Free More Than Rivals by Mary Whitney Page B

car door, grabbed a water bottle, and offered it to her. “Here, you go.”
    “Oh, thanks.” After she took a drink, she handed it back, saying, “So are you going to Santa Rosa now?”
    “Yep, and you’re just going to run off into the night again?” He raised his eyebrows afterward as if to taunt her.
    She held his gaze, thinking he looked damn fine all sweaty, but then she remembered she most certainly did not. She self-consciously touched her wet brow. “That’s me. So mysterious.”
    “You were that night.”
    “Not now.”
    “No,” he said with a warm smile. “Not now.” He looked around the street. “So you ran here? Do you live far away?”
    “Just up the hill over there.”
    “There are a lot of pretty homes here.”
    “Yeah, ours is a Victorian. It’s beautiful, but it can be a pain to keep-up.”
    He nodded without a word, and she felt as if he was studying her. She was just about to break the silence when he said, “How about we do this again?”
    “Sure.” Her response was simple considering the jolt of anticipation that struck her.  
    “Maybe we can run in the city.”
    “That would be a nice change for me.” Her voice was hesitant. “I don’t know if this would work for you because it’s the middle of the day, but I’ll be at the hospital on Friday. My shift ends at three.”
    “Friday at three? Let me see if I can make it work.” He smiled. “We can meet near the hospital and run in the Presidio.”
    “Great. There will be more hills than I’m used to, but that’s good.” She smirked. “It will test my endurance.”
    His mouth gaped, though he still smiled. “To repeat for the record, I was talking about running. I have no idea what you were referencing.”
    “Of course,” she said with a giggle. She stared at him, feeling heated from both the run and the rush of flirting with a hot guy who was definitely flirting back. She pointed down the street. “I’m going to head home. Thanks for the run. Let me know about Friday.”
    “I will. Can I take you home?”  
    She blinked a few times, thinking of a different life. It would be a life where she could hop in his car, be taken home, and then, if she was lucky, get a kiss from this manly man in relatively little clothing. The glint in his eye told her he wouldn’t mind it at all.
    But that would be a date, and she wasn’t on a date. She shook her head. “I should just go.” With a final smile and turn of her heel, she was off.  
    ***
    The following day she knew she had to come clean with Jordan. She might’ve been able to avoid telling him about one outing with Jack, but two in almost a week was impossible. As a devoted staffer and close friend, he deserved to hear what was going on. He also needed to know in case things turned south with Jack.
    As their morning meeting wound down, Jordan stood up, still reading the to-do list he’d just written out. “It’s a busy day. Let me get cracking on some of this.” He pointed to her closed office door. “As soon as I walk out, I’ll get Chase started on that letter ASAP.”
    “Wait,” Lily said, holding her hand up to stop him. “I need to tell you about something.”
    “About the letter?”
    “No. And you should probably sit down again.”
    “Uh oh…” he said, reclaiming his seat. “What’s going on now?”
    A guilty smile crossed her face. “I went for a run last night with John Bengston.”
    “You what?” he asked with no emotion.
    “I just told you. I went for a run last night with Jack.”
    Jordan was silent for a moment before a smirk crossed his face. He settled into the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table. “So now he’s ‘Jack’ again. Last I heard you’d quit speaking to the guy.”
    “I know, I know…” She shook her head at what had to look like a silly situation. “Remember that meeting in Marin? He tracked me down there.”
    “I knew I shouldn’t have let you go to that without a staffer.”  
    For the next few