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

“Don’t even try to tell me you’re not going to look hot in those boots,” Simon said. “Your legs, those boots, and that tiny denim skirt, and the Montana boys will be eating out of your hand.”

“Just what I always wanted,” Jordan muttered.

“Well, admittedly not as good as them eating your—”

Jordan made a buzzing noise. “Nope. No sex advice from the gay guy.”

“Your loss. Is this grumpy thing you’re doing your way of telling me you’re no closer to getting Hunky Luke to be part of your show?”

“Hunky Luke? Is that what we’re calling him? And, no, he’s still not interested.”

“Well…at least it’s not a surprise, right? I mean, the guy did rather clearly ignore your emails and phone calls, and from what I saw, he looked a lot more interested in boning you than in becoming a superstar.”

Jordan rubbed her forehead. “He does not want to bone me.”

“He does. And if he doesn’t, the cowboy boots and short skirt will change his mind,” Simon said.

“I want him to be intrigued by the girls on the show, not by me,” Jordan said.

A total lie, but her friend either didn’t notice or was smart enough to know Jordan didn’t want to talk about that.

It had been days since their unexpected kiss and she’d thought about almost nothing else, even as she’d been casually trying to coax someone into dropping details about Luke’s former almost-brides.

“Honey, question, and you can’t get mad,” Simon said.

“If I was going to be mad, it’d be over the tacky boots.”

“They have character,” her friend argued. “But, okay, don’t bite my head off, ready?”

Jordan rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

“You don’t sound all that miserable.”

Jordan laughed. “That’s what you think I’d be mad about?”

“It’s just…you know how you were on the drive there? You couldn’t wait to get out. But now you seem…happy.”

“Maybe that’s because I know I’m coming home soon.”

She waited for that to feel true—waited for relief at the thought of getting back to Manhattan. To her busy life, where she never had time to think, much less miss her family or think about her future, or…

“Are you coming home soon?” Simon asked skeptically.

“Depends. Raven’s coming to grips with the fact that Luke’s probably a no-go. I guess they’ve got another guy. But before she pulls me out, she wants me to figure out if there’d be a story with his exes.”

“Wow, they’re thinking spin-off already?”

“Five steps ahead or bust,” Jordan said, automatically parroting her boss’s favorite pep talk.

“Makes for a nice inspirational post, but do you think there’s a story there?”

“Hard to say,” Jordan admitted. “So far the only one I know is Stacey. And she’s gorgeous, completely likable, and still single, but…”

“But?”

“I dunno,” Jordan said, sipping her wine. “Is it weird that I like her too much to ask?”

“I knew it!” Simon said. “You’re falling for that town and al