Chapter Seven
Isighed heavilyand dropped my pen on my desk. I was finally done.
I cupped the back of my neck with my hand and squeezed hard, hoping that the muscles there would relax a little.
After lunch with Grier, Chelsea, and Yancy, I’d been bombarded with work. I’d spent the last six hours at my desk, working long past the time that everyone else in the office went home. Though my earlier conversation with Grier was on my mind, all I wanted right now was a meal, a hot bath, and my bed. Jordan would have to wait until tomorrow.
Unfortunately, it seemed no one sent the man in question my cosmic memo.
As I shut down my computer, movement at my office door made me jump in surprise. The shadowed figure of a man moved forward until I could see his face.
“Dammit, Jordan! You scared the hell out of me!” I gasped, clapping a hand to my chest. “I thought I was alone in the office.”
“Sorry about that.” Though his words were the right ones, he didn’t sound sincere. In fact, he sounded almost…annoyed.
“So what kept you here so late tonight?” I asked casually, unsure why he might be upset.
Jordan crossed his arms over his chest and propped his shoulder against the doorframe, giving him a nonchalant appearance that contradicted his next words. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
My first instinct was to deny the statement despite its veracity. Instead, I decided it was time to pull up my big girl panties and return his bluntness. “I have.”
His brows lifted and he seemed surprised by my honesty. “Why?”
“That’s a little…complicated,” I replied. I waved him into my office. “If you have a few minutes, we can talk.”
I had no idea what he might be thinking, but Jordan closed my office door behind him and took the chair on the opposite side of my desk. Somehow our positioning, me behind my sleek desk and Jordan seated across from me, made it easier to say what I needed to say.
“I’m sorry I didn’t return your call yesterday,” I began, “But I wasn’t sure the best way to handle this situation.”
“Is our having sex the situation you’re referring to?” he queried.
I bit back the smart-ass reply that leaped to my tongue at his sardonic tone. It served no purpose to let him bait me. “Yes,” I answered stiffly. “We might have had a casual affair in the past, but that’s not what I’m looking for any longer. When you called me, I wasn’t sure how to address the issue with you.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I’m not sure what your expectations are now. It wasn’t as if we discussed any of this before you spent the night with me on Saturday. What we had two years ago was fun, but I’m looking for a more meaningful connection now.” I met his eyes as I spoke, even though it was difficult. Especially since his face gave nothing of his thoughts away.
“So you’re looking for a serious relationship?” he asked mildly.
“Yes,” I replied, my pulse pounding at the base of my throat as I answered. This was unnerving and uncomfortable and I despised the sensation of having absolutely no control. It wasn’t a feeling I often experienced.
“Okay.”
I blinked. “Okay?”
Jordan nodded and rose to his feet. “I understand what you’re saying and I’m fine with it.”
My rapidly beating heart sank at his words. He didn’t want anything more than sex with me after all.
“If you haven’t eaten, I’d like to take you to dinner.”
Confused, I shook my head, pushing myself up from my chair. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Jordan studied me. “You explained that you wanted a relationship based on more than sex and I agreed. We’ll continue seeing each other until one or both of us no longer wishes to do so. I assumed by your statement that a deeper connection would include things like dinner dates and spending time together doing non-sexual activities.”
When he put it that way, the entire process sounded cold, emotionless—exactly what I didn’t want. I moved around my desk, closing the distance between us.
“Look, Jordan, if this isn’t what you want, I understand,” I began. “I’m not trying to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to. I only wanted to make it clear that I—”
