CHAPTER 4 #2
With a huge smile, Jordan stood, his long strides sure as he approached. His mouth curved into a smile, even as his gaze was fire. Jovial Jordan had turned into an entirely different animal, an almost feral one who stopped before them, wordlessly assessing.
The twins stared up at him, their brown eyes wide and worshipful. He cupped one’s chin briefly, then let his hand drop, stepping closer to the other. “Good evening,” he intoned.
“Good evening, sir,” they responded in synchrony.
Jordan let a few seconds pass, watching them lower their gazes to his polished lace-up oxfords.
Nick glanced to the right, noting that Colt was refilling his glass with Grey Goose and Max was already fingering his zipper.
Jordan circled the women like a wolf stalking its prey, his eyes gleaming. Halting beside Nick, he reached into his trouser pocket, pulled out two lengths of red nylon rope, then fixed the twins with a hard stare and pointed to the carpet.
They sank to their knees, their eyes never leaving his.
“Here.” Jordan passed Nick the ties. “You’re the expert.”
Nick hesitated before he accepted the ligatures.
He fingered the smooth rope. Usually, he didn’t mind these so-called scenes, but …
Something was off tonight.
He forced himself to focus on the women at his feet, but their faces blurred before his eyes. The image that appeared, persisting, was that of the girl he’d once desperately wanted and could never forget.
Long, silent moments passed. Those beautiful blue eyes … the way she looked at him … Nick felt himself harden, and it had nothing to do with the women who waited, their expressions growing confused as he stood there, twisting the rope in his hands.
“You OK, man?” Jordan asked.
No.
No, he didn’t want this.
“Yeah.” Nick held out the ties to his friend. “Go for it. I just remembered something I have to do.”
In swift strides, he headed for the door, feeling everyone’s eyes on him as he opened it and stepped into the hallway.
·
Jannie
Jannie gripped the edge of the marble vanity, trying to shake off the sudden queasiness that gripped her. In the corner of the huge mirror that soared to the high ceiling, she saw a red imprint of lips. What was that about? Some woman left Ian a souvenir?
The red lipstick led to thoughts of Blake and what he might be doing right now. The ladies of the night were probably in his room, doing God knows what with Blake.
To Blake.
Unbidden, her mind conjured images of them touching him … God, maybe the other guys were in there too, and it was some sort of orgy. That’s what they’d alluded to.
Her stomach churned. The good thing was that all she felt was mild disgust. No soul-wrenching jealousy, like she used to feel when imagining Blake with other women.
Yes, she had done the right thing.
It was finally time to move on.
Think of something else.
Jannie squeezed her eyes shut and leaned against the vanity as a wave of nausea and dizziness overtook her. This had happened throughout the pregnancy, and not much helped but waiting for it to pass.
She slapped the faucet handle and listened to the rush of water as it gurgled into the sink. With trembling fingers, she cupped her hand under the stream and leaned forward to splash water on her flushed face. But a cramp gripped her belly, and she took a few steps back to sink onto the toilet lid.
Deep breaths. In, out …
Saliva pooled in her mouth. She swallowed and willed herself to suck in lungfuls of air, holding each breath and slowly releasing it. Thankfully, the pain passed, and she rose again on shaky legs.
She found the disposable terry hotel slippers and, kicking off the shoes that painfully pinched her swollen feet, slipped them on with a sigh of relief.
Hoisting her carry-on onto the luggage rack, she congratulated herself for packing a nightgown and her favorite fuzzy Donald Duck robe.
She needed a shower, but she didn’t trust her physical state.
If she had a bad dizzy spell in there alone …
She grabbed a bottle of water from the minibar, unscrewed the cap, and drank deeply, quickly draining it. She swore she could still smell that mystery fresh cologne on her hand.
Nick.
Talk about the ugly duckling. The man had morphed into a swan, a stunningly beautiful black swan, at that.
A vision of those hands of his flashed across her mind. It occurred to her that if he were attached in any way, he wouldn’t have asked her to dinner. Unless he was a cheater, and something told her he couldn’t have changed that much. The Nick she knew was a gentleman.
Her stomach rumbled, and she pressed a hand to her belly.
She knew she should eat a snack, at least, but the very thought of food sent her into a fresh wave of nausea.
No way anything could pass her lips right now.
She quickly tossed Ian’s pillows onto a nearby armchair, then grabbed her own goose down one and settled on the bed.
·
The setting sun glowed in orange and gold hues when Jannie’s eyelids drifted open.
She stretched. Her entire body felt relaxed. She hadn’t slept so soundly in months, and for a moment, she didn’t know where she was.
Vegas. The convention.
She glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
Crap.
She had a little over half an hour to get ready for the cocktail party. Throwing the covers off, Jannie sat up.
Too quickly. A wave of dizziness slammed over her, so strong that she had to lie back down.
She pressed a hand to her swollen belly.
She’d been looking forward to feeling fetal movement by now, but no such luck.
The twenty-week ultrasound had shown that the twins shared an anterior-facing placenta, so she didn’t expect to feel anything for some time.
And she refused to worry.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Yes?”
“Courier with your luggage, ma’am.”
Rising carefully, Jannie threw on her robe and went to get her lost suitcase.
She thanked the man and tipped him. She unzipped the case and quickly rifled through the contents. Satisfied that nothing was missing, she grabbed the hangers and hung all her clothes at once, then took out the packing cubes.
“There.” She tossed them in a drawer.
Jannie nodded with satisfaction. Use packing cubes, and you’re unpacked in minutes, with everything sanitary and organized. Blake liked to poke fun at her exacting ways, but for her, it was all about hygiene and convenience. In the end, everything she did seemed to annoy him, until …
Ugh, thinking about Blake again.
With a sigh, she ran a hand over her bump. One good thing had come from the marriage. She couldn’t wait to meet the babies. One boy, one girl, two souls to love unconditionally, to nurture and guide through this wonderful thing called life.
Life would be so much more wonderful if she stopped dwelling on the past.
As if he sensed she was thinking of him, her phone chimed with the text tone she’d assigned Blake.
Blake: Where are you?
She considered ignoring him, but knew he’d pester her until she texted back.
Jannie: At another hotel.
The three bubbles appeared, disappeared, and then appeared again, but nothing followed. Jannie waited. No further text came.
Of course, he was mad again.
Oh, well. No longer her problem.
She shoved Blake out of her thoughts and headed to the bathroom, where she took full advantage of the elaborate multi-head shower Adam had installed when he built the penthouse. Back then, she thought it was excessive and told him so, but now, damn if she didn’t want one for her own home.
She emerged refreshed. It was good to feel human again.
Dressing quickly in a royal blue asymmetrical cocktail dress with bump-concealing ruching, she added dangling silver earrings and styled her hair.
She assessed herself in the mirror. Light blonde hair, now in an updo, blue eyes in an unusual shade.
Too tall and not very curvy, though pregnancy had added a bit to her hips and boobs.
At least she’d rested and wasn’t sickly pale anymore.
Nick had seemed genuinely happy to see her. This evening, she would find out if she had imagined their mutual attraction.
As Jannie finished putting on her shoes, a cramp in her belly gave her pause. Just as quickly, it went away.
Nerves.
This was ridiculous and so unlike her that it bordered on annoying.
“It’s only Nick,” she muttered.
Her conscience laughed.
Nothing about the man was anything close to only. In a few minutes, she would see him again, and he was just the distraction she needed.