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  Jordan was a little stunned by her reaction. He’d intended to bring her back to the bed for some hot sex and Michaela was acting as if he was intent on assault. He arched a brow at her inquiringly. “Okay, go ahead,” he said slowly, completely perplexed by her mood.

  Taking a deep breath she began speaking as fast as she could. “About last night, I think we’ll both agree that we were drinking and things just sort of got out of hand. I’m sure you don’t want to put our friendship at risk any more than I do so I think it would be best if we just pretended this never happened. After all we’re both mature adults and there is no reason for one stupid night to ruin a great friendship, right?” She gave him a hopeful look as she finished her long-winded speech.

  Jordan hadn’t known what to expect when Michaela began talking, but it certainly wasn’t that she wanted them to be just friends. How he could he possibly be lying here naked in her bed after sharing not one but several very intimate lovemaking sessions and then be informed that he had been relegated to the friend zone once again? He had been so sure that he had left it behind, never to be revisited. “You want us to be friends?” he asked slowly, positive he must have misunderstood the intent of her little diatribe.

  She nodded her head smiling reassuringly. “Yeah, we’re friends, just like always.”

  Jordan watched those cute little chestnut curls bounce while she nodded her head. The thought drifted through his mind that he was in love with a lunatic. She wanted to be friends after the incredible evening they had just shared; it didn’t make sense. What could possibly be going through that curly topped head of hers? Was she really not interested in him in that way? She had seemed extremely interested last night, but then again she had been under the influence. No fucking way was he returning to the friend zone.

  She watched a number of expressions cross his face as he absorbed what she had to say. Then a hard look she had never before seen appeared. “No!” His voice was hard, uncompromising.

  Startled by both the tone of his voice and his monosyllabic response she could only respond in a stunned voice. “No?”

  “No,” he said, as he got off the bed oblivious to his nudity. He bent down and began picking up the discarded condom wrappers. He walked over to her and held them up to her face. “What are these?”

  She could feel the restrained fury vibrating through his body and shit, he was sporting a very big erection. To say she felt intimidated was an understatement. This was a side of Jordan she had never seen before. Where was her relaxed, easy going friend? “Mmmm…condom wrappers?”

  His voice was tight as he said, “That’s right, and how many are there?”

  Okay so he was really pissed. She felt her anxiety go up one more notch. “Four?”

  He threw the wrappers down on the floor in obvious frustration. “That’s right, four. We didn’t have one quick and dirty session of drunken sex that we can’t remember. We had sex all night long. Not once, but four times, and let’s not forget that I went down on you in your living room before we even made it to the bedroom. So do you remember all of those times?”

  She cringed inwardly. Okay so this was getting awkward. “Well, yes of course I do.”

  “So you really weren’t that drunk that you can say you didn’t know what you were doing, were you?” he asked in an aggressive tone.

  Was she on trial? Cause it was beginning to feel that way. “Okay, so I guess I wasn’t that drunk, but really do you want to ruin a friendship because of little too much champagne?”

  His patience was at the end and his irritation was growing by the minute. He looked directly into her eyes and said, “I did not have too much champagne. Do you really think the only reason I slept with you was because I was drunk?”

  Okay so who was this guy anyway? “Well, I guess I sort of did.”

  He grabbed her chin firmly between his fingers. “Let’s get this straight, I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you. I’ve been waiting for you to get over your breakup with Noah. It wasn’t accidental sex, Michaela.”

  “Really? I mean, we’ve been friends for a while and nothing has ever happened, so I just thought nothing ever would.”

  “We’re not friends. We’re lovers now. Deal.” His voice was resolute.

  She took a deep breath before saying, “You’re certain this is what you want?”

  He shook his head in disbelief. How could she possibly be so oblivious? “Certain? I’ve been planning this for months.”

  Planning, he had been planning this? “Are you kidding me? What do you mean you have been planning this?”

  He leaned down and kissed her lips. Lifting his head slowly from her mouth he said, “When I don’t have something I want, I figure out what I have to do to get it. I always get what I want.”

  Oh wow, the bottom dropped out of her stomach. She didn’t know if that statement excited or terrified her. She thought it might be doing a little of both. “So let me get this straight, the whole time we’ve been friends you’ve been plotting to get me into bed?”

  “Pretty much,” he said his tone matter of fact and with no trace of remorse.

  For some reason that irritated her. “What if I don’t want to be more than friends?”

  As if he was going to let her get away with that idiocy. “Don’t be ridiculous. I know you don’t do casual sex so please stop trying to say this was a onetime thing. I told you, we’re lovers now. We go from here. Deal and get used to it. This is the new us.” He insisted in a firm voice.

  “You just can’t force me into a relationship.” Easy going Jordan seemed to have turned into controlling Jordan and it was freaking her out. “I think I need some time to catch up with you. I’m not sure I have my head there yet.”

  He laughed. “Honey, you caught up when you were on the couch with your legs spread while I lapped away at your pussy.”

  Michaela felt hot and excited at the memory his blunt words evoked not to mention she noticed that he was still hard. Blushing slightly she said in a dry tone, “Really, you should be more blunt.”

  He laughed in appreciation at her tone. “I’ll work on that.”

  “Jordan?”

  “Yeah, Honey?”

  “Don’t you think you should put some clothes on?”

  “Well, actually I thought we could go back to bed,” he said grabbing her shoulders and pulling her close, his erection pressing up against her stomach. Her stomach growled. Laughing he said, “But it sounds like you need to eat so I’ll put some clothes on. Can I talk you into making me one of your amazing omelets?” He also wondered if he could talk her into moving in with him over breakfast. Really there was no point in them living separately now.

  Reluctantly she pulled away from him all the while avoiding looking at his very hot body and very erect penis. “I guess I can manage that. I’ll go down stairs and make breakfast while you get dressed.” Michaela decided to take this cue to escape downstairs before she made the colossal mistake of jumping him again, and before she had time to digest everything he had just said. Dashing from the room like it was on fire, she made a less than graceful exit and headed toward the kitchen. The conversation with Jordan, as far as she was concerned, had reached bizarre levels. He seemed to be following some sort of well thought out methodical plan while, until just a few minutes ago, she had thought they had fallen into bed because of too much champagne. His planning bothered her, seemed too calculated. She was having trouble reconciling Jordan’s actions with the Jordan she thought she knew. Now all she had to do was make him an omelet while trying not to think about mind blowing sex they had mere hours before, and then maybe she could figure out where she wanted this relationship to go. What could be simpler, really?

  Jordan ruefully watched Michaela flee downstairs like a scared rabbit. He had obviously scared the hell out of her. He looked around the room searching for his clothes. He found them scattered about in various locations across the floor. He didn’t relish the idea of putting on his clothes from the
night before, although he certainly didn’t have any choice. As he pulled on his tuxedo pants he pondered his current situation, wondering how he was going to convince Michaela that they had a future ahead of them and that friendship was behind them. He wasn’t sure why she was pushing him away, but he was certain her feelings for him were stronger than friendship or she wouldn’t have spent last night with him tearing up the sheets. It wasn’t just that they had sex, it was the intensity of it that assured him of the depth of her feelings for him, and he wasn’t about to overlook the irrefutable evidence of the expired condoms attesting to the fact she obviously didn’t have sex causally. As the condoms rose to the front of his mind again, he realized he never had the chance to bring up the possible consequences of their expiration to Michaela having become distracted by her little rejection recital. As far as he was concerned, he would be happy if she were pregnant, the idea of having a child with her was something he had anticipated when he had realized how much he loved her. Although he didn’t think there was much of a chance. Those expiry dates tended to be conservative on the part of the manufacturer, didn’t they? Regardless, it was something he better bring up at breakfast.

  He could already smell coffee brewing and eggs cooking as he pulled on his white shirt, leaving it unbuttoned as he padded down the stairs and made his way to Michaela’s kitchen. He stopped in the doorway noting how adorable she looked standing by the stove as she made their omelets with her curly hair still wildly tussled from the previous evenings activities and her bare feet peeking out of the bottom of her terry robe. He smiled when he saw how the robe dragged on the ground because it was too long for her petite frame, one size-fits-all never did work for her.

  “Mmmm, smells good,” he said as he walked over to the cupboard, grabbed a mug from the shelf and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I hope this is strong, I could use the extra caffeine after last night.” He came up behind her as she flipped the omelet over. Leaning over her shoulder his breath brushed her ear as he spoke. “Are they almost ready? I’m starving!” He felt her immediate reaction to his touch. The little faker, he thought, she was extremely aware of him now if she hadn’t been before. Thoughts of taking her on the kitchen counter danced through his mind, but didn’t act on the impulse. She may want him, but for some inexplicable reason she was trying to push him away and he needed to find out why. He had a suspicion that it had something to do with Noah and knowing how the betrayal of that relationship had affected her. He was willing to be patient, to a point.

  Michaela was all too aware of him as he casually pressed himself against her, but she refused to let it bother her. After all, it wasn’t his fault that his slightest touch sent shivers down her spine.

  Attempting to sound as casual as possible, she turned her head to meet his eyes and said, “Ready when you are. Can you grab me a couple of plates from the cupboard?” This was the weirdest ‘morning after’ she had ever experienced. Not that she had had that many, but still the whole thing was strange. She had wanted to pretend like nothing had happened, but Jordan was acting like they did this every day. It felt too comfortable, too nice, too romantic. She watched Jordan with suspicion as he retrieved a couple of plates from the cupboard and handed them to her.

  “Thanks,” she said while she filled each of their plates with an omelet and toast. They sat at her cozy little kitchen table in silence. Jordan was devouring his food while Michaela intently mutilated her omelet pushing it around the plate with her fork. She was busily reminding herself that this entire awkward situation was her fault when Jordan interrupted her thoughts.

  Clearing his throat, he began, “Michaela, there is something we have to discuss.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise, she was sure she resembled a deer-caught-in-the headlights. Shaking her head in denial, she insisted, “No there isn’t, I think we pretty much covered everything upstairs. I know you think we should be in an immediate relationship but I’m not convinced.”

  Jordan sighed heavily. “Michaela, I know you think you covered everything, but there was something we missed.”

  “And what exactly was that?” she asked, annoyance evident in her voice. She really didn’t have any patience for another one of his exhausting interrogations today, she thought as she took a big swallow of her steaming coffee.

  “Birth-control,” he said.

  She choked, actually choked on her coffee, spraying it over Jordan’s white tuxedo shirt. “Sorry.” She managed to gasp as she grabbed a napkin attempting to blot up the coffee from his shirt.

  Grabbing her hand he said, “Forget about the coffee. It’s no big deal. The shirt was dirty anyway. We have to talk about the condoms.”

  “Why? We used them. We’re responsible adults,” she reminded him quickly, noting he hadn’t let go of her hand. In fact, he was rubbing his thumb on the inside of her palm in what she supposed was intended to provide calming reassurance. She wasn’t feeling calm at all.

  Angling his head to one side his blue eyes were apologetic as he gave a slight grimace. “Well, yes we did, but I noticed this morning that the condoms we used had expired over a year ago.”

  Fear shot through, that absolute terror that only a woman can understand. Pulling her hand free, she yelped, “They what?!” Panic seeped through her every pore overtaking her, drowning her. For moments she couldn’t even formulate a rational thought while she tried to comprehend what he was saying. This couldn’t be happening!

  “They expired. I don’t think we need to be upset, and I am sure everything is fine. It’s just something I thought you should know, just in case.”

  Just in case, the words dangled between them, their meaning so clear, so horrifying. What he meant was, of course, just in case you’re pregnant. She felt slightly ill. Looking at him hopefully, she asked. “You don’t think there’s much of a chance of that do you? I mean really, what are the odds?”

  Jordan gave her a reassuring smile. “I think it’s probably fine, lot of things last past their expiry date, take yogurt for example. I’m always eating yogurt after it has expired.”

  Michaela eyes narrowed. Giving him an irritated look she said, “I don’t think this is comparable to yogurt! Jordan, do you realize I could be…”

  Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder Jordan interrupted her, “Yes, of course I do, that’s why I brought it up. I was just trying to lighten the mood by making you laugh a bit. I guess I missed my mark.”

  “Yes I guess you did,” Michaela muttered, shifting awkwardly in her chair, looking for something to say to change the subject.

  “Don’t get mad at me. It’s not my fault your condoms were so old they’d expired. I guess it’s been awhile, huh?” he asked. “I would judge from the expiry date that you haven’t seen any action since Noah.”

  Michaela narrowed her eyes in anger and self-disgust. On top of everything else, now he thought she had been desperate for sex. “I don’t think my love life is any of your business.” Even to her own ears the statement sounded ridiculous as she stared at the scratches she had left on his chest the night before.

  Jordan’s blue eyes widened in surprise at her response. “I hate to burst your bubble, but as of last night it became my business.” Jordan’s easy going charm disappeared as the anger became evident in his tone. “Don’t be embarrassed, I haven’t been with anyone since Joyce. I’ve only wanted you.”

  Michaela raised a hand to brush her curly hair out of her face, her chin jutted forward a little in defiance. “I think you’re making too many assumptions based on one night. Maybe you shouldn’t count on an encore.”

  Jordan was becoming a bit annoyed as well. “It’s going to be repeated all right. Do you want me to take you on the kitchen table to prove it to you?

  She shook her head, her voice a little breathless at the images his words provoked. “No, I don’t think demonstrations are necessary.”

  “That’s too bad, I was kind of looking forward to doing you on the table, but I guess I will save that for
later. Look, I don’t care about the stupid expiry date on the condoms.”

  She really couldn’t argue that point and arguing about the status of their relationship wasn’t going to accomplish anything either. “I’m sorry Jordan, you’re right. We’re both going to have to stay calm and handle this maturely if we’re going to remain friends.”

  Jordan pulled both her hands together, wrapping his hands around them, his blue eyes intense with meaning. “Michaela, I swear to God, if you say we’re friends one more time I am going to paddle that gorgeous ass of yours. This wasn’t a one-night-stand. If there are repercussions from last night we’re in this together. Don’t even think about shutting me out.”

  She gave him a half-hearted smile. “I promise not to shut you out if anything unplanned happens,” she paused before adding, her brown eyes slightly stormy, “but I don’t think you have to explain to me about repercussions. I’m the one that would have to deal with it.”

  Jordan’s growing impatience was evident as his voice increased in volume. “That’s where you’re wrong. I said that if anything happens we’d deal with it, and let me make this clear we’d deal with it as parents.”

  Taking a deep, slow breath at the word ‘parent,’ Michaela conceded his point. “Okay agreed. Although, I’m sure we’re probably getting upset over nothing. I was a little shocked when you told me about the condoms, but now that I have had time to think about it I’m sure there is hardly any risk at all.” It had been an emotional morning and she was just over reacting to the minute possibility. Did she really believe that or was she just trying to convince herself?

  At that moment the kitchen door opened and her mother, looking elegant with her perfectly styled blond hair and her designer suit, walked into the room. She halted immediately when she noted the intimate setting of Michaela and Jordan sharing breakfast, which might have appeared completely innocent had it not been for the couple’s attire; Michaela dressed only in a terry robe while Jordan was obviously wearing clothes from the evening before. At that moment, Michaela knew with complete certainty that the morning was about to get decidedly worse. She had the incredible urge to shout ‘It’s not what you think!’ but how could she? Things were exactly as they appeared; there was no denying the evidence. She really, really hoped her Mother didn’t notice the scratches on Jordan’s chest readily exposed by his open shirt.