“Thank you for putting up with my family tonight.” Her breaths came out in little white puffs. “I’m sorry if they made you feel uncomfortable or anything.”
“Why would they make me feel uncomfortable?” he asked with a tilt of his head.
She looked up at him. “It’s just…you know. People don’t usually have male coworkers over for family suppers. Usually, it’s someone they’re dating.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it’s a little strange. Your sister definitely wants us to date.”
Chloe threw her head back and let out a grim laugh. “She’s not subtle, that’s for sure. But just so you know, I don’t expect anything from you. I won’t deny that I really like spending time with you, but you’re leaving in a few days.”
His expression hardened and he stared at her mouth. “Yes, I am.”
Her stomach did a little flip flop as she managed to go on. “Truth is, I’m going to miss you.” Licking her lips, a sad grin formed on her mouth. “As much as I was determined not to.”
His gaze met hers and they unknowingly moved closer together, the cold December air driving them to seek warmth. She felt his arm wrap around her, pressing against the small of her back.
“I’m not sure if this lives up to your romance movies,” he whispered, his voice low and raspy. “But I really want to kiss you right now.”
A shiver went down her spine. She sighed and leaned in a bit closer. It was the feeling she’d been having the whole night. “I want that, too.”
He wasted no more time. Pressing his lips to hers, they met in a sweet kiss that sent flutters deep into her stomach. His hand moved to her shoulder and he followed its lead, planting kisses down her jawline and then back to her mouth.
She moaned into his lips and worked her fingers under the collar of his shirt, pulling him in closer. For a long moment, they embraced in a rush of hands and lips. Despite the cold, Chloe felt as if she were going to burst into flames from the heat of their kiss. He pushed her back into the balcony railing and they continued to meld together, his weight on top of hers.
“I wasn’t expecting to find someone like you in New Hope,” Jordan said, finally pulling away. He looked down at her as she took in heavy breaths, her lips swollen from their kisses.
“Me, neither." She sighed and met his gaze with a helpless smile. “But I’ll still be here after Christmas. You’re leaving.”
There was nothing more to say. It was the truth. As soon as the play was over, she’d have to fulfill her end of the bargain and Jordan would be gone. He couldn’t stay in New Hope forever.
Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his chin on her head. She took in his warmth and sighed, glad that if only for a moment, she was his.
Chapter Nine
T minus two days until Christmas Eve and Jordan was flying high. He couldn’t stop staring at Chloe from across the office, appreciating the way she brushed her hair off her shoulders, the curve of her waist, and how her eyes shone when she smiled. That kiss had been on his mind all weekend. In fact, after Saturday’s rehearsal, they’d repeated the act, pressed up against her car under the inky black of the winter sky. He wanted to do it again now, but her office mates might find them a little inappropriate.
Instead, he contented himself with glancing at her throughout the day, occasionally meeting her gaze. If there was such a thing as a spark, they had it. There was no denying it. He felt it deep within his gut every time they touched.
And after the family dinner, he couldn’t help but feel amazed at Chloe’s family. He didn’t think families like that existed anymore. Most of his buddies had grown up in broken homes. His own family was the prime example. Yet, the Walkers acted like they belonged to a prime time TV show family, complete with the wonderful kids, the domestic wife, and the tough, but lovable father.
His gaze met with Chloe’s again and he held it, feeling the tension build as her generous lips curled into a knowing smile. There was nothing shy about her and he liked it that way.
“Isn’t that your phone?” she asked as an annoying buzzing interrupted the heavy silence.
Jordan looked down at his cell. “Yep. Probably Mary again. That woman just can’t leave me alone.”
He’d nearly finished his work here and sent it all her way. Everything was perfect. He wasn’t sure why she was still checking up on him. She couldn’t let anything out of her control.
“Hello?” The sound of heavy breathing met his greeting along with the noise of street traffic. “Mary?”
“Jordan?”
The voice made his spine straighten. He hadn’t heard it in forever, but he knew it as well today as he had a decade ago. “Mom?”
“Yes, it’s me.” In so few words, he could already pick up the weariness in her tone. “How are you, son?”
He licked his lips and leaned back in the office chair. What a loaded question. He’d just had the best week of his life, yet he still felt anger and resentment resurfacing at the sudden reappearance of his mother in his life. The two opposing feelings fought with each other, battling for control.
“Fine,” was all he could get out. “Just fine. What’s wrong?” She’d never called him to celebrate good news. Not even for a holiday or his birthday. There had to be a reason she was calling.
“Your father and I had a fight,” she said in a raspy voice. In the background, a car honked. “He locked me out of the house.”
He rubbed a thumb along his temple. “That man is not my father.”
“He’s your step-father,” she argued in a weirdly defensive tone.
Chloe watched him from her desk, her right eyebrow raised. He glanced up at her and shrugged, unsure how to react to this person on the phone who was practically a stranger.
“What do you want?”
“Can I come stay with you?” There was a slight tremble to her voice. “Just until things blow over. James needs to cool off.”
He closed his eyes. She must’ve been desperate to call on him. James had a way of cutting her off from outside friends, leaving her defenseless and vulnerable to his manipulation. He was the only lifeline that James couldn’t completely cut off, no matter how hard he tried.
If he’d been at home right now, it would’ve been easier to say no. But Junction was less than an hour away from New Hope. He could drive over and back before the end of the work day. There was really no feasible reason to turn her down, except for the fact that they’d been here before - when he was only sixteen. And that fight had ended in him leaving the house for good.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Meet you at Jerry’s Shop in an hour.”
“It’s called Billion’s Auto now,” she replied, relief in her voice. “I’ll see you soon, baby.”
He hung up the phone and grabbed his coat. Chloe was still watching him, her eyes tracking his every movement. He paused and placed his hands on the back of his chair, swallowing hard. “My mom’s had a fight with her husband. She needs me to pick her up. I’ll be back in two hours.”
She stood up and plucked her purse from a drawer in her desk. “I’m going with you.”
He held up a hand. They’d just started dating. This was the last thing he wanted to subject her to. “I don’t think you want to do that.”
Her lips pursed and Jordan could recognize the beginning signs of her stubborn side coming out. He bit back a smile, always amused to find himself on the receiving end of her attitude.
“Jordan Davis, I’m coming with you.” She swung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “And that’s final.”
They left for Junction in his Grand Am. He had to clear off the passenger seat and toss the fast food wrappers before she could get in. Luckily, Chloe didn’t seem disgusted by his messy car. She buckled up like she’d been in it a million times before and grabbed his hand once he’d pulled onto the road.
“Has this ever happened before?” she asked him, searching his face.
He kept his eyes trained on the road. “She’s left me voic
e mails from payphones before. Would never say why she was calling, but I’m guessing it was because of a fight. I never returned them.”
A woman like Chloe could never understand his predicament. She had the perfect family. He still couldn’t forgive his mother for choosing her abusive husband over her own son. It burned a hole in his stomach just to think about it. And yet, here he was, driving out of his way to rescue her. Clearly, he wasn’t free from her like he’d thought.
“Is your sister going to be okay with you skipping out on dress shopping?” Jordan asked, intent on changing the topic. Anything was better than talking about his mom. “I don’t think we’ll make it back in time.”
Chloe nodded. “She already canceled. Something about an appointment with a florist. I swear, those two are so busy they just need to get it over with. Get married this weekend. Then, we can all stop talking about wedding planning.”
He chuckled, feeling the laughter rumble in his chest. It was nice to talk to a girl who wasn’t so obsessed about weddings. “Does this Aaron guy even exist? I mean, you’ve been talking about him for weeks, but I’ve never met the guy.”
“He does.” She leaned forward in her seat, pulling at the seat belt. “I swear. He and Brianna are so cute together. They met their freshmen year of college. If anyone was meant-to-be, it’s those two.”
A soft smile pulled at the left side of his mouth as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was so optimistic, so sure of the world around her. He hated the thought of that ever changing. She deserved a life full of those happy promises - one where parents never split up and kids always came home for family dinners.
The trip to Junction didn’t seem to take long. Within the hour, he was pulling into what used to be Jerry’s Shop. A new sign with the name Billion in bright red letters shown above the auto mechanic shop. He wondered what had happened to Jerry, the red-faced jolly mechanic who always had a beer in his hand. Maybe he’d retired, sold the place and retired to Mexico. Jordan preferred that possibility among all the others.
“That’s her,” he said, pointing to a woman standing outside the shop with a plastic bag clutched in her hands.
Jordan’s mother stood nearly six feet tall with willowy limbs and a thin waist hidden by yards of faded fabric. The dress she wore was a product left over from the nineteen eighties, with a large frilly collar and tied waistband. White tights covered her legs and led down to her sensible white sneakers. The only piece of jewelry she wore was a thin gold band around her left ring finger. Her thick black hair had been brushed back into a severe bun, accentuating her high cheekbones.
“Baby.” She walked up to Jordan’s door, holding her arms open. “It’s been too long.”
He reluctantly let her hug him for a moment, and then backed away. This wasn’t the time for a family reunion.
“You’ve brought your girlfriend,” she said, watching Chloe get out of the passenger door. She smiled and patted her hair for flyaways. “Isn’t she just beautiful? I wish you would’ve told me you were bringing her. I’d have made myself look more presentable.”
Jordan went to roll his eyes, but paused mid roll when he caught a closer look at his mother’s face. A dark bruise had begun to form around her right eye, her eyelid swelling half shut. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to examine it.
“Did James hit you?” he growled. A familiar rage sprung to life in his head. He hadn’t felt that in years. “Did he beat you?”
“It was an accident,” she sputtered, pulling out of his grasp. Tenderly touching her eye, she winced at the pain. “We both lost control. It was my fault, really.”
He pointed to the back seat of the Grand Am. “Get in the car.”
They didn’t have time to argue over the specifics of who caused her eye to swell. The longer he stayed in this town, the more likely he was to hunt down his jerk of a step-father and return the favor. That could only lead to some time behind bars. “Let’s go.”
“I was just about to call you, baby,” she said, taking a step toward the auto shop. For the first time, Jordan noticed a man who stood in the shadow of the doorway, watching their conversation. “Me and your father, we made up. I appreciate you driving all this way, but now I don’t need to put you out any longer. James is waiting for me.”
Jordan felt like he was going to burst into flames. Red hot anger coursed through his veins. “You, what? You’ve got to be kidding me. The guy just pummeled in your face.”
“It was an accident, baby,” his mom repeated, glancing fearfully behind her. “Please don’t make him mad.”
“Oh, I’ll do a lot more than that,” he growled, taking a step toward the shop.
Before he could make it around the car, Chloe had intersected his angry rampage. She stood in front of him, her eyes wide and hands held out to stop him. He wrapped his fingers into tight fists, but didn’t go another inch further. Instead, he stared at the shadow in the doorway up ahead. It was the figure of a man who’d haunted his nightmares for over a decade. Except, now he wasn’t a little kid anymore and it wasn’t him who needed to be afraid.
“You don’t want to do that,” Chloe whispered, setting a soft hand down on his shoulder.
He forced his glare away from the shop and down at her. The frightened and panicked look on her face caused him to start, guilt creeping up instead. This wasn’t okay. He couldn’t fight his step-dad with Chloe standing right there. She’d lose all respect for him.
“Have a nice life,” he spat at the shadow man, releasing the fists at his side. Turning on his heel, he marched right past his mother and back to the car. She tried to say something to him, but he was too deaf with rage to listen. Instead, he threw the key in the ignition and blared his music.
Glaring through the windshield, he was surprised to see Chloe approach his mother in front of the car. They exchanged a few quiet words and then Chloe handed her a slip of paper. With a quick hug, they parted ways and she got back in the car.
Despite his curiosity, Jordan didn’t ask what she’d said. He waited just long enough for her to get her seat belt buckled before he gunned it, leaving his mother waving in the rear view mirror.
They didn’t speak on the way home. Each one of them too embroiled in their own thoughts to talk. But when Jordan reached across the center console to take Chloe’s hand, she didn’t resist him. They rode the rest of the way home like that, relying on that small physical comfort to relieve the anger and the pain of the afternoon.
Chapter Ten
Chloe presided quietly over that evening’s rehearsal. Despite the fact that Laurie came in too early on her solo, the wise men were chuckling during their lines, and Amanda seemed ready to give birth at any minute, she couldn’t utter a word of criticism. Her mind was plagued with thoughts about her trip with Jordan this afternoon.
She’d never believed he could be so utterly consumed with rage like that. The man she’d stepped in front of had murder in his eyes, he’d been so out of control. She didn’t know his step-father and certainly didn’t want to judge their relationship, but that rage had scared her a little bit. Okay…more like a lot.
That anger he’d felt had shown in every tense sinew and muscle in his body, hardening his limbs until they were solid rocks, ready to punch in a man’s skull. She couldn’t believe what she’d seen. This wasn’t the same man she’d come to know. The same man she’d kissed on that balcony.
“You okay?” Jordan’s soft voice startled her from her thoughts. She looked up to find him gazing at her, his dark eyes full of worry. “You didn’t even say anything when I forgot my lines.”
“I’ve been distracted.” She shifted uncomfortably, smoothing down her leather skirt. “Sorry about that.”
He nodded his head and then slid into the pew next to her. Their shoulders touched for the briefest of seconds. “I’m sorry you had to see that this afternoon.”
She shrugged, giving him a half-hearted smile. “It’s fine. I butted into that family situation. Y
ou have nothing to be sorry for.”
“But I still am.” He reached for her hand, taking it in his. “Sometimes, all those old emotions from the past come rushing back and I lose control. I revert back to my fifteen year old self - a skinny little kid with nothing but his fists to protect himself. Seeing my mom like that…” He stared toward the ground, his eyes unfocused.
“I know.” She gave his hand a squeeze and let go.
That black eye had been awful. Chloe got to see it up close after Jordan went storming back to his car. She’d given the woman her card, telling her to call if she needed anything. It didn’t sit right with her, leaving an obviously abused woman with her dangerous spouse. But there was nothing else she could do in that moment. Jordan was going to lose it and she didn’t want him doing something he’d regret.
“Alright, tomorrow’s the last dress rehearsal,” she said to the group with a clap of her hand. Two more days. That was it. Somehow, the importance of her play was beginning to fade. The events of the day had overshadowed her own little worries and fears. “Don’t be late.”
There were a few muttered acknowledgments and her actors began to shuffle out. Jordan was the last one to leave. He stood by the doorway, his costume draped over his arm and his head bowed. The low light of the sanctuary accentuated his cheekbones and strong jaw. A miserable frown pulled at the sides of his mouth as he looked up at her.
“Can I walk you to your car?”
Chloe hesitated. She needed alone time to think and clear her head. The expression on his face hurt her heart, but she needed him to leave. “I have a little set work left to do tonight. You go ahead. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
She could see it in his eyes - the need for her to say yes. To act as if everything was fine and this afternoon hadn’t scared her. But, she just couldn’t say that.
Caroling in the Snow: A New Hope Sweet Christmas Romance - Book 2 Page 6
