Chapter Six
Present Day
Ilistened withhalf an ear as Chelsea, Grier, and Yancy talked about their weekends. My mind couldn’t seem to latch on to their words. Instead, images of the past few days replayed in my mind over and over. What happened with Jordan at Milton Buck’s retirement party, the ride home, and the next twelve hours.
I was a woman obsessed.
After two years without Jordan in my life, the weekend seemed surreal, like a fevered dream. Or erotic hallucination.
“Tanya? Taaaaaanyaaaaa?”
I blinked, looking up when I realized that Chelsea was calling my name. All three of my friends were staring at me with expressions of varying degrees of concern.
“You okay?” Yancy asked softly. “It’s not like you to be so…checked out.”
I shrugged, mindlessly stirring my egg drop soup with a spoon as I watched the liquid swirl in the bowl. Then I sighed.
“Something’s going on,” Chelsea prompted. “Spill.”
A few weeks after Jordan arrived at the firm, I’d had a bit of a breakdown at lunch with my friends. I never told them about Jordan while we were together, mostly because I hadn’t expected it to develop into anything more than a short fling.
Maybe if I had, the months after he left wouldn’t have been so difficult. Maybe…it was time for me to stop trying to do everything myself and share my problems.
“I slept with someone this weekend,” I blurted out.
I almost laughed at the shocked expressions on my friends’ faces. For well over a year, I hadn’t mentioned a man or even dated, but I hadn’t expected them to bethatsurprised by my admission.
“I didn’t realize you were dating anyone,” Grier replied.
This time I did laugh, but even I could hear the lack of mirth in my tone. “I’m not.” Silence descended over the group and I realized that no one knew what to say, so I continued, “I slept with Jordan Hawke.”
“You slept withhim?” Chelsea asked, her voice rising in volume.
“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t announce it to the entire restaurant.”
She frowned at me. “Sorry, I’m just surprised as hell. I thought you were doing everything you could to avoid him.”
Nodding, I answered, “I was. For this exact reason.”
“What happened, exactly?” Grier asked, her brow furrowed with worry.
I told them about Milton Buck’s retirement party and my confrontation with Jordan in the sitting room and how he insisted on giving me a ride home.
“Did he leave after he dropped you off?” Chelsea seemed curious more than anything else.
I shook my head. “No. He—he stayed until morning.”
Chelsea’s brows lifted. “Really? That’s…interesting. What happened the next morning?”
“He brought me a cup of coffee in bed, told me he had a brunch date with his aunt, and that he would call me later.”
Yancy leaned forward, her expression expectant. “Has he called?”
“Yes, last night.”
She grinned happily. “That’s awesome. What did you talk about?”
“We didn’t talk,” I responded. “I didn’t answer.”
