Page 16 of Crossing the Brooklyn Briggs
“No. You don’t need to know anything about him.”
“So he does have red flags?”
“Jordan!”
Lifting one hand in surrender, he purses his lips again, giving me that ridiculous, poorly concealed grin that makes me want to smack him with a pillow. “You don’t have to tell me about him if you don’t want to, Queens. But can I say one thing?”
I narrow my eyes at him, knowing full well I have never been intimidating in my life. Plus, he’s started shoving the broom underneath the couch, and I’m a little worried about what he’s going to find down there. “I’m afraid to say yes, but okay.”
“If your big plan is to say something aboutmath, I’m not sure you’re going to get the results you want.”
What would he know? “But he loves math. He teaches it every day.”
“Would you fall in love with me if I said something about chemistry?”
I fell right into that one, though I try my best to deflect. “Depends on what you said.”
“So you’re saying I have a chance?”
I swing my pillow onto his head, though I keep my attack gentle. He doesn’t deserve my full pillow smackdown, especially because he is cleaning my house for me. “Yeah, I’m not going to fall in love with you, Jordan.”
“We’ll see about that.” Maybe it’s just me, but the way his mouth curves up as he looks at me has my temperature rising by a few degrees. He’s an incorrigible flirt and always has been, but I’m starting to see how he managed to get so many girls to fall in love with him. All he has to do is smile with that mouth of his, and they probably come running. Swarming. Flocking. Whatever it is girls do with good-looking guys.
There is absolutely no way I would ever fall forJordan Torreswhen I know what he is, and that realization brings a sudden sense of peace, one that relaxes my shoulders so much that I’m surprised I didn’t recognize I was so tense.
Jordan is just here to help. Under my brother’s orders. I don’t have to make this weekend awkward because there is no sense of expectation. He knows enough about me already that I doubt I could lessen his opinion of me by being myself. Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter because I would never date this guy.
“Brook?” Jordan reaches down, and then he crouches and rests his arms on the back of the couch. In his fingers, partially obscured by a big, nasty dust bunny, is one of the earbuds Houston bought for me last Christmas. “How long has this been under there?”
I cringe. “I don’t know.”
“You lost this within a week of getting them, didn’t you?”
I should probably hate how well he knows me. It’s not even my technology curse that snatched this bud; it was just me. I’ve always had a bad habit of losing things—never anything important—and Houston often found stuff in his room back in high school. No idea how it ever ended up in there, but it happened more often than I’d care to admit.
I wrinkle my nose and hold out my hand for the bud, flinching when Jordan laughs as soon as he hands it to me.
“Maybe I should come over and clean more often,” he says as he hops back up to keep sweeping. “I know it’s not your favorite, and I find it relaxing.”
“There is nothing relaxing about cleaning, Jordan.”
“Tomato, tomahto. We’ve all got our strengths, Queens.”
I can’t believe I’m even thinking this, but he’s right. And when it comes to Jordan’s strengths… Maybe he can help me with the whole Mark situation. I amnota flirt, and I’m definitely out of dating practice. I could use an expert in the field.
“I’ve been interested in Mark for years,” I say, tensing a little when Jordan’s eyes focus on me from over by the kitchen. I forgot how much of an eye contact guy he is, never afraid to be seen as much as he sees. “This is the first time he’s been single since I met him.”
“I’m sensing some anxiety about the idea,” he says slowly, his sweeping matching the pace of his words.
I laugh. “You could say that. We had our first real conversation yesterday, and it was awful.”
“Awful how?”
“Awful in that I had no idea what to say and basically made a fool of myself.”
He cocks his head to one side as he does one long sweep without looking down, and it feels like he forgot what he was doing for a second. “I don’t think that’s possible, Queens.”
“You weren’t there.”
