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“I walked in.” He shrugs.
He must have slipped past the front desk while the receptionist was on her lunch break. She wouldn’t have allowed him in my office without checking with me first.
“You need to leave,” I state firmly, pointing to the door.
I’m sick and tired of the unwelcome men in my life dropping by whenever they please. It’s clear that I’ve allowed things with Landon to drag on for far too long, and it’s time to put an end to it once and for all. Cash is right; I have to be more direct.
“Come on, don’t be like that, baby,” Landon pleads, moving closer. “You haven’t responded to most of my texts or calls lately, so I had to visit you in person while I’m in town. Did you like the flowers I sent yesterday?” He glances around, frowning when he doesn’t see them.
One silver lining after our breakup was that his law firm relocated him to their New York office, making it much easier to have the space to grieve the loss of our relationship, and his unwelcome advances.
“If I wanted to see you, I would have reached out,” I point out. “Can’t you see that this is over? Our relationship ended two years ago, and you need to accept that we’re never getting back together.”
A sense of relief washes over me at finally being able to say those words to his face.
“You don’t mean it,” he bristles, becoming more agitated. “I made a mistake, baby, but we can move past it. We belong together. Can’t you see that?”
He closes the distance between us and I recoil when his hand grazes my arm, not out of fear, but because I find the cold andclammy sensation unpleasant. It’s different from Cash’s touch, which is warm and inviting.
“Landon, this has got to stop. We’re never—”
“What. Is. That?” he interrupts, eying my ring with disdain.
“My wedding ring,” I state with a genuine smile. “I told you when I texted you the last time that I had moved on.”
“I figured that was your way of playing hard to get. How could you do this to us?” Landon cries as he pulls at his hair in agitation.
I let out a humorless laugh. “Do this to us? There is nous. There hasn’t been since the day I found you fucking your assistant in the same bed you and I had slept in together the night before.”
“Everly, if you let me walk out of here, you’ll regret it,” he says with a vacant tone.
His empty threat sounds like something my dad would say. How did I not see it before? They have so much in common—always needing to have the final word, wanting things done their way, and unwilling to accept when an outcome isn’t in their favor. If Landon and I had stayed together, I would have been subjected to a lifetime of emotional tirades and criticism.
Cash would never treat me like this.
He’s the opposite of Landon in every way—loyal, protective, and attentive.
“If you don’t walk out of here,you’llbe sorry.” As if I conjured him from thin air, I’m relieved when I hear Cash’s voice. I look over to find him standing in the doorway, holding a bag of takeout.
He strides toward me, wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me behind him in a protective gesture.
The strong-willed part of me can’t help being offended, but the hopeless romantic in me swoons at his instinct to shield me from harm.
“You have no right to talk to me that way. I’m Everly’s fiancé,” Landon declares, feigning confidence.
“You mean ex-fiancé,” Cash corrects him. “It’s been over two years since you broke up, so why are you still harassing my wife?’
Landon looks like a mouse cornered by a cat, his gaze darting to Cash’s scar as he tries to gauge if he’s in danger.
“Everly, come on babe, please tell me this is a joke,” Landon whines, cautiously glancing over Cash’s shoulder to get a look at me.
“We’re done,” I reiterate. “Now, leave.”
“Baby, pl—”
“You work at Thompson & Tate, right?” Cash interrupts him with a menacing tone.
Landon’s eyes grow wide, like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh, yeah.”