Page 18 of The Keeper and I

“Come here,” he said as he opened his arms.

She gulped, nodded, and slid into place. She wasn’t tall enough for his chin to rest on her head, but he moved so that his face was toward her instead of the camera. She wrapped her arms around his middle and felt warmth spread from the tips of her fingers to the pit of her stomach. His arms came to rest around her shoulders, and she forced herself to ignore her pounding heart and relax into the pose.

“This alright?” he murmured into her hair.

She stole a glance up at him and nodded. “It’s perfect.”

“Alright, yeah, just hold that,” Jax called, snapping a couple photos. “Looks great, like you might kiss at any moment.”

Laci tried not to blanche, but Jordan’s face was so close she could see the individual strands of hair in his beard. Absurdly, she wondered if it was coarse or if he cared for it and made it soft. She couldn’t let herself look at his lips or she might actually get on her toes and kiss him.

“Excellent, I think we got the shot,” Jax said.

Jordan’s arms dropped from around her, and she shivered at the loss of warmth. She needlessly adjusted her shirt and cleared her throat. Jax approached and showed her the picture,along with the message back to Dane that read:Proof enough for you?

The picture looked better than Laci expected. They looked…natural.

Was that fondness in Jordan’s gaze? With a tug of his lips into the faintest of smiles? If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought they were a real couple about to deliver a sweet peck in greeting. She inwardly scolded herself for getting carried away.

“That’ll do?” Jordan asked.

“Hopefully,” Jax answered. “We’ll see how he takes it. Thanks for helping.”

Jordan’s eyes lingered on Laci. “Sure thing.”

She searched his gaze, wondering if he had more to say. He was a difficult person to read.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” he said.

“Okay,” she replied, a little breathless at the offer.

With a curt nod, he proceeded to the bus. She watched him until he was out of sight. Did he mean that she could come to him again if this didn’t work? Surely, he was just being polite.

“Ready to go?” Jax asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

Laci wiped the last bit of mascara from under her eye, preparing her face for her skincare then bed. After the match, she’d thrown together a pasta dinner, watched a bit of Netflix, and settled in for the night while doing her best to forget about Jordan.

She had never been so drawn to someone the way she was to him. He was barely friendly. But the way he looked at her…she couldn’t shake it. Logically, she knew he was faking. That he was trying to look at her like a boyfriend would, but the way it made her feel…that was real.

Her phone dinged. With a sigh, she saw it was another message from Dane. She’d blocked the account but was unsurprised to see he’d created a new one and followed her from there. His message, featuring a screenshot of her brother’s response, read:Nice try. I saw you come home alone.

“Fuck,” she said under her breath.

What was it going to take for this guy to leave her alone? She had asked a family friend who worked in the police force about it, but he said since Dane had not actually done anything to her besides make her uneasy, there was nothing they could do. Even though he’d followed her home, he hadn’t fully trespassed, and therefore, they couldn’t charge him with anything.

An idea came to her.

She searched for Jordan Frawley on Instagram and found his page right away since he was verified. Perhaps, if she and Jordan carried on the charade a bit more convincingly, it would scare Dane off. All Jordan's posts were Stanmore related, but what stuck out to her was that the follow button said followback. He already followed her. She pressed the button and returned the favor. Then, she tapped to send him a message.

She wrote:Sorry to keep bothering you. But…how serious was that offer to help me with anything else?

With a deep, hopeful breath, she pressed send.

Chapter 5

“Whatdoyoumeanyou haven’t answered her yet?”

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