Page 51 of An Unexpected Love

She had a bit of trouble convincing the security guard to admit her, but eventually, after the guard talked to Jordan, she was allowed inside.

“Jill,” he snapped when she stepped off the elevator, “where have you been?”

“It’s good to see you, too,” she said, ignoring the irritation in his voice. She kissed his cheek, then walked casually past him.

“Where were you?”

“I went out to a movie,” she said, strolling into his office. His desk, a large mahogany one, was littered with folders and papers. She noted dryly that he was alone. Everyone else was gone, but he hadn’t afforded himself the same luxury.

“You were at a movie?”

She didn’t answer. “I thought you might be hungry,” she said, neatly stacking a pile of folders in order toclear one small corner of his desk. “I went to Griffin’s and bought us both something to eat.”

“I ate earlier.”

“Oh.” So much for that brilliant idea. “Unfortunately, I didn’t.” She plopped herself down in the comfortable leather chair and pulled a turkey-on-rye from the sack, along with a cup of coffee, setting both on the space she’d cleared.

Jordan looked as though he wasn’t sure what to do with her. He leaned over the desk and shoved several files to one side.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“Of course not,” he answered dryly. “I was staying late for the fun of it.”

“There certainly isn’t any reason to hurry home,” she returned just as dryly.

Jordan rubbed his eyes, and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Jill. These past few weeks have been hard on you, haven’t they?”

He moved behind her and grasped her shoulders. His touch had always had a calming effect on Jill, but she wanted to fight it, wanted to fight her weakness for him.

“Jill,” Jordan whispered. “Let’s go home.” He bent down and kissed the side of her neck. A shiver raced through her body and Jill breathed deeply, placing her hands over his.

“Home,” she repeated softly, as if it was the most beautiful word in the English language.

* * *

“Jill!” Shelly’s eyes widened when she opened the front door one evening a few weeks later. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong,” Jill repeated numbly.

“You look awful.”

“How kind of you to point it out.”

“I’ve got it!” Shelly said excitedly. “You’re pregnant, too.”

“Unfortunately, no,” she said, passing Shelly and walking into the kitchen. She took a clean mug from the dishwasher and poured herself a cup of coffee. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Rotten,” Shelly admitted, then added with a smile, “Wonderful.”

Jill pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down. If she spent another evening alone, she was going to go crazy. She probably should have phoned Shelly first rather than dropping in unannounced, but driving over here had given her an excuse to leave the penthouse. This evening she badly needed an excuse. Anything to get away. Anything to escape the loneliness. Funny, she’d lived by herself for years, yet she’d never felt so empty, so alone, as she had in the past two months. Even the conversation with Andrew Howard earlier in the evening had only momentarily lifted her spirits.

“Where’s Mark?”

Shelly grinned. “You won’t believe it if I tell you.”

“Tell me.”

“He’s taking a carpentry class.”

---