"So far?"
He smirked. "How about we pay the check and get out of here?"
Jordan was a gentleman when he paid for their dinner and a gentleman when he helped her back in the car and a gentleman when he parked in the underground guest parking for her building before helping her out. Perhaps that was why she had felt so at ease with inviting him up.
Until she got in the elevator. Her heart was pounding and she was doing everything she could to keep her breathing calm. Jordan had taken her hand as soon as they got in, and she was worried she may be holding on too tight. Her hand was thankfully steady as she put her key in the lock for her penthouse, and she quietly applauded herself for taking the time to clean the place up earlier in the day just in case.
"You can just throw your coat over the chair there," she said, motioning to the black leather seat in her living room. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Sure," he said casually. "Anything in particular?"
She smiled as she shed her own coat and laid it next to his. "The new thing in Manhattan this year has been high-end bourbon if that's good."
"Yeah, that's good."
He seemed a bit surprised by her bold choice, but in a good way. Charlotte smirked and seductively walked into the kitchen, leaving Jordan to stand and watch her sway her hips a little more than what was needed. She pulled out two tumblers from the cupboard and grabbed her favorite bottle of bourbon, pouring two glasses that she carried back to the living room. Jordan had loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt before casually sitting on her sofa, and something inside of her wanted to take advantage of him right there. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Thank you," he said. "To an amazing third date." He raised his glass in a salute to her and took a sip, his face clearly showing that he enjoyed it.
"Third date?" she asked as she sat down next to him.
He looked as if she had caught him trying to slip a secret past her, but he recovered quickly with a knowing smirk on his face. "Well, the first was dinner at your place."
"It was a charity dinner and there were other people here."
"There was food so still a date," he said, lifting his index finger from his glass to point at her for extra emphasis. "Second date was skating at the arena."
"Again, other people were there."
He gave her a knowing smirk. "I spent 15 very uncomfortable minutes today talking to the media crowded around my locker, if you know what I mean."
"What do you mean?" she asked teasingly.
His eyes flicked down to her mouth for just a moment. "I was only wearing a towel and thinking about your lips," he said. "There was a lot of readjusting."
"I got it." Charlotte smirked. "So this is the third date?"
Jordan stared at her with a bit of a mischievous look in his blue eyes. "You're not rethinking your invitation, are you?"
"No!" she said a little too loudly. "No, I'm not. I just..." He looked at her curiously. "I've just heard about you and your lady friends, so to speak."
He scoffed. "My lady friends."
"There's nothing wrong with that and I don't mind if — well, I mean I do, but um..." She took a deep breath to stop herself from saying something stupid. "I just want to know what I'm getting myself into."
There was a part of her that hoped he would just gloss over the answer, that this was just casual to him. It would be easy for her to acknowledge the lust she had for him before she got in too deep and he broke her heart. But then the nagging voice in her head kept hoping there could be something more.
Jordan took another drink from his glass before running his free hand through his hair. "You're not the only one who's trying to do something new with their life, Charlotte. Not that you're my experiment," he added quickly. "I guess I'm hoping I can have more with you than my other friends."
His extra emphasis on that last word forced Charlotte to take another swig from her glass, covering the smile that she was trying to keep in check. She could tell it wasn't enough based on the smirk on Jordan's face as he finished his bourbon. The glass made a soft clink as he set it down on her coffee table, showing off his forearms below his rolled up sleeves.
He paused and she realized she had been caught staring at him. "See something you like?" Her eyes looked up from Jordan's arms to the loose tie around his neck and his eyes.
"You look comfortable here," she said.
He leaned forward, reaching for her glass to set it down next to his, then lowered his head to get closer so he could look in her eyes. "I feel comfortable here," he murmured.
Charlotte could smell the bourbon that still lingered on his lips as he leaned in and kissed her. She couldn't stop a soft moan escaping from her mouth as he ran his fingers through her hair and she could feel his lips shift slightly as he smiled. He knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on her, and it only encouraged him to pull her closer. His arms were so tight around her that she couldn't move her hands that were now pressed against the strong muscles of his chest. There was no way she wanted to move them now anyway.
