Jordan's Return (12 page)

“Okay,” she said and reluctantly stepped away from him. She walked fully into the room to check it out. Begrudgingly, Jordan admitted to herself it would be fine for the one night. The room was plenty big for all of them, and by the time she had the boys settled and sleeping, there'd be hardly any time for her to worry about anything before they were packing up and heading to the larger resort.

She announced to the boys that they needed to take their turns in the bathroom, showering and getting ready for bed. Once they were clean and pajama clad, they all agreed on a movie to watch before going to sleep. Personally, Jordan had no interest in watching a movie, but it kept her mind off the fact that Rob was lying on the bed not three feet away from her, sprawled out and looking far too attractive for his own good. Forcing herself to at least pretend she was interested, Jordan turned to make a comment to Jake about the movie but found him already asleep. Joseph, apparently, was going to be a night owl.

Jordan excused herself to take her turn in the bathroom to get ready for bed. She spent as long as she could in the small space, trying to get over the wave of nerves crashing over her at the prospect of Rob seeing her in her nightie. It seemed so personal, so intimate, so childish. So exactly what her body was screaming for! They'd never spent a complete night together before. As young lovers, it had all been about stolen moments and curfews.

Even with the kids in the room, there was a part of her that told her it felt right. Not that she would share a bed with Rob in front of her children—certainly not—but it felt right being there and sharing a room, the four of them, together. It felt nice to be away from the pain and drudgery of the last year and to feel like part of a family again.

Jordan did not regret for one moment the end of her marriage, but she did regret the feeling of loss over the full family unit. Her boys desperately needed a father in their lives and it obviously wasn't going to be Eric. Would Rob even want to be the father her sons needed? Would it be hard for him to raise another man's children as his own, particularly Eric's?

If she hadn't been so spiteful and so unwilling to work things out with Rob at eighteen, she wouldn't even need to be thinking these things because the children in that room
would
be his. No amount of worrying or regret was going to change that, but it still caused an ache deep in her heart at all they could have had. Still she was thankful for her marriage to Eric because he had given her the two wonderful sons she now had. For that reason alone, she would never regret marrying him.

Pushing all negative thoughts aside, Jordan checked her reflection in the mirror.

You're not eighteen anymore, Jordan. You're a thirty-two-year-old divorced mother of two. Did you honestly expect to see anything different in the mirror?
Would Rob still find her attractive after all these years?

Gathering up her courage, Jordan flipped off the light and emerged from the solitude of the bathroom.

She heard Rob's sharp intake of breath at the sight of her. She was wearing a simple white cotton nightie that came to a little above the knee. It had thin straps and a scooped neckline with tiny buttons down the front. It was in no way sexy, in Jordan's mind, but from the look in Rob's eyes, she felt as if she were standing before him wearing nothing at all.

Averting her eyes, she climbed into her bed next to Jake and tried to focus on the movie. Joseph was beginning to look like he was losing the battle with keeping his eyes open and Jordan encouraged him to shut them and get some sleep. With Jordan's permission, Rob turned off the television and all but one small light, and moments later, the only sounds in the room were those of the two sleeping boys and the pounding hearts of the two adults.

“I guess it's my turn in the bathroom,” Rob said as he stood and stretched. His jeans hung low on his hips, and the top button was undone. Jordan had to force her eyes away. “You could join me in there,” he suggested softly, and for a split second she considered it.

“I don't think that would be wise.” Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was sure there was a reason for her to feel that way, but sitting there and looking at him, she couldn't remember what the reason was.

Rob turned and looked at her before closing the bathroom door. His eyes were dark with desire and Jordan would have given anything to go in that tiny bathroom with him, but it was the little snoring body next to her that reminded her of why she could not.

Jordan tried to force herself to relax, but couldn't. She heard the shower turn on and when she closed her eyes, all that was visible was the image of Rob naked under the steamy spray, water coursing all over his skin, soap suds clinging to him, his muscles gleaming with beads of water… She groaned and placed a pillow briefly over her face.

At the sound of the water shutting off, Jordan decided it would be best for all involved if she feigned sleep. The bathroom door opened and she could smell the clean scent of his soap and shampoo and heard the faint rustle of sheets as he climbed into the bed opposite her.

Waiting until the last light was turned off, she opened her eyes, needing one last look at him. She was surprised to find him lying on his side, watching her, longing written all over his chiseled face. Slivers of moonlight spilled into the room through the curtains, and it was just enough to see what they each needed to.

They lay like that for some time, each on their side, facing one another from opposing beds, just looking. Her body longed to reach out and touch him, but the space between the two beds made that impossible.

It was torture to be this close, close enough to smell one another's scents and hear each other's breathing, and not be able to do something about it. Not to be able to touch Rob was almost more than she could bear. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such longing, such frustration.

Eventually, her body began to calm itself and she accepted the inevitable. There would be no meeting in the bathroom, no stolen kisses. Not tonight anyway. Tomorrow night in the bigger suite, however, all bets were off. If her body was still as on fire as it was right now, she might be willing to risk being alone with him in his bedroom depending on how far away it was from the boys.

Jordan smiled at him weakly and whispered good night before closing her eyes, feeling light and happy.

Sometime later, Rob had looked his fill and closed his own eyes, happy to have Jordan there and be the last thing he saw before going to sleep. It wouldn't be the first time. Only this time, she was really and truly there and not just an image burned into his mind.

* * *

A day at a theme park under normal circumstances was hard work. A day at a theme park with two overexcited boys was pure exhaustion. Jordan was extremely thankful for Rob because there was no way even in good health that she could have kept up with her sons. He went on every thrill ride with them.

Twice!

The closest she came to a thrill ride was the log flume. Not that the ride in and of itself was thrilling; quite the contrary, it was pretty tame. The thrill came from sitting between Rob's hard, muscled legs with her back pressed against the solid wall of his chest while he took advantage of the fact that the boys were in front of them and nuzzled her neck. Jordan wiggled against him and could easily feel his growing arousal pressed firmly against her bottom.

It was a little comical to watch him gingerly climb out of the log at the end of the ride. At her look of barely contained laughter, he walked up behind her and smacked her on the bottom.

“Witch,” he whispered. Jordan let out a shriek of delight and walked away, her head still swimming from the sensations his touch had surfaced in her.

Throughout the remainder of the day, they carried on like a family. Jordan took Jake on some of the less-than-thrilling rides while Rob took Joseph on more of the coasters. Meeting up at dinnertime, Jordan cringed at the fast food fare but seeing as this was supposed to be a total day of fun for the kids, she put her adult tastes aside and indulged in a chili dog, fries, and an extra-thick chocolate milk shake. Completely sinful but totally worth it.

Later that night as they settled in at the resort, Jordan collapsed on the oversized sofa, her body screaming with fatigue. She forced one eye open to look at her surroundings. The suite was beautifully decorated with Thomasville furniture in jewel tones. It had been newly renovated, and Jordan couldn't remember ever staying someplace so nice, not even on her honeymoon.

The boys remained unfazed by their surroundings, even Joseph, who normally carried on and on about how nice a hotel room was. No, tonight both he and his brother were so worn out from the events of the day that Jordan knew it would be a breeze to get them to go to sleep.

Without a word of complaint, the boys stuck to their nightly ritual of showering before bed. As each headed in the direction of the bedroom, Jordan reminded them they had to share a bed because the second one was for her. They each mumbled in return but did obey. They were too tired to put up much of a fight anyway. She still felt a wave of disappointment at the thought that she couldn't share a room with Rob.

Rob felt comfortable that they were on their way to winding down and finally took a seat on the sofa next to Jordan. She sat up briefly and he took advantage of her position to ease in beside her so she could recline against him.

They stayed in that position long after the boys were in bed; Rob reveled in the feel of Jordan's body next to his. He had been longing for it ever since the flume ride. Enjoying the closeness while they attempted to watch a little TV, they channel surfed for a while before Rob clicked the set off and pulled Jordan more snugly against him.

“So tell me,” he said as he smoothed her hair away from her face, “what was the real reason for your beach retreat?”

She loved the feeling of his hands raking through her hair and felt so much at ease and relaxed, like it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be in this place together. She sighed softly before replying.

“After my accident, my family convinced me to file a civil suit against Eric since the accident was his fault. Rather than go to court, we ended up settling out and it was all very ugly.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “You see, Eric is a financial big shot on Wall Street right now and is starting a new life. We were baggage.” Jordan could feel tension coursing through Rob's body at her words but forced herself to go on.

“I had stayed in the house where we had lived for the boys' sake, and because that was what Eric had dictated in our original divorce agreement. It was his way of keeping me under his control, you know?

“At first I thought it would be okay and that it would be best for Jake and Joseph, but the longer we lived there, the more miserable I was.” She shifted her position a little. “Anyway, Eric had cut his visits down to once or twice a year and once we received a settlement from him… Well, now I can afford to move us to wherever we want and start over.” Jordan felt Rob's hand still for the briefest of moments.

“My lawyer drew up papers that stated Eric gave up his parental rights to my children. Can you believe that? How could someone just walk away from their own kids? I mean, I always knew Eric resented being a father but I never thought he'd walk away and ignore his own flesh and blood.” Jordan sat up and faced him, wanting no secrets between them. Rob deserved to know exactly what he was getting involved with.

“You have to understand how traumatic all of this has been for the boys. Jake doesn't remember too much about Eric living with us, but Joseph does.”

Rob took both of Jordan's hands in his and waited for her to continue.

“On the day Eric signed the papers that terminated his parental rights, he came to the house to gloat. Joseph heard everything.” She sighed. “He was so cruel. I was still pretty banged up and had bruises and casts, and he laughed at my appearance. And as if that weren't enough, he went on to belittle the boys too, saying how disappointed he was in them.” Her voice quavered with remembrance.

“I had no idea Joseph was home; I had thought they were still out with my mom. They had come back early. I'll never forget the look in his eyes when we turned and saw him standing there. Eric just shrugged and walked out, muttering, ‘Oh well. Not my problem anymore.'” Her eyes brimmed with tears and Rob wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

“He had said he was glad to be rid of me and my kids because we didn't
fit
his image. It didn't bother me so much because I had always hated his image, but his little speech really hurt Joe. He's been in a funk ever since.” Sadness filled her voice.

Rob felt a pang of regret for the boy. It must have been horrible to hear that your own father didn't want you. No wonder Joseph had become so attached to him so fast—he was starved for a father figure in his life. Rob would love to fill that void.

He placed a feather-soft kiss on her temple. “So you just needed to get away.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes and no,” she replied as she mindlessly began to stroke the strong muscles of his chest while her head rested on his shoulder. “I pulled the boys out of school and I'm homeschooling them now.” He pulled back and looked at her with surprise written all over his handsome face.

“They didn't want to start the new school year in a school they were possibly going to leave. Plus, I felt we needed some time together to decide, as a family, where we go from here. I wanted us to be free of distractions and anything that might sway our decisions.” When her eyes met his, she saw his were full of so many emotions: pride, tenderness, and possibly, love.

“You're an amazing woman, Jordan,” he murmured as he carefully twisted her around in his arms so she was now lying across his lap.

“No, I'm not.”