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She groaned to herself.
So she hadn’t totally avoided the “morning after.” Knowing Chelsea might realize where her brother spent the night made it even more awkward.
Nicole straightened. She had made a decision; she hadn’t been coerced or seduced into something she didn’t want. Now she simply had to deal with the fallout.
“Good morning,” she said as Jordan came through the door. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I wondered if you have time for more interview questions.” His face and tone were admirably casual. Perhaps he didn’t feel any awkwardness since he must have plenty of experience with morning-after encounters. Though maybe not…he might be the type to get dressed and be out the door as soon as the fireworks ended. Besides, he’d spent the night with someone he was interviewing for an article. That put a whole new, uncomfortable twist on it.
No recriminations or regrets. That was what she’d proposed, so it was time to practice it.
“If you can wait an hour, I’ll give you about ninety minutes.”
“Sure.”
Turning, he walked out the door.
“I’d better get busy,” she said to Chelsea and went to her office where she dealt with several requests and returned a number of phone calls. The hour passed swiftly, too swiftly, without a chance to think ahead.
“Nicole?” Chelsea stuck her head through the door. “I saw Jordan coming from the far end of the parking lot. Just thought I’d alert you.”
“Thanks. I’ve got one more call to make, so keep him in the waiting area until you see the light on my phone blink off.”
She called the director who’d been working with Ashley and caught an earful about sulky models who’d gotten too bigheaded. After she promised she had already discussed the reality of making television ads with her client, he calmed down and agreed to give it another shot.
Hanging up the phone in relief, she settled back in her desk chair and waited. It didn’t take more than a minute for Jordan to tap politely and come inside.
“Is everything good with you?” he asked. He wasn’t hesitant or uncertain—something like that would be out of character—but he was intently focused.
“Absolutely. What are your questions?” Nicole kept her voice and expression brisk and neutral. Nothing had changed provided they didn’t make a big deal out of it, though she couldn’t help wondering if Jordan’s cynicism would make him decide she’d slept with him to influence the article. If he said something, he’d find out just how forthright a former model could be.
* * *
JORDAN HADN’T KNOWN what to expect from Nicole since her reactions generally didn’t fit what he expected from women. The obvious and rather embarrassing explanation was that he usually sought out a certain kind of feminine company, so naturally Nicole didn’t fit his preconceptions.
“Should we talk about last night first?”
She shook her head. “It isn’t necessary to talk about it at all. We didn’t unexpectedly lose control, so we aren’t faced with any ‘oh no, what have we done,’ questions. Or is there something you need to discuss?”
“I suppose not.”
“Then let’s get to the interview.”
Jordan couldn’t decide which seemed most unreal, the night before, or Nicole’s calm dismissal of it.
“I was thinking about your popularity as a model,” he began. “Are you frequently asked to return to modeling? I don’t mean in the way that photographer tried to manipulate you, but on legit jobs.”
“My former agent has sent me a number of offers and I occasionally get them directly.”
Jordan wrote something in his neat little notebook. “How do you feel about that?”
“It’s flattering. Who doesn’t enjoy being in demand?”
“But does it make you regret changing careers?”
“Wouldn’t that be normal?” she said casually.
“There you go, answering a question with a question.”
“Sorry. I warned your editor that I wasn’t a good interviewee.” Nicole leaned forward. “But I keep wondering something…why did you agree to do these articles? Was it just the loyalty to Sydnie Winslow that you mentioned? While you seem on board now, you didn’t seem in favor of it when you first started.”
