Chapter 12
Jordan woke early the next morning, and the first thing she did was take a deep breath to check to see if her chest was hurting less than it had the day before.
It was much better, but her lips were sore from kissing the face off her sexy rescuer.
Smiling, she ran her fingers over her sensitive lips, recalling the wild desire he’d inspired in her.
Knowing he wanted her so fiercely had done amazing things to her self-confidence, which had suffered a hard hit lately.
She reached for her phone to call Gigi.
“Oh my God, bitch,” Gigi moaned when she accepted the FaceTime call. “It’s four thirty in the morning here!”
“Whoops.”
“Don’t whoops me. You knew that.”
“I also knew that you’d take my call no matter what time it was.”
“Yeah, yeah. Clearly, I’ve spoiled your ass.”
They’d been best friends since grade school and had been through everything together. Jordan considered herself lucky that Gigi had stuck with her through the Brendan mess, because she, too, had been furious when Jordan went back to him after the video nightmare.
“What’s up?”
“Where are we with the divorce?”
“Still on hold. I talked to Davy yesterday about the timeline. He said Z is due to be released from rehab in the next few weeks, and he’ll get the papers to him then.”
“I want it to happen sooner. Why do we have to wait for him to be done with rehab?”
“Davy said he’s doing really well, and the divorce papers might be a setback for him.”
“I honestly don’t care if it causes a setback for him. I’m done putting his needs before mine. I want a divorce, and I want it now.”
“Whoa, what’s brought this on?”
A hot, sexy firefighter with the softest lips she’d ever experienced. “You really have to ask me that?”
“No, but why the sudden increased urgency?”
“I’m ready to move on with my life, and I can’t do that while I’m still married to him.”
“And that’s all it is?”
Freaking Gigi knew her as well as Nik did. “There might be a guy.”
“Ah-ha! I knew something was up. Do tell, and leave nothing out.”
“I thought you were busy sleeping?”
“I was, but I’m awake now, and I want to hear all the dirty details.”
“The details aren’t that dirty. Yet.”
“Oh, this is very interesting. How’d you meet him?”
“By nearly dying.”
“What? What the hell, J?”
Jordan told her the story of the fire on the roof, the smoke in the chimney, the asthma attack and Mason’s rescue, leaving out the part about the sizzling connection they’d both experienced when he’d saved her life.
“Damn, J. You just scared the living fuck out of me. Are you okay?”
“I am now, but the asthma attack freaked me out a bit. It’s been years since I last had one.”
“I remember how terrifying they were.”
One attack had occurred during a sleepover at Gigi’s house. That’d been a bad one that had put Jordan in the hospital for a week.
“Does the doc think the asthma is back?”
“Not necessarily. He said it was almost definitely triggered by the smoke.”
“So fucking scary. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure. Mason saved my life. He said I was barely breathing when he showed up after seeing the flames when he was out riding his mountain bike. And get this, when he saw the flames, he got distracted and crashed his bike. He rescued me with a bleeding head wound and a dislocated elbow.”
“Wow. A true hero.”
“Yep.”
“What’s he look like?”
“He’s six and a half feet tall.”
“Holy cow! He must tower over you.”
“He does, and he’s a former competitive weightlifter, so he’s very fit and muscular. He’s got brown hair that’s streaked by the sun and warm brown eyes.”
“He sounds dreamy.”
“He’s very handsome and sweet, and he makes me laugh.”
“Aw, Jord. This is the best news I’ve had in years.”
“Don’t get too excited. I’ve only seen him a couple of times.”
“Maybe so, but it sounds like those times left a big impression—emphasis on big. If he’s six and a half feet tall, imagine how big he must be everywhere else.”
“Gigi! Stop!”
Gigi snorted with laughter. “Oh, please. Don’t act like you haven’t thought the same thing.”
Jordan didn’t mention that she’d been up close and personal with his “bigness” last night.
“After the dickless wonder, you’re gonna be getting you some of the good stuff with this one. That’s just what you need. A good, thorough f—”
“Shut it,” Jordan said, shifting to address the throb between her legs as she imagined where Gigi had been going with that.
“Have you kissed him?”
“Maybe.”
“Oh, I’m really loving this. I’m gonna have to come to your quaint little island in the middle of nowhere to check this guy out.”
“You know you’re welcome to come visit any time you want.” Jordan and Nikki had tried to get Gigi to come to the island with them for years when they were growing up, but she’d always said she’d be bored senseless in the middle of nowhere.
“I might have to finally take you up on that.”
“We’d love to have you. Gansett would never be the same with you here.”
“You know it. I’ll get that place rocking.”
Jordan laughed at the image of Gigi and her stilettos, fake lashes and fancy everything taking Gansett by storm. The place wouldn’t know what hit it. She was as LA as LA got. “Hey, Geeg?”
“What, honey?”
“Get me out of that marriage, will you please?”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
“Thank you.” They chatted for a few more minutes about the negotiations Gigi was handling with the network about the show, as well as other endorsement offers that had come in over the last few weeks.
“Do you think the network is going to let me go?”
“Eventually. They’re fighting back because the show is such a big hit for them, but as I said to them, your situation has changed, which would change the format of the show. I told them, you want what you had before, but after everything Jordan has been through, she’s not the same person she was.”
“And that’s entirely true.”
“They asked if you’d consider retooling the show to change up the format to better suit your new life.”
“They’d have to come to Gansett Island to shoot.”
Gigi laughed. “Can you even imagine that?”
“Gansett is beautiful. It would be a great place to set a show.”
“Good luck selling them on that. One thing we need to talk about before too much longer is posting something to give your fans news about how you’re doing. They’re going crazy speculating.”
“I’ll work on that this week.”
“Any more issues with the crazies?” That was the word they’d assigned to Brendan’s fans who’d threatened Jordan.
“Nothing recently, but I’m not monitoring the online shit.”
“I have been, and it seems to have died down.”
“That’s a relief.”
“It is, but it doesn’t mean it’s over and done with. You still need to be vigilant, especially since you let the security go.”
“I’m safe here. Don’t worry.”
“Keep that sexy firefighter close. He’ll keep you safe.”
Jordan felt warm all over as she remembered the way he’d lifted her onto the hood of his SUV and kissed her.
The encounter had been one of the sexiest and most thrilling of her life, making her see that more than one thing had been missing in her marriage.
As much as she’d loved Brendan, especially before he’d become Zane, he’d never set her on fire the way Mason did.
And then she laughed to herself about the sexy firefighter setting her on fire.
“Nothing to say to that?” Gigi asked.
“I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself on this, but I really like him.”
“That’s a good place to start.”
“It is, but I just wonder…”
“What?”
“Where can it go, Geeg? He lives on Gansett. He’s got a job and a life he loves here. My whole life is in LA.”
“Not your whole life. Nik is on Gansett, which is your favorite place in the world.”
“To visit in the summer. Not to live here all the time.”
“How do you know that until you do it?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Not even kinda. But it’s been a long-ass time since you liked any guy who wasn’t what’s-his-fuckface. I want to meet this six-and-a-half-foot-tall firefighter of yours and kiss him on the lips for giving you something new to be excited about.”
Jordan laughed. “Keep your lips and every other part of your sexy self away from my firefighter.”
“And you’re already territorial where he’s concerned. I love this so much.”
“Am I crazy to like this guy, G?”
“No! I say go all in with him. It might be the best thing you could do for yourself.”
“But will it be the best thing I could do for him? He’s a really nice guy. Part of me wants to protect him from the shitshow that’s my life.”
“Your life was a shitshow. It’s not anymore.”
“I’d like to think that.”
“It’s safe to move on, J. I promise. We’re going to get you a divorce and figure out something to make the network go away. It’s all good. You do you. I got you covered over here.”
Jordan released a long deep breath. “Love you.”
“Love you, too. Keep me posted on the firefighter. I can’t wait to hear how big his di—”
“Gigi! Shut up!”
Gigi died laughing. “You want to know as bad as I do. Later, bitch.”
“Later.”
Jordan ended the call, laughing at Gigi’s outrageousness, which had always been part of her personality.
It had only gotten worse over the years, and she was a big reason why the show had been such a hit.
The fans freaking loved her and how she had zero filter.
Gigi had been almost as important to Jordan as Nikki, who was also friends with Gigi.
The three of them had been a squad, as they’d referred to themselves, taking LA by storm.
They’d had tons of fun and gotten into more than a bit of trouble together.
If Gigi said she had Jordan’s back, then her back was well covered.
Her phone chimed with a text from Mason, who’d given her his number last night when he brought her home after the best “ride” she’d ever taken with a guy. Thinking about you and counting the hours. Is it tonight yet?
Jordan’s heart gave a happy lurch at hearing he was thinking of her. She quickly typed in her reply. Can it be tonight before tonight?
Groan. I’ve got a full day, but I might be able to sneak out early. Will let you know.