The sound of Landon’s voice stirred up butterflies deep in my belly.
I opened my eyes and met his gaze from across the room. It struck me how incredibly handsome Landon was. It wasn’t the first time I had noticed it, but for some reason right then, with the way he was looking at me, it felt different. My heart sped up a bit, and I slowly dropped my gaze, taking in every inch of him.
His dark hair was cut short, and he wore a baseball hat that was turned backward. My stomach did a weird dip, and I had the urge to cross the room and kiss him.
Landon’s blue eyes seemed to light up the room, and when he raised one brow at me, I felt a rush of warmth run the course of my entire body until it pooled in the depths of my womb.
Oh my goodness, I want this man like I want my next breath.
With a quick shake of my head, I tried to remember the last time I was with someone. Almost a year, and the guy I’d dated had ended up being a complete waste of my time.
No matter how hard I’d tried to feel something more for him, I couldn’t. And Jason had known it. Once Landon came back to town and we started spending more time together, Jason gave me a choice: him or Landon. I never even had to verbalize my pick. Jason saw it in my eyes and simply turned and walked away from me. Just like that, my relationship with him was over. I hadn’t even been upset about it.
“Everything is okay now, I think,” I said to Landon. “I’m really sorry they let it slip. I should warn you, People magazine reached out about you being one of the charity date volunteers. Janet promised me that she’s going to tell them no comment and that she won’t confirm if it’s true.”
Landon leaned against the doorframe and gave me a lazy smile, his two dimples coming out to show off. “I’m not afraid of a little press, you know, Emme.”
I returned his gesture with one of my own, although it felt forced. “I know that, but you left all of that for a different life, and I feel like I just threw you right back into it.”
He pushed off the door and walked farther into the room, stopping at the edge of the desk. “You know, if you had asked me to do it, I would have said yes.”
I looked up at him in shock. “You would have?”
Landon nodded. “Don’t you know by now, Emme, that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you?”
I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. The earnest look in his eyes made my breath stall in my throat.
“You’re my best friend, after all, and I know if I needed your help with something, you wouldn’t think twice.”
“I wouldn’t,” I quickly said.
He jerked his head toward the door. “Come on, everyone’s starving. Let’s go eat.”
After Landon and I got back to the kitchen, we all helped get everything ready. Hailey and I set the table, Noah and Landon hauled food from the kitchen to the massive dining room, and my father placed the two bottles of wine Landon had brought in the middle of the table. They were cabernet sauvignon, and when my father first saw them, he’d slapped Landon on the back and smiled.
We all sat except for Landon. “I have to say that I was given a heads up on something this evening and knew we’d be celebrating, so I wanted to have a wine that made this dinner a bit more special.”
Everyone glanced around the table, but I noticed Hailey smiling a bit bigger.
“We have here the two thousand and two Screaming Eagle cabernet sauvignon.”
“Lord, son, you must have paid a small fortune for that wine,” Emmit said.
“I did, considering I bought an extra one for Hailey,” Landon replied. He looked at Hailey and winked as he opened the wine. He walked around the table and filled up each glass, saving Hailey’s for last.
Motioning to his sister, Landon said, “Hailey, I believe you have an announcement to make.”
All eyes went to Hailey, and I couldn’t help but notice how Addie covered her mouth with her hand, gasping when Hailey slipped something on her finger.
Was that an engagement ring?
“Since Mike had to leave town for a business meeting, I asked him if I could share the news tonight without him being here, and he said yes. Well, I guess I should say I said yes.”
She held out her hand and the entire table erupted into cheers.
“You’re getting married!” Addie and my mother both said at the same time, while Noah stood and walked over to give Hailey a kiss on the cheek. I stayed seated, patiently waiting to give Hailey my congratulations.
When it was my turn, I pulled her in for a hug. “You didn’t tell me!”
She laughed and drew back as I picked up her hand and looked at the massive teardrop diamond on her hand. Her boyfriend—no, fiancé now—worked for a large oil company and was moving to the Dallas area for work by the end of the year. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he’d asked Hailey to marry him. They’d both hated the idea of being apart and in a long-distance relationship.
“He just asked me last night before he left for Dallas. The only person I told was Landon.”
I gave her a pretend scowl and shook my head. “When did he push me out of the top spot for news like this?”
Landon laughed and kissed Hailey on the forehead. “I am her brother.”
Hailey beamed up at him. “Besides, we all know he would have gotten the cheapest wine he could find if I didn’t tell him I had news to share first.”
Everyone erupted into laughter as we all took our places at the table.
“Emme, you’re going to help me plan my wedding, right?” Hailey asked with a wiggle of her brows.
Smiling, I replied, “Of course! And I’ll even give you a BFF discount.”
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun, planning this wedding!” Addie said as my mother nodded in agreement.
“Should I pull out our wedding scrapbook?” I asked, and Hailey looked at me with a shocked expression.
“You still have it?”
I chuckled. “Of course I do! How do you think I became so interested in wedding planning?”
Conversation over dinner was mainly about Hailey and Mike and the upcoming wedding. When did they think they wanted to get married? Where did they want to do it? Who was going to be in it? From the sounds of it, Hailey and Mike wanted a big wedding, which wasn’t a surprise. Hailey was always a bit more over the top than I was. If it were me, I’d want a small, intimate wedding.
“You’ll be my maid of honor, right?” Hailey asked as she reached across the table and grabbed my hand.
Tears filled my eyes, and all I could do was nod. I was so overwhelmingly happy for Hailey. She was like a sister to me. Yet, at the same time, a sadness swept over me, and I couldn’t understand why.
I hated to admit that my heart sank when she mentioned getting married on the ranch. I had always sort of thought I would be the one who got married first. And that I’d get married here on the ranch. It wasn’t like I was jealous…or was I?
Reaching for my glass of wine, I took a long drink. For Pete’s sake, what was going on with me today? I was having strange feelings toward Landon, and I was jealous that one of my oldest and dearest friends had found happiness and was getting married. Why in the world was I feeling so out of sorts?
From the corner of my eye, I saw Landon glance at his phone. He smiled and typed a reply back. When he looked up and caught my gaze, I smiled. “Hot date later?”