Page 26 of An Unexpected Love

“I got your note.”

“I—I wanted you to know how happy I was for you.”

He was staring pointedly at her door.

“Um, would you like to come inside?” she asked, unlatching the door with fumbling fingers. “I’ll make some tea if you like. Or coffee…” She hadn’t expected this, nor was she emotionally prepared for seeing him. She’d figured he’d read the card and then drop it in his wastebasket.

“Tea sounds fine.”

“I’ll just be a minute,” she said as she hurried into the kitchen. Her heart was rampaging, pounding against her ribs. “Make yourself at home,” she called out, holding the teakettle under the faucet.

“You have a nice place,” he said, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

“Thank you. I’ve lived here for three years.” She didn’t know why she’d told him that. It didn’t matter to him how long she’d lived there.

“Why’d you send me the card?” he asked while she was setting out cups and saucers.

She didn’t feel comfortable using her everyday mugs; she had a couple of lovely china cups her mother had given her and decided on those instead. She paused at his question, frowning slightly. “To congratulate you.”

“Therealreason.”

“That was the real reason. This shopping mall was important to you and I was happy to read that everything came together. I knew you worked hard to make it happen. That was the only reason I sent you the note.”Her cheeks heated at his implication. He seemed to believe something she hadn’t intended—or had she?

“Andrew Howard decided to invest in the project at the last minute. It was his support that made the difference.”

Jill nodded. “I was hoping he would.”

“I have you to thank for that.”

Nothing in his expression suggested he was grateful for any assistance she might unwittingly have given him. His features remained cold and hard. The man who’d spent that day on the beach with her wasn’t the harsh, unrelenting businessman who stood before her now.

“If I played any part in Mr. Howard’s decision, I’m sure it was small.”

“He seemed quite taken with you.”

“I was quite taken with him, too.”

A flicker of emotion passed through Jordan’s eyes, one so fleeting, so transitory, she was sure she’d imagined it.

“I’d like to thank you, if you’d let me,” he said.

She was dropping tea bags into her best ceramic teapot. “Thank me? You already have.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of dinner.”

Jill’s first thought was that she didn’t have anything appropriate to wear. Not to an elegant restaurant, and of course she couldn’t imagine Jordan dining anywhere else. He wasn’t the kind of man who ate in a burger joint.

“Unless you already have plans…”

He was offering her an escape, and his eyes seemed to challenge her to take it.

“No,” she said, almost gasping. Jill wasn’t sure whyshe accepted so readily, why she didn’t even consider declining. “I don’t have anything planned for tonight.”

“Is there a particular place you’d like to go?”

She shook her head. “You choose.”

Jill felt suddenly light-headed with happiness and anticipation. Trying to keep her voice steady, she added, “I’ll need to change clothes, but that shouldn’t take long.”

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