I smiled at him. “Thanks George, I promise I’ll be safe.”
I padded onto the sand, George lingering behind in the parking lot. Aside from the occasional pebble or rock, the grains were soft and cool beneath my feet, soothing away the ache from Sam’s stilettos and my run across the parking lot. I neared the waves, standing just out of their reach, watching the surf tumble onto the shore, the endless repetition mirroring my thoughts—examining and re-examining how I got here, where things went wrong, and where they were going to go.
Just like Eric. I couldn’t shake the coincidence from my mind. I hadn’t been at the Alpha Pi Epsilon party for long, just enough time to grab a plastic cup of Yuengling to fit in and chat with a few of Eric’s friends. Although I hadn’t seen him on my first pass through the kitchen dodging inebriated party-goers and ping pong balls, they all said he was around the house somewhere. “Probably in the bathroom upstairs, puking,” they had joked, having witnessed it on more than one occasion. Slightly embarrassed at Eric’s reputation, I prepared myself to find my boyfriend in a less than ideal state as I headed up the wooden staircase at the side of the house. The bathroom was empty but I heard some noises from one of the open bedrooms nearby. Curious, I entered and froze at the sight of him seated on the bed making out with some wavy-haired brunette I’d never seen before. Spotting me, his dazed eyes grew wide and he pushed her away. “Lori! Oh my god.” I stood there for a moment unable to process. “It’s not what you think. I swear. I just had too much to drink,” he sputtered, his face red as a beet. As if that somehow excused infidelity. Afraid that if I tried to speak I’d start crying, I took one last look at him and that dumb brunette who showed not a hint of remorse, before I ran home and sobbed my eyes out. That english paper I had to do never got finished that night and I had to turn it in late for a ‘C’—my first one ever.
Why are men so stupid sometimes?
Robbed of energy, I plopped my butt onto the sand. The powder-fine granules invaded my gorgeous dress and I noticed I had lost some of the beading somewhere between the charity event and the beach. On the plane ride to California, I’d been so careful not to spill anything on myself, even trying to minimize how much I shifted in my seat to avoid sweating. It’s funny how quickly things change.
It was easy to get lost in my broodings, wondering how to deal with my mess of a relationship with Jordan. Jordan. The name I’d so fondly repeated to myself in my private moments at my desk or at night before falling asleep, enjoying how it rolled so easily off my tongue, how it sounded when I said it, as if he was mine. Jordan, more like Whore-dan. Negative thoughts pierced through my usual optimism and I fought to prevent them from taking over. No, quit being so petty Lori. Don’t give him the satisfaction. You can’t change the past, only the future. Yeah, well what kind of future would that be, Mr. Smarty-Pants Conscience? I’d be surprised to even have my job after this. Fired because I couldn’t play along as the cheap lay for the CEO. Because I developed feelings. Then it’s back home, moving in with my parents until I can find another job. Just the thought of both being unemployed and having to deal with my mom’s craziness again, made my head want to implode.
The sea wind lifted my hair from my neck and gave me goose bumps. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my knees. As beautiful as the view was, it was downright chilly sitting by the waves.
Soft footfalls approached from behind and the sudden warmth of a jacket draped over my bare shoulders was a much desired comfort.
“Thanks, George,” I said, craning to smile up at him.
My smile froze on my face.
Jordan’s hulking frame towered over me like a magnificent statue. With his tux off, he wore a silver vest that stretched over his hard chest and went exquisitely well with his black trousers. His jacket warming my body carried a faint trace of woody cologne mixed with his scent, sending a charge of awareness through me. In an instant, I stood up and shrugged the jacket off, letting it fall to the sand.
“Lori, don’t be foolish,” Jordan said softly. “I could see you shivering from the parking lot.”
“I’m fine,” I snapped, hugging myself against the chill. “I don’t need your stuff touching me.”
“Can I explain what happened? It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“What it looked like?” I repeated, my eyes beginning to sting again. “I saw you kissing Vanessa. I’m not sure how that could’ve looked like anything else.”
“Vanessa made a move on me,” he corrected. “Believe me, I didn’t want it.”
I scoffed. “You’re telling me that a tiny hundred pound girl forced you to kiss her? You can benchpress like a million pounds for goodness sakes!” I hugged myself tighter, looking away, not wanting him to see the tears beginning to form.
Jordan exhaled heavily. “It’s true. Look, Lori, I know it looked horrible, but the kiss meant nothing. I was caught off guard. I had no idea that would happen. I thought Vanessa just wanted to talk. She told me it was something important.”
“That sounds like a convenient reason.”
“You happened to walk in at the worst possible moment when she made her move on me. That kiss lasted no longer than a second.”
I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. “Is that so? Then why didn’t you come after me right away? Stuck around to do some more tongue wrestling?”
“There was no tongue.” His jaw became taut and his voice strengthened. “Also, you ran off like a damn cheetah in those heels. I was still making my way through the main hall, trying not to bowl people over when you probably had already left the parking lot.”
“Yeah, sure...” Jordan’s cut-and-dry explanation did little to quell my emotions. It seemed all too coincidental. Easy for an experienced rich playboy like him to come up with.
“I’m serious.” He extended his palm as his face tried to regain its composure. “I’ll take a lie detector test if that’s what it takes to prove it to you.”
“Whatever. Those things are inaccurate.” I waved my hand dismissively. Knowing that Eric passed his polygraph test to work at IBM when he denied having tried marijuana made me certain it didn’t work.
Jordan huffed. “C’mon Lori, you know me. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you or anyone else.” He took a step closer, offering a hand to my elbow.
I jerked my arm away from his touch, but didn’t budge from my spot. I was determined to stand my ground this time.
With my anger at the forefront of my mind, it took a moment to process his words. Although he had his intimidating boss-side, Jordan had been warm and gentle the entire time I’d known him, not just with me but with everyone he interacted with. The first time we met at the gym, he had tended to my head injury and told me to put some ice on it. It seemed so long ago...
...But it actually wasn’t.
“No wait, I don’t know that. I’ve only known you for like a week.” I exhaled in frustration. “I don’t know what to think.”
He took another step closer and this time gripped my arm lightly. The heat from his touch rippled through me, and I didn’t possess the self-control to pull away from the sensation. “We haven’t known each other for long. But that doesn’t change the way I feel about you.” His scorching gaze bore into mine, green eyes flickering with conviction. “We have a connection Lori.”
I was drawn closer into his aura like a moth to a flame. Being in such close proximity to him, my body threatened to betray my cause. My mouth went dry and a soft breath escaped my lips.
“You feel it too.” His voice resonated through me, exciting parts of my body I wasn’t accustomed to feeling excited when I was angry. “From what I know about you, you wouldn’t have been so involved with me if you didn’t trust me deep down.”
I sucked in a deep breath, attempting to steel myself against his effect. Sweet words and a mind-blowing sex vibe were not enough to placate me. Not this time.
“...Actually, I’m pretty gullible,” I quipped.
That hadn’t been t
he answer he expected. He paused for a moment, unsure how to process my admission of a personal flaw Sam had made me acknowledge over the years. He shook his head. “Well I can assure you that I’m not the type of guy to cheat on his girlfriend. That would tear me up inside.”
Girlfriend. The word was like cool ointment on a fresh wound. I wasn’t just his personal assistant that he was having a fling with. I meant something more.
“You think of me as your girlfriend?” I asked, doubtful if my mind had imagined it from being exposed to his pheromones.
“Of course.” His eyes smoldered. “Ever since I took you home in my limo. I’d never been so intimate with someone so soon before. I just couldn’t resist you.”
I’d always thought of Jordan as being the sex first, ask about feelings later but maybe I had been wrong. Maybe he was like me and going this fast was new to him as well.
“You think of me as your boyfriend right?” His soft tone betrayed a vulnerability I hadn’t expected.
“Um...I guess, yeah.”
I did think of him as my boyfriend, but was reluctant to admit it, not knowing how he felt. My only experience had been with Eric and we had been friends years before we ever even kissed. Jordan and I met two days before we had sex. I wasn’t sure what it meant to think of him as my boyfriend after only a few days, but it somehow felt right. I suspected that he thought of me as his girlfriend as well. It wasn’t until Vanessa appeared that I began to have doubts. Even now, I still felt we had a real bond. Maybe I was a fool, but everything about him—the way he spoke my name, stared into my eyes, touched me—told me his words were genuine.
Despite my anxiety about Vanessa’s kiss, I couldn’t help feeling reassured by Jordan’s use of the word ‘girlfriend’. My lips cracked a smile which I immediately tried to hide.
He reciprocated the gesture, his intensity turning to relief. “You’re smiling.”
“No I’m not. I’m mad at you.”
His hand gently cupped my jaw, his thumb searching, exploring the corner of my lips. I tried to maintain my pout but he playfully pulled my lips into a half smile. It turned into a real one.
“There we go. That’s the smile I like so much.”
I grumbled as his arms wrapped around me and drew me in for a tight hug, his pecs becoming a pillow for my face. He was so warm, his muscles beneath his shirt so firm. I immediately melted into him, my stress momentarily fading away for better or worse. He kissed the top of my head and stroked my back gently. We stayed that way for a bit in silence, only the sound of the waves nearby and our deep breathing punctuating the quietness. The moment seemed to last an eternity. No work, no stress, no ex-boyfriends, no Vanessas. Just existing in our own little world.
Realizing there were unresolved issues, I tilted my head up to meet his sexy green eyes. “Tell me about you and Vanessa.”
A frown marred the space between his brows. Still, his masculine face was nothing less than captivating. I waited with bated breath, knowing that his answer could either be really good or really bad. He searched my eyes for a moment before sighing. “I guess you should know that Vanessa and I used to date,” he said finally. “It lasted maybe half a year. I didn’t think it was important to tell you about her because it ended months ago. When we ran into her yesterday at the mall, it was the first time I’d talked to her in weeks.”
Pushing off his trim waist, I stepped back to put some distance between us. Jordan and Vanessa dated. That means he’s kissed her more than once and probably even has had...sex with her. A billionaire dating an actress. That made a lot more sense than a billionaire dating his lowly personal assistant.
“Wait, don’t freak out Lori,” he pleaded.
“I’m not,” I said flatly. “I just want to hear the rest of it.” I really did, but I was also starting to get a bad feeling about the whole thing.
He lightly kicked some sand with his black Ferragamo loafers. He glanced out at the dark ocean before returning his gaze to me. “All right, I’ll tell you. Yesterday, after you and I parted ways, Vanessa tried to talk business, about appearing on the cover of one our entertainment magazines, but she couldn’t.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled heavily. “Vanessa is still in love with me. She talked about how much she missed being together. You don’t need to know the gory details, but I didn’t want to leave her in the shape she was in. We had coffee and talked—nothing sexual.”
Vanessa already tried to pull a fast one on him once before...and he fell for it again?
“Did you know she was going to show up tonight at the ball?” I asked, unable to look at him. An awful feeling crept through me.
“I mentioned last night that you and I were flying out here for it. She was leaving for LA in the morning anyway.”
“So you invited her.” My stomach churned, but I didn’t have anything else to throw up.
“I told her she should come, yes. This was a charity ball. All the money raised through entrance fees and the silent auction are donated to help orphans around the nation. The tickets are kind of exorbitant, but it’s a good, guilt-free time for those who can afford it. And Vanessa can definitely afford it.”
“You already knew she still had feelings for you and yet you still followed her into that back room?”
Jordan sighed and shook his head. “I gave her a chance. But it was pretty stupid in hindsight.“
“You’re gullible too.” I frowned. God, how could he be so dense? He knew she wanted him back and was willing to trick him to do so.
“Believe it or not, the goodness of people is something Trevor and I often argue about. He focuses on the flaws in people, which is why he can come across as an asshole. Maybe I’m a fool, but I like to think that deep down people are good. Despite Vanessa’s actions, I still think she’s a good person.”
Exasperation flooded me. “The next thing you’ll be telling me is that Vanessa’s an orphan,” I muttered, crossing my arms.
“No, she’s not. But my brother and I are.”
I looked Jordan fully in the face. The moonlight casting soft shadows on his chiseled features as I examined him for lies. The Bishop brothers, orphans? How was that possible? How could they go from having nothing to being billionaires? Didn’t they need family for that or some kind of connections?
“I won’t go into a sob story,” he said casually, perhaps anticipating my questions. “But when it became clear that we were doing well for ourselves, Trevor really wanted to set this charity organization up. And that was the birth of the Children’s Hope Ball.”
That was perhaps even more surprising information than the fact that the Bishops were orphans. Trevor Bishop had enough of a heart to set up a charity for kids? My world was crashing down. I shook myself from those thoughts, not ready to be distracted from what was upsetting me.
“About Vanessa, do you still have feelings for her?” I was surprised at how much it hurt me to say it aloud.
Jordan pressed his lips together and I wondered if he was remembering how her lips felt against his.
“Vanessa and I are just friends.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t harbor any romantic feelings for her. What you saw back at the ball was the product of too much alcohol and desperation on her part.”
“What does a Hollywood starlet have to be so desperate about?” I asked suspiciously. If Vanessa was truly the rising star all the magazines made her out to be, I couldn’t think of anything she’d have to worry about except being seen at the right parties.
“Everybody has their problems, even the rich and famous.” He pointed at himself. “Money and fame don’t make issues disappear. Some problems go away but then there’s new ones. Beyond the glamorous media image of her, the photoshoots, the movies, the television appearances, Vanessa’s a real person. She’s under more stress than anyone should be—that’s the ugly part about the public eye. She has an image to maintain and sometimes it’s hard for her. She’s really not a terrible person—well, what she did toni
ght was terrible, knowing that you and I were there together. She knows I’m upset about it.”
Jordan took a deep breath and sat down heavily on the sand. He spotted a seashell and began fiddling with it between his fingers. I remained standing.
“I actually said some things I probably shouldn’t have to her,” he said ruefully. “I panicked when you ran out of there.”
Jordan talked so tenderly about Vanessa that it gave me pause. Was he sure he didn’t have feelings for her?
“Why did you guys break up in the first place?”
“That’s a tough question to answer.” He paused to inspect the shell he was playing with, reminding me of a little boy at that moment. “She was my longest relationship—six months. I’m kind of unlucky at love. Not that I don’t try enough at it.” He said the last statement glumly.
Billionaire adonis, Jordan Bishop needs to “try” with women? Gimme a break.
The Bishop Affair (Dominated by the Billionaire Brothers - Part Four) Page 2