Ready to Run (I Do, I Don't 1)

“What?” she asked with a little laugh. “No. He’s…not interested in me.”

Luke merely lifted a chin in acknowledgment, and Jordan sighed. “If you’re trying to scare me off with the rude-asshole routine, it’s not going to work.”

He scratched his cheek. “Gathered that. Seems my attempt to do exactly that on Monday at the barbecue had the opposite effect.”

She spread her arms to the side. “I’m a female. We’re ornery. Tell us one thing, we’re pretty much guaranteed to do another. Do you want a glass of wine or not?”

“Got any beer?”

“Yeah, but it’s probably not cold yet.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Jordan stepped aside, and he entered the house. Just an hour earlier, Jordan had been thinking how roomy the rental home felt compared to her SoHo apartment. But with Luke Elliott in the foyer, the house felt immediately smaller, the air warmer.

“So, Stacey is sweet,” she said, deciding to rip that Band-Aid off sooner rather than later. She opened the fridge and reached for the six-pack of some local microbrew that had caught her eye.

She wrapped a hand around the bottle. Not all the way cold, but cool enough.

“Yup.”

Jordan rolled her eyes, started to hand him the bottle, then wrinkled her nose. “Oops. Forgot that I don’t have a bottle opener. I mean, I do, but it’s…”

She gestured toward the dozen or so bags that held the few items the house hadn’t come equipped with; there was a corkscrew and bottle opener somewhere in the mix.

Luke took the beer, his fingers brushing hers, his eyes meeting hers at the contact.

He looked away and, reaching into his back pocket, pulled out some sort of guy-ish gizmo. A second later the cap was off, and Jordan was suitably jealous. “Don’t suppose there’s a corkscrew on that?” she asked, half joking.

Luke didn’t say a word as his thumb flicked something, a corkscrew appearing out of nowhere.

“Now, that’s handy,” she said reverently, as he reached for the chardonnay she’d left on the counter.

“My ex liked wine.”

“Which one?”

He glanced at her. “Third bride.”

Eva. There’d been the least amount of information about her in the article.

“She still live in town?” Jordan asked, going to the cabinet and pulling out a wineglass, which Luke filled.

“Nope.”

“She moved away after you—after the breakup?”

Luke picked up his beer bottle, hazel eyes boring into hers. “Not doing this with you, City. In fact, it’s the very opposite of why I’m here.”

Ah. So peacetime was over. She felt strangely disappointed, for reasons that had nothing to do with Jilted.

“Let me guess.” She took a sip of her wine. “You’re here to tell me that I’m a horrible human being because I’m in your town, offering you a buttload of cash and a chance to fall in love with a beautiful woman, handpicked for you.”

“I already tried that approach,” he said with a flicker of a smile. “Seems it backfired.”

“It did indeed,” she said with an answering smile. “So what’s plan B?”

Luke held her gaze. “Thought I’d ask you something.”