Doing It for Love (All About Love #1)

  —

  There’s dust on my exercise bike. I sigh, clap my hands, and pull it to the center of the room. I’m out of breath by the time I get it in front of the TV.

  “Well, that’s enough exercise for me,” I say to myself and go to set up the rest of the room. I alternate between rolling out a yoga mat and eating my Butterfinger, putting out weights and eating my Butterfinger, and bouncing on my exercise ball and eating my Butterfinger. Now the final touches…the spray bottle to my face, neck, and stomach…and a fan to my nipples to make them perky. I’d use other ways to get them to stand out, but I’m no cheater.

  I make sure there’s plenty of “sweat sheen” along my hairline and cleavage, and then set the bottle down in the bathroom and grab the mini fan. I’m blowing my nipples to a point and chewing the last bite of my Butterfinger while sitting on the dusty exercise bike when I hear Landon’s key in the door.

  Swallowing the chocolate, I chuck the wrapper across the room—miraculously making it in the garbage, move the fan to my face, and heave my breasts with fake labored breathing. Chocolateville, here I come!

  Landon shuffles through the doorway, eyes tired and…red-rimmed. I instantly stop pretending to exercise.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He tosses his hoodie on the card table, shuts the door quietly behind him, and trudges over to the bike. His lips peck mine briefly, and it’s so lackluster and sad it feels as if someone stole his lunch money.

  “Babe?” I prod, setting my hand on top of his.

  “Been trying to get ahold of you,” he says, voice gravelly and low. I reach for my pocket, but my yoga pants don’t have any.

  “Oh, sorry, I was…working out.” I frown at my lame answer, at the fact that it’s pretty much a lie, too. “What is it?”

  He flips his palm under mine and pulls me from the bike. He plays with my fingers, with my ring, and I’m trying not to lose patience while he stays lost in thought. In the four years since I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him cry. I’ve seen him get frustrated, kick things, and walk away. I’ve seen him sad and he doesn’t shed a tear. He sits in silence, deep in thought or attempting not to think at all. I’ve seen him drop a bag of cans on his foot, slice his thumb with a knife, wrench his ankle into a brace…and not a drop fell from his eyes—but a whole lot of cursing tumbled from his lips.

  He’s not crying now, but the redness of his eyes suggests he was recently. Did someone die? Did he hit a dog on the way home? Does he want to cancel the wedding? I step into him so he remembers I’m here, and I still know nothing.

  “We had a meeting at work today.”

  “Okay.”

  “Things are getting slow.”

  My heart thuds. “Did you…did they do layoffs?” I’m trying to keep my voice steady, but it’s pretty much useless. We’re already struggling, and Landon’s directing isn’t paying anything yet, and my hours at Bed Bath & Beyond are about as high as I can make them without living there. Suddenly even that dress at a discount seems out of my reach.

  But then Landon shakes his head, and my tiny panic moment subsides a bit.

  “Not yet. But they cut everyone’s hours to avoid layoffs.”

  “How much?”

  “Down to thirty-two a week, so we can still legally be full-time and keep our benefits.”

  I let out a breath. That’s not bad. At least he still has a job.

  His eyes close and his forehead plops down on mine. “I’m sorry. I should’ve worked more overtime when I could have. I should’ve rescheduled the trip to Philly. I should’ve given you my credit card, stopped spending money on dumb shit, I should’ve—”

  “Stop. We’ll be okay.”

  “Because of you. Because you know how to budget and work overtime and actually work for money.”

  “You’ll get paid to direct, Landon. You just have to put in your dues.”

  He shakes his head and lets out a breath of defeat. “What was I thinking?”

  My heart breaks a little…at seeing him feel so helpless, like he’s failed somehow. But he has no idea how incredible he is.

  I don’t think any words can help at this point. I could try to pacify him, tell him we’ll be okay, that we have a savings, I’ll keep working overtime, and at least I’m not pregnant right now…but I know it won’t help. It’ll probably make him feel worse…that I have to pick up his slack or something, even though this is a partnership. So instead of words, I slide my arms around his neck, hold him close, squeeze him tight, make him understand how important he is in my life.

  His arms circle my waist, and our hearts beat with each other in our suddenly quiet world. I think the power of a hug is always underestimated until you’re in one. I know I should be worried. I’m pretty sure there are parts of me that are freaking out about not only bills and rent, but also about my dress, the cake, the tuxes, the wedding hall, and the honeymoon. But those parts are quiet, almost nonexistent in the arms of the man I love.

  He squeezes my entire body twice. And I squeeze back once.

  “You know what I think you need?” I say over his shoulder. A small laugh shakes his body and I know what he’s thinking, but neither of us says it out loud. “I think you need sleep.”

  “Pretty sure you need that, too.”

  I lean back, take his hand in mine, and pull him toward the bed. “Come on, then.”

  He tucks me in on my side and stays on top of the blanket on his. We spoon, and I play with his rough hands, run my fingers over the hair on his arms, enjoy being close and hoping I’m helping him doze off.

  “It’s working,” he says.

  “Huh?”

  “You’re shutting down my mind.”

  “Good.”

  He presses closer, letting his face fall into the crook of my neck. “And don’t think I don’t know what you were trying to do when I walked in.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The bike wasn’t even on.”

  “You have to turn it on?”

  He silently chuckles. “You want me to help you put it back after our nap?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “I love you, Tumbles.”

  “I love you, too.”

  And I swear, two seconds later he’s out. I don’t drift off, but I also don’t mind lying next to him for as long as he sleeps.

  Chapter 15

  “Wedding Gods, we need your hel—”

  “Goddesses.”

  I sigh, dropping Theresa’s hand and opening one eye to look at her. “What?”

  “I’m just saying, if we want to get your dress, we should probably talk to the ladies up there,” she says, gesturing to the ceiling in the Bed Bath & Beyond storage room. Alec covers his laugh with a cough and I nudge him with my knee.

  “All right…Wedding Goddesses, we need your help.”

  “My friends have gone insane,” Alec interrupts, and I nudge him again. Theresa bites back her laugh, and I ignore them both, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

  “THE dress needs to be in the winter sale.”

  “Shit, I forgot the glitter.”

  I drop my friends’ hands again and slump my shoulders. “What?”

  “We have to toss glitter in the air,” Theresa says, throwing her arms out like she’s actually tossing glitter. “Otherwise it won’t work.”

  Alec nods. “Yeah, and the glitter has to be from a fairy’s ass.”

  “Like Peter Pan.”

  “Tinker Bell didn’t poop glitter.”

  “How do you even know that?”

  “I babysit.”

  They both laugh, and I shove from my spot on the floor. “Y’all are fired.”

  “Sorry, Liz,” Theresa says, but her smile is still on and she’s sharing a look with Alec. “We’ll be good.”

  “Nope. You’ve offended the Wedding Goddesses. We have to chant around an empty hanger now.”

  “I’ll get my bongos,” Alec says, and I smack his shoulder
. This sounded so much better in my head when Theresa showed up with coffee. I’ve been working since eight this morning, and I’ll be here until we close. Maybe an entire month of sleep deprivation has something to do with my insanity.

  A tap comes at the employee door, and Alec gets up and cracks it open.

  “Hey,” Jace says, and Alec lets him in. Theresa’s smile fades somewhat and she starts gathering the candy wrappers we’ve accumulated since I went on break.

  “What’re you doing here?” I ask Jace, tucking my polo into my khakis. It’s almost time for me to clock back in.

  “Landon wanted me to drop this off.” He holds up the bag of groceries—okay, it’s probably just twelve boxes of mac and cheese—but I’d told Landon to grab them today while he was out.

  “He has to stay late again?” I ask, taking the bag with a pout. “But it’s Halloween.”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t the best day of shooting.” He scratches the back of his neck, and I notice he’s got a slice on his arm.

  “That’s a good makeup job,” I joke, nodding to the cut.

  “Hurt like hell. Got cocky with one of the prop shovels.”

  “Oh!” Theresa says, leaping to her feet. “Blood chant. We can get your dress with that.”

  “What?” I laugh, as she grabs Jace by the arm—the non-injured one—and pulls him to the center of the room.

  “We’ll chant around him. It’ll work.”

  “Are you pulling this out of your ass?” Alec asks, stepping up next to me.

  “Of course not,” she lies. But hey, I’m willing to try it. I’ve looked like an idiot in front of my friends before. Maybe I should add my parents’ visit to the blood chant as well.

  Theresa slides up Jace’s sleeve, being careful around the cut, and then positions his arm out. He’s laughing, flexing his muscles for her, but she just smacks him.

  “Should we all start singing ‘Balls,’ like on The Proposal?” Alec asks, and I snort.

  “You’ve seen that movie?”

  “You made me watch it!”

  Theresa starts chanting unintelligible noises, and then pushes Alec and me to move circles around Jace.

  “Winter sale!” she shouts, making me laugh so loud I scare Jace enough to jump. We’re able to keep it up for about two more rounds, but then I break formation, hunch over, and clutch my side. Alec bumps into me, then Theresa into him, so of course Jace hops on all of us, and my ass hits the concrete floor.

  “Y’all get off of me!” I shout, but no one takes me seriously since I’m near peeing myself. It feels good to laugh this hard. I’ve been so wound up about everything it’s nice to know I don’t need sex to make it better.

  Though…it wouldn’t hurt.

  A phone alarm goes off, and Jace says, “Shitshitshit,” and weight is lifted from our sandwich pile.

  “Hey, gotta run,” he says, shoving his phone into his tattered jeans pocket and fixing his messy brown hair. “My current lady wants some of this.” He gyrates his hips, and Theresa smacks his shin.

  “Your lady?” I ask, finally freeing myself from the tangle of my friends.

  “Chantal.”

  “When did that happen?” I swear Landon doesn’t tell me anything, and with working so much I’ve been out of the loop.

  “Like three days ago,” Alec answers. “He’s already got it bad.”

  “Jace has it bad for someone?” Theresa says, opening her mouth in mock shock. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “And I’m ditching you guys now.” Jace grins and fixes his shirt. “See you at the party tonight, yeah?”

  We all nod and wave him out. Alec sighs, helping Theresa to her feet. “Guess I better turn into your boss,” he says to me, tucking his own polo into his pants.

  “Boo.”

  He hands me my time card, and Theresa grabs her jacket. “I’ll see y’all later,” she says, and shares a hug with Alec—which shouldn’t seem so weird, but it does now. So instead of sticking around, I slide out, clock in, and get ready for the second half of my very long shift.

  Chapter 16

  “Hey, all you Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers. Doors close in T-minus fifteen seconds. And I’m so beat I’ll lock you in here. Don’t worry…there are display beds for your convenience. But if you sleep in it, you buy it.”

  Alec grins from across the store where he’s mopping invisible dirt from our invisible customers. “You’re fired!”

  “No, I’m not. You love me,” I say into the intercom. Olivia laughs from the plunger section as I swing my legs over the register counter and tread lightly on the mopped floor to lock up. We’ve had probably two people all night, since most are out at parties or trick-or-treating with their kids. Olivia and I strapped pillows to our bellies and ran into each other for about an hour.

  I go to twist the lock, but there’s a woman jogging through the rain, straight for the doors. When she lifts her head, I throw the doors open and meet her.

  “Mom!” I squeal, and toss my arms around her neck.

  “Hi, sweetie!”

  “I thought you weren’t coming till next week.”

  “My last open house fell through, so I caught an earlier flight.”

  I pull her inside so we’re not shouting over the rain, and then I hug her again. She smells like home. Like lemon meringue pie. Man I could go for a slice of that.

  “Uh, Liz?” Alec asks as he looks at his freshly mopped floor that my mom and I just puddled.

  “Oh, sorry! I’ll clean it up.” I walk around him to the mop bucket. “Alec, this is my mom. Mom, this is Alec. He’s Landon’s best man.”

  They shake hands, and then Mom fixes her blond wavy hair under her hood. Her cheeks splash pink and I laugh under my breath. Yes, Alec is adorably hot. Dirty blond hair, lean and tall, and one dimple in his cheek.

  And yes, that is Mom’s type, even if she is twenty-five years his senior and married.

  “You’ve known Landon and Liz awhile?” she asks awkwardly. I push her foot with the mop and she bats at me.

  “I met Liz when Landon introduced us a few years ago. Landon I’ve known since I was four.”

  “They grew up across the street from each other,” I add, nudging Alec with the mop now. “Alec hired me when I was basically living on Theresa’s couch.”

  “I’m also her personal chauffeur right now.” He winks to let me know he’s not really bothered by giving me a ride to and from work every day. “So I’d let her off early if she had a way to get you both home. Unless you want to use your cab?” He nods out the window.

  I can’t afford a cab, and I’d hate for Mom to pay. But Landon’s last check was stretched to its limit, and we’re living on mac and cheese and SpaghettiOs.

  And chocolate for me, which I need to stop. My jeans have been a bit snug of late due to the frosting, candy bars, chocolate chips, instant brownies, and fudge bingeing nearly every night before Landon and I go to sleep. Or I should say, before we go to bed. Both of us are still tossing and turning, and Landon’s pillow is so beaten up the feathers are starting to poke out.

  “We can take my cab,” Mom says, already holding a finger up to the cabdriver. “If you’re sure you don’t need her to stay and close up.”

  Alec shakes his head, and I hand him the mop. “Sweet. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  “You’re not coming to Jace’s party?”

  “I’m going to hang out with my momma.” I give Mom another squeeze and get my side soaked. “Landon might stop by, though.”

  “ ’Kay. Head out there before your driver takes off. I’ll clock out for you.”

  I tell him thanks, and Mom gets all flustered again as she waves goodbye. I’m laughing as we run through the downpour and slide into the backseat.

  “Where’s Dad?” I ask after we tell the driver my address.

  “It’s just me this time around. He thought he’d save his visit for Christmas.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “What about meeting Landon?”


  “Apparently…he’s already met him.”

  “What?”

  “Landon called your father about a week after your engagement. They spoke on the phone for nearly an hour.”

  “About what?”

  “He apologized for not asking Dad for your hand, then he officially asked, and then they talked about the horror stories from working at a call center…who are you talking to?”

  “I’m texting Landon a death threat. He doesn’t tell me anything!”

  Mom chuckles as she watches me type: You’re in trouble. Then I add a flaming red-faced emoticon and hit send.

  We catch up on the rest of the drive. Mom’s client list is so packed she hardly has any time to herself anymore, but she loves putting people in new homes, and they’ve been thinking about buying property and building their own house. I frown a little at her because that means they’ll sell the one I grew up in, and she grabs my lip and says, “I’ll put a hook in it,” just like she always does when I give her the pout.

  Mom pays for the cab, knocking my hand away when I reach for my purse. I’m glad, because I couldn’t even pay for half of it, but I’m also upset, because I should be able to take care of myself if I’m trying to prove I’m ready for marriage. So instead of focusing on my feather-light pocketbook, I drive all attention to Landon.

  “I hope you like him,” I tell her as we get out of the elevator.

  “Well, if he’s anything like his best friend, I say his chances are pretty good.”

  I laugh and put the key in the door. Alec and Landon are similar, yet so different. Alec’s quieter, but get him with the guys and he comes out of his shell. Whereas Landon is kind of out there, but get him with the guys and he keeps to himself. He’s not a big fan of crowds. But he is great one-on-one. Maybe I should let him take Mom out for dinner or something and I’ll pretend I’m sick.

  No, that’d be evil.

  “Just a warning, Landon’s been home a lot lately and I have no clue what the place looks like.”

  Surprisingly, the apartment is pretty clean. Landon’s damn socks are on the floor, but at least there aren’t any dishes in the sink or on the coffee table.