Halloween with the Hunk: A Lumberjack Romance (Holiday Studs Book 1) Page 4

  “No! God, no, sweetie, Landon hasn’t been in town in years. I didn’t even know he was back.”

  “Of course you didn’t.” My words came out like venom. I couldn’t help it. I was so mad at myself for getting worked up. But I didn’t want to lash out at my friend. “I’m sorry. I’m just angry.”

  “You’ve every right to be angry. Just not at me, okay? Look, I said the thing about banging a lumberjack mostly to be funny, NEVER expecting Landon to actually be there. Christ, he stopped visiting his grandfather the year my parents bought their new house and converted Crofton House into a full-time vacation rental, according to the neighborhood gossip my mother insists on keeping me up to date on EVERY time I call. I knew he’d earned a reputation for sleeping with the girls that rented the house over the summer. But I swear, it was just a weird coincidence he was there when you were.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you saying he doesn’t live there?”

  “Yeah. His parents are Manhattan uber-elite. He’s got a penthouse somewhere uptown. I only ever saw him the first week of summer each year when we’d be packing up to go to the Hamptons for the season. We’d come back and he’d be gone, but the neighbors sure did like to tell my mom how many girls he made scream that season.”

  I shook my head at myself. Well, now it was confirmed. Landon was a man-whore and I’d been his latest conquest. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

  “It’s fine, sweetie. Tell ya what. How about I cover your classes on Monday and you take all the time you need to get yourself together. How does that sound?”

  It sounded awful. I’d rather keep my schedule packed to the brim with classes and grading papers and writing my thesis than sit at home and mope about how bad my feelings were hurt.

  What did you expect? Guys like that don’t just hop into relationships. You’ve absolutely no right to feel anything but lucky that you got such an amazing night.

  Except I wanted more. Especially now that I knew he was local. But I was never going to get it.

  I sighed. On second thought, maybe I would take Jeannie up on her offer. I could always use the day off to throw myself into the thesis. “Deal,” I said.

  “Great. One condition though.”

  “Ugh, what?”

  “You still have to come to the faculty Halloween party on Tuesday. I heard they got a swanky club to host it.”

  I groaned and looked at the Wonder Woman costume gobbed up on the couch that Jeannie preemptively bought for me so I couldn’t use the I don’t have a costume excuse.

  “Fine.”

  “Great. I’ve got your classes Monday and you’re my wingman Tuesday night. Don’t mope too hard.”

  “Yup.”

  “Great! I’ll see ya Tuesday.”

  I ended the call and did exactly that, threw myself into my work so I wouldn’t mope. Hunger pangs got me away from the laptop but only to grab a bowl of cereal. I worked until I was sure I was tired enough to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I wanted no parts of over-thinking-head-spirals about Landon and his beautiful eyes or massive cock that I’d never get to see again. I wanted instant sleep.

  Luckily, that’s just what I got.

  12

  Landon

  First thing the next morning I began my search. It started easy enough. I knew her first name and, thanks to the papers she had all over the kitchen, I knew what school Cass went to. I searched the school’s website but turns out they don’t list the names or contact info of their teaching assistants or doctoral candidates.

  Probably to keep guys like me from stalking girls like Cass.

  I paced the length of the living room. “Okay, think. What else did she say that you can use?” I replayed every conversation until I hit pay dirt.

  I’m not an actual renter, I’m a friend of the owner’s daughter.

  “Jeannie! Jeannie... fuck! What was her last name?”

  Kingston! Jeannie Kingston.

  I searched for her friend hoping to find her social media and through that, find Cass.

  All of her socials were locked down tight. Again, probably to keep guys like me from stalker status.

  I leaned back in the chair and looked around my grandfather’s house. There was still a lot of work to be done. But if I wanted Cass there was only one option. I had to go get her.

  I dialed my assistant’s number.

  She picked up immediately. “How can I help you, Mr. Reed?”

  “Serene, I need you to call the Realtor for my grandfather’s house. Let her know I won’t be able to finish the clean-up and staging of the property. She’ll need to bring her people in.

  “Of course. Anything else?”

  That’s what I liked about Serene. No questions. She just does her job, really, really well. “Yes. Find a map of the NYU campus and email it to me.”

  “Certainly. Will that be all, sir?”

  “Yes, that’s all. Thank you, Serene.”

  “Of course, Mr. Reed. While I have you, what shall I do about Mr. Xiang’s assistant? She’s been calling on his behalf every day since you left for—”

  “Not now, Serene. I can’t deal with the Chinese subsidiary at the moment. Tell her I’ve had a death in the family and I’ll get in touch with Mr. Xiang after a respectable amount of time.”

  Serene cleared her throat. “I have, sir. She’s very insistent.”

  I shook my head. Xiang was worried. He had every right to be. I’d disappeared in the middle of labor negotiations to be with my grandfather in his last few days. That was a week ago. “You’ll have to deal with it until I’m back in town.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you, Serene.” I meant it. Serene was the best assistant I’d ever had and I made sure she knew it. I paid her well above industry average, hired her a driver and gave her regular bonuses in the form of company stock. Serene would never have to worry about saving for retirement, I’d made sure of it. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I said and ended the call.

  I packed up my things and took one last look at my grandfather’s house. “Well, Gramps, I finally found a girl I actually want to get to know. Problem is, I’ve gotta go find her cause I’ve already screwed it up. I’m sure you don’t mind though, do you?” I knocked on the wooden door frame. The frame my grandfather built and installed when I accidentally busted the original. “I wanted to set the house right, just how you would have liked. But I can’t risk Cass getting away.”

  And with that, I walked out of my grandfather’s house for the last time.

  I was at the local airstrip inside of twenty minutes and airborne five minutes after that. I studied the map of the university in the hour it took to arrive in New York at another private airstrip.

  “Nice to see you again, Mr. Reed.”

  “Thank you, Danny,” I said as he held open the door to the town car.

  “Where can I take you, sir?”

  “NYU.”

  “The visitor’s entrance, sir?”

  “No, the business school building, thank you, Danny.” That’s the where they kept the Economics Department and presumably, the Ph.D. students. I didn’t have a plan. I wasn’t one of those douchey types to walk into a building and demand to know where so-and-so was. It was rude and I didn’t enjoy being a bully like some of my peers.

  “Shall I wait here for you, sir?” Danny asked when we pulled up in front of the building.

  “No. This could take some time. Grab lunch and I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

  “Of course, sir,” he said and opened the door for me. I walked around the building a few times, bleeding myself of the extra energy I’d accumulated while still and traveling, then headed inside. The building was just as I remembered when I toured it as a senior. I’d had my pick of schools and at first, my heart was set on staying in the city. But then I toured Cornell and that was it for me.

  I settled into a common room/lounge area on the first floor that gave me a good view of the elevator and the main exit.
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  I was fucked if Cass went out another way. But I’d stay here as long as it took.

  I couldn’t sit still for long. Every half hour or so I got up and circled the building again, then I was back in my spot in the lounge. The third time around the building I caught a familiar face turning the corner.

  “Hey!” I called but she didn’t stop. “Jeannie! Hey! Wait up.” I ran up to meet her.

  “Do I know you... Landon? What the hell are you doing here?”

  “You’ve gotta help me. I royally fucked up with Cass.”

  She crossed her arms. “I’ll say you did.”

  “Look, it’s not what you think. I left to get coffee.” Jeannie pursed her lips at me. “Honestly, Jeannie, I wouldn’t lie to you. Cass is different.”

  Jeannie wasn’t convinced. It was all over her face.

  I sighed. “I know I have a bad rep.”

  “A well deserved one from what I understand.”

  “Fair enough. But that’s not who I am anymore. Cass was the first woman I ever wanted to get to know. The first woman I ever stayed the whole night with and my dumb ass screwed it up because I didn’t tell her I was going for coffee.”

  Jeannie’s features soften. Fractionally, but it was something.

  “I promise, I did not mean to hurt her. Jesus, Jeannie, would I be here if I just wanted a fling?”

  “Fine. What do you want?”

  “Just her number.”

  “Absolutely not,” Jeannie said. “That goes against every lady code there is.”

  “Well, can you tell her I’m here and ask her if it’s okay to give me her number?”

  “Nope. I’m not getting in the middle of this. Plus, I’m not entirely sure she wants to hear from you.”

  That hit hard. All this time I’d spent figuring out how to find her and I’d never considered the possibility that she might not want to be found. “Jeannie, please. Throw me a bone here.”

  Jeannie sighed, stepping closer to me. “Fine, but if you so much as mention my name...”

  “Understood, my lips are sealed.”

  “There’s a Halloween party...”

  13

  Cass

  Monday went just as I thought it would. I spent the whole day focused on my thesis so by the time I was ready to hit the hay that night, I’d gotten more done than I thought possible. I was sure to make my deadline, no problem.

  Tuesday was a different story. My undergrads seemed particularly grating, Jeannie was acting strange and my doctoral adviser was MIA all day. When the work day finally ended I told Jeannie I just wasn’t up to going to the faculty party.

  “What? No, Cass, you have to come.”

  “Why? A bunch of drunk math nerds in costume doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time,” I said, feeling really guilty about bailing on her.

  “Cass! You promised. I covered your classes yesterday. Now you’re coming to this thing if I have to drag you there myself. Got it?”

  I smiled at my friend. “Fine, you win. I’ll be there at seven.”

  “Screw that. I’ll pick you up,” she said and walked away before I had a chance to argue.

  At home, I only spent a few hours on the thesis before I started to get ready for the party. As much as I hated to admit it, I was looking forward to it just a little. I mean, aside from Jeannie, the company would be terrible and there was an open bar. Plus, I had to remind myself that it was good for me to step out of my head once in a while and get out into the real world.

  I looked up a picture of Linda Carter from the 70’s and thought about trying to recreate her makeup look but decided to emulate Gal Gadot’s more natural look. My eyes were dark like hers and the costume was more like the new version anyway. Five tutorials later I came to the realization that I was not a makeup artist. I didn’t look nearly as good as the girls in the videos but I’d done a pretty good job anyway.

  I put on the costume, realizing that Jeannie had spent a pretty big chunk of cash on this. It wasn’t a polyester one-piece Halloween store costume. This thing had multiple pieces including a corset, metal bracers and boot covers and the skirt. The headpiece even looked like the one Gal wore. Hell, it looked almost as good on me as it did on her. Well, maybe better, I had a lot more ass in my costume.

  The intercom buzzed just as I was hooking my lasso to my belt. “Hey, I’ll be right down.”

  “Hurry, I’ve got a cab waiting.”

  I grabbed my ID and some cash and stuffed it in my corset. Where else was I gonna put it?

  “Holy smokes, girl you look fantastic!” Jeannie said when I exited the building.

  “Thanks! But look who’s talking.” I made a turn around motion with a finger and Jeannie spun in her Michelle Pfieffer-era catsuit.

  We piled into the cab and headed to whatever place the Economics Department rented for the night. “Seriously, Jeannie, these costumes are fantastic.”

  Jeannie only nodded and crossed her arms.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re acting weird again,” I said.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “All day you’ve seemed kinda cagey. What’s going on?”

  Jeannie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re the one being weird.”

  I gave her a look but didn’t press the issue.

  Both Jeannie and I were disappointed when we arrived. “I thought you said the department sprung for something nice,” I said as we entered a catering hall without a stitch of ambiance or Halloween decorations.

  “That’s what the email said. Jesus, this is sad,” she said as we made our way to the bored looking bartender in the corner.

  “What’ll it be?” he asked.

  Jeannie and I shared a look. “Vodka,” we said in unison. There was only one way we were getting through this night. And that was with some social lubrication.

  “Sure thing. That’ll be fourteen dollars,” he said as he set out two shot glasses.

  I rolled my eyes. “They couldn’t even spring for an open bar?”

  Jeannie grabbed my arm and yelled, “Jesus hates a cash bar,” as we walked away. “What were they thinking? I can’t believe I dragged you out here for this bullshit. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. Not your fault,” I said absently because all attention was drawn to a masked man in the most expensive suit I’d ever seen entering the party. “Who’s that?” I asked.

  Jeannie let go of my arm. “I dunno. Why don’t you go find out.”

  He seemed so familiar, like someone I’d known all my life but hadn’t seen in ages. I just couldn’t place him. I walked over to him and asked plainly. “Do I know you.”

  “Yes, Cass. You do.”

  My heart dropped straight into my stomach at the sound of his smooth, baritone. “Landon?” I asked, feeling my knees go weak.

  He nodded. “I only went out for coffee,” he whispered.

  I wobbled on my feet but Landon caught my elbows. “How did you... what are you doing here?”

  “Are you kidding me, honey? I had to find you. I had to make this right...”

  Landon said more words. I know he did because his lips kept moving. But I couldn’t hear them. All I could hear was a weird ringing as my vision went blurry and my knees buckled.

  Holy shit. I’m going to faint. Like a goddamn damsel in distress.

  14

  Landon

  “Jesus fuck! Cass!” I caught her before she hit the ground. “Cass, honey, wake up,” I said, fanning her face.

  Jeannie ran over. “What the fuck did you do, asshole?”

  “She fainted, Jeannie.”

  “Jesus Christ. Just— here sit her up so I can loosen her laces.”

  I propped her up against me and made eye contact with a guy in a banana suit. “Get some water and something sugary,” I said.

  Jeannie went to work on the corset. “Apparently it’s the seventeenth century tonight,” she mumbled as banana man brought bac
k water and some Halloween candy.

  “Mmm, wha... what happened?” Cass asked as her eyes fluttered open.

  “You laced the corset too tight, silly. You passed out.” Jeannie said and handed her the cup of water.

  “Are you feeling better?” I asked. She nodded and nibbled on a piece of candy corn.