Taken: A Kept Novella (10 page)

But that had no impact on her. Not anymore. His smile, those blue eyes—there was nothing there for her.

“Hey, Matt.” Cam held out a hand, and Matt took it. “Good to see you.”

No, it wasn’t.

“What brings you back to town?”

Matt gave a nonchalant shrug. “Visiting the family. My parents’ anniversary is tomorrow. Twenty-nine years.”

“Wow. That’s a nice long time.”

Jordan tried not to smile at the emphasis Cam put on the words.

“Yeah, it is.” Matt smiled her way. “Jordan. How are you?”

“I’m good.” Why did she feel nervous? Before she knew it, she caught herself slipping her hand through Cam’s, leaning into him—as if she were years younger and trying to make another guy jealous. “How’s Indianapolis?”

“Well, it isn’t Chicago, not food-wise, anyway. But the job’s going well. The winter was much gentler. I can’t complain.”

“That’s good.”

And that was all she had to say—all she could
think
to say.

Cam took over and got Matt talking more about his job and life there.

As they talked, Jordan studied Matt’s face. Back in high school, the first time they’d dated, she’d been so sure he was the one for her. Then he’d left for the Marines and hardly contacted her for four years. When he’d returned to the Midwest last summer, he’d wanted to pick up where they’d left off—no, where he’d tossed her aside—and she’d stupidly believed he was different. Older. Changed for the better.

When she’d left for her senior year of college, he’d disappeared from her life again. She didn’t even know he’d taken a job in Indy until she came home for Thanksgiving.
Welcome back, Jordan. Matt doesn’t live in Chicago anymore. Didn’t tell you. Didn’t send you his new address.

But over Christmas he’d convinced her to go out with him while he was in town.

And then vanished again.

Before second semester midterms, Jordan had known she was done with him for good. But how she wished she could have made that clear to him before she was dating someone else. Before he thought she was on the rebound. Which had to be what he was thinking.

She left the guys to talk some more and hung out with Miska and two other friends. Even as she tried to lose herself in conversation, she couldn’t help peeking at Cam and Matt, still talking.

What were they saying now that she was gone?

By the time Miska left with Dillan and her friends had said goodnight, Cam was talking to someone else—and Matt headed her way.

Jordan tensed.

He had that look in his eye that said he wasn’t coming to shoot the breeze.

Not this time.

“Jordan, Jordan, Jordan,” he said. “How’s life really treating you?”

“Very nicely, actually.”

He nodded like he didn’t believe her. “It is, huh?”

“Better than the past year or so.”

His smile said he’d understood her verbal jab. “You and Cam are a couple? Why?”

“What do you mean
why
? What’s wrong with Cam?”

“Nothing’s wrong with Cam, except no relationship ever lasts with him. He dates a girl for… what, two weeks? And then it’s over—”

“Do you hear yourself?” Anger shook her voice. “Did he ever string them along? Make them think it was a serious thing and then leave them in limbo for days on end?”

He ducked his head. “Yeah, I know. I haven’t… I’ve not been good to you.”

“No, you have not.”

“And I’m sorry. I really am, Jordan. You’re the reason I came home this week. I wasn’t going to, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“Please.”

Her disgust stopped him cold.

“My guess, Matt, would be that you and some other girl down in Indy just ended things. That’s why you were thinking about me—if you even were.”

He shifted and looked away, his own face hardening. “You really think Cam will be around two weeks from now?”

“Yes.”

“A month from now?”

“Matt.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

She had no worries about being wrong. Cam was the one for her, just like he knew she was the one for him.

“Meet me for dinner tomorrow. Or coffee. Let’s catch up and see where things—”

“Absolutely not. I’d never go out with another man when I’m dating the man I love.” The words slipped out, and she cringed. “I hate that you’re the one who hears first that I love Cam.” She clenched her fist. “I hate that.”

“You think he loves you? You just started dating.”

Cam might not have said the words yet, but she had no doubt as to his feelings. “And you think we had anything close to love?”

“Sure, we—”

“I had a crush on you, Matt. For years. But that’s all it was. A crush.” When would he get it? “And I’m over it now.”

That bored look covered his face, the mask he wore when they argued. Yes, Matt had been fun to date, fun while he paid attention to her. But his attention span had been short.

Cam was different though.

Or he would be. This time. Wouldn’t he? She was meant for him, and he was meant for her.

She shoved away the doubt that suddenly niggled in the corner of her mind. “I need to go. Congratulate your parents for me.”

“Here’s your shake.” Cam handed Jordan the tall, cold glass filled with Oberweis’s famous chocolate shake and sat at the counter beside her, his own shake in hand. They’d stopped by the ice cream shop after church, just to have a few minutes to themselves. “What did Matt have to say?”

She took a long sip before answering. “That you wouldn’t be around in a month.”

Jerk. “And here I was, being nice to him.”

Jordan shrugged like it didn’t matter, but she focused on the straw in her shake as she spoke. “Did he say anything to you?”

“About us dating? No.”

“Good.”

Was it? Matt should have challenged
him
, not Jordan. What was with the guy? Why did he play with her like that? There wasn’t a better girl out there. Everything about Jordan was perfect—her candor, her sense of humor, her stability, her beauty, including that smile of hers that made him want to pull her close—

That smile of hers that was nowhere to be seen.

He inched his stool closer to hers. “You
do
know I’ll be here in a month. Right?”

She looked up at him, her brown eyes revealing… what? Hurt? Doubt?

She doubted him? “Are you serious, Jordan? You believe him?”

“No.” She fiddled with her straw again. “But…”

“But what?”

She sighed and pushed herself back from the counter. “I wish it
were
two weeks from now. A month from now. Cam, I
am
… nervous.”

What did he say? He locked his jaws together. If he even opened his mouth right now—

“Don’t be mad. Please.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Yes, you are. Your face is all tight. Your hands are clenched.”

He relaxed the fist he hadn’t known he’d made.

“I won’t date Matt again because I know that, for whatever reason, he doesn’t—didn’t—take our relationship seriously. I wanted things to last with him, but he…”

So she’d still be with the guy, if he’d stuck around? “Did you love him?”

Jordan’s big eyes were full of heartbreak. “I thought I did.”

Awesome. He looked down at his shake, fiddled with the cold base.

“But I didn’t. I told him that too. And I told him that I…” Her voice trembled. “I told him that I loved you.”

Cam jerked his head up.

She was watching him, that doubt still on her face. What did that mean? Had she told Matt that and now wished she could take it back? “You said that?” He forced a chuckle from his suddenly dry throat. “I would have liked to have seen his reaction.”

She looked away.

If he’d known all of this before Matt had left, he’d have cornered the guy and laid into him for trying to get back together with
his
girlfriend. For putting doubt in her mind about their future—when all the guy had done was yank her emotions around and make her think that no man would stick with her.

Jordan deserved so much better than that.

He reached for her hand, but when his fingers touched hers, she flinched. “Jordan, I’ll be here. Not just a month from now but years from now.”

She slipped her hand from his. “Thank you.”

She didn’t believe him. How could she not believe him? “You’re upset with me? Why?”

“I don’t like being a pawn between two guys.”

“How’d I make you feel like a pawn?”

“Wishing you’d seen his reaction.”

What was wrong with that? He loved Jordan. And she’d chosen him over an old boyfriend who’d seemed to have a real hold on her. Of course he wanted to see the guy’s reaction to Jordan telling him that she loved—

Oh.

Oh, man, he was in trouble.

He slid his stool until it bumped up against hers, then wrapped both arms around her. She tensed in his arms, but he held her close. Didn’t let her pull away. “Jordan.”

She relaxed just enough to say she wasn’t going to fight him.

“I’m a jerk too. I was so caught up in being happy that you told Matt how you felt about me that I didn’t tell you how I feel about you. That I love you.”

She still didn’t react.

What was really going on here? Had he read her wrong? Why wouldn’t she talk to him? “You know,” he said, forcing playfulness into his voice, “technically you haven’t told
me
you love me. You told
Matt
that you love me—”

“Cam, stop it.” In a flash, she pushed out of his hold. “Is this a joke to you?”

“Of course not. I’m trying to get you to open up. It’s not like you to keep your thoughts to yourself.”

“You want to know what I’m thinking?” The fire was back in her eyes.

Which was both relieving and worrying.

“I’m thinking that I know I won’t ever date Matt again because I know he won’t be there for me. But he’s right that you’ve been the same way. I’ve watched you date the new girl for a few weeks, then end it. How many times has that happened? How do I know that won’t happen to me?”

“You’re not the new girl.”

“So what? You have this dating pattern, just like Matt does. And until we get past that pattern, I won’t feel secure.”

Anger fought understanding. “Tell me you were dealing with this before Matt talked to you.”

“Of course not. He just reminded me of it.”

“Right, because it makes me look bad. Because—I don’t know—he misses having you to come home to.”

“Stop it.”

“What? How am I wrong about that? Isn’t that what he did? Even Dillan worried about that when he came back from the Marines.”

“Stop it!” Her eyes filled. “I know I was stupid to keep taking him back. I know that!”

“That’s not what I’m saying—”

“If you did that to me, Cam—”

“I won’t.” He grabbed her hands in both of his. “Jordan, listen to me. I won’t. I’m telling you right now, I’m in love with you. With
you
. You’re the woman for me.”

She stilled. Listened.

“And I understand how what I’ve done in the past can make you doubt me. I wish you wouldn’t, but I guess I understand it.”

“You guess?”

He ignored that. “You talk about my dating pattern, but this
is
different. You’re not the new girl. We’ve been getting to know each other for almost four years now, and I know more about you than any of the other women I dated. I never told them about Anna or Sophie. None of them knew a
thing
about my family. I’ve shared all of that with you. And”—he paused for effect—“I never told one of them that I loved them. Never. Never told them about… about my past. Never got into anything more than a casual relationship.”

Head down, she wiped her cheek.

“Never even kissed them.” He ducked to get a better look at her.

She wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Jordan, it makes me mad that he would go to you, knowing that we’re a couple, and try to mess that up. I never thought Matt would do that. If I’d known before we left tonight, I would have let him have it. That’s low. It is. I’d never do that to you. I
didn’t
do that to you. Not when you came home from college a year ago and Matt showed up.”

Finally, she looked up at him. “You were interested then?”

She sounded so insecure. “I was. But you were with Matt. And I wasn’t going to step in and stir things up. I waited.” Waited and prayed that his interest in Jordan would go away. And when it hadn’t, that he’d know if he should pursue her or not when she got back from college.

Her gaze travelled across the emptying ice cream shop before returning to him.

He tried to read her expression. “I’d fight for you, Jordan. If I ever had to—if you suddenly thought we were done, I’d fight for you. For
us
.”

Her voice was low. “Thank you.”

But her words lacked feeling.

“I mean it, Jordan.”

She raised her head and smiled tremulously at him. “I know. Thank you.”

But something had happened tonight. Something had been damaged—and he didn’t know what.

All he knew for sure was that he’d meant every word he’d said. He
would
fight for them.

“Look at this, Jordan. I think I’ve found bridesmaid dresses.”

Jordan set aside her Panera sandwich and took the magazine from Miska. There were three dresses on the page. “Which one?”

“The one that’s kind of a Jazz Age style.”

The silvery blue dress was lovely. Tiny beads covered the dress in a subtle yet intricate pattern, adding a bit of sparkle and life to the light color. “Miska, I love it. It’s gorgeous.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Is your dress like this?”

“Not really, but I think the two will go together. Mine’s a modern take on lace, if that makes sense. More vibrant. It’s got tiny cap sleeves and a diamond opening in the back. You’ll have to come with me on my next fitting. It’s pretty stunning.”

Jordan handed the magazine back, smiling at her soon-to-be sister-in-law. “I bet you make the dress stunning.”

“As long as Dillan thinks so.”

“My word, girl, do you see him look at you? He’ll definitely think so.”

Miska grinned. “I can’t wait. Three months, and it feels like it’ll never get here.”