someone just kicked your puppy, and we started talking about the adoption event on Saturday, and well, this guy decided to show up and started throwing around titles.” I bump my shoulder into Landon’s.
“Hey, I earned that title. I’m all about throwing it around.”
Autumn sighs. “Sorry, I’m just worried about this event.”
“What event?” Landon asks.
“We schedule several adoption events each year. Keeps the public informed and reminds them we’re here.
We’re at capacity for the animals, and Autumn’s concerned we’re not going to have a good turnout.
Usually, we go to a shopping mall or a pet store, something like that, and transport a few of the dogs and cats, but since we have Buckwheat and we’re so full, we thought we would schedule the event here.
We won’t have the same traffic as the shopping centers. ”
“When is the event?”
“Saturday.”
He nods. “What time?”
“One o’clock.”
“I was hoping you might say that.” We stand by and watch as he pulls his phone out of his back pocket, and his fingers fly across the screen. “There.” He looks proud of himself as he turns his phone to show me the screen.
@LandonBarkerOfficial Come help me support the Safe Haven Animal Shelter this
Saturday at 1 PM. #AdoptAPet #Cougars
“I have twenty-four million followers.” He winks. I read the post for a third time, processing what this could mean for the shelter.
“Landon, that’s amazing. Wait, don’t you have practice on Saturday?”
“We do, but just in the morning. We’re reviewing game film. I’ll be out of there by noon. I’ll get Case and a few of the guys to come, too. They can Tweet it out to their followers, as well.”
“Jeremy can, too. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that,” Autumn says. “Thank you, Landon.”
“I usually have PR send over pictures and things to sign, but I’m not going to do that this time. I want to get the public here, and I can sign anything they bring with them, but I want to make this day about the shelter.”
“Thank you.” I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him.
“If that’s what I get for doing something nice, I need to step up my game.” He grins, and I can’t help but playfully roll my eyes.
“You two are so cute together. I love this.” Autumn waves her hands at us.
“Yeah, I love it, too,” Landon says softly, his eyes holding mine. “You need any help around here today?” He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
“No, we have a roster of volunteers this afternoon. Thank you for what you did.”
“Anything for you.” He leans down for another kiss, and I have to force myself not to take it too far, knowing that Autumn is in the room with us. “I’ll see you tonight?” he asks when we finally pull apart.
“Yes.”
“Pack a bag. I’ll pick you up, and we’ll go back to my place.”
“Okay.” A slow grin crosses his face. I don’t know if he thought I was going to fight him on it or what, but I’m not. I’m putting myself out there, my heart, too, and letting the chips fall where they may. “Thank you for breakfast.”
“You’re welcome,” he says, giving me another chaste kiss. “Autumn, it was good to see you.” He releases his hold on me and steps back. “Later, Freckles.”
“Damn.” Autumn pretends to fan herself with her hands. “That was hot.”
“Yeah, he is,” I agree, making her laugh.
“So, you took my advice, I see.”
“I did, and we talked last night. We’re dating exclusively. I stayed at his place last night.”
“Give me all the juicy details.”
“Nothing much to tell, really. We made out like teenagers and then fell asleep.”
“Huh.”
“What? Huh? What’s that for?”
“Seems I was right. He’s not the playboy you think he is.”