Page 69 of Then Came Love
Chapter Fourteen
“I THINK I can. I think I can.” Jordan panted out the mantra as she and Jax ran through the park Saturday morning. She’d been so excited to see him and Coco, she’d barely gotten any sleep last night, and she was paying for it. Her legs felt like lead, and they were nearing the biggest hill, on top of which they’d watched the sunrise last time.
“I know you can.” Jax winked.
He made running look easy, barely breaking a sweat. Jordan groaned, and Coco looked up, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she trotted happily beside them.
“Talk to me. It’ll keep your mind off running. How did it go when you told the ladies who made your gloves about breaking up with Todd?”
“Surprisingly well.” Was she supposed to talk and run? “I offered to give them back the gloves.” She panted for air. “But they said they made them with love for me, and the love still held.”
“That’s really nice. Are there many people left to tell?”
“Just a few managers, vendors, and residents I haven’t seen yet.”
“Good, and you feel okay about it?”
She nodded.
“I’m glad. I know it’s hard. On a happier note, I spoke with Reggie. He’d like to meet with us next Friday for dinner in the city. Is there any way you can take that day off work?”
“Yes.” This is really happening!“I have plenty of unused leave.”
“Great. He wanted to know if you could bring pictures of your family around the time of the accident.”
“Of course.” She had all of her parents’ old pictures, and her aunt and uncle had given her copies of theirs, too. “I’ll go through them today and pick some out.”
“Are you going to be okay doing that? Would you like me to be there with you?”
As much as she wanted him there, he hadn’t mentioned his birthday, and she was sure Jillian had been right about him trying to protect her from the pressure that went along with attending. There was no way she’d let him miss his own birthday party because of her. “Thanks, but I’ll be okay.”
“Okay, but call if you need me, and I’ll come over. I have a brief meeting in the city Friday afternoon before we meet with Reggie. I thought it might be fun if I arrange a tour of JRBD for you while I’m at my meeting. You can see how the big guys work.”
“Are you kidding?” She gulped in air. “That would be amazing.”
“Great. I’ll arrange it with Josh’s assistant, Mia. We can fly back Friday night, or we can knock around the city and have a romantic weekend together, sleeping in separate hotel rooms if you’d like.”
Her nerves prickled at the thought of hanging around the city, where she had mostly uncomfortable memories. “I’ve never found the city to be romantic.”
“That’s because you’ve been going with the wrong person. We’ll play it by ear. See how you feel after meeting Reggie.”
They came to the bottom of the giant hill, and as they started jogging up it, Jordan panted out, “I think I can. I think I…can’t.” She stopped and bent at the waist, holding her side.
“Yes, you can.” He moved behind her and grabbed her butt with both hands, pushing her forward. “Go, baby. I’ve got you!”
They laughed as she tried to jog up the hill with him pushing her from behind. Another jogger came over the top of the hill, and Jax dropped his hands, dramatically trying to act nonchalant by wiping his brow as he practically ran in place beside Jordan because she was running so slowly.
He lifted his chin at the other jogger. “How’s it going?” As soon as the man ran past, Jax put his hands on her butt again, pushing her up the hill.
“Jax!” She turned around, cracking up.
A sly grin slid across his face, and he held up his hands, stalking toward her. “Do you want these someplace else?”
He was so bad, and she loved it, but there was a group of women jogging up the hill. “Not here!”
“Why not?” He ran toward her.
She squealed and sprinted up the hill, out of breath and gloriously happy as the daffodils came into view. Jax swept his arm around her, hauling her against him, his eyes glittering victoriously. “I knew you could do it.”
He gave her a chaste kiss as she tried to catch her breath. “Be sure to”—she gulped air into her lungs—“tell the paramedics it’s your fault when I pass out.” She rested her cheek on his shoulder.
“Don’t pass out before the sun rises, sweetheart.”
She lifted her face as a sliver of sunlight peeked over the horizon, spreading ribbons of color rippling across the sky. Jax took her hand, leading her off the path, toward a blanket with a picnic basket lying in the grass beneath the leafy umbrella of an oak tree.
“Mr. Braden, what have you done?”
“I might not be able to wake up with you in my arms for a while, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy breakfast together.”
Butterflies fluttered in her chest. “You want to eat breakfast with me?”
“If I had it my way, you’d fall asleep every night in my arms and wake up between me and Coco every morning, and I’d have you for breakfast.”
“That doesn’t scare you at all, does it? Not the dirty part—the staying over part.”
