, Luke, and Jordan sat in the hotel bar at a table in the corner. They were waiting for Shelly and Boyd to come down from their hotel room, and the bar seemed as good a place as any to wait. Emily had volunteered to take them to the airport today for their official honeymoon.
Jordan and Luke had been about to have lunch nearby when Emily had called. Luke joked now with Emily about her single status, and Jordan’s attention was drawn to the door, where a small scene was taking place.
A man was loudly asking about the hygiene of the attached restaurant, and the maître d’ was trying to quiet him while he answered his questions. The man making such a fuss was Matt, from the bank. Jordan’s lips twitched as she watched him grilling the staff about their processes in the kitchen.
Wow. I’m so glad I picked those berries that day!
She snickered, and Luke turned his attention to her before following her eyes to see what was so funny. “Who’s that?”
“Oh, you might be able to guess, if you listen to the conversation for a minute.”
He tuned in, but turned confused eyes on her. “Nope. I’ve got nothing.”
“That,” she took a sip of her drink as the voices near the door finally quieted, “is Matt, the bank teller.”
“Crazy germ-phobe Matt?”
“The very same.” They watched as he left the restaurant without making a booking, and Luke grinned at her.
“Lucky escape.” He nodded, and she put her drink on the table.
“Oh, Jesus, what’s in the water today?” The words escaped her lips before she could stop them, and once again, Luke followed her gaze.
“This is getting interesting,” he laughed as he saw who she was looking at. “Which one is he?”
“That’s Pierre, the Frenchman who likes to stack his dates one after the other. I wonder how many there’ll be tonight?” she giggled as he and his date took a seat at the bar. “It couldn’t happen to him twice, could it?”
“Surely he learned his lesson last time?” Luke glanced around the room. “Plenty of room for more suitors. Who’ll show up next, do you think?”
“No one, smartie pants—this is a bizarre coincidence, nothing more. Go back to teasing Emily.”
“He can’t. There’s Shelly and Boyd, so I have to go. Jordan, I ordered a nachos and it’s still not here. Do you want it, or should I tell them to cancel?”
“We’ll eat it.”
“Awesome. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye, Luke.” With that, she almost ran to the door where Shelly and Boyd were waving to them. Jordan waved and Luke gave the thumbs-up sign.
“So, want to catch a movie while we’re in the city?”
“Maybe. Let’s see how long the nachos takes before we decide.” They talked about Rex and what they planned to buy as Christmas presents, and soon the nachos was deposited on their table. Of course, the waiter was Geoffrey, and he blushed a deep red when he saw her sitting there. “Hi, Geoffrey. You changed restaurants?”
“Yes. It’s closer to the athletics track here, and pays better money, too. Here’s your nachos, would you like anything else?”
“No, thanks,” Luke answered for her. She could tell by the glint in his eye and the twitch of his lips that he knew exactly who Geoffrey was. “Actually, do you have any red sauce?” he asked.
“Which one are you after, sir?”
“You know, the red one.” Jordan was dying to giggle, but she didn’t dare.
“The hot sauce? Like some chilli, or Tabasco?”
“Either of those will do, as long as it’s red.” He left with a frown, and Jordan kicked Luke under the table.
“Stop it. He’ll work out that I told you he was wearing all red that day!”
“Hmm… I don’t think so, Jordan. He doesn’t seem quite bright enough for that.”
Tabasco sauce was deposited wordlessly on their table, and Geoffrey moved away to serve another customer. The nachos was hot, and there was a lot of it as they crunched their way through the meal.
“So, three of your potential suitors have been here within the space of an hour. Four, if you count me.”
“We’re not counting you.”
“Okay, three, then. No, wait, it’s four.”
“I said you couldn’t count yourself.”
“I’m not,” he said with a grin as he nodded over her shoulder at someone who’d entered the bar.
She closed her eyes, worried about who it could be.
Please don’t let it be Richard!
Fish leaned across the table and shook Luke’s hand. “Hey, I know you from the club, don’t I? Jordan.” He smiled down at her. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too, Fish. What are you doing here?”
“I’m going for a job interview. The hotel wants a DJ on their books, so they can offer all the services to potential wedding events.” He looked uncomfortable as he stood there, and Jordan wished he’d go away. Instead, he said, “Uhh… could I borrow you for a minute?”
“Me?”
“Yes, just for a minute.” He looked at Luke, “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not—if it’s only for a minute.” Jordan glared at him as she stood and followed Fish to stand a few tables away.
He didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “Listen, I had a really nice time with you back in January. Do you want to catch up sometime? You know, minus the alcohol? I’ve tried to ask you a few times, but you’re always with him.” He inclined his head toward their table.
Jordan could hardly believe her ears. “You want to go on a date?”
“I do. I want to be able to remember it, though.”
She smiled at him and patted his arm. “I’m off dating for quite a while, but I appreciate the offer, Fish, I do.” He was disappointed, but he took her rejection well. “Don’t let this conversation ruin your job interview, okay? You’re a great DJ—you’ll kill it.”
“Oh, thanks.” He perked up a little at her praise, and she returned to the table.
“This is better than a movie. We are absolutely not leaving here any time soon.”
“Oh, shut up. We have to get out of here. I’m worried about what else can happen. I’m ticking them off in my head and there’s only a few left.”
“Who are we looking out for, then? I can recall shark-diving Peter and the guy with the liquorice.”
“Oh God, don’t remind me about the liquorice! There’s also George, who tried to get me killed after buying me a Big Mac,” she paused, reluctant to say his name, “and, you know.”
Luke patted her hand just as a voice called out from across the room, “Jordan, is that you? Why didn’t you ever call me after that baseball game?”
***
An hour later, they’d gotten rid of David, who’d insisted on sitting at the table and trying to get Jordan to tell him why his “quirk” meant she wouldn’t consider a second date with him. He’d only left when Luke lost his patience and rattled off a raft of reasons that David didn’t know he was aware of. Realising he knew all about what had gone on between them in May, he hastily made his excuses and left.
Jordan was thrilled to see him go. “What the hell is going on today? Why are they suddenly all tracking me down?”
“It’s the universe trying to tell you something,” Luke said in a sing-song voice, making fun of what she’d been telling him for weeks. “You better work out what the message is quickly—I don’t think there are enough hours in the day to handle all your dates showing up in one twenty-four hour period.” He grinned at her, and she flicked her straw at him.
“Why are you so mean to me?” she asked.
“Why are you so blind?” he muttered.
She didn’t hear him, though, because her phone had beeped. Her eyes widened as she read the message and then she turned the screen to show him. Luke couldn’t believe his eyes, either, as he read:
HI, IT’S RICHARD. CAN WE MEET?
***
“I can’t believe you’re going to meet him.”
“Neither can I. He said he’s left his wife, though. He misses me.”
“He’s lying.” Andrea asserted in her usual forceful way. “The man is pond scum, and you’re letting him slither in the door.”
“I agree with you, but I kind of couldn’t resist. It’s only coffee, anyway, and it’s not until the week before Christmas. Maybe it will be what I need to be able to understand how this happened to me.”
“Maybe it will be what we need to be able to beat him to death in an alleyway.” She looked at Jordan without an ounce of humour. “After your date, of course—we wouldn’t want to mess with your closure.” She made air quotes as she said the last word, and Jordan looked away, not wanting to see that Andrea was disgusted by this new turn of events.