Chapter 25
JORDAN
It’s a couple days before Mitchell gets back to me, texting the information for his contact at the bank.
Again, it’s suspicious to me that the guy supposedly lost half a million dollars but doesn’t seem in a hurry to recoup it.
Or at least to provide the documents I need to reimburse him.
Still, if there has been some kind of loss of data at the bank, this probably hasn’t been easy.
I dealt with my share of corporate bureaucracy when this all first went down and we were trying to keep my parents and Baylee from losing their homes.
Days would go by with no answers, and yet we were held to strict deadlines.
It’s Saturday, so instead of trying to call the contact, I email the contact in hopes that we can get the ball rolling on this by Monday.
Libby’s out to brunch with the wives of the GM and the COO this morning. I told her last night—during our pretty much platonic movie date—that it should be me going to brunch, since it sounded like a spouses of the bigwigs kind of thing.
“You probably should. You’d charm their socks right off,” she’d said from where she sat on the big, cushy chair and not on the couch next to me.
Pretty sure that’s “for my sake” and “to protect me” because the heat is there between us.
It’s fine. I’m letting her take the lead.
That’s what Libby needs, so that’s what she gets. Always.
I call Baylee from my late-morning run to update her about Mitchell.
“It’s kind of weird,” she says. “Like he’s one of our biggest claims, and yet … it seems like he’s not in a hurry, right? He waits to apply, takes his time with the documentation.”
“Definitely weird. But I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just because I think he’s a try-hard doesn’t mean he’s lying automatically. I remember how difficult it was to deal with the banks after Bryce took off.”
“Yeah,” Baylee says in a soft voice. “You’re a good guy, Jord.”
I decide not to call my sister on her obvious attempt to help me feel better about Libby’s rejection. She’s a big sister. She can’t help it. And she’s not here to see what I see—that it’s going to take patience and time. Libby has feelings for me; I’m sure of it.
“What are the updates on your end?” I ask. “How’s it going with the Ericksons’ house?” They were another family that Bryce’s scam caused to lose their home, and they were among the first to get funds from Libby’s money.
Baylee sighs in a way that tells me it’s not good news. “The new owners are making ten thousand dollars a month using it as a GetAwayHome. They don’t want to sell, even for the extra ten percent.”
I gasp. “Ten thousand a month?”
“And I quote, ‘It’s a great place for families.’ Ironic, huh?
” she says dryly. “I’m going to make a run at a few of our big donors to get some extra ‘change.’” She laughs at using that to refer to thousands of dollars.
“Then we can give the Ericksons the amount they’d need to build a new house the same size as the one they lost. The housing market is wild. ”
I want to tell Baylee to call Ellie. She’ll give the foundation what it needs to cover things like this without blinking. But I also don’t want to take advantage of my new family.
There’s no fake about it.
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything. And don’t worry,” I add sternly.
“Sure.” Baylee laughs. “Just like that! I turned it off!” she adds sarcastically.
I chuckle and we hang up. I look at my watch, knowing Libby will be home soon and I want to spend every minute I can with her.
I’m stepping out of the second bathroom—the one that’s next door to my room—towel around my waist, when Libby bumps into me. Literally.
“Oh,” she says with surprise, her hands landing on my chest, which is still a little damp.
“You’re back.” I’m not sure what else to say. I tighten my grip on the towel at my waist.
“Mmm-hmmm.” Libby nods, her gaze on my chest—which, to be fair, is at her eye level. “Oh!” she cries again, snapping her hands away and taking a step back. “Sorry.” She looks at the ground, sheepish.
The thing is, I live for these moments when I get to see Libby’s feelings for me written on her face, her attraction, the chemistry between us.
Yes, it took a monumental amount of will-power to keep from leaning into her touch or dropping a kiss on top of her head just now, but it will all be worth the wait later.
“All good.” I take a step back too, so she knows I’m not taking advantage of this.
Still looking firmly at the ground—which means I can smirk—she says, “I didn’t think about you not having an ensuite bathroom. Maybe we should switch. That’s not really fair.”
And risk this happening with our roles switched? No, thank you. “I’m fine. I’m not going to take your bathroom, Lib. It’s got better counters, a better tub, and more storage space, which you need.”
“Then maybe we should look for an apartment, or a house or something, with another bedroom that has an ensuite bathroom.” She starts to sidestep around me to get to her room, and I help out by stepping back against the door of the bathroom I just left.
“Really, it’s fine.”
The red in her cheeks, which I can barely see given that her head is down, says it’s not fine. Well, it says that my bare chest has her flustered. I’m good with that.
“Okay,” she squeaks, and then hustles into her bedroom.
I let out the chuckle I’ve been holding back—quietly—and retreat to my own.
When I meet Libby downstairs ten minutes later, fully clothed in black joggers and a Denver Devils T-shirt that she provided me with, her cheeks redden again when she glances at my chest.
“Ready to go?” I ask. The best thing to do for her is to pretend that our encounter upstairs didn’t happen.
“Yep.” She nods too quickly and leads the way down to the two-car garage attached to our unit.
I open the door to my truck for her, as I always do. We rarely drive her car if we’re together. It’s a nice luxury SUV, but it’s one of those small ones that I’m slightly cramped in. My truck is more comfortable.
We’re headed to a Devils flag football game.
It’s a promotional event that Libby told me Ellie stole from the Pumas, although they have their players coach a kids’ flag football game.
Ellie wants Denver to get to know the Devils players so they can connect more with them.
The team hasn’t made a playoff in years, and they’ve been terrible.
According to Libby, Ellie came in and rehauled everything, from the business office to the coaching staff, and very few people have stayed on board since she took over.
“I forgot to tell you yesterday that we scheduled interviews for the head coach position,” Libby says as soon as I get in.
My lips twitch at the way she’s trying to make sure our conversation gets back to normal after The Incident.
“We need to get someone hired right away, even though Andrew’s doing a fabulous job as interim head coach. ”
“He’s good.” Libby already knows that’s who I want to hire, but I know that’s tricky.
I’m only seeing how good it will be for the team, their strategy, and the players.
Libby has to consider all the business aspects as well, and that includes how each will fit with the reality show.
It’s going to bring a spotlight to the White Wolves that will bring in money, and with that, tools for continued success.
It has to be part of the hiring strategy.
“The team will still be ready when the season starts next month,” I add.
“I agree,” she says. “We’re starting on Monday. I’ll need you there.”
I glance over at her. “I don’t want it to look like I’m making all your decisions. Not in front of Dan and Liam.”
She shakes her head. “This is exactly why I hired you. This is too big a decision to make without your input. Valerie will be there too. Sit in the back of the room with her. You’ll look like another part of my staff,” she suggests.
“Or that I’m there for a midday booty call.” The words are out before I can stop them. I don’t mean them to be flirty, just a joke about me being the spouse of such a powerful woman. I’m about to apologize when she laughs and then claps a hand over her mouth.
“Jord.” The lighthearted way she reacted says she understood the joke, and there’s something even more powerful about that.
So I lean into it. I love seeing her laugh, especially when it lights up her entire face like this. “I’ll bring my ‘I love Libby Bennet’ notebook to take notes in.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “You know Dan loves it when I’m all smitten with you.”
Her laughter continues. “His wife told me today that he thinks we’re the cutest couple. His words, she swore.”
I snort. “Good to know we’re fooling Dan.”
She quirks an eyebrow at me. “Are we?” she asks. “Fooling him?”
We’re pulling into the parking lot of the Devils’ stadium, and when I flash the VIP passes we have, we’re waved through to park in a lot closer to our entrance.
“Honestly,” I say to Libby once we’re through. “Are we fooling anyone?” I stop the truck since there’s no other cars at this entrance right now. “Am I wrong about what’s here between us?”
Libby reaches across the console to thread her hand in mine. It could be because we’re in a public space, and though people can’t see us inside the truck, you never know when it comes to people trying to capture anything about the Bennet sisters.
But then she smiles at me softly and says, “Not wrong.”
That’s all I need to wait on her for as long as she needs.