Page 23 of The Keeper and I
She shot him an anxious glance. He thought of her kind heart and frightened eyes. He also thought of Ava, years ago, crumpled up on the floor because law enforcement failed her. He couldn’t let Laci face Dane alone.
“Boyfriend,” Jordan said.
A slow smile parted her gorgeous pink lips and erased any doubts he had. She turned back to Kenny and signed, “Boyfriend.”
Kenny’s jaw dropped, but he grinned and waved his hands emphatically before he gave Laci a hug. He shook Jordan’s hand again, and Laci pulled out her phone.
“Would you mind taking our picture, Ken?” she asked.
He nodded and took the phone from her outstretched hand. He motioned for them to stand closer together and then signed something Jordan didn’t understand. Whatever it was made Laci blush and glance at the floor before meeting Jordan’s gaze again.
“He says you should give me a kiss,” she explained.
“Oh,” he said, feeling the color drain from his face. What were the ground rules here? “Uh…is on the cheek alright?”
“Yes, fine,” she said with a smile.
Jordan gulped as he looked at Laci’s cheek, but he had to act fast if he wanted to avoid suspicion. He hugged her from behind, bent at the waist, and pressed his lips to her warm, soft, beautiful skin. He felt her grin as she leaned into him. The snap from the phone camera let him know he could stand straight again. He hated it. When he stepped away, he even felt a tingle around his mouth signaling how badly he wanted more. Kenny handed Laci’s phone back to her. She thanked him, and he congratulated them.
As they sat back down, she turned the screen so Jordan could see. He couldn’t help but smile at how precious she looked, eyes closed, a soft grin on her lips, and her hand holding his. If he didn’t know any better, they looked like a real couple.
“Would you like me to send it to you?” she asked. “So you can post it too.”
He wrinkled his nose. He didn’t post anything personal. “You think I should?”
“I think it’ll be more convincing if we announce it together. Not right now, but a bit later today. That way Dane won’t get any ideas about showing up here.”
“If you think it’s best, that’s what we’ll do.”
She slid her phone across the table, unlocked. Her wallpaper was a photo she must have taken at the match the previous day. It was of her, her brothers, and a pretty Black girl that must have been a girlfriend to one of them. “Here, enter your number.”
Still recovering from how touching he found her closeness to her family, he scrolled over to her contacts and added himself. She texted him the picture immediately.
“I hate to start a relationship and run, but I’ve got a meeting this afternoon to prep for a TV spot this week,” she said. “I’ll text you later so we can work out the details of this…arrangement.”
He couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Very well.”
She reached across the table, took his hand, and squeezed. His insides felt like they dropped into an incinerator.
“Thank you for doing this,” she said. “Really.”
He tried to clear his throat but it came out as more of a wheeze. “Yeah, no…no problem.”
“See you later, then?”
“Later, yes.”
She got to her feet, crossed around the table, and kissed his cheek. Somehow, that was better than him kissing her cheek. He wondered what she might do if he reached out, took her face in his hands, and claimed her mouth with his. He pushed that thought away. If he was going to protect his heart, he couldn’t use this as an excuse to act on every impulse.
When she was gone, he reached up to touch his face where her lips had graced it and found his skin flushed and prickling. He looked at the picture again.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered.
He grabbed his coffee and returned to the counter. The barista grinned.
“That, uh—fuckity save coffee day reward thing—”
“The Coffeeify-Your-Day-Everyday-Rewards Card?” she asked.