He swept her a look that she felt everywhere. “You shouldn’t be, you know. At the moment, prickly waitresses seem to be my type.” He regarded her thoughtfully. “Particularly those that might have had a prior bad experience.”
Sera sucked in a breath and clamped her lips together. He didn’t know the half of it. “I’m not naive, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”
“I didn’t claim you were. But you are...wary.”
Yup. Once bitten, twice shy.
Jordan searched her expression and then relaxed his. “Danica isn’t my type, but I make it a policy to be nice to fans.”
As if on cue, Danica suddenly reappeared. “Jordan, I’m leaving—” she looked eager as a puppy “—and I was wondering, do you need a lift home?”
Jordan gave a killer smile that made Sera want to reach for a pair of sunglasses. “I’m good.”
“Oh.” Disappointment was etched on Danica’s face. “I thought with you being injured and all...”
“I’m off crutches and can drive.” Jordan waved his hand at Sera, and the other woman noticed her for the first time. “It’s what Sera and I were discussing.”
Sera tossed him a speaking look. Oh, really?
Danica pushed her dark straight hair off her shoulder. “Hi, Serafina.”
“How are those physical-therapy program applications coming along?” Sera asked, dropping her hands from her hips.
Danica’s face fell. “I still need a prerequisite or two. I’m never going to pass Chemistry 102.”
“Sure, you will. With lots of studying. Then you can spend your days bending players—” she gestured at Jordan “—into shape.”
Jordan looked amused. “I need to be straightened out apparently.”
“More like set straight,” Sera muttered, her gaze clashing with his.
“Oh.” Danica looked between them. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”
Sera blinked. “Know what?”
A small frown appeared on the other woman’s brow. “Um...”
Jordan got off the stool, and in the next moment, Sera felt his arm slide around her shoulders.
Danica took a step back and then another. “Well, I think I’ll be going.” Turning back in the direction where her friends were still waiting, she added quickly, “Nice talking to you.”
Sera twisted toward Jordan. What had just happened? “You let her think—”
“Yeah, but you gave me the opening.”
Sera pressed her lips together.
“Thanks for allowing me to let her down easy.”
“I didn’t—”
Jordan slanted his head. “You warned her off me. Goal accomplished.”
“Not like that!” She didn’t want Danica to think that she and Jordan were... Oh, no...no, no, no. Never. No.
Jordan leaned in, his face all innocent. “Like what?”