Wedding Bet (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #8)

7. Jamie

7

JAMIE

I hit my alarm clock like I was trying to swat at a fly the next morning, the incessant beeping rousing me from a deep dream. I groaned, tossing off my sheets and trying to shake the sleepiness away. I checked my phone and saw a missed call from my roommate Nicole about an hour ago, and remembered that she’d sent me a photo yesterday night that I’d forgotten to reply to. I called her back.

“Jamie,” she answered, her voice way more chipper and energetic than I felt. “You’re still alive. Good.”

Nicole was one of my better roommates, but we still butted heads sometimes. Both of us had been ready to live on our own for years now, but couldn’t afford to do it. She still looked out for me, though, and was taking care of some things at home while I was gone.

“Alive and hungover,” I said. “Sorry, I meant to reply to the photo last night. Looks like you’re keeping Clark and Lois happy just fine.”

Clark and Lois were two of my houseplants that needed to be watered almost every day, and they looked healthy as ever. I wasn’t at a stage in my life where I was ready for pets or kids, but I’d named my plants long ago, and I didn’t care how cheesy it was—I cared about them.

“Clark and Lois are easy,” she said. “So I take it you were having fun last night, Mr. Hangover?”

I stood by the window, looking out at the falling snow. “I was, actually,” I said. “I had a ton of fun. I went to a winter festival, and had a snowball fight, and built a snowman.”

“Holy shit, hell has frozen over,” Nicole said. “Jamie Blau actually likes snow.”

“That’s a strong way of putting it. But I did have a good time. And then I ended up in this guy’s hotel suite, which was like, the size of three houses , and he had this really good single-malt scotch. Which isn’t a sentence I ever thought I’d say.”

Nicole whistled. “Excuse me,” she said. “Fancy fancy. Is this guy cute?”

“He isn’t cute, he’s drop-dead gorgeous.”

I heard her gasp. “Tell me everything.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I said. “Don’t get too excited. His name’s Landry, and he’s an investor or something. Has houses in Colorado and Los Angeles. Looks like a goddamn model. And for some reason, he wants to be my friend, even though I think he pities me, a little bit.”

I felt a little uneasy saying that last part.

“Pities you?” Nicole said. “How?”

“He tried to offer me a deal to rent a house from him in Orange County,” I explained. “But apparently the place is usually eight grand a month. He’d have to give me a deal so good he’d be losing tons and tons of cash, and I don’t know why he’d want to rent to me, anyway. I don’t know. It made me feel pitiable.”

“Pitiable? Shit. He must really like you.”

I let out a breath, massaging my temple with my fingers. “You know how I am, Nicole. I want a guy to like me for me , not because he wants to swoop in and be my guardian angel, or something.”

“I know you like to be independent so badly that you let it bite you in the ass, all of the time,” Nicole said, a knowing tone in her voice. “If that’s what you’re referring to?”

I groaned. “Sometimes I forget you know me a little too well. And sometimes I hate it.”

“I think some part of you probably likes this guy, too.”

“Are you kidding?” I said. “ Most parts of me like this guy. My head, my hands, definitely my—”

“Okay, okay, I’m going to stop you there,” Nicole said, and I heard the sound of her laughing. “All I’m saying is, send a selfie next time you guys hang out, because he sounds hot, and I want to get a look at him even if you drop him like a hot potato for daring to offer you a good deal on rent.”

“I need a boyfriend, not a landlord,” I told her. “That’s what I told him.”

She hummed. “I wouldn’t want to be in that situation, either. But he sounds like a good person.”

I breathed deep. “He really is. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to send a selfie ,” I said. “After last night, he probably doesn’t want to ever hang out with me again.”

“You’re too hard on yourself, Jamie. Have fun today, okay?”

“After a breakfast of two ibuprofen and a giant coffee, I think I might have a chance at that.”

“Protein. Eat something with protein!”

As we hung up I realized I was smiling, even through my hangover and regret from last night.

I hopped in the shower and turned it up hot. The water pressure and temperature were about a billion times nicer here than I was used to, and I took my time, letting it beat down over my muscles.

I needed to push the reset button on this trip.

To forget about Landry and explore a little more of the town, maybe go out for an inexpensive lunch with Mom.

I only had a few days left here, and I knew I may as well make the most of it. I was going to have to see Landry around the wedding tomorrow, but after that, I’d be heading back to California the next day.

It wasn’t until I went to get dressed and head out of my room that I remembered my big, puffy jacket—my only jacket—was still up in Landry’s room.

I cursed under my breath.

Okay. So I was going to have to interact with him one-on-one at least for this, but I could handle that.

I swung by the hotel lobby first, grabbing two big cups of coffee before heading up to the top floor and knocking on Landry’s door.

Even the front door itself is bigger than the one for my room , I thought idly. Last night I hadn’t noticed it, probably because I’d had alcohol swimming through my blood and had been solely focused on nothing but Landry.

His scent. His height. Every stupidly perfect thing about him.

The door swung open.

I was surprised to see Landry already dressed— very nicely dressed—in a fancy, slate grey suit.

How could one man manage to look so good, no matter the circumstances? I’d expected him to open the door hungover, tired, and bedraggled like I had felt this morning, but he looked fresh as ever.

“Hi,” he said, his brown eyes going wide. “Jamie. How are you feeling?”

He was holding a metal thermos full of coffee that smelled a whole lot better than the stuff from the hotel lobby.

“I’ve been better,” I admitted. “A lot better. But the painkillers are starting to kick in, at least.”

“Come in, come in,” he said, leading me through the door and down the main hall of his suite.

“I brought you a cup of coffee from downstairs, but I see you already have one,” I told him.

“That’s so sweet, Jamie,” he said. “I’ll take it. I’m already on my second cup of the day.” He took the paper cup from me.

I realized with a shock as we entered the living room that Landry wasn’t alone.

There were three people sitting at the dining area table. They were in front of the big, open windows, and two more people were sitting on his couch. All of them were dressed just as nicely and had laptops, cell phones, and thick stacks of paperwork in front of them.

“Oh,” I said. “I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Everyone smiled at me or gave a little nod, and I realized a couple of them were actually on phone calls or in video conference calls.

“Don’t sweat it,” Landry said, placing his hand at the small of my back. “Just a financial meeting with a couple of the Waycott Marketing junior execs. They’re all working on the LA division with a startup I’m getting more involved with.”

My mind was still working to catch up. I’d been so far into vacation mode on this trip that I hadn’t realized being in very legit business meetings during a vacation was a regular occurrence for Landry. A guy like him didn’t really have much in the way of “time off”—he was probably working, bit by bit, all of the time.

I cleared my throat. “Just came for my clothes,” I said under my breath. I had no clue how close Landry was with these other colleagues, but I was pretty sure he didn’t want a failed hookup from last night loudly announcing that I’d left my clothes here.

“Got ‘em in the laundry room,” Landry said, not missing a beat. He emerged again a few moments later with my clothes, neatly folded in a sleek bag.

“Great,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“Landry, do you have the proposal outline from Thomas yet, or are we still waiting on his notes?” one of the guys on the couch called to him.

“Got it on my drive,” Landry told him before turning back to me with a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry. Meeting.”

“Right. Thank you for this,” I told him, gesturing to the bag before turning to head back down the hall.

“Bye, Jamie. And thank you for the coffee.”

I walked out of the room feeling like I’d just interrupted something important, even though I knew Landry wouldn’t mind. It was wild, seeing a business meeting when I’d been expecting to find him alone and sleepy.

But, then, there were a lot of things that I wasn’t used to.

Things that were just a part of everyday life for Landry.

Everything in his world seemed faster. Higher-level. More intense. I could get a lot of stress from making omelettes for tourists day after day, but outside of the work kitchens, I was free.

I headed back down to my room, tossed on my white coat, and went out into the world. The falling snow had slowed by now, and only a few tiny flakes still landed on me as I went out onto the streets of the little ski town. Mom was with Chase right now, and while they hung out, Chase had asked me for help getting some sort of small gift or souvenir for everyone attending the rehearsal dinner tonight. I’d jumped at the chance. I desperately needed something to occupy my mind.

About an hour into shopping, my phone vibrated.

Landry : One of the people in my video conference has a cat that keeps showing up on camera. You have to see this.

A moment later, a close-cropped photo of the cat came through, cut from someone’s background. The cat had all black fur on one side of his face and the other all white.

Jamie : Get back to work, CEO.

Landry : If you think I’m a CEO I need to explain my business to you better.

Jamie : CEO, genius, marketing wizard. All impressive to me.

Landry : Thanks again for the coffee. Needed something more substantial than a vanilla latte after last night.

Jamie : You didn’t seem hungover.

Landry : I clean up well.

I imagined sending the text I actually wanted to send: no, Landry, you don’t just clean up well, you always look so fucking good it hurts. I held myself back, though, opting for something nice but less aggressive.

Jamie : Damn right about that, Lucky Landry.

Landry : Want to know a secret?

Jamie : Of course I do.

Landry : I didn’t get any sleep at all after you left, actually. Not a wink.

Jamie : Bullshit.

Landry : Yep. This morning was painful.

Jamie : No wonder you needed more coffee… and I thought I had a rough one this morning.

Landry : You looked great too, by the way. No surprise there.

Jamie : You trying to be nice so I’ll bring you more coffee?

Landry : Nah, I just enjoy your presence. The coffee is a bonus.

I realized I was smiling to myself like a lunatic as I walked down the cobblestone sidewalk, shopping bags swinging on my wrist.

I liked that I could joke around with Landry. And after feeling like I’d made some sort of fool of myself coming onto him last night, it was a relief to see he was as casual as ever. Just Landry Lucock being himself, I supposed.

Jamie : Thank you, though. There. I know how to take a compliment… sometimes.

Landry : You should come out for dinner and drinks with me and my colleagues tonight. They know how to have fun, and everyone else will be busy at the rehearsal dinner.

I paused for a moment, surprised at the invitation.

Jamie : So you don’t want to run for the hills, far away from me after last night, huh?

I bit the inside of my cheek, watching for the three little dots that would mean he was responding. After a few minutes I realized he may have gotten busy with work again, so I started down the street, just in time for my phone to buzz with a call.

“Shit, a phone call,” I told him, a light breeze blowing my scarf around as I spoke. “I must really be in trouble.”

He hummed, his rich, velvety voice sexy even over the phone. “Only the good kind of trouble, and only if you want to be.”

“If you’re trying to get me to stop coming onto you, you’re doing a bad job when you say things like that.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “Listen, we just broke for an early lunch, so I wanted to call. You don’t actually think I’d want to stop speaking to you after last night, do you?”

I turned a corner and saw a sweeping view of the snowy mountains, all backdrop to a quaint, cobblestoned street. I paused there, leaning against a stone wall and kicking at a pebble with my boot.

“I thought it was a possibility.”

“Jamie,” he said, his voice dropping a few decibels in a way that made me want to melt right into the ground. “Last night was the most fun I’ve had in… weeks? Months?”

I swallowed. “I had fun, too.”

“It’s good to have a new friend. I don’t have enough of them.”

“Right,” I said.

And then suddenly there was a big, fat deflating feeling in my chest.

A new friend , he’d said.

A reminder that he didn’t want anything more—with anyone at all. He didn’t want a boyfriend.

You already knew this, Jamie.

I’d gotten a taste of what it was like to have Landry holding me close. Kissing me, fucking possessively , like he meant every last moment of it.

The image of that version of Landry was now emblazoned on my heart.

Our frozen moments. Our snowglobe.

“So,” he said, “want to come to dinner with me and my colleagues tonight?”