Gemma shrugged and smiled with indifference, but Jordan could tell it was affecting her more than she was letting on. She recognized it because it hadn’t been that long ago when she was there herself, battling to understand how a man could show interest and then not do anything…interesting. If Matt was anything like Tyler, she almost felt sorry for her bestie.
“That may be true, but the last time I checked, I was irresistible.”
Jordan giggled. “Don’t take it personally, Gem. It’s not you. It’s just the great teachings of Roscoe Evans.”
A little bump in the road
“Good morning, Mister Evans,” Jordan greeted as Tyler strolled past her desk.
“Jordan, my office, please.”
She smiled as she stood up and followed him to his office. He did this every morning. He wasn’t trying to keep their relationship a secret, but he was also quite strict about keeping their personal life and professional life separate. Every office had its fair share of rumors and Tyler didn’t want their relationship to be a point of discussion at the water cooler. It was one thing they both agreed on, so she didn’t argue.
She walked in and he closed the door behind her.
“Good morning,” he said, placing a long kiss on her lips. It was chaste, no tongue, just the simple way he’d been greeting her for the last two weeks.
Unlike every other day, he kept the door closed, walked to his desk and sat down. “There’s something I need to show you, but I don’t want you to freak out.”
“Okay.” She felt a mixture of worry and apprehension as he opened his briefcase.
He placed a tabloid magazine on his table but kept his hands over the cover. “So that night we all went out to Q’s,” he began, “someone had a camera.”
He lifted his hands and her eyes widened for a split second. There, on the right corner of the cover of Hot Gossip, was a picture of Tyler kissing her as they danced in the rain.
“Does Tyler Evans have a new girlfriend?” she read out loud. “I know I was drunk that night, but they could have at least gotten my good side.”
Their picture on the cover of a trashy magazine didn’t faze her and she thought the joke would lighten the mood, but he still looked uneasy and that sort of made her uneasy too. She lifted the magazine, flipping through the pages until she found the section dedicated to theirlove affair. There were a lot more pictures of their drunken night and they weren’t too bad. The article, however, was just demeaning. No, actually the article was downright fucked up. It said, in no uncertain terms, that this millionaire tycoon was having a rebound fling with hisskankysecretary. She knew she shouldn’t have worn that skirt.
“Why does everyone think I’m your secretary?” She tried to keep her tone light, but he didn’t buy it. He saw straight through the fake smile and indifference she was trying to show. Her mood was plummeting by the second.
“Jordan, I’m sorry. This is one of those ugly things that comes along with me and if you—”
“I don’t care what other people think…I care about whatyouthink.”
That was her way of begging for reassurance and again he saw it immediately. He was quiet for a long time, staring at her like she could read his thoughts. She couldn’t. “You’re asking me if…I’m using you as arebound?”
“You and Trisha only broke up six months ago. The two of you were together for three years…I mean, are you really over her?”
He didn’t confirm or deny anything. He didn’t answer his question or hers. He just continued staring at her, which was only causing more doubt to play on her mind.
“We’re nothing alike,” she said, “and it does make me wonder how the same man could be attracted to two women who areso different.” She nipped her lip, debating whether she should go further. In the end, she decided to voice her thoughts. She was falling for him at meteorite speed and she needed to know what they were and what they weren’t. “Tyler, if I’m just some momentary distraction…a fun pastime—”
“That’s enough.” His words were soft to show compassion, but there was an edge to them, letting her know that something she’d said had angered him. “Jordan, you don’t know everything about me, but there are three things you do know. I don’t do flings. I don’t make a decision without thinking about it first. And I certainly don’t do things for the sake offun. So what does that tell you?”
This was something new she was discovering about him. Instead of answering the question, he threw another back at her. It took a few seconds and then it clicked. He had trouble articulating how he felt. His hesitation when they’d discussed his mother should have been the first clue. The wordfondwas the second, but this was the first time she was really seeing it. He used twenty words when three or four would suffice.I like youorI care about youweren’t easy for him to say, but she accepted his roundabout way of saying it.
“It tells me…I shouldn’t give a fuck about this article.”
He smiled and stood up. “Yeah, Roman.” Closing the gap between them, he cupped her face with both hands. “Insecurity doesn’t suit you. Don’t doubt this. I don’t.”
“Okay.”
He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her in one of his bear-like cuddles. It wasn’t the chastegood morningtype kisses. It wasn’t lustful either. It wasn’t even anything in-between because it held no physical connotations. That kiss was all emotion, Tyler’s way of telling her that he might be falling for her too.
It was some time later when she finally walked back to her desk, still feeling a little dazed. When her brain eventually reached full capacity again, she remembered it was September twenty-second, Shane’s birthday. She formulated her excuse to end the call if he started talking too much and then reached for her cell phone.
“Hi, Jo-jo.”
