Page 26 of The Keeper and I
“So, we’ve got to address the elephant in the room,” Kat went on. “Your new man! How in the world did you come to be in a relationship with Jordan Frawley?”
Laci’s cheeks flushed adorably as she grinned. “We met through his sister actually. The introduction was simple, but he asked me to dinner, and the rest is history.”
“How did you keep it quiet for so long?” Robin asked.
“Well, he’s quite a private person,” Laci answered. Jordan shook his head and smiled at what a cool liar she was. “But once we decided we were official and exclusive, it felt like the right time to make it public.”
“I thought it might have been interest from a jealous ex or something juicy,” Robin joked, turning her lips into a mock pout.
Laci shrugged. “It’s an interesting theory, but without any exes, I’m afraid it’s not possible.”
Robin and Kat exchanged a look and their sculpted eyebrows rose.
“No exes?” Kat questioned.
Laci shook her head. “Nope. Jordan is my first and only boyfriend.”
Jordan slammed the off button on the treadmill so he could safely stop walking, his knees be damned. He studied Laci’s face as she answered more questions, trying to discern how much truth there was to that. The bit about his sister was rooted in honesty, and she had no reason to lie about not having had a boyfriend before.
While they gushed on the show about the flowers he’d sent her for good luck (her favorite, pink peonies, which he only knew from following her on social media for so long), Jordan’s mind raced. If it was true that this was her first relationship, he felt horrible that it was fake.
He frowned. How was it possible that at her age and with her good looks, she’d never had a boyfriend? What else had she not experienced? And most importantly, why hadn’t she told him?
Laci returned to her dressing room to a plethora of notifications on her phone, the most interesting being a single text from Jordan, which she opened.
Jordan:We need to talk tonight. Can I come to yours around seven?
Her brow furrowed. Was something wrong?
Laci:Sure
She didn’t know what else to say, so she left it at that, gathered her flowers, and headed home. She wondered why Jordan had bothered sending her flowers. This was a fake relationship after all. He didn’t need to do gestures like that. It worked out though since the producers saw it and mentioned it to Robin and Kat, so Laci got to gush a bit. And she really was flattered. He’d done his research.
But if Jordan was coming over, she wanted to make sure her house was in order, starting with putting the gorgeous peonies in a vase. They looked especially beautiful on her marble kitchen island. She finished putting the last of her dishes in the dishwasher as the doorbell rang. She pressed the start button and hurried to answer the door, flinging it open.
There stood Jordan, looking absurdly handsome in jeans and a cable-knit jumper. His dark hair curled around his brows, making him look like a nineties heartthrob, especially when he ran a hand through it, and it flopped right back into place. Laci swallowed, but her mouth was suddenly dry.
“Hi,” she said.
“I, uh, brought dinner.” He held up the bag in his hand. “Hope you like sushi.”
“Love it,” she told him. “Come in.”
He stepped over the threshold. Laci resisted the urge to check the street and see if Dane was lurking and would see Jordan come in. The promise of sushi made her stomach rumble. And her mind was still running wild with speculations on what Jordan needed to talk about.
“Thank you for the flowers by the way,” she said, nodding toward them while he unpacked the takeaway bag. “That was really thoughtful.”
“Well, if I’m gonna be your fake boyfriend, I’m not doing it half-arsed,” he replied, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Still,” she giggled. “You didn’t have to.”
“Wanted to.” He shrugged and met her gaze. She smiled softly at him, then he cleared his throat. “I wasn’t sure what kind of sushi you like so I got a bit of everything.”
Remembering herself, Laci went to the cabinet to grab them some plates. “Oh, that’s perfect. I love trying new things. We can sort of sample it all.”
A beat of silence passed between them that made the small clink of her plates hitting the countertops sound like a clap of thunder. Luckily, Jordan spoke first so she didn’t have to scramble for a way to break the tension.
“Y’know, it occurred to me today as I watched the show, how little we know about each other,” he said. “I reckon there will be more questions going forward. We should—sort that out. D’you agree?”