Convincing Landon by Serena Yates

Somehow, none of them were as important as feeling Kendall’s skin against his own, seeing the other man look at him with admiration again. Hell, at this stage, he’d take friendship rather than the professional detachment of the last few hours.
    “But…” Kendall‘s voice broke and his hand in Landon’s trembled. Kendall still hadn’t moved other than to speak that word.
    Not even the deer-in-the-headlights expression managed to make Kendall less attractive, though. He hadn’t grown much in height—was still just under six feet tall—but his shoulders were a little broader than they had been. His skin was as pale as ever and the freckles Landon had loved so much were still as prominent as he remembered. Added to the high forehead, it gave Kendall that look of ‘strong nerd’ that Landon found irresistible—the one he had looked for in all his meaningless encounters with anonymous men over the years, but never quite found.
    Kendall looked at him with his deep green eyes, and he was a goner. They were pools of emotion, the proverbial window to the other man’s soul, and Landon wanted to drown in them. If what he saw there was true, he might stand a chance.
    “I’ll beg, if that helps.” Landon would go down on his knees if he had to. He’d made few mistakes in his life, and none that he regretted as much as being an ass about his relationship with Kendall.
    “I just…” Kendall took a deep breath and stilled his shaking hand, but didn’t pull back. “Okay, I admit I don’t get it. Aside from the professional obstacles, which we could probably work around, and the fact that we haven’t even spoken to each other in almost eight years, what about the reason why we couldn’t be together? Has that suddenly gone away?”
    Landon flinched. He’d been such a monumental idiot.
    “Yes, the bit about not being able to be openly gay because you’re a social worker.” Kendall’s lips twitched and his eyes were suspiciously bright.
    Landon stopped breathing for a moment. Regret for what he’d done to this wonderful man overwhelmed him. If Kendall still looked so hurt after all these years, Landon couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like in the beginning.
    “I was stupid.” Landon swallowed.
    “You mean you were wrong?” Kendall’s eyes widened.
    “No, that isn’t what I mean.” How was he going to explain this? How did anyone ever explain utter stupidity and short-sightedness? “Well, not totally. I was right about saying that it was a big risk, definitely more so back then than it is now. Coming out is still likely to cause problems, but two things have changed since then. One is that I have a good job with a decent employer who has an openly inclusive employment policy. The second difference is that, even if that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t care. I had convinced myself that I had no choice, but it was really more about my fear than reality.”
    “Wow.” Kendall blinked.
    “Is that a good wow or a bad wow?” Landon held his breath.
    “This is really important to you, isn’t it?” Kendall shook his head a little, as if to clear it. “I’m sorry, but I’m having a little trouble adjusting to this new situation.”
    “I understand.” If Kendall needed time to think about it, Landon would give it to him. Anything to avoid a ‘no’ from the man he was beginning to realise could very well be the one he loved. Scratch that…he knew he loved Kendall. He’d tried to ignore it for so long, it was hard to change tracks all of a sudden. But seeing him again had broken through the walls he’d put up to protect his heart.
    “Do you?” Kendall tilted his head.
    “I’m not saying I understand how you feel, I couldn’t possibly know that. But I do understand that this is all very sudden and that you may need some time to adjust. Hell, it’ll take me a while to let it all sink in…you know, that it’s real now and not a dream.” Landon squeezed Kendall’s hand. “As long as