Chapter 10
~NICK~
“ W e have good news,” Randall says at our afternoon meeting. It’s been a week since the lake incident.
I still have nightmares.
“Nick has been cleared for duty,” he says with a nod at me. “He’ll be back to work on Monday.”
“About damn time,” Liam says as he leans back in his chair. He grins at me.
“Why are you here?” I ask, giving him shit. “ Your Highness. ”
He just flips me the bird, and I love that things feel more normal.
We wrap up the meeting, and I hang back at HQ with Liam. Sebastian walks through the door and then frowns when he looks around the now-empty room.
“Did I miss it?”
“Yes, sir,” I reply.
“Nina insisted on…well, never mind. I’ve been meaning to ask you, Nick, how is Jordan feeling?”
“She’s great,” I reply. “Fully recovered.”
“Excellent,” Sebastian says.
“So, now what?” Liam asks, smiling at me.
“Now what…what?”
Sebastian leans his shoulder against the wall, listening. “If you think we don’t know that you’ve been having an affair with her, you’re mistaken.”
“I didn’t make it a secret,” I reply and rub my hand over my mouth in agitation. “And I don’t know what happens next.”
“Do you like her?” Liam asks.
“I’m fucking in love with her,” I growl. I sound grumpy as shit. Jordan would give me hell for it.
“And he sounds happy about it, too,” Sebastian says with a laugh.
“It can’t work.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about her because it’s over. I’ll move back here, and she’ll get on with her life.”
“Why?” Liam asks.
“What do you mean, why ? Because I work here. This is where I live. ”
“No, why can’t you be together?”
I stare at him like he’s lost his mind. “Because I live the majority of the year in London, remember? Long-distance relationships suck arse, and asking her to be okay with me being overseas most of the time isn’t fair.”
“So, she moves to London,” Liam says.
“Other royal guards have families,” Sebastian adds. “You’ll move her there and have a life with her. If we’re in Montana for an extended period, you can bring her with you. We’re not unreasonable.”
“She has a life in Montana,” I reply. “She’s wanted to live here again for a long time. And she’s a nurse. As great as all of that sounds, I can’t ask her to uproot her life for me. Her ex did that, and she was miserable.”
“You aren’t her ex,” Liam reminds me. “Have you talked about the future at all with her?”
“No. She’s packing her things now.”
“Does she seem happy about that?” Sebastian asks.
I stop and think. Jordan had been quieter than usual the last couple of days.
“I don’t know.”
“Communication,” Liam says and wraps his knuckles on the table. “Talk to her, man. Ask her what she wants.”
“I truly think you can make it work,” Sebastian says. “She can work as a nurse for the family, if she would like that. Or, we can transition you to Nina’s Montana security, the way Liam was mine before. You’re a valuable member of our team, and we want you to be happy.”
“Thank you.”
He nods and leaves HQ, headed back to the main house.
“What are you going to do?” Liam asks.
“Talk to her.” I blow out a breath. “Here’s hoping she’s still at the lake.”
“You just caught me,” Jordan says as I walk into the house. Her suitcase is sitting at the bottom of the stairs.
“You’re leaving already?”
“Well, you’ve been cleared to go back to work,” she says. “So, my job here is done.”
And I haven’t asked you to stay.
I’m a bloody wanker.
“I think we need to talk, Jordan.”
She licks her lips and then dives into her purse, looking for her moisturizer no doubt.
“Oh?”
“I should have said something before this, but honestly, I’m not sure how to make it work.”
“How to make what work?” she asks.
“Us.”
I have her undivided attention now. She drops her purse to the floor and stares at me with wide eyes. “Us?”
“Us. Listen, I’m a knob. And I don’t mean to be. I’ve loved spending the past few weeks with you, despite the rocky start we had. You’re sweet and fun. Kind. You make me laugh, and you’ve reminded me what it is to truly live. I don’t want that to be over.”
She sighs in relief, and I feel like an even bigger arsehole.
“I figured you were just ready to get on with your life,” she says. “And I don’t blame you.”
“I do, but I want you to be in it.”
“Well, we can certainly be friends.”
I shake my head. “I’m saying this all wrong. Jordan, I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “You have?”
“Absolutely. I think I was in love with you the minute you bought me a stocking with my name on it.”
“I knew I could get you to like Christmas,” she whispers, making me grin.
“My life is complicated,” I continue and take her hand in mine. “I work out of London, and all over the world, really. And you’re in Montana. But I think we have options open to us. Whether that looks like you moving to London, or me taking on a permanent position here in Montana, we can make it work. Because I’m not ready for this to end. I can’t imagine my life without you, not now that I have you.”
She walks into my arms and holds me tightly, her face pressed to my chest.
“Is this a yes hug, or a goodbye hug?” I ask.
“I love you, too,” she says. “Even when you’re grumpy. I didn’t want to leave, but you haven’t said a word about anything permanent, and I’ll never be that girl who clings just because the sex is really good.”
“Let’s be honest, the sex is fucking phenomenal.”
She laughs and nods. “It really is. But that’s not a basis for a relationship.”
“You’re right.” I tip up her chin so I can look into her eyes. “But friendship is. Trust. Loyalty. And you have all of that in me. I want us to keep learning more about each other. I want to be with you, Jordan. Because the thought of being without you is pure torture. I’d rather get shot again.”
“That won’t be necessary.” She boosts up onto her toes and kisses my lips. “I’m yours, Nick. I’ve been yours for what seems like a long time. I was just looking for you.”
I wrap my arms around her and kiss her thoroughly, the way a woman should be kissed when she’s just confessed her love.
“So, what are we going to do?” I ask.
“Well, right now, you’re going to seduce me. And we’ll figure the rest out together.”
“I like the way you think.”