Chapter Nine
After our steamyconversation on Thursday, I assumed that Jordan would stay over after our date Friday night. In fact, I was looking forward to it with enthusiasm.
Instead, he kissed me stupid on my doorstep, practically shoved me inside the house, and left.
He was driving me crazy yet again and he seemed completely oblivious. Which couldn’t be true. Jordan Hawke never made a move without a plan. He was a master strategist and incredibly observant—a lethal combination.
This was why I was texting my friends at ten on a Friday night. While I was reasonably intelligent, I could not understand what Jordan was trying to accomplish other than inducing insanity via sexual frustration. Though I was the oldest of the group, I probably had the least experience with relationships. I hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in years. I needed advice and another point of view.
I messaged them all at once. I figured they’d forgive me for the group text if I offered to buy them mimosas the next morning.
I was right.
They agreed to meet me for brunch the following morning. Maybe they could give me the insight I seemed to lack when dealing with Jordan Hawke.
Or maybe I was overanalyzing all of our interactions and they would tell me to quit being so neurotic.
Either way, any meal that included my friends and wine was guaranteed to be an entertaining one.
Chelsea leaned onmy doorbell at nine forty-five. She’d offered to pick me up during our text exchange last night. Something about how I needed to have a couple Bloody Marys and let it all hang out.
I hurried out of the kitchen to the door, not even taking the time to put down my coffee cup. Opening the door, I asked, “What bee flew up in your bonnet this morning?”
Tossing her strawberry blonde curls, she came inside. “Only for you and your first ever love life crisis would I be out of bed this early on a Saturday.”
I shut the door and turned to find her in the kitchen, pouring coffee into a mug. “Make yourself at home,” I stated, walking over to the counter and holding out my cup for a refresh. “And what do you mean out of bed this early? You told me you wake up at six-thirty every morning.”
Chelsea shot me a level look. “I may be awake, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like to lie in bed until noon.”
I laughed because I could see Chelsea doing that. During the week, she seemed to go non-stop. Even on the weekends, she stayed busy, but she never liked to meet before noon. Now I knew why.
“Well thank you for your noble sacrifice,” I teased her, sipping my coffee. Glancing at the clock, I set my mug to the side. “We’d better go or we’ll be late. Let me go grab my shoes and I’ll be ready to leave.”
She nodded and continued drinking coffee. When I came back from my bedroom a few minutes later, I found Chelsea rinsing our cups and putting them in the dishwasher.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yeah. Thanks for cleaning up.”
“Just making myself at home.”
We chatted about our week as Chelsea drove to the restaurant. Her account of an encounter with one of Chris’ clients, Landen Weber, was hilarious. Apparently, the man lacked in social skills and Chelsea lacked the ability to put up with it. The fact that Chris merely shrugged when Landen complained said it all. He wasn’t going to risk losing a good assistant for Landen, especially since he was doing him a favor and waiving his usual consulting fee.
Chris had never kept an assistant longer than a few months before Lucy, who’d managed to put up with him for years before she quit. Now he and Lucy were engaged and he’d hired Chelsea on Lucy’s recommendation. Though she gave him hell, Chris kept Chelsea on because she was damn good at her job. I was pretty sure he also found her hilarious, even if he didn’t admit it. There was no way he was going back to the revolving door of assistants because Landen didn’t like Chelsea’s “attitude”.
Grier was already at the restaurant and somehow managed to get us a table despite the crowd waiting to be seated.
The woman was nearly frightening with her abilities to get things done.
Not long after Chelsea and I arrived, Lucy and Yancy strolled in, both of them glowing.
We all greeted each other and ordered drinks before Lucy turned to me and said, “Okay, I could barely sleep last night because of your texts. You can’t message me and say you’re havingman troublethen refuse to give details. That’s against BFF law and you should definitely know that since you’re a lawyer!”
The rest of ladies nodded in agreement.
I had to take a deep breath and tamp down my anxiety because I hadn’t shared much with the girls before. I always tried to be supportive and assist them however I could, but I hated asking for help. My heart beat faster at the thought.
“I think this is the first time in my life that I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted. “Jordan…he’s unlike any man I’ve ever dated. Actually, he’s unlike any man I’ve ever known. He’s so hard to read. I don’t know what he’s thinking half the time and it’s driving me nuts.”
