Page 47 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

LYDIA

“ H ow’s it been only having one hand the last week?” Josie asked as she took a seat in front of my desk.

“It’s been a bitch.” Learning to do things one-handed all week made everything twice as difficult. Even movement with my fingertips was limited. What normally took me a few minutes, took me twenty now.

“Bet getting dressed is a joy.” Josie laughed.

“You have no idea.” I was getting better at it, but it was still hard to pull up my pants. I had Landon help me a few mornings, but the last thing I would do was become dependent on a man. No, thank you. It might have taken me more than half the time it usually did to get ready, but I did it.

“Sorry that the cast doesn’t really go with the bridesmaid dresses.” Of course there was nothing I could do about it, but I felt bad for ruining the pretty aesthetic of Josie’s wedding with my hand.

“Don’t even start.” Josie sent me a look, eyes narrowed. “I don’t care about the dresses. You can be my something blue.”

“I mean, why not.” I snorted and looked at the blue cast. “You’re finishing up some stuff and taking the rest of the week off, right?” I switched the subject to work.

“Yeah, just wanted to submit the last of the photos for the next issue. I’m meeting Evelyn later to make sure the caterers are ready for Saturday.”

“Are you ready? Friday’s the big day.” Six days until she became Josie Boone.

“Yeah.” Josie didn’t sound convincing at all. Clicking save on the file I was currently getting ready to send to print for our next issue, I gave her my full attention.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Josie waved me off.

“Yeah, I don’t believe that for a second.” I gave her a look.

“It’s just…” Josie chewed her bottom lip, eyes clouded with worry.

“What if Wyatt’s not ready? We’ve been together for two years, but what if it’s still too soon?

” I could practically see her mind racing, overthinking every detail.

Honestly, I didn’t expect anything less with the wedding only days away.

“Jo.” I didn’t speak until she looked at me again. “You and Wyatt make sense. You fit together in a way that doesn’t leave room for doubt. He’s not second-guessing this one bit. You know he loves you.” I met her eyes, letting the truth settle between us.

“If anyone can make marriage work, it’s you two. I’m not going to say marriage is easy—it’s not. Nothing is. But you two love each other enough to always work through it.”

“I just don’t want to lose him,” Josie whispered.

“You won’t. Trust me. You are never going to lose Wyatt. That guy is sickeningly in love with you.”

“He really is, isn’t he?” A small smile played on her lips.

“It’s quite nauseating.” I said it with a smile so she knew I was joking. “Don’t worry, everything is going to be amazing. I mean, it’s Tasha for crying out loud.” Josie laughed at my words. “If she has a hand in it, you know things will be just fine.”

“Very true. I’m afraid she’s going to yell at one of the workers if something goes wrong.”

“Oh, definitely.” The two of us shared a laugh.

“Thank you, Lyd.” Josie reached around and squeezed my left hand.

“Always. Now go finish up and get out of here. You have a wedding to get ready for.” I made a shooing motion toward the door. I told her to take the whole week so she shouldn’t have even been at the office.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll see you later.” Looking lighter than she did earlier, Josie stood up and left my office with a wave over her shoulder.

I sat back in my chair as I rubbed my aching chest with my hand. I hated that Josie was worrying about her wedding. I knew Wyatt would never leave her at the altar. The guy barely left her side as it was.

Everything she said stirred up memories I tried leaving behind. Ones I spent the last six years pushing down, hoping they’d eventually fade. Josie had no idea she stirred something so raw deep down inside of me.

Not wanting to dwell on it, I gave myself a moment to breathe. Once the tightness in my chest began to ease, I picked up my phone and dove back into work.

“Yes, that would be amazing.” I gave a nod to the woman on my computer screen. I had to fight to keep my expression neutral. Somehow, I managed a smile that didn’t scream, I’m freaking the fuck out.

“We’re looking forward to putting the magazine in our stores.” She smiled at me in return through our video call.

“Sounds great. I’ll talk to you soon.”

As soon as the video call disconnected, I leaned back in my chair, the grin I held back growing until I felt like it would split my face. We just landed another huge store chain that wanted to carry Fusion Weekly .

Unable to help myself, I wiggled in my chair, almost giddy.

This was the third store I made a deal with in the last month.

The fact they were paying us to give them issues and then percentages of sales on top of that.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much money that would mean for the company.

I would finally be able to give everyone raises and hire more employees.

Which would be much needed since we now had two issues to publish each month.

“I take it it’s been a good day?” A familiar voice suddenly said from my doorway. I lifted my head and grinned when I saw it was Landon.

“Very good day.” I turned my chair around to look him over as he leaned against the door frame. I didn’t know he was going to drop by. The sight of him made my heart race. “What are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d see if you wanted to get something to eat.” There was a hint of hesitancy in his voice as he spoke. Like he was worried about my reaction.

“Like a… date?”

He was quiet for a moment before he nodded.

“Yes, a date.” Landon looked at me as if he was prepared for me to say no. If he had asked me a few months ago, I would have. But now… now things were different. After having a good day, all I wanted to do was tell Landon about it.

“I’d love to.” The smile that graced his face at my words made my own lips stretch. He really was beautiful when he smiled. “Just let me close this down.”

“No rush.”

As I saved my work and turned off my computer, I felt Landon’s eyes on me the whole time. He stayed leaning against the doorframe, looking every bit a girl’s fantasy as his large frame claimed the space.

With my phone and purse in hand, I pushed away from my desk. As soon as I was in front of Landon, he reached out. One hand grabbed my hip to pull me close, and the other pinched my chin as he placed a kiss on my lips. I sighed against him, soaking in the feel of his lips against mine.

“How’s the hand?” he asked. I felt a bit dazed—a common side effect from Landon Boone’s kisses. It took me a second to answer.

“It’s okay. Kinda hurts.” Which wasn’t a lie. I was trying not to take too many pain pills throughout the day. They made my head feel weird, and the last thing I wanted was brain fog at work.

“Have you taken your pills today?”

“Not yet.” The disappointed look on his face made me laugh under my breath. “I will when we eat.” Landon made it his job to constantly ask if I took my medicine which was insanely cute.

“I’m going to have to call you every few hours to make sure you take them, aren’t I?”

“Who says I’d listen?” I retorted.

“Oh, you will.” I smirked at the glint in his eyes. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

Moving to the side, Landon placed his hand on my lower back as I led us through the empty office. It was five o’clock, so everyone had already left to go home.

“So, where are we going?” I asked after he helped me into his truck and pulled away from the curb.

“It’s a surprise.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “If you try to murder me just know I took a tae kwon do class once.”

“Why do women always jump to murder? You guys are obsessed with killing.”

“You don’t sit and watch Dateline?” I asked.

“No?” He looked over at me, genuinely confused as to why he would.

“We’re going to watch one after dinner. I have a few on my DVR.”

“You record a show about murderers?” Landon opened and shut his mouth a few times before shaking his head.

Laughing, I answered. “Yeah.”

“Women are so…”

“Amazing, I know.” I smirked in his direction. “How was work?” I asked after a few moments.

“Good. Starting to finalize the vendors for Hockey for Kids and got the okay from Coach Barnum for the guys to come and be a part of it with the playoffs starting.”

“That sounds great. The article about it will be printed in two weeks, so that should bring quite a bit of people.”

“Speaking of the magazine.” Landon looked over at me. “You seemed pretty happy earlier.” I turned in my seat a little so I could look at him.

“I had just gotten off the phone with one of Toronto’s major store chains. They want to put the magazine in all sixty of their stores!”

“Holy shit, seriously?” Landon took his eyes off the road for a second to look at me in surprise.

“Yeah. It’s the third major store chain that’s agreed to stock the magazine.

They’ll put them at the front near the registers so everyone can see them.

Deciding to do two issues a month is actually smart because it means people will buy double the amount.

” I babbled on. “It’s going to be insanely busy for the next few months, but with the money from these sales, I should be able to hire more people and give everyone raises. ”

Landon came to a stop at a red light, glancing at me with a tenderness in his eyes, his features relaxed and touched with a quiet warmth, as if he was seeing straight through to the heart of me.

“What?”

“You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”

My cheeks instantly flamed at his words. But rather than shying away from the compliment, I sat up straighter.

“Of course.”

Landon let out a laugh. He reached out and squeezed my thigh.

“That’s my Blondie.”

“So tell me.” I leaned forward, elbows resting on the table as I looked at Landon. He was sitting directly across from me, relaxed back in his chair, with a beer lifted to his lips.

“Hmm.”