Page 15 of Mr. Wrong (Hollywood Knights #1)

Fifteen

Ellenore

“You’ll have to excuse my brother, Ms. Pierce.”

I stand slowly, jamming my rejected dinosaur into my pocket. When I look at Landon, I find him watching the doorway Lex and Cassie just disappeared through. “I’m afraid Lex is having a hard time accepting the reality of the situation.”

I’m not sure what that means or why it makes me feel so defensive so I set it aside. “It’s okay. I’m here to work—not make friends.” Even as I say it, I feel my heart twist a bit in my chest.

Landon nods his approval. “I’m afraid I’m running late for a meeting but I can give you a quick tour before I go,” he says, holding out a hand to usher me away from the front door, he leads me out of the foyer, walking me past a gorgeous, curved staircase and under an antique, crystal chandelier.

Walking from one room to the next, I detect a warmth I didn’t expect. Large, airy rooms. Gleaming hardwood floors and stone fireplaces. Not one of those giant mega mansions you’d expect from someone who commands fifty-million a movie.

He shows me a room just off the kitchen.

“This is where you and Cassie will be spending most of your time,” he says, leading me through an arched doorway.

Like the rest of the house, the room is big and bright, a large bank of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard.

From here I can see the entire backyard. The pool. The pool house.

Great.

The room is empty, save for a large adult-size desk and a single student size desk.

“I have no idea what you’ll need but if you want to place an online order, I’ll make sure it’s paid for,” he says, indicating a stack of teaching supply catalogs on the desk that is presumably mine.

“Okay.” I can hear Lex and Cassie in the kitchen, the low tones of his voice mixed with her higher pitched chatter.

The conversation frequently punctuated by laughter.

Picking up the stack of catalogs, I tuck them against my chest and try to focus on the mega-movie star in front of me. “Is there a—”

“No budget.” He digs his hands into the pockets of his slacks and shakes his head.

“I’m willing to follow your lead where Cassie is concerned,” he says, laughing a little at my expression.

“I know I came off as an asshole during the interview process, Ms. Pierce, but now that the legalities are behind us, I hope that we can have an open and honest partnership, for my daughter’s sake. ”

Open?

Honest?

Okay—I spent last night in your pool house, banging your brother, six ways from Sunday. I woke up with his head between my legs and he makes a really great cup of coffee.

“I’d like that,” I tell him, hugging the catalogs a little closer to my chest. “We can start by you calling me Elle.”

“Okay.” He flashes me a quick smile while rubbing the bridge of his nose with the tip of his index finger, the gesture so much like Lex that I feel my heart do a double tap against my ribcage. “ Elle —call me Landon.”

“Okay.” I nod. “That’s fair.”

He smiles again. “I really am late so I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave it to my brother to get you settled in.” He lifts his hand again, this time gesturing toward a set of French doors tucked into the corner. “Did you bring your belongings?” He tilts his head. “I didn’t see any bags or—”

“No bags.” I shake my head, grappling for a second as to why I showed up to my first day of a live-in position without so much as underwear on.

Because your underwear are lost in his pool house somewhere—because his brother took them off and tossed them god knows where.

“I didn’t want to show up with a bunch of luggage—I wasn’t sure how much Cassie knew about the situation and I didn’t want to…” I snap my mouth shut against the rambling torrent of crazy that’s tumbling out of my mouth. “I can always go back for my things this afternoon.”

“I appreciate that,” he says, giving me one of his movie-star grins. “I’ll make arrangements with Lex—he’ll take you to get your belongings this afternoon.”

“No—I can get my things on my own.” I say it too loud. Shake my head too fast. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

The movie star grin slips a little but he recovers quickly. “Don’t worry—Lex is a good guy. He’s just not happy about the situation.” Before I can ask what that means exactly, he lifts his hand to usher me through the door. “But he loves Cassie so he’ll play nice, for her sake.”

“Okay.” More confused than ever, I force myself to think of Cassie and what’s best for her, rather than the fact that the thought of facing Lex again makes me want to find the nearest, heaviest rock and crawl under it. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”