Chapter 6
I just drove up, see ya soon
Charlotte checked the text message again and shoved the phone in her black purse before hurrying out to the elevator. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to keep Jordan waiting. Perhaps it was just the nervousness of going on an actual date with Jordan King, captain of the Detroit Pirates. Or maybe it was the kiss in his locker room two days ago, a kiss she couldn't get out of her mind.
As she walked out of the elevator into the lobby of her building, she could see him through the glass doors standing next to his SUV in gray dress pants, a button down shirt with a black tie, and a dressy black wool coat. As soon as he saw her, his face changed. It was a smile that she really couldn't describe other than amazing.
"Good evening, Charlie," Jordan said as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek before opening the car door for her. "I'm sorry about the Land Rover. I don't really mind that it's a bit tall, but I also never climb in with a skirt and heels on."
"No problem," she said, taking his hand to get into the SUV. And yes, wearing a red pencil skirt and tall black heels wasn't the ideal outfit for this car, but he at least was a gentleman about helping her in.
He closed the door and jogged around the front of the car to his side, quickly opening his door and climbing in with ease. But as he started it up, some sort of loud guitars came blaring through the speakers, shaking Charlotte's rib cage. Jordan's hand quickly moved to turn the music down.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I usually take some liberties with the radio when it's just me."
"Quite the sound system."
"When I want something, I always get the best," he replied with a look that made Charlotte think he wasn't talking about his speakers anymore.
As he pulled out, he quickly set her at ease by narrating their trip through the city. "That bar is a total dive, but you have to go sometime," or "That's the statue they put a Pirates jersey on every time we make it to the playoffs."
"So then I'll get to see that this year, right?" she asked.
He stopped at a red light and looked over at her, his blue eyes sparkling under the city lights. "I hope so. For your sake, of course," he said. "I wouldn't want you to miss that."
She laughed at his joking tone, knowing exactly what he was implying. He was the captain of the team and while she liked the attention from him and liked being his date this evening, she knew he still had another priority besides her.
Jordan pulled up to the Renaissance Center, its five towers looming over the waterfront, and Charlotte watched as the valet did a double take before promising to take special care of the car.
"I'll make sure our best driver handles it, captain."
Jordan joked around with him before heading inside and Charlotte noticed just how at ease he was with people recognizing him. She'd seen bad behavior from quite a few of the high society types who would often get recognized in New York — or who would get pissed off if they weren't.
Jordan led them over to a bank of elevators, standing close while still trying to keep a gentlemanly distance from her. But as they got in the elevator to go up, she couldn't help but grab his hand and slip her fingers through his, letting her guard down for just a moment. He didn't seem to mind.
"So where are you taking me exactly?"
"Top floor," he explained. "There's this great restaurant up there that just opened a few months ago with an amazing view of the city. I mean, I'm sure it's not like a Manhattan view, but it's still nice."
She gave him a reassuring smile. "I think it sounds pretty amazing."
They gave their coats to the maitre d' and followed as she took them to a table in the corner right by the windows. Charlotte couldn't help but look out over the tall buildings and river with the large bridge lit up in the distance.
"So you're really looking south over to Canada," Jordan said as he pushed her chair in behind her.
"I actually knew that!" she replied excitedly. "Weird but true facts you learn when you move to Detroit."
He smiled at her warmly. "Down there is the arena, which you have become familiar with."
Charlotte peered down to the ground way below them. It seemed so small from here but had been looming large in her life lately.
"I hope you like this."
There was a bit of apprehension in his voice that made her feel a warmth inside knowing she had this kind of effect on him.
"I do," she told him reassuringly. "This is actually really nice."
The two of them fell into comfortable conversation after their food arrived with Jordan prodding her about how well she had adjusted to her new city that she was starting to think of as home.
"So how did your family feel about you moving here?"
"It was a little hard for them to understand," she explained. "My parents, and my mom especially, are big in the New York social scene. So coming here is almost like moving to another planet in their eyes."
"Then why did you do it?"
"I got sick of being in New York and the people that I was around, especially when it came to my mom," she explained. "Plus, I needed something new because my writing was getting a bit stale."
"I thought New York was supposed to be romantic," Jordan said.
"Oh, it totally is! I was just getting sick of writing about it," she replied. "But your family must be excited to have you play here. I mean, it's a great hockey town."
Jordan shrugged. "They are. I mean, my brother is."
She gave him a quizzical look. "What about your parents?"
He looked down at his food. "My dad died when I was teenager, and my mother took it really hard. I don't think she could handle raising us as a single mom so one day she just left."
"I'm sorry," Charlotte said.
"It's OK. I have my brother Ethan. He's been my protector for a long time and the reason I kept playing hockey."
"So does he live around here?"
"Yeah, we actually live together." She turned to give him a surprised look. "I know, I know, captain of the hockey team with a roommate."
"I wasn't going to say anything," she teased.
"You thought it."
She smiled. "I did."
"Don't worry, I've thought it too," Jordan said. "But it's actually nice to be around him. He's my biggest cheerleader and he does our grocery shopping."
"Oh, you definitely should live together then," she said. "I'll have to meet him sometime."
He rolled his eyes teasingly. "You have no idea how much he would love that."
After they had their fill of dinner, Jordan insisted they get dessert. It wasn't hard to persuade Charlotte considering she was having a much better time than she had expected.
"I'm serious when I tell you that you have never had bread pudding as good as it is here," he said, which led to an amazing plate with bread pudding, homemade vanilla ice cream, and two forks.
"So exactly how did a socialite like you end up a hockey fan?"
"My father. He's friends with one of the New York Admirals' owners." Hearing herself say those words made her feel pretentious. "What about you?" she added quickly to get the conversation off of her.
"My dad was Swedish and moved to Canada, where he met my mother. 'You're Swedish and Canadian, hockey is in your blood,' he used to say. So he made sure Ethan and I both learned how to play hockey and cook Swedish meatballs."
Charlotte gave him a surprised look. "You cook?"
"Just Swedish meatballs! And chicken with rice, but that's a necessity as a hockey player."
"Huh."
Jordan raised an eyebrow in her direction. "'Huh' what?"
"I was thinking that Swedish meatballs do sound delicious," she said. "You'll just have to make them for me sometime."
She smiled and took a bite of dessert, letting her fork linger when she caught Jordan staring at her lips. He looked a bit like he was ready for some other dessert, which gave her a bit of a thrill. It didn't take much to charm a man, but there was something exciting about being able to charm this man in particular.
Then Jordan saw something over her shoulder and he looked down at the table, the heat in his smile replaced by something a little colder.
"Sorry, but there's a group of fans headed this way," he said quietly. "I'll just sign a few autographs and get them moving again."
Charlotte smiled, not really believing that he was so apologetic about some fans. "It's fine," she said. "Even I know how much everyone loves you in this city."
He looked up at her. "Everyone, Charlotte?" he asked.
She realized what she had implied, and it was her turn to gaze down at the table.
"Hello, ladies!" Jordan said cheerfully as the group approached the table.
"Hi," one said curtly, which seemed a little odd for someone who was a fan.
"Excuse me, are you Charlotte Stone?"
She looked up to see four women standing next to their table with copies of Charlotte's book Harper's Fair in their hands, and a slow smile began to creep across her face. They weren't Jordan's fans. They were hers.
"Yeah, that's me."
The women started giggling with excitement. "We love your writing!" one of them said. "We decided to have our book club here tonight so we could have a fancy dinner in the city like Harper."
"Do you think you can sign our books?" another asked as they all flashed their copies.
This would happen to her on occasion in New York, which is why she always carried a pen with her. But it was the first time anyone in Detroit had asked her to sign anything and she was totally not prepared.
"Do you need a pen, Charlotte?"
She turned to see Jordan with a big smile on his face, sticking his hand into his back pocket and pulling out a fancy black-enameled Mont Blanc pen.
"Thanks." She grabbed it, a flash of electricity shooting up her arm as her fingers grazed his. "Where would you like me to sign, ladies?"
They all opened their books up, each asking for it to be addressed to them. One even gushed, "I can't wait for the sequel!"
"Don't worry, it's coming," Charlotte replied cheerfully, knowing exactly how to play her crowd.
The women continued to talk with excitement and tell Charlotte their favorite part of the book or the cocktails they ordered that night based on what they thought Harper would like.
"Um, I know we've taken up a lot of your time already, but could we get a picture with you too?" one of the women asked.
"You can't say 'no' to that," Jordan said as he stood up and walked over to the women. "Which one of you has a camera I can use?"
"Oh, here's my phone," one of them said, handing it to him.
They all crowded around Charlotte, one even taking the seat Jordan had vacated. "Smile, lovely ladies!" he instructed as he took the photo. The group did as he told them before handing the phone back to the woman in charge. "I hope it turned out OK."
"Oh, it totally did!" she said. "Thank you so much."
The women repeated a few more thank yous and finally turned to walk away.
"Who was that guy with her?" she could hear one mutter when they thought they were out of earshot.
"Jordan King. He's my daughter's favorite player on the Pirates. She thinks he's hot."
"She's totally right."
Charlotte picked up her fork and turned to find Jordan had taken his place next to her again, a goofy smile on his face as he grabbed his napkin from the table.
"Sorry about that," she said quietly. "And thank you for being so nice to them."
"No problem at all," he said with a bit of pride in his voice. She couldn't tell if he was proud of the compliment or proud of her. "And never be sorry for that. I thought it was pretty cool to see you with them."
"Really?"
"Charlie, I'm a hockey player in Detroit. I get recognized all the time," he explained. "I find how a person treats their fans says a lot about who they really are."
"So what did that say about me?" she asked as she took a bite of vanilla ice cream.
"You're happy when you're around people who are genuine, and you're happy to share your talent with people." He reached out and grabbed her hand, his thumb grazing her skin as he drew small circles on the top of her hand. He looked intently at her, practically drowning her in the blue of his eyes. "I know you can tell when people aren't being genuine with you. So let me tell you that I've honestly had a wonderful time so far tonight."
"So far?"
He smirked. "How about we pay the check and get out of here?"
Jordan was a gentleman when he paid for their dinner and a gentleman when he helped her back in the car and a gentleman when he parked in the underground guest parking for her building before helping her out. Perhaps that was why she had felt so at ease with inviting him up.
Until she got in the elevator. Her heart was pounding and she was doing everything she could to keep her breathing calm. Jordan had taken her hand as soon as they got in, and she was worried she may be holding on too tight. Her hand was thankfully steady as she put her key in the lock for her penthouse, and she quietly applauded herself for taking the time to clean the place up earlier in the day just in case.
"You can just throw your coat over the chair there," she said, motioning to the black leather seat in her living room. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Sure," he said casually. "Anything in particular?"
She smiled as she shed her own coat and laid it next to his. "The new thing in Manhattan this year has been high-end bourbon if that's good."
"Yeah, that's good."
He seemed a bit surprised by her bold choice, but in a good way. Charlotte smirked and seductively walked into the kitchen, leaving Jordan to stand and watch her sway her hips a little more than what was needed. She pulled out two tumblers from the cupboard and grabbed her favorite bottle of bourbon, pouring two glasses that she carried back to the living room. Jordan had loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt before casually sitting on her sofa, and something inside of her wanted to take advantage of him right there. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Thank you," he said. "To an amazing third date." He raised his glass in a salute to her and took a sip, his face clearly showing that he enjoyed it.
"Third date?" she asked as she sat down next to him.
He looked as if she had caught him trying to slip a secret past her, but he recovered quickly with a knowing smirk on his face. "Well, the first was dinner at your place."
"It was a charity dinner and there were other people here."
"There was food so still a date," he said, lifting his index finger from his glass to point at her for extra emphasis. "Second date was skating at the arena."
"Again, other people were there."
He gave her a knowing smirk. "I spent 15 very uncomfortable minutes today talking to the media crowded around my locker, if you know what I mean."
"What do you mean?" she asked teasingly.
His eyes flicked down to her mouth for just a moment. "I was only wearing a towel and thinking about your lips," he said. "There was a lot of readjusting."
"I got it." Charlotte smirked. "So this is the third date?"
Jordan stared at her with a bit of a mischievous look in his blue eyes. "You're not rethinking your invitation, are you?"
"No!" she said a little too loudly. "No, I'm not. I just..." He looked at her curiously. "I've just heard about you and your lady friends, so to speak."
He scoffed. "My lady friends."
"There's nothing wrong with that and I don't mind if — well, I mean I do, but um..." She took a deep breath to stop herself from saying something stupid. "I just want to know what I'm getting myself into."
There was a part of her that hoped he would just gloss over the answer, that this was just casual to him. It would be easy for her to acknowledge the lust she had for him before she got in too deep and he broke her heart. But then the nagging voice in her head kept hoping there could be something more.
Jordan took another drink from his glass before running his free hand through his hair. "You're not the only one who's trying to do something new with their life, Charlotte. Not that you're my experiment," he added quickly. "I guess I'm hoping I can have more with you than my other friends."
His extra emphasis on that last word forced Charlotte to take another swig from her glass, covering the smile that she was trying to keep in check. She could tell it wasn't enough based on the smirk on Jordan's face as he finished his bourbon. The glass made a soft clink as he set it down on her coffee table, showing off his forearms below his rolled up sleeves.
He paused and she realized she had been caught staring at him. "See something you like?" Her eyes looked up from Jordan's arms to the loose tie around his neck and his eyes.
"You look comfortable here," she said.
He leaned forward, reaching for her glass to set it down next to his, then lowered his head to get closer so he could look in her eyes. "I feel comfortable here," he murmured.
Charlotte could smell the bourbon that still lingered on his lips as he leaned in and kissed her. She couldn't stop a soft moan escaping from her mouth as he ran his fingers through her hair and she could feel his lips shift slightly as he smiled. He knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on her, and it only encouraged him to pull her closer. His arms were so tight around her that she couldn't move her hands that were now pressed against the strong muscles of his chest. There was no way she wanted to move them now anyway.
She couldn't hold herself back anymore and she began to kiss him hard and fast, pushing him back on the sofa and getting a slight groan from him as she straddled his lap. His hands began to roam up her thighs, pushing her skirt higher as his fingers left trails of heat on her skin.
She pulled away slightly to catch her breath. "Do you want to stop this so we can go back to my bedroom?"
"Not yet," he replied in a voice muffled by her hair as he continued to kiss her.
It was fine with her if they didn't move from that spot, but then there were no way they were going to leave this sofa until she was finished with him. She could tell the effect she was having on him, rubbing against the taut zipper of his dress pants. And his moans as she moved her hips against him just confirmed that he seemed to want her as much as she wanted him.
His fingers began to roam under her soft gray sweater, kneading the muscles in her back, before slowly pulling it over her head. The cold air gave her goosebumps before Jordan began to kiss them away with his warm lips on her breasts.
"Do you want this, Charlotte?" he asked her quietly, his lips tickling her skin.
"I want this," she murmured.
He pulled away slightly, his blue eyes staring intently at her. "Tell me you want me."
"You," she said. "I want you."
Jordan pulled her tight to his chest, his tie falling into the valley between her breasts, their movements becoming frantic and needy. She honestly didn't care if he left his clothes on as long as he fulfilled what she desired — and he was doing that very well so far.
His hands disappeared from her body as he raised himself up to pull his wallet from his pants, continuing to kiss her while he rummaged for a condom.
"Seems a bit presumptuous, don't you think?"
He reached between them, unzipping his pants and pushing them down, his breathing fast as he tore open the condom wrapper and tossed it on the floor. "Perhaps," he said, his voice heavy with heat. "But it's like I told you: third date."
He nipped at her neck before his hands finally returned to her body, roaming down her leg until it caught on the black patent leather shoe on her foot. A primitive growl of approval came from his throat, and Charlotte couldn't stop herself anymore. She pulled away slightly, raising up and moving her black lace panties aside before lowering herself on to him, an instinctive moan escaping her lips. She could feel a desperate haze take over her as he hummed against her skin before his hands found her hips, pushed her skirt higher and wordlessly urged her to move. She ran her fingers through his hair, resting her elbows on his shoulders for leverage, finding a frantic rhythm that made both of them breathe faster.
Charlotte could feel a fire burning deeply as it began to take over her whole body. Her teeth tugged against her lip, trying to keep herself from crying out. It was taking a serious effort for her to not let the whole building know just how well she was being ravished by Jordan King.
His hands dug into her hips, urging her to go faster. She could hear the belt buckle on the pants around his ankles clink louder and louder, the sound encouraging her to drive harder against him. She was trying to hold on, to control herself a little more, just a little more. But Jordan's moans and his hands and his words pushed her closer and closer to the edge. "Come on, Charlotte," he begged through clenched teeth. "Come for me."
She instinctively did as she was told, her body shattering as her legs gripped his muscular thighs, squeezing every inch of his body with all the strength she had. She could feel him follow her, his body tensing under her as he growled one last time before his hands eased up on her and his breathing calmed down from his high.
Charlotte buried her head in the crook of his neck, smiling against his skin. This is the kind of man she wanted to give herself to, the kind of man she wanted to be with. They hadn't even bothered with getting all their clothes off, and he had still felt closer to her than any other man in a long time.
Jordan stood in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to tame his hair that had somehow gone completely wild under Charlotte Stone's touch. He sure as hell wasn't about to complain. She was definitely not like any woman he had met before, and the heat between them was something else. He had had sex with quite a few women in the past, but there was something... The only word he could think to use was magical, and that wouldn't work. It was too corny and, even then, still didn't fully explain what just happened between them.
He took one last glance at himself, making sure he at least looked somewhat put together, and finally decided to give up on his unruly hair. He didn't want to be gone from Charlotte for this long after what she had done to him.
Charlotte was standing in her living room with her back to him, giving him the opportunity to gaze at her with her guard down. Her skirt was back in place, smoothed down after he had bunched it up around her waist, with the patent leather heels that had driven him wild. He watched as she pulled her soft sweater back on, reaching to get her hair out of the collar and cascade over her shoulders.
His shoe squeaked against her wood floor and she turned quickly, her blonde hair floating around her before meeting his eyes. "Hi," she said timidly.
He walked over and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, intent on making her feel comfortable and wanted. "Hey," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I, uh, I was thinking about leaving soon, but maybe I could stay for a little longer?"
He was hoping she would at least invite him to sit with her in his arms on her sofa, taking in the soft scent of her vanilla hair. Just a few more moments with her.
She nodded, her face radiating affection. "You could stay for a bit," she said quietly, grabbing his tie to pull him closer to her. "I mean, I did tell you I would show you my bedroom when I gave you a tour of the place."
That was more than he was expecting from her, but she had finally seemed to let her guard down around him — at least it was pretty obvious after she had her way with him on her sofa. He leaned down and kissed her softly.
"I would like that very much."
For the first time in a long time, Jordan fell asleep that night in a woman's bed with no intention of leaving before the sun rose.