Page 19 of Under Daddy's Spell

“It was stupid,” she muttered. “I glanced away only for a moment.”

“What distracted you?” Tessa asked, but didn’t need an answer when her barista’s gaze rose to Jordan’s face, which was close where he bent over her hand to examine the burn.

Tessa smothered the little spark of jealousy that he was holding another woman’s hand, not hers. Wishing to trade places with Georgia, which meant having blistered skin, was nuts.

“It seems to be okay,” Jordan advised. “Keep it under the water at least twenty minutes then wash it gently with soap and water, pat it dry with a clean cloth, apply aloe, if you have it, then cover it to keep it clean. If it blisters, you should have it looked at, but whatever you do, don’t pop them, or you could introduce germs into the wound. Got it?”

She nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

“You need to go home—” Tessa began.

“No,” Georgia rushed to say. “It’s feeling better now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she insisted. “Just sorry about all the fuss.”

“Let me know if you need to go, honey. I’ve burned myself on that machine before. It isn’t pleasant.”

“Thanks, Tessa. I’ll holler if it gets worse, but I think I’m good. Really.”

As she followed Jordan out from behind the counter, Tessa asked, “How do you know so much about first aid?”

“I’m not only a gym owner, I’m also a certified athletic trainer.” When her brows shot up in surprise, he explained further. “We promote health and fitness, but accidents happen. First aid and treating athletic injuries, unfortunately, is a big part of it. Since I own the place, and it behooves me to keep my clients from getting injured, I figured I should know what I’m doing.”

“I’m glad you were here.”

“Other than her calling me sir, me, too.”

Tessa giggled at his chagrined expression. “She’s twenty-one. I’m only seven years older, and she always calls me ma’am. I think it’s more ingrained good manners than a reflection of your age.” When he grunted, she asked, “How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Thirty-six.”

“Oh... Well... Maybe it was about your age after all.”

He pinned her with a narrowed-eyed glare and murmured, “Brat.” Then, “I’ve gotta go. I’ve got a shit ton of stuff to do before opening at nine tomorrow.”

At the door, he turned, no longer glaring. “Will I see you there, Miss Delacroix?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything, Mr. Cooper,” she replied with a smile, which earned her a nod and a twitch of his lips before he was out the door and striding down the sidewalk to his place.

“For an old guy, he’s hot. You should go for that,” Georgia advised as she moved alongside Tessa to watch him, too. “Am I right, Martha?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. You should go for that, Tessa. He is fine.”

Tessa hadn’t noticed the older woman standing on her other side, but she was staring at the last spot she’d seen Jordan before he disappeared.

It seemed there were four members of Team Jordan among her staff. Herself included because she could now addgood in an emergencyto her pros and cons list of dating him. Under pros, naturally.

She stifled a wistful sigh as she turned to go bus her table.

“You are, aren’t you?” Georgia asked, following her. “Going to go for it with him, I mean?”

“I haven’t decided,”she told her, although she had.

“Tessa, you’ve got to. He’s a snack!”

Last week, he would have “slapped” or been “fire.”

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