Rise - Part One (Rise #1)(13)

He can't contain the small smile that courses over his lips. "The men you casually sleep with?"

"I don't care about your past girlfriends, or lovers or even your ex-wife if you have one." I turn to face him directly. "I didn't come here to find out about any of that."

"What did you come here for?" There's absolutely no mistaking the challenge in his voice.

I want to say it. My body needs to say it. I want him. I want him to take me to his bed and f*ck me into tomorrow. I want to forget that he read that letter. I want to forget that he knows that Ansel exists, but I'm not about to give him that satisfaction. "I came here for lunch."

His entire face shifts as he throws his head back in raucous laughter. "Lunch it is then."





Chapter 10


"Why didn't you tell Gabriel about this when you saw him earlier?" He motions towards my smartphone with the fork he's holding between his fingers. "You should have told him."

After Landon had prepared a spring lettuce, cranberry and feta cheese salad, we'd settled into a conversation about my work. I had explained, with no shortage of details, my plan for the opening of the Liore boutique in Los Angeles.

He may not be a fashion expert, but he's a close friend of Gabriel's and if I can impress him that will hopefully translate into him singing my praises the next time he's in the offices of Foster Enterprises.

"Were you on your way to see him when we bumped into each other?" I ask before I take another drink from the glass of white wine he poured for me.

He nods as he chews. He swallows hard, his eyes never leaving mine. "I told him I'd stop by. We don't see each other a lot anymore."

It's a perfect segue into a conversation focused solely on him. "Have you known Gabriel a long time?"

"Years," he says gruffly. "He's a good guy."

I realize that he's not going to drop any breadcrumbs to lead me along so I'll need to push to know more. "When did you meet?"

His brow cocks and I can sense that he's trying to mask the surprise that he feels. He looks down at his almost empty plate before he places the fork on the table. "I met Gabriel the day of the accident."

I'm not a mind reader. I haven't done any research into Landon's past because I've frankly been too focused on my career. He was a nice distraction at the fashion show. He had crossed my mind more times than I want to admit and when I stepped into his path at the deli I assumed it was fate. That assumption and my hope were both lost when he bolted after my father's incessant calls at the restaurant. Now, as I sit here, I realize that he's carrying his own demons.

"What accident?" I try not to sound insensitive.

He finishes the wine in his glass in one large gulp. His hands fold together on the table and just as his eyes catch mine, his lips part as he heaves a deep breath. "We were on vacation. My father took me out fishing and there was an accident."

I rub my hand over my brow. If I thought he was prying when he was asking me pointed questions about Ansel, I couldn't have predicted how my own curiosity would be yearning now, to know more. I'm going to ask the obvious question even though I fully expect he'll be the one telling me it's none of my business. "What happened?"

"We weren't experienced." Something in his voice shifts. "It was a small rented boat. My father moved too quickly and the boat rolled."

I can't imagine the panic that must overtake a person when they are thrust into the water like that. I'm an avid swimmer and fortunately, when I was a child, my parents insisted that my siblings and I all took swimming lessons. It may not save me if I'm ever in the same position as Landon was, but it gave my parents the peace of mind in knowing that we'd all have a fighting chance if our lives depended on it.

"Neither of us thought to put on a life jacket." He studies my face. I can't tell if he's looking for a specific reaction or not but I'm mesmerized by each word he's sharing and I doubt that my expression is hiding any of that.

"He couldn't swim?" I pull on the bottom of the wine glass, bringing it closer to me.

"No." His eyes close briefly. "I held onto his hand for as long as I could but it was so much. At some point he put his wedding ring on my finger before he was swept away."

I want to ask questions but those answers don't matter. Finding out exactly how old he was that day won't change the facts. It's not going to alter the course of history if I carry the knowledge of how he survived and his father didn’t. The only thing that does matter is that I can sense from the sorrow in his voice and the way he's carrying the guilt with him that it's a loss that has touched him at his core.

"Gabriel and his brothers were in another boat. They saw me clinging to the bottom of our boat after it capsized."

It's a horrible way to meet someone who will become one of your closest friends in life but maybe that's why their connection is as strong as it seems to be. "They saved you?"

"Gabriel and his brother, Caleb, dived in the water. They searched for my father." His voice cracks slightly as he continues. "Their younger brother, Asher, called for help."

I don't have to ask if it was too late. "I'm so sorry."