Page 52 of Cupcake of the Month
She gave a muffled laugh. “Not quite how I pictured it, but I’ll take it.”
He kissed her. Simple, sweet, gentle, with his soft lips caressing hers. Her heart thumped as warmth curled in her belly.
She lifted her hand to run her fingers through his hair, to pull him closer, but only succeeded in bonking him with her brace. “I’m sorry!”
Josh rubbed his temple. “Perfect aim, as always.”
Mrs. McGraw’s voice carried through the walls on the PAsystem. “Good evening. Thank you for coming tonight.”
“Your timing sucks,” she growled.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Josh gave her a half-bow and left.
Jordan reentered the community room and slid to the front of the crowd while the congresswoman continued her introduction. “You might recognize her name from her days on the softball team for the University of Georgia.” She laughed as the alumni in the audience barked as if they were at a football game. “Soon you’ll know her as an invaluable asset to the community and member of my team. Jordan Shoenover.”
Jordan waved to the audience as she stepped onto the stage. She shook Mrs. McGraw’s hand.
“Thank you,” she said to the congresswoman, “and thank you all for coming out here tonight. As Mrs. McGraw said, I’m Jordan Shoenover.” She went through her speech, including her background and what a northern girl was doing in the south, leaving out the lawsuit but playing up her years at school. “These Government Talks are about you, the constituents. Your hopes and dreams for your family. If you have ideas but don’t know what to do with them. I’m here to help. I’ll be in libraries like this one and art festivals and anywhere there’s a crowd. I look forward to working with you to create a better Georgia for everyone.”
She smiled at the applause, the loudest coming from the corner where her friends and Blake stood. While she was hesitant to take the job at first, she had spent the past couple of weeks seeing how hard Mrs. McGraw worked to better the lives of the people around her. Jordan was happy to be a part of that. “Does anyone have any questions?”
Hands shot up from the audience. She called on someone in the front who asked if the first event was scheduled. A few other questions followed.
Blake raised his hand with an eagerness that gave Jordan pause. “Yes, Blake?”
“Jordan!” He stood on a chair, and all eyes in the room swiveled to him. His jacket had been unbuttoned, and he held a manila envelope. “Is it true you’re being sued for breach of contract and left Connecticut to avoid prosecution? Why is Mrs. McGraw giving jobs to criminals? Is it because you and her son had a love affair in college, and he wanted to keep you close when you fled back here? Does his wife know?” He jumped off the chair and weaved toward the stage.
All the air left her lungs and she struggled to suck in a breath. Who the hell was this person?
There was a second of silence before the handful of reporters launched into a barrage of questions, their voices adding to the mumbled conversations of the guests. Confusion and distrust contorted the faces that had smiled in acceptance only a minute ago.
“Like all sensationalism,” Jordan projected her voice to be heard above the muttering crowd, “you only gave enough information to twist the truth to your narrative.”
Blake put a hand on the stage as if he was going to hop up on it. Jordan forced herself not to step away.
Josh lunged in from the crowd and wedged himself between them, hands up but palm open.
Blake smirked and tossed the envelope at her feet. “We’ll see you in court.”
Chapter 10
Josh stared at the ceiling in the extra room of the renovated stables, fingers laced under his head. It wasn’t that he was waiting for Jordan to get home, to occupy the empty space with her citrusy scent, to see how she was doing. He was just having a hard time falling asleep.
Yeah. That was it.
He had helped Barb clean up after the spectacular disaster of the party, keeping his eye on Jordan. She had been surrounded by her friends and Mrs. McGraw. When that guy had delivered his subpoena sucker-punch, Josh had been ready to take him down. Jordan had been brilliant, though, meting out a verbal thrashing that swayed her audience back to her side. Probably better than Josh beating the crap out of the guy.
Brandi had delivered her own brand of justice after Blake had returned to her side with a smug smile on his smarmy face. That had concluded with him wearing the better part of the chocolate from the fountain. Josh had silently followed the asshole out of the library to make sure he got into his car and left.
By the time Josh had finished clearing the food and packing everything away, Jordan was already gone. He had sent her a text to ask if she was okay, but she hadn’t answered. He had given Zach a call on the way to the Hall, checking in to make sure he was still okay spending the night at his friend’s. His brother had seemed more eager to get off the phone than chat.
Now it neared midnight, and he fought with the hollowness inside him.
He had to be up in less than six hours to prep breakfast and the anniversary lunch, but there were too many thoughts battling in his brain. TV held zero appeal and he didn’t have abook to read. He wasn’t going to be able sleep until Jordan came through those stable doors.
But he could cook.
He grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then entered the cooling air in the yard between the stables and the Hall. He unlocked the back door of Fountenoy Hall and snuck into the kitchen. The lights were already on.
