Page 12 of Cupcake of the Month (Just Add Peaches #2)

Jordan sat in the dining room, checking emails on her phone until Eulalee finished Josh’s orientation.

At least, she was attempting to catch up on her correspondence.

In reality, she was straining to hear the tenor of Josh’s voice.

Once Eulalee walked past her to relax in the parlor, Jordan counted to one hundred and went back into the kitchen.

The lean lines of Josh’s body held her mesmerized as he fixed himself a plate of biscuits, eggs and ham. She enjoyed the warmth filling her belly at the sight of him. He’d always been beautifully made.

He turned to throw away a paper towel and caught her staring, the coolness of his blue eyes assessing her arrival and reminding her of why he was there.

Jordan pressed her lips together and nodded a greeting.

He wouldn’t be in this situation if it hadn’t been for her inopportune arrival at Essie’s.

He would have been able to clean up the garbage before his manager got the wrong idea.

“I’m here to help clean up.” She crossed the room to the three-compartment sink, but instead of washing the mound of pans, she tapped a finger against her thigh. She needed to apologize. “Look.”

He didn’t let her get much further. “Don’t worry about it, Jay.”

A swell of emotion hit her at once as she realized what happened at Essie’s must be on his mind, too. Pleased and annoyed that he knew what she was going to say. Loss that she hadn’t been able to apologize. Guilt for still needing to do so.

Josh put his plate on the island and took a seat. He mumbled something she couldn’t hear, then he cleared his throat. “Getting experience as an executive chef will be good for my resume.”

“Well, okay, then.” She squeezed soap on a sponge and scrubbed at a pot, maybe harder than necessary, then put it in the clean water and picked up another and scrubbed some more. “I won’t be hanging around here the whole time, but I have work to do, too.”

There was a pause and she glanced at him over her shoulder.

“Don’t let me disrupt your routine. I’ll be gone in a month anyway.” He took a bite of that really tasty-looking ham on his plate as if there was nothing wrong. As if they hadn’t shared a past of friendship and heat between the sheets and then desertion.

Damn him. All over again.

She went back to the pans as he finished his breakfast. He brought his plate to the wash sink and lingered a moment, his natural fresh scent evident even under the heavy grease and dessert odors of the kitchen.

Her body became alive with Josh next to her.

She forced herself to ignore the electricity that drew her in.

It had been that way since they met in college, knowing their bodies had that undeniable combination of heat and desire.

They had prolonged the inevitable until the powerful pull between them exploded.

And afterward he had run, abandoned her without a word.

Left school. Left town. And while she wasn’t mad anymore, a part of her needed to know what had happened.

She had searched the Internet, but never found anything.

Thinking about it now wouldn’t change anything.

Her phone rang, and she dried her hands before glancing at the display. It came from Macon. Which was better than an unknown number from Connecticut. She headed toward the back door, relieved to have an excuse to move away. “I’ll be right back.”

He nodded.

Anthon was relaxing in one of the brown and tan wicker chairs on the brick patio outside the kitchen, so she kept going until she was in front of the stables. “Jordan Shoenover.”

“Ms. Shoenover, can you hold for Congresswoman McGraw?

Wow, she must really want that pickup game. “Sure.”

“Just a moment, please.”

Jordan waited, closing her eyes as the cooling breeze drifted over her. Soon a male voice came on the phone. “Jordan?”

“Yes?” There was something familiar about him.

“Luke McGraw.”

Without thinking, she recited his stats from his senior year. He laughed. “I can’t believe you still remember. How are you?”

“Doing well. And you?”

They spent a few moments reminiscing, and then he got to the reason for the call. “My mom couldn’t stop talking about meeting you the other night.”

“The honor was all mine.”

“She was wondering if you could come to her office sometime soon. She’d like to talk to you.”

Jordan was instantly on alert. “About what?”

“Actually, she has questions about your business.”

“Oh.” Her stomach dropped to the bricks on the patio. The lawsuit filing was public, so it wouldn’t take much sleuthing to find it. Jordan didn’t want this looming over her all week. “I have time today, if she’s available.”

“Let me check.”

She heard muted mutterings and tapping before Luke got back on the phone. “Can you be here by two?”

“Sure.”

“She has a rare half hour break.” He gave her the address.

Jordan exhaled slowly and slipped her phone back in her pocket. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyelids, trying to relieve some tension, then stretched her neck to either side. No need to show Josh she was bothered by anything. This lawsuit was her problem.

She pasted a pleasant smile on her face and reentered the kitchen.

He took one look at her over the prepped vegetables. “What’s wrong?”

Jordan gaped at the ease in which he read her before she managed to cover. “I’m trying to figure out what to wear to a party tomorrow night. I’ll be with Lana, if you want me to pass on any messages to her.” Maybe that would show him she wasn’t bothered by him getting into her mind so easily.

His mouth twisted into a sardonic smile that spelled failure as clearly as running for home when the catcher already had the ball.

“Because you’ve always been so worried about clothes.

” He slid the red peppers to the side and worked on the celery, his long fingers expertly lining the ends and cleanly chopping it into even pieces.

“You don’t have to tell me, but don’t make up excuses. ”

Before Jordan could give him a scathing response – and it would have been tremendously scathing – Wendy and Brandi came in to the kitchen with Eulalee. Anthon entered through the back door. Rob followed behind, his nose in his tablet.

Jordan swallowed her exasperation and positioned herself for the staff meeting on an empty side of the island, away from Josh.

As everyone gathered around, she was forced closer and closer to him.

When the meeting started, only a few inches separated them, enough for her to inhale his fresh scent under the layer of ham and peaches.

Eulalee led the way, discussing the number of check-ins and outs for the day, and recent changes to the schedule. “We have food to drop off at the local shelter. Rob, is that something you can do?”

“I can this afternoon,” he said. He gripped Wendy’s hand, and she gave him a wide smile. “There’s, uh, a literary agent interested in the book I’m writing about my great-uncle and your great-aunt, and I have a phone call about it in an hour.”

“That’s fantastic,” Jordan said. Rob had spent the summer at Fountenoy Hall doing research that led him to write the book – and to Wendy. “ Mazel tov .”

The others added their congratulations and Rob exhaled a deep breath. “Thank you. It may come to nothing, but it’s something right now.”

“It’s a huge something.” Wendy leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Jordan turned away at the affection, letting them have their moment, and locked gazes with Josh. Her breath lodged in her chest at the craving in his eyes. Her tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips and his stare dropped to her mouth, the craving turning into desire.

Her skin lit with awareness and her body swayed imperceptibly closer. Her arm brushed against his bare skin. He was as hot as she was.

He shifted, a deliberate movement that took him away from her. The break in contact was like a sheet of ice coating her and she yanked her arm away. How stupid could she be? He was stirring her like cupcake batter.

“Jordan?” Eulalee asked.

It took a huge amount of will not to snap. “Yes.

“The food. Can you take it to the Feed the Hungry shelter?”

She’d rather throw it all in Josh’s face. At least then they’d be even on the wearing food count. “Of course.”

“I think that wraps it up,” said Eulalee. “Ladies?”

“Nothing from me,” Brandi said.

“We’re going to Plates of Macon tonight,” Wendy said. “To find unique caterers close by for Fountenoy Hall events.”

“I’ll be there at Barb’s booth,” Josh said.

“Then we’ll definitely stop by. I’ve heard good things about her cooking,” Wendy said. “Plus she’s the one that sent you to our kitchens. I need to go thank her.”

“Okay. Good job today, Josh,” Eulalee said. “Anthon, let’s get those desserts going.”

Josh took a bag out of the fridge and put it in his backpack while the others exited the kitchen. He didn’t glance in Jordan’s direction.

Once the rattling sound of his muffler faded away, Jordan slunk out of the Hall and to her room in the stables, attempting to contain the overwhelming urge to throw her shoes. Instead, she sat on her bed and took several deep breaths, replacing Josh in her mind.

The drive to Macon to meet with Mrs. McGraw would take about an hour. Factoring in the stop at Feed the Hungry to drop off leftover food and buffer time for traffic, she had thirty minutes until she had to leave.

She checked the Shoenover Strategic Management online portal to see if her assistant had sent the last invoice to her previous client.

Mark had updated the information showing the payment request had gone out, but it was not yet paid.

Next came her email. Mark had forwarded requests from potential clients to meet with her, along with a note saying he had already relayed the not-taking-on-new-clients-at-the-moment response, but the business owners still insisted on talking with her.

She closed her computer without reading the emails.