It didnt make her feel any better to say it out loud, but it did help to put her bathroom to rights again. Her apartment, her things, her life, she thought as she went into the bedroom.
As far as Jordan was concerned, it was much more likely that it was the memory she still loved. The boy, the young, wounded man whod been her first love. Didnt every woman have a soft spot for her first true love?
She settled on the bed, took her bed book out of the nightstand drawer. The paperback she kept there was only a front. The one she opened was Cold Case , by Jordan Hawke.
Wouldnt he crow if he knew she was reading his latest book? Worse, if he knew she was enjoying every damn word.
Maybe she was still in love with the memory of the boy, but she would rather eat live slugs than have the man discover that shed read every one of his books.
Twice.
Chapter Six
THEY started work on the porch, taking advantage of the fine fall weather andZoes experience.
By unanimous agreement, Dana and Malory had elected her the goddess of remodel. In their oldest clothes, and with new tools for Dana and Malory, they worked atZoes direction prepping the porch for paint.
“I didnt know it would be so much work.” Malory sat back on her heels and examined her nails. “Ive ruined my manicure. And you just gave it to me a couple of days ago,” she remindedZoe .
“Ill give you another. If we dont scrape and sand off the peeling paint, the new paint wont stick right. It needs a good, smooth, porous surface, or well be doing this again in the spring.”
“We bow to you,” Dana toldZoe , and watched her wield the little electric sander. “I always thought you just sort of slopped the paint on, then waited for it to dry.”
“That kind of thinking is why you bow to me.”
“Its already gone to her head,” Dana grumbled and attacked curls of peeling paint with her scraper.
“I wouldnt mind having a little crown, something delicate and tasteful.” Even as she spoke,Zoe kept one eye on her underlings. “Its going to look great. Youll see.”
“Why dont you entertain us during the drudgery?” Malory suggested. “Tell us about dinner with Brad last night.”
“It was no big deal. He just played some video games with Simon, ate, then left. I shouldnt have gotten so worked up about it. I just havent had a guy over in a while. And Im not used to cooking for millionaires. I felt like I needed finger bowls or something.” “Brads not like that,” Dana protested. “A guy with money can still be normal. Brad used to eat at our place all the time when we were kids. And we hardly ever used the finger bowls.”
“Its not the same. We didnt grow up together, for one thing. And your family and his have more in common. A hairdresser who grew up in a trailer in West Virginia doesnt have a lot to say to the heir to an American empire.”
“Youre not being fair to him, or yourself,” Malory told her.
“Maybe not. Just realistic. Anyway, he makes me nervous. I guess its not only the money, really. Jordan has money, he must with all those bestsellers. But he doesnt make me so nervous. We had a nice, easy time together when he came over and fixed my car.”
Dana lost her rhythm and ended up with a splinter in her thumb. “Your car?” Scowling, she sucked viciously at the thumb. “Jordan fixed your car?”
“Yeah. I didnt know he used to work on cars. He really knows his way around an engine, too. He just came by the other afternoon with all these tools and said why didnt he have a look at my car for me. It was really sweet of him.”
“Hes just a big sugar cookie,” Dana said with a smile that clamped her teeth together.
“Oh, dont be like that, Dana.”Zoe switched off the sander, angled her head. “He didnt have to bother, and he spent over two hours messing with it, and wouldnt take anything but two glasses of iced tea.”
“I bet he ogled your ass when you walked in the house to get it.”
“Maybe.”Zoe worked hard to keep her face sober. “But only in a healthy, friend-of-the-family sort of way. A small price to pay for saving me another trip to the garage. And the fact is, my car hasnt run this well since I bought it. Actually, it didnt run this well then, either.”
“Yeah, he always was good with cars.” And generous with his time, Dana was forced to admit. “Youre right, it was considerate.”
“And sweet,” Malory added with a meaningful look at Dana.
“And sweet,” she mumbled.
“He let Simon hang around him when he got home from school, too.”Zoe flipped the sander back on, bent to her