THE BENNETTS' CHRISTMAS (The Bennett Family and the Masters Family #6) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,2
to you before I go to bed. That way, you’ll have it first thing in the morning. I have a layover in Charlotte, so my flight won’t get into Atlanta until close to noon.”
“I take it Allison Sharpe is well.”
“She wasn’t kidnapped—like her grandfather assumed—that’s for sure,” Landon said, leaning back in the chair. “She’s partying it up, spending her money like it’s water. It’s pretty obvious she left college of her own free will...to have some fun.”
He took a sip of his coffee and then added, “Like most twenty-year-old’s, she was only thinking about herself and not the worry she would cause her grandfather. I figure she’ll find her way back to Memphis when her money runs out.”
“Is she with a man?”
“No, she’s with two other young women—probably friends who decided to skip a semester right along with her. She went clubbing tonight and I hung around just long enough to make sure that she and her friends got back to their hotel room.” He shook his head. “They didn’t even notice they were being followed.”
After a few more minutes discussing the case, Landon ended the call with Duan, then got up and moved over to the desk to type out the report on his laptop. An hour or so later, he glanced at the clock and saw it was past midnight. He figured he might as well pack before going to bed, since he would be flying out first thing in the morning.
Finally, once everything was ready for the morning, he took a shower, and decided to sit out on the balcony for a few minutes to breathe in the fresh April air. The temperature was a bit cooler than he was used to, but it felt good. Besides, he enjoyed looking at the skyline. Downtown St. Paul was beautiful at night.
It was nice to sit a while and relax...and think about the woman he’d met earlier. Monica Bennett. Shaking her hand and inhaling her scent had done a number on him. This was the first time a woman had affected him in such a way. At least, not since Simone.
He had lost Simone just two days before their wedding day. She and two of her bridesmaids had shared a ride home from her bachelorette party. A drunk driver had run a traffic light, hitting their car head-on. The impact had been so great, both vehicles had burst into flames, killing everyone involved.
It was hard to believe it has been closed to seven years ago. Sometimes, it seemed like just yesterday. The pain was still there. He knew it would always be there.
His family kept telling him he had to move on. And deep down, Landon knew they were right. For the past seven years he’d practically worked himself to death, taking assignments the other guys didn’t want. When he worked, he was too busy to think. Still, no matter how much time passed, he doubted that he would ever get over losing the woman he had loved more than life itself.
The only thing that had kept him sane was his work, his family and the guys at the firm. Holidays were usually the hardest. Simone’s birthday was in December, too, just a week after his. They’d always made a big deal of her birthday. Had she survived, she would be thirty-four this year.
His thoughts shifted back to Monica Bennett. She had been holding her own against that Dusty guy, but when the man had touched her, as if forcing himself into her space, Landon couldn’t stop himself from reacting. He told himself that he’d intervened because he had a sister about Monica’s age and would have wanted someone to step in if Zoe had been in a similar situation.
He’d been satisfied with that reasoning, until Monica had come to stand by him, and their hands had touched. He had felt something sizzle through him. Monica Bennett might be young, but she had the ability to zap his libido into gear. But it hadn’t been just his body she had affected. For a moment, he had felt some sort of emotional connection to her as well. Of course, that was totally absurd. He didn’t know the woman.
A part of Landon wished he’d been able to spend some time with her at the bar, to discover if there was more to the strange connection between them. But he’d been working a case, and that had to come first. What they had shared was likely just a chance encounter—one with