Fool for You

by Elliott, Kelly

  “Hannah, do you have a few minutes to talk?” Landon asked, reaching for my hand and threading his fingers in mine.

  Hannah closed her eyes and mumbled something under her breath before sighing and focusing back on me. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see you here.”

  “Can we come in?” I asked.

  She looked at me again and smiled. “Yes, of course. I was just taking Will for a little walk. Come on in, and I’ll make us some tea.”

  Landon motioned for me to go first, and I stepped into the small foyer. The house was spotless and decorated in a rustic farmhouse style. The entire downstairs seemed to be open concept, with the living room leading to a small dining room that opened up into a decent-sized kitchen.

  Hannah placed Will down in a walker-type thing and wound up something on top, which started playing music. The little boy squealed in delight and started playing with all the small toys attached to the contraption.

  “Sweet or unsweet tea?” Hannah asked as she took two glasses out of a cabinet.

  “Unsweet for both of us,” Landon said. He looked at Will and then stole a glance in my direction before he turned back to Hannah. “Hannah, I’m going to get straight to the point and ask why in the hell you’re telling people that I’m the father of your baby.”

  Hannah’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Wait, what?”

  Landon looked frustrated as he said, “Mary…what’s her last name?” He glanced in my direction.

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Your aunt Mary…”

  “Mary Hammie?” Hannah asked.

  “If her son’s name is Jim, and he’s marrying Bea.”

  Hannah nodded. “Yes, that’s my aunt.”

  I cleared my throat and went on. “Well, Mary told me that you had a son by the name of William and that the father owned the restoration company in Waco. The one that Landon owns.”

  Hannah groaned and dropped her head. “Good Lord, sometimes I want to smack my aunt. I didn’t say he owned the car restoration place in town. I said his daddy owned part of Restoration Hardware.”

  “Wait,” I said, shaking my head. “Restoration Hardware is owned by Phillip Reynolds and Mark Emmes.”

  “Yes. I know. William’s grandfather owns half of it.”

  The truth hit me like a brick wall. “Jason Emmes is Will’s father.”

  Hannah nodded. “Yes, that’s why I thought you were here. Jason told me that he’s been seeing you off and on again, and that y’all might be working things out and getting back together. When I found out I was pregnant, I left the bed and breakfast. I was riddled with so much guilt for having had an affair with Jason when he was still dating you, I just had to leave. Then I saw on the news that you were engaged to Landon—congratulations, by the way.”

  I held up my hand. “We’re actually married. We eloped.”

  “But we’re still planning the wedding,” Landon added. “It’s a long story.”

  Hannah looked at us like we’d both grown two heads before she focused on me again. “Anyway, I figured you finally found out that I was sleeping with Jason while you were together and came to confront me.”

  I shook my head. “No, honestly I don’t care at all, Hannah. You can have him.”

  She laughed. “No, thanks. I’m forever tied to that asshole, now that we have a baby together. His folks are real sweet, though, and they adore Will. I’m actually engaged myself.” Hannah held up the ring on her finger and wore a wide smile. “His name is Greg and he is a professor at the university. We met at a single parents’ barbecue. His wife died giving birth to his three-year-old daughter. William simply adores Candace…she’s Greg’s daughter.”

  “Oh, wow. Congratulations,” I said with a smile.

  “Thank you,” Hannah said as she turned and started to get the tea, clearly just now remembering it.

  We took the glasses she offered to us, and I took a sip before setting my glass down. “Hannah, I want you to know that I have not been seeing Jason. I’ve only seen him once since we broke up over a year ago.”

  She tilted her head and sighed. “I believe you.” She paused. “I think Jason is the type of guy who wants what he can’t have. When he found out I was getting married to Greg, he begged me to take him back. Then when I told him there was no way we would be getting back together, he told me was going to try and work things out with you. That was around two weeks before the news about your engagement to Landon broke, which, by the way, I wasn’t the least bit surprised about. Anyone who saw the way you two looked at each other knew there was something there. I’m pretty sure that was why Jason came to me and…”

  She let her sentence trail off.

  “It’s all in the past,” I said. “I’m just glad to know you’re happy and doing well. I know Addie and my mom miss having you at the bed and breakfast.”

  Hannah smiled. “That’s very sweet, but I’ve honestly never been happier.”

  Landon set his tea glass down on the kitchen counter. “When are you getting married, Hannah?”

  She blushed. “Next weekend. Greg and I are heading to Vegas. We sort of need to get married quickly.” Hannah patted her stomach. “I’m about two months along.”

  “Oh! Congratulations!” I said.

  “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

  Landon smiled. “Listen, we’ll let you and Will get back to your walk. If you could just let your aunt know that I’m not the father, that would be great. Or at least tell her what Jason does for a living so she doesn’t spread the rumor to anyone else.”

  Hannah groaned and shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Landon. I’ll get it straightened out right away. And Emmerson, I’m really, really sorry for everything that happened with Jason. He kept telling me how lonely he was, how you were in love with Landon but wouldn’t admit it. I let him sweet talk me into being with him when I knew he was still dating you. I want you to know how awful I feel about that.”

  I held up my hand to stop her. “Hannah, honestly, it doesn’t bother me in the least. I myself am very happy. The only thing I’m focusing on is the future. The past is the past.”

  “Wonderful. You have no idea how much of a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Thank you so much. Again, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, Landon. I’ll talk to my aunt today.”

  Landon laughed. “Thanks, Hannah. Congratulations on the wedding and the new baby.”

  Hannah’s face lit up. “Thanks again.”

  I gave her a quick hug before she scooped up Will and followed us to the front door.

  After we said our goodbyes again and made our way to the truck, I let out a little giggle. “One word. That’s it. Mary left out one stupid word,” I said, laughing even harder once we got into the truck.

  Landon let out a few curse words and shook his head. “What a damn clusterfuck. I’m glad it turned out to be a misunderstanding and nothing more.”

  “I’m glad she’s found Greg and isn’t marrying Jason. I didn’t want to ask her if she knew about his other fiancée, Lillian.”

  “What a douche. Enough about that asshole, though. When are we going to another cake tasting?”

  Laughing, I reached for his hand. “Are you going to stuff your face so full you get sick again?”

  He huffed. “That was a one-time thing. I learned my lesson.”

  “No cake tasting today. But you’re in luck, the florist said we can stop by anytime. So if you want to swing by there before you drop me back off and head to work, we can flower shop!”

  Landon tried to hide the sour expression on his face, but I caught a glimpse of it anyway.

  “Yay…flowers,” he said in a very unhappy tone.

  “It’ll be fun! You’ll see!”

  Landon

  I WALKED OVER to Emmerson and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You said this was going to be fun. But if I have to smell one more flower, I’m going to throw up again.”

  She peeked up at me over a bouquet of roses. “Have you eaten an
ything?”

  “Ha ha, Emme. I cannot take the smell in here!”

  Emmerson ignored me and picked up a large white rose. “What do you think about roses?”

  I stared down at the flower and smiled. “You’ve always loved white roses.”

  When she didn’t say anything, I lifted my gaze to see her staring at me, tears building in her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, pulling her closer.

  “You never forget anything, do you?”

  I brushed aside a strand of her hair that had fallen from her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear as I smiled down at her. “Not when it comes to you. I also know you like dark chocolate and absolutely hate white. You would kill someone if they ever ate your black licorice, and no one can bother you when you’re watching The Wedding Planner. You buy this weird sponge candy from a store up in the northeast ever since you and Hailey discovered it on a road trip, but you never tell her when you order it so you can randomly surprise her with it. You want two kids. A boy and girl, to be exact… And you’ve always dreamed of a wedding bouquet with anemones in it. But why you’d want something from the ocean mixed in with your flowers has always been sorta weird to me.”

  A tear trailed down her beautiful face, so I leaned down and kissed it away.

  Then she laughed. “Not that kind of anemone. Let me show you what I mean.”

  Emmerson took my hand in hers, and we walked through the labyrinth of flowers that were on display. When she said we were going to a florist today, I thought she meant a store. This place was a giant nursery on crack.

  “These are the flowers I mean.”

  “Oh, wow. I really like these,” I said, looking at the delicate white flower with a dark center. “These are really pretty.”

  “I know, they really are.”

  “Are you going to use them in your bouquet?” I walked over and picked up a red one. “What if you mixed the white and the red anemones in with your white roses? And then on the tables, we can do some sort of display with the white and red ones. That sorta seems Christmas-like to me.”

  Emmerson and I had decided we were going to have our wedding ceremony on the fake ceremony date she had blurted out: December 21. I also knew that she’d always dreamed of a winter wedding, and that simply eloping in a courthouse would never be good enough for her.

  The way my new bride’s eyes lit up made my chest warm. “Landon! I love that idea.”

  An older man with slightly graying hair made his way over to us. “It sounds like we have some flowers picked out.”

  Emmerson swung around and faced him. “John, yes! Now, the wedding is going to be small and simple, so I really want the flowers to reflect that. We’re going to have the ceremony on our parents’ ranch and the reception in the main barn.”

  John immediately started typing away on the iPad he was carrying around with him. “And for the bridesmaids?” he asked with a serious look on his face as he waited for her instructions.

  “There will only be one. Let’s make Hailey’s bouquet all red anemones.”

  John nodded as he typed. “And for the groom and groomsman’s boutonnieres?”

  “White roses,” Emmerson and I said in unison, then we both laughed.

  “I’ll put a note to use red ribbon,” John stated.

  Emmerson smiled. “Once we get closer to the date, John, I’ll let you know how many tables. But we’ll only have one bridesmaid and one groomsman.”

  With a nod, John looked at her. “It’s funny, you’d think the wedding planner would want a huge wedding celebration.”

  Emmerson gave me a wink before turning back to John. “I’m a simple girl, who simply wants to spend the rest of my life with the man of my dreams.”

  John laughed. “I suppose that you of all people know how much planning and money goes into a wedding. And in a blink of an eye, it’s done. Poof. Just like that.”

  Emmerson and I both laughed, and then she leaned up and gave John a quick kiss on the cheek. “So very true, John. So very true.”

  I stood back and inspected the restored nineteen fifty-five Chevy Sedan and smiled. With the blue and white two-tone colors, it looked fucking sharp. The paint job was perfect, even after the owner had decided he wanted a different shade of blue.

  Walking around it, I gave it a close once-over before Hal, the owner of the car, was due to arrive and do his own final inspection.

  The door to the office area opened and I glanced over my shoulder to see if it was Hal. If it was, he was early.

  To my surprise, it was my beautiful wife.

  In between work, planning the wedding, and moving in together, the last three months had flown by. We had of course confirmed the wedding to our close friends when it had leaked, and then Emmerson had posted about it on her blog and Instagram. We’d told people that we didn’t want to wait for the big show, we simply wanted to be together.

  Emmerson had rented out her house and moved in with me. I’d told her to decorate or do whatever she wanted with our house, but the only room she’d touched was one of the bedrooms upstairs, which she’d turned into her office. She had no idea I was having a separate building constructed right outside of the main house as her office. It would hold a small meeting room as well, so that she could meet with potential and current clients.

  “Hey,” I said, wiping my hands on a towel and then heading her way. “I thought you were meeting Abby and Kurt in Austin to look at venues?”

  She shook her head. “Abby decided she wanted to get married at her father’s friend’s house on Lake Travis. She sent me pictures, and I told her I thought it was a beautiful place to have a wedding.”

  “Ah, so are you free the rest of the day?” I asked, finally making my way up the steps that led to the main office. You could look out over the two bays from this vantage point.

  A wide smile grew over her face. “I’m free for the rest of the day. What about you?” Her eyes darted down to the blue and white Chevy.

  “The owner should be here in about—” I glanced down at my watch—“thirty minutes.”

  “Where is everyone?”

  “Gone for the day. I usually like to let everyone cut out early on Fridays.”

  Emmerson lifted her brows. “So, what you’re saying is, we’re alone right now.”

  I nodded. “You have a wicked look in those eyes, Mrs. Lewis.”

  She draped her arms over my shoulders and looked up at me. “You know, we’ve broke in damn near every room in our house, but we haven’t broken in any area of the shop yet.”

  Drawing my head back, I acted like I was shocked. “Why, are you saying you want to have sex in the shop, Emme?”

  She chewed on her lip before she took in a long, slow breath. “I’m saying I want you to fuck me in the shop.”

  Growling, I pulled her against me as my cock instantly went hard. “Where?”

  “Your office,” she whispered, motioning with her eyes to head back through the door that led to the office area and lobby.

  I grabbed her hand and practically pulled her through the door, down the hallway, and to the last door on the right.

  Once we stepped inside my office, I shut and locked the door just in case Hal really did decide to show up early.

  Emmerson quickly started to pull off her shirt, and I grabbed her hands to stop her. “No. Don’t get undressed.”

  She lifted one brow as she tried not to smile. I let my gaze take her in. She was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt that felt so fucking soft, I wanted to bury my face in it. Her tits looked stunning in it, and I could already see her nipples getting hard through the fabric.

  My gaze went farther down, and I took in the curve-hugging black pencil skirt she had on. Fuck, I loved it when she wore skirts. The outfit was finished off with a pair of black heels. She had clearly been dressed up, thinking she would be meeting with Abby and Kurt.

  I ran my hands down the sides of her body and bent until I reached the bottom of her skirt.


  “You’re going to wrinkle my skirt, Landon,” Emmerson said in a breathy voice.

  “You told me you wanted to be fucked, and fucked you shall be.”

  Her chest rose and fell with each heavy breath. When I ran my finger over the lace of her panties, we both moaned.

  “Landon!” she whimpered, pushing her hips toward me in a silent plea for more.

  “I cannot wait to slip inside of you and feel how warm and wet you are, Emme.”

  She moved her hands from my chest to my shoulders, anticipating my next move.

  “I wish I had time to kiss this sweet pussy of yours.”

  Emmerson dropped her head against the door and whispered, “Oh, God.”

  I knew she liked it when I talked dirty to her. It wasn’t something I did all the time, but I loved the effect it had on her when I did bring it out.

  Quickly unbuttoning my jeans, I pushed them down along with my boxers until my dick sprang out, hard and ready to work.

  Emmerson reached down and took me in her hand, and I felt my entire body jerk when she lightly squeezed and stroked me.

  “Fuck, Emme. You make me so damn hard for you.”

  She licked her lips, and I knew she wanted to take me into her mouth, but she was the one who came here to be pleasured, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

  I wrapped my hand around hers and, as much as I wanted her to keep going, pulled it away. I picked her up and pushed her back against the door as she wrapped her legs around my waist.

  With one quick move, I sank deep inside of her, causing us both to suck in a breath.

  I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her scent. She always smelled like sugar and vanilla, and fuck if I didn’t want to lick every inch of her body.

  “Move, Landon. Please!” she said, tightening her thighs around me.

  It didn’t take long for us to get lost in each other. When I was with Emmerson, inside of her, I was in heaven. Nothing and no one else mattered.

  “Wait! Landon! Wait!”

  I stopped moving and drew back to look at her. Both of us were panting as we fought to catch our breath.