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He frowned. “You think that’s what I do?”
“Come on, Jordan, I’ve heard you tell her how to live or do things at least twice since you started the interviews with me. So I suspect you do it other times as well.”
He muttered an expletive under his breath, then shrugged. “I’ve been trying, but shouldn’t a brother or sister try to help if they see someone they love making a terrible mistake?”
“I suspect you’re talking about the guy Chelsea was dating down south.”
“You know about Ron?”
“She’s mentioned him.”
“Terri and I both tried to get her away from that manipulative creep. Was that wrong of us?”
“Probably not, but you may also be in the habit of assuming she can’t handle anything for herself.”
“You might be right,” Jordan admitted with obvious reluctance.
Nicole released a gasp of mock surprise. “You think I could be right about something? I may die of heart failure.”
“Amusing. Okay, enough of that. I picked up the pad Thai and chicken curry. I see you have plates and silver ready, so let’s eat.”
“Nothing to say concerning the mystery first?”
“If it’s all right with you, I’d rather talk afterward.”
“Sure.” Nicole didn’t know what to think. His manner was subtly different and she didn’t believe it was merely because they’d spent the previous night in bed together. Asking her opinion about Chelsea could be another example. Were some cracks forming in his cynical surface, or was she just imagining things?
The deck had been the right choice for dinner. The spacious backyard, tall trees and early evening sky fostered a comfortable atmosphere. While it wasn’t possible to relax and completely forget the desire tugging at her, at the very least she was able to suppress it.
“I was wondering something,” he said partway through the meal.
“What’s that?”
“Why did you leave before I woke up this morning?”
“I needed to get to the office.”
“I think it’s more than that. Were you embarrassed? It isn’t as if I believe those salacious scandal papers and the party-girl stories they wrote about you, especially now that we’ve gotten reacquainted. Hopping from bed to bed doesn’t fit the person I’ve gotten to know. Why did you leave so quickly?”
She sighed. “It’s nothing mysterious. I just don’t enjoy the way a guy stares at me when I fail to look like an airbrushed magazine layout, and it’s impossible to look that way first thing in the morning.”
His brow creased, but Nicole launched into asking him about the history of Fiji. Considering his aggressive curiosity about everything, it wasn’t surprising that he knew quite a bit.
After they’d eaten and cleared the table, Nicole poured cups of coffee and sat back to listen.
Jordan didn’t seem primed for immediate disclosures, so she waited patiently. A variety of emotions crossed his face—pain, embarrassment, anger, even sadness. What could evoke all that?
“It’s about our parents,” he finally started, absently stroking Toby, who’d been begging for attention.
“That’s what I figured.”
“Aside from them, I may be the only one who knows what happened. Did you ever wonder why our mothers started hating each other?” he asked.
“Sure, but to be honest, I was mostly grateful I didn’t have to see you as much, though you acted even worse at school.”
He let out a short, hard chuckle. “I wanted to believe it was partly your family’s fault. I’m sorry I behaved badly.”
“I already told you it isn’t a big deal any longer.”
“So you did. Well, in a nutshell, my mom tried to seduce your father. He rejected her and said he would tell his wife, which ended the friendship.”
“Wow. That explains a lot. How did you find out?”
“They didn’t know, but I was in the hammock around the side of the house and overheard the whole nasty mess.”
Nicole winced. “That’s a terrible thing for a teenager to deal with.”
Jordan gazed at her, surprise in his eyes. “You aren’t upset?”
