Chapter 42

Landon Payne was too darn irresistible for my own good. In one fell swoop, he could melt my heart and set my body on fire. It was ridiculous. It should’ve been illegal for one person to have it all the way he did—the silver tongue, the heart of gold, and the physical features of a god.

It made my knees weak and my chest feel like it had a hummingbird trapped in the middle of it. After a Ferris Wheel ride that I would never forget for a variety of reasons, we went on the some of the other rides and then played a few carnival games with Colten and a handful of the friends he’d made.

I couldn’t deny that I still wanted to drag Landon straight to my bed if I’d been given half a chance, but I also just loved seeing him engage with the kids. He was so playful and such a worthy role model for all of them that I had a hard time not swooning and falling over.

Seriously.

With that dark hair deliciously mussed from my fingers and the light breeze and his blue T-shirt clinging to all of his toned muscles, he laughed with the kids, showing off his pearly white teeth as well as his easy sense of humor. What woman in her right mind would leave all that?

I certainly never would’ve. Kaitlin must have had her reasons, but honestly? If he had ever been mine, I never would have let him go.

As we threw darts at balloons, tossed rings on glass bottles, and played every other game we could, I couldn’t help the melancholy that lingered deep within. He and I had promised to just enjoy the night together, but I’d finally come out and said it.

I’d told him that I didn’t want them to leave. It’d been selfish and probably far too clingy for a girl who’d only known him about a month, but I hadn’t been able to stop the words from coming out. Only now that they were out there, I wondered if there was any possible way in which they could stay.

I doubted it, but still, saying it out loud had made me realize just how true it was. I would give anything for them to stay here with me forever instead of just having a few more weeks with them, but I was determined not to let him know that.

I’d already told him how I felt. I wasn’t about to let him in on the exact depth of those feelings, so I was doing my best to keep my promise and enjoy the fair.

As we were leaving the fishing game, Samantha came over, chatting to her son for a moment before smiling at us. “Brody and I are going to join the musical chairs competition. Would you guys like to come too?”

Colten immediately shook his head. “No, thank you. Everyone has been talking about it. There are going to be too many people watching.”

I glanced at him, sensing that he needed some encouragement, and I jumped at the chance. “Can I join you? I used to freaking love that competition. I never won, but it was still fun.”

Samantha chuckled. “Maybe you’ll win this year, huh? I should warn you though, I’ve been practicing in my free time.”

She winked at me and I laughed, arching an eyebrow while hoping my enthusiasm would rub off on Colten. “I have a natural talent. I don’t need to practice.”

“Oh, is that why you kept losing?” she teased lightheartedly. “Because of your natural talent?”

“Nah, that was just me giving all the rest of you guys the chance to shine. This is my year for sure. Don’t expect me to go easy on you again.”

As she and I started heading in the direction of the circle of chairs that had been set up, Colten eventually fell into step behind us. To my surprise, Landon joined us too. Soon after, we were all embroiled in a goofy round of musical chairs from which Sam emerged as the victor.

She tossed her hands into the air as she did a happy dance that made her son blush and cringe. “You’re not going to go easy on me? Too bad you didn’t ask me to go easy on you instead.”

“You really need to learn how to talk smack,” I said playfully. “You’re not doing it right, Sam.”

She laughed, ignoring her son’s embarrassment. She and I bantered back and forth a bit. From the corner of my eye, I saw Colten patting his friend on the back, saying something that made him laugh before he joined Landon and me to get some refreshments.

The three of us grabbed some deep fried potato tornadoes and waters, then found a spot to sit on the grass while we watched Brody and Sam compete in the three-legged race. As we sat down, Colten was downright giddy, having so much fun that he couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

Landon was also totally in the moment, laughing with his son like he didn’t have a care in the world. As I sipped my drink, I watched the two of them together, laughing and goofing off, and I realized that I could easily listen to them like this for the rest of my life without growing bored of it.

Resting my chin on my hand, I let out a soft sigh. Why do they have to live so far away? Why couldn’t it have been easier?

Los Angeles was nearly four hundred and fifty miles away from June Lake. It wasn’t a terrible amount of distance, but it was enough that it would be hard to continue a functioning relationship if neither of us moved.

Chances were that even if Landon and I were to decide to attempt a long-distance relationship, we’d see each other on weekends at most. A lot of that time between leaving work on a Friday and before we’d have to be back on Monday morning would be eaten up by traveling, which made me wonder if it was even worth it to do it every weekend.

Probably not, if I was being honest. Plus, I knew how hard Landon worked when he wasn’t here. I also knew that he spent a lot of time in the office after hours, and with him already having decided to try to spend more time with Colten, I didn’t know if he’d have any of it left for me.

I also had no idea if he’d even want to try it. Why would the universe tease me like this?

It had given me the man of my dreams and a kid I could easily grow to love, but only for a couple months. It wasn’t really fair and I really didn’t know if I should let it continue going in the direction it was. I already knew I was going to suffer when they left.

That much, I’d been certain of for a while now. Maybe I should spare myself a bit of hurt by pulling back now instead of spending the next several weeks getting in even deeper with them.

Even as I thought it though, I doubted I could even if I tried.

The fact of the matter was that I was already in too deep, and at this point, I couldn’t imagine that it would make it any easier on me to get out now. Knowing I was going to lose them had bothered me from the very beginning, but I’d gone for it anyway and now I was already in.

“What are you thinking about?” Landon asked suddenly, yanking me out of my thoughts.

I blinked a few times in rapid succession, then smiled and gave my head a light shake. “I was just enjoying the show. The two of you bantering like that is pretty entertaining.”

He chuckled. “Did you hear me ask if you were about ready to go for a walk through the fair? I feel like we haven’t even seen half of it yet.”

“That’s because you haven’t.” I stood up, folded my empty food and drink containers together, and tossed them in the trash before dusting grass off my butt.

Colten chucked away his empty containers too, but Landon kept his water with him, chatting to us as we wandered through the rest of the fair. We bumped into Brittany and Scott again when we turned a corner, and I lifted my eyebrows at the massive fluffy purple teddy bear my brother was carrying.

“What is that?”

Brittany was absolutely glowing as she grinned at me. “It’s the prize he won for me. She’s cute, right? I’m calling her Tiny.”

Scott was drowning under the size of the bear and I snorted as I tried to hold in my laughter. “Tiny seems appropriate. Jeez, Scotty. Could you not have won her a proper prize?”

My brother grumbled. “I’m going to put this damn thing in my truck before it crushes me.”

Brittany giggled and winked at me before she hurried after him. We turned to watch them leave. Colten laughed at my side as Scott nearly ran a woman over with the giant bear obstructing his vision. The next moment though, his laughter cut off abruptly when the woman came into view and I heard Landon suck in a sharp breath.

Glancing up at him, I saw his carefree expression shift right back into the mask of nothingness I remembered from the first time we’d met. I followed his line of sight, realizing that he was staring directly at the beautiful woman my brother had nearly bowled over.

In a bright yellow sundress with a denim jacket over it, she was stunning. Her high heels accentuated her slim figure and long legs. Her glamorous makeup showcased every one of her dramatic features. Her brow was high and smooth and her blue eyes were wide and gorgeously olive shaped.

Long black hair in a fresh blowout hung to her waist, drawing my attention to how trim it was in comparison to her full bust. She was a definite looker, the kind who was making heads turn even as she just stood there.

As my gaze darted back to Landon’s face, however, I didn’t even need to ask who she was. I already knew that this must be Kaitlin, the woman who had walked out on them and broke their hearts to pieces. Seeing her now in a dress that reminded me of sunshine and eyes like a summer sky, I wasn’t sure it would matter what she’d done in the past.

After all, she was Colten’s mother and Landon’s ex. She was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, but she might be here to cause them further heartache. Either that, or to win back her man now that he’d inherited however much money he’d inherited.

My first thought was to jump in front of them, protect them both from her for as long as I could, but my second was for myself. Because if a woman like that had come after her man, then I’d already lost him.

In fact, he might never have been mine to lose.