“But you said you and your dad aren’t close… yet you spent most of your time with him growing up?”
“Well…there was my stepmom.” I sipped more water.
Understanding dawned on his features—probably the wrong understanding. It’s not like I was some fairytale princess with the requisite evil stepmother. Nope, no Cinderella here.
“It’s not what you think. My stepmom is generally a nice lady, but I was a preteen when she married my dad and she’s only fourteen years older than me. I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. By that time, my mom was back in the picture because she wanted someone to shop with and go get mani-pedis. I was more interesting to her then, especially since she was between men.
“Rebekah, my stepmom, was ready to start her own family with my dad and was at a loss for what to do with me. Plus, she’s pretty religious and I wasn’t interested in any of that. She tried, though, but the Gentile ways bred too strongly in me, or something like that. So that’s about the time I went away to school.”
“Damn, and here I thought you really were Snow White, evil stepmother and all.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What?”
His grin widened. “You have to promise not to tell him, but when Adam didn’t know your name, he called you Snow White.”
My brows knit. “And why would he do that?”
Jordan looked at me like I was an idiot. “Uh, because you look like her?”
“Do not.”
“Do too.”
Then I remembered that comment Adam had made about calling on the woodland creatures for help, and it all became clear. “Jeez, is that what everyone calls me?”
He laughed. “No, just him.”
I raised my brows. “Not you?”
The smirk immediately dropped off his sexy lips, and he suddenly became very focused on his nearly empty plate. I watched him while sipping on my water again.
He sat back with a sigh and rubbed at his scruffy jaw. The whiskers really did complement his already over-the-top sex appeal, providing a deep gold dusting along his strongly defined jaw. My eyelids drooped for a moment as I imagined what it would feel like to have that scruff graze my cheeks and my neck as he kissed me. His mouth moving lower on my body, the feel of that rough sandpaper on my chest, my stomach, my—
I gulped. My panties were starting to feel damp. I had to stop fantasizing about him like this. I was still supposed to be pissed at him! Why was he making it so hard to stay angry?
He’d stopped shifting in his chair and was now watching me. Actually, he was looking at my cleavage, his eyes slowly climbing up my neck, narrowing as my throat bobbed where I swallowed. Either the temperature or the sexual tension meter had been dialed up a few too many notches for my comfort level.
I stood. “I, uh…I have a bit of planning for your schedule tomorrow and some other work to get done. You have your meeting with the speaking coach, then the director and the dress rehearsal, too.”
He didn’t get up.
“It’s nine p.m. Don’t tell me you go to bed this early.”
I cleared my throat. The dangers of sleeping under the same roof as him had not occurred to me until that moment, and I blushed when I realized it.
I gave a nonchalant toss of my head to cover for it. “I’m not going to stay up ‘til midnight. Apparently, I’m Snow White, not Cinderella.”
He stood and threw his napkin aside. “Come on, Weiss, live a little. We have a Jacuzzi.”
Oh no…no. Him and me in a Jacuzzi together, wearing nothing more than bathing suits? And with those abs of his? No, just no. I could not be trusted. I’d start guzzling booze and licking him as my dessert in ten seconds flat.
“Or this nice, cozy fireplace.” He walked over to the wall and flicked a switch. The entire far wall lit up within a giant freestanding frame of wood, gas fire appearing over painted rocks. It was spectacular.
I gasped. “This is awesome.”
He beamed a smile at me. “Sit down…make yourself comfortable. Stay a while.”
I twisted my mouth, making a face. “I’ve got my own place. The butler’s pantry.”
He plopped down on the couch and looked at me expectantly. With a sigh, I settled into a chair near the couch. I leaned back into it and turned to stare at the flames. It was better than watching the flames dance in his beautiful eyes. I started to think naughty thoughts when I dwelled on those too long.
“Now, I want you to admit the real reason you want to go back to your room so badly,” he said in a low voice.