Page 32 of The Keeper and I
“By the way, for the gala, I’ve got some dress options coming in from Emilia Wickstead next week. Want to help me pick one?”
“Depends. Does that mean you’ll keep getting undressed in front of me?”
“Oh my God! I was in a bra and joggers! Besides, you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen me in less.”
“In pictures!”
“And? That’s different how?”
“Yes, it’s diff—” He set down the container of rice and frowned at her. “Look, we agreed on certain terms, right?”
“Right.”
“If you keep taking your shirt off in front of me, they’re going to be harder to honor.”
“Hey. There were no temptation clauses in our agreement. I can do whatever I want.”
He laughed, throwing his head back. “Temptation clauses?”
“Yes,” she said firmly, putting a hand on her hip. “Besides, I look as good with this shirt on as I did with it off.”
His eyes roved over her and something like hunger flashed behind them. “I’ll concede that point. You look fucking fantastic in my kit.”
She felt her cheeks get warm. “Thank you.”
He slid the plate toward her. “Ready to eat?”
“Oh, God, yes.”
Plates in hand, they made their way over to the couch. Laci already hadLove Islandqueued up. To his credit, Jordan made no complaints. He even asked her questions about it. She hadn’t made him watchTitanicyet since her last viewing was so recent, but it made her hopeful that he wouldn’t write off her interests as “too girly” and, therefore, lower quality. He approached her choice with genuine curiosity.
When it ended, he cleaned up. As she watched him do dishes, she had the sudden urge to go over and wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head against his back. She appreciated him so much for all of this.
A notification on her phone drew her from her thoughts of domesticity.
Dane, once again, flooding her Instagram inbox with half a dozen photos. All of them were Jordan arriving at her home and leaving within a couple hours. It wasn’t every instance but enough to show he was watching. He added a message:So when is it my turn? I can take the nights he’s not there.
“Shit…” she said under her breath.
“What?” Jordan asked.
“Dane’s been watching,” she told him. “But he’s seeing you leave. He knows you aren’t staying over.”
He turned off the sink. “So?”
“So he doesn’t think we’re serious.”
“Let me see.”
She handed over her phone, and he looked at the messages. It occurred to her that she must trust him if she was surrendering the device that contained her whole life, not to mention an embarrassing number of selfies. But she wasn’t worried. As expected, he handed it right back without looking at anything else.
“I haven’t got an extra set of clothes with me,” he said.
Her heart swelled like a balloon. “You would want to stay the night?”
“Sure, you’ve got a guest room, don’t you?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I do.”