Page 49 of Fake Dating Daxton Hawk
“Wait,” Jordan says. “You spoke to your cousin about me? What did you say?”
There’s no way I’m handing over that information. Before she presses me for an answer, Amabella arrives at our side, taking a seat on the daybed with us.
Jordan gives her a guarded smile. “I just learned you two are cousins. Sorry if I ever seemed rude.”
Amabella’s returning smile is all too consuming. Jordan is still sitting in my lap, and Amabella can’t stop looking at the two of us like we’ve just gotten married. “Don’t worry about it. I’m so happy to meet you. Dax has told me so much about you.”
What the fuck?I send Amabella a warning glare to lay off with the intensity.
Jordan gives me a curious look.
I shrug and tease her. “I spend every night with you on the phone. I’ve got to complain to someone about how boring you are.”
Jordan grins, hitting me playfully on the shoulder. My whole body tingles at her touch. Fuck, I love her smile. I love that she’s playing back with me.
“So, Jordan, I hear you’re a dancer,” Amabella says after a sip of her cocktail. The alcohol content must be strong because the next thing out of her mouth is, “I actually stalked your social media and found your TikTok account. I love it.”
To my relief, Jordan responds with enthusiasm, and they ease into a conversation about burlesque dancing. I take a back seat to the discussion, feeling a surprising sense of happiness that the two most important women in my life are getting to know each other.
My gaze wanders across the party, enjoying the sound of Jordan laugh at something Amabella says. The pool looks refreshing on this warm day. An arched bridge crosses the middle of the pool with a waterfall cascading down each side, sheltering swimmers from view. Visions enter my mind, of getting Jordan alone beneath that bridge with me and kissing her in the water.
My mood is spoiled in an instant when I spot Tom Sanders across the pool. Just like any other wealthy businessman here, women are gathered around him. Aside from money, I can’t see his appeal. Tom’s physique is decent, I suppose. He’s in his mid-thirties and has dirty blond hair. I guess those attributes seem like a catch to a person if they’re unaware he’s rough with women.
For a moment, I think Tom is looking at me. The man has serious issues with me and has no doubt been slandering my name to guests, claiming as always that I stole business from him. But the foul, leering expression on his face doesn’t make sense, and I realize it’s Jordan on my lap, wearing her bikini that has his attention.
A mixture of rage and jealousy boils inside me, knowing Jordan has escorted for Tom before. Whether she slept with him, I don’t know, and the unknown is eating away at me. I’m almost certain she would have. I set clear boundaries between me and Jordan when I first asked her to be my escort—that there would be no sex. But I’m the anomaly. When men in this industry hire an escort, they expect sex.
I wish I could outright ask Jordan if she slept with him. I want to know every man who paid her for sex, because I need to know how much I fucked up with her. Ihatemyself for being the one to introduce Jordan to the world of escorting. But asking Jordan such an intimate question is not something I’ve earned the privileged of yet. The unknown is probably best, as there’s no saying how violent I would turn toward these men.
It takes everything in me not to punch Tom in the jaw right now. The next time we speak, I’ll tell him to stay the fuck away from Jordan, and that if he ever so much as looks at her again, I’ll make him regret it. But for now, I keep my cool because we’re at a party.
“Daxton?”
Jordan is watching me, waiting for an answer to a question I was too distracted to hear.
“Sorry, what did you ask?”
“I asked if you feel like a drink?” She nods at the cocktail bar on the other side of the pool.
“Sure. Stay here and chat with Amabella. What would you like?”
“I don’t mind. Non-alcoholic, though. Choose something you think looks good.”
* * *
Jordan
“I can’t believe you thought I was into Daxton.”
“Is it really that hard to believe?” I ask Amabella, the two of us laughing over the topic as we lounge in the cabana and wait for Daxton to return with drinks. “He’s handsome, rich, and powerful. Have you seen the way every woman is looking at him today?”
I search for Daxton among the pool party, finding him in line at the cocktail bar. Women approach him, but all he offers them is a polite smile. I’m baffled at how there’s no engagement on his behalf.
“Can I just say, Dax really likes you.” Amabella leans in to me, lowering her voice. “He would be so angry with me if he knew I told you that. But I want you to know he’s a good guy and you’re the only woman he’s looking at today… or ever, really.”
My skin prickles and my heart thumps faster from Amabella’s words. Clearly, there’s something happening between me and Daxton. What it is, I have no clue. But hearing someone else say Daxton likes me? My stomach tightens with… I don’t even know what this feeling is. Excitement? Happiness?
Infatuation?
