Page 37 of The Keeper and I
“Yes, my grandfather bought it in the fifties when the Colfields could no longer support it. Maybe I can return these beauties to their proper home.”
Jordan looked on, an odd tug in his gut. Colfield sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place where he’d heard it before. Almost like he’d seen a movie with that name ages ago but never rewatched it. He was certain that wasn’t it. It felt too real, which started to concern him.
“Does your family own the farms and everything?” Tessa asked.
“No, just the house and the land it sits on,” Laci said. “The farms were bought out by the tenants or sold.”
“Have they made many changes to the house?”
“Only those necessary for modern living like updated plumbing, electric, Wi-Fi, and things like that. It’s in pristine condition. We have all the old furniture and art too.”
“Would it be possible to let my group come and see it?” Tessa asked eagerly. “Not to be an imposition or anything, but—”
“Not at all,” Laci said with a charming smile. “My parents allow tours every once in a while, and they have professionals over all the time to appraise things. I’ll ask them if they’d be open, but I’m certain they’ll say yes.”
“I think you’re my new best friend.” Tessa beamed. “No matter what you bid, you’re getting these jewels.”
“I’ll still be generous.”
Finally, a DJ took the stage to set the mood with Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” Laci finished bidding and stretched her hand toward Jordan, who was still reeling at having learned her family had enough money to own and uphold an old manor house of English aristocracy. He clearly had a lot more to learn about his fake girlfriend.
“You owe me a slow dance,” she said.
“For what?” he returned with a smirk.
“You’re my date. That’s what we do.”
He couldn’t deny her anything, so he let her lead him onto the dance floor. Their arms fell naturally into place around each other, and they swayed to the slow beat of the song. She looked up at him and a smile threatened the corners of her mouth. She was so beautiful, so sweet. And her body pressed against his as they danced sent a rush of desire between his legs. He was more than tempted to kiss her again.
“Happy?” he asked instead.
“Perfectly.” Resting her head on his shoulder, she softly sang along.
Chapter 9
“Checkitout,we’retrending,” Laci said.
“We are?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah, under hashtag couple goals.”
She scrolled through her Instagram feed and explore page where her kiss with Jordan was plastered across celebrity gossip pages and sports pages alike. She offered her phone to him so he could see. The brush of his fingers over hers as he took it sent a shiver up her spine. She watched him for a moment, drinking in the sight of his chiseled jaw in the morning light before becoming engrossed in the movement of his large hands as he scrolled. Her stomach did a flip at the memory of that hand on her back the night before.
“I want to renegotiate the terms of our agreement,” Laci said, straightening her spine to appear more confident than she felt.
Jordan’s eyes flicked from the phone to her, but he said nothing. The grinder whirred behind the Coffeeify counter, the other patrons chattered, and soft jazz music warbled from the speakers. All of it sounded louder with nothing coming from her fake boyfriend. He handed her phone back and sipped his coffee.
“Which terms specifically?” he asked.
“About the physical stuff,” she said.
“Such as?”
Despite her face burning, she refused to look away. “You know.”
“Sex?”
“Exactly.” She let out a huff. “Did you really have to embarrass me about it?”