Chapter 4 #3
“They kept it quiet. The last thing Jordan wants is any more publicity tying her to him. He agreed to give her the divorce and leave her alone and to tell his fans to leave her alone, in exchange for them not pressing charges.”
“Wow. He’s an example of someone who had it all and let it go to shit.”
“Indeed. We’re all glad she’s free of him. Their marriage was a nightmare for her and those of us who love her.”
“Sounds like it.”
“What you’ve seen reported about him in the media is a fraction of the reality. He’s got major addiction and mental health issues that he’s refused to take seriously until this happened. As part of the agreement, he was ordered to seek in-patient treatment. Again.”
“Addiction is a bitch. I had some friends in college who let the partying get out of hand, and they’ve had problems ever since. A few have ended up in rehab. Some more than once.”
“I’ve had friends who struggled with it, too. Drugs are way too easy to get in LA. I had friends in high school who were hooked on cocaine.”
“That’s young. I didn’t see it until college.”
“I never touched that shit. I was afraid I’d be the one person it killed the first time I tried it.”
“Me, too. My dad used to tell us it only takes one time to stop your heart if you got bad shit. That scared me enough to steer clear. A little pot now and then is more my jam.”
“Right there with you. But not lately. I think I’ve outgrown it.”
“Well, you’re much older than me. I haven’t outgrown it yet.”
“Watch it, mister. I’m not that much older than you.”
“You’re a senior citizen compared to me. A regular Mrs. Robinson.”
“What do you know about Mrs. Robinson?”
“We watched The Graduate in grad school.”
“What kind of grad school did you go to that you watched movies?”
“NYU grad school, MBA program. I took a Business of Film class, and that was one of the movies we watched.”
“Huh, we never watched movies in law school. Maybe I should’ve gotten an MBA instead.”
“Where’d you go to law school?”
“UCLA.”
“I’m very impressed that you’re a lawyer.”
“Because I don’t seem smart enough?”
“No! God, no. I just think it’s interesting that you don’t work the fact that you’re an attorney into the show.”
“That’s not what the show is about. Before we started, we talked about how much of our real lives we wanted to share.
For Jordan, her difficult childhood was off-limits.
She and her sister were the subject of a custody battle that dragged on for years.
The last thing she wanted to do was relive that nightmare in front of millions of people. ”
“What was off-limits for you?”
“My two ex-fiancés and my legal career.”
“You have two ex-fiancés?”
“Yep, and that’s something I don’t like to talk about. I was young and dumb and thought I was in love. I dumped the second one when I was in law school, and I’ve learned that love and marriage aren’t for me.”
For some reason, hearing that made him feel sad for her—and himself. “You’ve lived an entire life before you’re thirty.”
“I don’t recommend it.”
Cooper had never enjoyed a conversation more than this one, but it was all he could do to stay awake. Whatever they’d given him at the clinic was about to knock him out. “I hate to say it, but I think I should head next door before I fall asleep on your sofa.”
“It’s okay if you want to stay put.”
“And start a scandal at the James estate after our first date?”
“Pretty safe to say you’ve already done that.”
“Probably so.” Cooper started to get up, but the pain had other ideas. “I had no clue how painful injured ribs could be.”
“I’ve heard it’s a bitch.”
“I can confirm you’ve heard correctly. Would you mind giving me a hand up?”
“No problem.” She stood and extended both hands to him and then pulled him gently to his feet.
He almost passed out from the pain. When he’d recovered enough to speak, he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
He was operating on pure adrenaline powered by pain meds.
“I’m really sorry this evening turned into such a mess.
Other than the car nearly rolling off the bluffs and the banged-up ribs, I had a great time. ”
“You forgot the splinters in your face,” she said, smiling.
“How could I forget that?”
“You’re going to remember when the numbness wears off.”
“Can hardly wait for that. Anyway, maybe we can have a do-over some night soon?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks for sticking with me through the clinic and driving me home.”
“It was no problem for me. The car might say otherwise.”
“The car has lived to see another day.”
She shocked the shit out of him when she placed a hand on his chest. “Despite the injuries, it was pretty cool how you managed to stop the car from rolling off the cliff. There was a certain Superman-ish element to it.”
“Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.” She shocked him even more when she went up on tiptoes to kiss him.
The soft peck on the lips was over before it began, but Gigi Gibson had kissed him. He could die happy now.
But it would be much more interesting to stick around to see if she might do it again sometime soon.