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“You haven’t waited long have you?”
“No,” she said. “I just got here, too. See my hands are still cold.”
She reached up and put her fragile, sweet hand against my cheek. She smiled and held it there as we stared at each other across the table. As if noticing we’d held gazes a little too long, she blushed and pulled her hand back into her lap. We looked over the menus and ordered some coffee to warm us up. I watched Tiffany as she poured cream and sugar into her coffee, stirring it and then licking the spoon. Her pink lips were drawing me in, and I had to take a deep breath and clear my throat to get my mind back on track. We started talking about our day, and she listened intently as I talked about work, forgetting that she worked there, too.
Her laugh was intoxicating, and I soon lost myself in our conversation, not paying any attention to the time. She told me about her parents and their problems, about her brother and how he had made it out safely from his time in Iraq. She spoke about her brother like I hoped she talked about me, with warmth, love, and admiration. The fire in the restaurant’s fireplace crackled as we ate and continued talking for about an hour after our lunch was done. I couldn’t tear myself away from this woman, no matter how hard I tried. Finally, my phone cut into the conversation, and I apologized, looking at the text message. It was from my father, letting me know I missed the last meeting and that everyone was headed home. He wanted to make sure I was okay. I stared blankly at the message. Why was everyone heading home? Then, I saw the time. Wow, three o’clock.
“Wow,” I said laughing. “It’s almost three.”
“Oh, no,” she said, panicked. “Did you miss anything important at work?”
“Nah.” I laughed. “Just that normal marketing meeting that puts everyone to sleep. No big deal.”
“Well, I’ll let you get back to work,” she said smiling. “I have some things I need to take care of in town before heading home, anyway.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.” I stood and came around the table to pull her chair out.
As she put her coat on, I placed cash in the bill holder and turned to her, entranced by the way her hair swished around her as she buttoned her jacket. She was stunning, and I didn’t want the date to be over yet. I walked next to her through the restaurant, my hand on her lower back as we moved toward the door. We stepped out into the cold air, and we both pulled our collars closed around our necks.
“Gosh,” she said, shivering. “Winter just got here out of nowhere. Pretty early for these types of temps. I’m going to have to turn on the heat at home.”
“I know. I’m used to this weather in December, not October,” I replied.
We continued talking about the weather as we took the elevator up the parking garage to her floor. I followed her out and across the garage to her car parked in one of the spots. The place was pretty much empty, and I watched her standing next to her car and got the impression she didn’t want to part ways either. She pulled her keys out and looked up at me, a shy smile on her lips.
“Thank you for lunch, “ she said kindly. “It was really good seeing you again.”
I looked at her for a moment, and though I knew better, I stepped forward, framed her face with my hands, and pressed my lips firmly against hers. She stood tense for just a moment before her body released, and she leaned into me. Her hands pulled around my waist, and she stepped closer, opening her mouth and allowing me to taste her. Passionately, we kissed for several moments before she opened her eyes and pulled away, running her fingers over her lips.
“I’m sorry,” she said, putting the keys in the door. “I just don’t know if I can do this.”
Chapter 8
Tiffany
The last place I wanted to be was anywhere near the office or Jordan for that matter. John had sent me a text, begging me for help. Their agency temp was not cutting it—well, at least not in the way I always got the work done. I had woken to the text notification and seriously thought about going back to bed. I knew Jordan didn’t know anything about this because he would have never let them ask me for help. He would have taken everything on his own shoulders, even if it meant he slept at the office. His pride was always one of those things that caused way too many fights in our relationship. The man just could not let go.
On top of all of that, I couldn’t get Jason off my mind. We had an amazing lunch and everything
was perfect, even the kiss. That was the problem, though. It was perfect. Kissing my now ex-husband’s brother should not feel so right, without any of the wrong. No, I didn’t think I was ready to jump into another relationship, but at the same time, I couldn’t seem to get Jason out of my head. It had been the first time in forever that anyone had listened to me, really listened. Jordan had always seemed to be waiting for his turn to talk or to have half his attention on other matters. Ultimately, I blamed my relationship fears on bolting from the parking garage, but I had to admit, I was worried about whether I could resist Jason or not. One touch of his lips and I was a damn puddle on the ground. The last thing I needed was another playboy in my life who would dump me when I became an inconvenience to his lifestyle.
I picked up the phone and dialed John’s number, not wanting to take the chance of Jordan intercepting my call on the office line. We hadn’t spoken since we finalized the divorce, but I knew him all too well. If I caught him at a moment where he no one else to charm, he would get on the phone and make me feel so small. He had a way of doing that without making himself the obvious bad guy. It was part of his gifts, I guess, if you considered it a gift to be an underhanded kind of asshole. Part of me hoped John wouldn’t answer the phone. I had agreed to do a little bit of work, but even that made me feel bogged down and heavy. Sadly, to my dismay, John answered.
“It’s so good to hear your voice,” he said kindly. I could hear his personality in his tone, and instantly, I missed the family.
“It’s good to hear yours as well,” I replied with a smile. “So, you have some work for me.”
“I do and thank you so much for helping. I have arranged a car to pick you up in an hour if that’s okay,” he said wearily.
“That’s fine,” I replied.
“I’ve also arranged for Jordan to be out of the office at that time,” he said. “I didn’t want things to be harder on you than they already were.”
“Thank you, John. I really appreciate that ” I said with a relieved sigh. “It was what I was worried about the most right now.”
“Not a problem,” he said with a smile in his voice. “I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon.” I ended the call, a little relieved to know John had thought about my working conditions in advance. Knowing Jordan wouldn’t be there lifted some of the weight of my fears.
