AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe you aren’t the best person to decide what our readers may find interesting.”
“Don’t use my arguments against me.” His voice sounded rueful. “That isn’t a fair tactic against a guy with a headache.”
“Never let it be said that I didn’t give aid to someone in pain.” Opening a cupboard, she grabbed a bottle of aspirin and handed it to him with a glass with water. “Help yourself.”
Jordan swallowed two aspirin tablets. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Picking up a tray with shortbread, a bowl of sliced strawberries and the whipped cream, she nodded at another tray with bowls on it. “Can you bring that one for me?”
“Sure.”
“That looks fabulous,” Chelsea said as they approached.
“I’m addicted to anything strawberry, especially in spring when the berries are at their best,” Nicole answered.
“I agree.” Barton picked up the canister she’d filled with cream. “What’s this?”
“A gadget that makes whipped cream. You just pour in the cream and use a gas canister. Ain’t modern technology wonderful?” She gave Jordan an innocent look. “Is whipped cream a frothy enough topic for a model?”
“Very amusing.”
“I do my best.”
It probably wasn’t very nice to keep yanking his chain; the guy did have a headache. She’d have a headache, too, a permanent one, if she lived in the tiny condo that Chelsea had described. It obviously suited him. Jordan wanted a carefree bachelor life—the apartment-style condo would have told her that without the little she’d picked up from his column and his remarks the previous evening.
Nicole sighed. Jordan had created a life that worked for him and she felt a hint of envy to realize he had everything together, a little too much perhaps for her taste, but he did seem to have things under control. By contrast it seemed as if she was racing to catch up with herself.
Then good sense kicked in.
For years she’d fashioned her own life to suit her, as much so as Jordan was doing. The only reason things were more chaotic now was because she had made a decision to change her life and it took time to settle into a new home, a new city and a new career…not to mention having to deal with a reporter while she was doing it.
And the reporter was Jordan Masters, who’d turned into a sexy and dynamic man who was disrupting her satisfaction with her platonic lifestyle. That just added insult to injury.
* * *
CHELSEA FOCUSED ON her bowl as she carefully arranged a layer of strawberries over a slice of shortcake. The dinner conversation had been awfully pleasant and Barton seemed as nice as she’d first believed him to be.
But she couldn’t forget that she’d also thought Ron was nice in the beginning, so she needed to be careful the next time she got involved with a guy. Not that it was an issue with Barton; it was far too soon to think about romance, even if he was interested, which he probably wasn’t. Well, he had asked her out, but she’d also gotten the impression that he’d been hurt in some way. So inviting her to dinner or a movie could have just been him being neighborly.
Annoyed with the way her brain kept churning, Chelsea accepted the whipped cream gadget from Terri and squirted out a generous amount.
“How can you do that?” Terri said, peering at the tiny dollop in her bowl. “It’s like having a little strawberry with your whipped cream.”
“I disagree,” Barton returned firmly, “your sister is a woman who knows how to eat strawberry shortcake.” He put an equal amount on his own dessert.
Chelsea didn’t know if he was just being nice, but she appreciated his support. While she loved her sister, Terri was tough and had edges…the same as Jordan. They were both strong and never seemed to be afraid, the total opposite of her.
“Where are you from originally?” Terri asked Barton.
“Seattle, born and bred,” he told her.
“That makes you the only Northwest native here,” Chelsea said. “What’s the best part of living in Washington?”
“I hesitate to say. I’d hate getting into an argument.”
“Why would we argue?”
