Just One Night by Carly Phillips (fiction book recommendations txt) 📕

more made sense to him now. The morning after they’d last been together, he’d walked into the kitchen as she’d been hanging up the phone after a call from her mother.

He’d sensed immediately things had changed. As usual, Tamara had probably filled her head with her negative feelings about their relationship. If Tamara knew he was sleeping with her daughter, she would lose her mind. And Jordan knew it.

On top of that, according to Chloe, Jordan also felt she didn’t fit in. He shook his head at the thought. As if money made a person a decent human being. Jordan was worth ten times more than a dense, shallow woman like Angelica. So was Chloe. Money had nothing to do with it.

One thing was certain, Linc didn’t care what anyone thought.

Now how to convince Jordan?

*     *     *

Jordan packed her things up for the day. She hadn’t had a minute alone with Linc. He’d had back-to-back visitors throughout the afternoon, which wasn’t unusual. At the moment, he was on the phone with a potential lender, so she left him a text on his phone letting him know she was leaving and she would see him in the morning.

She headed out and decided to take the subway instead of an Uber or company car, needing the fresh air she’d get as she walked the three blocks to the station. She’d been light-headed this afternoon and a little queasy and had attributed it to only eating half her yogurt for lunch. After listening to Angelica’s play for Linc, she hadn’t felt like eating.

Knowing she was too tired to prep food, she stopped at the grocery store near her apartment and picked up a couple of precooked meals before going home. At least she’d have them for the week. Once home, she put the meals in the fridge and changed into a pair of soft sweats and the tee shirt she’d stolen from Linc. Nobody had to know she slept in it whenever it didn’t need to be washed.

She microwaved and ate the pasta she’d bought and settled herself into her couch, suddenly tired. When her cell rang, it woke her, and a glance at the phone told her she’d fallen asleep for over an hour.

She answered the call, which was her doorman. “Hello?”

“Good evening, Miss Greene. Mr. Kingston is here.”

She really should put him on her permanent list, but she liked the heads-up before anyone came over. It gave her a few minutes to … whatever. Clean up. Look in the mirror. “Send him up, please. Thank you.”

Knowing she didn’t have much time, she chose the look-in-the-mirror option, saw the sleep line on her cheek, and groaned. Just wonderful.

She ran her fingers through her tangled hair and couldn’t do much more before he knocked on her door. She wasn’t surprised he’d shown up. Not after the scene with his ex.

She let him in and shut the door behind him.

“We need to talk,” he said without saying hello first.

She smiled grimly. “If it’s about Angelica, I can live without the details.”

“But I need you to know a few things.” He shrugged off his jacket and laid it over a club chair, making himself at home.

She sighed as he pulled on his tie, releasing the knot and unthreading the ends. He tossed it over his jacket and proceeded to undo the top two buttons on his shirt and roll up his sleeves.

Dammit, why did he have to be so sexy?

“Are you hungry? I picked up a couple of dinners on my way home.”

He shook his head. “I grabbed something first. You don’t need to feed me,” he said, his lips lifting in a wry grin.

“So you had a busy day.” No point beating around the bush, she thought, striding over to her favorite corner of her couch before he could beat her to it.

He settled in right beside her, half facing her, his knee on the couch, touching her thigh.

“Yes, I did. And I want you to know I haven’t been with her in over a year. Frankly I hadn’t been with anyone, because I’ve been over having meaningless sex. Angelica called the night I showed up at your apartment drunk. I was on my way over and I made it clear I wasn’t interested. Obviously she needed me to be harsher than I was, because she didn’t buy it.”

Jordan had to admit she was relieved to hear there hadn’t been anyone else in a while.

“I know she’s a stage-five clinger.” It really was her favorite expression, Jordan mused.

He tipped his head back and laughed. “Great description.”

“It does fit.”

“Chloe’s excited about the baby shower this weekend,” he said.

Jordan smiled. “So is Aurora. She’s nervous about meeting so many strangers, but she’s looking forward to it, too.”

His warm gaze met hers. “Do you talk to her often?”

“Every day, every other day, depends. I check in or she calls. She’s a wonderful girl given all she had to live through. She hasn’t been hardened by life, and she’s open to her new family. It’s been great to see.”

He stretched an arm over the back of the sofa, his fingers running over the skin on her shoulder. A light touch but her entire body tingled, awareness shooting through her veins and her nipples puckering beneath her cotton tee shirt.

“So about the party,” Linc said. “It starts at eleven a.m. I’ll pick you up around ten.”

“Can you fit the huge horse rocker you bought into the back of your SUV?” she asked, grinning. He was such a sucker for buying Aurora and the baby things and having them delivered to the house.

“I already had Max drop it off at the club. Does ten work for you?”

She nodded. “Perfect. I appreciate the ride.” Otherwise she’d have to take an Uber and that wouldn’t be fun at all.

“Jordan.”

At the gruff sound of his voice, she jerked her head up. “What?”

“You don’t thank your date for picking you up to go somewhere.” He gripped her arm in his hand, firmly but without hurting her. “Make