Wright with Benefits

Jordan moved to stand next to me. When I glanced at him, it looked as if he were seeing something other than Seattle from the window. He almost looked sad.

“Does it rain like this in Vancouver?”

“Yeah. Just like this.”

“It’s not far from here, right?”

“No, it isn’t.”

I saw the nostalgia in his eyes. “Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes,” he said, pushing away from the window. “I miss all the luxuries of living in a big city and my friends, of course. But I’ve learned to like the sunshine.”

“And you have family in Lubbock.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t say I’m used to that yet. It’s growing on me that I don’t only have Julian to rely on.”

I reached out and threaded our fingers together. “They like having you there, too.”

“I’m glad. It wasn’t an easy decision to make.”

“Why did you end up making it?”

He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it onto an armchair before running his hand down his face and sinking into it. “I don’t know. Part of me still thinks it was because of you.”

“What?” I asked in confusion. “But…I don’t understand.”

“I’d been thinking about it for a long time. I couldn’t reconcile how I could leave the company I was running in Vancouver, but I wanted to go with my mom and Julian. Jensen tried to convince me, but I turned him down. So, I think it was because when I was with you, you made me feel like I was finally free.”

I stared at him in shock. “But…we didn’t date.”

“No, you hated me for so long because of Missy, which was definitely a mistake on my part. I didn’t know that before I moved there. I was just chasing that feeling.” He shrugged. “I wanted to be there for my family anyway. So, it worked out.”

“Did you want to date me all this time?” I asked softly. A thought I had never considered.

My heart was pounding. This was revelatory. Surely, Jordan Wright hadn’t been…waiting for me.

“Yes.”

I sank into the chair across from him, my hand going to my mouth. “Why didn’t you…do anything before this?”

He chuckled derisively and held his hand out. “I did. Multiple times. You turned me down, and then you started avoiding me.”

I flashed back to when he’d first moved to town. How he tried to put the whole bringing his girlfriend to the wedding thing behind us. He did try to ask me out, and I laughed in his face. He did it again, and I was sure he was being an ass. Making fun of me or something. That he was purposefully cruel. And then I had started avoiding him. It had been easier.

“Wait…you were for real when you first moved here? I thought you were joking!”

He shook his head. “I was serious. I was interested in you.”

“Wow.”

I was still processing when he came to stand before me. He held his hand out, pulling me up.

“The past is the past. We can’t make up for the last three years when we were both technically too busy to be dating anyway. So, why don’t we go out and enjoy the rainy day while we can?”

I nodded. “I’d like that.”

We set out from the Four Seasons and straight to Pike Place Market. I convinced someone to take a picture of us posed in front of the famous red sign. Then we wandered through the market stalls. We watched people throwing fish at the Fish Market and drank coffee at a local spot.

By the time we got back that night, I was exhausted, brimming with excitement and freezing from the perpetual rain. Jordan stripped my clothes off and tugged me into the shower as soon as we got back.

From there, we tumbled straight into the enormous bed, and I lost myself in this amazing guy. The one who had wanted me from the beginning. Who had put up with the friends with benefits scenario. And who had done all of this as soon as I was finally his.

On our one-night stand, I’d fallen for Jordan Wright. And now, I was pretty sure I was in love with him.

25

Jordan

When Annie got ready to go to the hospital for her tour and interview, I was still in bed. We’d been up way too long. Probably later than we should have been, all things considered. Even though I should have gone for a run and checked in at work, I lounged lazily in bed.

“Jordan!” Annie called from the bathroom.

I leaned up on my elbows at the concern in her voice. “Yeah?”

She ran back inside. “Have you seen my claddagh ring?”

“Uh, no. Where did you last have it?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I had it in the car on the way here because I was playing with it. I don’t remember after that.”

“I’m sure it’s here.”

I hopped out of bed and started a meticulous search of the suite. It was large enough that it could be anywhere. But it could be on the plane or at the market or the coffee shop, too. She was already panicking though, so I didn’t say any of that.