Wow, he’d almost had her thinking he possessed a heart, right up to the last word…corporations. She pushed out of her chair and stalked away from him, toward the Christmas tree, pivoting back with a huff. “Shall I give you a club to go with your caveman orders?”
“You want romance?” His blue eyes narrowed, then turned heavy lidded, sexy. “I can give you romance. I simply thought a practical woman like you would appreciate the no-nonsense approach to business dealings.”
“Whoa. Back up there, Mr. Romeo Incorporated. You romanced me more than enough five months ago, thanks all the same.”
Jordan ’s heat seared her now, as well. “Then answer my question.”
She couldn’t regret that night because she refused to let her baby ever feel like a mistake. And the sex had been beyond amazing, but good heavens, she wouldn’t enter a marriage based on attraction and business mergers. She also refused to risk a sham of a marriage like her parents lived.
“No.” She crossed her arms under her br**sts. “I will not marry you.”
His jaw flexed.
“Be reasonable, Jordan . We barely know each other.”
“We’ve known each other for years.”
“As business acquaintanceswho’ve sat in a large meeting maybe three times or passed each other in the same restaurant on occasion.” Strange how memorable each of those encounters seemed. She’d always noticed him, but placed him in the off-limits category.
Until that night.
That night when Brooke had been mourning the loss of her father.The loss of an image.She’d always been Daddy’s girl, running to him when her drunken mother’s barbs were too much to bear.To find that her father had lied to them all, as well…
She couldn’t think of that now. She had her own child to consider. Providing a stable home for her baby had to come before some illogical desire to lose herself in another kiss from Jordan .
He scooped up one of her shoes and tapped the heel against her mouse pad. “Yet suddenly you’ve decided to avoid me.”
“Because I wasn’t ready to tell you about the baby.”She decided he didn’t need the extra ammo of knowing why she’d run scared from his naked side.
“Or because the fireworks between us were too much for you to handle.”
Apparently he was more intuitive than she’d given him credit for.
“The same could be said for you.” Okay, so perhaps her pride stung at the fact he hadn’t gone out of his way to pursue her.
“I called you.”
“A week later.”There went her pride again.
He set her shoe down, his eyes narrowing with a predatory gleam. “You tell me to stay away, and I’m supposed to ignore what you say? Does that mean when you say you won’t marry me, I’m supposed to ignore that, too?”
He was a wily one. No wonder her oldest brother said Jordan made such a fearsome adversary in the boardroom. Which brought up yet another complication since the baby’s father just happened to want a toehold in her family’s company.
Marrying her would give him that connection to the Garrison business he’d always craved.
God, she hated the path her mind was taking. But damn it, he was the one who’d said they could merge corporations. If that didn’t give a woman the right to be leery, she didn’t know what would.
“Don’t be obtuse, Jordan . I won’t marry you. We don’t know anything important about each other as people, anything outside the bedroom.” Don’t go there with the thoughts. “To base a marriage on a brittle foundation of sex and mutual business interests would be catastrophic and horribly unfair to our child.”
“All right then.” He smiled—wow, how he smiled. He shoved away from the desk and strode toward her. “Let’s get to know each other better.For our child. We’re going to be linked by this kid for the rest of our lives. It’s the Christmas season. Let’s celebrate and use this time to build a stronger foundation.”
“That sounds logical.” If she knew him better, then she could better judge his motivations for wanting to be a part of her life as well as the baby’s.
“Good, good.” He nodded as he walked by her, past the Christmas tree.
No kiss? No more trying to persuade her to marry him? That was it?
“ Jordan ?”
She eyed him warily as he strode toward the door, paused and glanced back over his shoulder.
“I’ll pick you up at eight tonight for our date.” The door clicked closed behind him.
Date?
She’d thought they were going to get to know each other, as in meet at the lawyer’s office to draw up visitation agreements, perhaps have coffee afterwards.
But dating?
She’d just been royally maneuvered, and she wouldn’t give over complete control that easily. Yes, she could see how dating would be a good idea, however, she resented the way he assumed she would fall in line with his plans. She didn’t want the world to know about them yet, damn it.
Time to show Jordan Jefferies that while she might be the quiet Garrison, she had every bit as much determination as the rest.
When it came to how they would get to know each other, she could make plans of her own.
At six-thirty that evening, Brooke pulled her BMW convertible past a row of palm trees and a hibiscus hedge into the side parking lot of the Hotel Victoria—eight impressive floors of brass and glass set on the South Beach shore.
The construction workers should be gone for the evening. She knew from casual conversations with Emilio that Jordan had opened an office in a completed suite where he could oversee the last stages of finishing the hotel, and he always stayed late. The place was his well-known pet project of Jefferies Brothers, Incorporated’s many holdings. So he would undoubtedly want to spend every free moment overseeing the construction.
She’d worn sunglasses in hopes of keeping a low profile. It helped that no one would expect to find a Garrison here. The world could know about her relationship with Jordan when she was good and ready.
Now she just had to get past security.
Brooke flipped open her cell phone and punched in Jordan ’s private number he’d given her five months ago, a number she’d almost used at least a hundred times.
The ringing stopped.
“ Jordan ?”
“Brooke, you’re not backing out.”
“Who says I’m breaking the date?” she retorted. He thought he knew her. She would enjoy surprising him. “I’m downstairs.”