Dear Professor(56)
“Are you ready or order, or do you need a couple more minutes?”#p#分页标题#e#
I glanced up as the waitress stuck her hip out. As certain as I was that the question had been intended for both of us, she looked as though an order weren’t the only thing she wanted to serve Jordan. I barely refrained from rolling my eyes.
“Darcy?” Jordan asked, his lips twisting. “Are you ready?”
“Sure. I’ll have a Diet Pepsi and a cheeseburger. Thanks.” I put the menu back in its holder.
“I’ll take the same,” Jordan told her, doing the same with his menu. “Thank you.”
The waitress hovered for a second before disappearing. I caught Jordan’s amused glance at me as I watched her walk away. What was she waiting for? His phone number added on the end of his order?
“So we need to talk.” I drew my attention back to him and tucked my hair behind my ear.
“We do.” He sat back on the seat, his eyes fixed on me. “Let’s talk.”
Oh. Okay. I was starting. That made sense because I was the one who’d started all of this in the first place.
“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I realize it was out of line. Really, your personal life is none of my business.”
“To an extent, I agree, but if something is bothering you, I’d rather you discuss it with me. Not hang around outside my house and spring heavy subjects on me.”
“I panicked. I’d known for a few days, but then…” I trailed off as the waitress returned with our drinks and set them on the mats in front of us with a flourish.
The woman could have done with an extra button on her blouse being done up, but whatever. When she left, I continued.
“We… You know. I felt uncomfortable with the knowledge that you were married.”
“Stop right there.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. His fingers wrapped around his glass, tapping gently. Condensation on the outside disappeared with each touch of his fingertips. “You assumed. If you’d looked further on your little discovery mission, you would have found out more and the point would have been moot.”
I averted my eyes down to the table, where my fingers had found the napkin and were playing with the corner. “It would?”
“Yes.” He sighed heavily. “Darcy… My wife died four years ago.”
My hand flew to my mouth. I tried to cover my gasp, but it didn’t work. Shit! No wonder he’d been so mad. Shit! My cheeks flamed with my embarrassment.
“Oh my God. I’m an idiot. I’m so sorry.”
He half smiled. “It’s not something I’ve tended to dwell on since I moved to Illinois. Not many people here know about Amanda, and I much preferred it that way.”
“Then I went and brought her up,” I muttered, letting my hand fall. “I’m sorry. Really, I am.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed my fingers. “You didn’t know. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like I did. You caught me off guard, and I apologize.”
I glanced at our hands then met his eyes. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
“Fine. Then let’s just say that we both made a mistake and move on from it. Don’t you agree?”
My mouth opened and closed. How could I argue with that? “So, there really is no poor, unsuspecting wife somewhere?”
“If I were going to have an affair, don’t you think I’d be taking my mistress to a fuck pad in the city and not a house in the suburbs?”#p#分页标题#e#
“I’m your mistress?”
“No. You’re many things, but none of them that. And, before you go further on the unsuspecting wife, there is no unsuspecting wife, girlfriend, fiancée, or, indeed, boyfriend, just in case you decide to go down that trail of thought.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Funnily enough, I’d never considered you swinging that way, but thank you for the clarification. It’s appreciated.”
His eyes twinkled with the upward curve of his lips, and screw it. The butterflies were back.
“You’re welcome. Now, perhaps we can resume our agreement without the questions regarding marital statuses?”
“That is the only option.”
His response was his steady look. It was more confirming than any words he could have spoken.
The waitress brought our food over, and he let my hand go. I snatched it off the table far too quickly and set it on my lap as my burger was put in front of me. Like he wouldn’t take my hand again if he didn’t want to, but having lunch with him and the butterflies and the hand-holding were just a little too much.