“So, have you thought anymore about the reunion?” he asked.
“I haven’t changed my mind, if that’s what you mean.” The timer beeped and she pulled two cups down from the cupboard.
“It doesn’t seem fair that you should have to miss it just because your ex is there.”
“Maybe I’ll go next year.” She pressed the plunger down then poured the coffee, adding a dash of creamer to his and leaving hers black. Picking up both cups, she swiveled around to hand him one, unaware that he was standing right behind her. She stopped so abruptly that the coffee sloshed over the brim of both cups and landed—of course—on him.
“Oh my God, I am so sorry.”
He looked down at the stain spreading across the front of his shirt. “I’m beginning to think you’re doing this on purpose.”
She set the cups down and grabbed the towel hanging from the oven door handle. She ran it under the faucet, wrung out the excess water, and handed it to him. At least this time she hadn’t lobbed an entire cup at him. “I didn’t know you were right behind me.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He dabbed at the stain, but it was already setting in. That was another of his shirts she had probably ruined. A few more days with her and he was going to need a new wardrobe.
“Maybe if we throw it in the washing machine right now it won’t stain,” she said.
His mouth tilted into one of those adorable grins. “You know, if you wanted to get me out of my clothes, all you had to do was ask.”
Did he really think she was trying to get him naked? “I wasn’t… I didn’t mean—”
“Jane, I’m kidding.” He tossed the towel onto the counter. “I came here to cheer you up and instead you’re a nervous wreck.”
He was right. He had been nothing but nice to her, and she was a bundle of nerves. What did she think he was going to do? Attack her? Why couldn’t she relax when she was with him?
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling like a complete dope.
“Maybe I should just go.”
“No!” She said it so forcefully he flinched. Was there no end to her making a complete ass of herself? She took a deep breath. “Of course you can go if you want to, but you don’t have to.”
“What is it about me that makes you so edgy?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just suck at this.”
“At what?”
“This…this…” she gestured absently “…flirting thing. That is what we’re doing, right? I mean, I’m not imagining things, am I?”
That made him smile. “You’re not imagining anything. And for the record, you’re damned good at the flirting thing. When you’re not acting like you’re afraid of me.”
“I’m sorry.” There was no point in trying to pretend she was a sexy temptress when clearly she wasn’t fooling anyone. “I just…I’m not used to being around men like you.”
“Jane, you were around me all day and you were fine.”
“Yes, but there were other people around.”
“So, being alone with me makes you nervous.”
She nodded.
“Because we have chemistry?”
“You’re my boss.”
“I told you last night, not after we leave work.”
No, but he was still the subject of the investigation, and already she was having a tough time remaining impartial. “I could lose my job.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Maybe the makeover had been a bad idea. Of course, then he wouldn’t have noticed her at all. Maybe the truth was, she wasn’t cut out to be an undercover investigator. She wasn’t cunning and clever. And she wasn’t a manipulator. She wasn’t even a very good liar. This was just too hard.
“Jane, do you like me?”
Why did he have to make this so difficult? “Yes, I like you, but—”
“And I like you too.”
She almost asked him why. Why would someone like him like someone like her? Was it because of what he saw on the outside? Because she obviously didn’t have the insides to match. “You barely know me.”
“Is it too much to ask for the chance to get to know you?”
She chewed her lip, unsure of what to do, how to move forward. Though it defied logic, for some reason he seemed to be interested in her. There had to be a way to use that to her advantage. Could she use her ineptitude as a tool to string him along, to keep things from moving too quickly? To keep herself from getting into a situation that crossed the lines of morality?
It might actually work.
“Okay,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t quite believe her. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, but under one condition. No one can know. When we’re at work, I’m your secretary, nothing more. And that goes for the parking lot as well.”
“Fine, but I have a condition too. You have to stop being afraid of me.”
It’s not as if she could shut it off like a switch. “I’ll try.”
“Maybe it would help if we break the ice.”
“Break it how?”
“I think I should kiss you.”
He thought that was going to make her less nervous? Just the idea had her heart racing. Not only because the thought of kissing him thrilled her, but she wasn’t supposed to be kissing him. “Jordan—”
“Just one little kiss. It’ll work. Trust me.” He held out his hands. “Come here.”
She looked at them nervously.
“I’m not going to bite,” he said, then added with a grin, “unless you want me to.”
At her wary look, he said, “Sorry, no more joking around.” He wiggled his fingers. “Come here.”
She really shouldn’t be doing this, but honestly, what was the harm in one little kiss? Maybe it would eliminate that element of uncertainty. Besides, who would know?
She took a deep breath. Okay, here we go. You can do this.
She stepped toward him and took his hands, aware that hers were trembling. He held them loosely, very nonthreateningly. Without her high heels she was considerably shorter than him. At least six inches. She found herself focusing on the loosened knot of his tie.
“Jane, look at me.”
She raised her eyes to his and just like last night in the parking lot, she was riveted. His irises were clear and bright; a mottled collage of brown and green flecks that were light at the outer edges, but grew darker and more intense as they reached the pupil. His eyes were just as extraordinary as the rest of him, and she couldn’t stop herself from wondering again, what was he doing here? With her? Wasn’t there an heiress or a supermodel he’d rather be kissing?
He tugged gently on her hands, drawing her closer. Her heart was beating so fast and hard it was becoming difficult to breathe. She hoped she didn’t make an even bigger fool out of herself by dropping in a dead faint.
He lowered his head, leaning in, and she lifted her chin to meet him halfway, her eyes drifting closed. Then his lips brushed across hers.
Holy cow, she was kissing Jordan Everette. Or, he was kissing her. And it was…perfect.
If a soft peck felt this nice, she could just imagine how a real kiss would feel. But she didn’t want to imagine, she wanted to know.
He was right about one thing, she was feeling a whole mess of emotions right now, but the one she didn’t feel was nervous.
He pulled back and looked down at her, searching her face, his voice a little rough when he said, “I know we agreed to one kiss, but you still look a little edgy to me.”
One kiss, two. Who was counting, anyway?
He let go of her hands and reached up to cup her face in his palms, and the thrill of feeling him touch her made her knees go weak. This time when he kissed her, it wasn’t a peck. This was deeper and hotter.
It wasn’t as if she had never been kissed before, but she had never been kissed quite like this.
In what she considered a bold and daring move for someone like her, she reached up and laid her hands on his
chest, feeling hard muscle and heat beneath his shirt. And he must have liked it because he made a gravelly sound in his throat. Then one of his hands dropped down to settle on her lower back, easing her in a little bit closer, against all that warmth and sinew. Probably too close, but at the same time not close enough.
One of his hands slipped under her sweatshirt, his palm settling against her bare skin, and in the same instant her leg buzzed where it was pressed against his thigh, as if he had a bee in his pants. She gasped with surprise at the unusual sensation and Jordan jerked his hand from beneath her shirt.
“Sorry. I’m supposed to be kissing you, not copping a feel.”
“It’s not that. Your leg is buzzing. It just startled me.”
“It’s my phone.” He pulled it out of his pants pocket and set it on the counter. “I have it on vibrate but it’s rung four times since I’ve been here.”
“Maybe you should answer it. It could be important.”
“Being here with you is important too.”
How was it that he always managed to say exactly the right thing? And as much as she wanted to keep kissing him, it was probably better that they take a break.
She stepped back, out of his reach. “You should at least look and see who it is.”
He sighed and grabbed the phone from the counter, frowning as he thumbed through his recent calls. “There are three calls from Nathan, and two from Memorial Hospital.”
“Call your brother, Jordan.”
This time he didn’t argue.
He dialed his phone and his brother must have answered on the first ring. “Why am I getting calls from Memorial Hospital?” Jordan asked him.
He listened for a minute, and she could tell by his deepening frown that something was wrong. Calls from hospitals were rarely ever favorable.
“But she’s only fifty-four,” he said. “Isn’t she too young for that?” He listened for another minute, then said, “We can talk about it when I get there. I’m leaving right now.”
He hung up his phone looking confused and a bit shell-shocked. “My mother had a stroke.”
She gasped softly. “Is she okay?”
“They’re not sure the extent of it yet, but they said she’s not in any imminent danger. They have to run more tests.”
Jane’s maternal grandfather died from a massive stroke, so she knew from experience that it could be much worse. “Is there anything I can do?”
“I have the feeling this is going to be a long night, so I probably won’t be at work tomorrow. You’ll have to hold down the fort.”
“I can do that.”
“I hate to bail on you, but I have to get to the hospital.”
She touched his arm. “Of course. You should be with your family.”
She followed him to the door where he put on his suit jacket, then his coat. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“If there’s anything you need, just say the word.”
“How about dinner Friday night?”
“I have dinner with my family Friday. But I’m free Saturday.”
“You pick the place,” he said, then he leaned down and kissed her, a soft brush of his lips that left her weak all over. “I’ll see you later.”
When he was gone, she closed the door, leaned against it and sighed. Oh, man, she was in trouble. If his phone hadn’t rung, she could just imagine what they would be doing right now. And it would have nothing to do with drinking coffee and eating cake.
She wasn’t supposed to like Jordan, but she did. Way too much for her own good. At least she was smart enough to realize that it wouldn’t last. She was just a passing phase. She had to keep that in mind when he was kissing her, and touching her.
She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him, and being around him was a bit of a thrill, but it wouldn’t last. If she wanted to come through this with her career intact, she needed to keep her perspective.
Next time they were alone, she wouldn’t be giving in quite so easily.
Nine
Jordan didn’t appreciate the severity of his mother’s condition until he walked into her hospital room twenty minutes later. For some reason he expected her to be sitting up, her usual primped self, demanding and difficult and making a general nuisance of herself. He figured it was some sort of volley for attention. To see her lying in bed, pale and weak and hooked to a maze of tubes and wires was a shock. And though he had never seen her so much as flinch in the face of adversity, she was scared.
Nathan sat in a chair across the room. He stood when Jordan came in.
“Hey, Mom,” Jordan said, walking to her bedside and taking her hand. She squeezed his weakly. “How are you feeling?”
She blinked rapidly and patted her throat.
“She can’t talk,” Nathan said.
He was about to ask why, but a nurse walked in.
“Time to change your IV, Ms. Everette,” she said cheerfully.
Nathan nodded his head toward the door. Jordan tried to let go of his mother’s hand to follow him, but she tightened her grip, looking panicked.
“Mom, I need to talk to Nathan for a minute. I promise I’ll be right back.”
She reluctantly let go of his hand. He followed his brother out into the hall. “She looks bad, Nathan.”
“I know. But the doctor assured me that she’s stable.”
“Why can’t she talk?”
“They think the stroke affected the speech center of her brain. She also has some weakness on her left side.”
“But it’s not permanent.”
“He said that with physical therapy the weakness will improve, but she’ll probably never be able to talk normally, even with speech therapy.”
For a woman so hung up on appearances, that was going to be difficult for her to accept. “How did this happen? Isn’t she too young?”
“Apparently not. The doctor did say that it would have been a lot worse if she’d waited any longer to come in.”
“How did she get here?”
“A gentleman friend. I guess she called him and she wasn’t making any sense. He suspected something was wrong and called 911.”
Jordan’s heart bottomed out. He leaned against the wall beside the door, shaking his head at the depth of his stupidity. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?”
“She called me too. She was slurring her words and asking about things we already talked about. I thought she was drunk. I should have realized something was really wrong.”
“Jordan, there’s no way you could have known. Like you said, she’s not that old. A stroke was the last thing we would have expected. If she had called me I probably would have assumed the same thing.”
But she hadn’t. She’d called him. She’d needed his help and he had completely failed her. If she hadn’t called her “man friend” who knows how much worse off she could be? She could have died.
“I should have at least gone and checked on her,” he said.
“You know that if it were one of us with a problem, she probably wouldn’t even be bothered to show up at the hospital.”
That didn’t make him feel any less guilty. If he had realized there was a problem and called 911 immediately, maybe the damage would have been less severe.
When they walked back into the room she was waiting anxiously. After that, any time he and Nathan even got close to the door she would get a panicked look, but when she tried to speak, the words came out garbled and slurred.
She drifted in and out of sleep all night while the brothers took turns sitting at her bedside. Nathan had called their father as a courtesy, even though he and their mother hadn’t spoken a civilized word in years, so both Nathan and Jordan were shocked when he came to visit Wednesday afternoon. Even more shocking was that she looked happy to see him.
It gave Jordan and his brother a chance to sneak off to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.
“She’s not going to be able to stay by herself for at least a couple of we
eks,” Nathan said. “Maybe even longer. We’ll have to hire a full-time nurse. And both speech and physical therapists.”
“Or she could stay with you,” Jordan said, grinning at the look his brother shot him.
“I would never do that to Ana. Although, the fact that she can’t talk will make her a lot less annoying.”
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Jordan said, but he was trying not to smile.
“It’s pretty ironic, don’t you think? She couldn’t be bothered to be there for us, but we’re expected to take care of her.”
“She’s really scared. I’ve never seen her like this. It’s hard not to feel sorry for her.”
“I give her a month before she’s back to her demanding and manipulative old self.”
Jordan wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe this would be a wake-up call for her. A chance to become a decent mother—a decent human being—before it was too late. Or maybe he was just fooling himself.
“I sure was surprised when Dad showed up,” Nathan said. “Or maybe it isn’t such a surprise, all things considered.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think he still loves her.”
“Still? I didn’t know he ever did. I thought they had to get married because she was pregnant.”
“I thought so too, but Dad says no. He told me, and I quote, ‘He loved her more than life itself, and all she wanted from him was his name and as much of his money as she could get her greedy hands on.’”
“I guess that explains why he was always so unhappy.”
“He told me that he was bitter and heartbroken and instead of taking it out on the person who deserved it, he took it out on us. The same way Grandma Everette took it out on him.”
Jordan laughed. “Get out. Frail little Grandma Everette used to knock Dad around?”
“That’s what he said. And she probably wasn’t so frail back then.”
Damn. It was tough to imagine their father letting anyone push him around. And Jordan had just assumed that their parents hated each other. He never understood why they had stayed together for twenty years. Maybe their father had held on to the hope that she would grow to love him. Clearly that had never happened.
When they finished their lunch and got back to their mother’s room their dad was still there. He was sitting on the edge of the bed holding her hand. As far as Jordan could recall it was the first time he’d ever seen them touch.
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