“What a dick.”
She’s not wrong.
“They’ve been nicer to me ever since.”
“I’m sure they have. I got the sense that they resented you. I can see why. August used you as a discipline tool.” She squints. “That still doesn’t explain why you can’t walk away. You’re not a kid in need of a home anymore.”
“When my dad took me in, he was in commercial real estate. At thirteen, I started designing buildings and infrastructure for fun. I couldn’t control my temper, so I wasn’t in traditional school. I had private tutors, but I was smarter than most of them. At fifteen, I was designing buildings, and August invested in me and started North Industries.”
“So you feel like you owe him.”
“Not him. Everyone. We employ over thirty-five thousand people worldwide.”
“Holy shit,” she whispers.
I nod once. “Now you understand.”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Are we done? I have to get to the office.” I stand and grab my laptop.
“The office? It’s Sunday.”
“I work every day of the week.”
“Why?”
What a weird question. “Why not?”
She sighs. “Oh, I don’t know, so you have a day to recharge? Rest? Have a little fun.”
I feel myself frown. “I don’t require any of that.”
“Everyone requires all of that!” Her gray eyes spark with something mischievous. “Give me today to show you.”
I’m already shaking my head. “I can’t.”
“The afternoon?”
“No.”
She chews her lower lip in thought, and her face lights up again. “Tonight, then.” Whatever she sees in my expression makes her frown. “Oh, come on, you can’t take one night off?”
“I can be home at six.”
“Four.”
“Five-thirty.”
She shoves her hand out. “Five o’clock, and you got a deal.”
Damn, she’s cute. I’ve never seen a person get so excited over so little. And damn, if that doesn’t make me feel a little lighter. I shake her hand. “Deal.”
“Yes!” She circles around the island and throws herself against me. Her arms wrap tightly around my middle, and her cheek presses against my chest. “You’re not going to regret this.”
I throw an arm around her and put my nose to her hair. She always smells so good. “I already do.”
She tilts her head back and feathers her lips against mine. The sensation sends a wave of warmth down my spine to pool between my legs.
“I have to go,” I say and then tilt my head to take her mouth in a deep and thorough kiss. She tastes like coffee and toothpaste, a combination I wouldn’t think enticing but, from Jordan’s mouth, tastes like heaven.
Her hands slip around my back and down, taking two tiny fistfuls of my ass. “Could I tempt you to stay?”
I back her up against the island and kiss her again. I suck on her tongue, pull her lip between my teeth, and growl when she melts against me. “You already are.” Another long, deep kiss and I use my grip on her hair to pull our mouths apart. “But our deal was five o’clock.”
She huffs out a disappointed sound. “Fine. Five. Now go before I rip your clothes off and attack you.”
I back away and readjust myself behind my slacks. “Save it for tonight.”
“Nope.” With a bounce in her step, she circles the island to her coffee. “I have different plans for tonight.”
I can’t believe what I’m feeling, but I’m having a difficult time walking away. Is this what Sundays are supposed to be like? Having sex in the kitchen followed by a day of… what? Even when I’m at the cabin, I have a list of things that must be done—water, wood, food. And when I run out of things to do, I make lures, hunt, make fish traps. There is rarely a period of downtime.
I don’t know what Jordan has planned, but she has me intrigued.
I walk through my front door right at five o’clock. The first thing I notice is all the lights are off. The second thing I notice is the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen.
“Stop where you are!” Jordan’s voice comes from inside the dark space. “Go to your room and change out of your suit. Put on what I have laid out for you on the bed.”
This is childish and pointless. I almost say as much but bite my tongue. I’ve been making a concerted effort not to say the first thing that comes to my mind. I don’t always succeed, but I’m trying.
I set my things down and loosen my tie. A thermal shirt and a pair of sweatpants are laid out on the bed. I change and make my way back into the dark house, but this time, when I walk in, it’s not nearly as dark. The coffee table and sectional are pushed away to clear the floor in front of the fireplace, and what looks like a hundred blankets are thrown into a pile.
“Welcome to a night in the woods!” She’s standing near the gas fireplace with her arms outstretched, wearing one of my flannels and my gray sweatpants.
I brace for a surge of possessive rage at seeing her wearing my things, but it never comes.
“Do you get it?” She motions to the ceiling, where a million lighted dots shine like stars. “It’s like we’re back in the cabin.”
I spot a bag of marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers.
“Okay, so maybe not exactly like the cabin.” She takes both my hands and brings me forward onto the pile of pillows and blankets. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“You did all this?” I spot the small projector that’s shining pinpoints of light straight up. “Where’d you find that?”
“You’re already overthinking.” She drags me down on the blankets, reaches behind her to grab a bunch of overstuffed pillows, and shoves them at my back. “Lie down and relax. Hmm.” She turns away and pulls a bottle of sparkling water out of an ice chest, pops the top, and hands it to me. “Now, there are two rules. No talking about work, and no thinking about work.”
“And what do we do, just sit here and watch the fire?”
“Are you kidding? No.” She jumps up and unveils a white box-like device. “You’re going to teach me to fish.”
“What is that?”
Her head whips around. “It’s a Wii! It’s not the latest and greatest, but after three pawnshops, it’s all I could find.”
“Pawnshops?”
“You have a lot of questions tonight.” She kisses me softly. “I can see why you find it so annoying.” She winks and then goes back to the device. “I got all this second-hand—don’t look at me like that. You’d be surprised what you can find for a bargain.” She hands me something that looks like a white television remote with a circle strap around the end. “That’s for your wrist so you don’t lose your pole.”
I rub my forehead, feeling stupid for not considering her financial situation sooner. “I should’ve given you a card or some cash.”
“No way. This is my treat.” She settles in next to me while the game powers up on the large flat screen. After a quick tutorial on how the game is played, we begin a fishing competition. Just like in real life, her casting sucks, but she seems to enjoy getting her ass kicked in the game.