Home is Where the Heart is(19)

Would she get a straight answer from him?

“I was led to believe you had already moved on with your life right after I left…that you didn’t really need me anymore,” Jordan replied.

“By who?” Cassie raised an eyebrow on her curious face.

“My dad. He said he saw you out one night with your friends, and you were laughing a lot and drinking with some guy he didn’t know.”

“So you just assumed I didn’t want to be with you anymore? Or maybe it was your dad who had put the idea into your head, and then told you how I would just tie you down and wouldn’t allow you to achieve your dreams. Well, I guess we know Clive won. He got what he wanted. You’re a big football star and no one is tying you down. Congratulations."

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jordan asked.

“C’mon, I may live in Yellow Valley, but I don’t live underneath a rock. I’ve seen your face splashed across those trashy tabloid magazines and gossip websites. You’re out with a different woman practically every week. You seemed to have moved on from me just fine. I’m sure your father was proud to know I was no longer a valuable part of your life anymore. He got what he wanted. I’m out of the picture.”

Jordan took one step forward, closing the gap between them. Cassie yearned to take in the musky scent of his aftershave, but she also wanted space. “So that’s what it is...you’re jealous, because you still have a thing for me.” His voice was deeper and lowered like he was trying to seduce her into letting him back into her life. If Cassie wasn’t careful, despite all the warning bells going off in her head, she just might be susceptible enough to do so. Right now, her head and her heart were telling her two different things, neither of which were helping solve the dilemma she was in at the moment.

She stepped back and raised one hand between her and Jordan. “I do not have a thing for you. I couldn’t care less who or what you do in your spare time when you’re not playing football. However, I do care about the welfare of my child. I don’t want him to become just another person who takes backseat to your career, one you’ll dump and then move on from when something better and brighter comes your way."

“I would never do that to my own kid,” Jordan muttered, coming closer to Cassie, and with each step he took toward her, she stepped backwards as they fell into a slow stride together.

At that moment, as his gaze continued to fall upon her face, her hands flung to her hair as she tried to smooth it down in an effort to look a little better groomed, a nervous habit she’d always had that Jordan recognized. Having no success, she gave up. Jordan had seen her at her worst anyway. Why would her appearance be any concern now?

“You don’t have to hide how you look from me. You’re beautiful, just as gorgeous now as you were six years ago.”

Flattery would get him everywhere, and Jordan knew it too. Was his aim to butter her up in an attempt to crawl his way back into her life? She knew it could work, but she had to at least try and be strong for her sanity.

She stood in one spot, unable to back away any further or she’d risk running into the table she had there, and cursed the day she bought it. Why did she need a table at the entrance of her house anyway? Oh, wait. It was there to hold all my keys and a notepad for writing messages, she thought, her mind going haywire at his close proximity.

Now Jordan was merely inches from her, his head bowed down to reach her as his nose briefly touched hers and he placed a hand along her cheekbone as if he was going to kiss her. Cassie moved sideways, thwarting any chance he thought he had to get close enough to kiss her. She turned around with her back to him so she couldn’t see his face. He couldn’t kiss her, and she wouldn’t let him. She couldn’t allow herself to fall into old patterns and be subdued by Jordan’s alluring charm, despite how much her body wanted him right now.

Cassie desperately yearned for any sign that he would walk out the door and never look back, but he didn’t give her one. He was now hovering over her, and Cassie could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck. She could still picture his damn piercing brown eyes and charismatic-yet-smug grin upon his endearing face. She never could turn him away, no matter much she wanted to.

She could smell the sweet scent of his cologne, which wasn’t overpowering the smell of alcohol like she wished it would. His cologne hadn’t changed since high school, and as he was literally breathing down her neck, she realized it was going to take all her willpower and strength to say no to Jordan, because all she wanted to do right now was fall back into his arms. But she couldn’t. How was he always able to make her feel as though she was powerless to his attraction? He couldn’t touch her without her wanting more.