“Okay.” He set her down and held her by the shoulders. “Well.” He cleared his throat again. “Let’s go inside and quit giving the neighbors a show.” He took the handle of her suitcase and led the way up the steps and over the threshold.
Her mom went ahead of her, giving Jordan the chance to trail his fingers across her lower back. He bit back a grin when she shivered.
“Behave,” she hissed over her shoulder.
Letting his hand trail down, he patted her on the ass.
She whipped around and glared at him. If she thought he was going to spend the next day and a half not touching her, she’d left her good sense back in Rome. Winking, he gave her a small push to get her moving.
“I’ll get you two settled in your rooms.” Emme’s mom led the way up the stairs leading off the small foyer.
He took Emme’s suitcase from her father and trailed after them.
“Do you need a nap? Or a shower? Doug and Gilly are coming for dinner. I told them around five. I’m making chicken and dumplings. I know I usually only make it when it’s cold outside, but it’s your favorite.”
She turned left at the top of the stairs. “Jordan, I have you down at this end.” She pointed to the door on the right at the end of the hall. “Emme, you’re in the room next to me and Dad.”
Screw that B.S.Emme wasn’t going to sleep anywhere other than next to him.
“Mom.” Emme took her hands. “Calm down. We’re fine. A nap will be good and dinner sounds wonderful.”
Her mom sniffled and nodded, then pulled Emme into her arms again. Jordan went into his assigned bedroom and closed the door to give them some privacy. Mrs. France had been talking a mile a minute on the climb up the stairs. Probably a mix of nervousness and excitement with a whole lot of relief thrown in for good measure. Not that he could blame her — it wasn’t every day your daughter was snatched from the clutches of death and whisked off to a secret location.
Dropping his bag at the foot of the full bed, he flopped down in the center. The whole thing was surreal. He didn’t know if he felt more like Alice lost in Wonderland or the caterpillar trying to figure out who the hell the weird chick was.
Someone tapped twice on his door and he sat up. “Come in.”
Emme squeezed through the door and closed it softly behind her. She walked directly to him, straddled his lap, wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his neck.
He draped his arms around her waist “You wanna talk about it?”
“My mom is very emotional.” Her voice was muffled against his skin.
“Stands to reason.”
“I know. I needed someone calm.”
The ache in his chest warred with the pride he felt in her trust. Was that all she needed him for? A guarantee that he’d have her back, no matter what, no matter who. She’d as much implied their time together was almost over. She’d said that wasn’t what she’d meant, but the sadness in her eyes had made him question her assurances.
Time would tell. Time with him gone and her settling back into her life. But right now, he wanted to keep pretending it was still the two of them in their bubble. “You wanna take a nap in here?”
She nodded against his neck.
Grasping the back of her neck, he pulled her head up and brushed her thick hair away from her face. “Stand up, babe.” She stood and he scooted back in the bed. Crawling up next to him, she burrowed into him again, tucking her head under his chin, and throwing her leg over his hips.
He cocooned her in his arms. “That’s going to have to wait ‘till tonight. I’m not going down to dinner smelling like sex.”
She tried to punch him in side, but didn’t have the leverage to pull back enough. “Ass.”
Smiling against her temple, he said, “I’m not kidding. You’re going to have to sneak in here after your parents go to sleep.”
“I was already planning on it.”
“You dirty girl,” he teased.
“Go to sleep, perv.”
He rubbed his chin against the top of her head, smiling. He’d show her perv later.
