He’d left his number. Why? Did he really want her to call him?
No. Of course he didn’t.
But then why leave it?
She grabbed a pen and a slip of paper and listened to the whole message one more time, jotting the number down. She had no intention of ever calling but for some reason it was nice to know she had Jordan’s number. Just in case.
…
It was nine o’clock Sunday night, and Jordan was trying to watch the football game on TV, but was having a hard time concentrating. His thoughts were occupied with two things. The first was the fact that his father still hadn’t seen the car as he’d just missed his parents before they went away to Vail for the weekend. So, now Jordan was going to have to wait until Monday to show his father the reconstructed Mustang. The more he had to wait, the more nervous he became, even though he had everything planned out.
First, he’d take his dad to the back of the shop where the car was parked, and then, when his father commented on how amazing it looked, he would show him the before and after photos of the car and explain how he’d hired the man who’d performed the miracle and that Carlos would meet him later that day. After meeting and signing Carlos, Jordan would bask in the glow of his family’s favor and then he’d show them the sketches. With someone like Carlos—who could work full sheets of metal—they’d finally take his designs seriously.
Which brought him to the other item on his mind. Sass. She still hadn’t called, and Jordan was beginning to wonder if she ever would. He should have been glad she hadn’t called. Whatever they had between them was messy. But good messy, too, which was why his mind kept playing scenarios that involved him going back to Greenview and tracking her down, finding her, and straightening everything out between them. The problem was, his imagination didn’t take him much beyond some hot make-up sex. Then what? He had no idea.
With a groan, Jordan pushed himself off the sofa and searched his cupboards for some munchies. Just as he was tearing into a bag of chips, his cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but answered it anyway. Maybe, just maybe…
“Jordan?”
“Sass? Is that you?”
“Um, yeah. I’m at the…jus’ wait.”
Jordan heard some commotion in the background, and then Sass came back on the line. “Character’s Sports Bar at the Doubletree Hotel.”
“You’re in Denver?”
“Didn’t I just say that?”
“How long are you here?”
“I don’t know? Couple-o-days.”
Jordan held the phone between his chin and ear and quickly wrote down the name of the bar.
“You coming?”
“I’ll be right there.”
…
Traffic was fairly light as Jordan made his way up Martin Luther King and North on Quebec Street. It had taken him about forty minutes from the time he’d spoken to her before he found Sass, sitting in a booth by herself, hazily watching the game with a tabletop full of empty shot glasses.
So much for his plan to talk to her about his unpaid bill and what she’d overheard in the shop. From the way her head bobbled when she turned in surprise as he slid into the booth across from her, it was obvious that Sass was sloshed.
“Jordan! Whacha doin’ here?”
“You called me.”
“I did? Good. Want a drink?” She offered him the shot that sat in front of her.
“No thanks.”
“No? Okay.” Sass tipped the shot glass to her mouth and slammed it back. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and pushed the glass to the center of the table with the others. “So, Michaels. How you been?”
“Sass,” Jordan said warily. “What’s my name?”
She guffawed. “What’s wrong, Jordan? Forget your name on the way over here?” She glanced blearily around the bar as if his name was lurking somewhere.
“Right.” Jordan faked a smile. What was going on? Either Sass was so drunk, she’d forgotten the scene between him and Carlos in the shop, or she never heard him in the first place. Damn!
Jordan eyed the many empties and said, “So, what brings you to Denver?”
“My new mother-in-law.”
“Mother-in-law?”
“Not my mother-in-law, silly, my stepmother.”
“I didn’t know Buck was married.”
“He’s not.” She shook her head. “But the woman wants me to stand up with her at the wedding.” Sass leaned across the table. “I don’t even know her.”
Suddenly Sass’s current state of inebriation became clear. “Did you just find out?”
“Yeah. I just met her. For the first time. Tonight. Now they’ve gone back up to their room to…” Sass shivered like she’d just slammed another shot.
“Wow. That must have been a surprise.”
“No kidding, right?” She let out a big sigh. “It’s just lust. That’s all it is. Oh, she’s sweet, all right. She smiles lots, speaks softly.” Sass lowered her voice in imitation. “She’s pretty and gorgeous and smart and pretty and she looks at Buck as if he’s ‘all that’ and more.” Sass shook her head. “I mean. Good for Buck, you know? I’m happy if he’s happy. But…” She practically crawled across the table in order to get closer. “I think he’s thinking with only one part of his body…and it sure as hell isn’t his brain.”
Jordan tried to say something, but Sass just plowed right ahead.
“You know what the best part is?” Even though she gawked at Jordan as if waiting for him to answer, she continued the conversation all on her own. “Buck’s moving down there! To Florida! What the hell does Buck know about living in Florida? He’s a big man. He’s going get really sweaty.” Sass lifted a shot glass and waved it at the bartender, asking for another drink.
Jordan caught the bartender’s eye and shook his head. The woman nodded, understanding to close the tab. “How many drinks have you had?”
“One or two.” Sass shrugged.
“There are seven shot glasses on the table.”
“How many have you had?” Sass’s torso weaved across the table toward Jordan as she tried to focus on his face.
“None. I just got here.”
“Oh. Who drank the rest?”
“Maybe we should get you back to your room.”
“To my room? Is that all you guys ever think of?”
“No, Sass, I…”
“No, Sass…” She did a poor imitation of him. “You’re just like the others. Want only one thing from me. Hey, I get it. I do. First there was freckle-face Carter. Then that bastard Dex Whelan.” She laughed raucously. “Can you believe I actually thought I loved him? Me?” She slammed the empty glass and wiped her lips like she’d just had a drink. “I shoulda clued in when the only place he’d meet me was at the Greenwood.” Sass shivered again. “He said he was staying there ’cuz he left his wife. Lying somna bitch!” Sass banged her fist on the table, making all the shot glasses clink together. “Then there was Carlos…”
“Let’s go, Sass.” Jordan stood and pulled Sass into his arms. As enlightening as her monologue was, Jordan didn’t think Sass wanted the whole bar to know about her personal life. But, as she let him half lead, half carry her to the lobby elevator she kept talking as if they were still seated at the table. “Carlos is such an ass. Not bad in bed, you know? But really, what was I thinking? Guess I’m not very good at choosing men.”
As soon as they stepped into the small, confined space of the elevator, Jordan asked, “Sass, where’s your key?”
“Back pocket.” Her eyes were closed as she leaned against him. “Room 617.” When Jordan reached around into her pocket, she strained her ass into his hand, making it difficult to remove the card. “Mmmm. But, you? You’re different, aren’t you, City-boy?”
“Come on, Sass.” Jordan wanted her to stop talking. Right now.
Eventually, she withdrew the card herself. “I’ll ‘come on’ if you do.” Her eyes were glazed and out of focus. Lazily she ran a han
d up and under his shirt. “You’re nice, aren’t you, Jordie? That’s the difference.” She shut her eyes. “Oh, and the sex is go-ood.” Grinding her pelvis into his leg, she continued, “You’re the only one who really knows how to scratch my itch.”
Thankfully the elevator reached the sixth floor. Jordan didn’t know how much more he could take. Sass was drunk. That wasn’t a turn on. Sass was grinding herself against him. That was usually a turn-on, but not tonight. But Sass calling him nice? That statement made him as cold as a January morning. What was wrong with her? Apart from the obvious inebriation and her inability to fight gravity, had she forgotten his lies? His deceit? Maybe she was so focused on her dad’s marriage that the other stuff was pushed aside. They’d have to discuss it at a later date, when she was sober.
First, he had to get her to her room, tuck her into bed and make sure she was okay and then run before he did something nasty. But for some reason as they made their way down the hall, Sass started tugging on his hand in an annoyingly playful way, making it difficult to get her to her room. “Sassy…”
She gave up tugging, which made her almost fall on her face, but Jordan caught her in time. Finally, he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to her room. She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled into him, whispering, “I love it when you call me Sassy. No one else. Only you.”
Jordan shivered at the sound of her voice in his ear. He nearly dropped her when her tongue replaced her hot breath. Somehow he managed to slip the key card into the slot, and Jordan pushed the door open with his foot, turned on a light, and deposited Sass on the bed. Her eyes were closed and a single wrinkle was etched between her brows. She was so wasted and she seemed so small and helpless on the huge king-size bed. He didn’t want to leave her. Not when she was like this. But staying wasn’t the best option either because he had a feeling Sass would curse him tomorrow if he did.
“Don’t leave.” Her eyes were still closed but her hands reached out for him.
Jordan crawled onto the bed beside her and rubbed the back of his hand gently across her cheek and then down her jaw in an attempt to remove a strand of hair that had gotten stuck to the side of her mouth. She took his finger and drew it between her lips into that sweet, warm mouth of hers. Jordan cringed and withdrew. “Sass…”
“Kiss me.”
“Sass, you’re drunk.”
“Kiss me.”
“I don’t think…”
With a strength that shouldn’t have surprised him, Sass pulled Jordan down beside her and didn’t bother to ask again. Her lips were soft, softer than usual, and her tongue peeked in and out of his mouth, driving him crazy. She drove him crazy. Everything about this little hellion with the impertinent mouth and taut body drove him mad. It certainly didn’t help that, even in her drunken state, she’d somehow managed to undo his fly and had her hand lodged down the front of his jeans, rubbing him hard.
“Sass, no…” Jordan tried to draw her hand free of his jeans but her grip was firm.
She stopped kissing him for a moment to gaze at him blearily. “You’re right. There’s somethin’ I haven’t done for you.” She released him and then scooted down low, her hair tickling the sensitive skin of his exposed abdomen.
“What are you doing?”
She gazed up at him and grinned impishly. Then she licked her lips and moved as if to take him into her mouth. Jordan stopped her by rolling out from beneath her. He sat on the edge of the bed and did up his fly.
“Wha’s wrong?” Sass asked, sounding hurt. “Don’t you want me?”
Oh, God. His heart broke at the uncertainty in her voice. “Sassy, honey, you’re drunk and you need to go to sleep.”
She flopped onto the bed, eyes closed, and sighed, seeming to have forgotten what she was just about to do. Jordan gently stroked her forehead, willing her to pass out.
But, after a few minutes of silence, she spoke, slurring softly, “You know, my mom used to call me Sassy. She was the only one who ever did.”
“I didn’t know that.” Jordan used his thumb to gently rub away the wrinkle between her brows.
“She left us, you know. My mom. Before she died. Buck doesn’t think I remember. But I do. It was my birthday and she left. I watched her pack her bags.”
Jordan’s chest tightened as he listened. He had a feeling that she was sharing something with him right now that she’d never shared with anyone else. “Shh, Sass,” Jordan said. “Go to sleep.”
“I don’t blame her.” Her eyes stayed closed as her lips twisted to one side. “I’m difficult.” She made a noise that sounded like half laugh, half sob. “I make everyone leave…eventually.”
Jordan cringed. What the hell was he doing? He gazed down at her, hating himself for what he’d done to her. Hating that she still didn’t know the truth. All he wanted to do was take away her pain, make things right. Hold her close and never let her go.
But for now, all he could manage was a chaste kiss on the forehead. “Good night, Sass.”
She opened her eyes. “Except you,” she murmured, her lips barely moving. “You’re the only one who’s ever stayed. I like that.”
Her eyes were so unfocused, Jordan didn’t think she really saw him and within seconds her lids succumbed to the weight of drunken exhaustion. He turned off the light and settled in beside her, holding her hand and rubbing her knuckles, thinking about the things she’d told him, planning out what he’d say to her in the morning.
“Jordan?” The word sounded more like a sigh than his name.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sass woke up and immediately wished she hadn’t. Her eyes were welded shut, her teeth felt sore and loose, like they might just crumble out of her mouth, and there was a band of evil gnomes doing major road construction on the highway between her ears. She cringed and tried to will herself back to sleep. Just a few more hours and the gnomes’ heavy hammering might be done.
But sleep eluded her. Visions of Buck and Mary-Lynn flitted through her brain. Lying on deck chairs in sunny Florida, drinking stupid fruity drinks. Mary-Lynn laughing at something Buck said and laying her hand on his arm the way Sass had already witnessed too many times. Then there was the shop. For some reason, Sass had an image in her mind of standing outside in the parking lot of the shop, watching an enormous bulldozer demolish it. Hogan’s. The family business. The place she’d grown up. The place she considered home. The only place she’d ever felt she belonged.
It was too much. Fumbling for a light switch, Sass instead found a large glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol waiting for her on the bedside table. Who’d left that? Maybe she’d had the presence of mind to set it out for herself last night. But then she heard the shower.
Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no!
What had she done? Invited some guy back to her room?
She lifted the sheets to inspect herself, terrified of what she might find. But, she still wore all her clothes. Even her shirt and jeans. Okay, so the guy either had sex with her and then put her clothes back on, or he didn’t have sex with her. But then, why stay?
Despite her throbbing head, Sass scrambled to her feet and searched the room for a weapon. Her heart thudded against her chest as she picked something up off the table and held it out in front of her. She stood with her feet shoulder width apart, in combat stance, as the door to the bathroom swung open.
“Morning, Sass.”
“Jordan?”
Jordan stood in the doorway in his jeans and that was it. Sass had a hard time tearing her eyes away from the way his muscles moved across the expanse of chest as he towel-dried his hair. What the hell was Jordan doing here? Showering, half-naked? Looking hot and available and comfortable and like he belonged.
“What’s with the bottle opener?” Jordan asked, his head cocked to the side. “Is that a ‘hair of the dog’ thing?”
“No. I—”
“You weren’t planning on attacking
me with that thing, were you?”
Sass glanced at the improbable weapon in her hands and then set it down on the counter. “No. I—”
Jordan approached her with an amused, smug, sexy look in his eyes. He came close to her, smelling all clean and fresh and yummy and he leaned down and whispered, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what happened last night.”
“Well…” Sass tried to back away but there was nowhere to go. Jordan seemed to surround her on all sides. Jordan’s body. His big, half-nude body still glistening with droplets of moisture. Her mouth began to water. Damn! What happened? What had she said? What had she done? Why was Jordan here? “Things might be a little sketchy.”
The sound of Jordan’s chuckle was so low and he stood so close that she could feel the rumble from his chest, and Sass’s knees weakened. There was definitely something wrong with her. It was partly the hangover, but something else, too. His hands were on her shoulders and his lips were close to her ear, too close, when he whispered, “Go have a shower and we’ll talk about it when you come out.”
Sass shut herself up in the bathroom and then leaned heavily against the door. Jordan was here. Shit, shit, shit! Worse, Jordan had stayed the night. It couldn’t be good. She was drunk and…what had she said? What had she done? Oh, God! It was too humiliating. She’d just had her very first sleepover and she couldn’t even remember it.
After a long, long shower, a good tooth brushing, and numerous glasses of water, Sass felt insignificantly better. Certainly not ready to face Jordan. But face him she must. With a towel wrapped around her body and one around her hair, Sass emerged from the bathroom with her eyes downcast. She squatted in front of her duffel bag, rooting around in it for something to wear. The TV was on, but Sass could feel Jordan’s eyes on her, boring through her, tugging at the towel that was tucked around her chest, making her already hot skin sizzle.
“Stop that!”
“Stop what?”
“I feel like crap. I’m not going to fuck you this morning.”
Jordan got off the bed and stalked slowly toward her. Sass’s pulse thrummed in her throat. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. She dropped her clothes and instead clasped her towel tight against her as she stood.
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