Sleeping with your fake boyfriend would be a really bad idea, I reminded myself as Landon walked out of the bunkhouse. But damn, he looked good. I had a feeling I was going to be reminding myself of that a lot over the next month or so, but I was determined not to take advantage of the situation. Landon had forever written all over him, and hurting him was not part of my plan.
He opened the door and slid into the SUV. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey. You look great.”
“Thanks, so do you,” he said. “Did you decide where we're going?”
“I did. There's an Italian place that's really good if that's okay with you.”
“Sure, I love Italian. Of course when it comes to food, I'm pretty easy. There isn't much I don't like.”
“Good to know.” I turned on the radio to the local country station and hit the interstate. The hour drive passed quickly. Landon told me about his day and the horse he was training. I told him about the difficult customer I dealt with today who kept changing his mind about what he wanted in a house, and it was like no time had passed at all before I was taking the exit for the restaurant.
I parked in the restaurant’s parking, but before we got out, I turned to look at him. “Do you think we should take a picture? You know, for social media?”
“Do you use social media?” he asked.
“Mostly for work, but yeah.” I shrugged.
“I do more than I want to so my mom can see I'm doing okay. She says it makes her feel like she knows what's going on, and that makes her feel better about me being here.”
“That makes sense. I can't imagine how my mom would react if she couldn't pop into the office whenever she felt like it to check up on me. What do you post?”
“Mostly pictures of the horses or of the goats. She loves Ripley's goats.”
“Yeah, most people do, I think. Well, lean over here, and let's take a quick pic you can post on whatever site you use.”
“Mostly Instagram so I can share pictures and don't have to type anything,” he said as he shifted around so he could lean over the console. He handed me his phone. “Use mine so I'll have the picture.”
I took the phone and then moved towards him, framing us in the phone’s camera. He leaned against me, and I snapped the shot. I looked at it and nodded. “That works. You can tag me in the picture.”
I'd never posted a picture of a guy on a date before, but I figured if I had a boyfriend, I would. And like I told him before, if I were ever actually involved with anyone, I would be a fantastic fucking boyfriend. We went inside and were seated right away. The food was great, and the company was even better. Conversation was easy for us because we knew so many of the same people so we had plenty to talk about. When we were done, I pushed out my chair and smiled at him.
“So where to now?” I asked.
“We could go over to the club for a while.”
I didn't go to the club to dance or to hang out. I went to the club to hook-up, and it seemed weird to go there on a first date. I always ran into guys I'd hooked up with, usually looking for a repeat, and that would be awkward. Plus going to the club would mean dancing, and dancing would mean Landon's body pressed up against mine. If I had any hope at all of making it through the next month without taking advantage of the situation, that couldn't happen. I was physically attracted to Landon, and I was positive he was attracted to me, but that didn't make it a good idea to pursue it. Not when we both wanted different things.
“I'm not really feeling the club tonight. Why don't we do something else? We could go to a movie if you want.”
“That works for me. What kind of movies do you like?”
“I like most types, to be honest. I haven't checked to see what's out, have you?”
“No, but when I see one at the theater, I like more action type movies. So maybe something like that will be showing.”
Luckily there was a good spy movie playing, and the start time gave us just enough time to get popcorn and drinks and find our seats. I hadn't been to see a movie in the theater in ages, and it was nice to have someone there with me. The seats reclined, and you could raise the armrest if you wanted to snuggle up together while you watched the movie. Snuggling would have been nice if we’d been on a different kind of date, but that wasn't what this was about.
The movie wrapped up, and we walked out to my SUV. “I didn't realize Mercedes made SUVs,” he said, running his hand along the hood.
“They do. The body style actually reminded me of an older Range Rover. That's why I picked it. All the cars and SUVs are going to the rounder body style, and I like the square look. I thought about getting a Jeep like Ripley's, but in the end, I decided I liked this one better.”
“It's sure nice inside,” he said. “My truck is nice enough, but it’s plain.”
“I take clients out to look at property. Very expensive property, so there’s a certain expectation,” I said with a shrug.
“If you didn't have to have the SUV to show property, what would you drive?”
“Like any kind, without worrying about it being practical?”
“Right.”
“Did you ever see Transformers?”
“Of course.”
“I would have a car just like Bumblebee.”
“So, like a late seventies Camaro?”
“No, like the two-thousand-six one from the last few movies. But yellow and black just like Bumblebee.”
I started back towards River Gorge, and the conversation continued like that all the way home. I told him stories about crazy clients I'd dealt with, and he told me about horses he’d worked with. He had a deep laugh and a brilliant smile. I'd never spent much time talking with him, and I was finding that I really liked Landon once he relaxed enough to let go. The times I'd seen him out at the ranch, he always seemed so young, and maybe a little naive. That Landon was easy to stay away from because he seemed too sweet for me, but this Landon felt different. More mature and much harder to resist.
“How old are you?” I blurted out.
“Umm, twenty-three, why?”
“Just wondering.”
“How about you? You must be what, twenty-eight? Same age as Ripley, right?”
“Twenty-seven, for another couple months anyway.”
I pulled into the driveway at the ranch and drove back to the bunkhouse. “I wonder if anyone’s up waiting to see if you come home tonight.”
“Nah, they'll all be asleep by this time, but we probably should’ve thought about that. Maybe I should’ve slept on your couch or something.”
“I have a spare bed actually, so you wouldn't have been stuck on the couch. We’ll have to plan for that next time, I guess.”
“I guess,” he said with a shrug as he opened the door. “I'll see you.”
I watched him walk inside. I probably should have kissed him goodnight. You know, just in case someone was watching. Oh well, too late for that. It was probably a bad idea anyway, knowing how he tasted wouldn't help me to keep my hands to myself.
8
Landon