Lies in Love (34 page)

Landon
nodded and led the way out of the apartment, jogging down the stairs
with Talia’s footsteps trailing a few steps behind. Dreading a
horde of questions, he planned to keep a swift pace so that it would
be too difficult to carry on a conversation. Quickly taking off, he
raced toward a dimly lit apartment complex. Talia kept up with his
pace for a couple of blocks, but soon she was panting, struggling to
continue. Landon stopped a few yards ahead, turning and jogging in
place while she paused to catch her breath. “You coming?”

She
clutched her side as she continued to pant. With her free hand she
held up a finger signaling for him to hold on a minute. “I …
haven’t … run … since … high …
school.” She was gasping for air between words.

Landon
took pity on her, jogging back to her side. “Let’s head
back.”

“No.
I’m fine.” She tried. “Just give me a... minute.”

Landon
chuckled. She was so damn stubborn. “I’m not in the
business of killing my running companions. Let’s just go back,
okay?”

Talia
huffed, rolling her eyes then nodded. “Fine.”

When
she could stand upright, he began jogging in place waiting for her to
begin moving again. He decided it was in her best interest if he took
it slow. The run had done the trick. He was no longer thinking about
his afflictions. The only thing on his mind now was getting Talia
safely back to the apartment without her passing out on him. She
began a slow jog next to him as they made their way back.

When
they were at the base of the stairs to her apartment, she leaned
against the railing and uttered, “I didn’t realize I was
so out of shape.”

“Sorry,
I think that was my fault.”

“I
should’ve known. You said run. You weren’t kidding.”

“No.”
Seeing a bead of sweat sliding down her cheek, Landon reached up and
wiped it away. He took her hand in his and led her up to the
apartment, letting it fall just inside the door and proceeding
straight to her bedroom. Being back in her apartment had his anger
coursing through him again.

He
heard the floor creak as she entered the room behind him. “Landon,
are you okay?”

The
look of worry on her face had him longing to make her understand how
much she meant to him. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.
I’ll be fine.”

“You
can talk to me, you know.” She moved closer, but his anger had
him stepping a few steps back.

“Same
goes for you, Petal.” He had to turn the focus off of him to
try and get the anger out of his system.

She
shook her head and turned for the bathroom.

“I
love you, Tal.” He watched her stop in her tracks, then fall
against the doorjamb. Inching closer, he struggled with how to
continue, not interested in starting a fight. He needed her to know
how he felt, but the gumption that surfaced was caused by the anger
that his father had triggered. He wanted her to fully grasp the pain
he felt every time she denied him the three words that he ached to
hear. “I truly love you. From the bottom of my heart I do, but
it breaks me just a little more when you deny me those three words.
They’re just three little words, Tal.”

Her
eyes looked to him, fully wounded. “They’re not just
words though, Landon. They’re so much more.”

Landon
sank to the bed and dropped his head in his hands, fearing that the
love he felt for her wasn’t reciprocated; it hadn’t been
enough. His emotions were choking him when she spoke again.

“I
spent years listening to my parents say those words every day. Those
words are supposed to hold so much power, yet when things didn’t
go the way they’d planned they just threw their marriage away.
The words weren’t enough for their selfish decisions. Sixteen
years were just thrown down the drain like they meant nothing at
all.” The bed sank next to him and Talia’s warmth
surrounded him. “People say
I
love you
all the time, maybe too often. I just can’t throw those words
around, because honestly I’m not sure what they mean anymore.”
She took Landon’s hand in hers. “I know I have deep,
strong feelings for you, Landon. Please let me be enough.”

Her
hand was trembling in his, pulling his gaze to her tear-stained face.
His heart broke for every tear. He’d never intended to make her
cry. “Petal. Don’t you know you’re more than enough
for me?”

“I’ve
never been enough for anyone. My mom could never find anything good
in me. Hell, she moved halfway across the continent just to be rid of
me. I was a teenager with so many dreams, but they all died the day
she left. And my dad … he lives on another fucking continent.
He’s never outright shared his disappointment, but what else
could make him move a world away? I couldn’t even be enough
for a relationship I poured myself into after my parents’
divorce. Anyone that I thought I’d loved has left, even—”

Landon
gave her hand a gentle squeeze urging her to go on.

“God,
Landon, I want to be enough, but what if I can’t? What if I’m
not made that way?”

“Don’t
say that. Who was there for me last night when my dad barged in? Who
didn’t give up on me when I tried to shut her out? That was
you, Petal. You’ve seen me through more than you realize and
that’s enough. We’ll figure the rest out in time.”
He kissed the top of her head while pulling her tighter to him. He
longed to fill the void of rejection from her past with the knowledge
that she was everything he needed and more. Through the anger of his
father’s selfishness and the grief that she couldn’t say
I love you
,
he finally understand that the words she said meant so much more
.
And that,
for now, was enough.

Landon knocked at the door
while looking down at the slip to search for the name. He’d
grown so accustomed to deliveries that he no longer checked the
names, worrying about what past client might be on the other side of
the door. Seeing the name on the page he muttered, “Shit,”
just as the door opened.

“Landon?” A dark
remnant of his past, Lady Vanna, appeared in a black tube top that
barely covered her huge breasts and a leather, ultra-mini skirt. She
was wearing crimson lipstick and her eyes were surrounded by a thick
line of black. Her outfit didn’t surprise him a bit. It was the
hair that knocked him back a step. She’d dyed it fire-engine
red and cut it in a bob. It was a dramatic change from the vampiric
black he’d seen before.

“Lady Vanna, hi.”
He held tight to the cellophane-wrapped roses, worried he might drop
them from his shaking hands.

“Long time no see.”
Her fingernails sank into the flesh where his tattoo marked his skin.

Landon’s hand reached
to his neck, pulling at the collar of his shirt. “For you.”
He held out the flowers, immediately regretting not clarifying that
they weren’t from him.

“You brought me
flowers?” She gripped his shirt and pulled him inside.

“Actually…”

“I’m glad you
found me. I knew you’d return to me. We’re meant to be.”
She held onto his shirt as she took the arrangement of blood lilies
and black roses from him and placed it on a side table. With her
foot, she kicked the door shut. “I’ve been waiting for
you.” With both hands free, she shoved him against the wall and
began pulling his shirt away from the waistband of his slacks. “What
are you wearing?”

“Stop. I’m not
here...”

Her mouth crashed against
his and she bit his bottom lip, stopping his words. “Stop
talking.”

“Lady--.” He
pushed against her, but she had a death grip on his shirt and one of
the buttons fell away. “Stop.” With a less-than-gentle
shove, he pushed her away and slid against the wall to the door. “The
flowers aren’t from me.”

He saw her eyes nearly cross
trying to figure out what he said. “What do you mean?”

With the doorknob gripped in
his hand, he answered, “I’m just delivering them. The
card says who they’re from.”

She looked to the card and
back to Landon. “That’s no matter.” She was back
against him, pawing at his chest. “We’ll make up for the
last time we were together?”

“I’m sorry, but
I have other deliveries to make. I have to go.” He spun around
and yanked the door open, running out of the apartment. As he ran
down the hall, he tried to tuck his shirt back into his pants. He was
panicked when he got back to the van and fell inside. Looking in the
visor mirror, he saw that his top button was gone and there was
bright red lipstick all over his face. He’d never be able to
explain this to Talia, much less the rest of the girls.

Freaking out, he stopped at
a gas station and ran inside, frantic to wash the lipstick from his
face. He stepped inside a dimly lit restroom with mildew and God knew
what else lining the walls, trying to breathe through his mouth, but
fearing what germs might enter. Eventually he held his breath for as
long as possible as he washed the lipstick from his face. Under the
poor illumination, he was fairly certain he’d gotten all of the
lipstick off until he returned to the van and saw traces of the
makeup around his lips. He grumbled, but hated the thought of
returning into that restroom. He could still feel the odor deeply
embedded in his nose. Deciding to take his chances, he returned to
the shop to finish cleaning up, hoping Talia and the girls couldn’t
see what a mess he was. He slipped into the backroom, planning to
duck into the bathroom when he heard Reina’s mutterings.

“¿!Pero
que coño?¡ Chingada madre.” Her eyes zeroed in on
him like laser beams.

He
didn’t have time to explain if he was going to clean himself up
before Talia got suspicious. He quickly slipped into the bathroom,
flicking on the dim light to examine what was left of the damage.
Soaking a paper towel, he began rubbing at his face when he noticed
the fire-engine red lipstick stained on his collar. In that moment,
he knew he was screwed. As if the missing button wasn’t bad
enough, he knew there was no explaining the evidence that lingered on
his shirt. He hoped he could sneak up to the apartment and change
without any further confrontation, but his hopes were dashed when he
opened the door and found Camey before him, arms crossed.

“What
the hell is going on?” She shoved Landon back in the bathroom
and closed the door behind them, while Reina mumbled something Landon
couldn’t understand.

“It’s
not what it looks like.” He was still trying to regain his
composure as he leaned against the bathroom sink.

“That’s
good to hear since it looks like you just got back from fucking some
whore.”

Landon shook his head as his
hand pushed through his hair for maybe the twentieth time since he
ran into Lady Vanna. “I’d never cheat on Talia.”

“The proof says
otherwise.” She flicked his collar.

He involuntarily reached for
it and rubbed where he imagined the lipstick still shone like a
beacon. “It was my last delivery.” Camey shifted her
weight; eyeing him skeptically. “She was a past client of mine
and she thought the flowers were from me.”

“So you fucked her?”

“Damn it, no. She
dragged me into her apartment and mauled me.” He realized he
was shoving his hand through his hair again and dropped it to his
side. “I’m lucky I got out of there with
this
little damage.”

“You expect me to
believe that?” she scoffed.

“It’s the
truth.” He knew he sounded defeated, but if he couldn’t
convince Camey, there was no convincing Talia when Camey told her
what she presumed.

“I can’t believe
I…” She turned around to the door. It wasn’t an
easy task in such a small space. “You need to get upstairs and
change before Talia sees this. She’ll never believe your story.
Hell, I don’t know why I believe it.”

“But you do?”

“Yeah.” She
rattled the knob and uttered, “I’ll run interference
while you go upstairs and get cleaned up.”

“Thank you.” His
hand briefly stopped her, “What about Reina?”

“I’ll handle her
too. Just keep yourself out of trouble. If you see any familiar
names, I want to hear about it. Got it?”

“Yeah.” She
slipped out of the bathroom, leaving Landon alone inside.

He waited silently, looking
through the crack of the door while Camey pulled Talia into the
showroom. When he saw Talia was out of sight, he slipped upstairs to
change, knowing after this he would owe Camey big time.