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I adjusted to look down at her, but she didn’t move. She stayed pressed against my chest, staring straight ahead.
That was when I knew she was feeling me out, seeing just what this was. I scooted away from her because I wanted to look at her face when I said these words.
“This isn’t something I do often,” I said. “You understand that, right?”
She didn’t respond. She just looked at me. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand. She just didn’t believe me. She was afraid to believe me.
I got it. I’d done plenty to earn my reputation around town as a playboy, but deep down, this was what I’d always wanted. I wanted this feeling.
“I have to leave town Christmas morning,” I said. “I’m driving to Boise to spend Christmas evening with my parents and then heading on to Reno for a couple of weeks. But I’ll be back, and when I’m back, I want to be with you.”
She nodded, eyes still wide but pointed in my direction. She wanted to believe me, but she was hesitant. No doubt, she’d been hurt before, and she’d given more of herself than she ever had. I couldn’t blame her for worrying about getting hurt. I’d feel the same in her shoes.
“I actually want you to stay here,” I said. “In this condo. That was the offer I was going to make you tonight.”
She propped herself up on one arm, a frown changing her features. “You want me to move in with you now?”
“Well, sort of. I’m trying out a new venture. Have you ever heard of staging?”
Still frowning, she said, “When real estate agents bring in fancy furniture to sell a house?”
“Sort of. That’s part of it. One of my friends owns a real estate agency that specializes in top-dollar properties. I need someone to help with staging. Your job would be to stay in a place like this and help the agent sell the property.”
“So, you want me to be a real estate agent,” she said. “Don’t I need a license to do that?”
“You wouldn’t be selling anything. Your job would be to make sure the place was in good shape when a real estate agentcame through. If a client has pets, you’d have to take them off site or lock them up in their kennels before the agent showed the place. It’s a pretty good deal, and eventually we’d hire others to help out.”
I sat up, mostly because it felt weird doing business lying down. This was exactly the proposition I’d meant to give her while seated at a table in her restaurant. I never dreamed the night would take us here.
In less than five minutes, I laid it all out—the pay rate for each day she spent here, along with the ability to live rent-free. But my original plan had been to try her out here, then refer her to some homes that were a little more in need of staging assistance. There was one in the suburbs on the outskirts of the city that wasn’t selling at all. My agency owner friend was convinced it would sell faster if it wasn’t empty.
“You can think about it,” I said. “But it could be a great business opportunity for you too. You can learn home staging from the experts. If you’re interested.”
Her expression softened and her eyes lit up. She was excited about the idea.
“I love that,” Jordana said, smiling.
That smile went straight to my heart. I wanted nothing more than to keep her smiling every day of our lives together, but I sensed I needed to take it slowly with her. She’d been wounded, and aside from tracking down whoever hurt her and kicking some butt, the best thing I could do was make sure she was never hurt again.
But first, I would put a smile on her face for a different reason. I moved toward her, pulling her against me. This time, when I made love to her, I didn’t have to be as careful. This time, it was pleasurable for both of us from start to finish.
And that’s the way I’d make sure it stayed for the rest of our lives.
7
JORDANA
My mind was my own worst enemy. I knew that, but I couldn’t seem to stop the thoughts that raced through it over the next couple of weeks.
It wasn’t like it was a surprise that Cruz fell out of touch over the holidays. Even though he knew I was spending Christmas and New Year’s alone in this large, empty condo, it wasn’t his job to ease my loneliness.
The funny thing was, I was normally fine being alone on the holidays. It had been that way since I aged out of the foster care system. But this year, I was feeling my lack of a family unit more than ever.
I breathed a sigh of relief when my best friend Sammie returned to town. She was my lifeline, my family. We’d been there for each other since working together at a Seattle bar three years ago.
“So, let me get this straight,” Sammie said after I caught her up on everything. “This gorgeous guy who has tons of money has put you up in his condo, and he’s paying you to stay there.”
I knew where she was going with that, so I jumped in. “I don’t think it’s a kept woman sort of thing. I looked him up. He’sa pretty high-profile bachelor. If he had a wife and kids stowed away somewhere, I think it would be out there already.”
