She gave him a kiss on his cheek and waited as he opened the passenger door for her.
"Send me a text to let me know you got in safe," he told her.
"You really like it when I check in with you, don't you?"
"I worry about you, Charlie," he explained.
"You don't have to."
Jordan shrugged. "I know, but I do." He gave her a strained smile. "Have a good night," he said, slamming her door shut.
He watched as the cab pulled away before reaching for the phone in his jacket pocket. His fingers had been itching to grab it throughout dinner. Jordan pulled up his web browser and paused. His hand hovering above the screen, trying to decide if it should follow the directions his brain was sending to it. And then it started typing into the little box on the screen, "Charlotte Stone Declan Reed," and pressed the Search button.
There was a few articles about both of them at the same charity dinner in Manhattan a few years ago to promote some fashion magazine's spread on pro athletes and their high-end styles. The rest were just a few random gossip websites that mentioned them, just not in the same article. But he was still on edge. Just because stories didn't show up in a search engine didn't mean it was no big deal. Something had spooked Charlotte about Declan, but Jordan would have to go to sleep in his hotel room tonight without knowing exactly what it was. Maybe she could give him some answers when they got back to Detroit.
The trip to her parents' place wasn't far. Charlotte quickly paid the driver and ducked in past the doorman towards the ornate elevators in the lobby. She typed out "I made it home," on her phone and sent it off to Jordan just in time for the doors to close behind her.
The drive to her apartment seemed like an eternity tonight. Things hadn't gone right at dinner. In fact, they had gone very wrong. What the hell was Declan even doing in that part of Manhattan? It was cool and calm and not at all flashy like him. He had just made it to New York a few days earlier, hadn't even played for his new team yet. Why was he hanging out in her part of town on the same night she was having dinner with a man who hated him almost as much as she did?
She was grateful that Jordan had called Declan for what he was: a pest. But things were off after their encounter. It would be fine, she told herself. She just needed to go to the arena tomorrow night and watch Jordan play. Then he would be off to Boston for another game, she would be heading back to Detroit in a few more days, the ghost of Declan would stay in New York.
It would be good to really tell Jordan about her past relationship once they were both home. He may be angry at first that she had kept it from him for so long, but he had to know just how painful Declan can make someone's life. He would know that that was the reason she had held all this back.
As the doors opened on her parents' floor, Charlotte's phone buzzed alerting her to a text from Jordan. "See you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow." She sent off the text and unlocked the door, trying to quietly slip in so as not to wake up her parents.
"Hey! How was it?"
Charlotte turned quickly to see her mother sitting on the edge of the sofa in the living room, staring back at her.
"You know, I'm old enough that you don't have to wait up anymore," she told her parents.
Maggie smiled from her spot on the sofa. "We wanted to hear about your date with Jordan."
"Please don't," her father said, glancing over his copy ofThe Wall Street Journalto give her an apprehensive look.
Charlotte shrugged off her coat and hung it in the closet by the door. "I'm going to bed. Have a good night."
"You're not even going to tell us about dinner?" her mother pouted.
Dinner was great after I ran into my ex-boyfriend and tried to play it off as no big deal and it didn't work.
Luckily, her father could see the tension in her and came to her rescue, giving his wife a frustrated look before turning back to his daughter.
"Good night, Charlotte," he said gently.
She gave them a small wave and walked down the hall towards her old bedroom, sighing with relief that the details from her night out were still safe with her.
Dinner with Jordan could've been better, and her ex-boyfriend's appearance had definitely been the worst part of the night. But as Charlotte pulled on her comfy yoga pants and slipped under her covers, the last thing she could have imagined was how much worse Declan was about to make her life.
Chapter 10
The last time Jordan got in a fight on the ice was in his second season in the league when he was still young and scrappy and immature.
He was the captain now and captains don't get in fights. Captains don't let pests get under their skin. But how many captains had to listen to some goon talk about fucking the woman he was with?
Normally, trash talking a player's girlfriend isn't that big of a deal. You just brush it off and move on. Besides, what can that guy know about your girlfriend?
