Page 70 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“Not with Dad. I mean, that is going to happen, but it’s with other things. Mom called me a few weeks ago.”

“Why are you just telling me now?” Jordan asked.

“Because I didn’t want to burden you with it. And I’m not saying it for that to happen. I know you get worked up, but I handled it.”

No way she was going to say everything that had been talked about. Jordan and her mother didn’t talk at all.

That was between them.

“I’m sure you did handle it,” Jordan said. “So if it was weeks ago, then what else is going on?”

“She kind of set me off a bit.”

“I knew it,” Jordan said loudly.

“It’s all good. It made me open my eyes some. The next night I had a date with Garrett. We went to the casino and had so much fun. I won over ten thousand.”

Jordan laughed. “That’s great. Good for you. I would have blown it trying to win more.”

“I’m not you,” she said. “But I met some more of his family that night. It’s hard not to when they own the place. I got to meet Emma French. You know she’s one of my favorite authors and she was there doing research.”

“You told me that was Garrett’s cousin. Sounds like you had one hell of a night.”

“I slept with him that night too,” she admitted.

Jordan laughed even louder. “Good for you. I don’t even want to know how long it’s been since you’ve had sex. You’re not me. I’ve got friends and we take care of those itches.”

“What?” she asked. They’d never talked about those things before.

“Don’t be a prude, Justine. Sometimes you need a sexual release without it meaning anything. Many people feel the same way. That’s why it’s called friends with benefits. I might have had a colleague or two like that over the years.”

She didn’t want to know. She’d start to lecture and sound like a prude, as her sister accused her of.

“Okay,” she said. “It’s your life.”

“That’s right. We live them differently. Tell me more about Garrett. Things have to be getting serious then for you to take that step.”

“I’m not sure I’d use the word serious. But we get along well. He’s confided in me about things and I’ve done the same with him. I think he wants to move faster than me and he gets a little annoyed, but I can’t be someone I’m not.”

“Nope,” Jordan said. “You can’t. Your pace is slow, but if that works for you and he’s fine with it, then so be it.”

“It has more to do with I’m kind of holding back because I’m not going to be here much more than four months.”

“Which you could change if you wanted, right? Or do they have someone else hired already?”

“They don’t,” she said. “My boss checked in with me last week to see how I’m doing and my thoughts on the island.”

“Do you think you might want to stay there?” Jordan asked.

“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it. I’m not sure what Garrett is doing either.”

“So if he stayed, you’d stay?” Jordan asked. “I don’t think you should decide based on that.”

“I’m not going to,” she said. “But I’ve said that has to come into play. He hasn’t said what he is going to do.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to stay,” Jordan said.

“No clue, but there is plenty of time. I called because his sister just showed up tonight without him knowing. She wanted to check me out.”

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