15. Kate
Chapter Fifteen
Kate
I stood in the hallway mirror, tilting my head to check my reflection while fiddling with the halter top.
I wanted the neckline to be just revealing enough, without being too obvious.
Honestly, what was I even thinking? My chest was practically on display, ready for action.
I ran a hand through my blonde hair, hoping to create that effortless, sexy vibe.
Instead, I probably looked like someone who'd just spent the afternoon playing Barbies and baking with a six-year-old. Which, let's be honest, I had.
I was about to have dinner with a six-foot-two Australian tennis player who was handsome as sin, and smelled of fresh laundry and poor choices.
Casual. This wasn't my usual style, not even remotely.
But maybe that was the whole idea. My comfort zone hadn't exactly been successful recently, had it? I’d tried the awful dating apps, endured the awkward friend-of-a-friend dates, and smiled through the polite conversations, letting guys walk me home without letting them in.
It was all so safe, so predictable, so…empty.
“Dear God.” Gwen’s voice floated from the kitchen. I turned and saw her, tea towel on her shoulder, leaning against the doorframe. She was staring at me like I was some kind of disaster she couldn't help but watch.
“No need to ask where you and that cleavage are going.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Let me live.”
“Oh, I am. But I’m also living vicariously. Through you. And your pro tennis shaggathon.”
“Gwen!” My face flamed, but I laughed anyway.
She grinned, completely unrepentant. But then, because she was Gwen, her expression softened.
“Nah, I’m happy for you, mate. Like, properly happy. You deserve a bit of…fun. I just don’t want you getting blindsided. Like I said this morning, don’t go handing your heart over too easily.”
I looked down, smoothing a hand over my top. “I know. Honestly, I thought this was just a bit of fun. And…maybe it still is. But there’s something about him.”
Something I hadn’t expected. He felt safe and genuine. And the way he looked at me like he understood me. Really saw me. Not in that sleazy, here’s what I want to do to you kind of way. But in that rare, quiet way that made something deep inside me ache.
Gwen just watched, not saying a word, with that big-sister vibe that made me feel both protected and on the verge of tears.
She’d seen me at my worst. The day my marriage imploded.
The same day the IVF plans crashed and burned when I found him with her after coming home from my first round of injections.
She’d packed my boxes, poured the wine, and wiped my tears as I cried against her shoulder.
She’d seen me broken, and she’d shown up.
So here I was, all made-up, and giggly, and full of nerves.
Something she hadn’t seen from me in over a decade.
I could feel how much this meant to her.
Hell, I knew how much it meant to me. A knock at the door broke the spell, and we both looked over.
Gwen got there first, flinging it open without a shred of subtlety.
And there he was.
Jordan Taylor. Black hoodie, grey shorts, trainers.
The man was ridiculously attractive, with a laid-back Aussie charm that made you want to…
well, fan yourself. His hair was still damp, curling a bit at his forehead.
His scent hit me next. He smelled of fresh shower, warm skin, a hint of shower gel, and something else—something sharper that I couldn’t quite identify, but definitely wanted more of.
And his grin when he saw me…it wasn’t polite or casual. It was immediate. Like it had been waiting all day for me on the other side of this door.
It hit me low in my stomach, the same place my insecurity had been curling since I’d found out I was older than him. Not that he’d seemed to care, but it was there in the back of my mind, whispering that women like me weren’t supposed to get looks like that, from men like him.
And yet…here he was, looking at me like I was the very thing he’d been hoping for.
For a second, I almost couldn’t catch my breath. I’d told myself this was just fun. It was safer that way. But the way he was looking at me now, warm and controlled like I was already his, felt like a direct hit to every place I’d ever been left wanting.
And it terrified me almost as much as it thrilled me.