I parked outside Blossom & Grow and drew a breath. Everything was going to change. Everything already had, but it would change again.
Landon was talking to a customer. His smile was genuine. Just like the man himself.
I slid my hands over my belly. Landon was nothing like Kyle, but it wasn’t any easier to tell Landon he was going to be a father than it was to tell Kyle.
I knew it as soon as I got sick in the grocery store. The last time I threw up was when I was pregnant with Mikayla. I went back to my cart and added a pregnancy test, then raced through self-checkout so I didn’t have to face anyone when I bought it.
It wasn’t a surprise when it was positive, but it wasn’t entirely a good thing either. Landon wanted kids, and he wanted a wife, but I wasn’t sure he wanted any of those things with me. And I refused to marry another man who didn’t really want to marry me.
The big change with this pregnancy was I loved the father of my unborn baby. I’d known it for a while, but I’d been fighting my feelings for him. It was time for me to be honest with him and find out if we had a chance at a future.
I opened the door to Blossom & Grow. The chime above the door told him I was there, and he looked up with a smile.
His face froze when he saw me. He wasn’t happy to see me.
Shit.
He said something to the customer he was talking to, then approached me. “Hey. I thought you had plans.”
I nodded and wrapped my arms around my belly. “I do.” I shook my head. “I did. I wanted to see you.”
“Are you okay?”
“I quit my job,” I blurted.
“You what?” He cupped my elbow and led me through the store. He nodded to a young woman. She smiled at us, then went to help the customer Landon was talking to when I walked in.
He pushed the door to the consultation room closed and pulled me into his arms. “Are you okay? Which job did you quit? Why?”
I shuddered in his arms. “I’ll be fine. My editor wasn’t happy with the article I wrote. She wanted me to make up drama, and I refused.”
“Good for you. That article was amazing.”
I smiled. I sent it to him when I sent it to Natalie, Daisy, and Amelia. “Thanks.”
“I mean it, Casey. You’re a talented writer with a knack for capturing the emotion of a day. You made me feel their love. It was exceptional.”
“Thanks.”
He tilted my head back. “Were those your lunch plans? You had something with work?”
I shook my head. “I… No. I was supposed to meet the guy I matched with.”
“Oh.” He drew a breath, and I hurried to continue.
“We set it up a while ago. Weeks ago. I told you he was the one I was thinking about with flirting lessons, but when we started sleeping together… I haven’t talked to him in a while. We agreed to meet today, and if either of us didn’t show up, it was fine. I doubt he’s going to show up because we haven’t talked, but I felt like I should go so I could tell him…”
“Tell him what?” Landon whispered.
I looked up at him. “Tell him I met someone else. Someone I… Someone I am not ready to end things with yet.”
“He’s a lucky guy,” Landon said.
I snorted. “When I walked out of the paper, the only person I wanted to see was you, Landon. I know you’re working, and I know we agreed to get through the wedding, but I want to keep seeing each other.”
“I want that, too.”
“Good.” I smiled. “Um, there’s something else you need to know, though.”
