Page 86 of Then Came Love
Chapter Eighteen
THE COOL, RAINY spring had given way to a warm, dry summer. Jordan could hardly believe it was July already. Was it weird that she missed the rain? In the three weeks since she and Jax had been in New York, rain had become their thing, drawing them together, bringing with it a wealth of good memories. They opened the windows on rainy evenings to listen to the peaceful sounds of the rain falling. Coco had even become attuned to it, seeking them out to snuggle when the rain came. It wasn’t something they decided or had talked about. It just happened, sort of like the way their lives had blended together.
Reggie had checked out the groups he’d mentioned and reinterviewed dozens of people, and although he’d come up empty, he’d not only breathed new life into Casey’s case, but he’d made it go viral. It was all over social media and on every news outlet, as was Jordan and Jax’s relationship. They, along with her aunt and uncle, were bombarded by the media, and as Reggie had warned, there had been a few crazies claiming to be Casey, which had rattled them all, because some of them had looked like her. Thank goodness for DNA tests. Most of those people backed down the minute the tests were mentioned, but some of them who had gone through testing had the gall to claim the tests were faulty.
It was exhausting.
But as Jax had promised, he made sure they were all safe. He and Jordan had been staying at his house, and he’d hired Elite Security to watch over Jordan and both of their families. It was strange knowing someone was always parked nearby watching, but things were starting to calm down, and she knew they were doing the right thing by bringing new attention to Casey’s disappearance.
Jordan had met with Jillian for lunch a few days after they’d returned from New York to discuss the bridesmaids’ dresses project, and Jillian had set up a meeting with Katrina Bailer and her bridesmaids for the following week. Jordan had been coming up with designs ever since, and luckily, Jillian liked the direction she was taking.
She focused on the bridesmaid gown she was sketching, listening to Jax and Nick joke around as they played basketball, while Jordan, Trixie, and Jillian sunbathed.
“Get ’im, cowboy!” Trixie hollered from the lounge chair next to her.
Jordan finished the hemline she was sketching and looked up just as Nick and Trixie’s dogs, Goldie and Rowdy, darted past, chased by Coco. Pugsly was asleep on the lounge chair with Trixie. She watched Jax dribbling the ball, and he blew her a kiss. As Nick looked over, Jax made a beeline down the court and shot the ball, making a basket.
He did a fist pump. “That’s how it’s done, baby!”
Jordan cheered, while Nick grumbled, and Trixie yelled something about her man taking it easy on his little brother.
“Can you guys keep it down?” Jillian said from her lounge chair. “I’m trying to catch some z’s over here.”
“Maybe you should try sleeping at night,” Trixie said.
“That’s when she’s most creative.” Jordan and the girls had become much closer, and when they’d had lunch with Tempest and her adorable baby, PJ, last week, Jillian had explained that she gets her best ideas in the middle of the night—and Jordan had been so taken with PJ, she’d fantasized about her and Jax having their own family one day.
Jillian shielded her eyes from the sun, looking at Trixie. “Maybe you should try going a week without sex.”
“Ha!” Trixie scoffed. “As if I’d ever want to do that.”
“Then you understand. We’re the same, Trix. We just have different addictions.” Jillian lay back and closed her eyes.
Jordan giggled. She wouldn’t want to go a week without touching Jax, but then again, she wouldn’t want to go without designing, either. She’d only been designing bridesmaid gowns for Jillian for the past ten days, and she was fairly addicted herself. Jillian had loved most of her ideas, and she was learning a lot from her. Not just about designing dresses. She was also learning how wonderful it was to have girlfriends to share her life with. She didn’t tell them the dirty details of her sex life with Jax, but it sure felt good to be able to tell them how amazing he was in every other way.
“Watch this, Jordan!” Jax hollered as he dunked the ball.
“Woo-hoo! Way to go, Jaxie!” she cheered.
“Jaxie?” Jillian and Trixie said in unison.
Jordan laughed. “It just came out. I don’t know where it came from. I never call him that.”
“Oh, Jaxie, more, harder!” Trixie teased, speaking in a sexy voice.
“Shut up!” Jordan laughed.
“Move your ass, Jaxie, before I whip you into next week.” Nick’s deep voice rumbled through the air.
“Hey, Jaxie!” Jillian hollered. “Want me to have Glenna order you new business cards?”
Trixie laughed.
“Would you guys stop!” Jordan couldn’t help laughing. “Sorry, Jax.”
As Jax blocked Nick’s shot, he said, “They’re just jealous, baby. Ignore them.”
