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“Are we … breaking up?”
“I think, in the words of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, this is aconscious uncoupling. Because I hold no ill will toward you, Jordan. You’re a wonderful, caring, kind man. But I don’t think we give each other what we need.” A smile tugged at her lips, and her eyes found his. “You’re kind of a closed book. And I’m an open one. No secrets. No demons. And again, I haven’t pried, but I can tell you’ve got some darkness in your past and it’s keeping you a little emotionally unavailable. You’re also bossy in bed, and that’s just not my jam.”
He snorted a small laugh, eager to get off the topic of emotional unavailability. “Yeah, I learned that pretty quick.”
“I like slow, passionate lovemaking that is gentle, and you’re …” Her gaze widened. “Intense.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
She shook her head. “Nothing to be sorry for. That’s who you are and you shouldn’t apologize for being your authentic self. I know you’ve tempered your moreintenseand controlling urges for me and I appreciate it. But you shouldn’t have to change who you are. We should just take it as a sign that our relationship has reached its expiration date.”
“So …”
“So … we cuddle tonight, and then tomorrow I move in with Paul until I move to Nova Scotia in a couple of weeks. I got the offer just a few hours ago and was trying to figure out what to do, how to tell you, and whether I should even go. But the universe made that decision for me.”
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I never meant to hurt you.”
She smiled and held his hand against her face with her cool palm, and leaned her face into his touch. “And you haven’t. This has been fun.You’refun. But you’re also in love with someone else, and who am I to stand in the way of love? Rayma seems like a wonderful person—in the thirty seconds I met her.” She chuckled, but it was sad and slightly forced as concern filled her blue eyes. Even in the dark, he could tell she was worried. The woman had empathy in spades. “Is she okay? What happened tonight?”
He went on to explain what he walked in on at the real estate office and he even told her about how angry Rayma was with him and that she decked him in the car. That had Laura laughing.
“Oh, I like her. She’s got fire in her belly.”
“The woman is a goddamn volcano,” he muttered, having rolled onto his back. “But I think I’ve fucked it all up.”
“No, you haven’t. She’s mad because she cares. If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t be mad. You definitely still have a chance, you just need to win her back.”
“And how do I go about that?” He blew out a big breath that made his cheeks puff out.
“By groveling. Redeeming yourself. Proving to her that you’re better together than you are apart.” Laura sat up and flicked on the lamp on her nightstand. “Want to go for a run? I’m not going to sleep and we can’t have sex, so …”
She was right. He wasn’t in any mind frame to sleep. His entire body and brain were too agitated to even attempt at shutting down. But a run always helped clear his head and knock him out. Nodding, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Yeah, let’s go for a run.”
She grinned at him and hopped off the bed, too. “Race from Ogden Point to Clover Point? Winner buys breakfast?”
He pulled out a pair of running shorts from his dresser and grinned at her. “You’re on!”
January four years ago …
“It’s date number six, Jordan …” Rayma said, exasperated, horny, and looking hotter than she’d ever looked—in her opinion. “Can you at leastkissme for fuck’s sake?”
Jordan’s mouth twisted as he tried to hide his smile. “You really don’t care who can hear you, do you?”
Rayma rolled her eyes. “Sure fucking don’t. This is all just a game to you, isn’t it?”
“Couldn’t be further from a game, Rayma,” Jordan said, ushering them forward as they waited in line for a busy new restaurant that had just opened up downtown. Rayma had been trying to get a reservation for ages since everyone in her classes was just raving about the place, but so far, she hadn’t had any luck. Jordan, however, appeared to have pulled some strings and they had a reservation for eight o’clock.
She’d changed her outfit four times that night before finally deciding on an adorable but also ridiculously sexy long-sleeved black dress that hit her on her upper thigh and showed off what little cleavage she had in a lace-trimmed sweetheart neckline. Her black boots with the four-inch heels hit her knees, and the black leather jacket that she was also permanently borrowing from Pasha’s closet tied it all together perfectly. She kept her hair down in thick waves and wore tear-drop cubic zirconia earrings, because, well, she was a starving student, she ain’t got the scratch for diamonds.
Even with Jordan’s reservations, the restaurant was still packed and people were forced to wait outside in the cold as the staff hurried to clear and re-set tables.
She shivered where she stood, questioning her choice of attire since her entire thighs were exposed to the elements and a sharp breeze from the harbor was tickling her ass cheeks.
“Here.” He tugged her in front of him, wrapped his arms around her front and plastered her back to his chest. He pulled the sides of his open peacoat around her, enveloping her in his heat and decadent scent. “Better?”
“Infinitely,” she said. She pushed her ass back against his crotch and was pleased with the slight hitch to his breath. At least he wasn’t immune to her advances and friend-zoning her, which was what she thought was happening after date number two and he still didn’t even kiss her.
By date four she thought maybe she had bad breath or stunk. But after a thorough pit sniff and a lot of mouthwash, she determined that wasn’t the case, either.
