AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So you went from angry teenager to cynical columnist. Was it due to one grand event, or a process of continuing attrition?”
“A combination,” he admitted, not wanting to discuss his parents and their inability to stay faithful to each other. But he also hadn’t found life beyond his family’s home to be much of a counterbalance to his attitudes.
All the same, he didn’t think he was cynical—he was more of a skeptic, or perhaps a realist.
“In other words, you don’t like talking about it,” Nicole guessed. “That’s understandable. Disillusionments are also about our vulnerabilities and most of us keep our most tender spots hidden.”
“True. Do you plan on revealing any of your vulnerable spots?” he asked. He’d interviewed people who were experts at shifting the focus onto the interviewer and Nicole might be one of them.
She ran the tip of her tongue over her lip and he found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss her. Every move she made seemed to have a seductive edge to it, though he didn’t believe she was doing it deliberately. Trying to bemuse or seduce a reporter didn’t seem to be her style.
“No soft spots on display for a while,” she said and he had to think a moment to recall the question he’d asked about revealing her vulnerabilities. “You have to really trust someone to uncover that part of yourself.”
A flash of annoyance struck at the inference that she didn’t trust him, but Jordan reined in his feelings. After all, she had no reason to find him trustworthy and he’d already revealed he had biases. A rational person wouldn’t trust him.
“Is there anything I can do to gain your trust?” he asked.
Reaching her hands high in the air, she stretched and yawned. “Who knows?”
Jordan’s muscles tensed. Her motions were alluring, but he still didn’t think she was being consciously seductive.
One thing was for sure—Nicole hadn’t dropped out of the fashion scene because her looks were fading, which was what a few disgruntled journalists had suggested when they couldn’t get an interview. In fact, she looked better than ever, with naturally gold hair and the same vibrant blue eyes he remembered—no enhancement from colored contact lenses needed. She also exuded sexy vitality, so he didn’t believe illness had led to her hiatus.
Another possibility was a personal issue, such as a love affair or a relationship that had gone bad. He’d tested those waters already and would return to it when the timing was right.
Settling against the high-backed chair, Nicole closed her eyes. “Don’t you love a spring afternoon?” she asked. “It’s still so fresh, the earth waking after winter. I didn’t know it could be like that. Of course, everyone tells me this is a warm spring for Washington, so maybe it isn’t typical, especially the hot spell that’s been predicted.”
“You act as if this is the first time you’ve ever seen springtime.”
Her eyes opened. “It is in a way.”
“Another thing you missed because of being an international model?”
“Stop barking up that tree,” she said coolly. “This has nothing to do with me being a model. It’s about having lived in Southern California my entire life. The weather down there is pleasant, as you know, but let’s face it, the seasons aren’t that definitive. They just sort of meander from one place to another. The seasons really make an impact up here. I’m loving the spring after winter.”
Jordan nodded. He’d moved away from Los Angeles after college, wanting to leave the past behind and had lived in various places around the country. He liked the Northwest.
“Even in Seattle, seasonal changes aren’t as definitive as they are back east,” he said. “Spring also seems to come slower there.”
“I suppose that’s true. My friend Logan lived all over the world when he was a kid. He says it isn’t until you’ve gone through a winter where trees and bushes mostly look dead, that you truly understand why poets rave about the coming of spring.”
“Logan Kensington is the photographer in your partnership,” Jordan commented, recalling the information he’d been given about Moonlight Ventures. “It’s hard to believe he’s giving up the artistry involved with photography to be an agent.”
