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

Luke’s hand was on her waist, sliding up over her rib cage….

Jordan grabbed his wrist. “Stop.”

He let out the smallest of groans, forehead resting on her shoulder for a moment, but he did as she asked, pulling away slowly until his hands dropped to his sides and there were a few inches of space between them.

Enough for her to clear her head. Sort of.

“I should go,” she whispered.

Translation: We are so not talking about what just happened.

Luke was apparently in agreement, because he simply nodded and stepped back even farther, giving her the space to retrieve her shoes.

After she’d hurriedly tied the knot on the second one, she reached for the door handle, wanting nothing more than to run away without having to say a single word.

Then she remembered she was an adult.

Jordan fixed a smile on her face and turned back to him. “Thanks for the coffee.”

The corner of his mouth tilted in amusement. “You’re welcome.”

There. Perfectly civil, as though they hadn’t just devoured each other.

Jordan was out the door before she could do what she really wanted to—kiss him all over again and beg him to show her to the bedroom.

She didn’t look back until she’d reached the running path, but when she did, Luke Elliott was on his deck, leaning on the railing as he watched her.

She didn’t wave. Neither did he.

Perhaps because they both knew this was hardly goodbye.

Chapter 14

Book club was at Bree’s house, and Jordan was relieved that it was at a home she’d been to before. It somehow made her feel a little less like the outsider crashing the party of friends who’d known one another since childhood.

Nobody made her feel like an outsider, though.

From the second she’d been scolded for knocking on the door instead of just entering like everyone else, to the moment a glass of wine had been shoved into her hand, she’d felt welcome.

Almost as comfortable with these women as she did with her girlfriends back home.

Not that she wasn’t homesick—she’d spent over an hour that afternoon catching up on social media and replying to text messages she’d neglected.

She’d chatted with Simon, wanting to get the scoop on the atmosphere around the office. Luckily, nobody thought it strange that she’d stayed in Montana longer than planned. In fact, there was apparently a good-natured bet on how long it would take Jordan to get her man.

Into bed, or onto the show?

No. No. She wasn’t even going there.

The kiss had been a onetime thing, not to be repeated, and…

“What?” she asked, realizing that Hailey had been talking at her and she hadn’t heard a single word.

Hailey waved a carrot stick at her. “I was asking how your run was this morning. Did my crayon map help?”

“Yes!” Jordan said, too loud. “Yes, so much. Thank you.”

Hailey laughed a little in surprise. “You’re welcome. I suppose I’d be as skinny as you if I was that excited about finding a running path.”