Subject Request for Jake Ballman: He says he can’t share info because he’s a spy. —Member 163
Response from Member 80: He tried that line on me, too. Then I found my Visa in his wallet. He’s a scam artist. Run away now.
FOREST WASN’T EXACTLY a master of the morning after. He’d experienced several in his time, but he was usually the one stepping into the shower, hoping his nighttime partner would be gone before he turned off the water and got out again. He wasn’t accustomed to being the guest. That made standing in the middle of Jordan’s kitchen extra odd this morning.
Not that he was complaining about the night before. Damn, the woman had him ignoring sleep and hanging on the edge of a heart attack for hours. Now if only he could figure out how to work her coffeemaker. It was pretty fancy. His had a timer and a place for the beans and water. That’s it. She had some expensive version that had him thinking about her temp salary.
Owning the condo, the impressive wardrobe. The pieces didn’t exactly fit with his image of a struggling office temp. The city was not cheap, but she didn’t appear to be in financial trouble. He liked the idea of her being secure. But the question of how kept bumping around the inside of his mind. He knew about her law-firm job. Maybe she saved money. Again, logical, but doubt kept nipping at him.
“You need help?” Jordan walked in, wearing a long T-shirt and what appeared to be nothing else.
Any thought of money and coffee vanished. Those legs went on forever and the shirt did little to cover them. She had her hair up and her face scrubbed clean.
The woman clearly was trying to kill him. Make his heartbeat triple until he passed out or something.
“I’ve got it.” He wasn’t sure that was true, but he was more concerned about another topic at the moment. He liked to win and this time the victory carried all sorts of benefits.
She slid onto the barstool across the counter from him and put her cell down in front of her. After a quick scan of the kitchen, she reached over to finish off the coffee prep and press the button to start. They sat in comfortable silence as the machine went to work. Every now and then her phone would buzz and she’d look at the screen.
He glanced over. “Your mom?”
Jordan read for a few more seconds, then sighed. “Good news is she seems satisfied with John.”
“That’s the new guy?” Forest swore the name kept changing. Probably had something to do with all that dating her mother did.
“The newest one.” Jordan waved her hand in the air. “But don’t feel the need to memorize the name. It’s likely to change when she gets back from the Bahamas.”
Bahamas? His parents had been married since before paper was invented. It was a screwed-up mess of a marriage, but it kept ticking. He barely understood their situation. He definitely didn’t understand whatever was happening with Jordan’s mom. “Excuse me?”
“She’s a serial dater. Actually, a serial marryer.”
Sounded messy and expensive to him. He had a former fiancée and that was more than enough in the “former” department. “That’s a thing?”
“She’s the expert.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman.”
“That’s the word everyone uses.” Jordan fidgeted in her chair. “I’ve gotten used to the way she lives her life.”
“Are you sure?” When she glanced up at him, he stared in the direction of her chair. The squeaking immediately stopped.
“I know your family isn’t close—”
“Understatement.”
“—but imagine your sister when she was younger. The idea of her having sex probably would have driven you crazy.”
Something in the back of his brain exploded. “I prefer to believe she still hasn’t had sex.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Wow, okay. I see you’ve got that overprotective thing down.” Jordan rolled her eyes in a way that said he was being a dumbass. “Well, my point is my mom was upset I waited.”
“To do what?”
She gave him eye contact, but she kept swiveling her chair and sliding the placemat around on the counter. “Lose my virginity.”
Every single thought in Forest’s head slammed to a halt. “You’re kidding.”
“I was nineteen and she was horrified.” Jordan held up a hand. “Not that she wanted me sleeping around, because she totally didn’t, but I had a boyfriend when I was sixteen and she couldn’t believe I didn’t do it then.”
“That’s kind of messed up.” He spent a lot of time dwelling on his family situation. He tried to come up with ways to resolve it or at least ease the tension to make it easier on his sister, who was stuck in the middle. This, Jordan’s situation, was a whole different type of dysfunction. He wasn’t completely clear on which was worse.
“Only kind of?”
After a few minutes the green light on the coffeemaker flicked on and Forest forced his hands to slow down as he grabbed the mugs. What he really wanted to do was pour a cup and down it.
He waited until the coffee hit the cups and she started humming before he shifted off their bizarre conversation to one he could handle better, but only slightly. “For the record, the interest isn’t over.”
She eyed him over the top of the mug. “What are you talking about?”
“You said I was all about the chase. Well, I felt pretty caught last night and I’m not going anywhere.” It was tempting to call in sick for the first time in his adult life.
A soft pink stained her cheeks as she fiddled with the edge of the placemat under her elbows. “What about the agreement?”
He took a sip of coffee, because at six in the morning he was already a half hour behind on his usual daily caffeine intake. “Should I know what that means?”
“The confidentiality agreement.”
Between the words and her sudden refusal to give him eye contact, he stilled with the cup halfway to his mouth. “Excuse me?”
“According to the rumors, you make your bed partners sign a piece of paper promising not to talk.” She closed one eye and wrinkled her nose. “That’s not on the site, by the way. Just whispers around the ladies’ locker room.”
He was pretty sure she’d lost her mind. “An agreement in exchange for sex?”
“I’m not sure I’d phrase it that way.”
He searched his mind for anything that could fit. The only time a woman he had sex with signed an agreement it was part of a separate business deal and unrelated to the bedroom activities. He had no idea how that news got around or how it got so tangled up.
Not that he was surprised. This sort of thing happened when rumors ran the day. “Well, call it whatever you want, but it sounds nuts.”
Jordan nodded. “I agree.”
When she continued to stand there, he decided to be as clear as possible. “And I don’t have that requirement.”
“Can’t lie, that’s something of a relief.”
“Yet, even with the possibility out there, you slept with me anyway.” That was the only part of this discussion he found interesting.
“Like you said yesterday, information is fine, but it’s better to find out the truth for yourself.”
Huh, not so appealing when she put it that way. He was hoping for something more along the lines of being unable to resist him.
He eased the death grip on the coffee mug and put it on the counter. No need to smash dishes. That sure wasn’t a great way to end an otherwise fantastic night. Still, her comment refused to settle in his mind. “So I was an experiment.”
She nodded. “I did use that excuse.”
“Okay.”
“It was one of the nicer excuses I gave myself.”
Maybe he should carry her back to bed. They worked in there. Out here, not so much. “I’m not sure this morning is going well.”
“Let’s try this.” She slid off the stool and came around the counter to stand right in front of him with her hand pressed against his stomach. “Last night was amazing.”
“That’s much better.” And if her fingers ventured even an inch lower, they would be back in bed again. He’d brought four condoms. He had one left and wasn’t afraid to use it.
She smiled up at him. “Don’t tell me you needed a little reassurance about this. You have to know you’re good.”
His palm cupped her cheek. “I am human, you know.”
“I’m starting to believe that.”
She kept throwing out these lines. Each one knocked him further off balance. “Tell me what that means.”
She rested her hand against his. “You’re not the first powerful guy I’ve worked for.”
“I figured that but, technically, you work for Wen.”
“Uh-huh, right.” She lifted his palm and placed a firm kiss in the dead center. “Cy Peters, Gus Atechson. The list of men who think nothing of pushing women around is pretty long. Then add in the Ryan Peterson type.”
The same man who spent most of his day ruining Forest’s right now. “Dumbass.”
“Asswipe, asshat, asshole. They all work.”
She looked so serious with that frown that he had to laugh. “Who knew the word ass could be so versatile.”
Amusement filled her eyes. “Kind of like jack—jackass, jacknut, jackwagon.”
Man, he loved listening to her. She tested him, made him smile. And what she could do with those legs and that mouth had him wishing he was the work-from-home type. “All very good terms.”
“I dated this guy.” She fiddled with his shirt. “Smart, powerful, tough...and a liar. Like, whoa liar. Forgot to mention the fiancée and ended up making me the other woman in his relationship, the dumb bastard.”
That fact caused tension to zip across Forest’s shoulders. Every muscle tightened as if preparing for battle. In a way, he was. “Who?”
She reached up and traced his mouth with her fingertip. “Why? Do you want to go beat him up?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
“Sexy, but he’s not worth it.” She rested a hand against his chest. “And he was only one of many losers.”
Forest felt anything but sexy at the moment. Rageful was more like it. He wasn’t the type to resort to banging on heads to make a point. He usually preferred to use his brain, but sometimes violence was the right choice. Possibly now.
The idea of someone hurting this woman made him want to punch something. So did the thought of her loving another guy when she’d been rolling around the sheets with him all night.
Forest had a few rules and absolute fidelity was one of them. He’d experienced fallout and pain from the opposite side of that. Watched his father fool around and flaunt it, no matter how much it hurt Forest’s mother. Forest refused to play that game and juggle partners.
He didn’t want to be used as a way to forget some loser, either. “Are you still stuck on this guy? On any of them?”
Jordan stretched up on tiptoes and kissed his nose. “I wouldn’t have slept with you if I were. I’m a monogamy gal.”
A heavy exhale escaped him, taking most of his anger with it. She might be holding things back, but she said the one thing that mattered most. “Any chance you plan to sleep with me again tonight?”
“Subtle.”
“I didn’t become successful by hiding what I want.” While he was at it, he gave her the rest of the information she needed to know. “And, chase or not, I still want you. The desire hasn’t abated at all.”
He lowered his head then and captured her mouth. Her lips danced over his until he deepened the kiss and pulled her in close. Her body cuddled against him, all warm and promising. Calculations ran through his head on whether he could get her back into bed and then him in a shower in time for his seven-thirty breakfast meeting.
Before he could make the decision, she did. She stepped back and swiped his coffee cup off the counter. “If you’re off by eight tonight, come over.”
“After that?”
“I change into lounging clothes and you don’t want to see that.”
Boy was she wrong about that last part.
But the whole offer struck him as a challenge. One he’d accept every time. “Oh, I’ll be here.”
* * *
JORDAN WAS ABOUT to kiss him, maybe do a little exploring using her hands across that impressive chest when the rapid knocking started on the front door. She didn’t have to guess who the visitor was. Elle had already texted saying she’d knock first instead of using her key, just in case.
Forest’s eyebrow lifted. “You get guests at this hour?”
“That’s Elle, my best friend.”
He froze in place. “Do you want me to hide?”
That fast, tension rolled off him. It smacked into Jordan and she had to blink to get her bearings again. “Are you supposed to be a secret?”
His shoulders relaxed. “Just checking.”
No question about it, men were weird.
She turned around and unlocked the door. Elle stood in the hallway practically vibrating with excitement. “Well?”
Jordan sent a silent keep-cool message with her eyes. “Come in and meet Forest Redder.”
He met them in the doorway to the kitchen and held out a hand. “Hello, Elle.”
Jordan remembered for the first time he was barely dressed. He had his dress pants on and the white tee he wore under his dress shirt. It stretched tight across his shoulders and highlighted his trim stomach. She doubted he liked being on display, but he didn’t show any anger or surprise.
To keep Elle from asking any embarrassing questions, Jordan kicked off the conversation. “I was telling Forest about my mom and men.”
“Men in general or hers?” Elle asked.
“Well, he knows there’s a website that ranks the men of D.C.” Jordan walked into the kitchen. She acted like she wanted to find Elle some coffee. Jordan really wanted to stall and see what Forest would say.
Elle followed and took the mug without question. “Not a fan of dating-warning sites?”
“My only point is that sort of thing can’t replace actually getting to know someone.” When the women looked at each other, his explanation sputtered to a halt. “What?”
Elle closed one eye as if she was pretending to think his point over. “How about the guy I dated who wore pantyhose?”
Forest’s eyes bugged out. “What?”
The reaction gave Jordan hope. It meant she wouldn’t be finding out that weird little secret about Forest the hard way. “Or the one I went out with who conveniently forgot his wallet on every date.”
Forest shook his head. “Asshole.”
“Or the congressional aide who wanted to share me with his friends.” Elle blew out a breath. “He didn’t ask, by the way. Just invited them over.”
Forest’s mouth dropped open. “What the fuck?”
Elle shrugged. “They thought I’d consent. My screaming convinced them otherwise.”
Jordan noticed Elle left off the part where the two of them had told the guys’ mothers. Amazing how twentysomething males scattered when they got tattled on via the internet.
“Then you have your basic losers.” Jordan couldn’t believe how long that list was. “Mean, demanding. You know, the type who call you a whore if you don’t put out in the elevator ride out of the office building to start the date.”
“Is it really that bad out there for women?” Forest’s hand jerked and coffee splashed over his thumb. With a good bit of muttering, he put the mug down on the counter.
“Everyone has those private things they like, but it can be shocking to run into whatever fetish is out there when you don’t hold the same interests,” Elle said.
Jordan ran the cold water and soaked a towel for Forest. “One of my favorites is the guy who painted his chest.”
Instead of holding it to his hand, Forest wiped the brown drops on his tee. “To be fair, it’s not my thing but some sports fans are into that.”
Jordan snorted. “Oh, it didn’t have anything to do with sports. He liked to do it under his business suit.”
Forest’s hands dropped to his sides and the towel dragged on the floor. “Oh, come on.”
Jordan nodded. “And I guarantee you know him.”
Elle pointed. “Oh, there’s the one who got home and kicked off his shoes and tried to wear yours.”
With a shake of his head, Forest leaned back against the doorjamb. “Please stop.”
It felt strangely good to rattle off some of the odd dating experiences. Some were hers and some were Elle’s. A few came from the site. But reality was they offered only a tiny taste. They skipped the liars and the really violent ones.
But Jordan was smart enough to know men were not the only ones who liked some off-the-wall stuff. “Women can’t always be a joy, either.”
“Remarkably tame compared to what I’m hearing.” He hesitated as if trying to figure out if he should reveal top-secret information. “You mostly just need to watch for the three C’s.”
Curiosity gripped Jordan. “What?”
“Clingy, conniving and crazy.” He counted them off on his fingers. “They’re all bad, by the way.”
“We’ve met the male versions of those, too.”
Forest blew out a long breath. “You know I want names, right?”
“No, you don’t. You’ll never be able to keep a straight face in a meeting again.”
He glanced at his watch. “Speaking of which, I have one.”
The news sent a cold chill blowing over Jordan. Having him here, relaxed and charming, made her heart do a little dance. The idea of him walking out, even though he wasn’t walking away from her, left her feeling empty.
But she’d get over it. “I’ll help you get your stuff in the bedroom.”
Elle smiled into her mug. “I’ll wait here.”