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“I wouldn’t be thrilled to find out my dad had an affair after believing he was faithful to Mom all these years, but about your…” She stopped and focused on her coffee cup. No matter what else she might be, Delia Masters was still Jordan’s mother.
“Go ahead and tell me what you were going to say.”
“It isn’t necessary.”
“Let’s be honest with each other about this.”
She took a breath. “Okay. The revelation about your mother isn’t shocking. She had a reputation.”
“My father did, too,” Jordan added harshly. “And they both deserved it. As long as I can remember, they fought constantly and blamed each other for their serial infidelities.”
A part of Nicole ached for the boy she’d known. Underneath his bravado he must have been hurting deeply. It was ironic that he’d taken his teenage angst out on her since the George family had been the wounded party, but kids that age weren’t always rational.
“Do you hate your parents for your childhood?”
His eyebrows lifted. “No, and life got decidedly better after they finally split. The thing with your family was the last straw.” He paused. “On second thought, I probably hated them for a while. What teenager doesn’t hate their folks occasionally? In the end, I still love them.”
“That’s nice, and I’ve got to say that while they made a lot of mistakes, they couldn’t have been total disasters at parenting.”
“How do you mean?”
She lifted her shoulders. “All three of you turned out to be productive adults. You and Terri have edges, but you’re still decent people, and Chelsea is a love. That doesn’t happen in every dysfunctional family. I’m sure you’ve all got scars and issues you’ve had to wrestle with, but your mom and dad were either amazingly lucky or they did something right.”
Jordan stared at her with eyes wide and inscrutable. Then, after a long moment, he lifted her hand from the table and kissed it gently.
“Thank you for saying that.”
* * *
NICOLE HELD IT together for the short time Jordan remained at the house. When she walked him to the door, he turned and kissed her again. But it was a gentle caress with none of the teasing or passion he sometimes displayed, and it was also so brief she didn’t have time to respond.
“Thanks for the evening,” he said gruffly.
“You’re the one who brought dinner.”
Then he was gone.
It was best this way, though if she was any judge of the matter, he felt as much attraction as ever. But in addition to the revelations he’d felt necessary to share, Jordan may have discovered some regrets after all. She wasn’t the one who was supposed to be objective—he was. Bad enough to have had a one-night stand. Anything ongoing would only compound the situation.
Still, his restraint was probably due to her warning that he wouldn’t be staying. Not all men respected “no,” but she suspected Jordan did. He might test the waters occasionally, but he’d never drag a woman into them.
She smiled wryly as she recalled him describing himself as laid-back. Hardly. It might be how he saw himself—an easygoing guy swinging in a hammock by the beach—but it wasn’t him. On the other hand, he might simply feel he was laid-back in contrast to his intense parents.
As for Jordan’s revelations? Delia Masters had been a strikingly attractive woman, but Nicole’s father had chosen fidelity. It was nice to know. Sadly, Jordan had something less pleasant to remember.
After cleaning up the few dinner dishes, Nicole decided to spend time in the hot tub. Sensual memories swirled along with the curls of steam gently rising in the cool air. But she didn’t want that to be the only connection in her mind.
Opening up the cover, she saw her bathing suit floating lazily in the water. Her immediate impulse was to slam the cover back down again and put the house on the market. Instead she rescued the bikini, hung it up to dry, and forced herself to sit in the bubbling water while she considered her past and future.
Had she given up on the idea of love and family too quickly? The end of her engagement had felt like the last straw; she’d grown so tired of getting hurt. Now she wondered. While her well-known face—and undeserved notoriety, thanks to the paparazzi—would complicate a relationship, the right man might be able to handle it. Even Jordan might be able to do it…except for all the reasons he wouldn’t want to.
