“I’m sorry I forgot.”
He shook his head. “That is the best part of all of this. I love the fact that you forgot. You were thinking of yourself, not me for a change.” Then he chuckled. “Next time, I’ll call first, though. That’s an image I only want to see once.”
Then he left, still laughing.
I joined Jordan in the kitchen. He had carried in the dishes and was loading them into the dishwasher. I leaned against the counter, watching as he stacked them in an orderly fashion, then reached under the sink and dropped in a pod, studying the controls for a moment before choosing a cycle and shutting the door.
He met my amused glance. “What?”
“Very domesticated.”
He chuckled dryly. “I had to learn. To be honest, I enjoyed cooking more than Anna did. I took over the kitchen on the weekends.” He held up a finger. “Except for coffee. She made far better coffee.”
“I see. Max was hopeless in the kitchen. I remember the time he tried to make garlic bread. I’m certain the fire department has fond memories of it as well.”
Jordan threw back his head in amusement. Then he held out his hand. “Can we sit?”
I took his hand and led him back into the living room. We sat on the sofa facing each other.
“Are you okay with Colin?” he asked. “I know his arrival caught us off guard, and it was obvious he had no idea about us.”
“Only because I haven’t seen him—it wasn’t something I wanted to share over the phone. I planned on telling him tonight, except—”
His chuckle interrupted me. “You forgot about tonight.”
“I did. This whole week has been so crazy. I guess I’ve been off-kilter.”
He took my hand, holding it within his, making circles on my wrist with his thumb. “Lots to take in.”
“Yes.”
He released my hand and rubbed his face. I shifted closer, concerned.
“Jordan? What’s wrong?”
“I have something to tell you, and it’s either going to make you very happy, or you’re going to be upset.”
“That’s a rather large variance.”
“I did something.”
“Obviously.”
He paused and took my hand again. “The house goes up for sale tomorrow. The agent is having an all-day open house on Saturday. She will accept offers as of three o’clock on Tuesday afternoon. She anticipates a bidding war.”
“All right.”
“I’m fine with selling the house—I really am. But I can’t stand the thought of all those people traipsing through the house, making comments.”
“Understandable.”
“She strongly suggested I not be there.” He sucked in some air. “So, I decided to go away for the weekend. I think the break would do me some good.”
I tamped down my disappointment that he would be gone. I was looking forward to seeing him at least one day on the weekend, but I understood.
“Are you going to see Gina?”
“No. I decided I wanted to take you to Boston. If you’ll come with me.”
I blinked. “Boston?”
“They have a great collection of Renoirs on loan again. Some Monets and other impressionists. We could do all the things you never got to do. Spend some time together without boats, grandsons, or BAM boys interrupting us,” he added with a wicked grin.
“You want to go to Boston with me? How would we do that?”
“Here’s the part where you might get angry with me. I spoke to Bentley. You have tomorrow and Monday off if you want them. You’re covered. There’s a flight first thing tomorrow and one that gets us home on Monday by lunch. I have the hotel booked, arrangements made for all sorts of fun things for us to do.” He squeezed my hand. “And if you don’t want, I can cancel it all and I will head to Gina’s.”
I could only stare. He had arranged all that—on his own?
He shifted closer, his knees pressing against mine. “I don’t want to be here this weekend, but I don’t want to go to BC, Sandy. I want to take you away. Have days to spend with you—just us. Please come with me.”
“You arranged all of this for me?”
He cupped my cheek. “Yes, for you. For us. I wanted to give you something, and I happened to see an advertisement for the Renoir exhibit. I did some checking and then went and spoke to Bentley. He thought it was a great idea and said yes right away.”
“Who is going to cover?”
“Emmy was in his office when I got there. She volunteered immediately. Bentley was thrilled. He gets to have Emmy and Addi there with him. Try out the new day care.”
“I see.” Bentley would love having his girls around him all day.
He looked thoughtful. “I told Bentley it might be time to think of getting you your own assistant. You’re so busy all the time.”
I had to agree with him. Some days, I could barely keep up. Someone to take away the small stuff would help. But I would discuss that with Bentley at another point.
“And you can go, with everything happening with the house?”
“It’s staged and ready. The agent has everything well in hand, and she knows I am gone as of tomorrow. She’ll handle the weekend, and if she needs me, I’m as close as the phone. All I have to do is throw a few things in a suitcase.”
“You’ve thought this through very well.”
“Are you upset?”
“How can I be upset when you went to so much effort, Jordan?”
“Is that a yes? All you have to do is pack a few things and I’ll pick you up in the morning at six. We’ll be in Boston before lunchtime, and you’ll be staring at Renoirs by two.”
“What sort of hotel booking did you make?”
“A suite—two bedrooms,” he replied promptly. “No pressure, Sandy.”
His gaze was earnest, his words firm. He had no idea how his assurances made me want anything but two bedrooms. His insistence he only wanted time with me solidified the growing feelings I had for him. He was genuine, kind, and unknowingly sexy in his uncertainty. He clasped my hand, fully prepared for me to say no.
Except I didn’t want to.
I bent close and brushed a kiss to his cheek. “I would love to go to Boston with you, Jordan.”
His happiness was evident. “Really?”
“Yes.”
He gripped my shoulders and kissed my mouth. It was a hard, fast pressing of our lips. He did it again, this time holding it longer. Then again with a low groan as he pulled me tight to his chest and kissed me the way he had earlier in the hall. There was barely controlled passion in his caresses and an underlying desire that went straight to my core. I returned his kiss, losing myself in him again.
He eased back. “I need to go home and pack.” He dropped another kiss to my mouth. “You have no idea how happy you have made me, my darling.”
I thrilled at his endearment. It sounded so right coming from his mouth.
“I’m pretty excited.”
“Colin said you would be.”
“Colin knows?”
He grinned. “We had quite the fast chat while you were getting dinner. Man-to-man stuff. I told him my idea, and he assured me you would love it.” He touched my cheek gently. “Or kill me. He wished me luck either way.”