“Must not be going so well if you answered me.”
Now he just sounds smug. And no way can I dignify what he said with a direct answer. “You need to stop.”
“Come on, Mandy. Aren’t you curious?”
“What do you mean?”
“I wanted to see what you looked like. Your Instagram profile doesn’t have enough photos of you on it,” he says, being so blatantly honest it’s downright disconcerting. He leans in close, like he’s really checking me out, and I’m tempted to end the call.
But of course, we know I don’t.
“You look good, Mandy,” he says, his voice low. Sexy. “I like your hair.”
I flip my long, wavy hair behind my shoulders so he can’t see it anymore. “Thanks.”
“Nice shirt.” He sounds amused and I glance down at myself. I’m wearing a silky oversized shirt with a deep V-neck, and wouldn’t you know it, there’s a hint of cleavage going on. Not too much because I wasn’t going for obvious, but just enough so that Cade would catch a glimpse and hopefully be…what? Intrigued?
Looks like I intrigued the wrong person.
“You’re a perv,” I mutter, bringing my hair back forward with my free hand so I can cover my chest.
He chuckles, and the sound ripples along my nerve endings, making me shiver. It’s like he’s actually with me, but he’s not. It’s weird. It feels…normal, talking to Jordan like this, even though it’s been years.
“I have to go,” I tell him when he still hasn’t said anything.
“Where’s your date?”
“Waiting for me.”
“Where are you at?”
I almost swing around and show him the restaurant, but decide against it. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“I would.” He’s very serious. “Talking with you like this is…strange. But nice. I’ve missed you. Our friendship.”
Ah. The two words that are like a splash of ice cold water in my face. Just the reality punch I need to get me out of this confusing conversation, so I can escape staring at his stupid gorgeous face. He just misses me as a friend. Nothing more. Gotta remember that.
“Right. I’ll talk to you later, Jordan.”
I end the FaceTime call before he can say anything else and hurry back into the restaurant, smiling at Cade when he spots me heading his way. I try my best to ignore the frustration building up inside of me. And the unease. Seeing Jordan like that unsettled me, and I don’t like it.
Not one bit.
JORDAN TUTTLE DATING GIGI HADID!!
The headline on the gossip site is in all caps and uses two exclamation points, which I suppose makes it true?
As I read the short article that’s filled with very few details, posted yesterday afternoon, it claims Jordan was spotted with Gigi on Saturday night at a very small, very exclusive restaurant in San Francisco.
Um, I FaceTimed Jordan Saturday night, and it looked like he was at home. Not that I’ve ever been there, but from the shadowy background I saw, I assumed he was in his living room. And seriously, I don’t think he’d be talking to little ol’ me if he had a chance to go out to dinner with a beautiful supermodel.
I’m also pretty sure Gigi is going out with someone even more famous than Jordan. Like one of those One Direction dudes, right? Maybe? I can’t keep up.
None of that matters. I don’t even know why I’m thinking about it. About her.
About him.
“So you had fun with Cade?” We’re out to lunch, Lena and I, at a tiny hamburger joint not far from work. She’s been dying to talk about my date since this morning, but we’ve been so busy with clients, we haven’t had a chance. She made me promise that we’d chat during lunch so now here we are.