Captivated by the Millionaire

“I’ve never been one for serious relationships, Jess. And I certainly am in no place right now in my life to start.”

“I see.”

“Though I’m not going to apologize for what happened between us. I don’t regret it.”

Her mouth went dry. “You’d be insulting me if you did.”

“But I should have been more up-front about what to expect. I have no excuse. Except that I thought you knew. That you were aware enough about me.”

“What makes you think I didn’t know?”

That her questions surprised him was clear in his expression.

“Huh? But that next morning...”

“That was just me being honest with you, Jordan. I tend to be pretty open with my feelings. I’m sorry if that scared you.”

“I didn’t say I was scared.”

And there it was, the denial. He was probably even denying to himself. She wouldn’t point it out to him. There was really no reason to. “Fine. We won’t call it scared. We’ll call it not ready.”

“We’d be right to call it that.”

“So you’re essentially saying it’s the wrong place and the wrong time. For us.”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

She tapped her chin with her finger. “And just so I’m clear. You’re also saying that what happened between us in Manhattan was a fling. Meaningless.”

His jaw tightened. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Jess. That’s not what I said.”

“Which is it, then, Jordan? It sounds like you haven’t quite made up your mind.”

He spread his arms out wide in a clear motion of exasperation. “What do you want me to say? I can’t figure out what you want to hear. I only came down to make sure you were okay if you’d seen the tabloids about your dress.”

“This seems to be a waste of both our time.” She picked up her pen again. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. Thank you for letting me know about the unflattering hashtag.”

But he made no move to go. Just stood there, staring at her with his mouth agape. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”

“What more is there to say? And why should I bother when you’re not going to really answer me?”

“What questions would those be? I seem to have missed them somehow.”

She gave a slow shake of her head. “You didn’t miss them. You chose to ignore them. Questions like why you care enough to worry about my reaction to unflattering posts about me but not enough to call me during the week after we spend forty-eight magical hours together. Or why you would go out of your way to make sure I had a weekend with you that I would never forget—between taking me to a Broadway show and later treating me to a rooftop view of the Manhattan night—only to turn around and pretend none of it meant anything to you.”

She wasn’t expecting the depth of disappointment that suddenly flooded his eyes. Damn it. What did any of it mean? Rubbing a hand down her face, she blew out a harsh breath. She was just so completely off her guard when it came to this man.

“Did it occur to you that I might not have the answers, Jess?”

“Oh, Jordan.” But he’d already turned to leave. He didn’t give her another look back as he shut the door softly behind him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

THAT HAD GONE WELL, Jordan thought with sarcasm as he pushed open the door that led out to the parking lot. What had he expected, though? That Jess would jump up into his arms and thank him for alerting her to the reports? Hell, he was the reason she was all over social media to begin with. He hadn’t even apologized for it. And now he may not get a chance. Something made him halt before walking out. He sensed her presence behind him down the hallway.

“Jordan, wait.”

He had to acknowledge the hefty feeling of relief that surged through him. It hadn’t felt right to leave things as they were between them.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, walking slowly toward him until they were only a few feet apart.

What exactly was she asking him? There were myriad ways he could answer that question; all sorts of things he could think of that he wanted her to do. Like wrap her arms around him. Let him take her mouth in a possessive kiss the way he’d been dreaming about since they’d returned to the island. Oh, yeah, all sorts of ways he could respond about exactly the things he wanted her to do.