She wiped the happy smile from her face. Time to get real. Set some parameters.
Rule number one: She wasn’t sleeping with him until they’d shared at least one meal together.
Smart decision. She felt good about it. Solid.
Rule number two:
Nothing else came to mind, and she was in no mood to strain herself. She’d had a very busy night.
She bounced out of bed and into the bathroom. She had a half hour to get ready for work. Had to choose clothes that were equal parts flirty, in case she saw Michael, and serious, for the first meeting with Vince Blackman’s SpiderSly team, the appointment set yesterday at lunch.
She’d grab a banana and some granola and eat while she got ready.
She burst out of her bedroom door and into the front room, where Maze sat cross-legged on the sofa, chowing on a bowl of cereal while staring at her laptop screen. Her magenta hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, no makeup. Wearing her bunny pajama top with slouchy fuzzy socks.
“He’s coming over soon.”
Jordan froze in her tracks. “Who is?”
Belligerently, Maze lifted her gaze. “The total prick who’s helping me. I told him that he had to pass the Jordan test, so will you be a good sister and give him Jordan-style hell?”
Jordan blinked. “One more time?”
Maze groaned. Put her bowl on the coffee table to grab for a soda can. In the morning. “You know, the ‘official’ guy I told you about who was going to help me with my Rêve issues?”
Oh. “He’s coming here now?” Jordan looked at the barricaded door. Who set meetings so early in the morning?
Michael had said that others would want to recruit her, too, maybe even by making her disappear from her life.
So, no.
“Call your guy and reschedule,” Jordan said. Maybe Michael could help her assess him. “I have to work. Real people go to work in the morning.”
Sis rolled her eyes. “That’s why he’s coming so early. To catch you.”
“Maisie, I’m not opening the door to a stranger.”
“He’s not a stranger. He’s an asshole. There’s a difference.”
Sure enough, the doorbell rang, bing-bong. Jordan looked at the door, then back at Maisie, then down at her own pink pajamas. “No.”
Maze threw her hands up. “Fine. Actually, I’m glad. I didn’t want to work with him anyway. We’ll go with your guy, Michael. I like him a lot.”
“I like him, too,” Jordan said, returning her attention to the door.
“Oh-ho-ho,” sang her sister. “So the night went well, did it?”
The doorbell rang again. There was no way she was opening the door, but she could look through the peephole.
“Get 9-1-1 ready on your phone,” Jordan commanded. If what Michael said was true, this guy might try to force his way in.
She tiptoed, breathing fast, and put an eye to the little circular glass. Spotted a man in a suit and tie. Clean cut. Shaven. Could be a missionary, for all she knew, since they came in pairs, and there were two of them. The first guy shifted, so she could glimpse the one behind him.
Then she pulled back. “Oh, God. I’m gonna die.”
Behind her, Maze said urgently, “Police, please. We have an intruder.”#p#分页标题#e#
Jordan whipped around. “No. It’s fine.” It was so not fine. “I didn’t tell you to call them.”
Maze still held the phone to her ear. “You sounded scared.”
A loud knock rattled the skinny console table blocking the door.
Jordan started back a few feet. “Michael Reese is out there with another man, who I guess is your asshole.”
Maze ended the call to EMS and dropped her phone in her lap. “Hmm. I didn’t see that coming.”
“And I look like this.” Jordan gestured from her head down.
They stared at each other in silence.
“All right,” Maze said, standing. “I’ll get the door and buy you five minutes.”
Little sis was in a sleep shirt herself, but at the moment, Jordan didn’t care. “You should’ve warned me someone was coming. Woken me up!”
“I didn’t know it would be your lov-er,” Maze shot back. “Now get.”
Jordan dashed back into her room, and closed and locked the door. She heard the loud scrape of the console table moving. A pause, then the low murmur of male voices.
This was not happening.
She peeled off her sweats and tore into the plastic of her dry cleaning. Slacks were easy, but she’d have to wear heels. Nude bra and blouse. She didn’t have time to do much with her face. A little tinted lotion and mascara. She yanked a brush through her hair a couple of times and fashioned a quick low ponytail.
When she opened her bedroom door, she tried to appear cool, but a hot drip of sweat burned down her spine.