Page 13 of Under Daddy's Spell

“Hey, Tessa. It’s Jordan. I called the store hoping to get you, but the woman who answered gave me your cell number. You need to talk to her about that. Single and on your own, you don’t want every nut job in the city to have it. Anyway... I didn’t call with another safety lecture. I called to say how much I enjoyed dinner with you last night and to see when you might be free to do it again.”

“Tonight...tomorrow...you name it,” she whispered while grabbing her week-at-a-glance calendar and flipping it open.

“My grand opening is next week, and I’m hoping it will be so busy I won’t be able to squeeze in time for a sandwich, much less anything else. Think about the following week.”

Disappointed that it wouldn’t be tonight or tomorrow, she turned the page.

“I’ll need a stiff drink and an evening of jazz by then,” he continued.

“After a week of Jordan-deprivation, so will I,” she softly uttered in agreement.

“The Davenport Lounge on Friday night is one of the best places in the city to get both. The good stuff doesn’t start until after eight, so we could grab dinner first. I’m thinking about the balcony at Tableau, and I don’t plan on skimping. They make their shrimp and grits with andouille sausage. Also, the best in the city. But that’s a gym rat’s opinion.”

He chuckled, the sound deep and smooth and stirring like his voice.

“I hope you can find time to drop by the open house on Monday,” he added, tacking on, “Talk more soon,cher.”

When the screen switched to the list of all her messages, she reached for her latte and washed down the bite of muffin before she strangled. A night out for dinner, cocktails, and jazz in the French Quarter wasn’t being neighborly. It was most definitely a date. And, although the way Jordan saidcher—not the Cajunshalike most of the city said it, tossing it about as casually as darlin’ and sugar anywhere in the South—didn’t seem like a throwaway endearment. Especially with a warm, seductive, huskiness in his low, sultry rumble.

Tessa sat back in her chair, stunned but also warm and tingly everywhere and giddy with excitement.

“I shouldn’t,” she whispered to the empty room.

But that was her rational mind at work. Her body, with its hard nipples, fluttering stomach, and heat between her thighs causing a notable dampness, screamed,Are you crazy? Hell yeah, you can!

Fanning herself with her hand, she went withhell yeah,mainly because Jordan was hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July. Tessa glanced at the calendar. A week from Friday gave her almost two weeks to find something to wear—plenty of time.

“Tableau,” she breathed.

It was another place out of her price range she hadn’t partaken of.

Although dinner on the balcony sounded very romantic, her sigh turned into a groan. She’d heard summer in New Orleans, when the temperature and humidity both pushed one hundred, referred to as Satan’s armpit.

Tessa couldn’t disagree except the heat she could tolerate. It was the constant dampness in the air, how it clung to her skin, saturated her clothes, and did a number on her already curly hair that she found unbearable. Other than running, she stuck to air-conditioned events or opted out. ?

Her hand rose to the thick mass of springy curls she inherited from her mom. Two weeks wasn’t near enough time to figure out what to do with her mop. She’d had twenty-eight years and hadn’t come up with a solution.

“After ten minutes, he’ll think he’s out with Merida fromBrave.” Granted, her shade was reddish brown, not orange... Still.

Tessa grabbed her purse and was through the door, once again striding for the front.

“I’m running out for a minute,” she called to Martha and Angie.

“Is something wrong?” the older woman asked.

“Hair emergency! I need product, lots and lots of product!”

They both knew about her daily struggle and found it amusing, especially Angie, who had been blessed with long, straight, sleek hair.

She tuned out their laughter as she pushed opened the heavy glass front door of her shop. As she drove out of the lot and turned left toward the beauty supply house, laser focused on her project to the exclusion of all else, it occurred to her, she might have more of her dad in her than she thought

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