"Thanks." Kayla left with his clothes, and Jordan about had the food ready to go in the oven when she returned, smiling down at the outfit she now wore. Jordan's t-shirt came to the middle of her thighs, and what were short sleeves on him fell to her elbows. She'd folded the sweats up so they were bulky around her ankles, and although he bet she'd pulled the waist cords as snugly as they'd go, he could tell from the bump the waistband made beneath the t-shirt that they were riding her hips. She'd also put his socks on, and the toes were already flopping loose around the fronts of her feet.
She was the cutest thing he'd ever seen, and Jordan said so, right out loud: "Oh my God, you're adorable."
"Iam, aren't I?" Kayla laughed and spun around in the too-big clothes. "I can't remember the last time I was this comfortable. All I need now is a giant hoodie and I'll disappear into a cloud of sheer coziness."
"There are a couple hoodies in the fourth drawer of my dresser, if you want one," Jordan said, amused, as he put the chicken in the oven. "But I can't be responsible for the star of the show actually disappearing into a puff of snuggly comfort."
"I may risk it," Kayla announced. "Maybe not until after dinner, though, because I have a feeling a nap would turn into a sleep. And I do have to stay awake to hand these over to Elaine."
"…I thought the costumer was Carmen?"
"Elaine's her assistant. The one who has to go out in the snow at one a.m. to fetch the perfect hat, while Carmen makes higher-level decisions."
"It's not one in the morning!"
"And these aren't a perfect hat," Kayla said, patting her wet clothes. "Okay, so, I wouldn't want to disrupt your evening plans, so what would you be doing if I wasn't here?"
"…I'd be watching some romcoms starring this actress I just discovered, her name is Kayla Walsh and she's kind of amazing."
Kayla clapped her hands over her cheeks, blushing, and laughed. "Oh God. Are you going to make me watch myself?"
Jordan heard himself say, "Someday, yes," as if a future with Kayla was assured. Somehow hefeltas if it might be, even though that was crazy. "Someday I'm going to want to get the unfiltered actor's commentary on every movie you've ever been in. But no," he said more softly, watching Kayla's smile brighten and deciding he hadn't blown it by suggesting a 'someday.' "I'd really just like to hang out and get to know you better. Or re-know you. Nah, to know you. We weren't really close in high school or anything. Can I get you a drink, in the meantime?"
"Water, please? I'm a cheap date," Kayla said, looking amused. "A home-cooked meal and a glass of water, that's my jam."
"One glass of water coming up. Ice?"
"Nope, I'm good, thanks." Water glass in hand, Kayla led the way back to the living room and curled up in the armchair opposite of where she'd first sat with Barney. "All right, Jordan Rhodes. Let's get to know each other."
Chapter 11
Theyhadn'treally known each other in high school, Kayla thought as she sat down. Maybe that was why she hadn't seen Jordan as her fated mate back then. Maybe?—
Maybe you were an owlet,her owl said with obvious exasperation.You didn't need a fated mate then.
Kayla mumbled, "Oh," out loud as she snuggled into the armchair. The decor had probably been dictated by Jordan's parents' tastes in furniture, possibly thirty years ago, but the couches and chairs had thick soft cushions and high, padded arms just right for draping an arm over to read, and were really comfortable. There was also almost enough room for Barney in what was left of the chair cushion after what Kayla herself used up: she knew this because the Border Collie bounced up into the chair and arranged himself over the remaining cushion, her hip, and her tucked-up feet. Kayla wasn't sure he was comfortable, but hewaswarm, and she wasn't about to shoo him away.
"I think you already know everything interesting about me," Jordan said as he took his own seat. "Played baseball, blew my knee out, came back to Virtue. That about sums it up."
"I disagree. For example, you hadn't mentioned you can cook."
"Anybody can roast a chicken," Jordan protested. "Literally just put it in the oven and leave it alone for as long as the packaging tells you to cook it. It's not that hard."
"And yet innumerable people produce dry, chalky chicken," Kayla said. "Not that I speak from experience or anything."
"Honestly, just cook it as long as the packaging says and it'll be fine. Same thing with turkey. It's not that hard, although I do have my grandmother's roasting pan for turkey, and it self-bastes, which makes it even easier."
"Do I even want to know what 'self-basting' is?" Kayla asked cautiously. "And also, that's really cool that you've got her roasting pan. You must actually cook."
Jordan grinned. "I can't explain self-basting in polite company." As Kayla's eyebrows rose, his grin turned to his warm, rich laugh, and he waved off his comment. "No, basting, it's, you know, squirting the juice over the top of the bird as it cooks out? This old roasting pan has a tented top—" He flattened his hands, fingertips to fingertips, then bent his first knuckles in so they made a small dip in the flat line his hands made. "—so the condensation inside the roasting pan rises, gathers on the top, and drips down onto the bird so it bastes itself."
"Yeah, I think maybe every word of that sounded dirty somehow. Dirty and yet delicious. I may invite myself over for Thanksgiving."
"You'd be more than welcome," Jordan said, his smile softening. "Anyway, my parents told me I needed to know how to cook before I went to college because there was no easier way to make friends than home made food, and they weren't wrong. I'm a pretty good basic cook."
"I, on the other hand, don't know what self-basting is," Kayla said. "They feed us on set and I eat a lot of pre-packaged saladwhen I'm not working. Not because I have a great love for salad, but because it doesn't require much thought. I'm surprised—" She broke off, and as Jordan's expression turned curious, she groaned silently at herself. "I was going to say, I'm surprised you don't have a girlfriend, although I realize I don't actually know if that's true."
"Ah." Jordan's mouth twisted and he glanced down, shaking his head. "No, no serious relationships for a while. The last one ended with my knee injury, which was how I found out she was really in it because she thought I might someday make the majors and bring in a lot of cash."
