Free Janelle Taylor by Night Moves

afternoon at the latest.
    About to hang up, he was startled when she slyly said, “So where is it that you and Jordan are headed on this little romantic getaway, Beau? Or can’t you tell me?”
    “Jordan!” he sputtered. “What makes you think I’m going on vacation with her?”
    “I called her office this morning to see about orderingsome of her cold lemon-spinach soup and tomato tartlets for a little garden luncheon I’m having this week, and her partner told me that she was away. He hinted she had met somebody and that it was about time.”
    “Well, she may have met somebody, but it isn’t me. And she isn’t away,” Beau added.
    The moment he said it, he wished he could take that last part back.
    Sure enough: “How do you know she isn’t away?” Andrea asked.
    “Because I saw her just last night,” he said. Rather than going into the complicated details of how he had come to be at Jordan’s apartment, he said—because Andrea seemed to be waiting for further explanation— “We had dinner together.”
    “How wonderful! What did you think of her?”
    “She was very sweet, Andrea, and I appreciate your introducing me to her, but—”
    “But what? Don’t tell me you aren’t interested. She’s beautiful, intelligent, charming—”
    “She is all of those things,” Beau agreed.
    Yes, Jordan was all of those things, and more. He had found himself recounting her various charms ever since he left her last night—along with all the reasons he could never get involved with her.
    “So what can possibly be the problem?” Andrea asked.
    “It’s just that she seems to have her hands full right now, with her nephew, and—”
    “Her nephew?”
    “Spencer. The little boy who’s staying with her. At least, I got the impression that he was her nephew. Maybe he wasn’t.” Beau frowned, trying to remember exactly what Jordan had said about Spencer when Beaufinally figured out that they weren’t mother and son. He thought he recalled the little boy calling her Auntie Jordan….
    No, wait. That was what she called herself when she was talking with him. Spencer only called her by her first name.
    “And will her nephew be traveling with you on your trip, Beau?” Andrea asked.
    “No! Why would he be coming along?”
    “I thought maybe it was a threesome, and maybe you had hoped it would be a twosome instead. After all—”
    “Andrea, as I said, I’m not going on vacation with Jordan Curry or her nephew. I’m going by myself, to the Outer Banks.”
    “All right, Beau,” Andrea said in an infuriating sure, whatever you say tone. Obviously, she didn’t believe him.
    He thought about Jordan’s business partner. He had said she was out of town with a man. Spencer was no man, and they seemed to be settled in at Jordan’s town house with no plans to leave. Was she taking time off to baby-sit the child? Had she lied at the office about it? If so, why?
    With some effort, Beau extracted himself from the conversation with Andrea.
    After hanging up, he sat pondering Jordan Curry and her nephew—if Spencer was her nephew.
    There was very little affection between them, and it was clear that Jordan wasn’t used to being around children.
    Not only that, but she had seemed tense. Not the whole time, because if she were, then he could assume that she was just nervous by nature. She was, after all, a stranger.
    But looking back on their encounter, he realized thatshe had seemed to alternate between being a laid-back, casual person and an uptight, wary one. It was almost as if every time she forgot whatever was troubling her, she allowed herself to relax. But there was no denying her cagey answers to some of his questions, and her skittishness when she thought he was getting too close.
    What the heck was up with her? What was going on over there? Whatever it was revolved around the boy; that much was clear.
    Maybe he was Jordan’s foster child.
    Maybe he was her own child, and she had never told anyone she was a